Day after day.
Lin Yuan was like a sponge from another world, one with an endless capacity to absorb, frantically soaking up the knowledge of this one.
And Hermione Granger, the little Gryffindor lioness who prided herself on knowing everything, had for the first time encountered a "being" who made her feel utterly helpless and defeated, deep in her soul.
She regarded Lin Yuan as the ultimate "rival" of her life.
She secretly watched him, imitated him, and tried to catch up.
At last, after one Potions Class, she had a bold idea and Professor Snape had humiliated her mercilessly, saying, "Ten points from Gryffindor for your impractical, foolish fantasy." With only the faintest hope left, Hermione went to Lin Yuan.
Clutching her heavy copy of Advanced Potion Making, she approached the quiet figure, as still as a statue, engrossed in Rune Structures. Like a little cat with its fur standing on end, she had worked up the courage to come over.
"Um... Ryan?"
Her voice carried a tremor so faint it was almost imperceptible.
Lin Yuan slowly raised his head from the vast world woven from countless lines of law.
His eyes were calm and profound, as though they reflected a sea of stars.
He simply looked at her without speaking, yet somehow gave her the impression that he could see through every thought in her mind.
Hermione's heart skipped a beat, but she steeled herself and fired off her question as quickly as she could:
"It's about the Soothing Agent recipe! The book—and Professor Snape—insist that Moonstone Powder is necessary to neutralize Goblin Feces. But based on the principle of opposing medicinal properties, I think the pure energy contained in Unicorn Horn Powder should counteract the corrosive nature of Goblin Feces more effectively than the gentle energy of moonstone! Is my idea... really... that foolish?"
As she asked, it felt as if she had used up every ounce of strength she had.
She watched Lin Yuan nervously, waiting for his "judgment." Would he sneer at her with contempt, like Snape, or stare at her blankly, like Ron?
Lin Yuan's gaze rested on her flushed face for a full three seconds.
Then, in a matter-of-fact tone, as if stating that one plus one equaled two, he spoke.
"Your reasoning is headed in the right direction."
That brief sentence shone like a ray of holy light, illuminating Hermione's darkened world in an instant!
Her eyes lit up, brimming with incredulous delight.
"Really?! I knew it! I knew my reasoning made sense! Professor Snape—"
"The core of a Unicorn Horn is the power of the purest law of 'purification,'" Lin Yuan continued calmly, cutting off her excitement. "Goblin Feces, on the other hand, contains dark laws of 'corrosion' and 'chaos.' When the two meet, they don't 'neutralize' each other. They 'annihilate.' In theory, a Soothing Agent made this way would be at least three times as effective as the standard recipe. It could even instantly heal the permanent scars left by Dragon Pox."
Hermione was so excited she nearly fainted! It was even more potent than she had imagined! Her theory had been proven right—and by someone she revered most of all, who had explained it perfectly using a theory of "laws" she had never heard of, yet somehow felt absolutely correct!
But just as she was basking in her overwhelming joy, Lin Yuan's next words crashed down on her like a gigantic hammer from the Ice Age.
"But you can't do it."
Hermione's smile froze instantly.
"W-why not?" Her voice was dry and bewildered.
Lin Yuan's eyes remained calm, but there was a distant indifference in them, as if he looked down on all living things. It was the look one might give a mortal trying to grasp lightning with bare hands.
"Because you can't handle the 'increase in energy entropy' that erupts when two opposing laws annihilate each other in a ten-thousandth of a second."
"Energy... entropy... increase?" Hermione's mind had completely stalled.
The term lay beyond the limits of her knowledge.
"Let me put it in terms you can understand," Lin Yuan said evenly. "The instant you drop the Unicorn Horn Powder into the cauldron, it will explode."
Hermione's face turned as white as paper.
She instinctively took a step back.
Lin Yuan's voice continued.
It wasn't loud, but it was like a scalpel, precisely cutting open a world of Potions she had never imagined.
"There are only two ways to solve this problem."
"First, inside the walls of your fragile pewter cauldron, you would need to use at least three Ancient Runes that could form a 'threefold stabilizing field'—for instance, the Earth Rune, representing 'containment'; the Water Rune, representing 'absorption'; and the Wind Rune, representing 'redirection'—and construct a temporary 'energy-buffering rune array' with absolute precision. At the moment the energy erupts, this array could absorb, transform, and release it. If even a single stroke receives the wrong amount of energy, or the array activates a thousandth of a second too late, the result will be exactly what I just described."
"Second," Lin Yuan said, his gaze pausing slightly, as if passing through the library ceiling to look toward something far older and more distant, "you would need a genuine Alchemy Cauldron. It wouldn't be made from ordinary metal, but forged from a divine material capable of stabilizing the Law of Space on its own—for instance, Mysterious Gold Silver. Such an artifact doesn't 'resist' energy. It 'harmonizes' laws. It is itself a small, perfect world."
An energy-buffering rune array...
Mysterious Gold Silver...
An Alchemy Cauldron...
Hermione Granger, one of the brightest witches in Hogwarts history, stood there dumbfounded.
Her mind was utterly blank.
She knew every word Lin Yuan had said.
But when those words came together, they formed a mythical realm she couldn't begin to understand.
She felt her entire knowledge system—the magnificent edifice she had built from countless books and sleepless nights—collapse into ruins at Lin Yuan's few casually spoken sentences.
The gap between her and Lin Yuan couldn't be bridged by hard work.
It couldn't even be explained by talent.
It was... a chasm between dimensions.
Lin Yuan had already returned his gaze to the ancient book of runes, as if their conversation, which had been enough to overturn a top student's entire worldview, had been nothing more than a casual answer to "How's the weather today?"
He closed the book, walked past Hermione, and headed for the next shelf that had caught his interest.
His steps were light and utterly silent.
All he left her was his calm, indifferent back, as if nothing had happened.
Hermione Granger remained rooted to the spot, clutching Advanced Potion Making tightly to her chest.
The book had once been a symbol of her intelligence and pride.
Now, in her hands, it felt so heavy, so... insignificant.
Before you continue