"Too bad she's so young, Hermione," Li Mu muttered regretfully from a distance.
With Apparition, he appeared beside Hermione in an instant.
"Would you like a guide?"
Li Mu asked with a smile.
"Ah! Are you a teacher or an older student?"
Hermione snapped out of her daze and jumped. Bowing politely, she asked in the Chinese she'd been taught through her enrollment letter.
"I suppose you could call me a teacher."
Li Mu thought for a moment before answering.
"But wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?"
Hermione asked apologetically.
"It's no trouble. I've got nothing else to do today."
Li Mu smiled and pointed to the streets near the statue's base. "Some of these streets serve adult wizards, while others are for little wizards like you. Your enrollment letter explains it all, but having me show you around will save you a lot of hassle."
"Thank you, teacher."
When Hermione saw Li Mu head toward Diagon Alley, she immediately followed him.
At the various shops along the way, she used her enrollment letter to claim a free full set of wizard robes, a free Bluebird Familiar, a free wand, and free spellbooks. Of all of them, she liked the Bluebird Familiar in its cage best.
According to the information in her enrollment letter, it was a brand-new Magical Creature created by the great Phoenix Emperor.
Since the Bluebird Familiar's arrival, the owls of the Wizarding World had all become couriers in the Muggle World. Those little creatures delivered packages incredibly quickly. The only downside was that food deliveries always arrived in a jumbled mess.
After collecting all her supplies, Hermione followed Li Mu back to the base of the statue.
By the time Hermione had collected her free school supplies, her enrollment letter had been stamped with several magic seals. Now that she was once again near the statue of the Phoenix Emperor, the letter immediately transformed into a Phoenix Mark and imprinted itself on her forehead.
As soon as the imprinting was complete, Hermione sensed a summons.
Before she had time to thank Li Mu again, she was silently transported to Phoenix Academy, shrouded in clouds like a fairyland.
"Too bad she's so young."
Li Mu shook his head and Apparated away.
When he appeared again, he was standing on the statue's right hand.
Unlike the statue's left hand, where the space had been expanded with the Vanishment Charm to build Phoenix Academy, its right hand supported the HuoZhong Altar. The projection of the Sacrifice Seed was here, constantly absorbing Spark Energy. In a sense, this was the most important place in the Phoenix Empire.
The Phoenix Apostles guarding the HuoZhong Altar silently knelt on either side when they saw Li Mu appear.
Li Mu stepped onto the HuoZhong Altar and turned to look at Phoenix Academy.
Over the past eight months, he had gathered alchemists from around the world and used nearly all the world's magical metals to create a metal sphere capable of withstanding the heat at the planet's core. He had also set it orbiting the Civilization Spark.
Then, inside the metal sphere, he had used the Vanishment Charm to expand the space and create this little world.
He had brought in soil, air, and water from the outside to form the rudiments of a world. Then, using magic to create the four seasons and weather, he had established a stable, self-sustaining little world. He had even set aside countless herb gardens for cultivating Magic Plants and pastures for raising Magical Creatures.
Finally, he had erected a statue and built Phoenix Academy and the HuoZhong Altar.
This place was closest to the Civilization Spark, and the Spark Energy was densest here. If an Acquired HuoZhong was going to emerge, this was where it was most likely to happen. And if people capable of absorbing Spark Energy were going to appear, they would surely be most numerous here. Especially since he had gathered every little wizard in the world.
All these little wizards would receive an education in loyalty to the emperor and patriotism from a young age.
He couldn't claim that every one of them would be utterly loyal, but at least a good number would serve him faithfully when they grew up.
Unless some devastating outside force intervened, his Phoenix Empire would be as solid as a rock.
Li Mu turned and climbed onto the HuoZhong Altar. The Phoenix was summoned in an instant.
He boarded the Phoenix through its tractor beam. The Phoenix took flight with a flap of its wings, shining like a miniature sun. Then it silently disappeared above the HuoZhong Altar. When it appeared again, it had returned to the place where he had first crossed over. The Phoenix pushed aside the surrounding mist, raising a gust of wind.
Li Mu put away the Phoenix and pointed the Elder Wand at the ground.
"...This is a little awkward."
Li Mu gave an embarrassed laugh.
He had meant to use the Polymorph Spell to make a basement, but the spell had no effect at all.
The spells from the Harry Potter world didn't work in the Spark World.
There was no Magic Power in the Spark World, and this place didn't recognize Magic Power as a thing at all.
Li Mu spread Spark Energy through his body, infusing every drop of Magic Power and merging it all into HuoZhong Magic Power. Pure Magic Power couldn't cast spells, but HuoZhong Magic Power was unaffected. At most, casting spells in the Spark World meant he couldn't draw on Magic Power from the surroundings.
The Polymorph Spell took effect, and a staircase leading underground appeared beneath Li Mu's feet.
He followed the stairs down to a basement more than twenty meters underground. After a few Polymorph Spells, the empty basement had become a cozy living room with a fireplace and sofa, while the staircase he'd just descended had turned back into soil.
Now that he was back in the Spark World, he needed to readjust to the environment.
He also needed to redefine how various spells worked. Take his most proficient spell, Apparition, for example. Its effects in the Spark World were definitely far inferior to those in the Phoenix Empire, because the spatial stability of the two worlds was completely different. The more stable and solid the space, the more restricted spatial abilities became.
Several hours later, Li Mu had a general idea.
The other spells weren't affected much. Only Space Spells were severely suppressed.
In the Phoenix Empire, he could teleport from one end of the planet to the other.
But here, he could only teleport within the range of his Mental Power.
And there was a delay. If he forcibly Apparated beyond the range of his Mental Power, he would certainly die in the depths of space.
The same went for the Vanishment Charm. In the Phoenix Empire, he could create the Phoenix Pocket World, but here, he could expand space by only ten thousand times at most. And once the base space he was expanding exceeded one cubic meter, the difficulty increased exponentially.
Expanding space ten thousand times sounded impressive, but in practice it only enlarged the space inside a pouch to one cubic meter.
And as time passed, the expanded space would keep shrinking.
Not even Alchemical Enchantment could prevent the space from shrinking, because maintaining it consumed HuoZhong Magic Power. Only he had HuoZhong Magic Power, and the energy he had infused into the enchantment would steadily run out over time, causing the expanded space to shrink along with it.
Li Mu wasn't surprised by this result.
If spatial items were so easy to make, Frostfire City wouldn't lack the ability to produce them itself.
Li Mu logged into the Spark Network and tried searching for Frostfire City.
He couldn't find Frostfire City's local network at all. Clearly, Frostfire City had moved far away over the past year. At least, with his Transcendence Level LV3 permissions, he couldn't log in to Frostfire City remotely. But he did find the local network of another city nearby?
Before you continue