The conclusion was the same.
The core had grown two full circles. Its sensory range had expanded to three times what it was before. Its control had become fine enough to carve words onto a grain of rice from afar.
But its power structure was still Tier Five.
Footsteps came from behind. Elonore walked over carrying a stack of notes and sat down beside him. The wind tousled the stray hairs before her forehead. She pinned the notes beneath her chin, freeing a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear.
"The first nine volumes of the Acquired Spiritual Root Hypothesis have been organized."
Su Li turned to look at the stack of papers. It was as thick as a brick.
"How many experiments?"
"Two hundred and eighty-seven."
"How many succeeded?"
"Zero."
Su Li nodded. He reached out, opened the top notebook, and flipped through a few pages at random. The handwriting was neat, the charts precise. Every failure recorded the time, place, environmental parameters, and ether concentration.
Then he spotted a strange note.
"'Experiment failed. Dinner: Su Li cooked fish. Too salty.'"
He flipped ahead a few more pages.
"'Experiment failed. Dinner: Su Li cooked fish. Too salty.'"
Another page.
"'Experiment failed. Dinner: Su Li stewed soup. Flavor indeterminate.'"
Another page.
"Fish too salty again."
Su Li closed the notebook and looked at Elonore.
"Exactly how many times did you write that down?"
"Sixteen."
"I refuse to admit my cooking has gotten worse."
"Data does not lie."
"Your tongue is what lies. Elven taste buds are different from human ones."
Elonore took the notebook from his hands, straightened it, and put it into her bag. There was no expression on her face, but the tips of her ears had reddened slightly.
Salt Island's docks were three times wider