To the gentleman, "not long ago" seemed to Zheng Qing like a very, very long time ago.
If the young publicly funded student remembered correctly, he had entered the Blank Land at the end of April. In a few more days, it would become something that had happened "last year."
At that thought, the young man suddenly felt dazed and subconsciously looked toward a bookshelf not far away. Between several thick reference books sat a transparent orb. Inside it, a strange little tree swayed gently, as if greeting him.
His gaze seemed to have been scalded, and he quickly withdrew it.
"You once said,"
The young wizard tried hard to suppress the faint stirring in his heart and echoed the gentleman in a dry voice. "'The most exciting thing about pursuing truth is that you can never grasp every variable'... Perhaps it would be more appropriate to replace your 'accidents' with 'variables.'"
"Bingo!"
The gentleman set down his teacup and snapped his fingers, interest growing on his face. "And in this world, as a Forbidden Curse capable of breaking every rule, it is easiest for 'accidents,' or rather 'variables,' to arise near one... Hmm, no wonder the school has had more and more chaotic incidents over the years... Such an obvious rule—why had I never noticed it before..."
As he spoke, he lifted his eyelids and glanced at the young publicly funded student, then nodded thoughtfully. "Before you, the fourth generation, every Forbidden Curse had been mastered by many wizards, and casting one required many wizards working together. There had never been a case of someone gathering such immense power in one body... Dispersing the spell structure weakened its attraction to 'accidents,' while concentrating it strengthened that attraction... I had always thought the frequent mishaps around you were because you