The Lord Demon King is Unfathomable!

Chapter 1196 - 357: Shadows Beneath the High Tower

Academic State, the magnificent Tower of Great Sage, Professor Hector Rain's study.

Feather-like snowflakes thudded against the glass window, while inside, it was so quiet that only the gentle rustling of ancient scrolls turning could be heard.

Just returned from the boundary winter assessment site, Hector sat in front of the fireplace, listening with slight fatigue to the work reports from his assistants.

Most of the content was related to the research he personally handled, especially the experiments concerning one of the Academic State's top secrets, the "Void Realm."

Standing in front of the professor, the assistant clutching the report nervously delivered the report.

"... The energy of the seventeenth Void Realm remains unstable. We lost three 'Peeping Mirror' demon statues and found nothing."

"Our initial contact with the 'Skyship' world ended in failure; they seem to possess a field we cannot understand, which interferes with the conduction of magic power. Our strength dissipated automatically as soon as it touched the edge of that energy, and unfortunately... they seem to have completely ignored us."

Hector listened expressionlessly to the reports from the assistants, as all the reports were basically within his expectations.

Until the last assistant, responsible for this year's winter apprentice recruitment, stepped forward and rapidly reported on another matter.

"Professor, regarding the test paper review for this winter recruitment, initial completion has been achieved. This year, as in previous years, a thousand people passed the assessment, except... there is one matter you might be interested in."

The assistant's expression was excited, and as the voice fell, he presented a report with both hands, continuing enthusiastically.

"An unprecedented exam paper appeared in the examination hall. Three assistants responsible for the final review unanimously gave it full marks, unbeknownst to each other!"

Hector's slightly furrowed brows relaxed, then tightened again, looking somewhat unconvinced.

This year's exam questions were personally set by him, and he was well aware of their difficulty.

Especially those subjective questions concerning magical ethics and fundamental exploration, there could never be a "perfect answer" in the standard sense.

"Full marks?" he asked blandly, "Did you loosen your standards, or did a true genius slip into this year's candidates?"

"Please have a look!" The assistant did not shrink back due to the professor's questioning but became even more excited, handing over a rewritten copy of the exam paper.

Hector's eyebrows raised slightly, flicked his magic wand, and the paper floated before him.

He started reviewing from the first line, initially holding a scrutinizing and critical expression, which soon transformed into shock.

"... The soul is not simply a container for magic power but an 'string' that interferes with reality. Its essence is to leverage the pivot of the material world from a spiritual level. The depth of the soul may not determine its capacity but its 'vibration frequency,' thus deciding what level of 'source force' it can resonate with..."

"Incidentally, my understanding of 'source force' is that it's unrelated to religion and involves the 'world root power' of all forms of extraordinary power."

Hector's expression first showed shock, then disbelief, and then transformed into a kind of ecstatic joy of discovering a precious gem, his breathing growing noticeably faster.

Due to the influence of the Holy Sis Church, most of the people the Academic State could find within the Imperial borders are brainwashed with loads of crap, neither understanding the tenets of the Holy Sis Church nor the principles of mysticism, making the yearly winter assessment akin to panning for gold in shit.

He never expected to actually find a piece of gold this time, a sentence revealing the essence of extraordinary power!

This is certainly common knowledge in the Tower of Great Sage, no doubt.

But it's truly unbelievable that someone unrefined could perceive this layer!

Not even just the part about extraordinary power!

Concerning the topic of the Void Realm, this unheard-of examinee provided exquisite insights based on limited content from the stone tablets!

As if possessed, Hector softly recited a segment of the discourse, his fingers slightly trembling as he held the exam paper.

"As for the 'Void Realm,' my guess is that it might not be the stars in the sky but a parallel space-time overlapping with our world, yet with a completely different 'vibration frequency.' Just as I mentioned earlier, the spirit tweaks the strings of the material world, and two strings with the same frequency can induce resonance. This is precisely why we can see them..."

Genius!

Theoretical flaws do not hinder this individual's brilliance!

If the entire empire wasn't solely the Academic State researching the Void Realm, he would even suspect whether this person might be an old veteran involved in Void Realm research answering the exam!

But of course, that is impossible.

Besides, Academic State's professors wouldn't be so bored, and these discourses are clearly based on the question itself and not involving specific experimental content.

If he were to solve this question, he might write a more rigorous discourse but definitely wouldn't conceive such a cunning angle!

Furthermore, he wouldn't expect to use the theory of strings and resonance to link the Academic State's "Void Realm Theory" with the Tower of Great Sage's "Source Force Theory!"

"Bang!"

Hector heavily slammed the exam paper onto his knee, his eyes blazing with unprecedented light. He ordered the assistant in a tone that brooked no doubt.

"What is this examinee's name? Where is their preferred direction? At all costs, we must secure this person for our Tower of Great Sage!"