Colin had just turned the corner when Morton and Margaret, standing by the door, noticed him,
But the two of them didn't seem to care, merely glancing at Colin before continuing their conversation.
Seeing this, Colin paused briefly before continuing to walk forward.
His room was just around the next corner; this was the inevitable path.
But as he walked, his brow suddenly lifted.
Although Morton and Margaret were conversing, he could only see their lips moving, unable to hear a sound.
Their expression was very serious, and it was unclear what they were discussing.
An invisible force contained their voices within the narrow space between them, not letting any sound escape...
Suddenly, an idea crossed Colin's mind, and with the help of his Superbrain, he used his peripheral vision to record the movements of Margaret and Morton's lips.
A moment later, it seemed their conversation was coming to an end; the silver-haired Morton waved his hand, dissolving the Silence Barrier, and said goodbye to Margaret before leaving.
"Lord Morton."
As Morton approached, Colin slowed his pace to make way and greeted him.
Morton's brow was furrowed, and he did not respond, just kept walking past Colin without stopping.
"Did you just attend the exchange meeting?"
On the other side, Margaret, who was standing at the door, suddenly asked him.
"Yes, Lady Margaret," Colin nodded.
"Hmm..." Margaret gave him a glance, as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately she closed her door with a click without saying another word.
"…?"
Colin couldn't help but feel a surge of doubt within him.
...The exchange meeting?
While he walked toward his room, he carefully recollected the recent exchange meeting.
The participants... all normal, nothing special.
The items traded... also all normal.
The only unusual thing might have been Morton taking the initiative to host the exchange meeting.
Without more information, his train of thought could not progress any further... Perhaps Margaret's question was just casual?
After pondering for a moment.
In his room, with the help of the Superbrain, Colin pulled up the scene and carefully observed Margaret and Morton's lip movements and the vibrations of the muscles in their throats...
After a short while, he began to imitate their speech.
Repeating this process, Colin soon voiced a segment of their conversation.
"Is that your subordinate wizard at the corner?"
This was the sentence Morton spoke to Margaret after Colin had turned the corner.
"Yes," Margaret replied, then added, "The records show he is gifted, but he has just advanced to a First Rank Wizard... it's likely he hasn't even mastered a single First Rank Witchcraft yet."
"Hmm," Morton nodded, no longer paying attention to Colin.
"Has Lord Grantland made a confirmation?" asked Margaret.
"It's confirmed," Morton answered.
"Is there a confirmed time?"
"In these next two or three days," Morton continued, adding, "Lord Grantland has ordered us to keep strict secrecy among the family wizards about this matter. Currently, only wizards from the Nine Major Schools and those associated with the Schools who are Second Rank or higher are aware."
"I see."
"Hmm."
After murmuring to himself, Colin froze for a moment, feeling a sudden unease within him.
Were the Nine Major Schools conducting some hidden operation without their wizards knowing?
He paced slowly within his room for a while, sighed softly to himself, and decided not to ponder it further. He sat cross-legged on a cushion, ready to begin his practice.
With just the information from the conversation, it was impossible to guess what it was about...
He would face whatever came his way. Margaret's room was right next to his, so there likely wasn't too much to worry about.
It was best to continue improving himself.
Colin's thoughts moved, and he opened the Golden Paper.
He scanned it from top to bottom, making a mental plan.
'I only have 10,000 Magic Stones on me now, and because of the airship's environment, I can't practice offensive witchcraft.
For instance, the Steel Temperature Resistance Field, if it is to grow tenfold at the Limit Breaking Point, might not have enough Magic Stones for the next Limit Breaking...
It seems I must prioritize practicing those Zeroth Rank witchcrafts for Limit Breaking fusion.'
'As for engraving the Magic Model, the life-saving Steel Temperature Resistance Field will naturally be the first.'
After all, the Steel Temperature Resistance Field, having already Limit Broken to a First Rank Witchcraft level, had significantly increased the complexity of its Magic Model.
Even though the Golden Paper optimized it and, for example, the Steel Temperature Resistance Field, even after Limit Breaking, still only requires 1.6 seconds to cast, it is still under two seconds and can be considered instant casting.
But compared to the previous casting time of just a fraction of a second, it was undoubtedly much slower.
In life or death combat, opportunities change in the blink of an eye.
The reason wizards need to engrave Magic Models, and why Magic Crystals cannot be used as a common means against enemies, is precisely because of this.
Immersing his mind into the Spirit Sea,
Colin began engraving the Steel Temperature Resistance Field.
At the same time, a question surfaced in his mind—
After Limit Breaking the Steel Temperature Resistance Field, should he first erase the previously engraved Magic Model in the Spirit Sea and then re-engrave it, or could it be updated simultaneously?
'After Limit Breaking, I'll know.'
Colin glanced at the Golden Paper and stopped dwelling on it.
With the assistance of Superbrain, his progress in studying witchcraft was astonishingly fast!
According to the current pace, the Steel Temperature Resistance Field, which had undergone Limit Breaking only once, could be practiced to its next Limit Breaking Point by tomorrow night if he focused solely on it from now. It was just unfortunate that there wasn't enough Magic Stone for a true Limit Breaking, which would likely take even longer.
While thinking, some time passed, and he completed the inscription of the Magic Model.
Once a wizard had mastered witchcraft, they could attempt to inscribe the Magic Model in the Spirit Sea, and the process was not complicated, nor did it take too much time.
Unlike creating a Magic Crystal, which required learning the corresponding runes of the wizard model, inscribing a Magic Model in the Spirit Sea didn't require any changes and wasn't much more difficult than casting a spell.
Whoosh!
Distracting his mind from the Magic Model glowing faintly in the Spirit Sea, Colin's thoughts moved, and he unleashed the Steel Temperature Resistance Field!
In the blink of an eye, a semi-transparent Protective Shield with a faint white light enveloped his entire body.
'The speed is around 0.1 to 0.2 seconds… nearly ten times faster than before inscribing!' thought Colin as he exhaled a long breath, feeling somewhat relieved.
'In battles between wizards, one must ensure defense and evasion first, to provide oneself with the opportunity to attack; otherwise, in the lightning-fast combat, a moment's carelessness could lead to one's downfall!'
Two days later, his remaining Zeroth Rank witchcraft all reached their Limit Breaking Point.
As expected, the witchcraft were all golden after breaking their limits.
Inside the room.
Illuminated by the light of a Bright Crystal, Colin smiled with a strong sense of accomplishment, gazing at the just Limit-Broken witchcraft listed on the Golden Paper before him.
[Witchcraft: Zeroth Rank Witchcraft: Summary.
First Rank Lower Magic: Detecting Three Abilities (0/100); Soaring and Flying Technique (0/100); Silent (0/100); Steel Temperature Resistance Field I (65/100); Fireball Technique III (0/100); Summon Fire Element (18/100); Mechanical Mind (67/100).
First Rank Middle Magic: Trace Erasure (1/100).
First Rank Upper Magic: None.]
But at this moment, he abruptly paused, looking surprised at the Zeroth Rank witchcraft section.
There, the Swift Skill (golden), which he hadn't paid attention to for a long time, had somehow become the Swift Skill II (0/100)!
'Can it be improved again?' Colin blinked, momentarily stunned.
He distinctly remembered that Swift Skill had turned golden after the second Limit Breaking and couldn't be upgraded further.
So why could it be improved now? What was the reason?
Sitting on the brown cushion, Colin frowned intensely… He realized that understanding the reason for this change in the Golden Paper might be crucial for him.
'Just half an hour ago, I closely examined the Golden Paper, and at that time, Swift Skill was golden, in an un-upgradable state.'
Colin pondered carefully.
'If there's any difference between now and half an hour ago, it's undoubtedly breaking the limits of most Zeroth Rank witchcraft.'
'Limit Breaking… signifies the enhancement of witchcraft.'
'And the enhancement of witchcraft… essentially falls under the growth of knowledge.'
'It means the biggest change in me now, compared to before, is that my knowledge has grown!'
'So the growth of specific knowledge can also increase the potential for witchcraft Limit Breaking! No, there's no such thing as inherent Limit Breaking potential in witchcraft,
the limit is dictated by oneself!
It's like building a skyscraper, the number of additional floors that can be added to the Golden Paper depends on how broad the foundation is!'
Feeling enlightened, Colin instantly understood the logic behind it!
Each Limit Breaking of the Golden Paper could bring new knowledge, but this knowledge was deeper rather than broader.
If deeper knowledge represents branches of a tree, broader knowledge would be the tree's trunk.
It's like a large tree; the Golden Paper only expands outward with branches but does not increase the thickness of the trunk.
Naturally, there would be a limit.
But in fact, the Golden Paper does grow its trunk to some extent; by practicing and integrating similar witchcraft, the trunk of the Golden Paper would grow, thus further raising the limit of the possible Limit Breaking.
The reason Swift Skill could be enhanced was likely because among the broadened knowledge from this series of Limit Breaking, there was content overlapping with it.
Of course, the actual situation is undoubtedly much more complicated...
But that was not important.
Colin slowly stood up, spirited and invigorated!
What mattered was that the changes in the Golden Paper meant that he had discovered a new method to break through the constraints of turning witchcraft golden with Limit Breaking, beyond fusing witchcraft!
That was to learn new types of knowledge that could widen the trunk!
Holding to that thought, after a while, his excitement gradually calmed down.
Learning new knowledge, although a new path, was for the time being, simpler than learning more witchcraft and integrating Limit Breaking.
After all, all the witchcraft that had been merged and Limit Broken could now be improved further.
But if he were to seek out new knowledge, the biggest challenge lying ahead was—
How to determine which knowledge to study that could broaden the trunk, allowing witchcraft that had reached golden status to break limits again.
Considering how vast the tree is, every branch resides in a different location, corresponding to different areas of the trunk.
If one were to try one by one, obviously, it would consume more time and energy than learning and integrating witchcraft Limit Breaking...
The Magic Power within Colin started to surge gently.
The next moment.
Whoosh!
The brilliance of witchcraft flashed over him.
Colin suddenly felt his speed increase significantly!
Since Swift Skill could be improved again, prioritizing such a practical spell for enhancement was evident.
The conversation between Margaret and Morton from two days ago, he had not forgotten.