Chapter 1269: Section 1270 Star Frost Meditation Method
“Mentor, can you help me take a look at this?”
Sanders’s gaze shifted over.
Angel extended his hand, his slender fingers lightly touching the tabletop, and then, a thin ripple emanated from his fingertips.
As the ripple diffused outward, a piece of parchment faded into view beneath his fingertips.
Sanders took it, the soft, thin parchment resting in his palm felt oddly cool to the touch.
“Star… Frost,” Sanders murmured softly, reading the only two words on the parchment, his voice restrained and solemn.
...
A light flickered in Sanders’s eyes as if something had occurred to him.
He turned his hand over and gently wiped the back of his hand across the surface of the parchment. A faint halo flickered, and numerous complex and elegant patterns extended from the words “Star Frost.”
The bizarre pattern was covered with pale white specks that glowed faintly, resembling the first snow dust lit by the warm sun in deep winter.
Cold yet beautiful.
“This is a Wizard cipher,” Sanders said, looking at the pattern, then raised his head to look at Angel, “Where did you get this parchment from?”
“Wodell gave it to me. Apparently, it belonged to the Sin City Walker, Pusio,” Angel replied succinctly, retelling the event.
When Sanders heard that the parchment was from the hands of Pusio, his eyebrows lifted.
“What do you think this is?” he asked.
Angel pondered for a moment, “Mentioning Star Frost brings many things to mind. Star Frost potion, Star Frost magic, Star Frost Demonic Materials… numerous things. But if we are talking about the ‘Star Frost’ closely associated with the Frostmoon Alliance, there’s only one that comes to mind.”
“The Star Frost Meditation Method!”
Sanders nodded, “If this is something from Pusio, then this parchment could indeed be the famous Star Frost Meditation Method. However, whether it is or not, we will have to decrypt the cipher first.”
“Although I have dabbled in Wizard cryptography, I am not much of an expert. I might not be able to break this cipher, but I can recommend someone to you.”
…
After a while, Angel and Sanders arrived at the Source of Flow.
Soon after entering, they heard a “clang clang” sound in their ears, which at first resonated from a distance but quickly approached at a rapid pace.
As the sound grew nearly adjacent, Angel looked up.
A shadow leaped from the other side of the hill, akin to a jumping spider, its kinetic energy carrying it into the air to merge with the clouds. Accompanied by the sound of rushing wind and a noise akin to a train whistle, the figure plummeted from the skies and landed before them, stirring up a cloud of grass and dust.
This was an Ironsheet House with legs, patched up all over. The clangs came from the patches striking the walls. There was a chimney on the roof of the Ironsheet House, emitting spirals of blue smoke.
This was Ironclad Fort.
The Ironclad Fort came to a stop in front of them, its door opening with a ladder dropping down.
“Let’s go. In Barbarian Cave, no one knows Wizard cryptography better than Book Elder, except for Ironclad Granny,” Sanders was the first to climb aboard.
The Book Elder rarely met with outsiders, so to break the parchment’s cipher, Ironclad Granny was the obvious choice.
Inside Ironclad Fort, a beautiful melody wound through the room. The silver-haired Ironclad Granny sat amidst steam machinery and lush greenery, holding a steaming teacup.
“Angel has arrived, come sit,” Ironclad Granny greeted him warmly with a smile, and after saying hello, she looked at Sanders, “You’re here too?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Granny, just came to visit,” replied Sanders.
“If Angel said that, I’d believe it. But you…” Ironclad Granny spoke with a slightly reproachful tone, “You and Sumishe are the same. I don’t believe for a second you’d come without a reason.”
After saying this, Ironclad Granny turned to Angel, “Don’t you follow their example.”
Angel nodded resolutely without hesitation, readily dismantling Sanders’s facade, “Certainly not.”
Ironclad Granny immediately smiled broadly, pouring a cup of hot tea and placing it in front of Angel.
After Sanders was seated, both the teacup and pot were in front of him, but Ironclad Granny remained motionless, her attentiveness to Angel a stark contrast to her indifference towards Sanders.
Sanders, expressionless, picked up the teapot and poured his own tea.
After a sip of hot tea, Ironclad Granny looked over the master and apprentice opposite her for a moment.
Finally, she set her gaze on Sanders, “Well, tell me, what brings you to me?”
Sanders gestured for Angel to extract the parchment, and only after Ironclad Granny had taken the parchment did Sanders reveal his purpose.
“Breaking a cipher,” Ironclad Granny said as she stroked the parchment, seeing the cipher pattern clearly, “This is a typical synthetic cipher without a self-destruct mechanism, not too difficult to break.”
“`
“Two solutions,” the Ironclad Granny said, “one is to slowly unravel it, which will probably take two or three months to complete. The other is a brute force decryption that destroys the Wizard’s code. I can do that for you right now, but the downside is that once damaged, this parchment will quickly disintegrate. However, I can assure you of one thing, you should have a few seconds to read the contents of the parchment before it collapses.”
Sanders didn’t respond, obviously leaving the decision to Angel.
Angel fell into thought. Both methods had their pros and cons. Brute force decryption had many downsides, with the only advantage being its speed. If he chose to slowly unravel it, there would be no downsides, only it was relatively slower compared to brute force.
How to choose?
After pondering for a moment, Angel ultimately chose the brute force decryption.
Brute force decryption indeed had many drawbacks, but the mere advantage of speed was enough. After all, he couldn’t possibly wait in the Barbarian Cave for several months. And regarding the content the parchment carried, with a Wizard’s ability, as long as it could be made visible, even for just an instant, there would be ways to record it. So, whether or not to keep the parchment that contained the information was not important.
The Ironclad Granny had no comment on Angel’s choice, simply smiling, “If it’s a brute force decryption, then it’s simple.”
The ‘simple’ from the Ironclad Granny was indeed simple.
A flash of red light passed through her hands and pressed directly onto the parchment. When the red light touched the thin parchment, it turned into a flame and began burning along the parchment’s peculiar patterns.
In an instant, the patterns on the parchment were burned away.
When the patterns had completely disappeared, the Ironclad Granny said, “The code is broken, but the parchment will disintegrate in two seconds.”
Not long after the Ironclad Granny’s words, the parchment turned into a wisp of blue smoke and vanished.
However, before the parchment disappeared, Angel had already recorded everything. Instant memory recall was not feasible with his current ability, but he could use the communicator to leave behind an image.
Angel started to review the image left on the communicator.
When he saw the words in the image, his eyes lit up, “It really is a Meditation Method! And a complete one at that!”
Although Sanders did not leave an image, a single glance told him it was undoubtedly a Meditation Method.
A Meditation Method with a guaranteed value of 9 points, if it were to be exchanged in the outside world, this Star Frost Meditation Method would probably surprise countless people, but inside the Ironclad Fort, not a single person was surprised.
Sanders was indifferent because, with the Singularity Scattering Meditation Method as a pearl before him, a base value of 9 points was simply not impressive.
The Ironclad Granny was also indifferent. She had seen too many big events, and if a single Meditation Method could shake her composure, her life would have been lived in vain.
Although not curious about the Meditation Method, the Ironclad Granny could tell that this one must have come from the Abyss, and it was probably one of the Wizards who fell in Lassudral that Angel had mentioned in the Spirit Tree Hall.
As for obtaining it, what surprised her was Angel’s feat of bringing this Guiding Method out of Monty’s hands.
Realizing it was genuinely the Star Frost Meditation Method, Angel let out a sigh of relief and thanked the Ironclad Granny. He intended to offer a thank-you gift, but the Ironclad Granny refused, saying, “If you have time, come and chat with Granny more often, that will be enough.”
Angel naturally nodded in agreement.
In the following time, Angel chatted with the Ironclad Granny about the events in the Abyss and also expressed his gratitude for the “life-saving water” she had given him before.
After the pleasantries, they prepared to leave.
Before leaving the Ironclad Fort, the Ironclad Granny handed a voucher card to Angel.
On one side of the card was written Source of Flow, and on the other, a number: 13.
The Ironclad Granny said, “This is the ownership voucher card for Laboratory Number 13. As long as you don’t die, Laboratory Number 13 will always belong to you, which means the rental card you had before is now obsolete.”
Angel was taken aback; he remembered that the Alchemy Laboratories were supposed to be for Official Wizards only?
“According to tradition, indeed only Official Wizards can obtain ownership of an Alchemy Laboratory. But tradition and special cases do not conflict. When you were designated to join the core ranks by Lord Rhein, that became a special case.”
The Alchemy Laboratory itself was a benefit given by the Barbarian Cave to Official Wizards, and many Official Wizards weren’t even part of the core. Angel had already ascended to the core ranks and as an Alchemist at that, so it was only normal for him to be given a well-equipped Alchemy Laboratory.
Angel hadn’t expected that by returning to Source of Flow, he would receive these two great gifts.
He was still a bit dazed when he left.
…
On the way back to Illusion Demon Island, Sanders brought up the Star Frost Meditation Method.
“Although the Star Frost Meditation Method isn’t the best among those special Guiding Techniques, after all, it’s property of the Frostmoon Alliance. If you let others practice it, you must be careful and cautious, don’t let them expose the existence of the Guiding Method, or it will bring endless trouble,” Sanders warned.
Angel nodded in understanding; he was naturally aware of this.
Meditation Methods touched on the core issues of a Witcher Organization and were not to be taken lightly.
Generally speaking, as long as one did not invade another’s Mind Space, it was impossible to tell which Meditation Method they were practicing from the outside.
That’s why Angel dared to give the Meditation Method to his brother Lyon for practice.
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