Interplanar Experiment
“Duke Gilbert has already told me in detail about the dangers related to the astral gate!” Leylin had a smile on his face, but his expression was as resolute as ever.
“But if we don’t communicate with other worlds and obtain their unique knowledge and resources, how can we improve? In the pursuit of knowledge, I’m willing to do anything!” Magi desired truth more than any other being did.
Having seen Leylin’s expressions, Robin let out a long sigh, “In that case, prepare the designated protective gear and memorise the escape spell...”
Gilbert’s basement laboratory, the core of the region.
Scribbles of detailed and complex runes and graphics dotted the four walls. Leylin need only slightly take a glance to discover that there were quite a few high-level runes he himself had yet to see.
“High-level air isolation rune! And this flawed rune pattern! It seems like I have seen this previously in the ancient records of Twilight Zone...” Leylin let out a gasp of surprise, and at the same time ordered the A.I. Chip to record all of the runes down.
At that point in time, a layer of black film appeared atop him. Like a protective suit, it enveloped his entire body, not leaving the smallest part uncovered.
Moreover, after having entered the area, he had experienced at least three
This biochemical clothing could effectively isolate any pollution that would be passed on from other worlds through the astral gate. Hence, it was an essential piece of equipment for experiments on it.
“Just based on the meticulous preparation, one would be able to tell the complex and terrifying nature of astral gate experiments...” Leylin sighed once again. His eyes could not help but once again gaze at the center of the laboratory.
At the center, a large area of starlight was giving off bright rays. The interior seemed to contain something, but Leylin was unable to see clearly given his current eyesight.
“That is the physical state of a astral gate. Just opening one would exhaust my resources greatly, maybe even making me bankrupt...”
Leylin silently contemplated in his heart. The energy consumption of a astral gate was just too terrifying. After giving it some thought, he realised that even he, with his vast funds, could not endure such a thing. It was no wonder that some Morning Star Magi would become bankrupt after studying astral gates.
“Quick! Prepare the experiment!”
Robin had a layer of protective film around his body as well, and was going about his preparations at a table in the corner.
In reality, they were still some distance away from the real gate to the Star Realm. Duke Gilbert was at the center of it all, where a circle of magic runes was radiating a golden glow.
The students, including an old man, whose spiritual force had reached the Crystal Phase, could only wait outside this circle, unable to advance further.
“The running time of a astral gate is very precious. Currently, it is at its lowest limit and can only allow the passage of spiritual force coordinate markers! All of you, come try one by one!” Duke Gilbert’s voice echoed.
“Leylin, it’s the first time you’re taking part in experiments like these! You can just observe what I do first!” Robin said from beside him.
“Yes!” Leylin’s eyes radiated a sparkling blue glow, and he stared at Robin’s movements attentively.
Duke Gilbert took out a piece of golden crystal, and threw it towards the centremost blue flame.
*Boom!* The golden crystal collided with the blue flames, and instantly a violent reaction occurred. A large amount of golden light was radiated, which was immediately absorbed by the blue flames.
Blue rays of energy extended towards the loops of the spells before finally arriving before the few rank 3 Warlocks and forming a mercuric mirror that caved in slightly, one that had at its center a black ripple.
“This feeling! It’s quite similar to that of the ancient teleportation spell formation, but it possesses a greater degree of disorder and violence...” Leylin compared the two in his mind.
A bright silver ray of spiritual force emerged from Robin’s head, and rapidly formed a flower bud in the air. Runes were formed on the surface which quickly went into the mirror.
“This spacetime positioning experiment is extremely simple. With the repeated casting of coordinates into astral gates, we might stumble upon a different world, or it might be picked up by an intelligent being. Generally speaking the probability is extremely low, and there may not even be a single case of success within ten thousand tries!”
“Then isn’t this just trying our luck?” Leylin rolled his eyes in his heart, and was somewhat speechless. However seeing Robin’s pale face, he knew that things were not as easy as what he had said.
“In the past, it was impossible for me to use my spiritual force to sense movements in the Twilight Zone through teleportation spell formations but now I have to use my spiritual force to explore the world! The difficulty level is incomparable! Even though I have already reached rank 3, and have the support and help of other Magi, I’m afraid the difficulty levels have not decreased much...”
*Boom!* Suddenly, an explosion sounded from Robin and he immediately took a few steps back, face pale.
“We have failed! My spiritual force coordinate marker met with spatial dysfunction, and has been completely extinguished!”
What they were doing now was sending the coordinate marker made from spiritual force to the astral plane between the various worlds to float in between, and they could only hope for good luck for the spiritual force to land in another world.
But the gaps between the worlds were fraught with dangers. The most fundamental was that of spatial interference, and there could even be a few strange beings that specifically stay within this space, who would not only destroy the spiritual force markers but even follow the markers back upstream, retaliating by launching an attack on the Magi who had sent out the markers!
As a result, Duke Gilbert would have to be watching on the side.
The destruction of the spiritual force marker was a common occurrence. Robin failed twice after, which caused his face to become as pale as a corpse.
‘With the amount of spiritual force that he exhausted in this experiment, Robin will have to rest up for a few days and spend time meditating to recover completely!’ Leylin thought to himself.
Like Robin, many other students in the laboratory had failed many times, and not one of them had successfully found an alternate world.
But there were still many differences between them. A female Warlock who possess a Vapour Phase spiritual force managed five attempts before she had to retreat to a corner to recover. Meanwhile, Robin was at his seventh attempt, while the white-haired old man, the strongest of the bunch, had made more than ten attempts.
“The disparity within rank 3 Warlocks is simply too huge!” Leylin let out a sigh in his heart after having seen this scenario.
“Phew! I can’t do this anymore! It’s your turn!” After having failed once again, Robin’s face was so pale that the blood vessels below were visible. He immediately retreated, and Leylin took over his position.
“You must have understood what was happening from your observations before this, right? It’s very easy, just simple usage of your spiritual force!” Robin retreated to the side, and swallowed a purple capsule which made him look better instantly.
“Alright! Let me do it!” Leylin eagerly walked forward, and large amounts of bright silver spiritual force were condensed into silvery-white seed-shaped substance.
Constructing a coordinate marker from spiritual force only required a simple usage of spiritual force, and any ordinary rank 1 Magus could do this easily.
Under Leylin’s control, the silvery-white seed slowly floated beyond him, and touched the indentation in the mirror.
*Bloop!* As if falling through a layer of water, the silvery white seed instantly penetrated the mirror.
However, instantly, Leylin’s face registered a change. He immediately felt his connection to the marker weakening. It took a large amount of spiritual force to maintain the connection.
Rays of silvery-white spiritual force repeatedly disseminated from his sea of consciousness, and he managed to maintain a faint connection to the marker.
‘No wonder only those at rank 3 or above can participate in this experiment! Just one attempt could drain the life out of most rank 2 Magi!’ Leylin sighed in his mind. Suddenly, he could feel the spiritual force seed he’d scattered coming under the control of a frantic tsunami, only able to float and sink with the waves. He was unable to pick a path to advance.
‘If it’s like this, everything depends on luck!’ Leylin smiled grimly; if he could not even control his spiritual force, of what use would anything be? The only option was to pray that he was lucky.
“Hmmm? Not good!” At this instant, two large air tides collided in the silver space, wedging his marker in between them.
Leylin tried to move the marker away, but it was to no avail. He could only watch as the two air tides collided, giving rise to a huge storm and extinguishing his seed.
‘Does this mean that I can only condense these coordinate marking seeds and try my luck for three times at most in a single session?’ Leylin was rendered speechless. With the experiment being completely dependent on pure luck, and no way to increase the success rate, his seniors had a huge advantage when compared to him.
It was no wonder that Duke Gilbert had solicited the help of so many students. The greater the number of attempts made, the greater the hope to succeed. However, the chances were still low and completely dependent on luck.
Leylin subconsciously reached for his waist pouch, before quickly withdrawing his hands.
The Coin of Destiny could only make predictions about matters beneath the Morning Star realm. Once the matter involved the crossover of various worlds, no matter how slight the contact, the coin would be completely destroyed without being able to make a single prediction.
Leylin took a glance at Robin, and once again condensed a spiritual force marker, sending it through the lens.