Hayek stood in the center of the arena, his eyes slightly closed, feeling the residual energy fluctuations around him.
The aftermath of the battle still echoed throughout the field, with scorched marks in the corners.
In the center lay a mess of sand and dirt, and the massive scorpion-lion corpse lay like a small mountain in the middle of the field.
"Strange... the soul resilience of Abyss creatures is usually much stronger than ordinary creatures; it shouldn’t dissipate so quickly."
The vice-dean frowned slightly, his fingers gently sweeping through the air.
A mini detection array took shape in the air, then transformed into dense energy threads that pierced into the scorpion-lion’s corpse.
After a few seconds of traversing the interior of the corpse, the magic silk threads began to pulsate in a special rhythm, conveying the detection results to Hayek.
After the battle, there should be a significantly thick presence of soul energy on the field.
Especially for such a Golden Ring level hybrid modulation creature, its soul energy should take several days or even a week to completely dissipate.
However, at this moment, the energy had already become so thin it was almost nonexistent, as if rapidly absorbed by some invisible force.
"Perhaps its energy structure is inherently unstable?"
Hayek mused to himself, then shook his head:
"It’s not unheard of, just rare."
This experiment had already provided plenty of valuable data—the stability of this scorpion-lion, ordered from some supplier at the Abyss outpost base, was far less than expected.
The instability of its internal structure even affected the preservation time of soul energy, which is a serious defect for experimental creatures.
"Seems like there’s no need to purchase from there anymore in the future."
Hayek contemplated, already considering finding better supplier alternatives.
Even for a Moon level wizard like him, the price of such Abyss hybrid modulation creatures is by no means cheap.
But after going through the Crystal Tower’s public account reimbursement, he felt no burden at all, and could even pocket some profit.
Thinking of this, Hayek gently raised his hand, drawing out several complex magic trajectories with his fingertips.
As these trajectories formed, the dirt and sand around the arena began to move on their own, gradually returning to their pre-battle level state.
The scorched marks were easily wiped away by a magic storm, broken rocks reassembled, and even the corroded pits were filled with fresh soil.
This precision down to the millimeter in material manipulation is one of the hallmark abilities of an official wizard.
Finally, Hayek turned his attention to the scorpion-lion’s corpse.
He traced a complex hexagram array in the air with both hands, with each magical line containing the tempered knowledge of his centuries-long wizarding career.
The blue-white magic silk threads enveloped the massive scorpion-lion corpse like a spider’s web, gradually permeating its every fiber.
Various decay processes would be frozen, while preserving the remaining life energy, ensuring that during the anatomy guidance the next day, this corpse would still retain sufficient freshness and research value.
"Its life energy is exceptionally strong, which is characteristic of Abyss creatures."
Hayek nodded in satisfaction:
"Even though the soul energy dissipated faster than usual, the tissue vitality is still high enough to support the entire anatomy guidance process."
He cast one last glance over the arena, making sure everything was restored to its original state, then lightly waved his sleeve, causing a ripple of magic to spread, extinguishing all the maintenance arrays.
"Tomorrow’s anatomy guide will be very interesting, especially for that young alchemist."
For such an apprentice displaying rare omnipotent talent, Hayek slightly regretted not being able to bring them under his tutelage.
But as the vice-dean, he still retained a unique privilege—organizing dissection courses.
By imparting knowledge face to face to many potential wizard seeds, he could also obtain a reasonable amount of favors.
No matter how much political maneuvering or resource competition there might be, nothing surpassed this direct and effective method of acquiring "favors."
In the Extraordinary World, power is the ultimate measure of everything.
And "favors" are the key to maintaining such power.
For him, guiding this group of exceptionally gifted young people, especially the likes of Ron, Holt, and Trish, the "favors" gained would be all the more substantial.
These elites among elites could often understand the imparted knowledge more profoundly, thus generating purer "favors."
"After handing out the competition prizes tomorrow, then conducting the anatomy guidance, I haven’t actually seen much of this Abyss creature, it’s worth a good study, maybe there will be some unexpected discoveries."
Hayek took one last look at the scorpion-lion’s corpse encapsulated by an energy shield, and then turned to leave the arena.
Behind him, the light blue energy shield emitted a faint glow, encompassing the fearsome hybrid modulation creature perfectly preserved within, as elemental servants automatically moved forward to prepare to transport it to a designated location.
.........
When night fell completely over the Black Mist Jungle, the lights in the workshop remained bright.
Ron pushed open the workshop door, with Dale happily following behind.
As they stepped into the foyer, Lilia hurried up to them, her face filled with both anticipation and worry.
"Teacher! You’re back safely!"
The girl’s voice carried undisguised joy, but there was a hint of concern in her eyes:
"How did the competition turn out? Did those combat servants or the vice-dean’s experimental subjects hurt you..."
Her words revealed the concern she had been harboring these past days.