He looked at Ron meaningfully:
"It even makes me feel that you’re three times stronger than Cassandra back in the day, and you’re even more... balanced than she was."
The last word, Uther said lightly, but Ron keenly captured its meaning.
Balance, this counts as the highest praise for him.
Pursuing power while maintaining rationality, encountering taboo while maintaining restraint, such qualities are indeed extremely rare in the Wizard World.
The silver light finally reached the docking capsule of the observation station.
The heavy biological metal doors sensed Uther’s Void Power and slid silently to the sides.
As they stepped onto solid ground, Ron felt a long-lost sense of security.
The flow of Magic Power here is stable and orderly, forming a sharp contrast with the chaos of the Abyss outside.
"Let’s go, let’s head to my office." Uther gestured: "There are some important matters that need discussing with you."
.........
In the office, the desk composed of living bones emitted slight "crunching" sounds, as if chewing some invisible food.
Ron noticed that there were some items on the desk he hadn’t seen before.
A divination sphere made of black crystal, its surface covered densely with prophetic runes.
Several rolls of ancient parchment exuded a thick sense of time sedimentation, the edges having yellowed and curled, clearly quite old.
The most striking was a delicate silver hourglass.
What worried Ron more was Uther’s current state.
In the projection of the other person, occasional chaotic light spots flashed.
Those spots were like shards of stars, flickering irregularly, giving an extremely unstable feeling.
"Professor, you look..." Ron cautiously began.
"Look like I’ve just experienced a nightmare?"
Uther interrupted his words with a bitter smile:
"Exactly. The divination we conducted earlier... the cost was larger than I expected."
He reached out to gently stroke the divination sphere on the desk.
"Chloe should have told you, my current state is no longer suitable for deep divination."
Uther’s voice became somewhat hoarse:
"The accumulated Divination Rebound over thousands of years is like a poisonous snake hidden deep within the soul, ready to strike at any moment."
"Then why did you..." Ron’s voice carried concern.
"Because some things must be confirmed." Uther’s gaze deepened:
"About Eve’s healing method, about your future, and... about the fate of all of us."
The inside of the divination sphere began to reveal blurry images, but those images were extremely chaotic, like shattered reflections of a broken mirror.
Ron could vaguely recognize some fragments:
A black-haired girl’s pained expression gradually easing, with golden light slowly flowing around her;
But in the next moment, the scene switched to a blood-red sky and collapsing buildings...
"Prophecy is never a definite answer, but a collection of possibilities."
Uther seemed to notice Ron’s confusion:
"What I see is merely broken symbols, needing wisdom to interpret and assemble."
He pointed to a scene in the divination sphere, displaying a blooming flower, but its roots deeply embedded in dark soil:
"Eve’s treatment... has hope, but the process will be arduous. Relying solely on conventional Favor feedback is not enough. The essence of Demon Devouring is a rule-level Rebound, needing even more powerful forces to completely eradicate."
His gaze shifted to those ancient parchments:
"To enhance the success rate of the healing method, I’m considering using a... extremely special approach."
"What approach?" Ron asked, a sense of ominous foreboding already within his heart.
"Historical Projection Summoning." Uther’s tone became deep:
"I can consume a large amount of origin power, leveraging my connection with the ’Eye of Observation’ to summon projections of wizards from history who excel in healing and defect-compensation."
"If three to four such historical projections can be summoned simultaneously, coupled with your Favor feedback, the success rate of Eve’s treatment will exceed seventy percent."
Upon hearing this, Ron’s premonition turned into reality.
Judging from Uther’s weakened state after the last Projection Summoning against Chai Ye, the cost of such a technique could be very high.
Moreover, the previous summoned helpers were old familiar faces like students or friends.
This time, the wizard projections to assist would certainly not be as connected as Cassandra and Calix, potentially requiring an even greater cost.
Given Uther’s current state, this attempt is likely...
"Professor, the cost of this Summoning..." he cautiously asked.
"Cost?" Uther chuckled lightly, but there was an undertone of relief in his laughter:
"To be honest, I’m fated to have not long to live. The ’strong’ state you felt just now was actually the result of compressing my remaining Life Energy."
He pointed to the silver hourglass:
"According to normal aging, I might exist for another twenty to thirty years at most, but after this deep divination and Historical Projection Summoning..."
The fragments in the hourglass flowed faster:
"This time will be shortened to within a few years, or even shorter."
Uther’s calm acceptance left Ron shaken.
The old professor was discussing his death timetable with a nearly relaxed tone.
"However, you need not feel burdened by this." Uther seemed to perceive Ron’s thoughts: