After the Ice Duke, Memphis, walked into the tavern, the place immediately became quiet. It was a lifeless silence, like the frozen plain outside under the cover of a snowstorm. It was dead and cold, eternal and unchanging.
"Thirty years is better than thirty thousand years?" The old man, who was probably a legendary sorcerer in the domain of souls, chuckled. He obviously thought that Memphiste, the Lord of Mysteries, was deceiving other people with his exaggerated words that contained part of the truth. "In the past ten years, you barely walked out of the Silent Iceberg. I'm even suspecting that you have secretly arrived at the main material world. Why have you come to my tavern today?"
He was reminding Lucien that the Lord of Mysteries was probably planning a great scheme that involved the main material world in the past ten years. So, he should not be fooled by him.
Memphiste laughed aloud. Then, he walked to the front of the bar and sat next to Lucien. He grabbed a bottle of Fire Wine and a bottle of Water Soul Wine and began to mix the flavors that he liked. "You can ask Evans whether or not I'm exaggerating. His very existence is the best proof."
He acted as if he were very familiar with the place.
Of the three legends, one was making drinks behind the bar, and the other two were sitting on the high chairs before the bar. On the bar, there was wine, glasses, and dim candlelight. It looked no different from a regular tavern. Who would've thought that they were three legends?
"Huh?" Hearing Memphiste's repetition, the old man began to take his words seriously. "In the first thirty thousand years of the ancient Magic Empire, legendary spells were invented one after another. There were complete schools of magic, a preliminary magic system, basic knowledge of mathematics and astrology, experiments with alchemical items, and the synthesis of bloodlines. Can they be achieved in thirty years?"
Born in the last glorious phase of the ancient Magic Empire, he was like an old noble who could not forget the glory of the past. Therefore, although he paid more attention to the Congress of Magic and the development of arcana, he did not join them. Also, he could not accept that what took the ancient Magic Empire thirty thousand years to achieve was only thirty years for "arcana".
The Ice Duke looked at Lucien, who was listening quietly as if it had nothing to do with him. He chuckled and said, "In the past thirty years, I have figured out the mysteries of gravity and found the sun …"
It was not an arcanist, and its words were not very precise. If it were Lucien, he would've said that he had made some preliminary studies on the nature of gravity.
"What? You found the sun?" The old man's dry fur that was wiping the wine glass fell and interrupted Memphiste's narration. His eyes were filled with shock as he looked at Memphiste and Lucien.
The location and existence of the sun had been a conundrum that had troubled the Imperium for tens of thousands of years. Every sorcerer wanted to crack the secret, including himself. However, even the talented "Sun King" Thanos, Mr. Maskelyne who was adept at astrology, and the first top legend in the Magic Empire who was close to a demigod, had to lower their noble heads in front of the problem and admit that they were still far away from the nature of the world.
But now, the sun had been discovered?
The Ice Duke did not mention the purpose of his visit at all, as if he were here to appreciate the old man's shock. He pointed at Lucien with a smile and said, "Of course, this is the discoverer and the creator of the relativistic system."
"You discovered the sun? The relativistic system? "asked the old man in a hurry. What was the relativistic system? When he left the main material world, the Congress of Magic didn't have such a term. After only thirty years, the world had become so strange to him?
Lucien did not give a straight answer but said with the solemnity of an arcanist, "Technically speaking, the main reason for the discovery of the sun was not the relativistic system. It was only a secondary factor."
I don't know much about arcana. Don't lie to me … The old man thought to himself. He hurried to take out a crystal ball that was covered in dust and began to perform divination.
Because they were in the Silent Hell, the effect of divination was limited. However, at this moment, the Ice Duke knocked the table and released the suppression of the demiplane. So, the old man reached a conclusion. "The sun has really been discovered … What's wrong with this world?"
The sun had a special place in the school of astrology and a special symbol in the domain of souls.
"I don't know what's wrong with this world, but a top legend has entered the Silent Hell. I should at least come and take a look, in case the Silent Iceberg is besieged one day without knowing what's going on." The Master of Mysteries said with a warm smile, as if he were not here to check the situation but to complete a business deal with Lucien.
"Top legend?" The old man glared at Lucien again. Although he did not know all the senior-rank sorcerers and archmages in the Congress of Magic, he did know the members of the Highest Council. Thirty years ago, the young man couldn't have entered the realm of legends, but he had become a legend and reached the peak after only thirty years? He was even more unbelievable than Brook!
"As far as I know, Evans has only studied magic for fifteen or sixteen years. Well, he didn't officially become a sorcerer until the year my predecessor completely perished," the Ice Duke added. Then, he chuckled in the old man's shock. "This is not the ancient Magic Empire where you can still become a big shot who can turn the situation around after decades of seclusion. Right now, whoever secludes himself and does not care about the development of arcana will be completely outdated in ten or twenty years. Not only will he not be able to become a mastermind or a key force, but he will also be crushed by the wheel of time."
He seemed to be mocking the old man's confusion after thirty years of seclusion and discovering the great changes in the world.
"Fifteen or sixteen years …" The old man could not express himself in words. What could he do in fifteen or sixteen years? He had only become a fifth-circle sorcerer after fifteen or sixteen years of learning magic.
After confirming the information that Lucien did not conceal with the crystal ball again, he heaved a long sigh. "Your existence alone is enough to show how terrifying the rapid development of arcana has been in the past decades."
After that, his eyes became scorching as he stared at Lucien. "You said just now that the Congress of Magic is only one step away from a breakthrough in the study of souls?"
"Theoretically speaking, yes." Lucien did not understand why the Ice Duke was helping him win the old man's trust. Therefore, he was rather cautious. "Old sir, what's your opinion on the nature of souls? For example, if a soul doesn't have its past memories and can never recover them, it also doesn't have the way of thinking and personality that it used to have, and even the waves and aura of its spiritual power have changed, then can we say that this soul is the same as the previous soul? "
"Well …" The old man pondered for a moment. He had considered the question before. His wife next to him was a striking but not extreme example. His special way of marking kept the waves of the soul unchanged.
However, this was a difficult question that was both philosophical and spiritual. It was obviously not easy to answer. After a long time, the old man said, "I don't think so. The five main characteristics of the soul have all changed. It is equivalent to a new soul."
"Then, if we inculcate the memories of the past into the soul, raise the way of thinking and the air of the past, and permanently change its waves of spiritual power with magic, will it become the soul that it used to be? Are souls born and superior to society, or are they social and can be artificially 'cultivated'? " Lucien asked sharply, "In the other case, if another soul melts with this soul and inherits its memories, thoughts, personality, frequency of waves, and air, but keeps the original memories, does it mean that it is equal to this soul right now?"
"For example, if Duke Memphis occupies your wife's soul and simulates her memories and other features, will it be equal to your wife? What is the most basic feature of the soul, or the most essential thing, exactly? "
The old man looked at his "wife" next to him with a gloomy face and found it hard to answer. The Ice Duke next to him deliberately 'livened up' the atmosphere. "As a matter of fact, for me, the most basic feature of the soul is the core of devils."
"I wonder, Mr. Evans, what's your opinion on the question?" The old man looked at Lucien sincerely and hopefully.
Lucien thought for a moment and said, "I've been to the World of Souls and seen the Furnace of Souls."
"The World of Souls? The Furnace of Souls? "The old man felt that he had been abandoned by time.
Lucien briefly introduced the World of Souls and the Furnace of Souls. Then, instead of talking about his core research, he said abstractly, "I believe that there should be a more fundamental feature of the soul, which is closely related to the Furnace of Souls. As for the specific details, I'm afraid that I can only discuss them with the arcanists after I return from the primeval hell."
The old man looked at the 'Fire Liquor' before him in silence. It was not until a long time later that he said, "I have my own studies on the soul. I hope that we can exchange our opinions."
As expected of a legendary sorcerer, he understood what I was implying immediately. Lucien smiled in satisfaction and made a fair exchange with the old man with his current understanding about the soul (not including the part that involved other arcana knowledge and a certain model, because it needed to be verified this time).
The old man's files on the soul were very detailed, including his studies on the soul and two legendary spells about the soul. Some of the experiments were so cruel that Lucien was unwilling to complete them and had been looking for other ways to verify them. Now that he had received the information, and the old man had also provided him with the files about the primeval relics deep inside hell, Lucien was even more confident.
The old man was also deep in thought as he read the files that Lucien provided. He rubbed his forehead, as if part of his understanding in the past had been overturned. He said to himself, "… In such a case, the resurrection, the phylactery, the effects of the Sword of Truth, and so on will all be self-consistent …"
Next to him, the Ice Duke's smiling face turned solemn. He looked at Lucien and said, "I'm here today to ask for a favor from you, Evans. I will provide you with more detailed files about the primeval hell."
Lucien crossed his hands and did not reply immediately. Was it his attitude, or the attitude of the Lord of Hell?
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