Chapter 358: Chapter 50: New Level 0 Witchcraft, Level 5 Star Badge Rating

Black Tower Academy.

Deep Red Rose Wizard Laboratory.

The famed Rose Judge, Yi Lin, stood perfectly still in the center of her workshop.

Her brow was furrowed as she stared at the dozen or so Crystal Stone Plates floating before her.

The dense Divination symbols and deductive paths twisted and intertwined like vines, trapping her in a maze with no exit.

This maze was called a Divination Maze.

Most Official Wizards spent the majority of their long research careers spinning their wheels in such mazes, struggling to find a way out.

Just when they managed to break free from one, a new, more complex maze would already be waiting for them before they could even catch their breath.

It was never-ending!

There was even a widely recognized term circulating in the Wizard Circle to describe this torture: the Divination Nightmare.

In the eyes of Apprentices, every Wizard was an unattainable master in the domain of Divination.

But few Apprentices knew that deep down, most Wizards actually detested Divination.

There was no other reason; they had simply been tormented by the Divination Nightmare for far, far too long.

A few seconds later.

Yi Lin muttered a curse under her breath, "Dammit."

This Divination Maze before her offered no direction whatsoever—the single most frustrating problem for any Wizard.

If there was a path, no matter how difficult, one could at least grit their teeth and push forward step by step.

But without any direction at all, she would have to feel her way, inch by inch, through a thick fog where she couldn’t even see her own hand.

This process of exploration would undoubtedly consume a vast amount of time. Over ninety percent of it would likely be squandered on incorrect avenues of inquiry, with the fruitful results coming from less than ten percent of the total effort.

Yi Lin stood bewildered for a moment before an uncontrollable thought suddenly surfaced in her mind. ’Should I just toss this problem to Mo Ning’s research group?’

No one knew that this Rose Judge, who struck fear into countless hearts, had secretly been using this exact method to solve several of her most vexing Divination problems over the past few months.

Her technique was extremely practiced—she would take an overwhelmingly large Divination problem, break it down into several seemingly independent sub-problems, and discreetly assign them to different research groups.

The most difficult, core part of the problem would, more often than not, be "coincidentally" slipped to the 18th research group, where Mo Ning worked.

And every single time, that group managed to surprise her.

They always employed some sort of original, ingenious approach to solve the problem with ease.

Every time Yi Lin read their submitted solutions, her eyes would light up. ’So it can be done this way!’

Of course, this Wizard knew better than anyone that the truly crucial insights for solving these problems undoubtedly came from a spark of Spiritual Light in Mo Ning’s mind.

She was perfectly aware of the actual skill level of the other members of the 18th research group.

Those people were certainly diligent, and their attitudes were impeccable, but the core Spirituality required for Divination research seemed to be naturally insulated from their brains.

It was for this very reason that Yi Lin felt the precious drop of Soul Spirit Water she had gifted to Mo Ning back then was an incredibly worthwhile investment.

But she hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. ’No, I can’t become too reliant on others. I should do this myself.’

Over-reliance usually led to only one outcome: a gradual, unnoticed decline in one’s own Divination skills.

Relying on one’s own strength to overcome one Divination problem after another was the one true path to honing one’s skills and climbing higher.

This was a truth proven countless times by her predecessors.

Yi Lin figured that since the project’s progress had already been forcibly accelerated by more than a year thanks to that previous "assistance," she could afford to squander at least half a year on this.

"I’ll just take my time," the Rose Judge murmured softly.

Just then.

The will of the Witch Spirit descended.

Yi Lin’s mechanical eye whirred with a few soft clicks. Her tone was completely flat. "Good thing I’m not feeling inspired right now. Otherwise, I would never let you off the hook."

From her tone, it seemed such a tragedy had occurred before—she would finally capture a precious spark of inspiration, only for the Witch Spirit’s will to descend and snuff that glimmer of light out completely.

If that was truly the case, her severe lack of goodwill toward the Witch Spirit was understandable.

Faced with this resentment, the Witch Spirit’s mechanical voice revealed a hint of caution:

"Lady Yi Lin, an important paper written by Mo Ning has been delivered. Please conduct your review."

The word "conduct" had barely been spoken when a thick stack of papers appeared silently on the desk.

The instant the word "review" was said, the Witch Spirit’s will had already retreated from the scene at the speed of light.

No, perhaps the word "fled" would be a more apt description.

To be honest, the scene would have looked rather comical to an outsider.

According to standard procedure, when delivering a paper, the Witch Spirit would always meticulously recite the full title.

But here, it had unhesitatingly skipped that step, as if afraid that saying even one more word would cause a certain volcano to erupt.

Still, it hadn’t forgotten the two words "important paper," thus fulfilling the bare minimum of its duties with painstaking diligence.

The moment Yi Lin heard the two words "Mo Ning," most of her annoyance dissipated.

THUD—

A volume of paper hit the desk with a heavy, muffled sound.

The Rose Judge’s gaze fell upon the cover, and she immediately noticed something unusual.

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