Comprehensive network wizard, magic emperor.

Chapter 365 The Hidden Classroom, Reunion with an Old Friend
"Wow, it's exam time! It's exam time!"

"Could you please not say such frightening things so early in the morning?"

"But we really have an exam coming up."

The courtyard outside the lighthouse was bustling with noise. Players from the network chatted and laughed. Among them, those who had studied at the magic academy were more at ease on exam day, and they were sharing their experiences from back then.

Lin Bo stood in the crowd and listened for a while. It turned out that students were miserable no matter where they were. Except for the warlock academy, which was relatively easy, the education model of the spellcaster system that relied on intellect was extremely stressful.

As dawn broke, the lighthouse doors opened, and Iron Guard led the players to the second floor.

Both [Flying Sword Apprentice] and Lin Bo have completed the story missions, but the former is still willing to participate in the exam in order to obtain a more generous reward.

The archmage announced the examination items: to comprehend one to five magical runes from scratch, inscribe them on an object, and finally determine the results based on the quality of the finished product.

A blue quality is considered acceptable, a purple quality is considered excellent, and a light gold quality is considered perfect. However, even a perfect score is equivalent to the standard for an extremely difficult task.

The exam lasts 12 hours. You may submit your paper and leave early. Those who choose not to take the exam may wait in the library until the time is up, but may not move around freely.

The auditors agreed and flooded into the multi-purpose classroom.

The Grand Master was in charge of proctoring the exam, while Lin Bo stayed where he was.

Since the dungeon rewards hadn't been settled yet, he had nothing to do. Looking around, the lighthouse's brick and wooden floors told him that some mage pets, such as pseudo-dragons, cats, and imps, used to roam here, spying on secrets.

Lin Bo chuckled. As far as he knew, the Lighthouse had no secrets. The elixir of immortality hidden by the apprentices was nothing remarkable; the underground workshop contained some machinery, an alchemy room, and a warehouse.

As for the concealed spacetime bubble, it only contained some miscellaneous items.

Thinking this, he casually lifted the black cloth on the round table, revealing a crystal ball of pure, clear force field, which was empty inside.

This is unexpected. Could it be that the rubbings have discarded everything?
Lin Bo raised an eyebrow and stared intently, then picked up the Time Bubble in his hand and examined and caressed it closely.

This is not the same as the storage force field sphere he created. It was enchanted with some kind of intricate magic that superimposed many different spacetimes.

The editors' association of the web series tampered with this little gadget when creating the dungeon.

Lin Bo cannot directly sense the celestial distance inside the force field sphere through the closed spacetime field, but he can interpret the properties it is endowed with through magical aura.

As a form of dragon magic, it can speak openly and frankly to the ancient saints.

He then understood. Turning his head to look around at the wall inlaid with the teleportation portal, his gaze lingered on a blank space. In his field of vision, that blank wall concealed a door, which would appear once certain conditions were met.

"The Room of Requirement?" Lin Bo smiled wryly. "This isn't Hogwarts."

The magic principle behind the Time-Space Bubble is to stack hundreds of rooms of different types and functions together. As long as someone holds a crystal ball and walks around the second floor eight times along the wall, they can specify a corresponding room according to their wishes and display a portal on the wall.

This is the secret of Lighthouse Academy—the hidden classroom.

Lin Bo was so familiar with this place that he was somewhat blind to his own surroundings, hindered by his own mental blind spots.

He walked to the wall without circling around, silently chanted a spell to break the concealment spell, raised his hand and pressed the doorknob. He had already touched the gravitational waves coming through the portal. His celestial vision captured hundreds of different room scenes, including a luxurious bathroom, a sky garden, a flight training ground, a cozy bedroom, a spacious swimming pool, and a winter boiler room.

As your gaze sweeps across these layers of time and space, at the very depths lies the room the Grand Mage used to store miscellaneous items.

Turn the handle and the door opens.

Lin Bo stepped inside, as if he had returned to the second floor of the lighthouse, where all the furniture and decorations were just as they were before he came here.

The previous lighthouse keeper's living space was cramped and uncomfortable, cold in winter and hot in summer, filled with his many old belongings and utensils he couldn't bear to throw away. The plaster on the walls was damp and peeling, revealing the mottled bricks underneath.

Downstairs in the kitchen, a bubbling soup pot emitted the fresh, fishy smell of shellfish and seaweed, while upstairs, the Fresnel lens was running and the whale oil generator was humming softly.

Lin Bo pulled out old Tim's holly wood chest from under the bed. Inside were 10,000 Imperial copper coins, a collection of conch shells and pebbles, and a wood carving.

He gently picked up the crude wooden carving in the shape of a robot and examined it closely.

This is Lin Bo's first remnant artifact, "Little Tim's Robot Doll," which was sacrificed to the online community and turned to ashes. I never expected to see it again.

He carefully stroked it, and this time, he didn't hear any echoing sound, only the story told by the wood itself. The iron steps of the spiral staircase behind him tapped out with his footsteps, slowly and lightly, stopping to rest every now and then, rubbing his calves and tapping his knees, but eventually he reached the second floor.

"Who are you?" the visitor asked in Kening language, sounding surprised and uncertain.

Lin Bo turned around and saw old Tim. He hadn't changed at all; his face was as dark as a rock, his short hair was all white, and his wrinkles were etched.

“My name is… Lin Bo. I’m not a thug, nor a criminal, just a stranger who wandered here.”

"How did you sneak up to the second floor? I didn't hear any noise in the kitchen." Old Tim remained vigilant, constantly scrutinizing the young man in white's face and attire, but gradually relaxed, then stared at the wood carving in Lin Bo's hand.

"Forgive my intrusion." Lin Bo put the wooden carving back. "A very interesting little object. It looks quite old."

“Alright, kid, don’t stay where I sleep. This is the Night’s Watch’s territory, just like Stone Tower is Lord Pearl’s territory, White Rock Island is Grand Duke Ancher’s territory, and Kenning is the Emperor’s territory. You can’t just barge in like that. Come downstairs with me. The mussels are ready. If you’re hungry, you can eat some with me. If you’re not hungry, just watch me eat. I still have to interrogate you.”

Lin Bo nodded. He obediently followed Old Tim, reminding him, "The generator needs refueling."

"how do you know?"

"I could tell from listening to it."

"So you're still a mechanic? Go downstairs and get something to eat first. Don't steal my candy and coffee. I'll go check if that's true. Kid, you can also run away now, and I'll pretend I never saw you."

Lin Bo waited in the kitchen for a while. The mussels in the pot had all opened up, and there was also a bucket of fresh oysters. It was the early hours of the morning, and this was the night watchman's breakfast.

Old Tim hummed as he came downstairs. "Your ears are pretty sharp, and your hands and feet are still clean. Since you haven't left, let's eat together. But I only have an oyster knife."

"I brought my own." Lin Bo smiled, took out a small knife from the ammunition pouch, pried open the shell, cut the byssal threads, and put the fresh meat into his mouth. The cool, metallic smell was also a kind of seasoning.

He chatted with old Tim for a long time, the seashells at his feet piled up into small mounds, and he also ate some bread and potatoes roasted over the embers of the hearth.

"Child, do you have somewhere to go?"

Lin Bo smiled and shook his head.

"Well then, stay here for a few days, it's up to you. Go to town and look for work, or go to Jinbei City." Old Tim scratched his stubble. "You're quick and efficient, so do some chores for me, as payment for your meals, okay?"

Lin Bo agreed, while old Tim went back to his bedroom and fell fast asleep, he was really tired.

Maintaining the lighthouse was not a troublesome task, and Lin Bo was already used to it. After tidying up the first floor, he stood in the front yard and pondered.

He was certain that this old Tim was alive. The method of resurrecting living beings was commonplace for players of the cross-network, but resurrecting someone who had died due to the end of their lifespan was something that even a complete resurrection spell could not do, or rather, they would die again the moment they returned, requiring an elixir of immortality to prolong their life.

Linbo never intended to resurrect Old Tim, but seeing his friend and benefactor again still made him sigh at the passage of time.

He gazed silently into the hidden classroom, a space smaller than the cape, containing only him and old Tim, two living people.

This is a much longer history.

It is even further back than the point at which he came into this world.

The salty sea breeze tells its memories and stories, the pungent soil in the courtyard, the pungent weeds, the fragrant asters, the oysters on the tip of the tongue, and the metallic taste.

The stories told by these auras were different from those in his memory. And this subtle difference transformed into extremely faint murmurs, rambling in ancient sacred language, forming illusions in Lin Bo's mind.

He was very familiar with this illusion, even encountering it daily. Players of the current version of the game will be no stranger to it, because it is the echo of history hidden within the relics.

Lin Bo has been conceiving of the concept of the "Sacred Embryo of Time," but he is struggling to find the external effects of this fundamental element.

Unexpectedly, without the casting of a specific sacred embryo, the traces of time itself were directly captured through the senses of smell and taste.

He slowly sighed, closed his eyes to meditate, silently recited his true name, and began to carefully sense the echoes of time. This was an opportunity not to be missed.

The high mage who was proctoring the exam in the general classroom suddenly paused, and also silently recited his true name, relying on the resonance of words to send out computing power as an aid.

They wanted to take this opportunity to thoroughly refine their concept for the "Sacred Embryo of Time".

(End of this chapter)