Don't disturb the sorcerer's scientific research

Chapter 153 Jia Xiu's First High-Level Meeting

"From which primordial crystal was this crystal created?"

After the initial excitement of seeing the parent class code for the healing spell subsided, Jia Xiu quickly realized something.

Since a replica made from genuine primordial crystals can include most of the healing-related skills, the original version should theoretically contain even more content.

"This entire series was completed based on number 24, 'Source of Healing,' which is currently located at the Fran Theological Research Institute in the Theocracy of Lille."

So-called theocratic states, as the name suggests, are countries directly led by religious leaders. Because of the existence of gods, such countries are not uncommon in the world.

For example, the Holy Light Church also has its own kingdom.

The theocratic state of Lille is located in the northwest corner of the continent, on the Lille Peninsula, and is a pantheon within the Sea of ​​Faith.

It's not the most common sea god worship; it's a belief that involves the deep sea, tentacles, shadows, and the like.

In this world of diverse beliefs, this is considered one of the more unorthodox ones.

Jia Xiu remembered the whereabouts of this primordial crystal.

"So, if, I mean if, I want to apply to the association for permission to use the Primal Crystal, what is the general process?"

"First, you need to submit your own resume. In principle, there is no restriction on the spellcaster's level, but in most cases, a legendary level is required, unless there are special circumstances, such as making significant achievements to prove personal ability."

That sounds familiar.

Although this job doesn't have strict educational requirements in principle, resumes from people who don't have a prestigious university background won't even be looked at.

"Are there a lot of people applying for each primordial crystal?"

"Yes, after the resume is approved, a research project report needs to be submitted. Only after confirming that the purpose is appropriate can the candidate apply for the defense."

"reply!"

Jia Xiu's voice suddenly became shrill.

"That's right. The defense and review are conducted by academicians from the research institute. They will verify the research from multiple dimensions, such as research value, feasibility, and difficulty of implementation. What's wrong?"

"Nothing much, I just got a little excited when I heard about the defense," Jia Xiu replied.

Do you really enjoy the thesis defense format?

"Oh, I love it! I love it so much!"

Jia Xiu has too many "wonderful memories" of his thesis defense.

However, the defenses he had experienced had nothing to do with debate; the answering part usually didn't go very smoothly either.

"Then I'm sure your defense will go very smoothly."

After confirming the crystal as the prize, the staff led Jia Xiu away from this small material plane.

Although it's a prize, there are still many procedures to go through, and there are also a series of procedures for the replica crystals to be released from the warehouse.

As Jia Xiu signed one form after another, he asked, "If, I mean if, this crystal is damaged, can I come back and get another one? I don't need anything else, just a replica of the same one."

"Of course not, and I suggest you abandon any thoughts like that. Every loophole you can think of is explicitly prohibited in the documents you are signing."

In the past hundreds of competitions between the five schools, the champions have included many "heroes" with many ideas.

Or rather, most of those who win championships are people who don't follow the usual path.

It's quite normal for a spellcaster to be mentally unstable.

Thanks to the explorations of generations of "predecessors," the association's various regulations have become quite comprehensive.

"Alright, all signed."

Jia Xiu put down his pen. "Can I leave now?"

"Of course... um, please wait a moment."

The staff seemed to have received some information. "Mr. Jia Xiu, you are required to go to the Elf Temple to attend the ongoing meeting. The bishop of the Holy Light Church has some questions to ask."

"A bishop of the Holy Light Church?"

Jia Xiu was startled. What was going on? Had his unusual deal with the Radiant Knight been exposed, or had his plan to sell loose "Jacob" been discovered?

A little nervous...

……

The deepest part of Hell, Nessus.

Lord of Hell, a great demon with divine power, the domain directly ruled by Asmodeus.

On the dark red plains, there are deep canyons, even deeper than ocean trenches, stretching for thousands of miles with no end in sight. Apart from the endless red expanse and the dust that fills the sky, all that can be seen here are huge rocks.

Some of the rocks appear to have been formed naturally, while many more seem to bear the marks of war.

This place has witnessed too many wars.

In the very heart of Nessus stands a massive fortress, as imposing as a mountain, on the plains; this is where Asmodeus's personal legion is stationed.

This fortress is so enormous that its highest spire rises nearly a thousand meters above the ground. Even the most magnificent engineering feats of the dwarves could not compare to this fortress.

It wasn't that the devil's craftsmanship was superior to that of the dwarves, but rather that the dwarves simply couldn't mobilize such a large workforce for their projects.

Throughout dwarven history, there has never been a single king who unified all the clans, so much so that even now, the largest organization formed by dwarves is a relatively loose alliance.

Moreover, dwarves charge money for their work.

But none of these problems apply to Asmodeus.

As the Lord of Hell who has ruled for thousands of years, whose position has never wavered despite numerous changes in rulers at other levels, his commands are divine pronouncements in Hell.

Therefore, this fortress was even built "voluntarily" by millions of demons, who provided their own food.

The tallest and most luxurious palace in this fortress is naturally the palace of Asmodeus.

He lived in the deep palace for many years, but he knew everything that happened in hell.

No devil knows exactly how many of his spies are in hell.

It is precisely because of this unknowability that the fear of him among other demons is etched into their very bones.

At this moment, Belial, the King of Lies, who had not yet fully resurrected and was only vaguely resembling a ghost, was trembling at the foot of the palace steps of the Lord of Hell.

However, he was not alone. The other two demonic rules in charge of the invasion of Celdarion were also not fully resurrected and were trembling along with Belial.

The devils who were high and mighty in the eyes of the lower-ranking devils were no different from the lowest of the lesser devils in Asmodeus's eyes.

Unlike their tense expressions, Asmodeus, standing in front of them, had a pleasant and gentle expression, as if he wasn't angry at all about their failed attempt.

If someone unaware of the true situation were to see Asmodeus for the first time, they certainly wouldn't mistake him for the powerful lord of hell.

Compared to the most terrifying demon, he was more like an elderly, strange old man from Tifflin.

He wore a wide, deep red robe, leaned on a cane, and had a long goatee.

If it weren't for the two horns on his head and his scarlet eyes, he wouldn't be much different from an old human man.

But those who know him understand that this is not Asmodeus's true form, but merely his projection.

As for what his true form is, no one in this generation of demons can say for sure.

Where the true body is hidden is even more impossible to determine.

Even the origins of Asmodeus are subject to much debate.

In some legends, he is a giant serpent from the beginning of creation, and the bottomless ravines in the depths of hell are the traces left by his crawling form.

In other accounts, he was originally a powerful god in the divine realm, but he was defeated in the civil war among the gods and banished to hell. However, fearing his great strength, even after his defeat, the other gods did not dare to go to hell to exterminate him.

Other versions include Asmodeus being the original demon, the source of all demonic power; the gods creating the ultimate weapon to fight demons, but it went out of control because it was too powerful... In short, no matter which version it is, one thing is the same.

He is too powerful.

So powerful that they don't seem to belong to the same species as other demons; their only commonality is that they are all demons in name only.

"Whose responsibility is this failure?"

Asmodeus's tone contained no blame, yet it still sent chills down the spines of the three noble devils.

“The primary responsibility lies with me,” Belial said first.

The other two devils were greatly shocked. Was this still Belial, the King of Lies?
He actually took the blame upon himself.

Belial continued, “It was all my fault for poor preparation and lack of planning that led to the failure to discover that the humans and elves had discovered our actions beforehand. I thought that the witches’ interference with the prophecy had already disrupted the prophet’s judgment.”

His words made it sound like he was really taking all the blame upon himself.

however.

“But!” Belial changed the subject, “Just before the operation, I realized that Theldarion’s defenses were off; they were too lax, so lax it was like a trap. Therefore, I thought we should postpone the operation and probe their strength. But then, those two were too hasty and jumped in first without permission…”

Belial began his smooth, skillful maneuvering of shifting blame.

The other two devils were in a very complicated mood. On the one hand, this was the Belial they knew, but on the other hand, they couldn't get the blame out of him.

"Therefore, the failure should be blamed on them."

“The primary responsibility must lie with me. However, their recklessness caused me to lose the opportunity to minimize the losses. I don’t want to blame them, after all, they have more war experience than I do.”

Belial's words and phrases about tea.

The other two demons only regretted that their arms and legs hadn't fully grown in yet, otherwise they would have fought Belial, who was spouting nonsense.

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

"We, we..."

When it comes to spouting nonsense, these two devils are clearly far less skilled.

Asmodeus lost his patience, struck the ground with his staff, and instantly, the two demons vanished into thin air.

Belial breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, thank goodness, I survived. No matter how bad the situation was, surviving means there's a chance.

However, just as he was starting to relax, Asmodeus's next words made him so nervous he was about to explode.

"You should indeed take responsibility for this failure; those two were just framed by you."

"I...no, I..."

"But how can they be good devils if they can't even frame someone properly?"

"Yes, yes."

Belial was completely panicked and his speech was incoherent.

"And you, as the one who most resembles a good devil, I've decided to give you a chance to learn and grow, how about that?"

Clearly, this was not a question, and Belial could only agree.

"I plan to turn you back into a lesser demon. If you are a demon of sufficient quality, you will surely be able to grow again, become more mature and stronger. Wouldn't that be a good thing for you?"

Belial really wanted to refuse.

But he knew very well that refusing was useless; he had to prove his worth and that he was useful to Asmodeus before the Lord of Hell would make an exception for him.

Despite being on the verge of exploding with tension, Belial managed to maintain his basic cognitive abilities.

His brain, which was barely fully developed, was working at high speed.

"This operation was not entirely fruitless. Our teleportation plan has been proven to be feasible because, since humans can only passively defend and currently do not have the ability to stop teleportation, we can take advantage of this."

Belial spoke more and more fluently.

“We can send the demons to the south, deliberately provoke small-scale conflicts with them, and then set teleportation traps to randomly send the demons to towns on the mainland. This will keep those countries and demons at odds, creating opportunities for us. I can be in charge of the operation. I know those countries very well. No demon knows humans, elves, and dwarves better than me…”

Asmodeus listened in silence to Belial's narration until he finished.

The silence lasted for several minutes.

These few minutes felt like centuries to Belial, and he began to consider the possibility of rising back to the rank of demon after becoming a lesser demon.

At this moment, Asmodeus finally spoke: "Good idea, you really are a good devil. I can give you one more chance..."

Successfully hired by BOSS Zhipin.

The new job is great; it has a promising future, opportunities for advancement, and autonomy.

The consequences of failure might not be good...

……

Meanwhile, in Theldarion, the Elven Sanctuary.

Representatives from various countries and forces across the continent gathered together at this moment.

After several hours of back-and-forth meetings, they finally settled some issues.

Larvin, who provided the information, and the Elf Headmaster, who was in charge of the battlefield.

The countries that came to provide assistance were the next largest group.

A dwarf who only provides resources but doesn't actually come is a slacker.

Subsequent publicity campaigns followed this line of communication.

There's also the issue of retaliating against the devil in kind.

The wasteland is not completely adjacent to the mainland; it is separated by a lake as large as the sea, with only narrow strips of land on the east and west sides through which one can pass.

Those two pieces were respectively under the control of the Marigold Kingdom and the Ukmark Empire.

Therefore, the retaliatory action is the responsibility of these two countries.

As for the specific plans, troop strength, funding, and supplies.

We'll talk about that later.

Meetings rarely yield anything truly practical.

There are no solutions yet for other things, such as how to prevent such sudden teleportation.

Finally, the bishops of the Papacy proposed forming a rapid-response, fast-arrival legion for long-term preparedness, much like the Inquisition.

The idea is great, but putting it into practice is a big problem.

Another task was to find the demon spies hiding on the continent, a task assigned to Larvin.

The City of Ten Thousand Laws needs to come up with a feasible identification spell.

This is also a "big pie," but after so many years of conflict between the demon races, if there were any identification spells available, they would have existed long ago.

Thus, the meeting appeared to have accomplished a lot on the surface, but in reality, it accomplished nothing.

It wasn't until after a short break that the secretary-general, who was chairing the meeting, gave a reminder.

"Jia Xiu has arrived."

(End of this chapter)