“I didn’t expect you were actually here for Teacher Anaxa.
You kept it from me so well!” Looking at Hyacine’s dissatisfied face, Amos smiled gently.
His conversation with Anaxa had been very pleasant, or rather, conversations between smart people should be like this.
There was no need to ask why, because both sides had their own scales.
One glance was enough to understand the cause and effect.
After all, with Anaxa’s status, he definitely knew about Amos’s relationship with the little Saintess of Janusopolis.
With such a huge gap in status between the two, it wasn’t hard to understand why Amos wanted to pursue the “forbidden soul arts.” Under Hyacine’s guidance, Amos completed all the enrollment procedures and officially became a scholar of the Grove.
Although it was called enrollment, strictly speaking, the Grove of Epiphany had no students, only scholars.
The fact that the entrance examination required “results” as a stepping stone already showed that every so-called seeker of knowledge possessed the ability to conduct independent research.
Rather than professors testing how much students had learned, the examinations were more about the Grove testing whether scholars had the ability to research the topics they applied for.
Of course, being scholars didn’t mean everyone was equal.
Sages ranked above professors, professors ranked above senior scholars, and senior scholars were far beyond ordinary Grove scholars.
So when teachers gave lectures, students still had to listen obediently.
“This is your laboratory.” In the Grove, scholars could lack anything except a laboratory.
As a direct disciple personally acknowledged by Teacher Anaxa, Amos received his own private laboratory as soon as he entered, something only senior scholars could normally apply for.
The laboratory was fully equipped, filled with things Amos had never seen before.
Any random item taken outside could sell for hundreds of thousands.
Not having seen them didn’t mean he didn’t recognize them.
After more than three years of Hyacine’s careful guidance, Amos was already a qualified scholar and possessed the terrifying intelligence required to understand equipment manuals.
“You’ll have sole use of this laboratory, but Teacher Anaxa is the person in charge.
Material requests, experiment losses, research reports, everything has to go through the professor.” “So don’t mess around.
Teacher Anaxa hates people who waste materials the most.” “If you don’t understand something, you can ask me.
My laboratory is next door, and I’m usually there.” “Oh right, there’s also Teacher’s class this afternoon.
Don’t be late.
I heard there’ll be two new classmates, apparently introduced by some important people from Okhema…” After introducing the laboratory, Hyacine waved and entered her own laboratory.
Meanwhile, Amos familiarized himself with the equipment while thinking about Hyacine’s last words.
‘New classmates…’ ‘Could it be…’ Sure enough, during the afternoon class, Amos saw two familiar figures.
One had white hair and a strong build, named Phainon.
The other had purple hair and a melancholic temperament, named Castorice.
The three stood together on the platform and repeated their names as introductions.
Then they were immediately sent back down by Anaxa, who hated unnecessary formalities.
Amos noticed Hyacine secretly waving at him, so he walked over, with Phainon following behind.
The poor maiden was already unfamiliar with everything around her, and now the companion who had come with her had found new friends.
For a moment, she didn’t know what to do.
So she simply found an empty corner and sat there alone.
As for Anaxa, he immediately started scolding.
“In the previous lesson, we discussed the three major elements of alchemy: Origin, Force, and Element.” “And I assigned homework asking you to deconstruct an object and use changes in force to transform it from its state of Origin into Element.” “But it seems many people aren’t interested in my class.
What exactly are these things you’ve handed in?” Anaxa pulled out several conclusion pages from papers.
Some scholars who recognized the pages instantly turned pale.
Then, in a tone like reciting poetry, Anaxa read aloud with varying rhythm, “The Three States of Water.” “The Origin of water is liquid.” “Apply heat to water, and it becomes gas.” “Apply cold to water, and it becomes solid.” “Quite the researcher, aren’t you?
Things even children haven’t discovered, yet you’ve managed to uncover them.
I think the position of one of the Seven Sages should be handed to a great talent like you!” A female scholar turned pale with shame, but she didn’t dare argue.
Seeing this, Anaxa continued, “You think I’m humiliating you?” “That’s right, I am humiliating you, because this piece of nonsense could have gotten full marks!” “With just one more step, one more experiment, you could have produced the perfect answer for this class!” The female scholar raised her head in disbelief.
But Anaxa said no more and called another name instead, “Hyacinthia, tell us.
If it were you, how would you solve this question?” Hyacine stood up, first giving the female scholar an apologetic smile before saying: “Apply lightning to water, and water can be split into two gases with completely different properties.” “Although this appears similar to turning water into gas through heat, the gases produced by electrolysis will not recombine into water like steam.
They will remain as two separate gases.” “So the Origin of water has already been transformed into two Elements through external force.” Many people had never performed such an experiment.
Hearing that alchemy could be achieved so simply, they began discussing excitedly.
Anaxa nodded and motioned for Hyacine to sit down.
He allowed the discussions to continue until they gradually quieted before speaking again.
“Do you understand now?
Alchemy is not some childish game of molding clay, changing only the form of Origin without changing its essence.” “Alchemy is a deeper, more profound art, one closer to truth.” As he spoke, Anaxa stretched out his hand.
The surrounding air gathered like a vortex and formed a floating sphere of water.
Then he snapped his fingers.
Lightning flashed, and the water sphere quickly expanded into gas before splitting into two separate masses.
A flame appeared out of nowhere and entered one of the gas clouds.
The fire immediately became brighter until the gas disappeared.
But when it entered the other gas cloud, the flame strangely went out.
Clearly, these really were two gases with completely different properties.
“By using lightning, water becomes two gases.
Does anyone know what these gases are used for?” No one answered.
Anaxa asked again, “Does anyone know what reactions these gases will have when combined with other gases?” Still no answer.
Anaxa asked once more, “Does anyone know why water becomes gas instead of turning back?” Again, no answer.
“It’s normal not to know.
Scholars are not gods born knowing everything.” “But normal doesn’t mean correct!
As scholars, you should question everything, even me, other professors, even the Titans!” “Remember, never follow rules blindly.
On the road of scholarship, even common knowledge accepted by everyone may be absurd and laughable mistakes!” After those words, the classroom became completely silent.
Anaxa seemed satisfied after venting.
He casually tossed the remaining assignments onto the podium and officially began the lesson.
“Since we’ve already mentioned gases, today we’ll discuss the number of gas elements discovered so far…” “This teacher is really strict…” Only after a while did Phainon dare whisper to Amos while Anaxa was writing on the board.
Amos casually replied, “Strict teachers produce excellent students.” “That makes sense, but…
who is that girl beside you?
Does Cyrene know?” Amos looked at Phainon speechlessly.
‘You’ve started shipping people now?’ “Hyacine is also one of my teachers.
Cyrene is at my house.
After class, let’s get together.
Remember to bring your companion too.” Only then did Phainon remember that Castorice couldn’t handle crowds, so he quickly sent her an apologetic look.
But Castorice was busy taking notes and didn’t notice.
Soon class ended.
Phainon was just preparing to secretly pass Castorice a note when Anaxa suddenly called out, “Amos, what do you think of today’s class?” Amos stood up.
“It was excellent, Teacher Anaxa.” “Really?
I thought you and Phainon were having quite a good chat.” “Yes.
Phainon and I grew up together.
Meeting again after all this time naturally brings many feelings.” “Not enough.
That’s not enough reason for you to disregard my knowledge.” “I need to clarify something, Teacher Anaxa.
I do not disregard your knowledge.
It’s just that this lesson lacked novelty for me.” “Oh?
Explain.” Amos organized his thoughts and quickly found an excuse, “When I was young, I happened to obtain a magnifying glass.
At the time, I had an idea.
If multiple magnifying glasses were stacked together, could I see even smaller things?” “Unfortunately, I couldn’t.
Although the object was enlarged, it became too blurry to be useful.” “But I did find a method for observing extremely tiny objects.” “I call it a microscope.” Amos took out a sheet of paper and quickly drew a diagram of a microscope, then displayed it.
Anaxa’s mechanical eye adjusted slightly.
The moment he saw the diagram, he understood its principle.
Compared to simply stacking magnifying glasses, the greatest feature of a microscope was secondary imaging.
First, one lens enlarged the tiny object, then another lens magnified the enlarged image.
“I once used this device to observe leaves and discovered that what seemed like a complete leaf was actually composed of countless tiny squares.
I named these squares cells.” “At the time, I wondered whether everything that appeared seamless was actually made up of smaller units.
Perhaps even cells themselves possess finer structures.” Anaxa summoned the paper into his hand and examined it repeatedly before finally giving his evaluation.
“Interesting.” “It’s just a rough idea.” “No need to be modest.
No matter how simple the principle, if no one else thought of it, then it’s advanced.” “You pass.
But your assignment for this class is different from everyone else’s.
Go back and make that microscope.
I’ll see whether I can improve it and skip past ‘cells’ to directly observe ‘elements.'” “Understood, Teacher Anaxa.” Anaxa put away the paper and motioned for Amos to sit down.
Everyone stared at him in surprise.
‘Someone could actually reason with Professor Anaxa?’ Anaxa originally intended to let the matter pass, but unfortunately, hearing everyone’s whispers made him realize that a professor’s authority could not be questioned.
So amid the murmuring, Anaxa turned his gaze toward the little white-haired boy.
“Amos has the ability to slack off.
What about you, Phainon?” “Uh…
I’m very sorry, Professor…” “Copy the textbook ten times.” “Yes…”