Lily’s head was practically drooping to the floor.
Aaron merely smiled and asked casually, “Do you know what dark magic is?”
“A type of evil magic that comes at a great cost and has destructive power?” Lily chose her words carefully.
“Dark magic is actually very difficult to define definitively. It’s a catch-all—anything foul or filthy gets lumped into it. Words like ‘great cost,’ ‘destructive power,’ or even ‘evil’ only describe its surface. Its biggest characteristic is ‘disorder.'”
When mages use normal magic, you know your own level, you know what effect you’ll produce—you have control over what you’re casting.
But dark magic is uncontrollable.
You might only want to kill one person, yet end up killing an entire city. Oh, and yourself too.
The exact same ritual, performed by different people or at different times, could produce wildly different results. Last time it was a curse; this time it could be a deadly poison.
“Actually, in my view, when mages cast ordinary magic, they’re channeling it according to a fixed and correct pattern. But dark magic is ‘erroneous’ magic, which is why it becomes so uncontrollable.”
Aaron wanted to explain a bit more to Lily, but considering her current level of magical knowledge, he felt he might be wasting his breath.
“Uh… this might be a bit convoluted. It’s normal if you don’t understand.”
But Lily did understand!
Translated into modern terms, ordinary magic was like a correct program. Follow the right steps and you’ll consistently produce a stable result; dark magic was like buggy code—run it however you like, and who knows what will pop out!
To be able to summarize the essence of dark magic so precisely—her mentor really had something going for him!
Though, comparing robe-clad, elegant mages to plaid-shirt-wearing programmers was a bit of a letdown…
“You actually understood what I meant?” Aaron asked her.
“Mm-hmm.” Lily nodded honestly.
“Then why are you looking at me with such a strange expression?”
Did he seem exceptionally brilliant, inspiring admiration?
But Lily’s gaze didn’t really look like admiration. She kept glancing at the top of his head, making Aaron feel an inexplicable chill on his scalp.
Lily confirmed that Aaron’s hair was still fairly thick, with no signs of turning into a Mediterranean-style bald patch. Being a mage really did have advantages over being a programmer!
She casually looked away. “Professor, that’s a look of awe. Being able to synthesize all that—you’re truly amazing!”
Lily wasn’t so afraid anymore of being found out that she might have used dark magic.
First, Aaron hadn’t pounced on her and arrested her—he was speaking to her in the tone of a mentor teaching a student.
Second, from what Aaron was saying, he’d definitely studied dark magic himself!
Aaron couldn’t be bothered to dissect Lily’s gaze further and continued, “You wanted to say that I’ve studied dark magic too? I can tell you—yes, I have! Dark magic is mysterious and alluring, and it’s attracted many mages to study it. But not all of them were branded dark mages.”
If you insist on casting dark magic right in front of other powerful mages—especially light mages—then there’s no helping it. Of course they’d arrest you.
For example, if Lily had used dark magic on Chris in the arena, there was a 99% chance she’d have been caught on the spot. She couldn’t have denied it.
But as long as you don’t do anything outrageous, and just hide in a corner doing some quiet research, the chance of being discovered depends on how deeply you’ve been affected by dark magic.
“Sometimes dark magic is just like any other magic—hard to trace back. Who can detect what spell I cast a week ago, or a month ago? No one can.”
But dark magic has special circumstances.
“Because of its uncontrollable nature, the more dark magic you’re exposed to, the more the caster’s own soul is affected. Lost souls, torn souls, annihilated souls, or even souls replaced by other entities—these all leave irreversible traces.”
Once the soul is damaged, no matter how much time has passed, light magic will detect it every time. A mage whose soul has been affected is unquestionably a dark mage.
Jayne firmly believed Lily’s soul was corrupted, which was why he was so incredulous when she passed the examination.
“Some people stop before they lose themselves. Others fall uncontrollably into the abyss. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Stop before you lose yourself! Otherwise, even if you escape this time, you might not next time…
“I understand.” Lily had no interest in courting death either, and she answered with complete sincerity.
She wanted to understand these things not to secretly study dark magic, but to eliminate any hidden risks that might have been left behind.
Still, she had one more question—a critical one she wasn’t sure she should even ask.
After hesitating for a while, Lily finally spoke up, “Professor, do you think… my soul really isn’t problematic?”
She wasn’t the original Lily. According to their theories, this was essentially a sign of a soul problem. Yet the light magic hadn’t detected anything—why?
Lily always felt Aaron knew a little more than the other mentors.
Her cheap mentor was sometimes unreliable, but when it came to magical matters, he was highly professional.
By asking this question, Lily was practically wearing the word “suspicious” on her face. If she’d asked this in front of other mentors, she might have been taken away for investigation just like Jayne.
But Aaron showed no intention of apprehending her on the spot—there wasn’t even a trace of surprise on his face.
“You passed the light magic examination, so you are who you are. But…” Aaron’s tone suddenly shifted, “Your soul is facing a problem of a different dimension. It’s exhausted.”
“Huh?” Lily was a bit dazed.
How could he tell that her [soul was exhausted]?
She subconsciously touched her face. She felt she wasn’t as haggard as when she’d first transmigrated—her sleep schedule was pretty regular too. Was she still considered exhausted?
And what did “a problem of a different dimension” mean? So was there a problem or wasn’t there?
Seeing Lily’s reaction, Aaron rolled his eyes at her. “I’m not talking about your body—I’m talking about your soul! This exhaustion isn’t from staying up a few nights, and it won’t be cured by resting a few days either.”
Then what exactly could cause soul-level exhaustion?
But Aaron didn’t explain. Instead, he cheerfully brought up a seemingly unrelated question, “Do you know what I’ve been researching all these years?”
Lily thought carefully. She’d done some homework before coming here. “The rumors outside aren’t very clear, but if I’m not mistaken, you’re researching time magic?”
Aaron smiled without answering—which was as good as a confirmation.
Lily murmured to herself, “Time magic… time…”
Her eyes suddenly widened as a startling thought crossed her mind. “Could it be—!”
“Correct. Your soul hasn’t been corrupted or damaged, but it has weathered the passage of time and become especially weary. That’s why you’ve noticed—you really like light magic, and you have a strong need for holy light healing.” Aaron added.
Of course, light magic inherently has sacred properties. Apart from dark mages, normal people naturally gravitate toward it. When Lily asked the instructors for another dose of light magic, they were a bit speechless but didn’t suspect anything.
But none of this escaped Aaron’s eyes—who else but he, the one who studied time?
Though he might seem to have made no progress all these years, he could proudly say: no one understood time magic better than him.
He hadn’t succeeded yet, but others hadn’t even touched the surface!
Lily had no attention to spare for Aaron’s self-satisfaction.
Her thoughts were in disarray, completely consumed by Aaron’s startling conclusion.
If Aaron’s view held true, then… there was no such thing as “who possessed whom” at all!
She was the Lily of the magic world, who had been sent to the modern era by time magic, living as [Wen Li] like Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly—and then, she came back.
This view seemed far-fetched, yet it could explain many mysteries:
She had Lily’s complete memories, yet she couldn’t find another Lily’s existence;
She could pass the light magic examination not because she, as an outer-world demon, had higher morals than other specters and evil spirits, but because she was the original herself!
Also, when she first arrived, she’d felt a sense of exhaustion—”couldn’t be bothered with the modern world or the magic world.” She’d thought it was because her corporate drone life had drained her, but actually, could it have been a side effect of traveling through time and space…
As for why dark magic turned into time magic?
According to Aaron’s theory, it also made sense: dark magic was a garbled error code, and Lily had accidentally used a bug to trigger time magic. Was it possible? Yes!
But if she tried again, she wouldn’t necessarily recreate the same miracle—dying horribly was far more likely.
“Do you want to try it again? Honestly, I’d really love to witness such a miracle.” Aaron’s eyes gleamed as he stared at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
Lily certainly didn’t want to court death!
But she couldn’t help asking one more reckless question, “Professor, if you’re protecting me, will you guarantee my safety?”
“I’ll guarantee your corpse’s safety.” Aaron replied flatly.
Seeing Lily’s expression change, Aaron said matter-of-factly, “Whether it’s dark magic or time magic, both carry dangers beyond your imagination. Dying without a complete corpse is perfectly normal. If I can still preserve your body after an accident, that already proves I’m quite powerful.”
Cold sweat trickled down Lily’s forehead: Fine, fine, you’re powerful. But that kind of power—she didn’t want any part of it!
She tentatively asked, “Professor, um… you didn’t take me in just to have a disposable lab rat, did you?”
If she wasn’t willing to try again, would Aaron force her to?
“Guess?”
Guess my ass! Lily’s impulse to switch mentors was stirring again.
But she looked at Aaron’s expression and hesitated: Aaron knew too many of her secrets. Running away would probably cause even bigger problems.
If their interests were aligned, he might protect her. But if she “defected from his sect,” would he still consider her interests? Ha—did she really think Aaron was some kind of saint?
“Professor, believe me, my value is definitely greater than a disposable lab rat. I can win glory and resources for our faction. I also have a lot of ideas—I might even provide breakthrough inspiration for your research!”
Lily stopped considering the feasibility of switching mentors and instead emphasized her own value.
Professor, killing the goose that lays golden eggs isn’t a good idea! Please think twice!