Chapter 206: We Really Did It!

"Today, we have successfully taken the first step!"

Celia stared excitedly at the highlighted core rune. "After countless iterations and starting over from scratch, we have finally designed and verified the first, and most fundamental, purification rune!"

As she finished, several elders of the Truth faction could no longer suppress their emotions. Elder Barnes's voice trembled violently, and his aged, withered face was filled with a near-fanatical excitement.

"We really did it... We actually did it!"

The elders felt as though they were in a dream.

A full thousand years... That great mission, which had always seemed forever out of reach, was actually going to be completed in their generation, by their own hands?

One had to understand that almost the entire magic world was currently shrouded in a pessimistic consensus: the problem of magic pollution was unsolvable.

The Truth faction, which had always been dedicated to studying the nature of pollution and methods to combat it, had long ago accepted a cruel conclusion after countless failures—magic was dead.

Learning magic would ultimately lead only to collective madness and destruction.

Therefore...

This fundamental purification rune before them was nothing short of a miracle!

Ansu listened quietly to everyone's explanations, and his understanding of this purification rune gradually became clear.

Since existing magic caused more pollution and invited more whispers the more it was used... why not simply block it out or even filter it directly during the casting process?

Of course, the logic was as simple as a thin sheet of paper, but piercing through it had cost an immeasurable amount of talent and effort.

The brilliance of this basic rune designed under Celia's leadership lay in its structure: when combined and layered in specific sequences, it could construct an invisible mental firewall within the caster's mind and soul.

This barrier possessed an active blocking mechanism; once it detected mana fluctuations matching the characteristics of the "whispers," it would immediately initiate a silence protocol to isolate them. The principle reminded Ansu of how the system had forcibly disconnected him before.

"The purification rune is designed to be extremely streamlined and efficient..." Celia's fingertips glowed with light as she simulated the process of nesting the rune into a classic fireball model.

"It can be almost perfectly layered and integrated into the chanting prefix or the structural starting phase of any formal magic, adding almost no extra burden."

It was equivalent to giving oneself a buff before casting any spell.

"If we can really achieve this..." A vast prospect couldn't help but emerge in Ansu's mind. "We can add this rune to any magic, thereby promoting a set of completely safe new-style magic..."

If this kind of magic could truly be promoted on a large scale...

In theory, wouldn't all future mages be the disciples and successors of the people in this room?

"More importantly!" a Truth faction elder next to him added excitedly. "After preliminary testing, all magic formulas derived from this basic rune have mana consumption levels and structural stability that... completely fall within the scope of low-tier magic! This means almost any low-tier mage can learn and use it!"

Even for high-tier magic, which was already complex and lengthy, it wouldn't be difficult to layer the effects of the purification rune according to actual needs. For the control capacity of a high-tier mage, such a burden was practically negligible.

Everyone was ignited by this unprecedentedly bright future. With this basic rune, their research was now infinitely close to success!

And once they succeeded, the name of every person present would be engraved upon the monuments of magic history—

Amidst the excitement, Ansu was also thinking to himself:

If they could promote safe magic to the world, then as the source of it all, the Echoes of Truth cult would truly achieve an epic comeback and redemption.

They would no longer be black magic heretics cowering in the shadows and worshipping evil gods of whispers, but the saviors who pulled the entire magic system back from the brink of self-destruction.

As the 'source of the source' of all this, Ansu felt an inexplicable sense of emotion and a little bit of pride.

The world was changing because of him.

Ansu felt he had plenty of room to maneuver. He hadn't even followed the path pre-designed for him by the Goddess of Holy Light, but instead dragged a bunch of cultists into research, forcibly carving out a completely different world-saving route...

The atmosphere in the lab grew increasingly heated as everyone discussed animatedly, their minds entirely focused on the newly born rune that contained infinite possibilities.

At that moment, Elder Barnes walked over with Elder Matthew.

Now that this research, which he had once viewed as impractical, had actually achieved a breakthrough, he suddenly felt like his face had been slapped by this young man as he faced Ansu again.

"Ansu, I really didn't expect this..."

"It's a good thing you and Celia didn't listen to me back then and insisted on pushing forward with this plan..."

He remembered how much he had distrusted the plan Ansu had rashly started, even secretly feeling these youngsters were overestimating themselves... pouring too many of the cult's resources into research that seemed destined to be meaningless.

But now...

Elder Barnes shook his head, tossing that bit of minor embarrassment to the back of his mind. If every 'slap to the face' could bring about such a miracle, he actually hoped for as many as possible.

"Do you believe me now?" Ansu joked with a smile, his tone relaxed. "I rarely do things I'm not sure of, so how could I joke with such precious resources of the cult?"

"I believe you, of course I believe you..." Elder Barnes nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of emotion and expectation.

He was now looking forward more and more to what the cult would become under the leadership of these two.

After the lighthearted exchange, Ansu suppressed the joy surging in his heart and turned his gaze toward Freya, who had been staying quietly in the corner.

Freya had actually been silently watching Ansu. Seeing him look over, she offered a gentle smile and nodded lightly. "This magic rune is indeed safe."

She paused, seemingly savoring the subtle sensations from the test just now. "After casting, I didn't feel the slightest hint of pollution or darkness... It was as clean and safe as 0th Circle magic."

As someone with a constitution extremely sensitive to pollution, Freya's judgment carried immense weight.

The last bit of doubt in Ansu's mind dissipated.

"Ansu! I did it!" Celia cheered, her azure magic projection suddenly lunging toward him.

Even though she was just a phantom, she still tried her best to make a gesture of a tight hug. Then, she brought her face close to Ansu's ear, her tone full of childish boasting:

"I did it! I really did it! Ansu, aren't I amazing!?"

"Yes, you're amazing!" Ansu's smile was soft as he watched Celia, who was as happy as a child, feeling inexplicably happy himself. "The Miss Witch is the most amazing of all!"

He didn't even know how else to praise her. The task Celia had undertaken was the most arduous and core part, after all; she was analyzing a mysterious creation that was practically a black box.

Yet, she had completed this nearly impossible task. Celia truly lived up to her name as a once-in-a-millennium magic genius.

"After today, everyone should take a good day off," Ansu said softly, looking at the fatigue on her face. "After working for so many days straight, you should have a good rest too."

"No..." Celia shook her head, her eyes becoming focused again. "There are still many experiments to verify. I also need to try and combine more derivative magic formulas through the basic rune. This is only the beginning; how could I dare to slack off!"

To her, this task didn't just carry Ansu's ambition and trust.

Solving magic pollution was also an obsession deeply rooted in her heart as a mage.

To the side, watching the scene of them embracing and sharing their hearts before their common cause and ideals, Freya's smiling expression didn't change at all, though her gaze dimmed for a brief moment.

She quietly lowered her head, her gentle laughter as steady as ever. "I'll go with the servants to prepare dinner for everyone... You've all worked hard today."

And just then.

David pushed the door open with an urgent expression, and everyone looked toward him in unison.

David walked quickly toward Ansu. Seeing that he had urgent business, Celia slowly released her arms and took half a step back.

"Lady Celia, Elders." David first gave a respectful greeting to everyone, then leaned toward Ansu and lowered his voice. "Lord Hermit, our intelligence personnel just received a confirmed piece of information from the City Lord's Mansion..."

He looked up, a trace of shock and doubt in his eyes that he could hardly hide.

"The City Lord of Norvigel, Count Alston, is planning to jointly issue a Magic Prohibition Decree with the Archbishop of the Northern Church parish in the near future."

"The decree aims to comprehensively expel all mages, magic apprentices, and demihuman races with natural magic affinity from the territory... and prohibit all non-official magic research activities and related item transactions."

The relaxed atmosphere in the room suddenly turned cold.

"In other words..." David's Adam's apple bobbed as he continued, "Lord Hermit, the magitech lab you registered not long ago, even with complete procedures, is very likely to be ordered to shut down or even undergo a thorough inspection..."

"What!?" Celia's expression was the first to darken.

Hearing that the magitech lab might be affected, the light in her eyes grew even colder.

Ansu's gaze was equally dark.

This Count Alston...

This so-called Magic Prohibition Decree just had to happen at this most critical, most unforgiving juncture.