Chapter 189 - 122: Future Troubles and the Direction of Spiritual Power Specialization

Chapter 189: Chapter 122: Future Troubles and the Direction of Spiritual Power Specialization

The corridor was quiet. He draped his robe over his shoulder, sitting bare-chested on the bench, and closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall.

"There is a massive amount of foreign Spiritual Power in my Sea of Consciousness, and my Magic Spring is in danger of collapsing... I should consult Master Hathaway first. She has ample experience in constructing Magic Springs," he thought.

Hathaway’s laboratory.

Chen Shang explained his troubles truthfully. Hathaway’s Spiritual Power probed into his Sea of Consciousness, circling the Fire Spring three times before moving on to inspect the Water Spring and Wind Spring. Finally, it sank to the dark yellow Earth Spring at the very bottom.

Her brows furrowed, smoothed out, knitted tightly together again, and finally relaxed.

"Genius!"

She withdrew her Spiritual Power and leaned back in her chair. "Chen, you are a genius when it comes to Magic Springs. In just a few short years, you’ve gathered all four basic Elements. You really should become my apprentice, or at least my collaborator."

Chen Shang smiled bitterly. "Master, let’s put aside all that nonsense for now and figure out how to save my life first."

Hathaway tapped her fingers on the table twice and began to outline a plan.

"For the cracks in your Sea of Consciousness, you should go to the Spiritual Power Project Development Team."

"Go to them? Would that work?" Chen Shang hesitated.

"Of course. They are highly professional. Besides, you’re already one of their research subjects; now that you’re so severely injured, they won’t just leave you to fend for yourself.

"Furthermore... the medical expenses are negotiable. You could offset the costs with your data, which would save you a hefty sum."

Chen Shang nodded.

"As for the Magic Spring, I will design a comprehensive construction plan for you." She pulled a blank blueprint from her drawer, spread it across the desk, pressed her rune pen to the paper, and began to draw.

"Currently, your four springs are entirely independent. The Fire Spring and Water Spring sit on the left and right, the Wind Spring is on the top layer, and the Earth Spring is on the bottom. The problem lies in how they connect—"

"Wait, Master, you said before that Magic Springs absolutely cannot connect to each other, otherwise they’ll pollute the other Magic Springs!" Chen Shang interrupted her.

"That was then, this is now." Hathaway raised her hand and flicked him hard on the forehead. "How rude. Don’t interrupt me."

Chen Shang snapped his mouth shut and listened as she continued.

"The previous construction method had no connections. They were merely stacked together, relying on the Gravity of the Earth Spring to barely maintain stability.

"When that Black Wizard brought his hammer down, the Earth Spring shifted by two millimeters, instantly causing the three springs above it to be displaced entirely."

She drew a diamond shape on the blueprint. At the top was the Wind Spring, in the center was the Main Magic Spring, on the left and right were the Fire Spring and Water Spring, and at the very bottom was the Earth Spring. Around each point, she drew three radiating lines that intersected into a web-like network.

"This new design is called the ’Quadrupole Ring.’ The four springs will no longer be stacked vertically. Instead, they will be distributed on the same plane, arranged in a diamond formation.

"The Wind Spring at the top, Water Spring on the right, Fire Spring on the left, and Earth Spring at the bottom. The four springs will be connected via Spiritual Power channels to form a closed-loop current.

"By circulating through a full cycle, the four attributes will nourish and restrict one another. You won’t have to worry about displacement issues anymore."

She used the rune pen to draw a small circle in the center of the diamond.

"This is the Ring Core—your Main Magic Spring. From now on, the Energy from the four springs must pass through the Ring Core before flowing to the others; they cannot bypass it.

"The Ring Core will serve as the hub of the entire system, controlling the intake and output of all Elements. This way, any anomaly in a single spring will be instantly detected by the Ring Core, and you will be able to actively adjust the Energy ratio between any two springs through it."

Hathaway looked immensely satisfied with her design. "If you have any questions, ask away!"

Staring at the blueprint, Chen Shang raised two points.

"First, why can Magic Springs of different attributes suddenly be linked now?

"Second, do all four springs need to be shattered and completely rebuilt?"

Hathaway nodded, clearly pleased with his questions, and began to explain.

"Your first point isn’t an issue at all. Previously, I thought you only possessed a natural Second Magic Spring, so I warned you to be extremely cautious and not let your Enchantment Attribute pollute your Main Magic Spring, otherwise you would entirely transform into a Fire Elemental Creature.

"But who could have expected your progress to be this fast? You’ve gathered all four basic Elements. Your attributes will no longer skew in one direction, which makes this far more perfect plan possible."

Chen Shang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the words caught in his throat. Ultimately, he just let out a long sigh.

"Not being taught the complete theory really screwed me over," he thought. "Who could have predicted that progressing too fast would bring about hidden dangers?"

Hathaway continued, "As for your second question—given your current situation, the Earth Spring has already shifted, and both the Fire Spring and Water Spring have sustained minor structural damage from your previous battles.

"Rather than patching them up, it’s better to tear them all down and start from scratch. Besides, you already have all the necessary attributes prepared. From what I can see, your Wind Spring and Earth Spring are in no way inferior to your Samadhi True Flame and One-Element Heavy Water. You are simply lacking a framework... and I will design that framework for you."

Hathaway slid the blueprint toward him, tapping the tip of her rune pen against the positions of the four springs.

"For the Fire Spring, use the ’Flame Core’ structure. Its outer shell must be twice as tough as your current one, making it suitable to contain your Samadhi True Flame. The Water Spring will use a ’Vortex’ structure—a large intake and small output, allowing the pressure of the One-Element Heavy Water to concentrate at the output end.

"Maintain your spiral weaving for the Wind Spring, but increase the density of the Spiral Meridians by thirty percent. The Earth Spring will remain solid, but its size needs to be doubled so it can serve as the ballast for the entire system..."

Chen Shang stared at the dense blueprint covered entirely in parameters: the toughness of the Flame Core’s shell, the compression ratio of the Vortex, the density of the Spiral Meridians, the diameter of the Earth Spring, the coordinates of the Ring Core’s access points, as well as the length and curvature of the Spiritual Power channels between the four springs.