Chapter 226 - 10: This Is the Standard, the Second Cover Paper

Chapter 226: Chapter 10: This Is the Standard, the Second Cover Paper

How could this not be astonishing?

Vincent’s old face twitched slightly. In the end, he still offered a word of caution, "Be careful."

The implication was clear—’You can ride it, but be careful.’

Mo Ning gave Vincent plenty of face in front of the others, quickly replying, "Yes, Mr. Vincent!"

Vincent smiled at him, then turned to greet his colleagues and led the group toward the resting room for the War Rhinos.

In the crowd.

A young assistant instinctively glanced back at the young man and woman, a flicker of shock crossing his eyes.

This person was a newcomer from the previous batch, named Carter.

Carter was well aware that Andy, who was from the same batch, had been kicked out of the Taming Center. He had also heard many embellished accounts of the events from him.

For instance, "how arrogant and domineering Mo Ning was in the Taming Room," "how Mo Ning deceived the senior Apprentice, causing the senior Apprentice to always favor him," and "how Mo Ning repeatedly and deliberately targeted Andy, who was forced to endure it all until he was finally framed and forced to leave," and so on.

In short, in Andy’s telling, Mo Ning was a despicable and shameless scoundrel who used insidious methods and loved to stir up trouble.

Today, Carter had come over to "visit" with the senior Apprentice and had accidentally witnessed that scene just now, which sent quite a shock through him.

Mo Ning daring to ride a War Rhinoceros in the Taming Room could indeed be described as "arrogant and domineering," but for the War Rhinoceros to obediently let him ride meant it was about more than simple arrogance.

What surprised him even more was Mr. Vincent’s attitude—not only did this Apprentice not mind, but he even kindly reminded him to "be careful."

Could someone really make the senior Apprentice turn a blind eye to something like this just by "deception" alone?

’Impossible!’

Carter felt that if he had done what Mo Ning did, Tamer Laine would have reprimanded him without the slightest hesitation.

He suddenly realized that Andy’s words seemed rather biased, and Mo Ning’s true character was likely quite different from the description he’d been given.

In the training area.

Mo Ning watched the group walk into the War Rhinoceros resting room, then said in a low voice, "The most capable of the last batch of newcomers is Carter. He was in that group just now."

Anya blinked her beautiful eyes and smiled. "I know Carter. He seemed really surprised to see us riding the War Rhinoceros."

Carter’s eyes had been bulging so wide they looked like they might pop out of their sockets. The sight was quite amusing and had left a deep impression on the Noble Lady.

She immediately followed up, "You seem to have some thoughts about Carter?"

Mo Ning nodded lightly. "Carter doesn’t look like a brainless idiot. Maybe we can talk to him."

Considering he would soon be condensing his Spirit Ring and leaving the Newcomer Dormitory Area, he planned to resolve the conflict between the two batches of newcomers before he left. Carter was an excellent person to start with.

The moment he saw Carter just now, the character analysis model had given him a prompt—the other party held no significant hostility.

The model even provided a judgment: [Target has an 86.5% probability of possessing a calm and resolute personality.]

After accumulating enough data, the character analysis model’s capabilities had once again taken a great leap forward. It could now analyze a person’s personality tendencies through subtle facial features.

It was already starting to feel a little like "physiognomy."

Anya’s lovely eyes swept over Mo Ning’s face as she took the initiative to ask, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Mo Ning shook his head. "Let’s wait until after the assessment is over."

Based on the pattern of assessments over the past few months, the one Lord Budi had hinted at would most likely be held either tomorrow or the day after.

Anya gave a crisp reply, "Okay!"

*****

「Lunchtime.」

The trio met for another meal in the Cold Pine Forest.

After lunch, Mo Ning piloted The Aviator into the sky, circling above the Cold Pine Forest against the biting cold wind.

He had long since discovered that piloting the Triangular Wing had a subtle effect on the divine statue, so he would fly for half an hour to an hour every two or three days.

This habit had been going on for several months.

In the well-spaced stone pavilions throughout the forest, many newcomers craned their necks, their eyes following the Triangular Wing’s trajectory as it repeatedly streaked across the sky.

For these young people, every circle The Pilot made in the sky etched the title deeper into their hearts.

After all, who else but the number one Strong Person had impressed a First Level Wizard with a research paper and received this cool ride from his lordship?

One could imagine that this legendary topic would be talked about in the academy for many years to come.

Mo Ning had only flown a dozen or so laps when he suddenly felt a warmth emanating from the Rose Bracelet on his right wrist.

This was the Assistant Researcher Bracelet from the Deep Red Rose Witchcraft Laboratory.

It was not only a token of his status but also an internal communication tool for the laboratory.

The next moment.

A message filled with utter shock flooded into his mind:

[By the Mystery! You crazy kid, that paper you wrote on Magic Parallel Stream theory actually beat out a paper by a Second Level Wizard and is going to be on the cover of tomorrow’s *Shine*!]

This was a message from Nasha, the Third Level Apprentice.

Mo Ning was slightly taken aback. That paper was his most fruitful achievement in Divination Theory to date.

But he never would have imagined that the *Shine* society would consider his paper’s value to have surpassed the masterpiece of a Second Level Wizard.

Nasha immediately explained the reason his paper on parallel stream theory had won:

[In terms of depth in Divination Theory, your paper naturally can’t compare to a Second Level Wizard’s, but your paper has an enormous range of applications. The society’s evaluation was—it is the most practical paper published by *Shine* in the last three years.]

[Ever since your "Red-Green Light parallel stream" theory began to circulate on a small scale, no fewer than ten First Level Wizards have used it to recalculate their own research projects.]

[The results astonished them: your theory can reduce the computational load by more than half, and in some cases, by as much as eighty percent! This theory has already caused a small sensation within the First Level Wizard Circle.]

Only then did Mo Ning understand.

’Compared to theoretical depth, the editors of *Shine* do indeed place more importance on the scope of application.’

’After all, no matter how profound a theory is, if it’s only useful in a very small number of fields, there’s limited value in making it a cover paper.’

’On the other hand, putting a paper with a wider range of applications on the cover is undoubtedly more beneficial to the journal’s influence.’

As for the so-called "Red-Green Light theory," it was a set of rules he had creatively introduced to organize the flow of Magic Power in parallel stream problems.

Its core principle was just like the "stop on red, go on green" of his previous life, which greatly improved the efficiency of Magic Parallel Streams.

The Spiritual Light for this idea came from *Low-Cycle Divination Introduction*. Renting this massive tome had only cost 10 Black Tower Points, yet it had brought him so many surprises.

Finally, Nasha added teasingly:

[Kid, you’ve really done something incredible. I heard the *Shine* society is planning a surprise for you.]

Mo Ning was quite calm about the "surprise" the Female Apprentice mentioned.

His paper on "Overpass Theory" had already been on the cover once, and he had received a generous reward that many Apprentices coveted. His pockets were already much fuller than those of most other Apprentices.

Therefore, he didn’t have high expectations for this "surprise."

「Half an hour later.」

With a slight thought from Mo Ning, the Triangular Wing’s span retracted by an angle. The flight resistance decreased sharply, and it immediately dove downwards, the WHOOSH WHOOSH of the wind exploding in his ears.

As the Triangular Wing neared the forest below, he suddenly retracted the aircraft. Its intricate structure quickly folded back into the shape of a backpack.

Mo Ning then quietly cast the Trick [Floating], his descent speed dropping sharply, and finally landed lightly atop a treetop.

It had to be said, that was a beautiful maneuver. The entire sequence of movements was exceptionally smooth.

The few newcomers nearby who witnessed this scene all had looks of admiration in their eyes.

Just as Mo Ning was about to jump down, his Guiding Ring suddenly emitted a cool sensation.

The reward notification from the *Shine* journal had finally arrived.

[Reward Notification: Serial Number 7-118-256, Mo Ning.]

[The paper you submitted to the *Shining Light of the Black Tower*, "The Application of the Red-Green Light Technique in Magic Parallel Streams—A Highly Innovative Distribution Theory in the Field of Magic Parallel Streams," has passed the society’s review.]

[The society is greatly honored to inform you that this paper will be featured on the cover of the next issue, becoming the center of attention for the entire academy. This is also the second time a paper you have written has been featured on the journal’s cover. Your contributions to Divination research are admirable.]

[The journal will be released tomorrow. The society will gift you ten hardcover copies for your collection.]

Mo Ning only glanced at it, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

His original title only contained words like "innovative," but the *Shine* society had changed it to "highly innovative."

The word "highly" had been added.

This undoubtedly represented the editors’ high level of recognition for his paper.

It wasn’t unusual for a journal to modify a paper’s title, but in most cases, the evaluation was downgraded, from high to low. Upgrading it from low to high was a relatively rare occurrence.

Of course, the addition of that word also meant the reward would increase accordingly, so Mo Ning was happy to see it happen.