Chapter 574 - 404: The Appalling Gulf

Chapter 574: Chapter 404: The Appalling Gulf

This was understandable. For one, the Mad Witch was a taboo subject, so not many Arcanists dared to get involved. For another, the research team was newly formed. Even with the full support of the Truth Association, it was still lacking and couldn’t compare to the Star Creation research team, which had been established for over a century.

The third faction, while also responsible for researching the nature of the Mad Witch, consisted of Legendary Mages and was therefore separate from the Arcanists.

This third faction was also the smallest. Besides the twelve "guinea pig" Official Wizards, it consisted of a mere five people, none of whom were High-level Mages—just two Tier Two and three Tier One...

This low quality was unavoidable. Firstly, the Mad Witch’s reputation was a factor. Its infamy was so widespread that very few people dared to study the subject deeply, especially Legendary Mages, who were more likely to get ensnared. The more advanced the Mage, the more susceptible they were to its influence.

Secondly, Legendary Mages tended to conduct their research alone, making collaboration extremely difficult. The more advanced the Mage, the harder it was for them to work with others.

Due to these various factors, support from the Flesh Sect was minimal. However, the resources provided were plentiful and delivered quickly.

Isaac briefly swept his gaze over the crowd. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he gave an imperceptible nod, then got straight to the point. "I’ll be direct. I’ve gathered you all here because I used a Fruit of Time, a precious Time System treasure, which allowed me to make significant breakthroughs in our current research."

He paused to let the news sink in before continuing, "First, regarding the Star Creation experiment."

As he spoke, Isaac waved his hand, and a starry curtain materialized in the sky above.

"As you all know, we’re currently facing financial difficulties with the Star Creation experiment. Until we can secure new funding, we need to change our methods to extract new insights from existing data. This is the Star Curtain Magic, which took me two years to deduce. It can simulate the formation of primordial planets and the birth of Star Gods."

"By inputting our collected data into this Magic, we can visually observe the formation of planets and the birth of Star Gods. Through this, we might discover the most fundamental difference between the two!"

"This..."

"A new Magic? In such a short time?"

"Is he serious? We can even see the birth of a Star God?"

"Is that the point? The point is, the birth of a Star God... are we *allowed* to see that?"

...

The moment Isaac finished speaking, the crowd below erupted into chaos. Meanwhile, Moens, who should have been maintaining order, said nothing. He stared up at the Star Curtain, his expression exceptionally grave. The corners of his mouth tried to lift several times, only to be forced back down by the heavy feeling in his heart.

It wasn’t that there was a problem with Isaac’s Magic. On the contrary, it was utterly flawless!

As a veteran Grand Arcanist who had immersed himself in the field of Star Creation for over a hundred years, Moens was quite confident in his expertise. So, contrary to Isaac’s conservative assessment, he could declare with certainty that this Star Curtain Magic would allow him to perfect his Great Arcane Art and finally complete the Star Creation experiment!

But it was precisely this perfection that weighed so heavily on Moens’s heart!

Because he could feel the gap between them!

He didn’t think Isaac was the type to lie, so if he said developing this Magic took two years, then it took two years. That efficiency was frankly terrifying.

If it were him, developing a similar Magic would take at least ten years!

And even then, it would only cover the planet creation aspect; he would be powerless to address the Star God portion.

The gap was immense. Even if his inability with the latter part was because he was an Arcanist—who couldn’t and had no interest in meddling with Deities, thus lacking the relevant Knowledge—the difference in the time it took to create the Magic was undeniable.

Moreover, Moens could tell that this Magic was not the result of anchoring the future. While the Fruit of Time was precious, he had lived long enough to have seen a few.

Research data obtained by anchoring the future had a very distinct characteristic—it was impeccably structured.

Regardless of whether the user was a Legendary Mage or an Arcanist, research data obtained by anchoring the future would be perfectly structured, lacking any personal style.

But the Star Curtain Magic Isaac was now displaying was different. It was not only a standard Legendary Mage’s Chaos State Magic, but it also bore Isaac’s distinct personal style—for instance, the fact that adding Divine Power would make the Magic even more potent...

One glance was enough to tell this was Isaac’s own creation. The gap between them... was so vast that Moens felt a hint of despair...

However, this wasn’t all Isaac had to show. For the Star Creation research project, he went on to present a massive amount of fully analyzed and summarized data, along with some highly refined hypotheses. He even unveiled several Magic Formulas that could be used to adjust the Great Arcane Art.

Magic Formulas were an element unique to Arcane Art, conceived as a counterpart to a Legendary Mage’s [Concept]. Although the two were still leagues apart, Magic Formulas remained at the core of the Arcane Art research system.

By using one or more mature Arcane Formulas, even a Tier One Arcanist could, in a very short time, temporarily optimize a Tier Three Great Arcane Art to a certain degree!

It would lower the Casting difficulty and make it better suited to their personal Casting habits!

Unfortunately, due to the terrifying Mana Consumption of a Great Arcane Art, even with a top-tier auxiliary tool like Magic Formulas, it was impossible to cast it alone. Forget Low Tier Arcanists; even a Grand Arcanist of the same Level couldn’t rely solely on Magic Formulas. They typically still required an external Magic Power Source.

Therefore, their true application had always been in research, where they could drastically improve an Arcanist’s research capabilities. After all, with research centered on Magic Formulas, a Tier One Arcanist could effectively function at a Tier Three level, which was incredibly cost-effective!

And now, Isaac, a Legendary Mage, had just produced several Magic Formulas—the domain of Arcanists—which were related to his own Tier Six Great Arcane Art·Star Creation!

’What’s even more frightening is that these Magic Formulas didn’t come from anchoring the future either, because I can see a distinct immaturity in them.’

’Such terrifying research ability...’

’This guy really should have walked the path of an Arcanist. What a shame...’

Moens’s gaze on Isaac was tinged with regret. He was clearly aware that Isaac had become a Legendary Mage only because he lacked the aptitude for Magic Power.

Soon, Isaac concluded his presentation on the Star Creation research. The members of the research group, snapping out of their daze, gave Isaac looks of utter amazement before quickly excusing themselves.

After Isaac’s guidance, they were bursting with inspiration and felt terrifyingly powerful!

They couldn’t wait to finish the project!

Of course, there was another reason for their hasty departure: Isaac was about to discuss his research on the nature of the Mad Witch, and that was not something they were meant to hear.

The people who remained looked at Isaac expectantly, hoping to hear some shocking revelation from him.

Unfortunately...

But after he finished, both Moens and the others felt a faint sense of disappointment...

Isaac’s research—the complete deduction of soul structures, the full decryption of the "Code," the method for pinpointing unknown Concepts—all of it should have been a tremendous help to their current progress, enough to make the entire project leap forward!

But for some reason, after he finished, a single thought inexplicably surfaced in everyone’s mind—

’That’s it?’

Yes, that was it.

Sensing their thoughts, Isaac felt a little helpless himself. ’I wanted more results too, but what can you do? Even when you’re using a "cheat," you still have to follow the basic rules. This project isn’t like Star Creation. It’s just getting started. There’s not much data, no technology, and no prior research to draw from.’

’When you have nothing to start with, you naturally can’t expect big results.’

’Research isn’t just wishful thinking, after all.’

So, unlike everyone else, Isaac was quite satisfied with the current progress.

’Research has to be done one step at a time. It’s unrealistic to expect to reach the heavens in a single leap. Can’t they see that not even anchoring the future can do that?’