Chapter 40
The Level of Life and...
When the alchemical scalpel cut through the strongest muscle tissue inside the creature.
The residual blood accumulated in the heart flowed out along the incision and was collected, drop by drop, into a glass test tube by Lucy, who had already prepared everything in advance.
This heart blood, containing extremely minute traces of ancient dragonkin bloodline, surged with vigorous life force. It was an excellent potionology material and could heal severe injuries even without magical processing.
"Not a bad start."
Lucy sealed the test tube with a wooden stopper, the corners of her lips curving into a satisfied arc beneath the plague doctor mask.
Faced with such a high-grade enchanted organ, she even deliberately controlled her breathing, fearing that the slightest mistake would ruin all her efforts.
"Now for the main part..."
"The heart of a degenerated dragonkin actually has three atria, and the end of the aorta branches into four..."
The scalpel cut along the coronary sulcus, and the magical vein pattern of the first atrium unfolded slowly like a scroll.
It was a magnificent scene woven by countless faint blue lines, its intricacy and complexity far surpassing all the magical vein models she had encountered before.
"If I can successfully dissect this, it would definitely be a top-tier Tier-1 magical vein model."
Lucy did not immediately separate the organ specimen but instead planned to first remove the entire dragonkin heart.
However, just as she was about to cut open the second atrium, her vision suddenly distorted, and it felt as if a giant dragon was roaring beside her ears.
A wave of nausea and dizziness rushed straight to her head, tears welled up uncontrollably, and her whole body seemed to ignite with scorching heat.
Staggering, she withdrew the scalpel and leaned against the dissection table, breathing heavily.
Only after a while did she mutter.
"Knowledge tax."
Knowledge tax was the price wizards paid in pursuit of truth.
When a wizard attempted to observe or study mysteries far beyond their own academic level, knowledge tax would occur.
Unlike the Contamination Value, which could be purified, this mental backlash could only be endured. Mental Strength could not reduce the lower limit of the knowledge tax, resulting in various forms of backlash.
In this regard, even Lucy, inside Mentor Fernando’s top-tier dissection laboratory etched with anti-contamination arrays, was no exception.
"What a pity."
Lucy sighed, but even the first atrium of the degenerated dragonkin would be enough for her to study for a long time.
She carefully removed the first atrium from the heart and placed the remaining parts back into the preservation fluid.
She opened The Witch's Anatomical Notes, and the tip of the quill pen made a rustling sound as it moved across the parchment:
Number: NO·6
Scientific Name: Degenerated Dragonkin First Atrium
Dissection Time: Wizard Calendar Year 3040, June 1st, 03:11 AM
Organ Source: Degenerated Dragonkin Heart from Mentor Fernando's Dissection Laboratory
Morphological Description: Black iron-colored spindle-shaped atrium, surface covered with a petrified placental-like calcified layer, emits a death knell-like resonance when tapped.
Aberrant Reaction: Black iron-colored spindle-shaped atrium, surface covered with scale-like calcified layer, emits a metallic resonance when tapped.
...
When the magical energy hourglass clock on the wall flipped to indicate ten o’clock in the morning,
The third specimen slicing attempt failed once again.
Lucy dejectedly put down the scalpel. Even though she was only dealing with a single atrium, the dissection difficulty of the degenerated dragonkin’s enchanted organ still exceeded expectations.
If she continued like this, she would only be wasting biological organs.
Just as she was considering whether to pause the specimen preparation, a long and gentle voice came from behind:
"A true wizard of the anatomical school must learn to adjust their own magical energy resonance frequency. Only when it matches that of the specimen can a dissection experiment be perfectly completed."
"Mentor Fernando." Lucy turned to bow and then said, "But none of the organ specimens I dissected before ever had this issue."
Whether it was the initial Cradle of Enchanted Human Offspring or the many subsequent specimens, Lucy had achieved a success rate of over fifty percent.
"Those lower-tier organs had already lost their inherent frequency after being separated from the body, so naturally, they didn’t affect your dissection process."
"But the life level of the degenerated dragonkin has already reached Level 3... I forgot, the Tower’s basic education doesn’t cover the classification of life levels."
Fernando raised his hand and gently waved.
Frames composed of starlike diagrams appeared in mid-air within the dissection laboratory.
"Wizards classify all sentient life into six levels based on the differences in Mental Strength."
"Those with Mental Strength below 10 but above 1, such as apprentice trainees and knights, are categorized as Level 1 lifeforms."
"Official apprentices to advanced apprentices are classified as Level 2 lifeforms, peak apprentices as Level 3 lifeforms, official wizards as Level 4 lifeforms, Star Ring Wizards as Level 5, and Crown Wizards are classified as Level 6 lifeforms..."
The starlike diagrams in mid-air kept shifting along with Fernando’s fingers, and scene after scene appeared before Lucy’s eyes.
"Mentor, what exactly do Star Ring Wizards and Crown Wizards mean?"
"They are existences transcending the mundane."
Reverence appeared in Fernando’s eyes. "A Star Ring Wizard’s Mental Strength is sufficient to envelop an entire planet, while a Crown Wizard can influence the laws of an entire dimension… To explain it in simpler terms, they are gods."
Gods?
Lucy’s pupils quivered slightly. This was the first time she had heard of the concept of gods since arriving in this world.
She had always assumed that the wizarding world had no concept of gods.
Fernando noticed Lucy’s confusion.
"Every dimension has beings known as gods who act as rulers, and the wizarding world is no exception."
"In ancient times, the wizarding world was called the Material Plane or the Primary Plane, ruled by the God of Light."
"But tens of thousands of years ago, the ancient Crown Wizards waged a long and drawn-out war against this world’s god, ultimately driving away the main god-level God of Light and burying the other deities into the dust of history."
The star diagrams in the air shifted again, forming a massive blue planet.
Surrounding the planet were countless densely packed sub-planes, as numerous as stars in the sky.
"Lucy, what constitutes this world is far more than just the wizarding world alone. Gods of other planes are constantly watching the Material Plane dominated by wizards. The slightest slip on our part will trigger a planar invasion..."
Lucy’s eyes widened.
At this moment, several threads finally connected in her mind as Fernando spoke.
The harsh talent screenings, the stockpiles of war machines beneath the laboratories, and even the Tower’s almost fanatical talent cultivation system all existed to defend against the prying eyes of deities from other planes.
"Then who is stronger, a Crown Wizard or the gods of other planes?"
"Of course, the omniscient and omnipotent Crown Wizard!"
Fernando answered without hesitation. "It’s just... it’s just that the planar torrents are endless, and the Material Plane holds too great an allure for them. Even the greatest wizards cannot be everywhere at once... ahem, I’ve gone off topic."
He waved away the starlike diagrams of magical energy drawn in the air.
He had originally only wanted to help his student learn resonance frequency tuning, but unexpectedly ended up digressing this far.
Yet seeing Lucy’s mixture of shock and sudden realization brought Fernando a faint sense of satisfaction.
After all, this girl had given him quite enough shocks yesterday; today, as her mentor, he finally regained a bit of dignity.