Chapter 105 | The Otherworld Journey That Starts From a Slime

Ke Ling slowly injected mana into the mana bubble, and soon the mana inside reached a state of saturation.

“Alright,” Ke Ling said.

Zhang Ye nodded and signaled for Ke Ling to step back a bit. Then, he reached out and clenched his fist!

“Gravitational Squeeze!”

Of course, he didn’t actually need hand gestures or to shout the name to release magic, but it felt much cooler that way.

Yeah, he was just having a bit of a chuunibyou moment.

Instantly, the air around the mana bubble floating in mid-air began to ripple slightly. This was a visual effect caused by the refraction of light, as the Gravitational Squeeze made the density of the air around the bubble different from its surroundings.

It proved that Zhang Ye’s Gravitational Squeeze was working.

However, the mana Zhang Ye was currently channeling only produced one-fold gravity. This amount of gravity was not enough to compress the volume of the mana bubble to the desired size.

Air has mass, and so does mana. To compress mana, the gravitational force had to reach a certain threshold.

“One-fold gravity.”

“Two-fold gravity.”

“Three-fold gravity.”

Since it was the first experiment, Zhang Ye had to be cautious. He slowly increased the injection of mana, and the gravity rose accordingly. To the naked eye, the mana bubble was actually shrinking slowly as the gravity increased!

“Six-fold gravity!” When the gravity reached six times its normal strength, the volume of the mana bubble had already shrunk to one-sixth of its original size!

At this point, the compression could be considered truly complete.

To compress it further, the gravity would need to reach over ten-fold.

The smaller the volume being compressed, the greater the gravity required.

Zhang Ye could have continued to increase the gravity, but considering this was the first trial and the strength of the mana membrane still needed to be tested, compressing it to this level was sufficient.

Zhang Ye let out a small sigh of relief, then used his mana to support the mana bubble, which was now only the size of a marble. He smiled and said, “Success.”

Watching this, Ke Ling’s pupils dilated and contracted rapidly. She nodded and began to record the data.

“Once the mana compression is complete, we need to find a carrier, otherwise it won’t stay this way for long,” Zhang Ye said.

Hearing this, Ke Ling flipped her hand, and a diamond-shaped magic crystal appeared in her palm. “A magic crystal itself is an excellent mana carrier. An empty magic crystal that has had its mana depleted might be usable as a carrier for compressed mana.”

Zhang Ye nodded and let Ke Ling guide the compressed mana into the magic crystal.

Soon, the originally transparent and colorless magic crystal took on a brilliant blue glow.

Ke Ling held the magic crystal and said, “After compression, this magic crystal can store six times the amount of uncompressed mana. Furthermore, this mana does not need to be extracted or converted by a converter; it can be directly used for activation and release. This way, the bulky conversion magic sets and extraction magic sets in a magic core can be removed, and the volume of the magic core will be reduced to one-fourth of its original size.”

“This is the solution you were talking about, right?”

The difference between a magic device and a Treasure is that a magic device only needs to be supplied with enough mana for anyone to use it. To meet this requirement, magic devices have many peripheral magic sets, which is why many of them are complex and composed of multiple magic parts.

Zhang Ye snapped his fingers. “Exactly!”

Ke Ling nodded and said, “Compression, Universal Gravitation, and the application of gravity—these subjects are all highly valuable for research. I am applying to you for research rights.”

Zhang Ye replied, “If you want to research it, just go ahead. You don’t need to ask me specifically.”

“But this came from you; it is your research result. As a magical researcher, one must not privately steal the research results of others. This is the most basic professional ethics for a magical researcher,” Ke Ling said.

Zhang Ye smiled slightly at her words. “That’s true, but have you ever heard a certain saying?”

“What is it?”

“Knowledge has no boundaries. Since I have already made it public, you are perfectly free to research it, discuss it, or even raise objections and find a different path.”

“Only in this way can the development of magical theory be further expanded and go even further, don’t you think?”

Ke Ling looked at Zhang Ye, her pupils dilating and contracting. Finally, she nodded.

“I believe what you said is very correct.” Ke Ling nodded, then waved her hand. The badge on Zhang Ye’s chest flashed.

“I have updated your identity and Permission Level. You are now an Intermediate Researcher with a 3-star Permission Level.”

“At the same time, I hereby apply to become your student.”

The first part was fine, but when he heard the second part, Zhang Ye was stunned.

“You want to become my student?” Zhang Ye pointed at himself in a daze.

Ke Ling nodded. “Yes. Your magical theories are very rich and unique, which is extremely helpful to me.”

“I hope you can become my mentor and provide me with teaching and guidance.”

“According to the concept of equivalent exchange, I will pay you an equal amount of points or offer an equivalent price.”

Zhang Ye hurriedly waved his hands. “No, no, no. Are you mistaken about something? I’m just a freshman this year. How could I be your mentor…”

“You said it yourself: knowledge has no boundaries. Are you going to contradict the ideology you just proposed?” Ke Ling said. “As expected of a mentor.”

Zhang Ye: “...”

“No, that’s not the point!” Zhang Ye said frantically. “We’ve only just met. Isn’t it a bit too hasty for you to make me your mentor?”

“It is not. This is a conclusion I reached after one hundred and eight cycles of thought. Having you as my mentor will be of immense help to me,” Ke Ling said.

One hundred and eight times… thinking that much in such a short time, hasn’t your little brain burned out yet?

Zhang Ye was somewhat speechless and said, “But I’ve never taught anyone before. I don’t know how to provide guidance at all.”

“You do,” Ke Ling said.

Zhang Ye asked, “How would I know how?”

Ke Ling replied, “You taught very well back in the library.”

Zhang Ye was speechless.

Was I teaching you back then?

I was just trying to look cool, okay!

Zhang Ye suddenly regretted showing off like that.

“Then what if I don’t agree? Can you still force me?” Zhang Ye said, acting like a rogue.

Ke Ling nodded. “I can.”

Zhang Ye: “Huh?”

In the next moment, Ke Ling’s terrifying pressure was released, filling the entire laboratory. Zhang Ye felt as if he might be crushed at any moment, and his face instantly turned pale.

“I have never forgotten that in this world, the strong are respected. I am stronger than you; therefore, I can indeed force you.” Ke Ling’s blue eyes glowed slightly.

“You can refuse, but the consequence is that I will forcibly imprison you and use unconventional means to compel you to hand over the knowledge in your mind and provide me with teaching and guidance.” As she spoke, countless translucent blue light blades condensed around Zhang Ye, pointing directly at him.

Zhang Ye broke out in a cold sweat.

Seriously, is it really okay for you to say such terrifying things with such a flat expression and the most indifferent tone?

The key was that Zhang Ye realized Ke Ling was right.

Even though he was strong, he had almost no power to fight back against a Saint-tier. This was because Saint-tiers mastered laws. And just now, a ripple had been released from Ke Ling’s body, enveloping him and making the flow of mana within him extremely difficult and slow.

Ella flew out and said hurriedly, “Ye, this is a Domain—an ability that only Saint-tiers possess. With your rank, it’s impossible to defeat her within her Domain, so just agree to it!”

“Besides, she’s a beautiful girl, and she said she’d give you points. You aren’t losing out either way.”

Zhang Ye said indignantly, “Would a dignified, iron-blooded man like me succumb to this kind of threat?”

Then he turned to Ke Ling and said, “Fine, I agree.”

Ella: “...”

What an iron-blooded man!

That was about as iron as a wet noodle!

Instantly, Zhang Ye felt the weight lift off him. Ke Ling’s pressure and Domain vanished completely, and the sense of crisis was gone as if it had all been an illusion.