Chapter 81: The Echo and the Debate

Night had fallen deep.

Lia sat cross-legged on the soft carpet, her eyes closed, her mind deeply immersed in meditation.

Suddenly, a boundless torrent of energy materialized from the void, washing over her like a warm tide, engulfing her in an instant.

The Echo of Truth!

This echo was remarkably similar to the one she had experienced when publishing the Law of Free Fall.

The surging energy cleansed Lia’s spiritual realm, yet it possessed no trace of wildness.

Her spiritual power was repeatedly forged and refined by this force, stemming from the very essence of the world, each wisp becoming tougher and more substantial, akin to quenched steel.

Her mana, which had previously flowed like a gentle stream, began an essential transformation under the nourishment of this energy.

If her mana before had been a chaotic dance of molecules, now, it seemed to have discovered an inherent order, spontaneously arranging and combining to form an intricate and stable structure.

No longer a flowing brook, it had become a rapidly growing crystal forest, every facet imbued with an energy density and efficiency far exceeding its former state.

From a distant room, Adèle’s irrepressible gasp echoed, a sound brimming with undisguised ecstasy.

Lia slowly opened her eyes.

She could clearly perceive that while the sheer volume of her spiritual power had not explosively increased, its ‘quality’ had undergone a monumental transformation.

More significantly, deep within her spiritual realm, an exceptionally complex spell model had spontaneously coalesced amidst the surge of energy.

It was not a construct of Lia’s own making, but rather a direct gift bestowed upon her by the Echo of Truth.

The model was intricate and exquisite, countless tiny runes following a periodic rhythm, forming a constantly rotating spherical structure, much like a miniature galaxy.

With a thought, Lia extended a wisp of spiritual power into it.

She stretched out her hand, her finger pointing at an apple resting on her desk.

A barely perceptible cluster of energy shot from her fingertip, silently vanishing into the apple.

The next instant, the plump, crimson apple, under Adèle’s horrified gaze as she burst through the doorway, began to decompose from within.

Peel.

Flesh.

Core.

All the matter composing it was instantly reduced to its most fundamental elements, then completely dissipated into the air, leaving not even a speck of dust.

Meanwhile, the wooden desktop where the apple had rested remained perfectly intact.

“What… what spell is this?” Adèle’s voice trembled.

“Elemental Decomposition.”

Lia gazed at her fingertip, murmuring to herself.

This spell was the materialized embodiment of the Periodic Law of Elements within her spiritual realm.

It possessed the power to precisely dismantle any substance back into its most primordial form.

***

A week passed in a flash.

The storm unleashed by ‘On the Periodic Law of Elements and the Table of Basic Elements’ proved far more ferocious than anyone had anticipated.

The entire Royal Capital’s schools of Elementalism and Alchemy were plunged into an unprecedented fervor and upheaval.

Countless alchemists, staunchly adhering to antiquated theories, suffered mental breakdowns the moment they comprehended the table, finding themselves unable to refute it and their established knowledge systems incapable of accommodating the new theory.

Amidst their wails, they collapsed within their laboratories and mage towers.

Even more mages, as if witnessing a divine oracle, fervently dedicated themselves to the search and verification of new elements.

Each day brought new rumors of elemental discoveries circulating throughout the Royal Capital; though most proved mere conjecture, it was enough to demonstrate the profound fervor ignited by this table.

Lia Farren.

Her name rapidly spread across the entire magical community of the kingdom, and people soon discovered that this author was also the very same person behind ‘Preliminary Discussions on the Laws of Motion’!

Moreover, a select few powerful mages were astonished to realize that the very calculus they studied had been conceived by this young student!

***

Within the mage tower, however, Lia’s life remained remarkably tranquil.

Aside from her daily meditations, she could distinctly perceive subtle currents of energy converging into her body from all directions—the faint resonance generated by countless individuals gaining new knowledge through her theories.

Accumulating little by little, both the quantity and quality of her mana steadily increased.

That afternoon, Adèle returned from outside, her hurried steps accompanied by a face etched with barely suppressed anger and worry.

She slammed a freshly published copy of ‘Debate of Truth’ onto the table before Lia.

‘Debate of Truth’ was another authoritative journal under the Magical Association, renowned for publishing academic debates between various schools of thought.

On the cover of this issue, a striking headline was printed in bold typeface.

‘On the Sacred Order of Elements — A Refutation of the Fallacies of the Table of Basic Elements’

Lia’s eyebrow arched slightly.

She opened the journal, while Adèle, fuming beside her, declared:

“It’s Balthazar! That obstinate old relic from the Elemental School!”

“Just a few days ago, during a public lecture at the Magical Association, he openly declared your theory to be erroneous, an outright desecration of the sacred nature of elements! And now, this article is published today!”

Lia’s gaze settled on the main body of the essay, and she began to meticulously study the opposing arguments.

Balthazar, one of the kingdom’s Seven-Ring Arch-Mages of Elementalism, held a pivotal position within the Elemental School.

His refutation was not a baseless tirade, but rather an assault on the Periodic Law of Elements from an entirely distinct perspective.

“I concede that Miss Lia’s discovery of several new elements is a monumental contribution. However, the so-called Periodic Table of Elements she has constructed based on this commits a fundamental error.”

“By crudely and simply sorting all elements in the world by their atomic weight—a purely physical property—she has disregarded the inherent spirituality and sacred hierarchy of elements!”

“For centuries, the intrinsic hierarchy of elements has formed the very foundation of spellcasting! With the same expenditure of spiritual power, why is the mana conversion efficiency of a ‘Radiance’ spell vastly superior to that of a ‘Mud Pit’ spell?

Why do high-ranking mages consistently seek noble metals like Mithril and Orichalcum for their staff cores, rather than base lead or iron? Is this not irrefutable proof of the sacred elemental hierarchy?”

“Miss Lia’s table indiscriminately groups phosphorus, which drives light, with arsenic, which forms deadly poisons, within the same family. It crudely conflates noble silver with reactive yet perilous sodium.”

“Within our theoretical framework, all things originate from the transcendent Aether. All elements are but manifestations of Aether at different hierarchical levels.

The arrangement of elements should adhere to the nobility of their magical properties, not some ephemeral concept of mass!”

“Yet Miss Lia places reactive alkali metals alongside inert gases, and positions noble gold next to mercury. This fundamentally violates the basic laws of elemental magic! It is a disruption of order, a distortion of truth!”

In his paper, Balthazar put forth his own elemental arrangement model.

It was a pyramidal structure, with Aether at its apex, diverging downwards.

Elements closer to the apex possessed nobler properties and purer mana.

Conversely, elements further from the apex were deemed more corrupt and base!

“He… how could he say such a thing!” Adèle’s cheeks flushed crimson with indignation.

“That’s utter nonsense! Elements are just elements; there’s no such thing as noble or base among them!”

Lia, however, found herself thoroughly engrossed.

‘This Balthazar, he’s rather interesting,’ she mused.

“He’s conflating concepts,”

Lia said, closing the journal with a calm tone.

“He’s deliberately muddling the objective chemical properties of elements with the subjective concepts mages have ascribed to them. The scorching heat of fire is an objective property, but the term ‘noble’ is a definition imposed by humans.”

At the conclusion of his paper, Balthazar issued an ultimatum in a condescending tone.

“I, Balthazar, hereby extend an invitation for a public debate to Miss Lia Farren.”

“I expect her to recognize the superficiality and errors in her theory, retract that table which misleads countless young minds, and return to the righteous path of elemental research.”

“Should you refuse, I shall petition the Theoretical Review Council to initiate the highest level of scrutiny upon your Periodic Law of Elements.”

Adèle’s face paled considerably.

The highest level of scrutiny meant that, should Lia fail, her theory would not only be utterly suppressed, but she herself would be nailed to the academic pillar of shame.

“Lia, you…”

Adèle looked at her with concern.

Lia, however, casually placed the journal on the table and took a sip from her glass of warm water.

There was no trace of tension on her face; instead, a faint smile played on her lips.

“Senior Sister, do you know something?”

“Back where I come from, we call this an academic symposium.”

She rose, walked to the window, and gazed out at the vast sky.

“He wants to debate? Then we’ll debate.”

“Coincidentally, I also have a few questions I’d like to ask this Arch-Mage in person.”

“For instance, if we extrapolate from his theory, would it be impossible for two base elements to synthesize into a noble one?”