Chapter 774: Learning Makes Me Super Happy

While the mood wasn't perfect, Marquis Niuwei finally obtained his own magical beast mount—a super-magical beast at that.

In terms of results, it was a success.

Thus, in the following days, Lee William simply stayed at Thorn Fort, bonding daily with his black albatross mount, Black Shearwater.

Liszt naturally couldn’t accompany Lee William every day, as he had a pile of tasks to handle. Nami had already been taken by Acheronides to the mangrove forest on the first island, and the smoke task should be finished soon. The Crystal Cyathea had been moved to the crystal workshop, where Brad and others were busy carving various crystal implements.

Although glassware could replace most crystal items, magic equipment crafted from crystal remained a necessity for high nobility.

Meanwhile, the cultivation of Crystal Cyathea was still being patiently researched by the mages of the Magic Guild, striving to develop a variant that could grow without relying on dragon magic.

The refinement of Magic Web 2.0 was led by Cris Truth. During its use, Magic Web 2.0 had exposed issues like low accuracy, cumbersome communication processes, and frequent malfunctions. So upgrading it would undoubtedly require immense effort and couldn’t be resolved quickly.

In fact, Liszt had already considered involving other great magicians in the Magic Web’s enhancement.

However, the Archmages were still absorbed in their studies of natural magic. While the Druid transformation spell was restricted by the bloodline of the Sun’s Children and couldn’t be cast, other magical plants like Magic Beans, Magic Wheat, Magic Melons, Magic Lotus Roots, Magic Eggplants, Magic Peppers, Magic Ginseng, Magic Pears, Magic Sunflowers, Transforming Trees, and Magic Oranges had already been decoded.

Liszt specifically allocated a test plot to the Magic Guild for cultivating these magical plants. Though they grew slowly, they were steadily developing.

Combining the territory’s scientific farming techniques with these nature-based Druid spells, they could truly harvest a batch of miraculous plant fruits in a few years or even a decade.

These past few days, what concerned Liszt the most was actually the agitation of the rubber bug triplets.

Ever since the smoke task to locate the three islands was completed, the rubber bugs had gradually grown restless—not as intensely as during the gestation of the insect grass, but all three were synchronized in their agitation. And today, after casting Three Phase Power to restore the rubber trees in the plantation, their restlessness peaked.

Then, within the vision of Liszt’s Magic Eye, the magic power of the rubber bug triplets began to change, slowly condensing and expanding outward, gradually enlarging the trio.

To the naked eye, the rubber bug triplets had entered the chrysalis stage.

Their progression into this stage was far faster than that of a single spirit bug, especially since the magic of the three rubber bugs resonated with each other, much like the vibrations during the release of Three Phase Power, constantly speeding up their metamorphosis. The changes in magic grew increasingly rapid, playing out the evolutionary details of a spirit bug’s chrysalis stage in fast motion before Liszt’s eyes.

"So, the agitation of the rubber bug triplets means they’re all evolving into spirit bugs... But the most miraculous aspect of the triplets is that they’ve revealed the secrets of evolution to me."

Liszt called Acheronides over to observe the evolution of the rubber bug triplets.

Unfortunately, Acheronides could only sense the changes in magic through the Magic Web and couldn’t visually perceive the trajectory of the mana currents. However precise Liszt’s explanations were, they couldn’t fully capture the subtleties of the transformation.

"Acheronides, based on my observations, the greatest change during a spirit bug’s chrysalis stage can be compared to 'bringing water to a boil.' The magic power is continuously heated until it reaches a boiling point—that’s the process of a spirit bug transforming into a spirit bug... But during this process, the constant dissipation of magic affects whether the water can fully boil."

Liszt grew increasingly excited as he spoke: "During the evolution of an ordinary spirit bug, the chrysalis stage continuously loses magic power and energy. If too much is lost, it becomes difficult to reach boiling, and the evolution fails. But the rubber bug triplets influence each other, accelerating the process and shortening the 'boiling' time, so the loss of energy and magic is minimal. This greatly increases their chances of successful evolution!"

Acheronides focused intently, trying to comprehend his words.

Meanwhile, the rubber bug triplets—now enlarged, plump, and dull—gradually settled down, lying motionless in their box.

Liszt knew, however, that the magic transformations within them were still ongoing, merely gathering their final strength: "This process might last three to five days, far shorter than the half-month or even month-long chrysalis stage of ordinary spirit bugs, drastically reducing losses."

"So, brother means that if we can artificially accelerate this process, spirit bug breakthroughs will no longer fail?"

"Failure is still possible, but artificially speeding up the chrysalis stage would definitely increase the success rate significantly. I think this is a promising research direction."

"But Acheronides still doesn’t understand the 'boiling water' process brother described," she said with a pout.

Liszt ruffled her teal-blue hair. "It’s fine if you don’t understand yet. Just observe slowly and keep this direction in mind. Don’t try to take it all in at once... Haven’t you noticed? Ever since becoming an Archmage, you’ve poured too much of yourself into magical experiments. That’s not good."

Acheronides asked, "Why not?"

"The Ache I first knew was an innocent, adorable siren who loved to sing, not a mage lost in spellcraft." Liszt reminisced about the days in the bug chamber, where he played the piano and Acheronides sang, a wave of nostalgia hitting him. "Do you remember Izzy?"

"The singing conch mermaid."

"Right. Actually, I think Is is more like a true mermaid—living in the vast ocean, perching on reefs to sing when the moonlight rises, or listening to the shouts of sailors on passing ships. That’s the kind of freedom that belongs to the ocean. But you, Acheronides, are trapped in the 'pursuit of truth' cage by magic."

As he spoke, Liszt himself grew somber. While no magician himself, wasn’t he also trapped in the 'pursuit of truth' cage by the so-called research labeled as science?

Life has too many joys worth pursuing, not just diving headfirst into truth.

Truth is too vast, too distant, too boundless—impossible to explore fully in a lifetime. Without a joyful mindset, one would inevitably fall into the twisted obsession that ensnares most mages unknowingly.

Yet Acheronides replied, "But brother, I'm not unhappy now. Researching magic is very joyful. A life like Is’s seems like that of a mindless sea beast—full of ignorance."

Caught in the "lack of freedom" atmosphere he had created, Liszt felt somewhat awkward: "Uh..."

It was like a struggling student complaining that studying made them feel shackled, as if losing freedom meant losing happiness, reducing them to a walking corpse.

Then the top student suddenly chimed in: "Studying makes me super happy."

If it weren’t Acheronides, Liszt would have found the conversation hopelessly mismatched and walked away without another word—no one could casually say such things in front of him!

But it was Acheronides speaking, the small mermaid not yet grown, her tone utterly sincere. She truly felt joy in researching magic.

After a pause.

Liszt quickly dispelled his own awkwardness and announced cheerfully, "No matter what, from now on, we must make time each day to play the piano and sing."