Chapter 635: Out of Nowhere

“Where should I start? That light is a wave is almost beyond doubt. The polarization of light and the double-slit interference experiment have proven that light is a wave.”

Daru walked out of the room and returned to his laboratory, subconsciously beginning to think.

A zinc sphere sat on the lab bench, suddenly reminding Daru of an old, unresolved issue regarding light.

It was a strange phenomenon discovered by Thales: when a resonating zinc sphere was irradiated with ultraviolet light, the sparks produced were much stronger than without irradiation. Infrared and visible light fundamentally could not achieve this effect.

This was an unsolved case in the field of electromagnetism, known as the photoelectric effect.

Many wizards had conducted similar experiments and summarized two characteristics: First, when the frequency of light is below a critical value, the photoelectric effect does not occur; it only happens when the frequency is high enough. Second, the photoelectric effect has nothing to do with the intensity of the light; even very weak ultraviolet light can produce the photoelectric effect.

From discontinuous energy, Daru thought of the author Alexander, and then of Alexander’s famous paper, “Cathode Rays.” A line of thought suddenly sparked in his mind.

“The discontinuity of energy dealt too huge a blow to the entire Electromagnetism School, even affecting other schools. I heard that Tenth Ring Legendary Immortal Wizard Thales’s Mental Image World shattered a second time, and his sub-plane reverted to chaos.

“It’s already extremely fortunate that Teacher Bruce and the others didn’t suffer heavy casualties. I’m also lucky that my foundation isn’t electromagnetism; it’s too dangerous.”

Although wave theory had dominated the Wizard World for a long time, when many wizards constructed their sub-planes, they still used atoms as the most fundamental unit. As for the deeper internal structure of the atom, rumor had it that only Bayen had attempted to construct it after seeking advice from Ace.

But exactly how it turned out was unknown.

It was also fortunate that their foundation was the atom; otherwise, people like Daru and Bruce would have had their heads explode. Daru was very hesitant and shaken in his heart. Although he wanted to help Teacher Bruce very much, Daru also suspected that the energy quantum theory might be an established truth, or at least a manifestation of a certain truth.

He paced back and forth, his leather shoes thudding against the floor.

“Electromagnetism is clearly a wave; it should be a wave. Why would it become a particle? That damn Alexander!”

After muttering to himself for a while, Daru finally decided to conduct experiments first.

“Regardless of everything else, electrons definitely exist. I will first prove my hypothesis and verify what those sparks are. As for whether light is exactly a wave or a particle, I’ll deal with that later.”

He imitated Alexander’s experiment, adding a magnetic field over the produced sparks and a fluorescent screen behind the magnetic field. As the saying goes, it doesn’t matter how many tricks you have, as long as they work. Daru repeated the experimental logic of Alexander’s “Cathode Rays” and proved that what escaped during the photoelectric effect were indeed electrons.

As a member of the Electromagnetism School, Daru hesitated for a long time but ultimately analyzed it from an electromagnetic perspective. He believed that the energy of electromagnetic waves would slowly accumulate—like basking in the sun, getting warmer the longer you bask—and when the energy became large enough, the electrons would escape.

However, the experimental results ruthlessly negated Daru’s idea. Irradiating it with light below the critical frequency for a whole day didn’t result in a single electron escaping. Yet, light above the critical frequency—namely, ultraviolet light—could easily release electrons, no matter how weak it was.

Daru fell into a panic. A single sentence flashed repeatedly in his mind: “Energy is discontinuous; the world is discontinuous!”

It was like a curse, following him like a shadow.

Daru’s eyes were red, like a beast driven to a dead end, ready to fight to the death at any moment.

He slowly adjusted his state. As an Legendary Wizard, his Mental Image World—his cognition of the world—was crucial.

Having long since discarded magical tools, he specifically went out at this moment and bought a Level 3 magical tool. He spent half a month stabilizing his Mental Image World, and then sought out his teacher, Bruce.

“Ah, Daru, what is it?”

Bruce had heavy dark circles under his eyes, seemingly having overthought things recently. He was hunched over his desk calculating. If one looked closely, they would find that what he was calculating was precisely the Alexander Formula!

A pitch-black string of letters: “Energy is discontinuous”!

Daru bowed deeply to Bruce and said solemnly, “Teacher, half a month ago I bought a Level 3 Dream Magical Tool and transferred all my cognition of my Mental Image World onto it.”

Bruce slowly stood up and asked in a low voice, “What… did you discover? Or rather, what do you intend to do?”

Bruce’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice deep and desolate.

Daru said seriously, “This is my research from the past while regarding the photoelectric effect. I wish to discuss it with you, Teacher.”

Bruce took a deep breath, took the paper without opening it, and said with a trace of fear, “Is it about energy being discontinuous?”

His hands trembled slightly, revealing the extreme unrest in his heart.

Daru said softly, “It’s possible. This experiment isn’t over yet; I haven’t started the second half. I wanted to discuss it with you first, Teacher.”

The Legendary Immortal Wizard Bruce took a deep breath and slowly opened it. His mind recalled the situation when he saw Alexander’s paper “The Law of Black Body Radiation.” If his foundation wasn’t also approximately constructed using atoms, his head would probably have exploded on the spot.

Thinking that his current foundation’s most microscopic level was still the atom, he felt slightly relieved. He shouldn’t end up as miserable as Thales, whose cognition shattered a second time and almost died on the spot.

Nor would he be like the even more miserable Legendary Immortal Wizard Laval, who directly turned into a ball of fire, his physical body and soul burning away completely.

A blessing in disguise, Laval was a Legendary Immortal Wizard; his Fruit of Immortality was still there. He could still walk out of the river of history. It wasn’t a true fall, just a need to slumber for a period of time.

Slowly opening it, Bruce read carefully, nodding continuously.

“A very brilliant concept. With a slight modification to the ‘Cathode Rays’ experiment, it proves that what escapes in the photoelectric effect are electrons.”

Then, a look of solemnity appeared in Bruce’s eyes as he saw the continuation: electromagnetic waves accumulating and energy increasing couldn’t make electrons escape. He began to think and slowly said uncertainly, “Perhaps the electron escaping is the result of resonance? The frequency of ultraviolet light resonates with the electron, causing it to escape?

“No, no, electrons couldn’t possibly have that many resonance frequencies. We need to prove it with experiments.”

The two immediately began experimenting. However, the facts were right before their eyes; this line of thought was negated by the experiments. It seemed there was only one path left!

Bruce and Daru looked at each other. Daru said firmly, “We cannot hesitate, Teacher. No matter how much we disbelieve or are unwilling, when all possibilities become impossible, the most impossible possibility is the truth.”

The Legendary Immortal Wizard Bruce also smiled bitterly and said, “Indeed. Let us introduce energy discontinuity and the Alexander Formula to explain it.”

It was as if the two held a key and opened a terrifying Pandora’s box. It went unusually smoothly—mathematical calculations, experimental proofs; everything was so harmonious.

The magical tool Daru prepared didn’t explode; perhaps his heart had already accepted it. Bru’s Mental Image World was a mess, but he was still alive, and his cognition hadn’t shattered. That was enough.

“Daru, this is your experiment and your honor. You write it and be the primary author,” Bruce said, exhausted yet excited.

Just as Daru was about to say something, Bruce pressed a hand on him and said in a deep voice, “This isn’t just an honor; it also means you will stand at the crest of the storm. Your teacher’s heart is old; I cannot hold my ground.

“The particle nature of light can be said to be an epoch-shattering viewpoint. According to the time of the Level 4 Astral Plane, we kicked light particles out of the field of foundational theory hundreds of years ago, and now we are inviting them back.

“Sigh…”

A long sigh foreshadowed a terrifying scene in the future. Bruce could even envision his brothers and sisters who were once in the same academic camp engaging in cruel slaughter. Sometimes, this kind of academic dispute was crueler than ordinary wars.

Daru nodded, his heart exceptionally heavy, but facts came first. Light quanta could explain the photoelectric effect; facts had to be respected.

He bent down and began to write.

Outside the window, dark clouds had long since gathered. The sudden weather change in the Celestial Realm had already caught many people’s attention. More and more Legendary Immortal Wizards gathered with their people at the entrance of Bruce’s Wizard Tower.

Bayen appeared abruptly. A light drizzle dampened his beard and hair, yet his clothes remained clean and neat. Bathing in this rain, Bayen murmured, “A storm is coming.”

“Teacher, we don’t need to worry too much. Even if the world is discontinuous, so what? You are the inheritor of Lord Ace’s path; you could be said to be the wizard closest to the Firelinker. According to Lord Ace’s suggestion, our most fundamental composition is made of atoms.

“Moreover, it is the feedback atom model. Even Alexander, who proposed the quantum concept, is merely verifying the Great Source’s feedback obtained by Lord Ace.”

A young wizard appeared beside Bayen. He looked very handsome, energetic, and full of vigor.

Bayen glanced at him and said in a low voice, “We don’t need to worry for now. But Thomson, you must not be overly confident. The research Alexander is conducting is extremely important; he is truly verifying and measuring the microscopic world.

“If possible, I hope you can have more academic exchanges with Alexander. Perhaps there will be greater benefits.”

This young man, Thomson, had deep ties with Bayen. He was the great-grandson of Bayen’s grandson. Because of this connection, he was able to study by Bayen’s side at a young age.

Of course, Thomson himself was also exceptionally outstanding. At only eighteen, he was already an Legendary Wizard, possessing superb magical aptitude and even higher talent in mathematics.

As a youth, Thomson had his own arrogance. He merely nodded slightly, but remained unconvinced in his heart. He also wanted to achieve a great undertaking for Bayen to see.

Thomson replied in a low voice, “I will communicate with Alexander, but I would rather achieve success in this field independently.”

Bayen wasn’t angry. He smiled and said, “Having ambition is good, but more importantly, your actions and intellect must match. Ambition with intellect is pride; ambition without intellect is arrogance.

“Let us wait. But indeed, there is no need to worry. The foundation of our school is actually determinism—the so-called ‘every cause has an effect.’

“Objective laws and causal connections universally exist in nature and human society. This is the fundamental spirit of magical research. With this as our foundation, we will be successful wherever we go.”

Hearing Bayen’s words, the other Legendary mmortal Wizards couldn’t help but nod. Whether the world was ultimately a wave or a particle wouldn’t fundamentally shake everyone’s foundation, except for the electromagnetism wizards who directly used waves as their foundation.

Believing that things possess objective laws and everything has a causal relationship—this was the fundamental cognition of the vast majority of wizards, and also the prevailing viewpoint among wizards today: Give me initial conditions and boundaries, and I can predict the future of everything in the Astral Plane.

Inside the Wizard Tower, Daru had written to the end.

“Therefore, we can conclude:

“A beam of light is a group of discrete quanta, not a continuous wave.

“The energy of each light quantum is an energy quantum, which can be expressed by the Alexander Formula.

“An electron escaping requires an input of energy. When the energy of the energy quantum is greater than or equal to the critical energy, the photon can escape, and the escaped photon possesses kinetic energy.

“When the energy is less than the critical energy, the electron will not escape.

“The energy possessed by photons in a light beam is directly proportional to the frequency of the light.”

The vibration of the Great Source grew increasingly violent, and the dark clouds turned into a torrential downpour. As the wizards felt the Great Source’s feedback, a new Mythical Wizard had been born. At the same time, it seemed as if a truth about the world’s structure had been uncovered, causing the entire world to tremble as if flying into a rage from humiliation.

The doors of the Wizard Tower opened, and the wizards outside surged forward. Someone shouted, “What exactly was discovered?”

Daru looked at the dense crowd and roared at the top of his lungs, “Light is a particle! Light also conforms to the Alexander Formula!”

It was like the long-awaited other shoe dropping. The crowd’s reaction wasn’t shock, but a long sigh of relief.

But wizards from the Electromagnetism School also rushed over, shouting, “How do you explain the double-slit interference experiment? The interference and diffraction of light are the best facts proving that light is a wave!”

Daru fell silent. He indeed couldn’t explain it. He could only murmur, “I am not clear, but the photoelectric effect ultimately tells me that a beam of light is quantized.”

Daru’s paper spread like a hurricane. There were electromagnetism wizards shouting that Bruce and his student were traitors, and there were also those angrily seeking Daru and the others for debates. No one could convince anyone else.

Just then, the entire world suddenly shook violently. This shaking wasn’t on a macroscopic level, but a microscopic one. Everyone became blurry and unclear, like a television set with a poor signal.

“What is happening? The Great Source seems to have mutated, and the entire world has mutated as well?”

Bayen, Betty, and Thales—whose cognition had just shattered—gathered together. After an urgent discussion, they decided to enter the depths of the world’s Great Source together to find Ace.

The three Tenth Ring Wizards ascended dimensions simultaneously, entering four-dimensional space-time. Transforming into their four-dimensional states, before they even had time to roam the four-dimensional ocean, they discovered that the four-dimensional particle cluster of the entire Wizard World had become highly unstable. They avoided various particle fluctuations, finally entered the depths of the Great Source, and immediately descended dimensions.

The entire Great Source was surging and churning. Something seemed to be overlapping with it. The three carefully approached the depths of the Great Source, where a bloody stele stood quietly.

A clock of pure gold was embedded at the top of the stele.

“This is the Stele of Records for the True Names of all the gods we enslaved. The clock on top is the Lords of Time. This should be the Bloody Stele of Fate!” Thales said with a complex expression.

“These True Names, or rather Fruits of Immortality, are all vibrating violently. They seem to be trying to break free. It’s highly unusual!”

In the Third District of the First Academic Ring near the galactic center.

Alexander and the others also felt the violent changes and discomfort. Their bodies fluctuated erratically, like a display screen with a bad signal.

“It seems to be a worldwide change, and not just macroscopic. This change… perhaps changes we don’t know about have also occurred in the microscopic realm. It’s as if the tiny particles that make up our bodies are trying to scatter and escape.”

Alexander didn’t panic, still trying to analyze the situation.

In fact, his situation was the worst. The states of the two Mythical Wizards, Donna and Lucilu, were relatively more stable.

Alexander was twisted almost beyond recognition. His mana was also rapidly declining. Activating the Eye of Truth, his eyes flashed with white light, trying hard to understand this unknown.

But this was almost futile. As an Legendary Wizard, he fundamentally couldn’t understand this mutation. Even the two Mythical Wizards opposite him couldn’t understand it.

“The mana in our bodies is depleting and escaping abnormally. The entropy of the entire world seems to be rapidly increasing in an instant!” Donna exclaimed.

“Indeed, but this isn’t magic! Our world already has over three thousand true names of gods, carved into over a hundred thousand canned Super-dimensional Mana Generators. Our world is not an isolated system; we have split massive amounts of energy from the higher-energy, higher-dimensional plane. Therefore, our entropy should remain at an extremely low value,” Alexander said, puzzled.

Such doubts spread across the entire Wizard World almost in an instant, including to the mortals addicted to the virtual dream worlds. The virtual worlds suddenly fluctuated abnormally. Massive numbers of people were directly ejected, while a small minority were actually trapped in dream worlds that had become bizarre and grotesquely variegated.

In the world’s rule layer, the three Tenth Ring Wizards—Bayen, Betty, and Thales—finally saw Ace. The mentor of the wizards, the Controller of the world, the Firelinker Ace, was bobbing between two streams of Source Power. He sat upon the clouds and mist formed by the Dream Great Source, a crystal-clear sphere hovering above his head. Mist swirled within it, exuding an aura of chilling resistance.

The power of the Dream Great Source spread thread by thread, seemingly invading the crystal. The two would suddenly overlap, then suddenly separate. It was precisely this state of overlapping and separating that threw the entire Wizard World into chaos—from the microscopic to the macroscopic, from rules to appearances, it was omnipresent.

Bayen closed his eyes and silently activated his Tenth Ring spell model. An illusory eye suddenly opened. Tenth Ring spell: “Great Prophecy.”

Because he believed in determinism and karmic cycles—that every cause has an effect—the divination magic that evolved possessed the wondrous ability to spy on the future and see through the present.

Spying on the future of someone stronger than oneself is difficult, so Bayen chose to see through the present. He saw a contest between two “Sources,” and furthermore, the confrontation between two powerful wills. One will was exactly the Firelinker Ace, fiery and full of youthful vigor like the rising sun.

The other will was majestic and boundless, yet aged and overwhelmed like a waning moon.

The scales of victory seemed to be slowly tipping toward Ace. That aged will, isolated and helpless, was forced to shake the Bloody Stele of Fate in a vain attempt to release those immortal existences with their True Names engraved upon it.

“We must help Lord Ace. Gather all the Immortal Legends of the entire Wizard World in the Magic Sanctuary to help Lord Ace annex and fuse the heterogeneous Great Source!” Bayen said immediately.

Betty nodded, his expression solemn. “The Mansus seems to have a remaining great will. I don’t know what it exactly is, but it cannot be allowed to survive!”

Thales looked with complex emotions at the Bloody Stele of Fate, where the True Names were struggling incessantly. A trace of reluctance flashed in his eyes.

The Legendary Immortal Wizards were highly efficient. After receiving Bayen’s message, almost all of them gathered in the Magic Sanctuary within fifteen minutes, their expressions tense and solemn.

“What exactly happened?”

“We’ll probably know the result soon.”

“I guess there might be a problem with the underlying architecture of the world.”

“Could it be Lord Ace…?”

“Don’t speak nonsense. You can’t just blurt things like that out.”

“According to the feedback from the 300 artificial sub-planes outside the world, there are no signs of external invasion. It’s highly likely an internal issue.”

…

The Legendary Immortal Wizards gathered together, exchanging information. Their states were relatively stable. Aside from a bit of fluctuation and distortion at the very beginning, such situations basically didn’t occur for them now.

Bayen and the other two Tenth Ring Wizards appeared on the high platform. Bayen shouted directly, “Lord Ace is attempting to fuse and annex the Mansus of the Realm of True Names deep within the world’s Great Source. He has now discovered a powerful remnant will within the Mansus; we shall tentatively call it the Mansus Will.

“Lord Ace’s will and the Mansus Will are locked in a fierce confrontation. The two Source Powers are clashing and devouring each other. The Mansus Will is trying to shake the foundation of our world and release those 3,000 Named Ones and 24 Lords of Time.

“This is the cause of the world’s mutation. Moreover, this mutation is terrifying. From the microscopic to the macroscopic, from the galactic center to the edges, from the Prime Material Plane to the outside of the world, it is omnipresent.

“We must help Lord Ace control our slaves, defeat the Mansus Will, annex it, strengthen our Great Source, and stabilize our world!

“Now, please proceed to the Subconscious Sea together to support Lord Ace!”

As his voice fell, mana vibrated violently. The three Tenth Ring Legendary Immortal Wizards joined hands to open a massive vortex—light blue, with ten spiral arms, where grains of light blue mana particles drifted in the space.

The Legendary Immortal Wizards did not hesitate, entering it in droves.

Through its long period of explosive development, the Wizard World had birthed over 1,400 Immortal Legends. At this moment, they all entered the collective Subconscious Sea of the wizards.

In the Wizard World, the wizards’ collective Subconscious Sea was more important and boundless than the Sea of the Gods in Kaya. This was because wizards accounted for 2% of the entire Wizard World’s population. If you added Mages and Bloodline Warlocks (not just referring to god descendant, but including mortals who accepted divine blood modification), the spellcasting population approached 20%.

Not counting other Warriors, Knights, and Vampire, this Wizard Subconscious Sea was almost equivalent to the supernatural Subconscious Sea. It was the collective supernatural will of the entire Wizard Multiverse.

As the Immortal Legends entered collectively, soaking in the sea of consciousness, the entire sea began to boil. Almost all supernaturals felt an indescribable sensation rising in their hearts.

Simultaneously, a message began spreading across every habitable planet in the Galactic Alliance through broad-reaching channels: magic video machines, smart wands, and more.

(Chapter finished)

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