Chapter 308: The Beyonder Arts Research Association
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 308: The Beyonder Arts Research Association
"Indeed. To grasp the very foundations of the Beyonder Arts that have sustained Ninglan New City's development until now, based solely on these fragments—it is the ultimate testament to the charisma and capability of the First Generation Ninglan City Lord."
"Is that so..." I stared at the shards, lost in thought. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was overlooking several crucial pieces of information.
How did that first City Lord manage to derive Beyonder Arts from these and lay such a solid foundation for the city's future? What was his edge?
Natural talent? Raw gift?
There are always geniuses who defy common logic. Or was he a Child of Destiny, performing this feat under the guiding hand of a Script?
No, no... I shouldn't make baseless assumptions. Perhaps the reason was more mundane. For instance... Spirit Vision?
However, the first City Lord wasn't necessarily born with Innate Spirit Vision. His level likely improved naturally as he aged.
"If you don't mind me asking... how old was the first City Lord when he realized these Beyonder Arts? His actual age, I mean."
"His age? That’s a specific question, but I happen to remember. He was fifty-six. If I didn't, I’d have to put on my reading glasses and dig through the archives again. Back then, the first City Lord was in his prime—wise, discerning, and deeply attuned to humanity. You could say the legend of the First Generation Ninglan City Lord truly began in the latter half of his life... Heh, if he had lived another decade or two, Ninglan New City might look entirely different today. Heh heh..."
"Fifty-six..." I nodded.
At that age, if his Spirit Vision had reached the second level, 'Imaging,' or even the third level, 'Unknowable,' then even with the 'Threshold of Madness' standing between us, he would have possessed enough insight to see through the mysteries of these runes.
As I pondered this, the Curator quietly slipped away from my side, seemingly heading off to greet someone.
"You're back again? Honestly, you children... don't you get tired of coming here every single day?"
"Hmm?" I looked up toward the two people the old Curator was addressing.
"Grandpa Curator, we just wanted to visit you. And, of course, to study the earliest Beyonder Arts in our history again. You know that's what we do."
"Oh? You two, are you also interested in this relic left behind by the first City Lord?"
"Are you talking to me?" I looked up, blinking in confusion at the pair—a young man and a young woman.
"Of course. Aside from the old Curator, we're the only ones here," the youth at the lead said with a smile.
"Right. Is there something you need?" I asked, frowning slightly at their over-familiarity.
If it were a beautiful girl being this friendly, I might be enthusiastic. But a guy? I couldn't be bothered.
"Oh, nothing special. Just saying hello. I noticed you've been standing in front of this relic for a while. You must be interested in Beyonder Arts too, right? Would you like to join our Beyonder Arts Research Association?"
"The Beyonder Arts Research Association?" I looked at them skeptically. The name sounded familiar; I think the current City Lord had mentioned it.
"That's right. It looks like you've heard of us, Miss. Our Association is an organization dedicated specifically to the study of Beyonder Arts. It’s a gathering of people who share a passion for the craft. If you're interested, you're more than welcome to join. We possess the most detailed foundational knowledge for beginners in all of Ninglan New City—treasures compiled and passed down by generations of presidents."
The youth spoke with growing excitement. I had only mentioned the name of his association, and he had already launched into a long-winded pitch. His chatting skills were easily on par with the old Curator's.
"No, thank you. We are Outsiders, not natives of Ninglan New City. We'll be leaving eventually," I said, shaking my head in a polite refusal.
"Ah? Outsiders... Wait, Outsiders? You're the Outsiders? The City Lord mentioned that a group of Outsiders had arrived in Ninglan New City. To think it was you! This... this is truly an honor! Even if you don't want to join the Association, if you're interested in our Beyonder Arts, you are still more than welcome to visit!"
"Well, speaking of Beyonder Arts... I actually am quite interested," I admitted, nodding. I glanced at Sister Bai, who simply offered me a smile in return.
"Then it's settled! How about coming to our Association right now to take a look? Without guidance, the barrier to entry for learning Beyonder Arts is incredibly high."
"Sure." I nodded, but then a thought occurred to me. "By the way, I've met the City Lord. He seems to keep a very tight lid on Beyonder Arts. Does he really just let a civilian organization develop them freely?"
"Oh? You've actually spoken with the City Lord? Well, originally, the City Lord didn't allow private research into Beyonder Arts. But that goes back several generations. Over time, the restrictions loosened, which is how our Association came to be."
He continued, "However, the techniques we handle are all for civilian use. Any Beyonder Arts capable of direct destruction are classified as 'Regulated' and are strictly controlled. If someone masters those, they're usually scouted to work directly for the City Lord. In fact, our Association serves as a springboard for many ordinary people. Their main goal is to get noticed by the City Lord."
"But we take everyone. After all, our job is just to guide those who love the craft through the front door. If they use us as a stepping stone to work for the City Lord, it just proves they have exceptional talent. Our Association would never do anything to hinder someone's growth."
"I see." I nodded, understanding the situation.
A split between civilian use and regulated military use? That wasn't surprising.
Following the two of them, Sister Bai and I arrived at the headquarters of the Beyonder Arts Research Association. I hadn't expected such an organization to have a formal facility, let alone one this large.
The interior was bustling with people, even livelier than the history museum.
Clearly, Beyonder Arts held a massive appeal. The prospect of wielding Transcendent power was an irresistible draw for ordinary people.
However... the Beyonder Arts here were quite different from what I had expected. Combining what I'd learned at the museum, their "tech tree" seemed a bit skewed. It wasn't pure Beyonder Art; it was fused with something else.
Specifically, mechanical structures like gears and clockwork.
But there was nothing inherently wrong with that. Mechanical structures are common, and their collision with Beyonder Arts could create new sparks. It was a classic manifestation of a pragmatic, transitional phase of Transcendent development.
Once they realize that the fusion of Beyonder Arts and mechanics has become a bottleneck for their progress, they will face two choices: either switch tracks entirely or push the mechanical side to a brand-new frontier.
It reminded me of a specific branch of Alchemy—the Mechanical Alchemists.
The saying "everything can be Alchemy" really wasn't an exaggeration. The scope of the concept was almost unfairly broad.
When the youth saw me merely skimming through their introductory books while focusing my attention on the finished exhibits, he stopped trying to engage me in deep conversation.
They had seen many people like me—people who weren't truly passionate about Beyonder Arts but were simply curious tourists looking to satisfy a whim rather than humble students. They felt there was no point in pushing such individuals.
If I could have read their minds, I would have told them they were overthinking it. I wasn't interested in their introductory books because the "gold content" of those texts was roughly equivalent to a children's primer at the Witch Academy. Any random bit of basic info from my Memory Bookshelf Spellbook could crush their entire curriculum.
And yet, I took the time to read them all anyway.
Because I had my own objectives.
I was looking at their definitions and understanding of Beyonder Power. The Transcendent field is incredibly inclusive; the angle from which you view, discover, and research it determines the resulting theories, perspectives, and achievements. That was what was worth learning. It could broaden my cognition, my knowledge base, and my creative thinking.
Of course... before that, I also learned about their version of "Spirit Vision." They had it too, but with one major difference: their awakening rate was abysmally low.
Spirit Vision is a blessing from the world—a talent. Theoretically, everyone has the potential, but for some, it's just a possibility that never manifests. Others are born with Innate Spirit Vision. That is the gap.
And here, the probability of awakening was microscopic.
It made me think back to before I entered the Transcendent Academy. The common saying was that Spirit Vision was the threshold for touching the Transcendent. Now I saw how narrow that view was.
That was merely the threshold for Academy admission. Could others not touch the Transcendent without Spirit Vision?
No. The people here proved that they could. The only catch was... their ultimate achievements were limited.
It seemed I had found the reason why Ninglan New City's technology and Beyonder Arts had remained so mediocre despite a thousand years of development.
Of course, the small population base was also a factor.
Even if the awakening rate was low, it wasn't zero. If a thousand years of progress only yielded this much, what about other worlds?
Perhaps they could only rely on sheer numbers, hoping for a monstrous genius to appear and lead their civilization on a leap forward.
But generally speaking, such geniuses are born of necessity—they are the Scripts, the Children of Destiny, the "tools" used by the World Consciousness to push things along.
In the absence of external interference, Scripts and Luck are beneficial for a civilization. They help a world achieve a breakthrough or act as a self-rescue mechanism.
"Xiao Han, you look like you've gained quite a bit?" Sister Bai asked, standing beside me.
"Yeah, I really have. It's been an eye-opener. Leaving the Witch Academy and that environment saturated with high-level Transcendent Knowledge has allowed me to better appreciate these so-called 'foundations,'" I said with a nod.
Here, one could learn the basics of many things—one could even bypass the limitations of a Spellbook and cast spells directly!
This was an excellent learning environment. If this was all part of the Dean's arrangement, I was starting to see her intent.
Learning here, away from external distractions, would surely yield twice the results with half the effort.
Moreover, they didn't just have mechanical Beyonder Arts; they had the prototypes of spell applications!
Essentially, they were the precursors to Minor Spell Trees—using Beyonder Power to build spell frameworks or using unrefined Rune Rituals to create spell effects. This was undoubtedly a fantastic place to study and understand the nature of spells.
In fact... theoretically, it was even more suitable for Sister Bai and me.
Although Sister Bai was close to graduation before she started touching Runes and Rituals, because she was a beginner in those areas, starting from the basics here was perfect.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, Sister Bai. You should study with me! This is the primal stage of Rune exploration, where spell theories are just beginning to sprout. In this environment, the learning is actually more meaningful than those 'basic' courses at the Witch Academy."
"Hmm? You mean... but didn't we come here to..."
"To what? It doesn't matter. We can't just sit around waiting for something that hasn't happened yet. Sister Bai, didn't you say you wanted to learn Runes with me? And spell knowledge? Didn't you say you always longed to learn spells? Here, without the restrictions of a Spellbook, we can 'hand-craft' our own spells and let our creativity run wild. There's no better place to learn than here, is there?" I turned to her, my eyes full of hope.
"This..." For a moment, Bai Yu couldn't keep up with my sudden shift in focus. "But..."
"What are you worried about, Sister Bai? Our bodies back in the real world are fine; they're being looked after in the infirmary."
"Well... alright."
"Besides, we don't know how long we'll be here. We can't just wander around aimlessly, can we? We have to find something to do."
"Then, Xiao Han, what do you plan to do now?"
"Hehe, I'm going to cooperate with the Beyonder Arts Research Association, of course! We have to show our value to get them to work with us. Learning is a process of constant exchange and mutual promotion. The people here are normal—some are even geniuses. They just lack knowledge; they aren't stupid. Don't you think so, Sister Bai?"
"You're right, Xiao Han." Bai Yu finally accepted the idea. Indeed, setting aside the worries about Nightmares and Dream Demons, this was an excellent place to study.
"Hehe~ That's the spirit~" I said with a grin.
Of course, I had another motive: I wanted to upgrade Ninglan New City's application of Beyonder Arts. Our primary enemies were the Dream Demons, and we couldn't kill those cunning bastards on our own. We needed the cooperation of the people of Ninglan.
After the battle where we captured that Dream Demon, I realized the value of these people. They filled the gaps we had in the Reality Realm.
But as it stood, Ninglan New City's combat power wasn't enough. Only that "Type III Beyonder Killing Weapon" was worth anything, and even that wasn't sufficient.
The fact that it required authorization just to use showed that it couldn't be mass-produced or deployed quickly in emergencies.
Perhaps I could accelerate their development process.
The only concern was the City Lord. Would he accept this kind of "forced growth" for their Beyonder Arts?
Just as technological advancement brings the pain of industrial transition, the drawbacks of such rapid development in Ninglan New City would be even more pronounced. Of course, if the City Lord has the necessary courage, none of that will be an issue.
"Come on, let's go see if the Association President is in."