The birthday party was far less cheerful and lively than what Shanfeisi and Joanna Bobcat planned. For no other reason than Duke's identity brought pressure to others.
After all, heartless arcane mages like Shanfis and Joanna are in the minority.
Oriana, Balza and other former colleagues and friends could not let go in front of Duke, fearing the intimidation brought by the learned sage.
"Now I finally understand the power of academics." Jodick Bobcat held a wine glass and stood with his sister Joanna. "Even Penrose couldn't let go of his airs in front of Duke, which shows that the title of sage has the status.
How high."
Joanna shook her head and said: "You understand now, brother, you are too slow. Didn't dad warn you that Duke has a higher status than him now?"
"I was warned, but I didn't see it with my own eyes, so I can't feel it."
"It's not too late to feel it now."
"Tsk tsk." When Jodick saw Kiriya with a peaceful smile in the crowd, he couldn't help but tut twice in disappointment, "It's a pity that you, my dear sister, are not as beautiful as Kiriya. Otherwise, our Bobcat family would be able to recruit someone."
A wise son-in-law."
When Joanna heard this, she rolled her eyes: "You really know how to imagine."
"Don't tell me you're not interested in Duke. I can think with my toes how obsessed women are with such a capable pretty boy."
"Since your toes are so smart, I suggest you trade your head with your toes. Then maybe we can have a scholar in our family without me recruiting a son-in-law." Joanna retorted mercilessly to her brother.
.
But deep down in my heart, I still felt a slight sense of loss.
Duke's excellence is obvious to all.
Unless Joanna has a unique aesthetic, Duke is the perfect person in her heart. Unfortunately, she knows very well that she is not worthy of Duke at all.
A nineteen-year-old learned sage, a nineteen-year-old second-level arcane mage, destined to become a great being like an arcane mentor in the future.
"And what about my future...maybe Lord Suktara, or Lord Aziguli, is the template for my future." Joanna took a sip of the red wine in her glass and thought with some sadness in her heart.
In the Black Dragon River Land, Suktala and Aziguli are the only female third-level arcane mages.
Basically, these two people are the ceiling for women.
Joanna didn't think she had extraordinary talent. She could surpass the two of them and be promoted to the fourth level of Arcane Earth Mage. It would be difficult for her to even reach the height of the two of them.
"The flowers in Shenjiao City are so beautiful." Jodick didn't know what his sister was thinking. He shook his head and said, "The Nutao family has always liked to marry with big nobles from other cities. I didn't expect that the best offspring would be left behind.
In Shenjiao City."
He took a sip of wine and sighed: "Duke is very capable!"
Joanna followed her brother's gaze and saw that at the reception not far away, Kilia was following Duke, as if she was her partner.
She squinted her eyes.
The sadness in my heart grew more and more, but soon the sadness turned into ridicule, and I complained wildly in my heart: "I am not worthy of Duke, and you may not be worthy of him either... If you are not good enough, you will not be able to keep up with Duke."
, you must know that Duke’s future must be in the Holy City of Offa!"
The Nutao family is just the local overlord of a small border city, and cannot be compared with the real nobles of the Holy City of Aufa.
"In front of me, you can call me the darling girl of heaven. When you get to the Holy City of Aufa, you will just be a country girl!"
Although it feels good to complain in my heart.
But when Joanna drank the wine at the birthday party, she always felt bad. In the past, she would approach Duke enthusiastically, but this time, while drinking the depressing red wine, she didn't even try to make fun of Duke at all.
Mood.
When Jodik saw his sister's appearance, he seemed to feel something, but he didn't speak and just patted his sister on the shoulder.
Then he saw a female arcane mage walking over, and he immediately stood up and greeted her: "Hi, Margot, long time no see."
Margot and Jodik smiled and greeted each other.
After chatting for a few words, Margot was made to giggle, and then they walked out of the banquet hall together.
On the other side, after greeting each of the guests, Duke walked out of the commotion and went to the rest room in Tower 2.
Mentor Penrose is chatting with Suktara.
After seeing Duke, I couldn't help but think of something and wanted to stand up to greet him, but I couldn't keep my face.
Seeing Penrose's embarrassment, Duke sat directly on the sofa: "Tutor, we haven't seen each other for a long time. Are you still working on the previous topic?"
"Yes, this issue is not easy to solve." Penrose nodded, "Duke... Your Excellency, you have recently..."
"Teacher, you should call me Duke."
"That's not possible. Things are different now. Your teacher can call you Duke, I'm just your former mentor." Penrose shook his head, "In terms of status, in the Five Towers Conference in Shenjiao City, your ranking is far behind
I am in front of you, don’t be disrespectful.”
The Five Towers Conference is the center of power in Shenjiao City and even the entire Black River region.
Originally there were only seven people, Keithon Fury, Williams, Irvine, Stephen Wings, Orucci, Joevis Bobcat and Penrose.
It has now expanded to nine people.
Bernoulli and Duke are added, and the rankings are clearly determined - Bernoulli is fifth, Duke is sixth, and from Orucci down, each is ranked two places.
"Whatever, it's up to you."
"I heard from your teacher that you refused to go to the Supreme Tower of Erudite for further studies?"
"Yes, natural history is a subject that has spread to society in various fields. The essence is still the study of various mainstream fields. So going to the Supreme Tower of Erudite for further study will not be of much help to me. I decided to learn alchemy from the teacher.
"
"Alchemy is a good direction." Penrose responded.
Duke smiled and said: "I think so too. The more I study, the more I feel that the field of alchemy has broad prospects for development. The most important thing is that I think the field of alchemy, like the field of card making, can easily be linked to natural history."
Suktara smiled and asked: "It seems that you have some new erudite inspiration?"
"Indeed, it does, but it needs to be kept secret for the time being, and it may take a long time of study and research to realize the inspiration."
Penrose sighed in admiration: "I really envy you. You are young and passionate. At my age, I feel more and more lack of energy. It is not physical energy, but mental energy. Many researches are not enough."
Suktara said bluntly: "I don't think your lack of energy is related to your age. It's because you are too obsessed with government affairs and have distracted your mind."
After a pause, she continued: "You should really resign from the position of governing the Union Tower, concentrate on studying knowledge, and strive to break through the fourth ring."
"Maybe." Penrose said perfunctorily.
But he was absolutely unwilling to resign from the position of ruling the Union Tower. Although he was only the last person in the Five Towers Conference, the power he held still made him obsessed.
Whether you can break through the 4th ring is a matter of chance.
But power needs to be tightly held in the palm of your hand.
If power is delegated but fails to break through, it will not be that easy to return to the center of power again.
Wait until the birthday party is over.
After seeing off all the guests, Duke and Suktara took a walk under the shade of the trees in the castle. Suktara sighed and said: "Penrose is very talented, but unfortunately, he is a little obsessed with power and cannot focus all his attention on research.
superior."
"Everyone has his own pursuit." Duke replied.
"Having said that, why should Arcana Master be obsessed with the power in his hands? You must know that the source of power is not the power itself." Suktara said somewhat seriously, "There are two sources of power. One is the strength of your cultivation, and the other is you.
Academic achievement.”
"That's true."
"Penrose just forgot this. Of course, maybe he didn't forget it, but he just no longer had the motivation to fight."
There are some things that Suktara did not say.
In her view, Penrose's attendance at Duke's birthday party was a sign of depravity. As a mentor, he was surpassed by his students. If Penrose was full of energy, he should study behind closed doors and seek breakthroughs in himself.
This way it won't be awkward when I see Duke again.
It's a pity that Penrose chose to lie down and even began to feel a little proud of educating students like Duke instead of making progress.
Sighed.
Suktara sighed again: "In fact, the atmosphere of the entire Seven Towers Federation has become a bit indolent."
"This is indeed true." Duke and his colleagues from the Holy City of Offa had a clear feeling about this. "Once the class is solidified, the atmosphere will naturally decline."
Fortunately, there is still a pioneering war.
You can continuously obtain resources from the forest to support the entire Seven Towers Federation, ensuring that the Seven Towers Federation can still flourish.
"The thing that makes me most satisfied is that there are still young people like you in this country, and they keep coming out." Suktara looked at his students, and his smile showed his satisfaction, "It proves that we are walking in the correct spiritual path.
On the road to exploration!”
Duke smiled and said: "For the teacher's expectation, I must work hard to climb new heights on the path of spiritual arcana."
"Teacher, I believe you can do it."
The teacher and the student praised each other and walked back and forth along the road under the shade of the trees. They both had full confidence in the future.
…
The time has entered July.
The Suktala Mage Tower gradually returned to its lively state. It was not that the former Arcane Mage students returned, but that thanks to Duke's guidance, the Suktala Mage Tower became open to cooperation with the outside world.
The R&D department of the Light Giant Spirit Weapon Company and the technical department of DreamWorks Film and Television Company have both settled in the Suktala Master Tower.
Use the resources of Suktara Master Tower to conduct technical research and development.
Or it can be said that it is convenient for Duke to lead the technological upgrading of these two companies. On the one hand, he uses natural history to improve his understanding of spiritual arcana, and on the other hand, he stores more technologies to stabilize the company's development and earn resources.
"Sir, this is the latest energy-saving lamp produced by the R&D team. Please take a look." The leader of the R&D team brought a sample to Duke.
A lamp similar to a portable lamp.
Duke took the energy-saving lamp and turned on the switch. He found that the brightness of the lamp head was not bad, but the light consumption was greatly reduced.
"Yes, this energy-saving lamp is basically mature." Duke nodded with satisfaction, "Next, let's apply for a patent in the name of Giant of Light."
In the more than a month since he returned to Shenjiao City, in addition to learning alchemy knowledge, Duke has been leading the research and development of energy-saving lamps.
Although strong light technology is good, it consumes a lot of money.
After ordinary people replace strong light fixtures, their household expenses will increase significantly.
As a knowledgeable and down-to-earth sage who cares about the people, Duke was naturally aware of this, so he thought of energy-saving lamps.
Through the optimization of the material and structure of the wick, spiritual energy consumption is reduced as much as possible.
"Yes, sir." The leader of the R&D team bowed and resigned.
Now that Duke's status is very high, it no longer needs to be as careful as before to hold patent rights in its hands.
Therefore, the patented technology for energy-saving lamps was directly applied for in the name of Giant Light Company.
certainly.
As the leader of patented inventions, his financial team will still sign a contract with the Giant of Light to stipulate the profit sharing.
Duke's work is not in vain, after all, he only holds 25% of the shares of Giant of Light.
"The technology of energy-saving lamps is actually quite good. Strictly speaking, compared to portable lamps, strong light lamps have a higher technical content, involving the magic model of the wick and the overall structure of the lamp head... But in addition to allowing me to increase my knowledge of spiritual arcana,
Otherwise, it won’t bring more revenue.”
Strong light technology earned Duke the title of scholar.
Film and television technology has earned him the title of learned sage.
But now Duke's academic goal is only to be the chief sage of Offata. Unless he invents a killer weapon like communication technology, ordinary natural history inventions are not qualified.
"But there is no need to worry. Communication technology will be invented sooner or later. We don't even need to invent communication technology. We only need to conquer the ring copy material so that ordinary arcane mage can master the ring of projection technology. Then the chief sage of the Tower of Aufa
, there must be a place for me!”
He rubbed his brow.
Duke leaned on the back of his chair. On the test bench in front of him, a crystal arm was rapidly operating some kind of alchemical material.
After using his hands, Duke gradually became too lazy to use his hands.
After all, the human body has limitations such as bones and muscles, and it is unable to make movements beyond this framework. This is not the case with Oshou.
Whatever the mind can think of, the skilled hands can operate.
Dang Dang Dang.
There was a knock on the door, and Mulali opened the door and came in: "Sir, Sir Terrence wants to see you for something."
"Invite him in."
"OK."
As the only arcane mage left in Suktala, Terrence has now become Duke's assistant and the steward of the entire mage tower.
All daily affairs, big and small, are handled by him.
"grown ups."
"Sit down, Terrence."
"The Mai's Puppet Group has made preliminary contact with our Suktala Master Tower. They want to cooperate in the laboratory here for the research and development of puppet manufacturing materials." Terrence said, "And they want to station a
Arcane Mage."
"Which Arcane Mage?"
"Serith."
"Serith..." All the information about Master Ceresio quickly appeared on the fighting spirit holographic screen in Duke's eyes.
"He is 42 years old, a 1st level arcane mage, and works in Mycroft Mage Tower. His father is the late 2nd level arcane mage, puppet scholar Samuel, and his wife is a 3rd level arcane mage, puppet scholar, and director of Myc's Puppet Group.
Mycroft’s granddaughter.”
Samuel…
Duke thought of his collection, the six-legged spirit puppet jar. This puppet was obtained from a cabin in the woods. The maker's name was Samuel.
But Samuel passed away more than ten years ago.
His son Ceres inherited his talent, married Mycroft's granddaughter, and has been working in Mycroft's Mage Tower.
"You can ask Ceres to come back later, and I will interview him personally." Duke quickly made a decision, "If he passes my interview, he will be stationed in the Suktala Mage Tower and be in charge of the puppet manufacturing material laboratory.
management work.”
"Okay, I'll contact Ceres right away."
Later.
The meeting with Seris went smoothly.
The forty-two-year-old Ceres has always been very respectful in front of Duke, and has not shown any inadvertent contempt because of Duke's youth.
So Duke quickly confirmed the entry of Seris, and also signed a cooperative laboratory agreement with the Max Puppet Group. The Max Puppet Group became the third cooperative research and development company of Suktala Master Tower, with a large number of employees.
Move here.
Suktara Master Tower has become more lively.
"Ever since Sorel and the others left, this mage tower has been deserted. I didn't expect it to be reborn so soon."
Suktara readily accepted this.
In her opinion, if a mage tower has no business or research, then the meaning of its existence will be lost.
"Teacher, this is just the beginning." Duke said calmly, "When I visited the mage towers in Shenjiao City, I found that the utilization efficiency of each mage tower was not high. This is a very serious waste. Some mages
There is no need for towers to exist at all, such as the Mage Tower of Clarinda."
Clarinda's own academic achievements were low, resulting in no arcane mage choosing to go to Clarinda's Mage Tower for further studies.
There are only some spiritual apprentices inside, responsible for doing some small research for Runwanjia Spiritual Weapon Factory.
Duke continued: "So I thought about starting from the teacher's mage tower and trying to cooperate with some companies on research and development to improve the utilization efficiency of the mage tower."
"Now it seems that you have initially succeeded."
"Yes, but as I just said, this is just the beginning." Duke said with a smile, "Only when this cooperation model is truly promoted can the scientific research power of the entire federation be truly unleashed and the entire federation explore spiritual arcana.
footsteps."
"You are very ambitious." Suktara sighed, "Of course, you also have the talent and strength to match your ambition."
"Teacher, you are overly flattering."
"Of course, while you are achieving academically, don't forget that you also have to work hard in your personal life." Suktala changed the subject, "Okay, that's the end of today's class. Go ahead and spend some time with Ji.
Liya, she settled in the Mage Tower just because of you."
"Then I'll take my leave first." Duke stood up and left the laboratory.
Soon we came to another laboratory. This laboratory occupied the entire floor, and a large number of scientific researchers were shuttled in it.
Most of them are spiritual apprentices, and a small number are beautiful singers.
Kiria is saying something to the singers.
In the past, in slide card promotions and photo albums, the extremely beautiful singers looked overshadowed when they stood next to Kiriya.
"Sir." The scientific researchers in the laboratory bowed to Duke one after another.
Kiriya heard the movement, turned her head, and immediately showed a sweet smile: "Master Duke, have you come to inspect?"
"Well, let's just take a stroll." Duke, of course, would not date someone at work, so he asked seriously, "How is the production progress of Musical Phantom?"
"The rough version has been successfully completed, but if we want to improve the quality of the music phantom, the demand for equipment is too great. At present, the technical department has not solved the problem." Kiriya also returned to work, "I have been tracking film and television technology.
, there is currently no technology that can be used directly.”
The laboratory cooperating between DreamWorks and Mage Tower, under the leadership of Kylia, is engaged in experiments on conquering related technologies.
But in essence, DreamWorks is an entertainment company, so it is more suitable to use it as a doctrine.
Unfortunately, film and television technology has only appeared in the Seven Towers Federation for such a short period of time that there are currently no arcane mages who can develop valuable new technologies based on film and television technology.
"Let me see the finished product."
"Well, come with me." Kiliya took Duke into a separate laboratory.
Then he inserted a roll of slide cards into the projector, and while debugging, he said: "The capacity of a 1-ring slide card is too small. Even a music slideshow requires hundreds of 1-ring slide cards to be stacked. The cost is
It can’t come down at all.”
As the switch is turned on.
The image is projected in the projector. This projection effect is not flat, but three-dimensional, more like a holographic image.
In the screen, a row of singers appeared.
As the music progressed, the singers sang and danced, singing some of the more popular songs recently, which really looked like Duke's familiar MV-music shorts.
However, there are many shortcomings.
In order to save the capacity of the slide card, the images are blurry, the sound quality is poor, some pictures are not even coherent, and the light and shadow effects are also poor.
The biggest feeling it gives people is distortion.
certainly.
This is the result of Duke's evaluation of musical phantoms based on Earth's standards. After all, in his time, 1080p was the standard, and 2k and 4k were the only ones that were comfortable to watch.
"Kilia, it seems that there is no way to increase the capacity of the 1-ring slide card in a short period of time. At present, the price of the slide card is close to the people. It is basically impossible." Duke gave his own thoughts, "So it is better to
Take the high-end route.”
"Are you talking about building a fantasy theater or opera house, buying tickets to attract audiences, and entering the theater to collectively watch such a musical fantasy film?"
"Um."
"But Duke, have you ever thought about it, the audience can see a real singer, who would buy a ticket to see a fake singer?"
"Live stage effects are limited, but phantoms can create infinite possibilities, and they naturally attract the audience. In short, you listen to me, use 2-ring slide cards to make a music slide show, and see what kind of light and shadow effects can be achieved."
"Okay." Kilia nodded in agreement.
Duke is the authority in this regard. She cannot say that she listens blindly and has blind faith, but she is the only one who follows Duke's lead.
Kiria left the laboratory and went outside to participate in the production of a new musical phantom film, while Duke stayed in the laboratory.
He turned his seat towards the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the scenery outside the window.
I kept thinking in my mind: "The underlying logic of the physical rules of the two worlds is different. So, how can I replicate the film and television technology on Earth?"
He has already done part of it.
Now think about the remaining part: "There must be other ways to circumvent the shackles of the slide card and satisfy the phantom needs."
It can be said that film and television technology can succeed or fail like a slideshow.
After countless years of development, the slide card has basically reached the limit that this spell model can carry, and it can no longer be optimized easily.
Even if it can be optimized, there is not enough room for optimization.
If there is no way to break the problem, then it can only be a laboratory product and cannot be mass-produced and promoted to the society, losing the original intention of natural history.
"Xiao Yi, list all the 1-ring civilian cards." Duke suddenly thought of something.
Xiaoyi quickly listed hundreds of 1-ring civilian cards on the Dou Qi holographic screen, including some civilian cards with narrow functions and tricky and weird functions.
Duke browses them one by one.
He didn't find what he wanted, so he ordered Xiaoyi: "List all the 1st level arcane cards."
"Good master."
Following Xiaoyi's operation, Duke began to browse again. When his eyes passed by the fantasy card, an idea suddenly flashed.
"Illusion Card... Illusion Arcana!"
"They both control light and shadow. The slide card is a kind of recording, while the fantasy card uses spirituality to distort light and shadow."
"The slideshow card is a dynamic light and shadow playback, while the fantasy card is a static light and shadow distortion."
"If the two are combined, using the slide card to store the necessary materials, and then using the fantasy card to perform the necessary distortions, wouldn't it be possible to achieve the effect of one plus one being greater than two?"
Just do it if you think of it.
Duke returned to his office, ordered a large number of slide cards and fantasy cards to be sent, and began a new round of research on film and television technology.
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