Helena answered honestly, “There are legends and records, but many date from the Middle Ages, so it’s hard to verify their truth.”
At that moment, Lin Wan’er spoke up. “What the West calls magic is simply cultivation in different packaging. The underlying principles are almost identical. Both involve manipulating spiritual energy in various ways and converting it into all kinds of techniques. It’s like Eastern people turning flour into steamed buns or baked flatbreads while Western people turn the same flour into bread or pizza.”
Charlie wade asked in surprise, “So, Miss Lin, you have personally witnessed it?”
Grace Lowes and Song Rife also turned to look at her. They knew Lin Wan’er had lived for over three hundred, almost four hundred years and was extremely experienced, so they all waited for her to enlighten them.
Lin Wan’er nodded and said lightly, “Many fields are not exclusive to East or West. Just as the East uses the Book of Changes and Eight Trigrams for divination, the West has astrology, tarot cards, and crystal balls. It’s hard to say which is more advanced. One can only say that over the past two hundred years of modernisation, industrialisation, and technological revolution, both Eastern and Western societies have undergone these changes to varying degrees. The West carried out its industrial revolution more thoroughly, with the result that fewer people have inherited these traditions than in the East. In the past, great masters using tarot cards could achieve ever-changing, profoundly mysterious, and accurate predictions, but nowadays most so-called masters only know a little superficial knowledge and are essentially charlatans. Times have changed, and some things have gradually been eliminated.”
This was the first time Charlie wade had heard that Western magic and Eastern cultivation shared the same underlying logic. But thinking carefully, since spiritual energy is the purest and most refined energy between heaven and earth, if Eastern people could find ways to harness it, Western people surely could too.
On closer reflection, Western legends about magic did indeed resemble Eastern cultivation in some ways, even achieving similar results through different approaches.
First, both could mobilise supernatural energy and transform it into wind, rain, lightning, and various offensive methods.
Second, both had all kinds of magical artefacts that enhanced power, as well as medicines that raised cultivation or provided special effects.
Third, the jade tablet he had once obtained from Zhang Ermao contained a huge amount of spiritual energy. In cultivation terms, that was a spirit stone. In magical legends, there were also magic stones containing immense magical power. Ultimately, they were probably the same thing.
Helena had not expected that Lin Wan’er, the youngest-looking among them, seemed to have the broadest experience. Even Charlie wade was consulting her with an earnest desire to learn. Feeling somewhat puzzled, she asked, “Miss Lin, have you… actually seen a magician?”
Lin Wan’er smiled sweetly and replied, “I have indeed seen one.”
Helena exclaimed, “Then that means magicians still exist today?”
Helena did not know Lin Wan’er’s true age and assumed she was only seventeen or eighteen. If someone that young had seen a magician, then surely magicians still existed in the present day.
Lin Wan’er merely smiled again and said, “Your Majesty, I have indeed met a magician, but whether that person is still alive, I cannot be certain.”
Helena felt a little disappointed and began to doubt the truth of Lin Wan’er’s words.
Charlie wade, however, did not think too much about it. He understood from her wording that Lin Wan’er had probably encountered a magician more than two hundred years ago when she travelled to Europe. After so many years, even most cultivators found it hard to live that long, so the threshold for longevity among magicians was presumably just as high.
At that moment, the sky outside had completely darkened. Lin Wan’er walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looked out, and said in delight, “Young Master, it’s the aurora!”
Hearing this, Charlie wade stood up, walked over, and gazed into the distance. Indeed, faint green light was already visible along the far horizon.
It was now the tail end of the Nordic aurora season. The aurora in the distance was not as clear and spectacular as during his previous visit. Its scale seemed much reduced, and it appeared further north than last time.
However, this was the perfect opportunity to confirm whether the source of the aurora’s anomalous changes lay here or within himself. If he chased after that distant aurora and it still underwent strange changes, then the source must be himself!
Feeling somewhat excited, he turned around and said to Grace Lowes and Song Rife, “Miss Grace, Miss Song, the reason I brought you both to the polar region this time, apart from secluded cultivation, is also to investigate the mysterious phenomenon here together. If you are interested, please join me in exploring it!”
