Chapter 346: The Game
"Well, I suppose so," Aisen said calmly. "People here are very friendly to guests. Since you want to play Quidditch, applying to the school teachers should make getting into the Quidditch team no problem. As for reserve players, adding such spots isn't a big deal."
"Okay, I'll apply to the school teachers. I hope they agree!" Harry said, his face full of anticipation.
Next, after Aisen took Harry and the others around for a while, he went to Room 4 near the school gate and chose a room there as his residence.
This way, if anything happened in the future, they could come here to find him.
After finishing the matters at hand, Aisen couldn't help but feel a bit amused seeing Harry and the others lingering. However, on second thought, he understood why.
So, he didn't say anything and continued chatting with them.
As noon approached, although Aisen no longer needed to eat to sustain himself, Harry and the others were already starving.
Thus, Aisen took them out of the dormitory and headed towards the school canteen together.
The scene they saw along the way was quite different from before. Previously, the entire school was deserted with hardly anyone around, but now, on the school's gravel path, there were many people, with students walking in twos and threes, whispering to each other as they moved forward.
"Look, there are some foreigners over there!" a young man wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt pointed towards Aisen's group and exclaimed in surprise.
"Who are they? Why are they at our school?" asked someone about the same age standing next to the young man, who had long hair.
Hearing them, several people nearby began discussing.
"So this is what foreigners look like, similar to how they look in movies!"
"I know! They must be exchange students from other schools."
...
"Professor, are they students here?" Feeling that they had unintentionally become the center of attention, Hanna moved closer to Aisen, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Padma and Malfoy beside her kept straight faces, seemingly trying to appear indifferent. But it was clear that the attention still affected them a little.
As for Harry, well, perhaps because he had become accustomed to being the focus of attention since entering Hogwarts, he was much calmer than the others at this moment.
"That's right!" Aisen scanned the surroundings slowly and nodded calmly.
Some students were coming out of the Library, and some were coming out of the teaching building, but their direction was clearly towards the canteen.
White shirts, short-sleeved shirts, jackets, jeans, casual pants, and so on.
Looking around, these young boys and girls gave Aisenthe feeling of returning to his childhood in his previous life. That strong sense of the era immediately washed over him.
Youth and vitality seemed particularly evident in this group of students.
Silently comparing the difference between these students and Hogwarts students, one could clearly see that the students of Zhengyi School were more vibrant.
Of course, Aisen wasn't saying there was anything wrong with the teaching methods of the two schools. He just felt that the vitality in the eyes of the students here was more moving.
It was as if everyone had clear goals and were working hard towards them. Although they were also Witches, they were like ordinary people, moving forward with the trend of the times.
Therefore, from them, Aisen could even feel the spirit of the entire era.
"They feel a bit different from the students at Hogwarts!" Padma seemed to notice something and said softly, frowning.
"They are different!" Aisen pondered for a moment and nodded. "Their appearance is different, their clothes are different, and the language they speak is different. Besides that, the most important point is that their eyes are different."
"Different eyes?" Harry looked at the smiling faces and showed a thoughtful expression. "Are they Witches? They don't feel like Witches; they feel more like ordinary people."
"That's right, they do look different from Witches," Hanna said with a look of sudden realization.
"Why think so much? You're only staying here for a year anyway." Patting Harry on the shoulder, Aisen also temporarily cleared his mind of distracting thoughts.
Two minutes later, Aisen and Harry and the others followed the crowd into the Zhengyi School canteen.
Upon entering, Aisen noticed that the canteen space was very spacious, as if a spell like the Undetectable Extension Charm had been cast on it, greatly expanding the space.
In the middle of the canteen, there were rows of clean and tidy tables, with six chairs around each table. At this time, many seats were already filled with people, who were enjoying the food on their plates while chatting and laughing.
The moment they entered the canteen, Aisen and the others smelled the fragrant aroma of food. Many students looked at Aisen and the others curiously, then withdrew their gaze.
"Professor, Zhengyi School doesn't have House-elves, right?" Harry looked intently at the figures behind the serving windows on the left side of the canteen, a hint of astonishment in his tone.
"Hmm, I'm not sure, but probably not! The ones cooking and serving there seem to be puppets!" Aisen nodded and led the group over.
Picking up an empty tray from the window, Aisen scanned around, then took some dumplings and fried rice, and also some soup.
A moment later, Aisen and Harry and the others sat down at an empty table. To his surprise, the food on everyone's tray was exactly the same as his.
This - was it because they didn't know what to eat, so they chose the same food as him? Thinking this, Aisen felt a sense of being both amused and frustrated.
"Mmm - it's delicious!" Aisen closed his eyes slightly as he ate the dumplings heartily.
Authentic Chinese food, I haven't eaten it for so many years, I really miss it. Thinking while eating, Aisen almost drooled.
Previously, when he lived in England and was still an ordinary person, he also tried cooking some Chinese food at home. But honestly, either because the ingredients weren't right or because his cooking skills were poor, the taste was only mediocre.
When he first got off the plane, he ate Western food there. It wasn't until here that he truly ate authentic Chinese cuisine. Therefore, he immediately became immersed in it.
"Professor, are these chopsticks?" Harry suddenly spoke, interrupting Aisen's thoughts.
Opening his eyes, Aisen saw Harry holding chopsticks, fumbling with them, unable to use them properly. Looking at the others, he found that they also had conflicted expressions.
"Look! Those foreigners can't use chopsticks!"
"Is that the teacher? He seems to be using them very skillfully!"
"Aren't there spoons over there? Why don't they get them?"
...
"That's right, people here basically use chopsticks to eat," Aisen said, feeling quite speechless, then reached out and tapped the table.
An invisible ripple spread out, brushing over the few people. Then, the chopsticks they were each holding twisted and quickly transformed into spoons and forks.
"Thank you, Professor!" "Thank you, Professor!"
Their faces lit up with joy, they thanked Aisen, and began to enjoy the food on their trays.
"Mmm - what is this food? It's really delicious!" Hanna said, her eyes lighting up as she poked a dumpling with her fork and put it in her mouth, as if she had discovered something incredible.
"It's different from the food at Hogwarts, but it's really good!" Harry said, nodding while eating.
In about ten minutes, people in the canteen left in twos and threes. By the time Aisen and the others finished eating and planned to leave, the entire canteen was almost empty.
"Oh, right, Harry, what time do you start classes tomorrow morning?" After leaving the canteen, Aisenseemed to remember something and turned to look at the group beside him.
"There's a class schedule in the dormitory. The time arranged is nine in the morning, the same as at Hogwarts," Harry said softly, pressing his abdomen with his hand, looking full.
"Do you know what the specific courses are?" Aisenasked, his face showing curiosity.
"I don't know yet. That's just the course schedule, but it doesn't seem to say what specific classes we'll have!" Harry recalled, then shook his head.
"Is that so? Then I guess they'll only tell you the specific course arrangements after the exchange student welcome party is over." Aisen thought of his previous conversation with Zhang Mingwen about courses and showed a thoughtful expression.
"Professor, what is the exchange student welcome party? Is it like the welcoming feast held at Hogwarts?" Malfoy, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up.
"It should be different from a welcoming feast." Aisenglanced at Malfoy, then subtly shook his head. "As for the exchange student welcome party, you can tell from the name that it's mainly a welcome party held for the four of you.
Presumably, the purpose is to let the classmates in your future classes get to know you. Similarly, it's also to let you know who the teachers in your classes are. This way, you can better integrate into class life going forward."
"A welcome party? Oh, right, Professor, does Zhengyi School have a Sorting Ceremony? Do we still need to be Sorted?" Hearing Malfoy's words, Harry seemed to remember something and quickly asked.
"A Sorting Ceremony? There probably isn't one." Aisensaid hesitantly, but then shook his head again. "Don't think too much about it. You'll know if there's a Sorting Ceremony after the welcome party."
To be honest, in Aisen's understanding, schools here shouldn't have a Sorting Ceremony. After all, the culture here is completely different from England's culture.
However, he couldn't be completely sure. So whether there is one or not, they would know when the time came.
After hearing what Aisen said, Harry nodded and didn't say anything more.
"Oh, right, there's still half a day until the exchange student welcome party tonight. What are you planning to do next?" After a moment of silence, Aisen suddenly asked.
"Professor, are you planning to go out?" Padma seemed to understand Aisen's meaning.
"That's right, I'm going to walk around!" Aisen shrugged his shoulders.
"Can we come with you?" Hanna's eyes darted around, then she fixed her gaze on Aisen.
Tsk tsk—
Looking at the group, Aisen found that they were like children who couldn't leave their parents, and immediately shook his head.
"Ah—no?" Seeing Aisen shake his head, a hint of dejection appeared on Hanna's face.
"What are you worried about? I'm just going to walk around near the school entrance, it's not like I'm abandoning you." Aisen pointed in the direction of the school gate.
"Then, Professor, what should we do next?" Harry said, seeming a bit undecided.
"You guys?" Aisen reached up and rubbed his chin, then pointed at them, "How about going back to the dorm to rest? Or, you could go to the Library and read some books?"
"Uh, Professor, do you think we can understand the books in the Library?" Harry looked at Aisen, as if saying 'You're asking for the impossible'.
"Hmm—that seems right. How about this, I'll teach you a game, and then you can play it in my room, how about that?" After a moment of thought, Aisen's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of a good idea.
Without waiting for their objections, he directly led them to his room, and then proceeded with a series of actions.
...
"Professor, is this how you play this game? West Wind!" Harry said, placing the thirteen wooden tiles with different patterns and content stacked in front of him on the table, and asked curiously.
The four of them sat around the table, with a stack of piled-up wooden tiles in front of each person. As Harryspoke, he took one from one of the stacks of tiles and then placed it in the center of the table.
"This feels quite interesting! Ten Thousand!" Hanna drew a tile, then took one from the thirteen tiles in front of her and discarded it.
"Alright, you guys play here, see you tonight!" Looking at the harmonious scene before him, Aisen smiled and nodded.
Bang—
After the room door was closed, the few of them looked at each other for a moment, then continued playing the game with relish.
...
After walking out of the room, Aisen smiled slightly and followed the path straight down to the gravel road. Then, after walking a short distance forward, he exited the gate of Zhengyi School.
Outside the gate, the trees and branches in the mountain stream were lush, and occasionally a stream flowed silently, making one unconsciously want to get close to nature. Following the winding mountain stream path downwards, after walking for about half an hour, Aisensaw a mountain village.
The small path extended downwards, entering the village at a certain slope, then turned a corner, bypassed its edge area, and stretched further into the distance.
Entering this small mountain village, Aisen's vision brightened, and an open space similar to a square appeared before his eyes.
On one side of the open space were rows of low houses. In front of the houses were two large millstones placed side by side, and a thick locust tree grew next to the millstones.
When the breeze occasionally swept by, the locust tree branches and leaves swayed, scattering the shadows cast by the sunlight on the ground.
However, what caught Aisen's attention was not this, but the two figures under the tree.
One of them looked like an old farmer from the mountains, with a coarse cloth shirt draped over his body and a worn towel draped over his shoulder, appearing ordinary with nothing remarkable about him.
The other was a middle-aged Daoist priest, spirited and vigorous, dressed in a Daoist robe. The priest was tall and strong, with a long sword hanging at his waist, giving Aisen the feeling that this person was truly a recluse deep in the mountains.
The two of them were facing sideways around one of the millstones, heads lowered, seemingly immersed in their own world. Even when Aisen approached, they didn't raise their heads.
Their attention was focused on the millstone. When Aisen stepped forward to look, he realized they were—uh, they were playing Chinese chess.
Okay, Aisen knew how to play Chinese chess in his previous life, though of course, it was only a little, not very professionally.
That was when he was small in his previous life. One time, while playing with his friends from the same village, he saw a child from another village playing Chinese chess with an adult from their village.
At that time, he and his friends didn't understand anything, but they heard the adults praise how well the child playing chess played. Instantly, Aisen and his friends were amazed.
From then on, he and his friends started playing Chinese chess. As time went on, he became a self-taught player.
Of course, that was something from his previous life. As for now, although he hadn't played Chinese chess for decades, he hadn't forgotten the basic rules and moves.
More importantly, he now had the laplace's demonsupercomputer with him, so he could cheat.
Looking at the current game, Aisen found it very strange after just one glance.
The old farmer was playing Red first. On the board, Red still had two rooks, one cannon, and one knight. The Daoist priest was playing Black second, and currently had one rook, two knights, and two cannons. Logically, Red should have the advantage. But the situation on the board for Red was almost at a dead end.
Because although Red's two rooks were on one side, they were blocked by their own knight and pawn and couldn't cross the river. Although Black's two knights and one rook hadn't moved at all, only two cannons and one pawn had crossed the river, the pawn had already rushed down and blocked the elephant's eye, trapping Red's general and preventing it from moving. In addition, one of Black's cannons had already sunk to the bottom, and the other cannon had also moved to one side.
This double cannon checkmate was something Red could no longer resolve.
As his thoughts turned, Aisen couldn't help but shake his head. He didn't know why the old farmer's game was so strange, but there was no doubt it was hopeless. Even if he connected his consciousness to the Laplace's Demon System and gained powerful computing ability, it wouldn't help.
"Young man also understands Chinese chess?" As if noticing Aisen's head shake, the middle-aged Daoist priest suddenly turned his head and said this.
"Lost again!" The old farmer resigned as if waking from a dream. But seeing his calm expression, one knew he didn't take winning or losing to heart. As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Aisen beside him.
"Haha! Just a little, just a little!" Aisen smiled and waved his hand.
"Oh, young man, your Chinese is quite good!" The middle-aged Daoist priest's eyes lit up, and he gestured with his hand, "How about it? Want to try a game?"
"Well, isn't this a bit awkward?" Aisen reached up and scratched his head, a hint of hesitation appearing on his face.
Chapter 347: Come, I'll Give You a Treasure!
"Come, come! Why are you foreigners acting so humble?" The old farmer stood up and gave up his seat, pulling on Aisen's arm, wanting him to sit opposite the middle-aged Taoist priest.
"Exactly, it's just a try. It's no big deal even if you lose. By the way, what should I call you, young man?" The middle-aged Taoist priest smiled and nodded, seemingly thinking about how he would crush this foreign young man later.
Cough cough—
Watching this scene, Aisen couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
He really wanted to say, "You're all wrong, what I meant by 'not so good' is that it's not so good to crush you!" But, as a foreigner, saying something like that on someone else's territory felt a bit like bullying.
In fact, if Aisen relied on his own strength to play against the other party, although the winner was still uncertain, he estimated that the other party would likely win eight out of ten times. After all, he hadn't played chess for a long time.
However, if he cheated through the Laplace's Demon System, he would definitely be able to beat the other party.
So, how would Aisen choose?
"My name is Eisen Turner, just call me Aisen." Aisensuppressed the swirling thoughts in his mind, putting on a troubled expression, "However, I really only know a little about chess! How about you two play, and I'll just watch from the side."
"Aisen? Hehe, I'm Zou Zunian!" The middle-aged Taoist priest's face froze for a moment, then he chuckled and said, "Don't decline, come on, let's have a game."
"This, it feels a bit inappropriate!" Aisen sat opposite Zou Zunian, a hint of hesitation still on his face.
"Come, come, come, how about I give you a rook, a knight, and a cannon?" Zou Zunian arranged the pieces, a playful expression on his face, clearly provoking Aisen.
"No, no, no! If you say that—then I won't be polite!" Aisen's face straightened, and he immediately returned the pieces to their original positions. Then, the game officially began.
The old farmer stood to the side and watched with great interest.
Cannon 2 to 5, Knight 8 advances to 7, Knight 8 advances to 7, Chariot 9 to 8, Chariot 9 advances one step, Knight 2 advances to 3, Chariot 9 to 4, Chariot 1 advances one step, Knight 2 advances to 3, Advisor 6 advances to 5...
After making a few random moves in the opening, the speed at which the two played chess gradually slowed down.
Because it wasn't a formal competition, there was no time limit for playing chess. Occasionally, after Aisen made a move, Zou Zunian would have to think for a long time before he could respond with the next move.
But unfortunately, Aisen had the Laplace's Demon System supporting him from behind, and all of the opponent's moves were within his expectations.
That's right, although his opening was a bit casual, after the game entered the middle stage, he directly connected a part of his consciousness to the Laplace's Demon System.
In an instant, countless pieces of information were filtered, analyzed, calculated...
All the subsequent variations produced by the move Chariot 2 advances four steps, the counter-moves to Cannon 4 advances five steps, and so on, chessboards with various variations flashed in Aisen's mind. In an instant, there were hundreds or even thousands of moves for him to choose from.
Time passed little by little. The two people on the chessboard were both frowning, as if they had encountered some huge problem.
After a long time, as if he had finally solved some difficult problem, Aisen moved a pawn and breathed a sigh of relief. Then, looking at Zou Zunian, who was looking frustrated, he put on a 'humble' expression and waved his hand, saying, "Oh dear, I won by luck, I won by luck, you were a little too careless!"
Hiss—
Seeing Aisen's demeanor, Zou Zunian suddenly inhaled a breath of cold air.
The moment the other party announced his name earlier, Zou Zunian, as the Headmaster of Zhengyi School, actually knew that this young man named Aisen was the leading teacher who came to Zhengyi School as an exchange student.
He had originally found the other party's polite appearance quite pleasing, but he didn't expect the other party to be so ruthless in his moves. Being ruthless was one thing, but the key was that after winning, he kept talking about 'winning by luck'. Wasn't that nonsense!
"Amazing, amazing, Old Zou, you really had no chance!" The old farmer on the side couldn't help but applaud at this moment.
"Again, again, I don't believe I can't beat you!" Hearing the old farmer's words, Zou Zunian couldn't help but click his teeth.
Aisen smiled and shrugged, not saying anything. After the two arranged the pieces, they started fighting again.
Although he could understand Zou Zunian's urgent desire for revenge, Aisen was not a hypocritical person, right?
If he could win, he could win. Although he cheated, he couldn't help it, he was just that honest!
Half an hour later, the game entered its final stage.
"Oh dear, I won by luck, I won by luck, your move Cannon 8 to 3 was clearly a mistake, wasn't it!" Aisen looked at Zou Zunian with a smile.
"Old Zou, just give up. I can see it now, you're no match for this young man!" The old farmer came to a very obvious conclusion after observing the three games.
"Come on, continue! I don't believe this evil!" Zou Zunian's face seemed to contort slightly.
"Cough cough, well, how about we don't play anymore!" Seeing the change in Zou Zunian's expression, Aisen's heart immediately sank.
Then, thinking back to what happened earlier, he suddenly felt that he might have been a little too much.
Winning three consecutive games of chess against the other party, although it wasn't a big deal, as a foreigner, how could he perform so outstandingly? Completely crushing the other party did seem a bit unfair.
"What? You look down on me, right!" Zou Zunian's voice was a whole notch louder.
"No, no, that's definitely not what I meant." Aisenimmediately waved his hands.
"Come on, continue!" Zou Zunian took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
Just like that, the game started again!
Half an hour later, after a very "difficult" game, Aisen"accidentally" made a mistake and lost to the other party.
"Oh dear! Careless, careless! Taoist Zou is really amazing, I lost!" Aisen shook his head, his face full of dejection.
"What are you talking about? You're clearly holding back, it doesn't count, let's go again!" Zou Zunian's facial muscles twitched, and he almost couldn't resist pulling out the treasured sword from his waist and stabbing the other party through.
"Ah, this—" Aisen looked at the other party returning the pieces on the chessboard to their positions and was instantly speechless.
If he lost, he wouldn't accept it, and if he won, he felt the other party was holding back. He didn't know why the other party had such a ridiculous idea.
"Otherwise, forget it. Let me tell you, I'm actually—" Aisen paused in his speech, looked at the old farmer in a coarse cloth shirt next to him, and then continued, "I'm the teacher leading the exchange students from England. I need to prepare; I have classes for those students tomorrow!"
"Oh, you have classes for students?" Zou Zunian's face showed a playful smile.
"What? Don't you believe it?" Seeing the other party's expression, Aisen seemed to think of something, quickly glanced at the other party's attire again, and said calmly.
"That's not what I meant. It's just, as the Headmaster of Zhengyi School, how is it that I didn't know you were arranged to teach students?" Zou Zunian said slowly while putting the chess pieces back on the board.
"What? You're the Headmaster of Zhengyi School?" Aisenwas stunned for a moment.
"How about it? I don't look like the Headmaster of Zhengyi School?" Zou Zunian stretched his arms, looked himself up and down, and then fixed his gaze on Aisen.
"No, no, I just didn't expect it!" Aisen awkwardly waved his hand.
He had thought earlier that the other party might have some connection with the Zhengyi School or Zhengyi School, but he didn't expect the other party to actually be the Headmaster of Zhengyi School.
This—this seems a bit awkward.
He found an excuse, but it was exposed by the other party right in front of him.
However, speaking of this person, as a proper Headmaster, instead of having meetings in the school, he's just idling away, playing chess with someone in a small mountain village outside the school!
Wait—
The Headmaster of Zhengyi School?
When he was talking with Zhang Mingwen earlier, the other party seemed to have said that many years ago, Dumbledore had sought help from the Headmaster of Zhengyi School to resolve the blood pact issue, but later, because the Headmaster of Zhengyi School was busy, it was left unresolved.
So, if calculated by time, wouldn't this Zou Zunian, who looks only about forty years old, have to be at least eighty years old?
No, you also have to add the seniority before he became the Headmaster of Zhengyi School! In that case, conservatively estimated, Zou Zunian must be over a hundred years old, right?
Hiss—
Good heavens, I really couldn't tell!
"I heard you're an Astronomy Professor?" After the topic was opened, Zou Zunian seemed to become interested.
"That's right, is there a problem?" Aisen looked at the chessboard, then at the other party, and shrugged.
Zou Zunian shook his head and said nothing, instead pointing to the chessboard in front of them, his meaning seemingly clear.
No, as a Headmaster, is it really appropriate to have such a strong chess addiction?
"What? Don't want to play against me?" Zou Zunianlooked at Aisen with interest, and seeing his conflicted expression, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Actually, playing chess is more interesting when the two players are at a similar level, don't you agree?" Aisentactfully stated his opinion.
"Hey, didn't you lose to me in that game just now?" Zou Zunian pointed to the chessboard, a half-smile on his face.
This—
Aisen felt a bit depressed instantly. He should have just crushed him completely earlier, why did he go easy!
"Alright, alright, how about this, you play two more games with me, and I'll give you a treasure!" Zou Zunianseemed to feel that it wasn't good to keep pestering Aisen, so he reached into his chest and fumbled for a while before placing something directly on the edge of the chessboard in front of Aisen.
Seeing Zou Zunian's demeanor, Aisen thought he would take out some real treasure, but when this treasure was placed in front of him, he was directly stunned.
He saw the object—round, golden, like a golden core! Oh no, I misspoke, it was actually a glass bead with golden threads carved inside.
"How about it?" Zou Zunian's posture of 'you're getting a great deal' left Aisen speechless.
"I think, although I came from England, you can't discriminate against me!" Aisen was silent for a while, then said earnestly, "Marbles? Kids play with these over there too!"
"Marbles? How could you think of that!" Zou Zunianlooked speechless, then gestured, "Pick it up and try it."
"It's not?" Aisen looked at the other party in surprise, finding that he didn't seem to be joking. Then, with a thought, he picked up the glass bead from the side of the chessboard.
Hmm? This is—
The moment the glass bead was in Aisen's hand, for some reason, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and closeness.
This sense of familiarity and closeness came abruptly, but it made him feel like he didn't want to put it down after picking it up.
Ding dong—
A sound like silence rang in Aisen's heart. The glass bead he held in his hand seemed to be activated, and the golden threads swirling inside began to stir.
"Alright, then I'll play a few more games with you!" Aisenimmediately clasped his hands, holding the glass bead in his palm, and after putting it into his storage ring, he smiled at Zou Zunian.
The glass bead seemed to have changed because it came into contact with him, but now was not a good time, so Aisen put it away first, planning to observe it carefully later.
Half an hour passed!
"Horse-cannon checkmate, an unstoppable kill!"
Zou Zunian looked at the chess game, his expression unchanged. It seemed he no longer cared about winning or losing.
Another half hour passed!
"Horse-cannon checkmate, an unstoppable kill!"
Zou Zunian reviewed the game for a while, then frowned, and subsequently nodded repeatedly at Aisen, showing a hint of admiration.
Another half hour passed!
"Horse-cannon checkmate, an unstoppable kill!"
Zou Zunian was silent, his face seemingly a bit dark.
Another half hour.
"Horse-cannon checkmate, an unstoppable kill!"
Zou Zunian's face completely darkened!
When Aisen was about to put the chess pieces away, Zou Zunian directly reached out and stopped him.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Aisen put on an innocent look.
"Alright, alright, I admit you're amazing now, okay!" Zou Zunian slammed the chess piece onto the board forcefully, "Using the horse-cannon checkmate for four consecutive games to win, it's really—"
"It's truly astonishing!" The old farmer who had been quietly watching the game couldn't help but exclaim, "Even the national champion might not be this good! Old Zou, what do you think?"
"The skill level is indeed very high!" Zou Zunian said, then seemed to think of something, looking at Aisensuspiciously, "Hey, I say, you didn't cheat, did you?"
"How could that be? It's just playing chess, is it worth it for me? Besides, how would you even cheat?" Aisenwaved his hand with a 'proud' look.
"That's true!" Zou Zunian nodded, then looked Aisen up and down.
"Is there a problem?" The other party's gaze kept circling around him. Aisen checked but found nothing wrong with himself.
"Since the school hasn't arranged classes for you, are you interested in participating in professional chess competitions?" Zou Zunian looked at Aisen with interest.
"Don't joke around! You should know my identity! I really don't have much interest in participating in such competitions." Aisen directly shook his head and refused.
To be honest, if the environment he lived in was like his previous life, a purely urban world, then he would be interested in participating in chess or Go competitions or something.
That way, he could also gain some fame and fortune, further improving his quality of life, and so on.
But now, he still has to make great strides on the path of exploring magic, so of course he wouldn't do that.
Of course, maybe, maybe after he has exhausted all the mysteries of magic in the future, he will come back to experience various ways of life.
"Alright, I want to walk around here! Headmaster Zou Zunian, goodbye!" After talking for a while longer, Aisenlooked at the time; it was almost five in the afternoon, so he patted his butt and left.
Walking slowly along the small path, looking at the low houses before him, Aisen suddenly felt a sense of Space-Time displacement. It was already 1995; in a few more years, this place would likely be filled with brand new small Western-style buildings.
I wonder if I can find my home from my previous life in this world?
Very abruptly, a thought he had previously hidden very deeply suddenly popped into his mind. And after this thought appeared, it directly occupied all the space in his mind, making him unable to have any other thoughts at that moment.
"Fine! It's good to go and see what the situation is like!" After taking a deep breath, Aisen couldn't help but sigh.
Chapter 348: A Sudden Inspiration
Crossing a street and entering a shallow grove, Aisenstopped behind a tree.
Immediately after, he activated God's Perspective, taking in the surrounding scenery. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he vanished from the spot, transforming into a streak of light.
At the same moment, thousands of kilometers away, north of the Yellow River, at the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain in a small village, an almost imperceptible flash of light appeared, and Aisen's figure emerged.
After regaining his form, he first cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself. Then, Aisen looked up and began to survey the surroundings.
But just one look gave Aisen an even stronger sense of Space-Time dislocation.
To be honest, when he lived here in his previous life, although the 1990s were still relatively backward, after entering the 21st century, both the roads outside and the alleys within the village had been renovated many times and had become very different.
In fact, if he hadn't come here again, he might have even forgotten what his village looked like when he was a child in his previous life.
Seeing this scene again at this moment, Aisen couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Well, the road here is narrow and hasn't been widened yet, barely allowing two buses to drive side by side. To the north of the road, dozens of mu of land are cultivated, and a railway track crosses through the distance.
"The sense of era is truly strong!" Entering from the village entrance, Aisen felt the dirt path under his feet, a nostalgic look in his eyes.
The dirt roads leading to each household in the village were not very clear in Aisen's memory. Because in a few years, these dirt roads would be covered with cement.
However, there are some things he remembers particularly clearly.
That was when he was a child in his previous life, on the way to school or on the way home from school, whenever it rained, his shoes and pant legs would suffer.
Walking along the dirt path for about twenty meters, a large courtyard with blue bricks appeared before Aisen's eyes. Stopping there, he heard the sounds of reading coming from inside, and suddenly felt a sense of being in another era.
This was where he attended primary school in his previous life, a place where he witnessed the changes of the times and where the times witnessed his growth.
Being able to see this primary school again in this life, at this moment, Aisen couldn't help but feel emotional once more.
After finishing primary school in the village in his previous life, he went to the city for middle school. After middle school, he went to high school, and then university.
Every time he returned to the village, he could feel the rapid pace of development, but strangely, the village primary school gradually fell into disrepair.
Before transmigrating and being reborn, Aisenoccasionally returned to the village and would come here to look around. But the primary school, which had been abandoned for many years, was overgrown with weeds and trees inside and outside the courtyard.
Hearing the sounds of reading coming from the classrooms within the courtyard at this moment, Aisencouldn't help but feel a hint of curiosity.
Because if the timing was correct, he should have started school at this time in his previous life. And because he started school earlier than his peers, he should have been in the senior kindergarten class at this time.
After a long period of contemplation, Aisen walked deeper into the village.
The houses on both sides of the path were basically adobe houses, which he still had some impression of. After walking another twenty to thirty meters, Aisenstopped in front of a slightly dilapidated house.
The door of this house was wide open. Upon entering, one would find that a tall glass counter separated the area one meter from the entrance.
Behind it were placed goods such as teacups, washbasins, alarm clocks, thermos bottles, flashlights, bowls and dishes, instant noodles, and candy.
This was the village's supply and marketing cooperative, a place Aisen wanted to frequent as a child in his previous life but didn't have many opportunities to. After all, his family's financial situation wasn't very good in his previous life.
At that time, he was quite sensible, unlike the children nowadays who want whatever they see and cry incessantly if their parents don't buy it.
He remembers one thing very clearly. When he was very young in his previous life, when he was in first or second grade, during the holidays, he and a few friends collected some waste paper to sell for money.
His friends all bought snacks like instant noodles and lollipops, but he bought a folding fan.
That folding fan accompanied him through many summers and he couldn't bear to throw it away. Later, his mother specially collected that fan. When he saw the folding fan collected by his mother years after graduating from university and working, he was surprised for a long time.
Continuing to walk forward, he passed through a small alley and turned west into another small alley.
Occasionally, a figure would appear and pass by Aisen.
Their appearances looked vaguely familiar to him, likely some neighbors and acquaintances from his memory, but much younger.
After walking along the narrow path for a few minutes, Aisen stopped in front of a slightly worn-down house.
The style of this house was the same as his home before they built a new house in his previous life. Opposite it, in a small alley, there were two households, also looking just as they did in the depths of his memory.
He still remembers that in his previous life, his parents told him that his great-grandfather's generation was a landlord. At that time, a lot of the land in the entire village belonged to his family.
As a result, by his grandfather's generation, the family fortune was completely squandered. If not for that, the houses of others around his home might even have belonged to his family.
At that time, he hadn't been out of university and in society for long. Every time he heard his parents talk about these old anecdotes, he would joke and ask why his great-grandfather's generation didn't bury some gold, jade, or something at home, so he wouldn't have so much pressure in life.
However, every time he said this, his parents would retort, saying that if any treasure was really buried, his grandfather would definitely have squandered it all.
Thinking of these past events, Aisen couldn't help but smile. Who would have thought that he didn't get rich later, but instead transmigrated and was reborn?
With this thought, Aisen opened God's Perspective, cast his gaze into the house, observed it back and forth, and then withdrew his gaze.
Indeed, although many people in this village felt familiar to him, and the appearance of every household was also familiar, his close family members seemed to be nonexistent.
With a slight sigh, a look of relief appeared on Aisen's face.
Before entering the Wizarding World, he had considered opening a branch office here after his film and television company grew larger, betting on the market here. Then, he would also come here to see if his family from his previous life existed in this world.
At that time, he only had a vague idea.
It wasn't until he later entered the Wizarding World and focused his energy on the magical magic that he suppressed this thought deep in his heart. This time, bringing Harry and the others here, he happened to have some free time, and this thought suddenly resurfaced.
However, the outcome was as expected.
Having resolved a lingering thought in his heart and understood some things, Aisen suddenly felt much lighter. With a lighter mood, his thoughts also seemed to become clearer.
With his thoughts clearer, his mind also became more active. Immediately, Aisen thought of the treasure Zou Zunian had given him earlier. He no longer suppressed his curiosity and directly transformed into light, flying south.
The speed of light is approximately 300,000 kilometers per second, while the Earth's diameter is only a little over 12,000 kilometers.
Comparing these, it becomes clear how fast Aisen was when he transformed into light.
Therefore, in just an instant, Aisen crossed the entire continent and ocean, entering the Antarctic Circle.
In a secret base somewhere in Antarctica, inside the Alchemy Laboratory room, Aisen's figure appeared out of thin air.
Due to the magic he had cast, although the base had not been maintained for a long time, it still retained its previous appearance.
Sitting on a chair, Aisen was about to take out the treasure, but after looking around the room, he cast some additional protective magic.
After completing these actions, Aisen let out a long breath and then took out the glass bead.
The moment the glass bead was taken out, that familiar feeling surged into his heart again. At the same time, the golden threads carved within the glass bead emitted a faint glow.
Suppressing the familiar feeling that arose in his heart, Aisen didn't make any moves. He placed the glass bead on his palm, quietly waiting for its next change.
Time passed by little by little, and Aisen's eyes narrowed slightly.
The glass bead in his hand was undergoing subtle changes, just as he had expected. The golden threads that were originally emitting a faint glow seemed to be absorbing external energy through that glow.
In just a moment, the golden threads within the glass bead visibly expanded. The shimmering light emanating from the threads also became much denser.
Aisen remained still, waiting, without making any moves.
At a certain point, the shimmering light surrounding the threads suddenly intensified, then quickly retracted, and the glass bead became slightly more 'ethereal'.
Immediately after, within the slightly ethereal glass bead, a faint shimmer of light emerged from the surface of the threads.
"What's going on here? It seems a bit strange," Aisenmuttered, feeling the glass bead in his hand, which seemed to have become slightly lighter.
Subsequently, within a few minutes, the glass bead behaved as it had before. The shimmering light on the surface of the golden threads inside suddenly intensified, then retracted and converged again, and the glass bead became another degree more 'ethereal'.
Speaking of which, what kind of treasure did this Headmaster surnamed Zou give him?
This current change certainly piqued Aisen's curiosity.
Next, the glass bead in Aisen's hand seemed to be repeating the previous action. First, the golden threads within were covered in shimmering light, then the light intensified greatly, followed by retraction and convergence, and then the glass bead became ethereal.
After several back-and-forth cycles, if not for the persistent tactile sensation in Aisen's hand, he would have thought the glass bead had already disappeared.
At this moment, the glass bead in Aisen's hand felt like an ethereal bubble, resting quietly in his palm. In the center of the bubble, the golden threads seemed to have regained vitality, starting to slowly swim around.
Seeing this scene, Aisen's heart immediately tensed. Various defensive spells and curse-breaking spells were ready to be cast. At the same time, a part of his consciousness had already connected to the Laplace's Demon System.
Should any problem arise, he could ensure his own safety.
However, the subsequent changes showed him that his preparations were unnecessary.
After another transformation, the glass bead in Aisen's hand seemed to have completely vanished, leaving only a tangled mass of golden threads tumbling in his palm.
However, the tactile sensation in his hand told him that the glass bead had not disappeared.
"Has the change stopped?" After a while, finding no further changes, Aisen began casting spells to probe.
After casting revelation spells, detection spells, and other incantations, Aisen still couldn't figure out what kind of treasure it was.
Wait—
This treasure was given to him by Zou Zunian, and its changes only occurred after it came into contact with Aisen. Does that mean the magic within him is the fundamental cause of the changes?
After pondering for a moment, Aisen's mind stirred, and he mobilized the magic within his body, directing it towards his palm.
Upon contact with the tumbling mass of golden threads, the magic within his body caused a sudden change. The tactile sensation of the glass bead completely vanished, as if it had disappeared without a trace.
Meanwhile, the golden threads, like a tangled mess suddenly finding order, began to separate, reassembling before Aisen's eyes.
It was as if the finest threads were continuously intertwining and twisting together, forming thicker threads, which then continued to twist and combine.
In just a moment, the mass of golden threads completely vanished, and what reappeared before Aisen's eyes was a golden—uh, rope.
"What is this?" Looking at the rope in his hand, Aisen was instantly bewildered.
Wait—
Could something Zou Zunian called a treasure be a magical artifact from myths and legends? If so, what kind of rope-like treasure is this?
The Golden Rope? The Immortal Binding Rope?
Looking at the glittering, seemingly ostentatious rope before him, Aisen's thoughts raced. He mobilized the magic in his body and grasped the rope, rubbing it.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he made this movement, the glittering rope suddenly emitted a brilliant golden light, then vanished directly before Aisen's eyes.
Sensing something, Aisen's expression changed slightly, and he immediately cast the Dream God Spell, entering the Dream World.
Dream World.
A spherical mass of dense fog floated in the sky. That was the emotion manipulation characteristic that Aisen had replicated earlier using his golden finger. Originally, he intended to use this characteristic to gain the ability to manipulate emotions, but for some reason, this characteristic was suddenly transferred here.
Moreover, after being transferred here, it also absorbed some of Aisen's memories from his previous life.
However, Aisen's attention at the moment was not on it, but on its side, where a glittering golden rope was suspended next to the spherical fog, its ends connected, continuously rotating.
This rope was clearly the treasure that Zou Zunian had given him earlier, the rope that had transformed after being "activated."
However, the sudden transformation of this rope, directly entering the Dream World, made Aisen feel particularly strange.
After all, setting aside the emotion manipulation characteristic that transferred earlier, that did have a kind of 'ethereal' quality, so Aisen could understand it transferring to the Dream World.
But now, how could a treasure given by someone else suddenly enter the Dream World?
However, before Aisen could think further, a "flash of inspiration" suddenly popped into his mind. Or rather, it was some "inspiration" that the glittering golden rope suddenly brought him after arriving in the Dream World.
Previously, Aisen had been researching the method of making horcruxes.
The traditional method of making horcruxes is an evil Black magic that requires not only cruelly killing someone but also splitting one's own soul.
This method is so abhorrent that even some Dark Wizards wouldn't use it.
Of course, Aisen was researching whether it was possible to create horcruxes using a new method.
He had researched for a long time, even figuring out some alternative steps, but a crucial difficulty had remained unresolved, leaving him stuck.
This difficulty was the final step in splitting the soul to create a Horcrux.
Why could horcruxes make Voldemort impossible to kill? It was simply because a part of Voldemort's soul was preserved in the Horcrux.
For this reason, as long as the Horcrux was not destroyed, the soul hidden within the Horcrux could protect Voldemort from being completely killed.
Although the soul hidden in the Horcrux was split by Voldemort from himself, the connection between the souls was extremely close.
This close connection ensured that as long as the Horcruxwas not destroyed, the owner of the Horcrux would not completely die.
Therefore, to kill someone who has made horcruxes, you cannot achieve the goal of killing them by casting a spell to sever the connection between the Horcrux and the person. You must first destroy the Horcrux and then kill the person.
Aisen had previously thought of using memories instead of soul fragments to make horcruxes.
After all, he had always believed that a person's memories were an important part of "me." Therefore, it should also be possible to use memories to maintain the connection between himself and the Horcrux.
However, as he thought before, one of the more ridiculous points about this world is that memories can be altered or even destroyed.
Although he had created the Dream God Spell and the Dream World based on memory and cognition as the underlying structure, and was thus unafraid of Obliviate and other memory magic, the key issue was not this.
The key issue was that if Aisen wanted to use memories to replace soul fragments to carry and maintain the connection between himself and the Horcrux, the strength of this connection would likely be very poor.
After all, if he were to actually create a Horcrux using this method, he wouldn't be sure that the connection between him and the Horcrux wouldn't be severed. After all, in this world, manipulating memories is far less difficult than manipulating souls.
Therefore, his research into horcruxes without side effects had been stuck at this point without progress.
However, the golden rope entering the Dream World and circling next to the spherical fog suddenly brought him a "flash of inspiration" that inexplicably made Aisen feel as though he had found the key to solving this problem—which was to hide the Horcrux directly in the Dream World!
If he could hide the Horcrux in the Dream World, then he would have nothing to fear, nor would he have to worry about memory magic affecting the Horcrux, or about others severing the connection between him and the Horcrux by manipulating memories.
Because the Dream World is immune to all memory magic, and Aisen has nearly omnipotent authority within the Dream World.
In this way, a Horcrux created like this would be a perfect Horcrux—neither worrying about being found by others nor worrying about being affected by memory magic.
Chapter 349: A New Concept Horcrux
If it were before, Aisen himself probably wouldn't have believed it.
After all, a Horcrux is a tangible item, a prop created in reality.
To transform this thing into a Horcrux with no side effects, at most one would improve it through various magicmeans. How could anyone suddenly think of turning it into a 'virtual' existence?
For example, it's like Lord Voldemort, after being resurrected, suddenly had the bizarre idea of hiding his last Horcrux in someone else's dream. No one would believe such a thing.
Clearly, Aisen had never dared to think this way before.
But at this moment, he suddenly had such an inspiration.
In the sky of the Dream World, the spherical dense fog was still slowly rotating. The spherical dense fog was a fusion of the emotional manipulation trait and Aisen's memories from his previous life.
Using these things as part of the Horcrux refinement process wasn't a problem.
As for the golden rope that was constantly rotating, connected end to end, it was also very suitable as a memory carrier. Because it was transferred from the real world to the Dream World, it could break the boundary between the virtual and the real.
Thus, it was possible to transfer the spherical dense fog and the golden rope to the real world, refine them together into a Horcrux, and then transfer the Horcruxback to the Dream World.
This way, it should be a complete success.
Having figured this out, a satisfied smile appeared on Aisen's face.
However, in a flash, he thought of another question. Was it too much of a coincidence that Zou Zunian gave him this treasure, and he could just happen to use it?
What was the other party's purpose? What calculations were involved?
Aisen recalled the circumstances of meeting Zou Zunianat that time. Immediately, a scene appeared before his eyes in the Dream World. From beginning to end, Zou Zunian's every move and facial expression reappeared.
After a while, he still found nothing amiss, so he dispersed the scene before him.
"Perhaps, this is just an accident?" Feeling the degree of control over the golden rope in the Dream World, a thoughtful expression appeared on Aisen's face.
After a long period of contemplation, he let out a sigh of relief and temporarily cleared these distracting thoughts.
Currently, what Aisen had to do was transfer the spherical dense fog and the golden rope before him to the real world and then refine them according to the process he had already designed.
After successfully refining the Horcrux, he would then transfer it to the Dream World.
However, the last time Aisen tried, when he attempted to transfer the spherical dense fog to the real world, there were signs that it was about to collapse. This meant that he had to make preparations in the Dream Worldbeforehand.
Thus, once both were transferred to the real world, he had to immediately refine the spherical dense fog into the golden rope.
"Alright, I need to simulate this several times in the Dream World beforehand!" Having figured this out, Aisenbegan to try in the Dream World.
Aisen anticipated that simulating the Horcrux refinement in the Dream World would be different from the real world. However, he didn't need to simulate the entire refinement process from beginning to end; only the initial step of merging the spherical dense fog into the golden rope was enough.
Thus, if he simulated it multiple times, the step in the real world would undoubtedly be much simpler.
...
Time in the Dream World gradually passed, but when Aisen opened his eyes in the real world, only a few seconds had elapsed.
Looking at the walls made of ice around him, a smile appeared on Aisen's face.
After a long period of simulation in the Dream World, he had completed all the preparatory work for the first step of refining the Horcrux.
Currently, Aisen stood up from the chair and walked to the center of the Alchemy Laboratory room.
With a slight lift of his hand, the ice-paved ground in the center of the room suddenly rose, forming a transparent platform about a foot high.
Immediately after, the center of the platform caved downwards into a bowl shape.
Extending his hands above the transparent platform, with a turn of his thoughts, magic texts were outlined by Aisenand then combined into new runes.
Faint silver light flickered before Aisen's eyes, like stars in the night sky, dazzling yet charming.
Then, the runes swirling at his fingertips dropped down, slid along the concave surface of the platform, and were then imprinted on it.
magic texts continuously appeared, and then runes were carved into the concave surface.
The entire process was very smooth, as if Aisen was adding decorations to a transparent bowl. In just five minutes, the inside of the bowl was filled with various runes.
When Aisen stopped his movements, the concave part of the top of the entire transparent platform was completely occupied by runes.
At this moment, a faint magic energy rhythm surged above the concave surface. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that this concave surface, after being carved with runes, had a hint of the Dream World's ambiance.
Yes, although this was a very strange thing, Aisen had indeed simulated a trace of the Dream World's environment in the real world.
And this was to increase the success rate of the first step in refining the Horcrux using the spherical dense fog and the golden rope.
However, it was clear that simulating the Dream World's environment in the real world was quite difficult. Therefore, Aisen was not sure how much practical effect this action would have.
Of course, he was very aware of this and felt that even if this action could increase the success rate by a tiny bit, it was worth trying.
After the preparations were completed, Aisen's thoughts turned, and he directly connected a part of his consciousness to the Laplace's Demon System. Thus, at this moment, he possessed extremely powerful computing capabilities.
The reason Aisen used this method was simply to ensure that he could be precise enough in the subsequent actions.
Taking a deep breath, Aisen rubbed his hands in the air. Then, he pulled his hands forcefully, as if grabbing something in the air.
In an instant, above the transparent platform in front of Aisen, a spherical dense fog and a golden rope were drawn out by him from the Dream World.
The moment they appeared in the real world, Aisen did not hesitate at all, and his fingers quickly danced. magictexts were outlined and quickly fell onto the spherical dense fog and the golden rope.
All the movements were as if they had been practiced thousands of times. The scattered magic texts, their landing points were also as if they had been calculated beforehand.
Before the spherical dense fog showed signs of dissipating, it was directly guided by the magic texts falling into it, pulling out a silver-gray airflow that shot towards the adjacent golden rope.
Thus, as if a chain reaction had occurred, the spherical dense fog rapidly changed shape, directly transforming into a silver-gray long snake that pounced on the golden rope and then directly merged into it.
It was as if the two were originally one, and at this moment, they merged into one, appearing so natural.
After the fusion, the spherical dense fog had disappeared, and on the golden rope, silver-gray light spots flickered from time to time. Immediately after, the silver-gray light spots on the rope completely converged.
After all these actions were completed, Aisenimmediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Currently, the first step of refining the Horcrux had been perfectly completed. From now on, he just needed to slowly carve it.
With a wave of his hand, the transparent platform standing in front of Aisen directly sank into the ground, turning back into a smooth and flat surface. Immediately after, with a beckoning gesture, the golden rope swirling and dancing in front of him flew into his hand.
The moment he touched the golden rope, Aisen felt a special sense of strangeness.
This feeling was particularly strange. Part of it seemed to be familiarity, while another part was a subtle yet clear sense of mystery. The two feelings intertwined in his heart, giving him a strange sense of unease.
Suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, Aisen's thoughts turned, and he sent it into the Dream World.
The golden rope flickered and disappeared directly before him.
After Aisen's consciousness entered the Dream World, he saw the golden rope swirling in the sky.
Seeing this scene, Aisen immediately nodded with satisfaction. Since this refined—uh, semi-finished new concept Horcrux—could be transferred to the Dream World, it meant that he had initially achieved his goal.
Next, to continue perfecting this new concept Horcruxand transform it into a flawless Horcrux with no side effects, he had to continue to advance according to his plan.
However, before Aisen could continue to ponder, a scene that greatly surprised him occurred at this moment.
He saw that the golden rope, swirling in the air and constantly moving like a vigorous divine dragon, suddenly emitted a brilliant golden light.
The golden light was not dazzling at first, but in the Dream World, simulating the Antarctic polar night, it appeared exceptionally bright.
Immediately after, the golden light on the rope intensified.
Aisen watched it with a look of surprise, as if being pulled by something. The golden rope, as if hit by an Enlargement Charm and the Charm of Enlargement, rapidly grew and elongated to the size of an arm and hundreds of feet long.
This change?
Aisen in the Dream World was instantly dumbfounded by this change; he didn't know how it could happen. However, before he could remain dumbfounded, the scene before him made him widen his eyes.
The golden rope, which had expanded like a divine dragon, had the golden light emanating from its surface retract. Then it quickly connected its ends, coiling into a large circle.
The changes didn't stop there.
The instant it became a ring, Aisen seemed to sense something and looked up towards the depths of the universe.
Using his near-omnipotent authority in the Dream World, he saw in the dark, silent depths of the universe a chain tens of thousands of feet long and hundreds of feet thick coiling across the sky.
The chain was transparent, fused with gold, appearing to have both the substantial feel of metal and the elusive, illusory quality of something ethereal.
Upon seeing the crystalline golden chain, a piece of information inexplicably flashed through Aisen's mind. This information came abruptly but generated directly in his mind, letting him know what the golden chain was.
"Golden Finger?" Aisen muttered to himself, a hint of complexity flashing in his eyes.
Previously, the importance of the Golden Finger to him was self-evident.
Whether it was the daily increase in magic or the Miracle Trait he could obtain every year, both were important means for him to enhance his strength.
Even later, he was able to make great strides on the path of exploring magic. He was even confident that he could continue to grow stronger without relying on the Golden Finger, yet he couldn't deny how important the Golden Finger was to him.
Putting other things aside, just consider when he first entered the Wizarding World. Without the existence of the Golden Finger, it would have been impossible for Aisen to even enter the Wizarding World.
Aisen was quite knowledgeable about the Wizards of this world.
He knew that the Wizards in this world awakened their magic when they were very young, experiencing magicoutbursts. You say an adult awakens magic and becomes a Wizard? That's basically impossible.
But precisely because of this, Aisen relied on the Golden Finger to increase his magic and forcefully squeezed into the Wizarding World. Just based on this point alone, his Golden Finger can be said to have made an indispensable contribution.
The reason for saying this is that after he became powerful, he also had the idea of exploring the truth behind the Golden Finger. He also wondered how his Golden Finger came to be and if there were any schemes behind it.
However, he had never truly sensed where the Golden Finger existed within his body, nor did he feel that he himself had any value for the entity behind the Golden Finger to scheme against.
Therefore, this question had always been hidden in the deepest part of Aisen's heart.
However, seeing the "Golden Finger" suddenly appear in the Dream World at this moment, and most likely triggered by the new concept Horcrux he had refined, filled him with an inexplicable emotion.
He didn't know if it was because the Golden Finger had appeared voluntarily, but Aisen could already sense the presence of the Golden Finger.
However, this perception was still very weak. Although he used his near-omnipotent authority in the Dream World, he could only perceive that the Golden Finger existed within the conceptual "self".
If he were to delve deeper, he wouldn't be able to detect anything.
Of course, the Dream World was ultimately created by Aisen himself. Therefore, with his authority in the Dream World, he should have been able to prevent such changes from happening.
But at this moment, he did not act rashly but quietly observed every move of the Golden Finger.
As his consciousness shifted, the thoughts in his mind were temporarily cleared.
The Golden Finger appeared in Aisen's Dream World in the form of a golden chain, and then emitted a faint golden light.
The golden light slanted down from the depths of the universe, traversing an unknown distance, and landed directly in the sky above Aisen's head. If one felt carefully, they would discover that the golden threads seemed to carry a peculiar charm.
The golden light, like swallows returning to their nest, surged into the sky, onto the semi-finished Horcrux Aisenhad just successfully refined.
The golden light drilled into the rope and moved around continuously.
In just a moment, this golden rope underwent a change that surprised Aisen.
The golden rope was seen continuously tumbling, stirring, and twisting in the air, as if suddenly gaining sentience, and began to transform.
The golden rope that was originally connected at both ends suddenly broke apart, and one end began to twist and transform, changing directly from the form of a rope to the form of a chain.
This transformation continuously extended from one end to the other. In an instant, the golden rope that had been coiling in the air had disappeared, and what appeared before Aisen was a golden chain of equal size.
"How did this Horcrux's form become so similar to the Golden Finger?" After the transformation was complete, Aisen couldn't help but gasp. "Did the Golden Finger create a new Golden Finger? Or did the Golden Finger give birth to a child?"
Before Aisen could continue to reflect, the golden chain, tens of thousands of feet long, coiling in the depths of the universe, gradually faded and disappeared. Sensing again at this time, Aisen could only faintly perceive the existence of the Golden Finger, but not as clearly as before.
And before him, the semi-finished Horcrux that Aisen had refined, now a golden chain whose form had been changed by the Golden Finger, was continuously swimming in the air. It was as if it were truly a divine dragon, full of sentience.
The golden chain sometimes connected its ends and spun continuously, and sometimes flew up and down, swaying constantly.
Watching all of this, Aisen couldn't help but crack a smile. With a thought, he extended his right hand.
Then, the golden chain, as if a summoned pet, obediently shrunk and floated above his palm, swimming around occasionally.
Suddenly, the golden chain touched Aisen's fingertip, and a piece of information appeared in his mind. A look of understanding immediately appeared in his eyes, as if he had comprehended something.
"Horcrux, Golden Finger, an interesting idea! But thinking about it, it's quite in line with my intentions." After recovering, Aisen looked at the golden chain flipping and swimming in his hand, shaking his head with a smile.
With a thought, the golden chain soared into the air and continued to swim in the sky like a divine dragon. And Aisen's consciousness returned to the real world.
Feeling the faint chill permeating the room, Aisen nodded without saying anything. Then, seeing that it was almost time, he directly disappeared on the spot with an Apparition Without A Trace.
Zhengyi School, classroom building, a certain empty room in Dormitory Four, where four people were engrossed in the world of play.
"Harry, hurry up, it's your turn!" Hannah propped her chin with her hands, looking at the row of wooden blocks on the table in front of her, and couldn't help but urge him.
"Don't rush, Hannah, let me think! Hmm—, Nine Strips!" Harry scanned the wooden blocks in front of him through his glasses for a long time, then hesitated for a moment, picked up one of the blocks, and slapped it down in the center of the table.
"Excuse me, I'll make a Kong!" Malfoy said with a smile on his face. He took the block Harry had placed on the table, then took out three from the row of blocks in front of him and stacked them to the side.
"I didn't see that coming, Malfoy! I didn't expect you to play this game so well!" Hannah said in surprise.
"It's alright! Five Strips!" Malfoy said, and after picking up a block and just glancing at it, he discarded it.
It seemed that after some time spent together, the frequency of their interactions had also become "normal".
*Swoosh*
Aisen's figure appeared silently, without even attracting anyone's attention.
"Oh! Not bad, you're all having a great time!" Seeing how much fun Harry and the others were having, Aisencouldn't help but tease them.
"Professor!" "Professor, you're back!"
Seeing the suddenly appearing Aisen, the few of them stopped what they were doing one after another, stood up, and greeted Aisen.
Chapter 350: Evening Party and Suggestions
After returning to the dormitory, Aisen began chatting with Harry and the others.
Time flew by, and around seven in the evening, Aisentook Harry and the others to the dining hall for dinner. After eight o'clock, they prepared to attend the exchange student welcome party hosted by Zhengyi School.
Turning onto the road paved with gravel and arriving in front of the teaching building, they saw two long stone staircases extending from the left and right sides of the building, converging in the middle to form a flat stone platform.
Wooden railings surrounded the stone platform, entwined with vines adorned with flowers. Above the platform was a transparent glass cover resembling an eave, and upon closer inspection, the trajectories of stars were visible. Clearly, this was achieved through magical means.
After ascending the stone platform and proceeding further inside, they would reach a hall on the second floor of the teaching building.
However, Aisen and the others' destination was not there. They walked along a small path at the edge of the stone staircase and entered the hall on the first floor in the blink of an eye.
Upon entering the hall, Aisen examined the surrounding walls and realized that this teaching building, which appeared quite modern from the outside, had a unique and different ambiance inside.
Perhaps judging solely by the color and texture of the walls, this teaching building gave Aisen the feeling that it was constructed by hollowing out a massive, square, flat mountain rock.
"Professor, where is Classroom 106?" After entering the teaching building, the atmosphere seemed to change, so Hanna deliberately lowered her voice significantly when asking.
"We'll know once we look!" Aisen said nonchalantly, walking to the middle aisle of the hall.
Looking around, with his current eyesight, he could easily see a glittering sign hanging on the wall in the right aisle, not far from the hall, with the number "106" engraved on it.
Of course, more importantly, a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses was standing below the sign. When he saw Aisen, he waved and greeted him.
This person was Zhang Mingwen, who had picked them up from the airport earlier.
"Let's go, this way!" Aisen said to Harry and the others and walked over.
"Hey, Zhang, good evening!" Aisen greeted him directly.
"Good evening, Aisen, let's go, the welcome party is about to begin!" Zhang Mingwen smiled at Aisen, then turned to open the door and ushered them in.
It seemed to have a soundproofing effect, as Aisen only heard the buzzing of dozens of people talking after entering the classroom.
The interior of the classroom was extremely spacious, appearing to have utilized a spell like the Undetectable Extension Charm, which wasn't particularly surprising. However, the layout here was vastly different from Hogwarts.
Some glowing green vines spread across the surrounding walls. The vines twisted and wound around the walls, finally protruding from the walls and bearing transparent gourds.
From time to time, golden threads would move rapidly along the vines on the wall, finally drilling into the transparent gourds and emitting light as bright as day.
Uh, gourds of this shape, they really do look quite like light bulbs.
Seeing this scene, Aisen couldn't help but secretly praise it in his heart.
Indeed, although all of these were clearly magical creations, or rather, magical plants specifically cultivated here, their style was truly different from Hogwarts.
The ceiling, unlike Hogwarts, did not allow one to directly see the starry sky through magic. Instead, it was filled with swirling white clouds, like a mythical fairyland.
Suddenly, a phantom crane spun out from the clouds, then plunged back into the clouds and disappeared.
Three or forty students were seated below the stage, appearing to be roughly the same age as Harry and the others. Each of them looked at Aisen and the others with curiosity, occasionally whispering to each other.
Judging by their expressions, they were clearly accustomed to the layout of this classroom.
Looking at Harry and the others, who were seeing such a scene for the first time, as expected, their faces were filled with expressions of surprise.
"Aisen, how does it feel?" After entering the room, Zhang Mingwen stood beside Aisen and asked with a smile.
"Compared to Hogwarts, it's completely different in style, but I have to say, it feels wonderful here. This feeling of being close to nature is very comfortable!" Aisen nodded.
Shifting his gaze to the side of the podium, Aisen saw a familiar figure – the Headmaster of Zhengyi School, Zou Zunian. Just as he had seen him outside the school earlier, he was dressed in a Taoist robe with a long sword hanging from his waist.
Perhaps it was because he was standing in front of the students, but the aura emanating from his tall figure didn't feel oppressive. Instead, combined with his smiling expression, it gave off a particularly kind feeling.
Zou Zunian was currently sitting beside the podium, and two other people were seated next to him. One was a man who appeared to be in his fifties, with black hair tied up and a beard on his chin, dressed in a manner that exuded the temperament of an ancient person.
The other was a relatively young woman, around thirty years old, with dyed brown hair. However, what surprised Aisen was that she was wearing a denim jacket and jeans, looking quite fashionable.
After Aisen and the others entered, all three stood up from their chairs.
"Haha, let me introduce you, this is our Headmaster of Zhengyi School, Zou Zunian." Zhang Mingwen gestured with his hand and then introduced Zou Zunian to Aisen.
"We meet again, Headmaster Zou, hello!" Narrowing his eyes slightly, Aisen stepped forward and shook his hand.
"Hello, Professor Aisen, welcome to Zhengyi School!" This handshake surprised Zou Zunian for a moment, but he still extended his hand with a smile.
Next, Zhang Mingwen pointed to the man next to Zou Zunian and introduced him: "This is Lin Xuan, the Spell Discovery Professor at Zhengyi School, responsible for the first and fifth-year Spell Discovery classes."
"Hello, Professor Lin! I am Eisen Turner from Hogwarts, just call me Aisen!" Aisen stepped forward again to shake hands.
"Hello, Aisen, I'm Lin Xuan!" Lin Xuan nodded, speaking in a clear and concise manner.
"This person here is Yue Congshan, the Combat SpellProfessor, responsible for the first and fifth-year teaching content." Zhang Mingwen then introduced the female Professor who looked quite fashionable to Aisen.
"Hello, Aisen! I am Yue Congshan from Zhengyi School. If you have time, we can discuss the differences between the Defense Against the Black Arts class at Hogwartsand the Combat Spell class at Zhengyi School, how about it?" Yue Congshan stepped forward and shook Aisen's hand, appearing quite energetic.
"Cough cough, I am the Astronomy Professor, I'm afraid I can't discuss their differences!" Aisen shrugged and subtly withdrew his hand that was being held.
Speaking of which, this Combat Spell Professor seems a bit overly enthusiastic!
"Alright, Xiao Yue, be mindful of the impression!" Zou Zunian reminded her from the side. Yue Congshan pouted but didn't say anything else.
"So, shall we begin?" Zhang Mingwen said, looking at Aisen, then at Zou Zunian.
The following process was within Aisen's expectations. Zou Zunian directly stood on the podium and introduced Aisen and the others from Hogwarts in England to the students below.
Afterward, Zou Zunian also expressed a warm welcome for their arrival and so on.
After he finished speaking, Harry and the others also went up one by one to introduce themselves. Perhaps because the students below were friendly enough, Harryand the others also relaxed.
After the self-introductions, Zou Zunian gave a speech. The content was likely nothing more than hoping that the students of Zhengyi School and the exchange students from Hogwarts could get along well, communicate with each other, learn from each other's strengths, and make progress together, and so on.
Subsequently, several Professors also gave speeches, simply introducing the course arrangements and expressing hope that Harry and the others could quickly integrate into the new learning environment, and so on.
After the speeches were concluded, Harry and the others were arranged next to some students below, while Aisendelved deeper into the basic situation of Zhengyi Schoolwith Zou Zunian and the others.
For example, the school's historical evolution, its size, its academic disciplines, and so on.
The exchange student welcome party gave Aisen a deeper understanding of Zhengyi School. It also allowed Harry and the others to gradually integrate into this class.
After the exchange student welcome party ended, Harryand the others did not return to the student dormitory but followed Aisen to his residence.
"How was your chat with those students just now? I saw you talking and laughing with them!" Inside the dormitory, Aisen sat down on the bed and asked directly.
Earlier at the welcome party, while Aisen was chatting with Zou Zunian and the others, he noticed that Harryand the others were surrounded by the students, constantly communicating. By the time they left, they were already talking and laughing, seemingly getting along quite well.
"Uh, it's okay!" Looking at each other, Harry scratched his head and said, "Just like Dumbledore said, they are very friendly to us and asked some questions about Hogwarts."
"That's right, studying in such an environment, I think maybe it will be a good experience!" Padma chimed in.
"However, the learning difficulty might be a bit higher." Hanna said with a hint of worry on her face, "I heard some of the course content they talked about, and there are many terms I don't understand."
"There are English textbooks, so learning should be easier, but for some professional terms, I think you need to review more after class, or ask the teachers directly, so that you can keep up with the teacher's teaching progress." Aisen comforted and instructed at the same time.
"Professor Aisen, can we ask you directly?" Harry's eyes lit up as if he remembered something, "Your Chinese is so good, you should know the meaning of those professional terms!"
As soon as he finished speaking, even Hanna, Padma, and Malfoy looked at him.
Aisen, who had planned to refuse, thought for a moment and felt that it didn't seem like a big deal. He nodded and said, "Hmm—, in that case, your class schedule ends at 6 p.m. every day, so you can come to me between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. If you have anything you don't understand, you can tell me."
"Professor, how much do you think we can learn in one year?" Padma asked curiously.
"Learn—" Aisen opened his mouth to speak, but then shook his head slightly, "I'm afraid you really won't learn much!"
Zhang Mingwen had told him before that Harry and the others, as exchange students studying here, wouldn't learn much knowledge at all, at most it would just give them a general understanding of the knowledge system here, learning just the surface.
Then, they could broaden their horizons, absorb and integrate some of the superficial knowledge they learned, and bringing back a little bit of gain to Hogwarts would be considered enough.
Aisen understood their meaning after having a deeper exchange with Zou Zunian and others.
Putting aside other things, just take the Charm Array Class in Zhengyi School's curriculum system, which basically starts with learning about charms and arrays.
As a compulsory course that runs through all grades, after the Charm Array Class reaches the higher grades, some knowledge also extends to courses such as Combat Spell, Spell Discovery, and Artifact Forging.
This means that if Harry and the others don't start learning at Zhengyi School from the first year, they probably won't be able to thoroughly understand the knowledge here at all.
As for Harry and the others, Aisen had already learned at the previous exchange student welcome meeting that they would be joining one of the two fifth-year classes at Zhengyi School, becoming a member of that class.
So, the outcome is actually very clear.
However, Aisen can actually understand this point. With his memories from his previous life, he naturally knows that some sects have the tradition of not teaching inherited knowledge to outsiders.
Even after entering the new century, many places no longer have sectarian prejudices and don't mind accepting some foreigners as disciples. But this world after all has extraordinary power.
Therefore, it is not surprising that these ancient sects in this world still continue to have sectarian prejudices.
If viewed from this perspective, then it is actually very normal for Harry and the others to come to Zhengyi School to study for one year as exchange students with the identity of fifth-year students.
However, didn't Dumbledore say before that this exchange student program was a trial? Perhaps, the intellectual collision from Harry and the others' study at Zhengyi School is also part of their trial.
"Then what about our year of study?" Padma's face showed a conflicted expression.
"Don't worry so much! Dumbledore and they definitely know the situation you are facing!" Aisen comforted them, "I think following the fifth-year curriculum of Zhengyi School will indeed be very stressful. But you shouldn't have the idea that you must learn everything the teachers teach."
"Professor, what do you mean?" Harry showed a thoughtful expression.
"What I mean is, you have already studied at Hogwartsfor four years. Here, for some of the knowledge the teachers teach, you should learn to view it in conjunction with what you have already learned. If you can gain something, that is the most important thing!" Aisennodded.
"Then, Professor, do you have any suggestions?" Padmaasked eagerly.
"Hmm—, I learned from the Zhengyi School Headmaster and teachers that there are four compulsory courses and three elective courses here. I suggest you focus your energy on the compulsory Charm Array Class." Aisenpondered for a moment, then slowly said.
"Does that mean we just give up on the other courses?" Padma looked at Aisen in surprise.
"The course schedule here is different from Hogwarts. Seven classes just fill up a day. However, although there are only seven courses here in total, if each course is broken down, it actually contains a lot of content." Aisennodded and then shook his head, "What I mean is not that you should give up on other courses directly, but rather not to spread your energy across other courses."
"Does Professor mean that we should just understand as much as we can in other classes, and only for the Charm Array Class, we should look up information after class, constantly review and study in depth, and focus our energy on this? Is that what you mean?" Padma seemed to understand Aisen's meaning.
"That's right, for the Charm Array Class, I suggest you can also go to the Library after class to read some books from the first and second years. As for the other courses, that can only be left to chance." Aisen shrugged.
"Professor, do you think we can learn the knowledge of the Charm Array Class and take them back to Hogwartsthrough this method?" Malfoy, who had been quiet, suddenly asked.
"Take them back to Hogwarts? This way of saying it—you can say that with some effort." Aisen smiled, "I've had a preliminary understanding of the Charm Array Class, and it includes two major branches, charms and arrays. The content involved in each branch is very complex.
Even if you follow my suggestion just now and focus all your energy on the Charm Array Class, I don't think you will be able to learn anything very in-depth in one year.
But no matter what, the more knowledge you can learn and the more scenery you can see, it is actually a kind of progress for Hogwarts.
Think about it, if a group of students comes here as exchange students every year in the future, then each group of students will bring a little bit of change to Hogwarts, so won't Hogwarts become better?"
"I understand! But Professor—" Hanna suddenly spoke, but looked at Aisen with a hint of embarrassment, "Can I focus my learning energy on other compulsory courses?"
First, he looked at the other person with confusion, then Aisen thought of her identity and suddenly showed a look of realization: "You mean the compulsory course in Alchemy? Hmm—, the Alchemy at Zhengyi Schoolincludes content such as herbalism, potion preparation, and pill refining, so that's fine."
Speaking of which, Aisen almost overlooked this point. As a student of Hufflepuff, Hanna Abbott was clearly more interested in courses related to herbalism.
"However, there is one point you need to know!" Aisencontinued.
"What?" Hanna asked curiously.
"The herbalism and potion preparation in Alchemy do not involve the content of the Charm Array Class, but the content of the pill refining part is relatively profound and complex, and also involves the application of charm arrays. So—" Aisen's meaning was already very clear.
"So, I can learn the knowledge of herbalism and potion preparation?" Hanna's eyes lit up.
"Logically speaking, that's the case, but the problem is that you can only stay here for one year, and after one year, you will return to Hogwarts." Aisen said calmly, "And the herbalism and potion preparation knowledge here probably focuses on the herbs here.
So, after returning to Hogwarts, how much of the herbalism knowledge you learned will be useful? Unless, during this year, you can become friends with some people and build a supply chain that can provide you with herbs."
"That's also good!" Hanna nodded vigorously, seemingly having made up her mind.
"What about you?" Aisen turned to look at the other three.
"Let's follow what Professor said and focus our energy on the Charm Array Class!" Harry, Padma, and Malfoylooked at each other and finally decided to follow Aisen's suggestion.