Chapter 1118: Chapter 1005: Ry Court Barracks Clockwork Revolution (Part 2)

Walking alone at the back, Horn couldn’t help but sigh at the scholars’ backs.

These scholars are undoubtedly intelligent people. They seem so stubborn because all kinds of studies nowadays are based on fundamental experience.

The sun rises, the sun sets.

The moon rises, the moon sets.

People’s common path dependency is developed through practical experience, even personal experience.

When pure rational research like Loton’s emerges, the walls of their hearts become frighteningly thick.

Horn is not saying empiricism is wrong, but rather that the development of empiricism in this world has gone too far.

After all, they can study supernatural phenomena, often encountering situations where they don’t understand why but can use it.

The Extraordinary has caused this world’s scientific development to progress swiftly, yet it is progressing slowly.

Thinking this, Horn raised his head once more and had already reached the scheduled experiment site.

The experiment was set at the outdoor square on the west side of the Mechanical Palace, the gray stone floor was scorching from the noon sun.

In the center of the stone square, there was a tent made of canvas, under the tent was a stone pool coated with Mithril, filled with lunar mercury.

In the center of the pool stood a column of fragmented dragon bone that took two people to embrace, its surface gleaming like mother-of-pearl.

If you say that there are plenty of dragon bones the size of fists or heads in the Dragon Sleep Mountain Range.

But to say there are natural fragmented dragon bone columns as thick as this, they are quite rare.

Even this one is considered a national treasure level by the Dragon Worship Sect Dwarves.

To be precise, there are a total of four long columns of fragmented dragon bone at the Holy Land ruins of the Dragon Worship Sect Dwarves.

Their status is similar to the totem poles of the Dwarves, equivalent to Horn moving the large column of the Dragon Worship Sect Dwarves.

Besides spending money, he also had to promise to lend the dragon head to the Dwarves for a year and let the Dwarves meet Cynthia.

To bring this column and install a suitable vibration device on it, as well as setting up the site, cost three to four thousand pounds altogether.

Standing next to the column, Loton absentmindedly traced the natural patterns on the fragmented dragon bone’s surface with his fingertips.

His coarse cloth coat flapping loudly in the wind, with whispers of the scholars from the review committee behind him.

They naturally recognized the significance of the fragmented dragon bone column and cast angry glances at Leonardo.

You kid, using our research funds to create toys for his majesty, huh?

"Don’t think I’m using public funds for private use," Leonardo rolled his eyes at Calik, "This is the study of the fragmented dragon bone paradox."

The fragmented dragon bone paradox has been a contentious issue between the Magic Power School and the Mana School.

In other fields, the Magic Power School has been consistently suppressed by the Mana School, but in the fragmented dragon bone paradox, the Magic Power School has always been at an advantage.

The Magic Power School always believes that fragmented dragon bones vibrate and emit magic power, directly stunning creatures.

Because its stunning has a range; if it were mana, then it should have no range.

The Mana School counters that fragmented dragon bones are not emitting magic power; they are casting spells.

The hypnotic immobilization spell of fragmented dragon bones is invisible, similar to spell fireballs that decay and dissipate.

The explanation from the Mana School is evidently somewhat untenable.

Because it fails to explain why everyone within the fragmentation range of the dragon bone gets affected unless the dragon bone comes with auto-targeting.

"According to Loton’s theory, if ether spreads in the form of a field, it appears and dissipates rapidly.

Thus the time window to verify ether is very short.

So if the fragmented dragon bone is large enough and strong enough, and if enough ether is provided to the fragmented dragon bone, wouldn’t we be able to determine it before our measurement?"

This piqued the interest of all the scholars present; Leonardo’s experiment, to put it plainly, was brute force.

No need to design any phenomenon amplification torsion scale, nor design intricate indirect proofs, just go at it with sheer strength.

Otherwise, designing an experiment over the course of more than a month would be difficult for Leonardo.

Clearing his throat, Loton stepped in front of the scholars:

"We selected three kinds of creatures: rats, rabbits, and dogs, setting multiple groups of controls in different positions.

After a week of cultivation, their states have been adjusted to similar conditions, with almost negligible error.

They will be placed in glass boxes and given a special potion; when they lose consciousness, the potion will trigger a transformation.

As long as blood is drawn afterwards, the exact time of unconsciousness can be determined.

Before starting, the monks applied Divine Art to the animals at the same intervals to help them resist the mental shocks accompanying the expansion of the ether field..."

Loton’s method, to put it simply, is to place one rabbit A three steps away from the stone column and another rabbit B ten steps away.

And then wait for the blessing to expire simultaneously.

If at this time the two rabbits, despite the different distances, faint simultaneously.

It indicates that the mental shock within the field occurs simultaneously and is unrelated to distance.

This proves that fragmented dragon bones are directly mana shocks rather than spells, disproving the fragmented dragon bone magic power hypothesis.

Loton’s thought process was quite ingenious; instead of proving mana and magic power simultaneously exist, he proves that in an almost certainly confirmed magic power phenomenon, there definitely is mana present.

He doesn’t reconcile contradictions but rather makes the paradox even more paradoxical, reaching a point where both parties cannot ignore it.

This makes things difficult for both parties, especially the Mana School.

If you oppose him, he has proven the solid foundation of mana existence in the fragmented dragon bone paradox.

If you support him, he hasn’t completely proven the Magic Power School wrong; instead, he has shown that fragmented dragon bones indeed have a range.

There is a range effect, and it is executed instantaneously, two completely opposite phenomena appear simultaneously.

Such empirical results can only be explained by biphasic nature.

Although biphasic nature cannot be completely proven yet, it successfully cracks a visible rift in the mana vs. magic power conflicting theory.

The scholars walked around the stone-built pool and stood in a circle.

The heat from the stone floor seeped through the soles, making people restless.

Calik crossed his arms, but his fingertips curled secretly under the hem of his robe, digging into the palm like zongzi.

Melra fanned with a peacock feather fan, her gaze sweeping over the rabbit in the glass box, but the usual smile was absent from her lips.

After Lotton finished speaking, he ignored the others and methodically performed the final checks.

Leonardo walked to the lever beside the Dragon Bone Vibrator, his palm sweat sticking to the lever, wet and slippery.

He suddenly looked back, locking eyes with Hilov behind the crowd.

She sat in a wheelchair, her hair draping over the armrests, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the wheel rims.

The eyes, usually graced with a hint of elegance, were now squinted, as if aiming at something.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the ether field is officially opening, with only fifteen seconds. The countdown to the rabbit’s blessing is five seconds, starting now." Lotton announced loudly.

"Are you ready?" Leonardo’s voice was slightly hoarse.

"Begin." Lotton’s response was lighter than the wind.

The lever was suddenly pulled down, a crisp "click" piercing through the plaza.

The Dragon Bone Column suddenly emitted a low hum, like countless bees crawling into the bone crevices.

The scholars standing close by all frowned together.

It wasn’t an ordinary vibrating sound, but a noise crawling along the cerebral cortex, though their ears clearly heard nothing.

Fortunately, most of the scholars present were either alchemists or wizards by training.

Even Leonardo was bestowed with the Holy Favor Seed, undaunted by such impacts.

Melra tugged at her collar and coughed twice.

Calik said nothing, only stepping back half a step.

He could feel the mana within him becoming restless, as if some invisible force was crashing towards him.

"Countdown, five, four..." the apprentice’s voice floated amid the buzzing.

The air in the plaza suddenly froze. Calik stared at the rabbit inside the glass box.

The gray rabbit was nibbling on a carrot, its ears twitching.

Ten steps away, another sat in a corner, nose twitching.

Melra paused her silk handkerchief mid-air, her eyes behind the lenses squinted more tightly.

Hilov’s fingertips suddenly stopped.

Instinctively, the usually composed witch pushed against the wheelchair armrest and stood up.

"Three, two, one!"

At the moment the last word landed, the buzzing continued, but the plaza seemed to fall silent in an instant.

So quiet they could hear their own heartbeats.

When the apprentice’s final count ended, in the glass box, the rabbit three steps away suddenly collapsed, the carrot rolling off its mouth onto the ground.

The one ten steps away concurrently curled up, belly up.

In the dog cage and mouse cages farther away, the animals seemed to be pressed with a pause button, losing consciousness simultaneously.

Sunlight streamed through the glass, shining on their rigid bodies, every fallen angle seeming carved by a mold.

According to the school of magic’s theory, the magic power should have dispersed by now, impossible to cause the animals to faint.

But the fact was, Lotton’s animal friends did indeed pass out simultaneously.

Blinking, Melra’s silk handkerchief dropped to the ground, her eyes behind the lenses widening like spheres.

Calik’s hand holding the copy of the paper was trembling, the annotations on the manuscript feeling like burning irons, numbing his fingertips.

"Impossible!" someone suddenly screamed, a young scholar from the school of magic, his quill dropping to the ground, "There must be something wrong with the potion! You faked it!"

Leonardo sneered, "Today is the third replication experiment. If you don’t believe it, prepare it yourself and do it again next time."

More scholars stared at the glass box, their faces shifting from red to white, then to green.

Hilov slowly sat back in the wheelchair, the maid hurriedly supporting her arm, only to be gently pushed away.

"How is it?" Horn lightly rubbed Hilov’s ear, "I didn’t lie to you, did I?"

"This is not direct proof."

"I know, but don’t you think it’s enough to draw attention?"

Hilov didn’t reply.

She looked at those scholars, some shocked, some slack-jawed, some feigning calm, then suddenly raised her hand, gently clapping twice.

The applause started softly, like raindrops hitting the stone slabs.

Then, Horn and Leonardo joined in, followed by a few young apprentices, and finally, even Calik hesitantly lifted his hands.

The applause grew louder and louder, echoing in the plaza where the buzzing lingered, startling the pigeons perched on the eaves.

Lotton knelt beside the glass box, cradling the newly awakened gray rabbit.

His fingertips could feel its faint heartbeat.

His shoulders trembled, tears streaming out without warning, splashing onto the rabbit’s soft fur.

The sound of wheelchair wheels drew nearer, and Hilov stopped in front of him.

She looked up, meeting the eyes of the kneeling Lotton, her voice clear and solemn:

"Congratulations, Mr. Lotton." She paused, her gaze sweeping over quite a few still-dumbfounded scholars, "Your paper has been approved."