I Don't Agree to the Terms-Chapter 1097 - 576: The Reusable Brand Gains Sentience (Part 2)

At present, he can take on a mission again in a month.

However, if he wants to ask for another month off by using the resources brought back, it's not a problem either.

The reason he didn't ask is because there's no need; doing so would be too conspicuous, like a person slacking off among a group of hardworking people, making you the obvious standout.

On the contrary, exchanging it for a successful research result would be much more discreet, using mental exhaustion as an excuse.

With the data obtained from dissecting the Ghost Hunter, Gu Shanhai gradually discovered some unusual aspects.

"Can I utilize the Ghost Hunter's special imprint to momentarily affect one of the Dual-star Celestial Bodies, the Hunting Star, causing its gravitational pull to temporarily fail? This way, the World Tree's leaves could escape the gravitational constraint during this window." Gu Shanhai found this crucial point on the Ghost Hunter.

That is, there is some kind of connection between the Ghost Hunter and the black Hunting Star, which indirectly confirms that the Ghost Hunters are likely feeding fuel to this celestial body.

Therefore, Gu Shanhai was considering using this imprint to reverse the effect, but he quickly dismissed this plan.

"The disturbance would be too great; a temporary gravitational failure could have a massive impact on the entire world cluster, potentially leading to a collapse."

Gu Shanhai understood that despite the Dual-star Celestial Body causing significant harm to the entire world cluster, it is still the core on which the cluster relies, with its immense gravitational pull formed by the magic power tidal radiation facilitating the cluster's normal development.

"The contradiction is absurdly ridiculous, being both the source of disaster and the foundation of stability; it's not easy to resolve." The core of Gu Shanhai's plan is to remain discreet, not to create a big commotion.

"Feels like I'm stuck in a dead end."

Gu Shanhai sighed helplessly, not knowing where to start. He could only continue to try and analyze the Ash Imprint, which is essentially the Ghost Hunter itself, to deduce some findings and gather sufficient data.

"The essence of the Ghost Hunter is ashes and imprints, so what is Destructive Frost?" Gu Shanhai suddenly thought of this issue.

The Dual-star Celestial Body is like twins; Gu Shanhai was more inclined to believe that there is a deeper connection between the two.

He had previously studied Destructive Frost, which is a form of pollution akin to rules, coldness rooted in the magic power tide.

"If Ghost Hunters are formed from some kind of waste, could Destructive Frost also be weakened? Studying both together might bring additional insights?"

Upon thinking of this, Gu Shanhai couldn't help but feel invigorated. It wasn't the fear of bizarre ideas, but the fear of not having enough ideas.

"It's worth a try, especially since I still have some Destructive Frost left to digest."

"Fortunately, this thing is hard to digest. If it were easy to digest, it would already be gone, and I'd have to find more."

Gu Shanhai didn't rush to act on his idea but first gathered the Destructive Frost to prevent it from being digested.

Research could only proceed once the Ghost Hunter had been sufficiently analyzed.

After all, Destructive Frost is easy to come by; it's everywhere.

The Ghost Hunter is not as easy; to catch one, you'd need to lure it with Heart Demon Dao Soldiers, and even then, it's not guaranteed.

He was worried that joint research might cause irreparable damage to the Ghost Hunter's Ash Imprint.

If the imprint is damaged, then Gu Shanhai wouldn't be able to resurrect the Ghost Hunter. Once the imprint is broken, repairing it is futile, akin to sewing a decapitated head back onto a person—expecting it to live would be ludicrous.

The logic of an Ash Imprint is the same; despite the Ghost Hunter's power, its Ash Imprint is extremely fragile.

However, locating the Ash Imprint is not straightforward, and only someone like Gu Shanhai, with the right means, can trace its roots. For the Elf Clan, they couldn't even grasp the Ghost Hunter's true nature, let alone an Ash Imprint.

Only with enough power can corresponding research be accomplished. Without sufficient strength, one cannot even see the essence, let alone conduct in-depth research.

"Ghost Hunters can still be resurrected through the Ash Imprint, while Destructive Frost is really just a disposable item. If only I had known, I would have collected some earlier."

Gu Shanhai felt somewhat helpless, this was truly a case of hindsight being worthless.

The interior of the World Tree leaves naturally lacked Destructive Frost, as it already possesses inherent resistance, coupled with the Elf Clan's technology. Hence, the temperature here is normal, and there's no invasion of Destructive Frost. If needed, it could only be collected by traversing other worlds.

...

Little White's eyes were wide open looking at the latest recruitment plan.

Because it's completely blank.

"Oh?" Little White immediately questioned why.

The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise paid no mind to Little White, the reason for the blank slate was simply because there were no people.

This was quite literal; most people in the Wizard World had already become the nutrients for the Jade Tree.

The Jade Tree had also successfully entered its transformation, and as for when it would be complete, no one knew.

Currently, in the entire Hogwarts Witchcraft Academy, only five students remained along with Little White as the headmaster and the Four Sacred Beasts.

Originally, there were two others, but they couldn't stand being treated this poorly, so they defiantly dropped out to join Ruben, the nobleman.

Admittedly, the two were faring quite well; as Wizards, they easily integrated into the core of the Blood Orchid Flying Snake Territory.

Well...that's because there were not many people, to begin with; most people in the Blood Orchid Flying Snake Territory had been sold to the Jade Tree by Ruben.

If it weren't for the fact that these two were Wizards possessing Transcendent powers, they'd have been sent as nutrients for the Jade Tree by Ruben too.

Having extra Transcendent power would make their lives a bit more comfortable.

As for these two dropping out, Little White didn't take it to heart since they only learned a smattering, barely more than a trick, and posed no significant threat.

"Oh!" Little White remarked, pondering about the lack of new students.

The Four Sacred Beasts nonchalantly suggested keeping it simple. They still had five, which was barely sufficient.

Little White was utterly surprised. Just five students in an enormous academy would only suffice to form a small group, let alone a class or sustain an entire academy year.

The five Little Wizards looked at the exchange between Little White and the Four Sacred Beasts in confusion, unable to comprehend its meaning.

Of course, they didn't understand the external political situation either, and even if they did, they wouldn't care much. For them, learning magic was their primary task, not worrying about incomprehensible external affairs.

However, they did notice that Headmaster Dumbledore seemed a bit exasperated.

In the end, he lost.

"Break time is over, it's time for class." A voice came, though it was unclear whether it was Little White or one of the Four Sacred Beasts.

The five Little Wizards didn't care who spoke. They all promptly went to class, knowing that break time was truly over and they'd be late if they didn't hurry back.

"Oh~" Little White commented that these five little students were really living comfortable lives, needing to worry about nothing but their studies, and with significantly high qualifications for magic bloodlines, they were learning this esoteric kind of magic at an incredibly fast pace.

When the Four Sacred Beasts didn't respond, it chose not to dwell on it either.

It appeared that something was happening in the outside world, leading the Four Sacred Beasts to take this stance in response.

Though it had asked about it, the reply was simply a small issue, not to worry.

Little White didn't press for details; given their capability, unless the world collapsed, even a joint attack by the Jade Tree and Ruben would be nothing more than a minor problem.

With the backing of strength, security was not an issue at Hogwarts Witchcraft Academy.