591 - 597

Chapter 591: The Early Released Monster

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Sprint did not quite agree with Annick's theory. "Our teacher must've been devoted to the improvement of his magic level and is trying to advance into the ninth circle. After he reaches the ninth circle, the Congress will have plenty of weird rituals that can help him become a legendary sorcerer."

Improving two major levels consecutively through rituals had a failure rate of more than eighty percent. Therefore, Sprint believed that the best solution for his teacher to become a legend was to advance into the ninth circle on his own first. As for whether or not the further advancement after the ninth circle would succeed, Sprint had absolutely no doubt about that. With a legendary that perfected matched his cognitive world, the legendary magic models that were engraved inside his cognitive world, and the experience and assistance of so many legendary sorcerers, there was no way that their teacher could fail.

"Yes, you're probably right." Annick did not insist on his opinion. "Our teacher did not come by the Atom Institution often. He must've been focused on improving himself."

That was the reason why they were less burdened in the past months. Other than continuing the study on the theory of relatively, they only had the mission of analyzing the mechanism of the ancillary computation arrays. It had been a while since new exams and tests came. They almost missed it.

About the review of papers, since Lucien had become a member of the Highest Council, his job in the Arcana Review Board was automatically canceled, and they no longer needed to review the papers.

Sprint took over the journals Annick bought and browsed through the table of contents. Suddenly, he saw a paper with a particularly long title: 'The Complicated Splitting of Spectral Lines in Weak Magnetic Field and Its Contradiction to the New Alchemy', by Brook.

In the past year, they had been trying to mend the new alchemy. Although most of their ideas had been disapproved by Hathaway, Raventi, Joaquin and the other grand arcanists, the argument still made them achieve a lot.

In such a way, they perfectly integrated the knowledge that Lucien taught, the exercises he gave, the experiments he assigned to them, and the brilliant ideas in his head. They really became young people with the potential to be senior-rank arcanists, instead of vases that were backed by their teacher.

Therefore, Sprint became rather solemn after he saw the title. He turned to the corresponding page on Magic and read it carefully.

"How… How… How can there be such splitting? The quantization model of the new alchemy does not seem to apply to it…" After a long time, Sprint spoke to himself rather gloomily.

Thankfully, everybody knew that the new alchemy was not perfect enough. The sorcerers who built their cognitive world based on it were mainly focused on the simple structure of protons, neutrons and electrons and did not involve the specific energy level. That was why his cognitive world did not shake.

Annick, hearing his murmur, also took over Magic solemnly. In the meantime, Sprint gasped hard and went to the laboratory to confirm the paper. As his teacher said, even the grand arcanists were not to be entirely believed when it came to arcana!

Annick was covered in cold sweat as he read on. His slim space was even more pale, as he realized that his current knowledge could not explain the phenomenon at all.

Did something really happen to the new alchemy?

Holding the journal tightly, Annick also went into the laboratory.

When it was almost dawn, the two of them walked out their laboratories exhaustedly and both saw each other's bitterness.

"The framework of the new alchemy is definitely correct." Sprint stressed it. Protons, neutrons, electrons, and the fundamental force that had been named as strong nuclear force by their master had all been proved!

Annick nodded. "However, the energy level and orbits of the quantized electrons seem to be in serious trouble. Perhaps, we should abandon the flawed concept and think from a different perspective."

After half a year of repetitive argument and research, they had learnt that they had to let go of certain things when it was necessary.

That was perhaps the young men's advantage. It was obviously impossible for an arcanist who had been devoted to a theory for decades to suddenly drop their persistence and specialty.

"Let's try to resolve the problem through energy level and orbits without adding more hypotheses. If we can't, we'll try different approaches." Sprint said solemnly. "We'll ask our teacher after the holiday. He definitely has unusual ideas."

They had sensed their significant growth every month in the exploration and argument about the new alchemy, but they also discovered that the gap between them and their teacher was getting greater. Their teacher could answer their every question from a reasonable perspective.

"Alright." Forgetting to sleep, Annick went to the library with a copy of 'Magic'.

The same thing happened in Katrina and Heidi's house, as well as the magic towers of Hathaway, Morris, Raventi, Gaston and other upper-level arcanists.

In Thunder Hell, however, Fernando was obviously agitated, which made Thompson, Chloe and other students who came to wish him happy new year prudent.

"Master, happy new year." Thompson was already level seven and had hope to enter the ninth circle.

Glaring at them, Fernando roared, "I'm not happy at all! I don't understand Brook's anomalous splitting phenomenon!"

Brook discussed with him after he discovered the phenomenon and wrote the paper later.

Chloe, who had the air of a poet, asked carefully, "What is it about, master?"

As an authority in thermodynamics, he was not as good as such an unreasonable man as Lucien, but he was already level eight and in the eighth circle. However, he hadn't read Brook's paper on the new issue of 'Magic' yet.

"Don't you mention the goddamn paper! I would rather that it be that I'm a poet, a playwright or a playboy, so that I wouldn't need to consider the goddamn paper!" Fernando expressed his fury, and all of his students narrowed their eyes and turned their heads around, like boats that caught a terrible tornado on the ocean.

Thompson hurried to change the subject. "Master, why is Lucien not here?"

"He came with Alferris earlier. They already left." Fernando was more or less composed now.

Chloe asked curiously, "What's his opinion on the paper?"

Hardly had he asked the question when he sensed Thompson's scorching eyes. He immediately realized that he asked the last thing he should've asked.

Fernando's face was twisted again. "He also admitted that something was greatly wrong with the new alchemy. He believed that new quantum numbers had to be introduced to explain it. His original system couldn't do anything about it. I would rather he never proposed the new alchemy!"

Roars attacked him like a storm. Chloe couldn't have regretted it more.

…

In Raventi's magic tower…

After Dieppe left his teacher's library, he remembered nothing but the unusual splitting of spectral lines and how his teacher was running calculations with his eyebrows furrowed.

"My teacher is almost ready to advance into legendary. He shouldn't be distracted by anything else right now." Thought Dieppe worriedly. As the best of Raventi's students, he was already level six and in the seventh circle. Although he was not as young as Lucien, Felipe or Larry, he was obviously still in his prime years compared to other sorcerers.

In the end, Raventi chose Hathaway's class of 'Lord of Elements', which had been partly modified based on the achievements in protons, neutrons, electrons and the strong nuclear force. After all, the new alchemy, on which 'Atom Controller' was founded, was far from mature. Nobody was willing to take the risk except for Lucien who was utterly unreasonable.

Dieppe shook his head as he thought. The discussion on the new alchemy was a temptation that no sorcerers who were devoted to elements, alchemy and matter could overcome. He probably couldn't have resisted it, either, if it were himself.

After he was back to his room, Dieppe was still thinking the unusual phenomenon about the energy level and orbits of electrons and how it could not be extrapolated to more complicated atoms. He couldn't fall asleep after a long time.

Upset, he stood and paced, recalling the discussions in the past half year.

"…Imposed quantization… Imposed electron orbits… Imposed energy levels… Unobservable orbits and energy levels… There are many unresolved problems. We have to find a new way out!"

Hathaway's greatest suspicion about the new alchemy echoed in Dieppe's heart. He calmed himself down and asked himself to abandon the complicated ideas and start from the simplest question. "If we do not impose anything, we should start from the natural, built-in qualities of electrons. What qualities of electrons have been confirmed? Mass… charge quantity…"

"Mass…" Dieppe suddenly recalled the theory of relativity, which was also quite heated recently. It was said that Mr. President had almost understood the general theory of relativity and was about to give a comment. However, what 'mass' reminded him of was actually the mass-energy formula that seemed to have contained the deepest mysteries of this world!

"If there is mass, there will be intrinsic energy; if there is energy… and electronic transition radiates or absorbs photons… I think they can be connected… Quantization of angular momentum…"

After ruling out a long of wrong thoughts, Dieppe gradually calmed down, and his eyes were opened. He sat behind the desk and wrote on a piece of ordinary paper with his quill. The night was dark and cold outside.

As his ideas flourished, lines of words appeared on the paper. Dieppe's face was gradually frozen, as if he found it hard to believe his deduction. That was a perfectly reasonable and logical deduction, but how could he have possibly achieved such a terrifying and preposterous result?

For the first time in his life, he had the urge of tearing his own paper apart. The dark night outside was like a monster that was about the engulf him, making him feel chilly.

"The premises are not wrong, and the deduction is not wrong, either. I might as well carry on…" The urge in his heart made Dieppe grit his teeth and continued writing. He paused now and then to consider and correct his mistakes.

When it was about midnight, his ideas were completely clear, and he finished the paper without any stop.

But after it was done, he did not feel the slightest light. There was nothing but shock and even tears on his face.

How could electrons be waves?

How could electrons, which had so many undeniable features of particles such as mass, momentum and particle traces, be waves?

A huge snow began to fall outside of his window, enshrouding Dieppe in unprecedented coldness. Would anybody else agree with the conclusion that he found hard to believe himself?

Chapter 592: Waiting

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Sitting in the study, Dieppe was overwhelmed by his own endless thoughts from his own deduction, as if he was in a nightmare.

He kept going through the entire process over and over again, trying to find the problem. He could not stop murmuring,

"How is it possible that electrons take the form of wave?"

A while later, he started asking himself,

"How can it be?"

Then his confusion beat all the other thoughts, and Dieppe started studying the implications of his findings,

"Why wave…?"

The heavy snow was silently falling outside of the window. The dim light coming out from Dieppe's place, however, looked enthusiastic in such bad weather. The frustrated look slowly disappeared from Dieppe's face and was replaced with the look of contemplating.

"…If that's the case, it seems that all microscopic particles in motion have their corresponding frequencies and wavelengths. Why is that…" Dieppe's brows frowned tight. Suddenly, he recalled Mr. Evans's words from the two separate papers.

"…Perhaps we should be more open-minded facing the argument."

"…Since it is for certain that light has both a wave nature and particle nature as it is supported by solid experiment results, why don't we combine the findings together? Perhaps it can be explained by Wave–particle duality."

The latter showed up in a simple paper, and Lucien Evans was saying this in an uncertain tone. Therefore, the words rarely left a deep impression on the readers. But the word concept of dualism had deeply stuck in Dieppe's brain, and now everything made sense if the duality theory was applied.

He took a long, deep breath, as if he was going to release a world-shattering monster. He finally put it this way in his script, "So here is the conclusion we can draw: Wave–particle duality does not only exist in quantum photons, but also all the microscopic particles in motion, including protons, neutrons, electrons, etc. They all have their corresponding wavelengths based on the energy they carry. In other words, they all share the duality."

Finishing the sentence, Dieppe had been deprived of all his strength. Even that, he could not help thinking, "If those microscopic particles all share duality, what about those macroscopic objects in motion?"

That was a ridiculous deduction. Dieppe looked at himself and was amused by his own crazy thought.

Then he turned to think about something else: Special relativity could be applied to New Alchemy as well. The two systems were not completely separate from each other. Instead, somehow they could come together. Maybe they would promote each other, like… New Alchemy based on theory of relativity?

Dieppe slowly calmed down, and the strange thoughts began to disappear. But the paper in front of him was still like a huge heavy stone suffocating him.

Standing up behind the desk, Dieppe walked to the window and pushed it open. Coming to him was the freezing cold wind.

Dieppe shivered in the cold wind, but his brain was refreshed. The skyline had lit up. The world was covered in a layer of snow, as if it was a brand new one.

"It's dawn now…"

Dieppe sighed to himself.

…

During breakfast time, Dieppe did not see Raventi, his teacher. After some hesitation, he went directly to Raventi's study.

Dieppe knocked on the door.

"Come in." Raventi knew that it was Dieppe outside from the magic circle.

Pushing open the door, Dieppe walked in quietly. He saw that Raventi was walking out of his magic lab. It seemed like he had been verifying Brook's paper all night.

"What is it?" Raventi asked directly.

Dieppe hesitated. He felt nervous, worried, afraid, and very self-conscious. He did not think that his teacher would accept his findings.

"Speak it out!" Raventi was also used to roaring.

Dieppe gritted his teeth and took out his paper, "Sir, this's my latest paper. Please… have a look."

Without any firm support from a solid experiment, the paper was very unlikely to shake Raventi's cognitive world.

"I don't see where the hesitation comes from." said Raventi in a loud voice, as he took over the paper.

Raventi did not have much experience in this. If it had been Fernando who was going to read the paper, he would have definitely asked whether the paper had anything to do with being subversive, and how subversive it would be.

Dieppe opened his mouth silently but could not say a word, as he had no idea how to respond. He could not simply confess his concerns and worries in front of his teacher.

Raventi started reading this short paper, as he walked back to his desk. Suddenly, he stopped, and the look on his face quickly changed. There was shock, confusion, and even anger.

Dieppe silently took a step back. He could feel the horrible pressure coming out from his teacher, a top sorcerer whose cognitive world could affect the material world.

After a long time, Raventi pulled himself out of the paper and turned to stare at Dieppe,

"You're telling me electrons are waves?!" roared Raventi.

Raventi's voice was deep and low, as if there was a horrible storm hiding inside.

"Yes… in fact all microscopic particles…" Dieppe stammered.

"You're telling me electrons are waves?!" roared Raventi.

"After weighing the mass, catching the track, and making sure that electrons do have momentum and comply with conservation law, you're telling me this?"

"Then why don't you tell me those married noble ladies who are also mothers are in fact males?!"

…

Raventi's roaring made Dieppe keep stepping backward until his back hit against the door. Although Raventi's analogy sounded correct, it did not seem right to apply the duality to the macro world.

"Some special magic creatures are hermaphrodite. Once gaining the blood power, human beings can also…" murmured Dieppe.

As Raventi's dark grey eyes stared at Dieppe, the elements in the space rippled chaotically like water.

"Follow me to the lab," said Raventi.

Dieppe wiped his face and followed his teacher silently. Raventi stopped in front of the cloud chamber invented by Lucien Evans, and he turned on the cyclotron.

"Now you tell me: What are those beautiful tracks left by electrons? You still want to tell me that electrons are waves?!" Raventi shouted at Dieppe again.

Dieppe did not have to take a look at the cloud chamber. He knew how the tracks looked very clearly.

Dieppe took a deep breath. He did not answer his teacher's question, but instead, he repeated, as if he was assuring himself, "Electrons also show the features of particle. They are both waves and particles."

In Raventi's ears, Dieppe's words were totally ridiculous. Basically, his student was saying that a man could be both male and female, tall and short, live and dead.

The war between particle and wave theory had been going on for ages. How was it possible that both of the viewpoints were in fact correct?

Raventi was about to lash out a few more questions at his student, but when he saw his student's red, tired, but still determined eyes, Raventi calmed down a little bit. When it came to arcana, he only followed logical reasoning and experiment support.

Raventi recalled the entire deductive reasoning in Dieppe's paper, and found that there was no problem in it.

"Maybe you mixed a couple of formula. I need some time." Raventi's tone softened slightly.

Knowing that the finding was hard to accept to his teacher, Dieppe nodded in frustration, "Take your time, sir."

As the one who did the deductive reasoning, even Dieppe himself was having a difficult time believing it.

Seeing the run-down look on his student's face, Raventi took the paper with him and walked out, "This paper isn't long. I'll send it to Morris and Gaston to have a look to see what they think. I'm not always correct."

This was always Raventi's belief. A student should never follow his teacher blindly.

Dieppe had hope in his chest again.

So the entire morning Dieppe was waiting rather nervously for the letters to come back. When the letters were back at noon, he hurriedly rushed to Raventi's study,

"Sir, what did they say?"

Raventi answered expressionlessly, "According to Morris, your deduction is bold and reasonable but it strays away from reality. No experiments or models can support it. There's no way that waves and particles can exist together."

Dieppe's hope collapsed again.

"According to Gaston, your hypothesis is based on imagination, as there's no evidence support from any experiments."

Because it was Raventi who sent the paper, both Morris and Gaston chose to use softer comments.

Dieppe fell back to a chair. And he started doubting himself again.

"Your paper is hardly persuasive, even for those who insist wave theory, as their main argument always focuses on electromagnetic waves and photons, not electrons. They will be happy to see your hypothesis, but they neither could offer you solid support."

"If the gap is narrow enough, we should be able to see electron diffraction, just like waves."

Dieppe was still insisting.

Raventi nodded in his mind, approving the spirit Dieppe showed. However, Raventi also believed that he should not let his student's mind wondering like this. So he said,

"I will send your paper to Lucien, the authority in this field. If even he says no…"

"Then perhaps it is wrong." Dieppe's eyes lit up with the flame of hope and expectation.

He added in his mind, "…but I will still wait for the solid experiment result showing disapproval."

The pet messenger sent away the paper, and Dieppe started waiting restlessly again. The last time he was this nervous was when he was still an apprentice waiting for his spiritual power talent to be checked.

"I don't need the support from those wave theory believers…" murmured Dieppe.

"If there's going to be some people agreeing with me, Mr. Evans will definitely be one of them. But what if the paper even seems to be ridiculous to him…?"

"What will he say?" Dieppe kept asking himself.

Chapter 593: Raising the Curtain

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the study of Babel.

Lucien was lying in his armchair with his eyes closed. In front of him, there was a glass of water which had not been touched. In fact, he was reading the quantum mechanics books in his spirit library, especially those regarding matrix mechanics. At the same time, he was also calculating something.

Even for Lucien right now, matrix mechanics was very difficult. It required lots of patience and perseverance to dig in, and its coldness and complexity could easily drive away any beginners.

Lucien could have first thrown out matter waves and then Schrödinger equation. In this way, he could use a much easier way which was more familiar to most arcanists, especially those in the school of electromagnetics and light-darkness, to start introducing wave mechanics. Wave mechanics was also a major branch of quantum mechanics, and it could solve most problems in the current new alchemy system.

In this case, Lucien had to start from wave theory. However, Lucien had been regarded as one of the representatives of particle theory. If Lucien chose to abandon those arcanists who had been believing in him, this might lead to many of his friends and acquaintances having their heads explode. Lucien had to avoid it, of course.

Therefore, Lucien had to refer to matrix mechanics which based on particle theory and discontinuity theory to solve the problems facing new alchemy. After particle theory supporters were totally convinced of their belief, Lucien would throw at them matter waves and electron diffraction to make them gradually ready to accept an extra add-on: wave–particle duality.

Matrix mechanics and wave mechanics sounded like another battlefield launched within the war between wave theory and particle theory. But in fact, they were equivalent to each other in terms of math, different expressions based on the same theory.

Lucien felt the word "matrix" rather fashionable to him, and he believed that it was because of the movie, ‎the Matrix.

Closing the book he was reading, Lucien took a deep breath and started drafting on the paper sheet to clarify his own understanding.

Although the past six-month effort was enough for Lucien to master basic matrix mechanics, he had not yet tried to do the deduction nor the experiment. Therefore, he had not received the feedback from this world. Also, half of his time over the six months had been used on constructing the legendary-level magic models.

Space Staff was relatively easy to him. After his soul recovered, Lucien had only spent less than two weeks on it. The other spell, Vengeful Gaze, was also almost completed, as Lucien used the knowledge on laser and had successfully simplified it.

The room was filled with light scent. Natasha had left. They were not living together, because they were not yet married and they were still working on their big plan for Kritonia. From time to time, Natasha would come and stay in Allyn for several days, and sometimes it was Lucien's turn to visit the Grand duke in Nekso Palace and stay there.

They were using Hathaway's demiplane, leaving no chance for Kritonia to take advantage of. They frequently visited the Land of a Thousand Lakes as if they were not worrying about their own safety. And indeed nothing dangerous ever happened to them there.

Taking a deep breath, Lucien was quite cautious about the upcoming wedding in several months. If Kritonia and his people did not jump out on their wedding, Lucien had also made up his mind to show Kritonia his legendary power to intimidate Kritonia. There was no way that they had to live in this extreme caution. And if that was the case, Lucien and Natasha had better just move into his demiplane, where they would definitely be much safer. Lucien could always set up a space jump spot in Nekso Palace and one in the Magic Tower of Allyn.

Lucien pulled himself out of these thoughts and put down the quill-pen. When he was about to return back to his work on analyzing Vengeful Gaze, someone knocked at his door.

Lucien knew that it was Leo, who was holding a letter standing beside the door on the other side.

"Come in." said Lucien.

"Master, this's a letter from Mr. Raventi." said Leo straightforward, who knew that Lucien never like hearing people gabbling when he was studying arcana and magic.

"Put it on the desk." Lucien was not surprised. He had been in contact with the top leaders of the Will of Elements and some arcanists he knew. In the past six month, Raventi had been writing to him frequently discussing new Alchemy.

After Leo closed the door, Lucien finally picked the letter up. His Host Star of Destiny was telling him that this letter had brought him something significant, and something bad.

Lucien unfolded the letter and his first glance had instantly seized his full attention. The bold hypothesis looked very similar to matter waves, also known as the de Broglie waves, to him.

Who had released the terrible monster already? Lucien never expected this, but he knew that things like this would always happen. He could not predict everything.

Lucien kept reading further as what happened had already happened. As he was reading, he thought to himself very carefully how to minimize the impact.

Lucien thought to himself that from wave theory, this could be regarded as the standing wave on the track. In this case, the number of fixed tracks could only be an integral multiple of wavelength, and then quantization made sense… As he was thinking, he rubbed his brows.

After a while, Lucien put the letter down on the desk and sighed to himself, "This world also has bold arcanists who are full of imagination. Fortunately, he has not done electron diffraction experiment yet, or I have to use the power of a grand arcanist to delay the submission of his paper. Countless heads will explode if the time isn't correct."

If Lucien would just directly throw the arcanists this paper, he knew for certain that at least one third of the highest-ranked arcanists would not be able to take it. Some of them would explode their heads, some's cognitive world would be broken and solidified, and the rest would also get lost for a long, long time. After all, all the previous findings and experiments were showing for certain that electrons were particles. No one ever doubted it.

But Lucien decided not to delay the submission of the paper, as there was no solid experiment support yet. He wanted to exert his authority to make arcanists treat this problem seriously. When they were mentally more prepared and after they put enough thought into it, Lucien would introduce electron diffraction experiment.

So he wrote down his response,

"A hypothesis full of amazing imagination…"

...

Before dinner time, the winter sun already sank below the horizon, and it was now completely dark. Dieppe walked back and forth anxiously in Raventi's magic tower and his mind was full of weird and even completely contradictory thoughts.

"If Mr. Evans agrees with me, then is that saying electrons are indeed waves? That's incredible… but no evidence can support it…"

His finding came from bold deduction, therefore, Dieppe was also suspicious of it. If Mr. Lucien Evans did support him, he would still have a hard time accepting it. Electrons were waves – This was something ridiculous even to the ordinary person, and also to the person who put it forward.

"If Mr. Evans doesn't agree with me, perhaps I am truly wrong."

In this case, the world would go back to normal, and it would be a relief to Dieppe as well. However, he would also be unwilling to accept it, as this bold paper derived from his years of hard work and the spark of his wisdom.

"Then no matter what, even if Mr. Evans is not on my side, as long as he can't point out any obvious error in my paper, I'll stick to my paper and find an experiment to support it. I'm not giving in."

The conflicting thoughts almost drove Dieppe crazy. He realized that he was still expecting Lucien Evans's approval, as he kept encouraging himself.

Why did it take so long? Dieppe looked at the window again. He had repeated the action over a hundred times since noon.

Although he understood that Mr. Evans must be very busy with his magic and arcana study, Dieppe could not help waiting expectantly.

At this time, he saw a familiar bird flying towards the magic tower. He was thrilled and dashed to Raventi's study. He even cast on himself Advanced Speed.

After several seconds, Dieppe was already sitting in front of Raventi, waiting for the messenger's return.

"You've been waiting for this?" Raventi looked at Dieppe seriously.

Dieppe nodded, but could not say a word.

At this time, this cute little messenger finally arrived through the window. Raventi took over the letter it was carrying and opened it slowly.

Dieppe stared at the expression on Raventi's face. He had to force himself not to cast a spell to probe into Raventi's brain to know the answer earlier.

Raventi directly turned the paper to the last page and took a glance at it. And then the look on his face changed. There was confusion and solemnity.

"What did Mr. Evans say, sir…?" Dieppe could not wait any longer.

"Hum…" Raventi's voice was a bit trembling, and he started reading the letter to his student,

"Lucien said: 'It's a hypothesis full of amazing imagination, which leads us to the other possible aspect of electrons. The truth of the world has been covered by a heavy, black curtain, preventing us from seeing what is hiding behind. Maybe this paper is pulling up a corner of the curtain and showing us a small part of the truth…'"

Dieppe's head buzzed. Indeed, he hoped that Mr. Evans would agree with him, but he never expected such an approving comment.

Pulling up a corner of the curtain and showing us a small part of the truth… That was amazing!

The wild joy struck Dieppe fiercely. The approval and support from an authority was terribly important to a hard-working individual. But soon Dieppe calmed down as an arcanist, and he murmured, "But I still need an experiment to support it."

Raventi nodded, and he kept reading, "… I would like to believe in the fact that wave–particle duality can be applied to all microscopic particles. This is the path to end the long-time war between particle and wave theory. However, no matter how bold and sensible a deduction is, experiment support is always indispensable. I suggest that the paper be submitted immediately to the arcanists in the school of electromagnetics for publication, so that everyone knows the extraordinary work that you've been working on and start experimenting."

"I totally have no problem with it! It's good!" Dieppe hurriedly said in a trembling voice, his back extremely straight.

Raventi, however, was still confused,

"Electron… waves?"

Chapter 594: Attention

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Following Lucien's suggestion, after writing down "electromagnetism" on the front page of the paper, Dieppe had submitted it to Arcana Review Board. It was said that every groundbreaking finding would receive the feedback from the true world, so he wondered when that would happen to him. Perhaps he had to wait until an experiment that supported his finding was available…

In his understanding, the broad application of wave–particle duality was a breakthrough close to general theory of relativity and new alchemy in terms of significance, and as important as the discovery of the periodic table of elements, so the feedback should occur. However, he also understood that without a solid experiment, he would not even believe in it himself. Therefore, the feedback from the true world had not arrived yet.

"Electromagnetism. To Mr. Marcus and Mr. Yana," said the cold, metal-like voice of an alchemical life.

The paper had been sent to the two authorities in the school of electromagnetism. Since it was a paper developed by a high-ranking arcanist, it wasn't sent to their students or editors, but directly to their desks. After they finished their own studies, they finally had the time to pick the paper up.

Marcus looked quite young despite the fact that he was already a high-ranking sorcerer. He had bright red hair and always wore a pair of black gloves like those night watchers. He would not take the gloves off even when doing experiments or practicing magic spells.

"A Hypothesis Based on Light Quantum Theory and the Study…" Marcus read the title of the paper, frowning. His black velvet gloves gently striking the front page of the paper, Marcus was a bit confused and felt a bit reluctant to read further, as the discovery of light quantum had messed up his understanding of electromagnetic wave again.

But he still opened it and took a few glances at it. After knowing the premises that the hypothesis based on, an interested smile appeared on his face, "That's something…"

The paper was dozens of pages long, and the content was not tough for Marcus. It did not take him long to finish reading it.

"Electrons are waves? Interesting. Dieppe applying the duality to a brand new level… Good for him," Marcus grinned, as he could imagine how pissed the supporters of particle theory would be, but he soon released a sigh, "but it's still a hypothesis that is waiting for solid experiment proof. Who knows when such an experiment can come out…"

Honestly speaking, Marcus did not really believe in Dieppe's paper, although the paper did cater for his taste. After verifying the deduction process himself, Marcus wrote down.

"Bold, amazing hypothesis. It's an adventurous attempt to approach the truth of the world and therefore is for certain very subversive. I'll give the paper these comments: Groundbreaking, extremely important, worth broad discussion, and universally-applied in terms of microscopic particles. However, as it remains to be a hypothesis based on deduction, I suggest that, for now, ten arcana credits and two hundred arcana points be given, and further award can be granted when a solid experiment is available."

Marcus did not give the paper the comment of being groundbreaking as the paper was from Lucien's wave–particle duality.

Finishing the writing, Marcus put the paper back in an envelope and started reading other papers. In his eyes, no matter how interesting the paper was and how well it catered to his taste, it was still unworthy of his major attention and time. Maybe in his spare time, he could give some thoughts to the possible experiment, but so far he had no clues at all. And there were still lots of important things waiting for him to do.

Meanwhile, in Yana Aamir's study, the short, brown-haired man was so amused that his back bent forward, "Electrons are waves? Good for Dieppe for his imagination. I bet Raventi had given him some good lessons!"

But he had to admit that the paper was indeed interesting, and he was happy to see how those particle theory supporters felt after reading the paper. In the future, if they kept mentioning Mr. Evans's light quantum theory, they could use this paper to fight back. But then he shook his head: The hypothesis was still waiting for experiment proof, and the experiment might not be able to come out in decades, or there simply was no such an experiment. If that was the case, the paper would be forever forgotten by history.

He had seen some bold hypotheses, especially after Lucien Evans's a series of successive subversive findings. However, none of them could present any conclusive proof, and therefore, they remained to be bold hypotheses.

Yana had to restrain himself from giving the paper high comments. He finally put it down this way, "Interesting, genius imagination. It is the most inspiring paper that I have read so far this year, as it has broken the restraints from our old belief. However, with out experiment proof, this innovative, extremely important, and universally-applied paper which is worthy of broad discussion still remains as a fancy. At this point, I will give it eight arcana credits and a hundred fifty arcana points. I hope that all arcanists can join for the experimentation."

Although he was saying that all arcanists should try to develop a valid experiment, Yana himself quickly turned to work on other things. Before he could finish all the tasks that had been piling up, Yana was very unlikely to verify the hypothesis.

The result soon returned to Dieppe. He was not surprised by the poor, nine-credit award. If it had been Dieppe himself reviewing the paper, he might just give one or two credits as the award. Obviously, the two board members loved his hypothesis.

Then Dieppe started thinking which journal he should send his paper to, Electromagnetism? Light-darkness? Or Common Arcana? Dieppe knew that there was no way that he could publish his paper on Arcana and Magic, as in this paper there was only a hypothesis. As for Element, the editor would definitely tear his paper into pieces if he dared to send it.

When he was thinking, his servant came in and brought him an invitation letter for contribution.

It was from Nature.

Because of the profound influence of general theory of relativity, in the recent half year, the subscription volume had also been increasing rapidly. Now it had been the most authoritative in math, ranking the same level with Element and Astrology, and therefore it was a very good option for the paper.

Dieppe instantly accepted the invitation, and one of the reasons was that Mr. Lucien Evans was this journal's honor editor. It seemed that the journal was trying to gain some influence outside of the realm of mathematics to become a comprehensive journal like Arcana and Magic.

…

Marcus and Yana let the news out on purpose. Therefore, within two weeks, some well-informed arcanists had known that there was such a paper available and bought it.

Staring at the paper in front of him, Larry felt a bit amused. After reading through it, he felt that he was in a dream. He wondered if it was because Dieppe wanted to scare people that he threw at people such a bold and nonsense hypothesis.

Gaston was quite close to Raventi, and therefore, Larry also knew Dieppe relatively well. He grinned and shook his head, and then put aside the paper.

In Department of Battle Sorcerer, sitting in his armchair, Jurisian was also amused by the paper. He kept grinning that the muscles in his face even felt a bit sore. Jurisian did not mind the paper, and in fact, he liked the hypothesis. However, if the paper was proved, a new round of head-explosion would surely ensue, just like what happened after the hypothesis of light quanta was confirmed. However, this time they did not have another three years to get prepared.

Jurisian put aside the paper. He would try to design an experiment when he got time.

In Atom Institution, Sprint was also reading Dieppe's paper. His status had been improved a lot since Lucien Evans joined the Highest Council. He disapproved of the paper since he did not believe that this subversive hypothesis would come true at all. After all, there was only one Lucien Evans, and not everyone could make overturning but also reasonable hypotheses.

In the students' eyes, the paper was a joke. They were those who first knew of the existence of electrons, and also those who had done most of the experiments on electron. All the experiment results had shown the particle property of electron already. When the hypothesis of light quantum was first put forward, it still more or less made the slightest amount of sense because of Ether theory, but this time, it was totally different.

"Nothing supports it." Heidi agreed.

Annick tried to say something, but he also felt that the hypothesis was indeed ridiculous. So he nodded like the other students. But he finally added,

"I mean… If we've got time, we might still want to work on designing an experiment magic circle based on the electron wavelength given in the paper to see if there is any diffraction or interference. Only experiments explain everything."

Although Sprint disliked this crazy hypothesis, as Lucien's student, his attitude remained cautious, "Yes, we can deny it using an experiment. But so far there's nothing like this matching the given wavelength."

"Doesn't do any harm to give it a try. It's practice." Heidi grinned.

The students had reached the agreement, and they had no intention of telling this to their teacher. In their eyes, the paper did not deserve too much attention, not to mention their teacher's attention.

However, when the grand arcanists finished reading the paper from Dieppe, they were much more alert and worried than ordinary arcanists, since the hypothesis did stem from light quantum hypothesis, and therefore, it could be possibly correct, but due to the limitation on current research methods, they could only try to improve some existing magic circles in their spare time. After all, they were too occupied by their own studies and arcana research.

…

The beginning of February had arrived, and Lucien had successfully constructed Vengeful Gaze within his soul.

As a member of Arcana Review Board, Marcus had the earliest access to all the latest journals for this month. But he would not read all of them, just simply Arcana, Magic, Electromagnetism, Astrology, Element, and Nature. As for the rest of them, he would first read the digests first to decide if he would dig in further.

Picking up Arcana, without surprise, Marcus saw the headline on the cover:

"Vol.2, 825, to praise the birth of general theory of relativity, a great theory put forward by Mr. Lucien Evans who leads us to the truth of gravity."

This was what an epoch-making arcana find deserved.

Flipping the page, the front page was Douglas' and Bergner's final review result and comments:

"This is an epoch-making theory, which reveals it to us that the nature of gravity is curved space-time. Despite the complexity of the deduction, it is so well-conceived and rigorous that no errors exist. The calculation result based on the theory fits perfectly in the data of morning star precession when it approaches the perihelion and how time elapses faster on an artificial planet. Therefore, we can say it with confidence that the theory offers so far the closest description of the truth of gravity and thus it is one of the most significant findings in the history of magic!"

"If my objectivity can be ignored here, I will give it the top honor. The general theory of relativity carries unmatched theoretical beauty and it will lead the development of arcana to a brand new level."

"The system of general relativity had led us into the most basic yet deeply-hidden nature of arcana, where the stunning truth of the world is partially revealed to us. I suggest thirty thousand arcana credits and eight hundred thousand arcana points be given to Mr. Evans for his relativity system!"

"It's a night of miracles. What happened at this very night will be remembered forever by the upcoming generations and they will picture and praise this very night using their biggest interest and most vivid words."

Marcus took a deep breath. He was slightly shocked by the reward but he also agreed that it was reasonable. The theoretical system of relativity was the most simplified and beautiful discovery in electromagnetism, and it solved the most difficult problem that had bothered arcanists generation after generation.

Marcus flipped through the pages. All the papers were on or about general theory of relativity. He then put the journal aside because he had to stay fully concentrated when reading general theory of relativity, so he was going to save it until later. The entire theory was still very difficult for him.

After reading Magic, Marcus picked up Nature. He wanted to read the papers on Evans Geometry and tensor analysis.

Taking a glance at the content page, Marcus saw a familiar title, A Hypothesis Based on Light Quantum Theory and the Study.

He slightly frowned, as he never expected that Nature would publish such a sheer hypothesis. He wondered if Dieppe had used any tricks to get the paper published.

Turning the page, Marcus was surprised to see the comment from the editor under the title of the paper,

"…Maybe this paper is pulling up a corner of the curtain and showing us a small part of the truth…"

The contributing editor was Lucien Evans.

Marcus's hands suddenly felt numb. The journal dropped from his hands on the desk.

"… pulling up a corner of the curtain?"

Marcus repeated the comment in low voice. He could not believe his eyes. Although Lucien Evans did not necessarily mean being always correct, such a comment from him was enough to make most arcanists look at this paper again and put more attention to it!

Chapter 595: Unexpected Debate

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Inside his office…

Marcus picked up the issue of 'Nature' that had fallen on his desk and began to read Dieppe's paper carefully from beginning to end.

This time, he was more focused and devoted more attention to it than when he first reviewed it. It was not until a long while that he finally tapped the table with his black gloves. "If electrons are regarded as quasi-waves, it will be possible to explain the energy levels and the orbits of electrons in the new alchemy. No wonder His Excellency Lucien Evans attached such great importance to Dieppe's hypothesis."

It was what he was thinking and nobody could hear it. Even though Marcus, who hated the light quantum theory, was unwilling to call Lucien as Excellency, he couldn't help but recall the great significance of the theory of relativity when it explained the electromagnetic phenomena in the motion system; as well as its awe-inspiring description on the nature of gravity when he thought of the name, and therefore added Excellency subconsciously.

"In any case, this assumption is still too bold. It has to be confirmed by experiments." Marcus put down the journal and left the office, ready to return to his own magic tower. "The authority and pillar of the particle theory actually require the idea that electrons are waves to modify the energy levels and the orbits. This is the best irony. Didn't he see this coming when he proposed the light quantum theory?"

For the arcanists who were often shocked, they wouldn't have survived to this day if they blindly believed other people's opinions without confirming them. Therefore, although Lucien was an absolute authority, Marcus wouldn't believe his opinions easily. Everything must be based on experiment phenomena and data.

The sole influence of Lucien's note was that the attention for the paper had been raised to the highest. That was the closest path to the reality of the microworld.

If he could devise and complete the experiment, confirming electrons' nature of waves, he would receive unimaginable returns and probably share Evans Prize in Arcana with Dieppe!

His strength, fame, future, and position would all improve significantly!

Inside the magic tower…

Yana looked at 'Nature' before him in amusement. "I didn't see it coming that His Excellency Evans would give such a high remark. Is it an encouragement that we should keep an open mind?"

"Electrons are waves… This is truly an epoch of fantasies. Thirty years ago, whoever claimed that atoms were waves would've been mocked by every arcanist, including even those who believed in the nature of energy. But right now, tsk…"

He was not laughing at anyone but merely expressing his shock. Then, he was in deep thought, searching for the possible ways of devising an experiment.

Even the sorcerers of the school of electromagnetism who were glad about Dieppe's assumption were rather hesitant. It was needless to say that the arcanists found it unacceptable.

In the headquarters of the Will of Elements…

Larry, K, and Gaston were also confused when they read 'Nature' of this issue. After a while, Larry smiled bitterly, "Am I too conservative, or is the world changing too fast for us to follow?"

"I believe that nobody in the Congress could follow it." Gaston shook his head. "Lucien must've seen the dawn of the distribution of electrons in the new alchemy from this hypothesis, but as he said himself, experiments were still vital. Since there are still no experiments, it remains to be seen whether or not electrons are waves."

Said Gaston as Larry and K listened, and it felt extremely weird. Why could such a question as 'are electrons waves?' have possibly been asked?

It was as weird as somebody asking 'are humans made of waves?'.

K nodded and scratched the back of the chain. "If we alter our opinion just because of a hypothesis and Lucien's confirmation, our opinion will be barely an opinion. Also, all the current experiments prove the particle nature of electrons. There's no doubt about that."

"That's the attitude we should hold." Said Gaston approvingly, but he also frowned. If the problems in the new alchemy could be resolved if electrons were regarded as waves, the hypothesis would also be partly true.

Also, it was impossible to perfect the new alchemy based on the hypothesis so soon, and there was no sign that the wave experiments about electrons could be improved. Regardless, Gaston began to worry about which of the two fundamental theories in the field of elements and matter he should abandon; the particle theory, or the new alchemy?

"This is truly an era with so many changes and peculiarities that we can barely adapt to it." Sighing, Gaston decided to depend on experiments. He had to be prepared for the outcome that the particle theory or the current model of the new alchemy was wrong. As a result, his strength would probably halt until he found a new path.

Larry also sighed. "If it is confirmed that electrons are waves, I won't be able to understand this world. What exactly is the wave-particle duality, and why? Am I too stupid, or is this world too crazy?"

…

In Atom Institution…

Lazar, Heidi, Annick and the rest of them were all stunned, with 'Nature' in their hands, not in their working state at all.

At this moment, Lucien, who had just come in, awakened all of them. They surrounded him, and Heidi asked impatiently, "Master, do you agree with Mr. Dieppe's hypothesis that electrons are waves?"

"If we acknowledge the wave-particle duality of light, why can't it be extrapolated to microscopic particles? It can transform the imposed quantization in the new alchemy into an intrinsic quality of electrons." Lucien thought for a moment and decided to explain the obscure notions in Dieppe's paper. "Disperse now. I'll explain it to you."

The arcanists good at electromagnetism and waves would naturally think about the orbit model of electrons after they saw Dieppe's paper and his remarks, and whether or not the quantized energy levels and orbits could be deduced without any imposition.

In confusion, Heidi, Alfalia, and the rest of them dispersed and followed Lucien into the conference room.

"First of all, this is an unconfirmed hypothesis. We have to be highly suspicious about it. I'm very glad that you didn't believe in my remark blindly." Lucien approved their attitude first and eased their anxiety.

Lucien put his hat on the desk. "However, it doesn't mean that we can't try to resolve certain problems with this hypothesis. If the hypothesis can answer certain contradictions perfectly, we will have to pay more attention to the hypothesis. That's the reason why I gave it such a remark.

"…If electrons are regarded as stationary waves, then, bounded around the atomic nucleus, they can only exist with orbits that are multiple times their own wavelength. In such a way, quantized orbits are no longer imposed on electrons but their intrinsic quality.."

After Lucien's speech, Sprint and the other arcanists, who were involved in the perfection of the new alchemy, nodded in agreement. Hathaway's accusation that their quantization was imposed was always an unavoidable issue. Now, there was finally the dawn to resolve the problem. But why did it have to sacrifice the particle theory?

"Master, all of our experiments undoubtedly confirmed the particle nature of electrons." Annick expressed his opinion subtly but firmly.

Lucien nodded with a smile. "I never denied the particle nature of electrons."

"Then, how can they appear as waves?" Encouraged by Annick, Sprint and Katrina both asked.

Lucien smiled, "Why can the light both show the nature of particles and yield the classic image of interference and diffraction?"

"That's probably because some other reason makes particles show the nature of waves, say, the vibration of their location. It may also be because when many special waves are gathered in nodes, they show the nature of particles." Annick was not shy when it came to arcana discussion.

Lucien shook his head. "Possibly, but I need to correct you about something. Waves and particles are conceptions that we impose on electrons and light. They never claim that they are particles or they are waves. We can totally call electrons by a different term, say 'the thing whose form of existence is unimaginable'."

"Name is just a symbol that people come up with. What can we really grasp? Experiment results and our observation, or rather, the nature they show."

"Waves and particles are defined based on the previous experience and may not apply to the microworld. In order to explore a new realm, we have to learn not to be restrained by obsolete experience and thinking."

Seeing that his students and assistants fell silent, Lucien smiled. "I'm here for the meeting of the Highest Council. This is all for now. You can try to confirm or overthrow the hypothesis with experiments. It's a hypothesis after all."

"But the wavelength of electrons…" Lazar said in a headache.

Lucien pointed at a book on the shelf. "Read the book on crystals. Jerome, you should know that Mr. Morris discovered the diffraction of crystals when he illuminated them with X rays. The wavelength of X rays is short. We can start from there."

"But electrons' wavelength is even shorter." Complaining, Rock went for the book. The other people also searched for files regarding the diffraction of crystals.

Looking at their back, Lucien shook his head. Unless they were terribly lucky, it would be barely possible for them to discover the diffraction of electrons. That was because the Congress of Magic's study on crystals was abnormal, which boiled down to the slow development of mathematics.

The study on crystals had to be supported by the group theory, and the group theory was based on the development of various fields in mathematics, such as the 'number theory'. The Congress of Magic's studies on 'group theory' and 'number theory', on the other hand, was rather low. So, the study on crystals was mostly based on accidental discoveries and lacked systematic theoretical support.

Thankfully, After Levski Geometry and 'Nature' were established, Douglas, Fernando, Hathaway, the Prophet, the Astrologer, Milina, Neeshka, Samantha and many other arcanists had devoted their talents to pure mathematics; boosting the development of the 'group theory', the 'number theory', and other frontiers to different extents. It was a shame that they hadn't fully constructed after such a short time. It would probably be enough if they had another ten years.

Because of the delay in the institution, Lucien was among the last few who entered the conference room of the Highest Council. The first thing he saw was his teacher's terrible eyes were a storm was raging.

"Crap. My master can't be thinking that I've completed the experiment, right?" Lucien felt that it was quite possible. In his teacher's mind, he was always a person who only gave remarks when he was prepared.

"There are no experiments that confirm the wave nature of electrons yet…" Hathaway suddenly spoke and stared at Lucien with her indifferent and solemn eyes. All the other members, including Hellen and Vicente, looked at Lucien, too.

Lucien heaved a sigh. Were they going to discuss Dieppe's paper before the meeting?

This was truly the 'regularity' of the meetings of the Highest Council…

Chapter 596: Unique Landscape (2 in 1)

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"Indeed there aren't any." Lucien admitted 'frankly'.

Hathaway was silent for a while as if she were organizing her thoughts. "I think that your remark was too high and would result in reckless and impractical illusions. Although, it is possible to infer certainly imposed quantizations naturally if the hypothesis that electrons have the nature of waves is applied to the model in the new alchemy; remarking a hypothesis that is not based on any experiment or phenomenon will not help build up a serious and down-to-earth atmosphere."

Her words were not very organized, but Lucien managed to follow. Since some of the problems in the new alchemy could potentially be resolved if electrons were considered waves, she was not as stubborn about Dieppe's hypothesis as he imagined, and she was already more or less prepared. After all, the perfection of the new alchemy was more important; it was the direction of her future road.

Also, she described that electrons had the nature of waves instead of saying 'electrons are waves'. It was clear that she ascribed it to the special quality of certain particles, exactly like the supporters of the particle theory's explanation on the image of interference and diffraction of light quantum. While those speculations were full of contradictions and received no attention, Hathaway could certainly learn a thing or two from them.

What she really wanted to disapprove was Lucien's remark, which she believed was too high. It must be noted that any bold, unbelievable hypothesis in the past was based on the discovery of problems and flaws, which prompted the connection in thinking. For example, Lucien's light quantum hypothesis was based on the fact that the wave theory of light could not explain the photoelectric effect.

Dieppe's hypothesis this time, on the other hand, was purely the product of a broadened mind. The wave-particle duality of light was suddenly extrapolated to all the microscopic particles, but it remained to be seen whether or not light was made of particles, and there was no sign that it was not the unique feature of light. How could the duality be extrapolated in the world of particles so recklessly and blindly?

Most importantly of all, the hypothesis could only resolve the puzzles in the new alchemy so far, unlike the light quantum hypothesis which explained the photoelectric effect clearly and fitted all the existing experiments even though no pertaining experiments were made. Therefore, Hathaway didn't think that Lucien should give such a high remark to the paper. It would encourage other arcanists to propose purely theoretical and imaginary hypotheses about the phenomena that had absolutely no problems before, and the atmosphere of careful exploration, research and application would be completely ruined.

To put it simply, she felt that Lucien's over-compliment on Dieppe's hypothesis would result in a trend of speculative arcana studies.

Everybody in the Highest Council was well aware of Hathaway's language abilities. Fearing that Lucien might not get the point, Oliver even specifically added, "When you remark Dieppe's paper as utterly ungrounded, the other arcanists will feel that it is an opportunity they can take advantage of because they can accuse that a classic theory is wrong without discovering any problem first. Then, based on the hypothesis, they can get a correct deduction in mathematical methods. As for how ludicrous the final result may be, they wouldn't care about it at all."

"For example, I can make accusations about you being a spy of the Church without any proof. When I have that premise, I can explain everything you have done with it. Then, through the rigorous but partial deduction, I prove that you published the disruptive papers with the purpose of blowing up the heads of more sorcerers or even to directly kill us the members of the Highest Council so that the Congress of Magic can be eliminated. Don't you think that it is preposterous? Why did you encourage such an action?"

Lucien said carefully, "I gave the hypothesis that electrons are waves such a high remark because I was inspired by it and saw the dawn of resolving the problems in the new alchemy. If the hypothesis can resolve the problems in the new alchemy, it will be proved at the same time."

"Also, if photons can boast the nature of waves, why can't electrons, neutrons, and protons? In the microscopic domain, such a hypothesis has its own logic and is not purely based on imagination."

Lucien always had his own persistences when it came to arcana discussions. He could not acknowledge that his remark was too reckless, or that Dieppe's paper was too bold and impractical just because of the accusation of two grand arcanists. That would've been unfair to both himself, who wrote a professional and authoritative remark, and to Dieppe who had such hard work.

He insisted on it even though he hadn't confirmed it with experiments. The theory that deserved his remark must have its merits. However, if its flaws were pointed out, or if it was disapproved by experiments, he would certainly not be too obstinate to change, either.

"Since when has light been acknowledged as particles?" Vicente, the middle-aged pale man wearing a black cloak, said coldly, with crimson fire bouncing fiercely inside his eyes.

Looking at the Lord of the Undead, Hathaway said, "Admit it or not, the photoelectric effect and the Brook scattering experiment are right there indicating everything clearly."

"But I think the scattering experiment and such can also be explained from the perspective of waves. For example…" Oliver spoke what was on his mind, constructing special waves that could show the nature of particles.

Douglas, on the other hand, frowned and said, "No experiments and theories can support your idea so far."

"It's a possible direction to work on." Said Brook concisely.

…

For a moment, due to the argument of the wave theory and the particle theory, the whole conference room of the Highest Council was filled with noise. Gradually, the argument grew more and more intense, and they even had emotional fluctuations.

"Construct your special composite waves first, Oliver." When Klaus talked, countless spots of light were appearing on his back and forming the illusions of different alchemical items. There were golems, puppets, floating cities, alchemical fortresses, magic steam trains…

Oliver shook his finger. "However you view it, this is also one way to explain the photoelectric effect and Brook's scattering experiment. Also, before you discuss my question, you'd better take another look at the particle theory. Perhaps, there have never been any particles. They're just the special forms of waves."

Scenes of destruction were created around him one after another, enshrouding the conference room in the air of the end of the world.

"If particles are all waves, are the elements made of those particles waves? Are the lives made of those elements waves? To be more exact, are we waves?" Vicente did not quite agree with Oliver about the conclusion. As an authority in human body and soul, he found it hard to believe that bodies were waves. How could the body, which could be felt so real, be waves?

Peaceful, everlasting black monuments were growing on the carpet in the conference room. The silence of death covered everything.

Oliver waved his hands, hinting that his words were not considerate enough. He said again, "To be honest, although I appreciate Dieppe's hypothesis, and I want to give him the high remark that he has opened a corner of the captain that covers our world, I am not convinced that electrons are waves up until so far."

While talking, he used magic to construct the movement of electrons inside the cloud room. The bright white drops of fog constituted the spectacular traces of electrons, filled with the air of dream and astonishment.

"I am not bold enough to believe that the electrons are waves when they have the distinctive tracks of particles. However, since Lucien agrees with Dieppe's hypothesis, does it mean that he also agrees that wave is the nature of light?" As he talked, Oliver looked at Lucien.

He was attacking Lucien's light quantum theory with his own remark.

"As I said, electrons perhaps will behave as waves under special circumstances, like when they are bound around the atomic nucleus." Hathaway took Lucien's side this time.

Hellen was one of the few legendary sorcerers whose cognitive world did not surface as projections. She had been listening to the argument of the supporters of the particle theory and the sorcerers of the wave theory in silence. At this moment, she couldn't help but interject, "As a matter of fact, I have been quite confused ever since the light quantum hypothesis was proved. Why does the light show both the nature of waves and the nature of particles? Should we view the problem from an even higher level as Evans said before?"

"It can be explained from the perspective of waves…" Oliver reiterated his opinion. Nobody could become a grand arcanist without insistence.

Seeing that the two sides were about to start a 'frank and friendly conversation' again, Douglas hurried to hint them to shut up with his gesture. The extraordinary views in the conference room were immediately gone, turning it from hell back into the real world.

"The competition of the particle theory and the wave theory has lasted a long time. There's no need to waste our time on it today. Since Lucien insists that his remark was appropriate, and it is not the result of the paper's review, after all, I don't think there is any need to discuss it any further, right?" Douglas looked around at everyone.

Oliver nodded slightly. "I'd like to ask something else. I believe everybody else is also curious. Lucien, in your mind, is light waves or particles?"

"Also, is electron waves or particles?" Added Vicente coldly.

Hathaway, Hellen, and the other grand arcanists also looked at Lucien, rather curious about his real stance in arcana.

Lucien had been observing the conference room that was completely different from any meeting ever since the extraordinary views appeared. That was the unique landscape that would only appear during the assemblies of the Highest Council.

At this moment, hearing their questions and sensing everybody's look, Lucien did not refuse to answer. Instead, he looked at his teacher who was slightly abnormal in concerns, before he asked back solemnly, "What is a wave, and what is a particle?"

Huh? The members here were at least ninth-circle arcanists. Not expecting that Lucien would ask about such elementary concepts, they were all more or less stunned.

"Lucien, this is not your teaching moment, although you were nicknamed 'Professor'." Said Oliver, who felt he was humorous.

There was nothing but two crimson flames in Vicente's eye sockets and a thin skin that covered his cheekbones on his face, making it hard to tell his real feelings. "The definition of wave and particle can be found in any introductory books of arcana. Our time is too precious for that. If you don't want to answer the questions, just remain silent."

"Wave is a phenomenon. It is definitely based on the summary of the actual waves in nature and applied to arcana studies. The specific definition is…" Hathaway did not bother Vicente and briefly described the definitions of wave and particle.

Smiling, Lucien said, "It is very obvious that the definitions of wave and particle come from us. They come from the empirical conclusions we drew on the world of reality that is readily observable."

"What's the problem with that?" Crossing his fingers, Brook stuck his hand to his chin, as if he had guessed something.

Douglas, Bergner, and Hathaway seemed to have remembered something and were deep in thought. However, Hathaway's face barely changed, and it was unnoticeable if she was not carefully observed. Fernando, the Lord of Storm, remained as silent as before.

Instead of giving a straight answer, Lucien looked at everyone and said, "I would like to tell a story first if you don't think it's a waste of your time."

"Not a problem at all." Oliver had always been tolerant about stories.

Now that he had spoken, the other members of the Highest Council certainly would not object to such a small matter. Besides, they believed that Lucien was not telling a random story to distract them from the current subject but definitely had his own purpose. Furthermore, the previous arguments and questions were all about arcana but not against Lucien personally. As long as the question could be explained clearly, did one story really matter? It wouldn't hurt even if he had to tell ten of them!

"A long, long time ago, there was a king who hunted a dragon. Delighted, he put his trophy outside of his palace as a symbol of his bravery so that every noble and civilian who passed by could see it." Lucien spoke unhurriedly. "One day, a group of blind people, who never knew anything about dragons before, learned of the matter. Curious about what dragons looked like, they came to the palace together and touched the dead body of the dragon."

Hearing that a group of blind people tried to figure out what dragons looked like by 'touching', Oliver, Klaus, and other members of the Highest Council, who were relatively open-minded, all smiled. The rest of them, on the other hand, speculated what might happen.

Lucien went on. "One of them touched the wings of the dragon under the assistance of the guards. He immediately declared joyfully, 'Dragons are terrible, gigantic bats!'"

"No, dragons are huge lizards!" Another one of them who touched the scales of the dragon argued. Before he became blind, he had once caught a lizard and felt its scales.

Most of the members in the Highest Council were amused after hearing the first guy's declaration, but they all became solemn after the second guy's reply. Douglas, Hathaway, and the rest of them who were more or less prepared nodded their heads.

"There's no need to talk about the answers of the other blind people now. I only want to ask one thing: are dragons bats or lizards?"

"Neither." Hellen basically understood what Lucien meant but still replied carefully.

Lucien smiled, "Therefore, light and protons are neither waves nor particles for me. The only thing that can be confirmed is that they are matter. Of course, I prefer to call them particles."

"Neither waves nor particles?" Oliver frowned and asked, "Are you suggesting that they are actually something else?"

Looking around in the conference room, Lucien said, "We cannot see the electromagnetic waves including the invisible light, nor can we see the particles in the microscopic scale. When we study those aspects, we are like blind people. So we can only depend on the phenomena we can observe, instead of imposing the empirical definitions and concepts on them."

"Take light for example. If we do not consider it as waves or particles in advance, we can describe it in such a way: this matter shows the obvious features of waves as well as the features of particles, its frequency is to a certain degree, and its speed is different in different mediums. It is not important what the matter that boasts such qualities is called. It can be defined as anything. As for why it shows both the features of waves and the features of particles and how the two categories of features are combined on it, that's what we should study on our next step. Everything must be based on experiments and actual phenomena."

"We are arguing here before we have applied the conceptions and definitions of the past to the microscopic domain mechanically, which is the place closest to the truth of the world. I once said that our experience would deceive us. This is one of the examples. On the other hand, such deceptions are not only reflected in our studies but also in our interactions with other people."

After saying that, Lucien looked around at the members of the Highest Council who had different expressions before he said solemnly:

"Only if we learn to temporarily abandon our previous concepts and depend on the actual phenomena and the experiment results can we 'see' the truth of the world in the microscopic domain."

After Lucien finished his talk, the conference room was caught in a weird silence. Everyone thought about different things.

"But how are we going to study the microscopic domain if we don't have any concepts? We have to process and construct the experiment phenomena and results into a system." Oliver agreed with him, but he was still very suspicious about it.

Lucien replied simply. "With mathematical tools."

"How do we know what mathematical tools to use if we don't know what it is?" Vicente did not quite agree with him.

"We can apply the previous conceptions and definitions that can be directly observed, to the experiment results, and cannot apply them to those which cannot be observed. However, we can run deductions based on the experiment results, propose speculations and hypotheses, and then testify them with strict experiments later." Lucien expressed his opinion. He had formed and fortified the idea because of the influence of weird things such as magic, soul, and feedback in reality and his studies in the quantum theory.

"So, you are still guessing that electrons are waves? But there are no experiments that can confirm it." Vicente went on. After a huge detour, they returned to the original subject.

Douglas nodded his head and said, "I think that Lucien does have a point. We see an object when the light is reflected into our eyes on its surface. The magnifying magic is based on the same optical mechanism. However, light can interact with electrons and result in their 'transition', which means that their status is altered. Therefore, up until now, there is barely any way for us to directly observe the microworld, and we can only conclude based on the experiment results before we explain the conclusions. It's true that we cannot introduce too many previous concepts when we explain the conclusions, which will restrain and blind our minds."

"However, the assumption that electrons are waves is still too impractical. At least, no experiments so far have any sign to prove it. They show the features of particles without any exception." Oliver shook his head, and Hathaway, as well as the other grand arcanists, agreed with him. At the very least, the nature of particles was the obvious experiment result, and it was difficult to associate waves with the distinctive traces.

However, they also preliminarily accepted that the previous concepts could not be blindly applied to the microworld in arcana studies.

"Can we only see the truth of the world if we abandon the previous concepts?" Said Brook in mixed feelings. "But since we have been learning arcana and receiving conceptions and definitions since childhood, it is possible that we apply the previous concepts to our studies without us knowing it. Besides, it is possible that introducing the previous concepts will make things easier."

Douglas looked at his pocket watch and said, "It's already late. Lucien has also expressed his opinion. You may talk in private."

"Yes, I'll try to reconstruct the model in the new alchemy with the notion of electronic waves and build its wave function to see if I can resolve the problem and confirm the hypothesis." Brook was rather interested in the direction as if he had found a way to reshape his cognitive world.

Oliver also nodded. "I'll also put my thoughts into the concept of electron waves and try to establish their wave function. Let's hope we can get something."

Hathaway didn't say anything. She was always silent if she could.

Vicente smiled at the Lord of Storm in a mocking smile, "Old pervert, why didn't you say anything today? Did you not want to roar at him because he's your student? That's very unlike you, who has been very insistent in truth in the field arcana."

It was not until he said that that the other members of the Highest Council realized that the Lord of Storm hadn't spoken anything so far! In the past, when such arguments took place, the conference room would definitely be swarmed with thunder, lightning, storms, and roars. Why was it so unusual today?

Fernando seemed to be holding something back. After a glance at Vicente, he glared at Lucien, "Bring it out. They should be braced for the blast now."

"Bring what out?" Lucien pretended that he did not know what Fernando was talking about.

"Bring what out?" The other members of the Highest Council were full of suspicion.

Fernando roared aloud all of a sudden, "I knew you completed the experiment when you gave the remark! Bring it out! Show us what the truth of the world is, and how the previous concepts should be abandoned!"

"You think we can't take such a hit from a realm that is full of unknowns?"

The experiment had been completed? Oliver, Klaus, and the rest of them looked at Lucien in shock. Was it really completed? Then, didn't Lucien's attitude suggest… How was it possible?

Even the legendary sorcerers like Hathaway and Hellen, who were usually nonchalant, were more or less surprised, which finally made them look like human beings that were made of flesh and blood.

Douglas looked at Lucien solemnly, "If you have completed it, just bring it out. Nobody here is so narrow-minded and stubborn."

He added in his heart: that is, most of the supporters of the wave theory are not. The rest of them were more or less mentally prepared because the hypothesis seemed able to resolve part of the problems in the new alchemy.

Lucien looked at them in silence. After they all nodded in approval, he took a deep breath, before he brought out a huge monocrystal and established the magic circle casually, so that the image could be directly manifested.

Brook did not say anything. Raising his hands, he launched the electron currents.

Time seemed to be frozen. There was nothing but depression and silence. Soon, the magic circle glowed and displayed the classic image of the diffraction pattern of X rays!

In everybody's eyes, the image was so familiar and beautiful, but also so astounding and unbelievable!

"This is…" Many people exclaimed what was on their mind subconsciously.

BOOM!

Lightning was dancing, and thunders were rumbling. A black storm consumed the sky.

The dark magnetic field around was twisted, and the invisible electromagnetic waves were more disordered than ever.

Stars arose and emitted dazzling brilliance, twisting the space around them and releasing gravity.

White, black, gold, silver… Elements in different colors gathered into a tide that looked like an ocean.

In the peaceful and quiet land of eternal sleep, black tombs rose aslant, brimming with the stink of death.

The dark universe was vast and boundless. One planet perished after another, caught in the infinite waves of destruction.

Snowflakes fell down. The temperature of the whole room dropped by almost a hundred degrees. Transparent ice was everywhere.

All the extraordinary views surfaced and churned the conference room, congregating into a terrifying scene where light in different colors weaved and where destruction and death danced together!

BOOM!

In the illusionary sounds of thunder and destruction, they turned around and looked at Lucien at the same time, only to discover that Lucien was still standing there with his hands in the pockets of his double-breasted suit. He repeated what Brook said in an extremely low voice:

"Only if you abandon your original concepts can you see the truth of the world."

Chapter 597: A World Beyond Fantasies

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The truth of the world?

Although Lucien's voice was very soft, the dozen members of the Highest Council in the meeting were at least ninth-circle archmages, and they caught it perfectly. Also, his voice was more astounding than the rumbling thunder and the destructive collapses in their ears, as if it were exploding directly in their head.

Only by abandoning the original concepts could you see the truth of the world?

Was it the truth of the world?

Electrons, which had been behaving as perfect particles, displayed the most classical pattern of diffraction when they bombarded a crystal!

It was as absurd as a dark, silent and cold night when the sun was high above and sunlight was everywhere!

It was like a sacred and beautiful angel turning out to be a stinky and hideous devil!

Was it the truth of the world?

Was it the truth that was more unbelievable than imagination, weirder than magic, and more unpredictable than gods?

At this moment, including Douglas, all the grand arcanists who had the strongest interest in the mysteries of the world couldn't help but shake their heads. This had completely disrupted and refreshed their understanding of the world. Everything was so bizarre that it was like the strangest monster!

As for the other legendary sorcerers and archmages, some covered their mouth and some held their hands tightly as if they were going to crumble the item in their hands. Somebody bit their lips hard to confirm that it was not their illusion.

They had been pursuing the truth of the world, but when the truth was partly unveiled, showing them parts of it, they ended up backing off out of fear.

Was it the truth of the world?

This was utterly different from their daily experience and intuitions!

It made them feel that they did not recognize the world before them anymore!

Suddenly, thunderstorms, starlight, and snowflakes vanished. Douglas, Brook, Hathaway, and Fernando quickly established their magic circles, preparing to confirm the experiment.

Even though Lucien had set up the magic circle right before their eyes, and even though Brook had launched the electron currents in person, they would not believe it until they had confirmed it in person!

"Use monocrystal…" Lucien suddenly reminded them and briefly described the monocrystal.

Hathaway nodded and prepared according to Lucien's description. So did the other members of the Highest Council.

Soon, more than ten complex magic circles were set up, and gigantic monocrystals were placed at their centers. Brook, Fernando, and other sorcerers launched electron currents directly or with the assistance of magic items.

Without a sound, the beautiful and intangible image of diffraction appeared in Brook's magic circle, followed by many others. The conference was so quiet and still that it looked like a weird painting.

BOOM!

Rumbling thunders roared again, and the views of elemental tides and alchemical haven reappeared. The blobs of light were so fuzzy that they seemed to be collapsing soon.

Thankfully, everything became quiet after several seconds. The members of the Highest Council held back their intense emotional turmoil.

For Brook, Oliver and other supporters of the wave theory, it was not a destructive blow at all but a huge benefit. They were only too astounded by the unimaginable situation to keep calm.

Hathaway and the other supporters of the particle theory—thanks to the previous debate—were already prepared that it was the special behavior of particles. Also, it could be used to address the problems in new alchemy. Therefore, their cognitive worlds were not broken and solidified.

Of course, that was also because they were the top experts in the world and had a much greater knowledge and self-control than other arcanists.

"The microworld is eerier than we imagined." Vague shock still lingered on Hathaway's face. She looked at the image of diffraction in complicated feelings.

"Yes." Douglas waved his hands and removed the magic circle he set up, before he remarked, "In the past, we thought that the microworld is just a reduction of scale, a subdivision on atoms, and a realm made of microscopic particles and that we can apply the concepts, equations and motion systems of the macroscopic universe to it, too. Little did we know that the microscopic particles were different from anything we know themselves."

"Yes, it boasts amazing qualities. The waves that show the features of particles, the particles that show the features of waves, and the matter Lucien said that is neither waves nor particles are all too unbelievable." Oliver still tried to explain it from the perspective of waves.

Brook heaved a sigh. "It seems that we really have to abandon the previous concepts. This is truly an incredible 'world'."

Lucien smiled with his hands in his double-breasted suit. "Only because it is so eerie and incredible that it is the truth we have been trying to approach, isn't it? It is impossible to introduce the notions we have observed in reality into the microscopic world."

"I have the feeling that the microscopic domain will change our worldview again and again. It will let us know what kind of secrets are buried behind the tangible world we know."

"The wave nature of electrons is enough to shatter my worldview. Evans, you are truly a Destroyer of Outlooks," said Klaus in bitterness.

Lucien smiled and said to Douglas, Hathaway, and Fernando. "The myriad of spells are already incredible for the clerics, the knights, and the ordinary people, but our imagination is even more unbelievable than our magic."

"The mysteries of the microworld, on the other hand, will be more bizarre than our imagination, because our imagination is based on our experience and knowledge, and most of them do not apply to the microworld. Even the most imaginative person cannot figure out what it's like over there."

"But such a domain is closer to the truth and deserves our fascination."

Douglas closed his eyes as if he were dwelling in the image of diffraction just now. "If the truth of the world were not filled with secrets, why would we have explored and researched for hundreds of years, and why would we consider it the greatest pleasure even though we may die because of it?"

"After the initial shock and disbelief, I'm more interested in electrons, light, and the microworld than ever. I can't wait to figure out the imaginable matter." Brook also praised the microworld that was more fantastic than fantasies.

Fernando cursed. "I don't feel good about it. It seems that my previous studies are rendered worthless, but it also fills me with drive because I haven't found or learned anything yet! The truth of the world is like a boundless starry sky, and I'm merely playing on one of the planets picking up random gems by accident."

Vicente, on the other hand, looked at Lucien and asked, "Since microscopic particles behave as waves, why do we not show the features of waves when we are made of particles but exist concretely? Dieppe's paper can be extrapolated to macroscopic matter."

"Perhaps, it's because the wavelength is too short to count." Thinking, Oliver replied.

Lucien said solemnly, "As I said just now, in this microworld, much of our experience and common sense is no longer applicable. Perhaps, a certain change happens between microscope and macroscope that diminishes the feature of waves."

Hathaway pinched her chin with her thumb and her index finger, a similar action of thinking to Natasha's. It seemed to be their family tradition. "An object with mass, electric charge and momentum now behave as waves. We need to review this world. What happens when atoms are combined into elements that stops us from seeing a macroscopic world of wave-particle duality?"

Hellen forgot the books, manuscripts, and quill before her and observed the diffraction experiments that the members of the Highest Council made. Then, she found an alchemical device that could capture electrons and launched electrons to it through a strong magnetic field, creating flashing fluorescent points.

Frowning, she said, "No features of waves can be observed at all in this experiment… If electrons show both the feature of waves and particles, why can we only see one of them at a time?"

In fact, every grand arcanist had a hundred thousand questions. After the quake of their cognitive world, Hathaway and Hellen were soon enthralled and asked a series of questions.

Lucien, on the other hand, secretly clicked his tongue. They had found the most essential, incredible and eccentric problem of the wave-particle duality of electrons so quickly. They truly had extraordinary arcana intuitions!

Thankfully, they did not expect Lucien to answer them right now. Instead, they considered on their own, utterly secluded from the outside world.

It was not until a long time later that Douglas knocked on the desk and woke them up. "Those problems cannot be resolved any time soon. We will study the nature of electrons after we return."

"Let's move on to today's next subject. It's about establishing an advanced magic school for the remaining districts on the thirty-first floor of the Allyn magic tower. Right now, arcana is developing faster and faster, and more and more knowledge in mathematics is needed. Since the apprentices and low-rank sorcerers have to learn by themselves after they graduate, they are having more and more trouble at keeping up with the trend. Therefore, we need an advanced school where we can teach distinguished apprentices and low-rank sorcerers on a large scale."

The issue had been discussed before but was not really resolved. However, after the grand development of arcana in the past ten years, Douglas believed that it was high time.

"Later, a member of the Highest Council will be the principal of the school. Tasks will be issued to the senior-rank senior-rank arcanists and middle-rank arcanists, who will teach in turns. It will be the best if the members of the Arcana Review Board can often hold lectures for them, too."

Lucien's lips twitched. Should I promote my title as Professor?