1 Chapter 1: Spirit Manipulation Revolution

"Chen Xuan, can you help me with this problem?"

The female classmate sitting next to him passed over paper and pen with a pleading look.

"Huh? Oh, sure."

Chen Xuan, who had come back to his senses from staring blankly, subconsciously took the paper and started reading:

[A 'Power Burst Monkey' activates its Racial Skill 'Qi Follow the Power' to move around the forest. Its speed to move from one tree to another is V(t) = 3t^2 + 2t + 1; if the Power Burst Monkey is at Tree B at t = 2 seconds, how far is it from Tree B at t = 5 seconds?]

Power Burst Monkey? What kind of weird question is this?

Chen Xuan raised his eyebrow, holding back his urge to comment, and patiently explained:

"No need to derive for this question, just use integration. The displacement equals the integral of the velocity function V(t). Thus, we need to integrate V(t) once."

"After integrating, there will be a constant C. To determine the value of the constant C, we need to use the initial condition: the Power Burst Monkey is at Tree B at t = 2 seconds. Substitute the values and we can find the value of the constant C."

"Finally, substitute t = 5 into d(t) = s(t) - s(2), and we can get the displacement within the interval of [2, 5] seconds."

After explaining, Chen Xuan looked at his classmate's clear yet foolish eyes, wondering if he had made it easy enough to understand.

"So that's how it is..."

The female classmate nodded with a mixed look of understanding and confusion, but after hesitating for a moment, she still asked weakly, "Is the Racial Skill 'Qi Follow the Power' in the question just meant to confuse us?"

"Hm..."

Hearing her say this, Chen Xuan couldn't help but frown, sensing that the question was not that simple.

Because the 'Power Burst Monkey' is a creature from the popular tabletop game "Spirit Manipulation Talisman Scripture" that has extraordinary powers and is called a 'Spirit.'

According to the card's description, when the 'Power Burst Monkey' activates its Racial Skill 'Qi Follow the Power,' its overall strength increases by 10% with each action.

Considering that the game is turn-based, this increase should be continuous and cumulative with time if applied to real life.

In the context of the question, this could be interpreted as increasing its speed by 10% every second.

"I'm sorry, I omitted this condition. The function should be V(t) = (3t^2 + 2t + 1) multiplied by 1.1 to the power of t, and then we perform the integration."

Chen Xuan, who had corrected the mistake, couldn't help but praise, "This set of questions is well designed, where did you buy it? I've been playing 'Spirit Manipulation Talisman Scripture' for so long, and I didn't know it had a collaboration with '53."'

The female classmate blinked and stared at Chen Xuan for a long time before saying with a puzzled face, "What are you talking about? You didn't apply for the Spirit Manipulation Arts, so how could you have the Spirit Manipulation Talisman Scripture?"

"Huh?"

Chen Xuan was puzzled.

Aren't Spirit Manipulation Talisman Scripture packs available at the store for five yuan?

Had his poor appearance reached the point where he couldn't even hide it with his handsome face?

[The first-year students have entered the field in an orderly fashion. The 'Spirit Awakening Ceremony' is about to begin. If some second-year students still wish to transfer to the 'Spirit Manipulation Arts,' they can also line up on the sports field.]

Just then, the announcement came over the loudspeaker.

The broadcast repeated three times, and Chen Xuan listened carefully each time, but still didn't understand what kind of event it was.

'Never mind, they only called for the first and second-year students, it should have nothing to do with me, a third-year student. I should focus on reviewing the material...'

Chen Xuan didn't worry too much and pulled out a tutoring book that had just arrived yesterday from his desk drawer - "Summary of High-Frequency Exam Points in History."

The first few pages of the book sorted out key events of each era according to the timeline.

Whether it was the collapse of slavery during the Spring and Autumn period or the emergence of capitalism during the Renaissance, everything was consistent with his memory.

But...

Chen Xuan was dumbfounded when he read the part about modern history onwards:

[In the mid-18th century, on the list of royal tribute items in the Bililand Empire, the first well-documented extraordinary creature appeared - an owl that could spit ice.

At that time, the young princess would personally go to feed the owl, locked in a huge birdcage as an ornamental object, every day.

It wasn't until one evening a month later that an accident happened.

When the princess went to feed the owl as usual, the lazy, fat bird, always half-awake, suddenly launched an attack.

A sharp ice cone, flung out by the beat of its wings, nailed a colorful poisonous snake that was following behind the princess!

After this incident, a series of royal struggles were uncovered...

In any case, to commend its loyalty and bravery, the reigning queen granted it the name 'Hedwig,' meaning 'Divinely Sent Guardian Demon Beast' and awarded it one of the highest honors of the Royal Knights - the Thistle Badge.

Later, the name 'Hedwig' came to refer collectively to the emerging extraordinary creatures, with the Chinese translation being 'Yao Ling.'

Some of the mild-tempered Yao Ling, after simple domestication, could participate in production, with efficiency far exceeding that of ordinary livestock, leading to rapid economic growth. This period is known as the 'First Spirit Manipulation Revolution.']

[In the mid-19th century, based on the research of Yao Ling and ancient totems, the breakthroughs in 'Runic Studies' emerged, and a very small number of people could form contracts and make the Yao Ling more obedient."

Those who formed contracts were called 'Spirit Binders' and 'Spirits."

As a result, the legal status of Yao Ling changed, and they began to shift from simple to complex labor.

The further refinement and application of extraordinary powers such as wind, fire, thunder, and lightning led to the development of a series of related technologies like steam and electricity, and the economy of the European continent began to take off. This period is known as the 'Second Spirit Manipulation Revolution.']

[By the mid-20th century, countries involved in World War II wanted Spirit Binders and Spirits to play a more significant role on the battlefield."

As a result, the 'Spirit Awakening Device' was born, making contracting Yao Ling no longer the privilege of a select few, and the number of 'Spirit Binders' increased dramatically, making the war situation even more brutal."

Moreover, in addition to constantly improving the Spirit Awakening Device to bring about a quantitative growth, scholars also worked on another line of research - improving the quality of Spirit Binders."

Originally, there were only six levels corresponding to military ranks in terms of Spirit Binders and Spirits' abilities:

Civilian, Soldier, Officer, Lieutenant, Colonel, General.

During World War II, the massive human and material resources invested in the war shattered the notion that 'General level was the limit,' and a further route of promotion was gradually explored, resulting in the birth of the 7th level - King."

Such power was unprecedented!

Dongying, which had experienced two attacks by King-level Spirits at the time, had the most to say on the matter - the question had shifted directly from 'whether to surrender' to 'how to surrender.'

Due to the rapid advancement of Yao Ling research in this period, the pace of change in the era also increased, and this time was known as the 'Third Spirit Manipulation Revolution.']