Sylvia laid out her requirements to Ruan Mei.
As it stood, the only connection Sylvia had to the Path of Permanence was the Vidyadhara. Even then, she had no idea if she'd ever cross paths with a female High Elder.
Bailu, that little novice, still needed Sylvia to teach her Cloudhymn magic, so she was hardly someone to rely on.
Besides, the gacha system was abstract as hell. Expecting to pull something that could actually strengthen her Path of Permanence felt more like a pipe dream than a viable strategy.
As for Abundance and Destruction, those were borrowed powers; Sylvia was stuck when it came to reinforcing them.
Only the power of Permanence truly belonged to her. At the very least, it was a power she had forged herself, bit by bit, through sheer discipline.
If she wanted to achieve true Draconic Transmutation, she couldn't exactly storm the Vidyadhara's home base, pin down those Preceptors, and beat them into a robbery.
As for Dan Heng... the guy was incredibly cagey about anything involving the High Elder. He was out of the question.
Ruan Mei, standing right before her, was actually the perfect choice.
"Permanence and the Scions of Long, hm..."
Ruan Mei lowered her gaze, lost in thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, Sylvia, you are a Pathstrider of Permanence, yet you aren't a Scion of Long—and yet, you possess draconic features?"
Since she wanted Ruan Mei's help with the research, Sylvia wasn't about to play coy. Right then and there, she allowed her draconic features to manifest before Ruan Mei's eyes.
"Yes. It's just that after reaching this stage, I'm at a total loss for how to take the next step toward Transmutation. Over at the Luofu, only the High Elder can pull it off. There's just too little information."
"So these are draconic features... draconic traits on a non-Scion. This is a first for me."
The look in Ruan Mei's eyes shifted, growing noticeably more intrigued. From their previous contact, Ruan Mei knew for a fact that Sylvia was a textbook example of a standard human. She didn't harbor any special genetic markers.
But now—
Ruan Mei raised her hand again, the pad of her finger pressing against Sylvia's neck.
A faint light flickered. Then, her finger slid slowly down from the neck to the chest, over the abdomen, and finally toward the base of the spine where the tail sprouted.
Ruan Mei's touch was meticulous and slow, making the atmosphere feel a bit... charged. Although the sensation was ticklish, Sylvia saw how serious Ruan Mei was and forced herself to endure it.
After a long while, Ruan Mei furrowed her brows. She looked up and pressed her finger against Sylvia's forehead.
"Interesting... your draconic features aren't just energy taking shape. They are genuine biological tissue. As you are now, you're no longer human."
"Hey, no need for name-calling," Sylvia quipped reflexively, though the weight of the words hit her a second later. Her eyes widened as she stared at Ruan Mei. "Wait, you mean... me being like this isn't just about growing a tail?"
"Correct. To put it plainly, right now, you possess the physiological markers unique to the Scions of Long."
"Wow. Just... wow."
Sylvia couldn't help but groan. She never imagined the Path of Permanence would actually turn someone into something non-human.
She had assumed it was just a manifestation of Path power, like some kind of transformation spell. It turned out that every time she showed her draconic form, her genes were rewriting themselves along with it.
Ruan Mei paid Sylvia's shock no mind, instead offering her initial hypothesis. "I suspect your intuition regarding the Path of Permanence is correct. Seeking the Path will cause you to evolve toward the form of a dragon. Perhaps, eventually... it will lead you to become Permanence itself!"
She spoke with restraint, but Sylvia could guess what was swirling in that mind of hers.
"Is that even possible? The Vidyadhara are all people of the Permanence, yet only a handful of High Elders can actually become dragons."
"Who knows? But even if there is only a sliver of a possibility, aren't you curious? The possibility of becoming an Aeon."
The way Ruan Mei looked at Sylvia had completely changed. Because experimental subjects were so hard to come by, Ruan Mei's understanding of the Path of Permanence was limited.
But if Sylvia's theory and her own guess were true, Permanence might be even more worth researching than the Propagation.
Sylvia crossed her arms in a big 'X' in front of her chest.
"Not curious at all. My ultimate goal is to be an Emanator at most; anything beyond that is too abstract. Besides, if the death of 'The Permanence' is part of the meaning of this Path, wouldn't becoming it just mean I have to go and die?"
"Heh... so that is your interpretation of Permanence? I'll make a note of it." Ruan Mei chuckled softly, committing Sylvia's words to memory.
"Speaking of which, you own a planet that's nearly derelict, don't you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Let me conduct my experiments on Permanence there. It is your territory, after all."
While the location didn't strictly matter, since she was helping Sylvia research Permanence as part of their deal, she figured she might as well just go stay at Sylvia's place.
And honestly, between their conversation and the data on Permanence collected from the Simulated Universe, Ruan Mei's interest had been truly ignited.
In return, restoring life to Sylvia's barren planet would be a matter of professional ethics for Ruan Mei.
"...Just take it easy, okay? I'm still hoping people can actually live on that planet."
Sylvia offered a worried reminder. It wasn't that she doubted Ruan Mei's ability, but she seriously doubted Ruan Mei's sense of restraint—especially when it involved the study of Permanence.
Back before the Vidyadhara became nomads, they used to mold life forms like they were playing with clay. Sylvia was terrified Ruan Mei would tinker with her planet until it turned into something like that.
"Heh, I'll be careful."
Ruan Mei nodded, noting the request. Then, using the laboratory at hand, she immediately began the preliminary analysis.
Sylvia had been worried Ruan Mei might try to cook up a Long-descended specimen to test the waters, but thankfully, that didn't happen.
"I'm still lacking experimental samples of the Scions of Long. If possible, I'd like to have contact with more of them."
Aside from Sylvia, Ruan Mei's only other samples were from a Scion of Long she had encountered once in the past. It wasn't much to go on. Plus, Sylvia hadn't spent much time in the Simulated Universe lately, meaning data related to Permanence was sparse.
"Alternatively, I need you to run more tests in the Simulated Universe, Sylvia. We need to collect more data on Permanence."
"You'll have to ask Herta if she can even build that."
The current version was "Swarm Disaster." Continuing the tests would only yield more data on the Swarm King. There was no Permanence to be found.
If they wanted data on that, they'd probably need a dedicated content update.
"True. Once we head back, I'll have a word with Herta. Although the content for the next version update is already set, the one after that is still undecided."
With the details hammered out, Ruan Mei closed the laboratory once more and led Sylvia back to Herta's office. As soon as they stepped through the door, they saw the Herta puppet walking toward them.
"Ruan Mei, all settled?"
"Settled." Ruan Mei nodded, then gestured to Sylvia beside her. "She is now my research assistant as well."
"Oh? Not bad. I didn't think you'd actually manage to form a connection with Ruan Mei."
Herta looked a bit surprised. Seeing Ruan Mei like this, it seemed she hadn't followed her usual routine of drugging people to make them forget her.
Ruan Mei nodded and got straight to the point. "Herta, regarding the Simulated Universe test content for the version after next, I have a new idea—"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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