Hogwarts Summoning Guide

"Find me an empty space!" the old blacksmith said in the painting, his voice trembling slightly, as if he were very excited.

Bai Lin found him an open space by the stream, placed the painting on the ground, and left some distance between them.

Before long, the ancient painting, whose age was unknown, began to change, as if some kind of seal had been broken. The painting grew larger and larger until it reached a size of tens of square meters. Then, the frame began to blend into the ground.

A small house rose from the portrait and stood on the open ground in the blink of an eye. The dark craftsman's hut and the pointed-roofed wooden house were clearly the residence of the craftsman Addison in the portrait.

Old Addison, wearing a dirty, dark gray fur coat and sporting a full beard, emerged from the cabin. The pipe he had just lit trembled in his hand. He was extremely excited. He strode to the edge of the original portrait, hesitated a few times, and then stepped out. He stomped his feet on the sandy ground a few times, dancing with joy. Seeing the stream nearby, he rushed in, jumping and splashing in the water until he was completely soaked.

Bai Lin waved to the woods from the bank, and a pile of dry branches flew over. He had just lit the campfire when Old Addison, his hands tucked in, ran up the stream, the icy water making him shiver.

"I haven't seen a stream in centuries, I'm a little flustered..." the old craftsman said, trembling.

As he warmed himself by the fire, he glanced at Bai Lin, who remained calm and composed, and said, "I'm still very curious, why do you think I can break free from the seal?"

Bai Lin shrugged and said, "I was just giving it a try. It's been almost two years since I obtained the Summoning Encyclopedia. I've found that the Encyclopedia System is like a computer, not even an artificial intelligence. It can only mechanically complete its functions... But you're different. I can communicate with you... Ever since you let me buy on credit, I've been convinced that you're not a program like the system, but more like a sealed human... Of course, you might not even be from Earth, haha..."

Old Addison stared at Bai Lin, his eyes reflecting the firelight and appearing bright and piercing, completely different from his usual languid demeanor. He said, "You should have already met the Soul Mentor, right?"

Bai Lin's spirits lifted, and he said, "I have met the Night Mentor and the Judgment Mentor."

Old Addison said, "I was one of them too. It's a long story, but I'll try to keep it brief..."

As the old craftsman recounted his story, Bai Lin finally understood the origins of the soul mentor.

In ancient times, the gods drove away the Outer Gods and sealed away the Great Old Ones. When they left Earth, some disagreements arose among the gods. Some gods believed that establishing and maintaining order was the highest goal, while others believed that free and random development was the essence of planets and life. The Sun God was more rational and proposed the theory of factions, dividing the behavioral norms of living beings into nine factions.

The nine factions are:

1. Order of Goodness (The Crusades, dedicated to spreading love and peace, establishing a social order based on high moral standards, and protecting all the weak).

2. Order Neutrality (The judge does not use good and evil as the standard of conduct, but the order is based on protecting the interests of the planet and humanity).

3. Orderly Evil (The Ruthless, who follow certain behavioral guidelines and worship evil as the Crusaders worship good).

4. Neutral Goodness (The benefactor, who treats all things with kindness without discrimination, but without a clear standard of judgment, similar to "the Virgin Mary")

5. Absolutely neutral (business acumen, not taking a stance based on emotions in any event, but considering interests more).

6. Chaotic Neutral (Wild, like a beast, only thinking of their own needs, but not driven by evil ambitions)

7. Chaotic Good (Ranger: Disdainful of the order established by those in power, believing that such order is only to maintain the interests of the rulers, handling problems according to their own sense of good and evil, and naturally fond of challenging authority).

8. Neutral Evil (Pure Evil: Those who simply regard evil as their ideal and wantonly inflict violence, harm, and destruction on others, taking pleasure in it).

9. Chaotic Evil (Demons not only dedicate themselves to destroying and harming others, but also aim to disrupt order and hope to turn the human world into hell).

Under the checks and balances of the Sun God, the nine factions restrained each other, achieving a harmonious and symbiotic state. Living organisms retained their innate wildness and also possessed the possibility of evolution. Over countless eras, life on Earth flourished, creating a rare biodiversity in the universe. Therefore, the Myriad Realms Tree of Life Array was very keen to collect biological information on Earth, which provided the gods with a wealth of useful information for transforming more planets.

"So, Earth is actually a testing ground for the gods?" Bai Lin asked.

"You could say that, and it's also the best testing ground. You wouldn't like a planet where the gods only leave behind servants. Those races don't have their own thoughts; they just follow the gods' instructions, even if it's just a few words or unimportant remarks. Over time, it's like meaningless junk files on a computer, which the gods will periodically clean up," the old craftsman said.

"You even know about computers?" Bai Lin asked, somewhat surprised.

"I have a part of my consciousness that can communicate with the Array of the Tree of Wisdom of the Worlds, and I have some knowledge of the technology of many planets... Otherwise, how would I craft equipment? Do you think I can just add attributes to equipment by hitting it with a hammer?" Old Addison rolled his eyes.

The old craftsman continued, explaining that after the gods established and maintained the nine factions, they left behind some servants to serve as soul mentors for each faction. When some outstanding intelligent beings became confused about their own development, the soul mentors would give them guidance and even impart knowledge.

"Actually, most people can't withstand astral projection. It's quite remarkable that you've met two soul mentors and are still alive and well here." Old Addison looked at Bai Lin with a half-smile.

Bai Lin recalled receiving Elder Moritz's soul orb, and now the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Moritz had tricked him. If it weren't for the encyclopedia system, which was the blessing of the Sun God, he would probably have been killed by Moritz in vain. It was a case of killing without shedding blood.

"Then what about you? Why are you sealed inside the painting?" Bai Lin asked.

The old craftsman took a puff of his pipe and said, "I don't want to say much, nor do I want to defend myself or complain... I made a serious mistake... almost destroying the entire planet... In the end, my body and soul disintegrated into many mortals... For example, the one in front of you, you can consider me also a soul mentor, some people once called me a psionic forger..."

Bai Lin shrugged. He wasn't particularly interested in Addison's past; he still had plenty of time to extract information about the encyclopedia system, gods, and soul mentors from him. Right now, he was more concerned with improving his strength: "Can you craft equipment here using contribution points?"

The old craftsman took a deep drag on his cigarette and said, "Of course, there's no difference. But I need to rest for a few days. I haven't had fresh air or been in touch with nature in a long time... if this place counts as nature." He pointed to the hills and lake not far away and said, "Perhaps I can go fishing."

Bai Lin nodded and said, "There's no rush to get to work. I have over six thousand points. Can you give me some recommendations? I need a set of equipment for deep-sea combat, the stronger the better!"

Old Addison sized up Bai Lin and said, "Equipment can only solve the problem temporarily, or add icing on the cake. What you need most right now is to improve your advancement magic ability. Your basic elemental spells are no longer sufficient for higher-level battles in the future!"

Bai Lin pondered for a moment. He had indeed realized this problem, which was something that had always puzzled him. If this were a world where magic had developed for thousands of years, given the nature of human conflict, thousands of different kinds of magic should have been created, especially offensive magic. But in fact, most magic was designed to make life easier.

These magical spells that make life easier seem amazing and convenient, but they don't actually help wizards much to transcend Muggles. Many wizards remain impoverished and haven't created productivity far exceeding that of Muggles.

Offensive magic is even rarer. The vast number of dark wizards keep playing the same few spells with extremely low barriers to entry. Doesn't anyone want to explore stronger magic? The answer is yes, but they are all locked into some kind of more extraordinary power system, like a tall tower. Most people spend their entire lives wandering on the first floor of the tower, unable to find the ladder to ascend.

"Bring the Night Mentor here. He might be able to build an Elemental Tower here, allowing you to unlock higher levels of elemental magic," Old Addison said. "Your contribution points can provide him with materials, and I'll use the rest to forge some auxiliary items for you, so you'll be able to fight whether you're in the deep sea or high in the sky!"

As Old Addison recounted his story, Bai Lin directly received a task from the system:

Side Quest: The Tower of Elements. To obtain the Soul Orb, summon the Night Mentor at the Habitat. He will build an Tower of Elements for you, where you can unlock various elemental magic locks and learn advanced magical skills.

Looking at the mission description, the word "seize" is quite meaningful. It seems that the system has decided that Bai Lin cannot obtain the Soul Orb from Elder Moritz through "peaceful" means.

Back then, with only a little over sixty points of magic power, Bai Lin was able to shine at the Explorers' Gathering, defeating Barnard without any chance to fight back and forcing Elder Moritz to take action personally. Now, Bai Lin's magic power has greatly increased, and he is fully confident in facing them head-on.

"Sigh, looks like I still have to make a trip to Azkaban..." Bai Lin shrugged. What's coming will come eventually. He decided to go alone, since Azkaban is full of Dementors, and he didn't want his teammates to suffer.

He suddenly thought of Yan Nishuang, who was riding the Fierce Tiger. Perhaps if she were there, the two of them could easily defeat Azkaban.

But thinking about it, he let it go. Was he really going to go to the East to ask someone to cause a diplomatic incident over such a trivial matter? Just thinking of Yan Nishuang's dashing and heroic figure made Bai Lin feel a warmth in his heart.

After settling Old Addison in, Bai Lin had just returned to the faculty lounge. He felt rather embarrassed for having been absent from work for nearly ten days without even saying goodbye. However, as soon as he stepped out of the lounge, a Gryffindor student bumped into him.

"Uh, Professor!" the student exclaimed in surprise. Bai Lin looked up and saw that it was Eddie, who was not particularly handsome but admired him greatly.

"Professor, are you feeling better? Professor Pomona said you suffered a serious injury in the last competition and have been receiving treatment abroad. We were all very worried!" Eddie said quickly.

Bai Lin chuckled, Pomona was covering for him, and said, "Sorry for the commotion... I really did go to a very far place to heal my injuries... By the way, you didn't bet on me to win, did you? I'm afraid many classmates are disappointed..."

Eddie winked slyly at Bai Lin and said, "I know, Professor. You told me to bet on Krum to win, and I made 30 Galleons! That's almost enough for me to live on for the whole semester! You must have deliberately lost!"

Ordinary students didn't know so much about the inside story. There were only rumors that Bai Lin had been harassed by the Ministry of Magic. To the students, it was only natural that he would be harassed, since he was a professor. However, they believed that he deliberately threw the game because he was last in the rankings. Many students who bet on Bai Lin to win were filled with resentment.

Bai Lin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't bet on the third match... There could be a lot of unexpected events... By the way, any news lately? I just got back to China, and I've been practically cut off from the world for the past ten days!"

Eddie straightened up and said, "Big news, Professor!" He hurriedly pulled a copy of the Daily Prophet from his robe and shoved it into Bai Lin's hand.

Bai Lin opened it and saw that the headline read: "Azkaban's warden, Moritz Nefokna Rems, has been murdered, and the killer is still at large!"

Bai Lin was startled. Upon reading the contents, he found a lengthy account of Moritz's thirty years in charge of Azkaban, detailing his diligence, hard work, and numerous achievements. However, the account of his death was minimal. It simply stated that he was dead, without mentioning how or where he died, or whether there were any suspects.

Eddie said, "I'm afraid the reporters won't dare go to Azkaban to find out the details. I heard from older students that the warden died in his own study, and Azkaban is in complete chaos. The Ministry of Magic has sent a large number of people to maintain order!"

Bai Lin stroked his chin, a bad feeling creeping over him. Elder Moritz's death was probably closely related to the Soul Orb. Perhaps the murderer killed him to steal the orb, but who would want to steal something like that? An ordinary person would probably just die if they got their hands on it.

He took the newspaper, dismissed Eddie, and quickly returned to his office. It seemed as if this matter had been deliberately blocking his way and was deliberately going against him.

He called out to Lulu in the team chat: "I've heard about Elder Moritz. I need to obtain the Night Mentor's Soul Orb. Can you pinpoint its location?"