Over the next 2 hours, Lucas recounted the story of the past year-and-a-half of his life, starting from his fateful ninth birthday, all the way up until yesterday's great explosion.
After meeting Lucas and discovering the various peculiarities about him, Celestina had formed a few theories about just how his unique situation came about; but, upon hearing what really happened, she realized just how lacking in imagination she was.
Originally, Celestina believed that her new Disciple had encountered some kind of ancient inheritance that had imparted both a boost in strength to his Soul and passed on some profound knowledge to him.
Clearly, however, that wasn't the case.
"You were right to try to conceal this matter," Celestina commented after she listened to Lucas' entire story. The series of events which had transpired had not been overly complicated, but the implications were of incredible significance.
With a serious and solemn voice, the Balfour Marquess heavily emphasized, "You don't need to conceal your Soul Sense anymore, that can be explained away easily enough, but you must never repeat what you just told me to anyone beyond those who know of it already without my express permission, not even Eris."
Lucas was relieved about the first part of Celestina's words, and the second part was also acceptable to him. As for hiding everything from Eris, that had already been part of his considerations as well, but he had always planned to tell her once she matured a little more, so this final restriction caused him to frown ever so slightly.
"I understand how you feel," Celestina remarked, clearly sensing her Disciple's reluctance, "There will come a time when she will have to know, as hiding this won't be possible forever, but the longer we can delay that day, the better."
Frowning somewhat, Celestina's tone deepened even further as she warned, "You may think you understand how dangerous this knowledge is, but I assure you, you're still gravely underestimating the situation."
Hearing this, Lucas and Sasha tilted their heads in confusion.
Farah had already told them that exposing Lucas' secret could result in anything from being killed by powerful Cultivators, to being kidnapped and experimented on.
Quite frankly, the two of them were having a hard time imagining what could possibly be worse than that.
Even after mulling over everything again, Lucas couldn't understand just where this increased danger was coming from.
Unable to figure things out on his own, Lucas decided the best thing to do was just ask, so that's what he did, "Master, why is my situation so perilous?"
"The problem isn't your condition, per-say, but rather your new knowledge," Celestina stated.
Raising his brow, Lucas ventured a guess, "Are you saying that the new cultivation method I developed is more valuable than we initially thought?"
When Eris originally stumbled upon the method of combining the Flowing Flame and Unarmed Foundations Arts, everyone had been worried about powerful nobles and Cultivators coveting it.
That was why, despite Lucas and the others involved determining this new method was only useful for those below the Core Formation Realm, they had done everything the could to conceal this matter.
Thinking of this point, Lucas suddenly had an epiphany, Of course! We all thought the combination of a Cultivation Technique with the Unarmed Foundations Art was only somewhat useful for those in the Body Tempering and Vein Opening Realm, while its effects on Core Formation Practitioners were minimal, but Big Sister Eris just disproved that theory!
Only hours ago, Eris had shown that under the right conditions, the combination of the Flowing Flame Art and the Unarmed Foundations Art could increase cultivation efficiency by over 1,000%!
Even if such a boost couldn't be used frequently, and came with significant negative side-effects, it was still an invaluable tool for rapidly cultivating and making breakthroughs!
There was also a chance that with this increased effect, the new cultivation method would become useful for those above the Core Formation Realm as well, further increasing the value of the Unarmed Foundations Art.
A method to increase cultivation efficiency by 50% for those in the Body Tempering Realm would certainly attract many people's interest, but the top masters out there likely wouldn't expend much effort acquiring it.
A method to increase cultivation efficiency by several fold for those in the Core Formation and Sea Establishment Realms, possibly even the Spirit Initiate and Adept Realms, would be enough for even the strongest Masters on the continent to take action!
Lucas thought he had figured it all out, and was feeling very confident in his assessment, but in the next instant, he found himself flummoxed by his Master who shook her head and declared unequivocally, "That's not it."
Now completely confused, Lucas practically had question marks growing atop his head, wondering what his Master was talking about.
"Don't get me wrong," Celestina followed up promptly, "The cultivation method you developed is extremely valuable and will surely draw a lot of unwanted attention in the future, but it's nowhere near as valuable as the rest of the knowledge you now possess."
"The rest of my inherited knowledge?" Lucas parroted, unsure just what his Master was referring to; after all, he now had information about an entirely different kind of society in his head.
What was valuable about it, and what wasn't, was impossible for him to determined with his limited knowledge of the world.
Seeing her Disciple's obvious confusion, Celestina began explaining, "From what you've told me, the individual whose memories you inherited came from a civilization where traveling to other worlds is a common thing. Compared to Servist, our world, where even traveling to other continents is time consuming and dangerous, it's clear that this other world is far, far more advanced."
While he was surprised about hearing the name of the world he lived in for the first time, Lucas both agreed and disagreed with his Master's assessment, something he quickly brought up, "Perhaps it's more scientifically and technologically advanced, but it also seems to be completely lacking in knowledge of cultivation."
"I also find that odd," Celestina acknowledged her Disciple's point, "It's hard to imagine a world without cultivation being more advanced than our own. Normally, the places with lower average cultivation tend to be remote backwaters with limited resources. However, that doesn't mean it's impossible. Over my long life, I've found that the greatest innovations and advances in both society and cultivation tend to come about because there is a need to overcome adversity."
"Necessity is the mother of all invention," Lucas unconsciously muttered.
Raising a brow when she heard this, Celestina nodded in appreciation, "An apt saying. I take it that's another phrase you picked up from your new memories, yes?"
"Yes, Master," nodding, Lucas confirmed her speculation, "It's a common idiom from the other world, though I'm translating somewhat, but I'd still say it's quite accurate. I guess you only really try to solve a problem once you come across it."
"Indeed," Celestina concurred, "And a civilization without cultivation surely has many problems it would need to overcome, forcing them to continuously develop themselves."
"But," Sasha, who had mostly been spectating up until now, saw that the conversation seemed to be veering off track and decided to cut in, "I still don't understand why this makes Lucas' inherited memories so valuable and dangerous."
Smiling faintly, Celestina elucidated, "To most, Lucas' new knowledge is indeed not worth much, but to the strongest and most powerful individuals in our world, it is absolutely priceless. Something they would go to any lengths to obtain."
"More importantly, though," Celestina suddenly frowned, "If those kings, emperors, and anyone else with grand ambitions cannot have Lucas for themselves, they would surely stop at nothing to kill him and wipe away any trace of his knowledge."
This explanation went somewhat over Sasha's head, possibly because the scope and scale that was being discussed exceeded her lived reality by too far, but when Lucas heard it, everything clicked into place and he blurted out, "They're a blueprint!"
"Precisely," Celestina nodded, again impressed with the intelligence of her new Disciple.
"I see… I see…" Lucas also nodded, his mind now tumbling with a variety of thoughts.
"Ahem," Sasha audibly cleared her throat. It was like she was being intentionally left out of the conversation, which frustrated her somewhat.
Still, Sasha couldn't exactly question her grandmother, no matter how friendly and open Celestina had acted so far, so she turned an accusing gaze towards Lucas, who quickly got the hint and explained, "The knowledge I now possess is like a guide to how to build a more advanced society, Aunt Sasha. Like how I managed to bring in so much money by introducing soap and maple sugar to Redwood Town, but on a much, much bigger scale."
Once Lucas put it plainly, Sasha also quickly understood.
Most people were somewhat short-sighted and would willingly forfeit potential long-term gains for more immediate benefits. This was true even among much of the noble and ruling class whom horded resources and wealth or indulged in various vices while ignoring the troubles around them.
However, there were others out there who saw further and planned deeper; people who could wait, and sacrifice, passing up momentary pleasures and interests if, in the end, it allowed them to reap greater profits.
Such people tended to be incredibly cunning, intelligent, and cut-throat.
Among these kinds of people, the most ruthless and relentless tended to become heads of great forces, like hegemons or monarchs, and they would go to any lengths to increase their power and influence.
The information in Lucas' head was, in essence, a clear guide to developing an interstellar empire. Even if it might take hundreds, or even thousands of years to achieve this, that wouldn't deter Spirit Grandmasters who could, on average, live for more than 2,000 years.