Chapter 518: A Grand Award Ceremony and Three Coronet Medals
Lynn held a black sealed box, taking the example of a cat that exists in a liminal state between life and death, to explain the mysterious yet very real phenomenon of quantum mechanics.
Inside the grand hall, over ten thousand wizards were engaged in heated debates.
If quantum could be described as a probability wave, then this cat could be labeled as "probability dead!" This undoubtedly proved that there is something that supersedes order and regularity, and its form is beyond their comprehension—like luck or probability theory!
However, many people simply do not believe in this, with Alade being one of them, who still believes that everything has a pattern, just like he never believes that pi is an infinite non-recurring number.
As long as there is enough data, everything is inevitably knowable and predictable!
The peculiarities of the quantum realm are merely because their understanding of it is still too superficial and no pattern has been found yet!
Seeing the situation in the field gradually reversing, the wizards who were originally firm against quantum theory began to waver, and Alade looked at Bold with great dissatisfaction.
Which side was this guy on?
Without his mention of the caged camel, the Star of Magic might not have thought of such a bizarre quantum cat! Fortunately, at this moment, Sanchez stood up, he directly skipped the discussion on wave-particle duality, and began to attack from the various formulas of quantum theory.
For instance, the quantum constant that Lynn mentioned earlier—how is this smallest unit defined and measured?And that wavelength formula, it can be explained with the theory that "macroscopic materials are made up of countless microscopic materials that interfere and affect each other," then why does speed also have a decisive effect on it?
A slew of questions surged like a tide, and Lynn, unfazed, answered each of Alade's questions one by one with a light tone, quickly silencing him.
After all, he was not just the pioneer of quantum mechanics; he had a rather complete model of quantum theory, and the intellectual database's related papers numbered in the billions, making it a fantastical notion to win against him in theory!
About an hour later, the thirty-some grand wizards who had been blocking him were either left red-faced and speechless or, like Jeffrey, deeply sighing.
"It seems this debate has reached a conclusion!" said Victorio, who was in the hall but not part of the argument, with a smile.
This debate in the hall was naturally permitted by them; quantum theory concerns the very origin of magic, and it cannot be overemphasized. If it had obvious flaws that could be easily refuted, then they would have to carefully consider its implementation.
Previously, Victorio was somewhat worried that Lynn might not outtalk people like Jeffrey, and he had even prepared to smooth things over, but the other party managed to withstand the pressure.
"Since that's the case, let's start today's award ceremony earlier," Aurora suggested.
Harof also nodded, and once the debate was over and Lynn along with Jeffrey and others were seated, he took out the list of honorees and cleared his throat to officially announce the start of the award ceremony! That specially amplified voice quickly drowned out the noise in the hall, quieting the debating and arguing wizards.
"First up, Mr. Glenn, your optical camera has played a very important role in publicity and certain magical research areas. Based on the conference's approval, you will be awarded a Morning Star Medal!"
Glenn immediately stood up, both excited and thrilled to receive this honor.
Following him, Harof called out the next name, the creator of the timing pendulum clock, Sean.
One after another, wizards walked up to the high platform under the envious gaze of others.
The list of honorees included over ninety names, although half were honored for their wartime contributions, the rest were still remarkably impressive!
To know that in the past, issuing five Morning Star Medals in a year was considered decent, this time they issued more than forty, equivalent to nearly ten years' accumulation, indicating an explosive growth in magical studies.
Anthony and others were also on the list, although the theories of light waves and photons had been replaced by Lynn's quantum probability cloud, they had still achieved some results—like the photoelectric effect, the theory that light is an electromagnetic wave, and the double-slit interference experiment that sparked the wave-particle debate.
Among them, Jeffrey and Anthony won a Silver Moon Medal, and Sanchez earned a Morning Star Medal for his solar silicon panel.
The most unlucky was Alade, who was full of confidence in his elemental scattering experiment, believing it to be the most important evidence to defeat the wave faction, but it undoubtedly became a joke.
This was why he was eager to refute Lynn in the debate earlier, as it was about the ownership of at least one Silver Moon Medal!
Undoubtedly, he failed, gaining no magical research achievements, and just like Anthony,
was left to guard the city and extract tritium-deuterium elements in the City of Fire Oil.
Alade sighed inwardly, regretting that a week was not enough time to produce an alchemy instrument to monitor electron movements, to see how particles passed through both slits at the same time; otherwise, he felt his scattering wave theory might have had some hope!
The distribution of medals to over a hundred wizards took about three and a half hours, and after Harof called the last name, he turned his gaze to Lynn and spoke.
"Now for the issuance of the Coronet Medals!"
"Lynn, the chairman's contributions to the Magic Council are evident to all. After my review with the two chairmen, we unanimously decided to award him three Coronet Medals!"
Upon hearing this, the wizards in the hall were in an uproar, though they had long known that this Star of Magic would once again receive the highest honor in the magic world at this ceremony, this was still somewhat too much.
Three Coronet Medals!
Even Lynn himself was somewhat surprised.
According to the council's regulations, all recipients of honors cannot participate in the discussions and voting to prevent insider operations.
The issuance of Coronet Medals is decided through internal discussion among the chairmen, so Lynn only found out now that he had actually received three Coronet Medals.
Harof explained amidst the questioning and puzzled looks from the crowd.
"These three Coronet Medals are to commend Chairman Lynn for his three significant contributions!"
"The first is for perfecting the periodic table of elements, proposing the theory of elemental divisibility, and on this basis, building the Sun Furnace (nuclear fusion reactor), establishing a breakthrough ritual!"
This statement silenced all dissenting voices.
This Coronet Medal was truly deserved, and no one could speak against it!
Ranking all elements in a periodic table has undoubtedly become the most solid foundation of elemental science, this theory revealed that elements can be transformed into each other up to the origin!
The most core achievement is a nuclear explosion that could obliterate a city and the Sun Furnace that could provide a massive amount of energy!
The establishment of a breakthrough ritual alone was worth a separate Coronet Medal for many grand wizards!
Probably because they complement each other, they were considered together.
Harof looked around the great hall, seeing no one speak out, he continued.
"The second is for Chairman Lynn's outstanding contributions during the imperial wars!"
"Including but not limited to, joining forces with Master Anthony to take down the capital, developing war weapons, defeating the church's Saintess multiple times, and expelling the false god Aila in the battle of the Holy City..."
Destroying the empire and dismantling the church were significant achievements, after discussion, they were split into one Coronet Medal, ten Silver Moon Medals, and over thirty Morning Star Medals.
The sole Coronet Medal naturally had to be awarded to Lynn.
In the past several key battles, Lynn was the main attacker, and his contributions were the greatest, without his legendary magic "Endgame - Atomic Breath," driving away Aila would have been nearly impossible.
After Harof recounted these achievements, the wizards present could not raise any objections.
"Finally, for decrypting photoelectricity and reshaping the internal structure of elements with quantum theory!" Harof added.
This was undoubtedly the most controversial part, the proposal of quantum only took about seven to eight days, even if this theory could explain various strange phenomena discovered in photoelectric research, it still defies common sense,
But the previous two contributions were simply too significant, and since grand wizards like Alade and their debate team had all been defeated before Lynn, no one stood up to oppose.
Three Coronet Medals, no more, no less!
In fact, if not for considering that the Coronet Medal is the highest award in the magic world, issuing more would affect its rarity, it would have been normal to award Lynn two more based on his achievements.
Victorio and others even considered whether to create a higher award, like a Lifetime Contribution Award or something...
Under the gaze of ten thousand pairs of eyes, Lynn stood up leisurely and walked to the high platform.
Harof very solemnly took out a box made of mithril, opened it, and inside were three dark gold medals, each engraved with the council's symbol on one side and the Coronet Tower on the other, also serving as an alchemical tool.
Back when facing the necromancer Merc, Lynn relied on its powerful protection to hold out until Harof and others came to support, but with his current power, this level of protection was minimal.
Compared to that, Lynn was more curious about what material this thing was made from, supposedly from beyond the time-space gate, capable of carrying very powerful forces, previously because there was only one sample, he had not yet tried to use "Grand Deconstruction" to analyze it.
Harof did not know that at this moment, Lynn was considering whether to melt these highest honors of the magic world, together with Aurora and Victorio, each of them personally placed a medal on Lynn's chest.
The expansive hall immediately erupted in applause. Whether or not the assembled wizards agreed with Lynn's quantum theory, they could not deny his monumental contributions to the world of magic. They were standing there today, freely practicing magic on this grand avenue, and Lynn was undoubtedly a major reason for that.
Especially the younger wizards with grand dreams, who looked up at the high platform with fervor and aspiration.
The legendary deeds of this Star of Magic had long spread across the kingdom. In just three or four years, he had risen from a third-tier wizard, who fled to the land of wizards to escape the church's persecution, to become the most celebrated Star of Magic and a legendary chairman at the pinnacle of council power!
After the award ceremony, Lynn looked out at the tens of thousands of wizards in the hall, briefly made an acceptance speech, and stated that the council would never underappreciate anyone who made significant contributions.
"As long as you have the capability, the dreams, and put forth the effort, perhaps one day you too can stand on this platform and become the next Star of Magic!"
...
"How does it feel to receive three Coronet Medals at once, Chairman Lynn?" Victorio joked after Lynn had finished his speech and sat back down.
To know, throughout magical history, only ten Coronet Medals had been awarded in total, and counting the one received for proposing the law of universal gravitation, Lynn alone had garnered four!
"Not too bad," Lynn replied with a smile.
He didn't really place much importance on these awards since his reputation was already well established, but accepting the awards was still necessary as this honor could inspire other wizards to pursue research.
What truly made him happy was the joy of spreading knowledge and being recognized for it.
"With your quantum theory out, I fear no one will join the School of Prophecy anymore," Aurora said somewhat helplessly.
The biggest impact of the probability cloud and wave-particle duality was undoubtedly on elemental studies and prophecy.
Because the School of Prophecy believed that everything could be predicted, now that it had become everything is probability, predicting became a joke.
Lynn raised an eyebrow but did not reply. He had read many books on the prophecy school, which discussed the interplay between the movements of the stars and individual destinies.
Even though Aurora's prophecy seemed to have worked once, predicting the chaos caused by the dark wizard Merc and his own rise as the 'Brown Star,' Lynn still thought it unreliable!
The movements of stars are influenced by gravity, and in no way could they be related to individual destinies.
Instead, his ideas for the magical application of quantum theory had a bit of a destiny-manipulating tendency.
"Your prophecy techniques should have been discarded long ago, not even predicting [Aila]'s escape," Harof scoffed.
The prophecies of the prophecy school were very vague, often only understandable after the events had occurred. He highly doubted these were anything but post-hoc rationalizations and couldn't be taken seriously.
"Revelations of fate are not that easily obtained…" Aurora shook her head, about to argue a few points in defense of the prophecy school, but her expression suddenly changed.
At the same time, Harof, Victorio, and Lynn also suddenly stood up from the chairman's seats.
It wasn't that they had received a new revelation, but the sealed time-space gate had been disturbed!
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