Chapter 160: Mentor and Assessment

"This..."

Hearing his teacher's words, Jie Ming felt a jolt in his heart.

Clark, appearing indifferent, reached out and pushed the space expansion bag in his hand a bit further toward Jie Ming:

"It's not as exaggerated as you imagine; these are all just superficial studies, but they should be enough to help you get past the hurdle in front of you."

"And this isn't being given to you for free. Wizards value equivalent exchange; you'll have to pay me in points!"

Jie Ming subconsciously took the space expansion bag, opened it, and found it filled with large stacks of paper and crystal plates.

They were densely packed with runes, formulas, analytical diagrams, and various handwritten annotations.

These manuscripts contained the life's work of a Tier 6 Wizard spanning hundreds of years; their value was immeasurable.

Holding this heavy gift, Jie Ming couldn't help but feel moved.

He knew all too well the value of such core research data.

Under normal circumstances, core research like this—especially knowledge involving plane-level or even higher-level laws—would never be sold to outsiders.

Because they are often a wizard's most core wealth and the foundation of their survival.

Although Mentor Clark had quoted a fairly high "price" and explicitly stated that these manuscripts were not free.

Jie Ming knew very well that this price would be enough to bankrupt other wizards, even those at Tier 2 or 3.

But for him, Jie Ming, the price Mentor Clark set was merely the value of two vials of Red Dust Potion.

Clark certainly knew Jie Ming's current production efficiency for Red Dust Potion and was well aware of his current net worth.

For the current Jie Ming, this was essentially giving him this core knowledge for free.

This favor was undoubtedly immense.

"Mentor..."

"What?" Clark bit into a piece of flesh emitting a faint blue light. Hearing Jie Ming's question, he looked at him expressionlessly.

Jie Ming's lips moved, not knowing what to say: "Thank you very much..."

"You are my student, after all. If your level is too low, they will question my standards, which is not conducive to my future product sales." Clark picked up a handkerchief and wiped the corner of his mouth, still expressionless.

"Tsundere behavior has no market anymore, Mentor..." Jie Ming's mouth twitched at these words, but he didn't dare to say it out loud.

"But I must still thank you for your guidance. With this knowledge, my research can continue."

Clark nodded slightly: "It is merely equivalent exchange. Besides, this is just some outdated research; I haven't lost anything."

"If this isn't enough, I can also explain the situation to my own mentor," Mentor Clark added. "During this trial in the Elosia Plane, the Alchemy Sect should have captured a few gods. I can have my mentor act as an intermediary to see if we can purchase knowledge researched from the gods from others, or even samples of the gods themselves."

Jie Ming's heart skipped a beat. Samples of gods—those were research materials he dreamed of.

The remains or soul fragments of gods often contain the most core law information; that would be a huge boost to his research on the divine power faith network.

However, after careful consideration, he still rejected Mentor Clark's proposal.

"Mentor, I appreciate your generosity," Jie Ming said with a sincere and firm tone. "But I have decided not to consider deeper intervention for the time being."

He looked at Mentor Clark, his eyes filled with a clarity born of deep thought: "If, long ago, I felt I could quickly thoroughly research the divine power faith network, then after such a long time of research, as I know more, I am increasingly aware of how shallow I was back then."

"This thing is truly worthy of being top-tier core knowledge that a wizard can spend a lifetime on," Jie Ming said with emotion. "The time required to fully research it is likely uncountable. My current priority is still to improve my own strength."

Mentor Clark looked at him, a trace of approval flashing in his eyes.

Although Jie Ming's decision meant giving up a huge temptation within reach, it demonstrated his clear understanding of his own path and a profound grasp of the essence of power.

This was a sign of maturity.

"You are responsible for the decisions you make. This is the wizard's path."

Mentor Clark nodded gently, then changed the subject: "Of course, if you had truly been arrogant enough just now to let me make that contact, then such a fool would no longer be qualified to be my student."

Jie Ming's eyelids twitched; he knew his mentor wasn't joking.

If he had made the wrong choice just now, Clark would indeed have helped him make the contact, but it would likely have been the last time he ever came to his mentor's "Wizard Tower."

"Originally, you kept insisting on a Tier 7 large energy pool, and I was worried you had become too arrogant, but now it seems you truly have your own considerations, so I am relieved."

Jie Ming was startled: "Then the previous Tier 7 large energy pool..."

"Rest assured, I haven't reached the point of being a scoundrel; it has indeed been arranged for you," Clark glanced at his apprentice.

Seeing Jie Ming's relieved expression, he couldn't help but shake his head: "But to be blunt, even if I did arrange it for you, you wouldn't be able to get it in the short term. Given the difficulty of manufacturing a Tier 7 large energy pool, even for my mentor, it would take at least a hundred years to complete."

Jie Ming fell silent; he understood Clark's meaning.

If he were truly as arrogant as Clark had feared, he likely wouldn't live long enough to see the day he received the large elemental pool.

Don't let the fact that wizards conquer many planes make them look majestic; the corresponding risk of traveling to new planes each time is immense.

Many people profit from plane wars, but the number of wizards who die is definitely not small.

A wizard's most powerful strength is wisdom, but likewise, the most dangerous emotion is arrogance.

The endless planes hold endless possibilities; once one becomes too arrogant, they will soon invite the corresponding "reward."

High-tier wizards like Clark have had their thinking completely transformed into that of long-lived species, so their foresight is abnormally exaggerated.

They don't bother to deceive apprentices, but likewise, if something goes wrong, they don't mind profiting from it.

"However... it seems I have passed this test," Jie Ming thought silently to himself, satisfied as he drank a beverage that looked as if wailing wraiths were trapped within the liquid.

After finishing this significant feast, Jie Ming took the heavy space expansion bag, bid farewell to his mentor, and returned to the Golden Garden via the teleportation array.

As night fell, Jie Ming sat in his laboratory, taking out the manuscripts one by one, immersing himself in a new round of research.

Ever since Mentor Clark generously provided the research manuscripts on the divine power faith network, communication between Jie Ming and his mentor had increased.

The conversations between the two also evolved from initial question-and-answer sessions into profound academic discussions.

Mentor Clark would occasionally throw out some inspiring questions or share some peripheral insights from his past research, while Jie Ming would feed his latest experimental data and thoughts back to his mentor.

This exchange model, both teacher and friend, made Jie Ming feel unprecedentedly fulfilled and progressive on his path of seeking knowledge.

Another year passed.

Jie Ming's life rhythm remained stable.

This year, his primary energy was devoted to studying the manuscripts gifted by Mentor Clark.

Those runes and theoretical data, filled with the mysteries of the divine power faith network of another plane, opened up a brand-new perspective for him.

He began to try to integrate this knowledge into his understanding of the Elosia Plane's faith network, breaking down, analyzing, and reconstructing those originally obscure and difficult concepts bit by bit.

Day after day, Jie Ming was like an unceasing seeker of the Dao, exploring the ocean of knowledge and power.

His spiritual power became increasingly pure, and his insight into the laws grew deeper by the day.

Until this day, when a sudden change occurred.

Jie Ming was sitting in the center of his laboratory, meticulously analyzing a complex divine rune extracted from Clark's manuscripts.

Suddenly, he felt a faint, imperceptible tremor coming from the depths of his spiritual sea.

This tremor was not an impact from external energy, nor was it instability of his own spiritual power.

It came from within, from the most core area of his spiritual sea—the Ring of Truth.

At first, it was just a tiny ripple, like a ripple on a calm lake, almost to be ignored.

But soon, this ripple began to spread, becoming more frequent and clearer.

Hum...

A low humming sound resonated within Jie Ming's spiritual sea.

This sound was not transmitted through his ears but acted directly upon the depths of his soul, carrying a peculiar rhythm, as if some grand existence were awakening.

He looked inward at his spiritual sea and found that his Ring of Truth was currently emitting a light more intense than ever before.

Within the light, something seemed to be brewing, something was sprouting.

Accompanied by the humming sound, every wizard spell model constructed in Jie Ming's spiritual sea began to show slight turbulence.

They were not collapsing, but as if pulled by some invisible force, every rune was trembling slightly, emitting resonance.

It was as if they were cheering, jumping for joy, or preparing to welcome the arrival of something new.

This was an unprecedented feeling, carrying a trace of strangeness while also containing a certain instinctive familiarity.

Jie Ming immediately stopped analyzing the data and interrupted all research.

This anomaly was too special; to be safe, it was better to be cautious.

And the first person he thought of for help was, naturally, his mentor.

Jie Ming quickly activated the teleportation array and arrived at Mentor Clark's private plane once again.

When he stepped into Mentor Clark's laboratory, his mentor was conducting a complex alchemy experiment, surrounded by rich elemental fluctuations.

Jie Ming's arrival didn't seem to disturb him; Clark just raised his eyes and noticed the anomaly in Jie Ming's spiritual sea.

"Mentor, the wizard spell models in my spiritual sea seem to have some anomalies..." Jie Ming said straight to the point.

He described in detail the tremor of the Ring of Truth just now and the resonance of the wizard spell models.

Upon hearing this, Mentor Clark stopped his movements.

He turned around, his deep gaze falling on Jie Ming, carrying a hint of understanding, and a rare smile even appeared on his face.

"Very good. It seems you have been working very hard during this time, without the slightest slack," Mentor Clark's voice carried a hint of gratification. "Jie Ming, the anomaly in your spiritual sea is the precursor to the birth of a new wizard spell!"

Hearing this, Jie Ming's heart jolted violently.

A new wizard spell!

"This... how is this possible?" Jie Ming was somewhat incredulous. "I didn't deliberately study any advanced knowledge, nor did I construct any new wizard spell models..."

Mentor Clark gently stroked the hair on his forehead and explained: "Your situation is indeed quite rare for wizards today, but it was very common long ago."

"Since much knowledge became shared, most wizards, after constructing their basic wizard spells, consciously and tendentiously choose to study advanced knowledge and learn according to existing systems, thereby more quickly and autonomously constructing new wizard spells."

"They follow the paths paved by predecessors; the efficiency is high, but they are inevitably bound by the thoughts of their predecessors."

"And a situation like yours is purely through your own research and understanding, bit by bit increasing your knowledge, reaching a certain critical point in your cognition of the essence of the world, thereby triggering the Ring of Truth in your spiritual sea, enabling it to autonomously construct new core runes, and finally reaching the standard of being able to autonomously construct new wizard spells."

Mentor Clark walked to the giant elemental sand table in the center of the laboratory and tapped his fingertip, causing various complex rune images to appear on the table.

"These two ways of autonomously constructing wizard spells each have their pros and cons," Mentor Clark continued to explain. "The former, that is, the method of learning and imitation, allows wizards to obtain new wizard spells more quickly and rapidly improve their combat effectiveness. They are like having tools carefully crafted by predecessors, which can be put into use immediately."

"And one like yours is a wizard spell gestated from your own deepest understanding. This kind of wizard spell allows you to completely obtain the wizard spell most suitable for yourself."

"It perfectly fits your spiritual traits, your knowledge system, and even your unique insight into the laws. It is not someone else's tool, but an extension of your soul and a crystallization of your wisdom."

"Although it may not be much stronger than other wizard spells in terms of power, it is definitely the most suitable wizard spell for you."

Jie Ming's heart relaxed.

Although he knew from his perception that the anomaly in his spiritual sea shouldn't be a bad thing, having it confirmed still made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"Then... how should I proceed with the construction?" Jie Ming asked impatiently.

"The process is actually not complicated, especially for someone like you with sufficient knowledge reserves," Mentor Clark explained in detail. "After your knowledge level reaches a certain level, the Ring of Truth in your spiritual sea has already automatically constructed the corresponding core runes for you."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 161 =====