Chapter 281: Samsara

Not long after his communication with Dean Avery ended, while Gao Jie Ming was still mapping out research arrangements and teaching preparations for the next decade in his mind, the communicator he carried on his person flashed again at an inconvenient moment.

Gao Jie Ming could not help but laugh silently.

On ordinary days, this communicator was as quiet as a mere ornament, yet today it rang one after another, as if all matters had conspired to converge at this very instant.

He answered it casually; the figure appearing on the light screen made him pause slightly, followed immediately by understanding.

It was Senior Sister Viola.

Since the war against the Plane of the God of Destruction had concluded, she naturally ought to have returned by now.

At this moment, although a trace of exhaustion belonging to a researcher that was hard to erase still lingered in her eyes, her overall demeanor was far better than when she had processed data day and night in the Frost Flame Plane, and the deep, settled aura of a Level Six Wizard had become even more pronounced.

"Senior Sister, long time no see," Gao Jie Ming greeted with a smile.

"I only just returned not long ago." Viola waved her hand, maintaining that slightly lazy tone of hers, and went straight to the point: "You've heard about the opening of the Plane Nuolun Academy in Elosia, right?"

Gao Jie Ming nodded: "I just finished speaking with Dean Avery and have already agreed to serve as an instructor."

"You're going too?" Viola's eyebrows arched, followed by a smug expression of "kindred spirits": "Heh, I knew it! Who could resist such benefits!"

Seeing Gao Jie Ming's curiosity, Viola explained in detail: "The benefits for academy instructors are tiered. For wizards below Level Five like yourself, there is a mandatory expedition obligation with fixed rest periods, so the benefit is an extension of rest time, granting you more years to dispose of freely."

She shifted her tone and pointed at herself: "But for those of us at Level Five and above, the rules are reversed. The civilization fears we old folks will wander outside for too long or bury ourselves in laboratories for millennia without emerging, forgetting our responsibility to pass down knowledge, so it mandates regular returns for rest. The benefit of being an instructor is a reduction in the duration of this mandatory rest!"

She wore an expression of lingering fear: "Take me, a Level Six Wizard; a single mandatory rest period easily exceeds a thousand years! If I don't find a way to shorten it, just sitting there staring into space would drive one mad! How could that compare to the interest of immersing oneself in a laboratory or exploring other planes?"

Only then did Gao Jie Ming realize that academy instructor benefits varied by rank, essentially catering to different preferences and using "time" to attract wizards of different stages to devote themselves to education.

"By the way," Viola said as if suddenly remembering something, "Mentor Clark has already returned to Plane Nuolun Plane 13; if you have free time recently, you might as well go back once."

Hearing this, Gao Jie Ming was startled: "Mentor is looking for me? Is there some matter?"

Viola merely smiled mysteriously, waved her hand, and said: "Just go back and see for yourself? I still have data to process, so I'm signing off!"

With that, without waiting for Gao Jie Ming to ask further, the communication cut off cleanly and decisively.

Looking at the dimming light screen, Gao Jie Ming's confusion deepened.

Mentor Clark seeking him out proactively?

This was uncommon.

Based on his understanding of his mentor, that great figure who wished nothing more than to weld himself to his experimental bench would never lightly summon a student without cause.

Although doubts remained, a few days later, Gao Jie Ming temporarily set aside his current research, returned to the familiar Plane Nuolun Plane 13 via a teleportation array, and headed straight for Mentor Clark's office.

In the office filled with scrolls, instruments, and various unidentified biological specimens, permeated by the mixed scent of parchment and alchemical potions, Gao Jie Ming saw his mentor once again.

Mentor Clark still bore that signature air of being utterly unconcerned—his hair slightly disheveled, his eyes carrying the exhaustion of long-term sleep deprivation.

His wizard robes seemed to be the same ones from years ago, only now adorned with a few more stains of unknown origin and marks of scorching, radiating an intense aura of a "beast of burden" from head to toe.

Seeing Gao Jie Ming appear suddenly, Mentor Clark lifted his head from a pile of complex energy structure diagrams, a flicker of genuine surprise passing through his clouded eyes.

"Gao Jie Ming? How did you come back?"

Gao Jie Ming was even more surprised than him: "Didn't you ask Senior Sister Viola to notify me to return?"

Mentor Clark blinked blankly, then as if understanding something, shook his head helplessly and muttered softly: "That crazy girl—"

He said no more, turning his attention back to the drawings on his desk as if Gao Jie Ming's arrival were merely a minor interlude.

Gao Jie Ming was instantly at a loss whether to laugh or cry, realizing he had been "teased" by Senior Sister Viola.

However, since he was already here, he was just about to open his mouth to chat about something when—

Knock, knock, knock.

A light knocking sound rang out.

Without lifting his head, Mentor Clark spoke in a flat, unrippled tone: "Enter."

The office door was cautiously pushed open a crack, and a small head poked in.

It was a young boy who looked no more than ten years old, wearing clean apprentice robes, his clear eyes holding a hint of nervousness.

When he saw that besides Mentor Clark, there was also a stranger named Gao Jie Ming present in the office, he clearly paused, a trace of panic flashing across his face.

But he quickly took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, walked in properly, and performed a standard wizard salute to both Mentor Clark and Gao Jie Ming respectively.

"Mentor Clark, here is the summary of last week's observation data you requested." The boy's voice was crisp; holding a thick stack of documents with both hands, he respectfully presented them before the desk.

Mentor Clark merely hummed an "Mm," took the documents casually, and placed them atop the nearby pile of files that was already mountainous.

The young boy bowed again, then quietly withdrew, gently closing the door behind him.

During this process, Gao Jie Ming said nothing, merely watching the boy's departing back with keen interest.

Only after the office door had completely closed did he turn his head to look at his mentor, who remained buried in his diagrams, his tone carrying a hint of incredulous teasing:

"Mentor, could it be—that was my 'junior brother'?"

The Plane Nuolun Academy recruits students once every five years; if speaking broadly of "junior brothers," the number of Gao Jie Ming's juniors could be counted in the tens of thousands.

But the "junior brother" on his lips at this moment specifically referred to a personal disciple personally recognized and accepted under Mentor Clark's tutelage.

Gao Jie Ming knew his mentor all too well.

Reclusive by nature, strict in requirements, and deeply abhorring any waste of time.

For ordinary wizard apprentices, no matter how high their talent, if they did not catch his eye, they would not even have the qualification to step foot inside this office.

That the young boy could enter so naturally to deliver documents made his identity obvious—it was just like himself back in the day.

Mentor Clark finally lifted his eyelids from the diagrams, glanced at Gao Jie Ming, and nodded faintly, which counted as tacit acknowledgment.

He then added a sentence: "Average aptitude, but has his own ideas."

This was already an extremely high evaluation of an apprentice that Gao Jie Ming had ever heard from his mentor's mouth.

Gazing at the door that had already closed, as if he could still see the boy's back from earlier, struggling to appear composed yet unable to conceal his youthfulness, a strange sensation suddenly welled up within Gao Jie Ming's heart—a mysterious sense of trance.

Time seemed to overlap at this very moment.

Once upon a time, he too had been such a youth, harboring unease and longing, cautiously stepping into this office.

Now, he stood here, in the capacity of a "senior," watching the new cycle quietly begin.

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