Chapter 325: Plane Nuolun Plane No. 147

The wizards' meeting was astonishingly efficient.

It stood in stark contrast to the meetings from Gao Jie Ming's past life, which often dragged on for hours, involved layers of transmission, yet contained no substance.

The Plane Nuolun wizards were concise and clear; in less than ten minutes, they had explained the purpose and preliminary arrangements for establishing the elite combat unit with perfect clarity.

As Plane Nuolun's projection dissipated, the brief silence in the conference room was replaced by low murmurs of discussion.

Just as Gao Jie Ming rose, he received a signaling glance from Mentor Clark.

Understanding the hint immediately, he followed Viola, who had somehow appeared beside him, and departed.

The two followed Mentor Clark out of the noisy conference room and once again entered the office filled with the strange scents of various alchemical materials.

"Sit." Mentor Clark pointed to a chair nearby, then walked behind the workbench, his gaze first falling on Gao Jie Ming. "Your spiritual sense is stable; it seems your condition is well-maintained. I have heard about your performance on that Giant Spirit Realm battlefield; you did well. It appears you have not relaxed your accumulation of knowledge."

"Yes, Mentor," Gao Jie Ming replied respectfully, formally accepting his mentor's praise.

Clark nodded slightly, signifying his approval.

He then cut straight to the point, speaking in a calm tone to supplement Gao Jie Ming with details not elaborated upon during the meeting: "You should already grasp the core of the news brought by Lord Plane Nuolun. Let me explain the frontline situation in detail."

"The frontline is divided into two parts. The first-line battlefield is personally overseen by the various Level Nine lords, targeting those powerful planes that harbor Level Nine beings capable of threatening the foundation of the wizards."

He paused, picking up a crystal stone on the table that flickered with unstable energy and toyed with it casually before continuing, "Therefore, the second-line battlefield you are about to enter will theoretically not encounter any Level Nine existences."

"After the initial 'combing' by the main first-line forces, the upper limit of the remaining resistance has been locked. Furthermore, there will usually be Level Eight wizards stationed in the rear areas to ensure that no entire combat unit is instantly wiped out by unknown risks."

Gao Jie Ming listened intently; this largely matched his previous deductions.

In large-scale wars, high-level forces balance each other, so the tasks of clearing out minor troops and occupying secondary areas naturally fall to the backbone and reserve forces.

"However," Mentor Clark shifted his tone, his eyes sharpening slightly, "do not become complacent because of this. Any plane marked as an 'Elite Proving Ground' requiring the deployment of an elite combat unit is invariably a tough nut to crack."

"They may lack top-tier experts, but they inevitably possess unique and troublesome aspects—perhaps an extremely harsh environment with bizarre rules, perhaps a curse or plague difficult to eradicate, or perhaps indigenous creatures with special talents that are extremely hard to exterminate."

"The protection offered by Level Eight wizards is limited to the strategic level; they cannot and will not concern themselves with the life or death of every individual. If you have bad luck or are insufficiently prepared and perish, you can only blame your own lack of skill."

"I understand, Mentor," Gao Jie Ming nodded solemnly.

He had long recognized the cruelty of war; relying on the protection of others for one's own safety was the most foolish behavior.

Personal strength and sufficient hidden cards were the fundamental keys to survival.

Seeing the clarity in Gao Jie Ming's eyes, devoid of any luck-seeking or fear, a trace of imperceptible satisfaction flashed through Clark's gaze.

He put down the crystal stone and gave his final instruction: "As members of the elite unit, you will receive more generous resource quotas and higher authority than ordinary wizards."

"But power corresponds with obligation; the coefficient of danger you face will inevitably increase. Before departing, find ways to improve your survival capabilities as much as possible, whether through hard power or... those interesting little gadgets of yours." He glanced at Gao Jie Ming.

"Yes, I will," Gao Jie Ming nodded again.

"Alright, you may go." Clark waved his hand, signaling Gao Jie Ming to leave.

After bowing, Gao Jie Ming turned to leave, but just as he was about to step forward, he felt someone quietly tug at the hem of his robe.

Looking down, he saw Viola shrinking her neck, making faces at him, and mouthing a silent cry for help, attempting to slip away with him.

However, Mentor Clark's deep voice had already sounded: "Viola."

Viola's body stiffened; she slowly turned around, squeezing out an excessively obedient smile on her face: "Teacher..."

"I hear," Mentor Clark's expression remained as calm as a still pond, yet the air around them seemed to instantly grow several degrees heavier, "that recently, when you are outside, you like to refer to me as 'old man'?"

Viola's eyes widened in shock: "How do you know?!"

Then she immediately realized her mistake, shaking her head like a rattle-drum: "No! Absolutely not! Teacher, you must have misheard!"

While denying it, she frantically signaled Gao Jie Ming with her eyes, hoping he would speak up in righteousness to help her.

Gao Jie Ming returned a look of helplessness, shrugged slightly, and then, with a hint of pity in his expression but without the slightest hesitation, closed the office door behind him.

In the last instant before the door closed completely, he caught a glimpse of Viola's beautiful silver-gray long hair, which seemed to have lost some of its luster due to despair.

The door panel blocked the view but failed to completely isolate the sound.

Mentor Clark's deep voice, devoid of emotion, drifted faintly through: "I hear you think you are already a qualified Level Six wizard? Come, let me see to what extent you have mastered the 'Pain' rule."

"Wait! Teacher! H-how do you know the Pain rule?! Isn't that my research direction?!" Viola's voice was filled with incredulous terror, "Isn't your main research direction Fate?!"

"Such things..." Mentor Clark's tone was as flat as if stating that one plus one equals two, "I learn them just by taking a look."

"Nooo—!!!"

Viola's piercing scream was dampened by the thick door panel, but it still caused Gao Jie Ming, standing outside, to involuntarily shudder.

He silently mourned for his senior sister for half a second, thinking to himself: "It seems the possibility of Senior Sister Viola surpassing Mentor Clark in the short term has once again approached infinity close to zero."

Come to think of it, although both he and Viola were labeled as "geniuses," wasn't Mentor Clark, back in his day, someone who had climbed up standing on the shoulders of countless geniuses?

True powerhouses never stand still.

No longer paying attention to the potential "tragedy" unfolding in the office behind him, Gao Jie Ming used the teleportation array within the academy to return directly to his laboratory on the Elosia plane.

As soon as he set foot on this land, the communicator he carried vibrated.

Gao Jie Ming looked down; it was a message from Dean Avery Knight.

Gao Jie Ming dared not delay; immediately following the requirements in the message, he rushed without stopping to the Plane Nuolun No. 147 Academy on the Elosia plane.

It was also a conference room, but much smaller in scale.

Those present were no longer the large mix of low-level wizards seen at the main No. 13 Academy, but rather the senior mentors of the No. 147 Academy and outstanding graduates who had achieved certain successes over the hundreds of years since the academy's founding; indeed, they represented the essence of the Plane Nuolun Academy on Elosia.

Dean Avery Knight stood on the stage, maintaining his usual steady and capable demeanor.

He did not engage in excessive pleasantries, speaking directly: "Everyone, you must have already received news from Lord Plane Nuolun and through your own channels. Regarding the strategic decision of the Federation to establish elite combat units, I will not elaborate further here. Now, on behalf of the academy, I announce two specific arrangements closely related to everyone present."

"First, all wizards selected to join the elite combat units will be automatically relieved of their regular employment obligations within the academy. Your future battlefields lie in the sea of stars, in those planes that require elites to explore or guard; the routine teaching and management affairs within the academy will no longer require your divided attention."

"However," Dean Avery emphasized, "even though you will no longer hold teaching positions, you will still enjoy benefits and treatment equal to those of academy mentors. Specifically: low-level wizards will receive longer intervals between missions and rest periods, while high-level wizards will enjoy shorter mandatory service terms or rotation cycles. The Plane Nuolun No. 147 Academy has operated smoothly for hundreds of years and has successors to maintain its daily operations; you may proceed with peace of mind."

This point brought smiles to the faces of many elite wizards present who originally held teaching positions; it meant they could devote more energy to improving their strength and tackling more challenging research tasks without being entangled by trivial matters.

"Second," Dean Avery continued to announce, "given that the Elosia plane has undergone nearly a thousand years of continuous transformation and construction, its ecological environment and energy concentration have tended toward stability and optimization, and the ruling foundation of Plane Nuolun Academy is solid with complete facilities."

"Approved by the main body of the Plane Nuolun Workshop, effective immediately, the 'Elosia Plane' is officially renamed the 'Plane Nuolun No. 147 Plane.' This signifies that it has fully integrated into the core territory of our Plane Nuolun Workshop system."

The renaming seemed merely a formality, but the meaning it represented behind the scenes was by no means insignificant.

This marked the complete end of the expansion phase for this plane, ushering in a new stage of stable development and deep exploitation, with its strategic position and resource value officially recognized.

After announcing these two decisions, Dean Avery Knight concluded the meeting briskly and departed directly, leaving the others in the conference room to digest the information and converse among themselves.

Gao Jie Ming calculated in his heart the impact these two changes would have on him.

Being relieved of his teaching duties suited him perfectly; although as part of the logistics department he would rarely have students anyway, this at least allowed him to focus more on managing his own Purgatory Sulfur Plane.

It enabled him to concentrate on optimizing his own system and preparing for the upcoming secondary front mission.

As for the plane's renaming, it meant that safety and stability here had further improved, making his base camp even more reliable.

Just as he rose with the crowd, preparing to leave the conference room, a slightly familiar yet somewhat distant voice sounded from behind, calling out his name:

"Gao Jie Ming!"

Gao Jie Ming halted his steps and turned to look.

There stood a tall wizard clad in standard gray robes, his face much more mature than Gao Jie Ming remembered, yet his eyes still carried an air of arrogance.

It was David.

(End of Chapter)