Chapter 9

"According to the normal recovery speed of level six talent... I need to rest for an hour now." Jie Ming calculated in his heart.

However, although he had to rest, it was not that there was nothing he could do.

He looked at the simple but complete facilities in the dormitory, and then looked down at the "Basic Alchemy Manual" and the alchemy tools on the table.

Since he wanted to play the role of a hardworking alchemy apprentice, meditation alone was not enough.

Jie Ming took out the entrance manual attached to the wooden box given by Mentor Clark and read it carefully.

The manual introduced the basic structure of the academy, course arrangements, credit system, public facilities, and some rules and regulations that needed attention.

Jie Ming also learned the importance of credits—it was the only currency for exchanging higher-level knowledge, rarer materials, renting laboratories, and even obtaining mentor guidance.

"Renting a laboratory..." Jie Ming fell into deep thought looking at this item.

Although he didn't know much now, Jie Ming also roughly understood that what the wizards of this world valued most was knowledge.

At the same time, the wizards of this world were also extremely stingy with knowledge.

After all, in this world, knowledge could really be transformed into power.

"In that case... there shouldn't be any monitoring facilities in a laboratory, right?"

The more they valued and were stingy with knowledge, the higher the security in the laboratory; after all, once it was discovered that some monitoring was secretly installed inside, it would anger the entire wizard group of the academy.

"In order to have enough private space, it seems I need to find a way to get a laboratory of my own."

The freshman manual did say that private laboratories could be rented long-term with credits, but it didn't specifically say how many credits were needed, but one could imagine it definitely wouldn't be a small number.

In this way, another task needed to be added to the main tasks in the future: earning credits.

He quickly finished flipping through the freshman manual, glanced at the time, and during the "waiting for the mental sea to recover" period, Jie Ming picked up the heavy "Basic Alchemy Manual" again and started to read it carefully.

The manual content was extremely detailed, from the most basic material classification and attribute identification to various basic alchemy principles, formulas, and experimental steps.

The text was obscure, the formulas were complex, and many concepts were things he had never come into contact with.

Fortunately, there was a golden finger like the Great Dao Library, which made him very good at learning over the years, and it didn't take long for Jie Ming to immerse himself in the content of this manual.

Just like this, Jie Ming learned the basic alchemy manual in the gaps of cultivation, and continued to try meditation after the "state recovered," except that every time he would "accidentally" draw a stroke crookedly at the key part with mental power, precisely creating a "failure."

Every time he failed, he appropriately showed some pain, such as frowning and trembling slightly.

This was repeated three times, and it was already evening.

"Just a little hungry, I can go to the canteen to see." Jie Ming's heart moved.

Going to the canteen could not only solve the dinner problem, but also observe the state of other new apprentices, which would help him further adjust his "acting" strategy.

With an idea in his heart, he put away the meditation method and manual, Jie Ming tidied up his clothes and walked out of the room.

Leaving the dormitory building, Jie Ming headed to the apprentice canteen along the route marked in the entrance manual.

The alchemy apprentice dormitory building was relatively independent, but the canteen was shared by apprentices of the entire academy.

Along the way, he saw many young figures with tired faces but still curious eyes; most of them had just finished their respective entry attempts and were heading to solve the problem of food and drink.

The closer he got to the canteen, the more complex the smell in the air became—no longer the smell of reagents and metal, but the aroma of various cooking.

Used his apprentice badge to shine on the detection array in front of the gate, pushed open the canteen door, and Jie Ming was slightly shocked by the scene in front of him.

It was better to call this a luxury restaurant than a canteen.

In the huge space, dining tables were arranged in an orderly manner, the ground was smooth and clean, there was not a trace of oil smoke in the air, only the tempting aroma of food.

The dining tables in the central area were filled with a dazzling array of food: unknown magical beast meat roasted golden and oily, mushroom soup emitting a tempting fragrance, colorful fruit salads, and even some things that looked like desserts or pastries.

Most importantly, the food here... was actually free!

As long as they were apprentices, they could take these foods that looked valuable at will.

Only in the special area on the side of the dining table were some ingredients or potions that contained special energy effects that were rare even in the wizarding world; these needed to be purchased with credits.

"Tsk, worthy of being a wizard academy that controls the resources of an entire plane... the basic welfare is quite generous." Jie Ming sighed secretly in his heart.

For many apprentices from poor families, this free and rich food itself was a huge wealth.

Sufficient nutrition could also help them better carry out mental power cultivation and physical recovery.

Even for Jie Ming, it had considerable attraction; after all, refining essence into Qi consumed his own vitality and physical energy, and it was no exaggeration to say that Jie Ming himself was a super big eater.

He picked up a tray and walked past the dining table.

Jie Ming didn't rush to take food, but looked at other apprentices in the canteen obscurely.

Judging from the excited and curious eyes of these people, most of them were new faces who had just entered the school today, and they sat together in twos and threes, talking in low voices.

Jie Ming could clearly distinguish their mental fluctuations and physical states by virtue of his keen perception ability.

"This pale-faced one, mental power fluctuation is a bit chaotic... looks like meditation failed many times."

"That one holding his head with a painful look, should be suffering quite a bit of backlash; looks like it's not that simple for newcomers to enter."

"But these few sitting in the corner, with rosy faces and full of spirit... high talent or solid foundation, not much affected, have they already entered?"

He quickly outlined a simple "newcomer state distribution map" in his mind.

Those apprentices with lower talent levels obviously suffered a lot in their first meditation attempt.

Even apprentices with level five or level six talent seemed to be mostly tired.

Only a few people had excellent complexions.

Jie Ming's gaze fell on a corner of the canteen, where several young men and women with extraordinary temperament sat.

They were obviously the geniuses tested today, and even if they had just experienced the meditation entry that might be equally difficult, they performed with ease.

These people were surrounded by some apprentices with worship on their faces, who were communicating in low voices.

He didn't go over, but walked to a relatively quiet area and took some roast meat and vegetable salad to pile up the tray.

Just as he found an empty seat and sat down to enjoy dinner, a voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

"Hello! New alchemy department apprentice? Me too!"