Chapter 1699: Wisdom Brain Cost Replacement Agreement

At this time, although it was already late at night, Bulundesi replied very quickly after Xia Duo sent the Sending, though the result was somewhat beyond Xia Duo's expectations—

"Currently, all sales of Spirit Quality from the Seven Towers are handled by Gustav Tower. Of course, if Lord Xia Duo has a need, I can purchase it on your behalf, but at a price of fifty thousand Gold Coins per unit, even Lord Huo En cannot reduce it."

Fifty thousand per unit; this meant that to build a Mage Tower with an Artifact Spirit, the fixed cost would have to be deducted by one hundred and fifty thousand first, and for the Wisdom brain Xia Duo wanted to plan, it was not yet certain exactly how many "Artifact Spirits" would be needed.

According to his speculation, if he wanted the Wisdom brain to work quickly, he would need more "Artifact Spirits," simplified to serve as auxiliary computing units.

If he did not pursue speed, a single Tower Spirit would actually be enough for his use, but what difference would that have from his own research?

Xia Duo considered it for a moment and decided to slow down for now. It was not that he was not planning to make the Wisdom brain, but the price was truly too outrageous. The pressure on the Floating City was already great enough; there was no need to fall into the bottomless pit of the Wisdom brain.

If one wants Spirit Quality, it is not necessary to buy it from the Seven Towers. Nowadays, the Arcane Union is already building an Ether Forward Base. Although it is in cooperation with the Seven Towers, it would not let the Seven Towers collect all the Spirit Quality.

Purchasing it there might yield a lower price, and at the very least, one could personally enter the Ether Plane to hunt.

Of course, Xia Duo's heart still leaned toward spending money to buy convenience; the matter of hunting sounded unreliable, as Phantom distortions are gregarious in the Ether Plane.

Basically, discovering one means there are more. If it is a small settlement, that would be fine; generally, even if one cannot win, one can run away. But if one encounters a large settlement, there is almost certainly a Phantom distortion king present.

That kind of powerful existence is difficult to deal with even for a Great Arcanist.

More crucially, no matter what strength a Phantom distortion has, it possesses Wisdom; once it cannot win, it will not fight to the death.

Moreover, a hunter cannot judge in advance whether the target belongs to a small settlement or a large one. As long as one cannot succeed in one strike, the follow-up is either a wretched retreat or being ganged up on by a team led by a Phantom distortion king, a narrow escape from death.

Besides the act of hunting itself, there are various uncertain factors in the Ether Plane, such as native hunters of the Ether Plane or some special environments.

All of these could potentially have a bad influence on the result.

Although Xia Duo very much wanted to obtain Spirit Quality and then attempt to manufacture a Wisdom brain, this matter had not yet reached the point of urgency where he had to personally go to the Ether Plane to hunt.

While pondering, Xia Duo had already made a decision. He sent a message to Bulundesi telling him of his purchase intention and agreed to meet and discuss it in detail after the Midsummer Festival.

Bulundesi naturally had no objections to this, "Then I will wait for Lord Xia Duo's arrival in Seventon! Additionally, the Midsummer Festival is approaching; regarding the candidates for the Bloodline Sequencing Project, is Lord Xia Duo prepared?"

"I am already prepared. After the Midsummer Festival, I will take them to Seventon."

Interrupting the communication, Xia Duo could not help but scratch his head. Recently, he had been tied up by the Floating City and the No. 1 Spire. If not for Bulundesi's reminder, he would have almost forgotten about the Bloodline Sequencing Project entirely.

Saying he was prepared was one thing, but in fact, he had not yet notified anyone at the Tower of Time!

Such a rare opportunity for study abroad; how should he go about selecting them?

……

Returning to the Tower of Time, Niya was not yet asleep. The two lay on the bed, chatting casually about the topic of this year's Midsummer Recruitment—

"The Academic Affairs Office is already short of Teachers, and you are recruiting so many people at once this year. Do you intend to temporarily add a few more Rank Examinations next month?"

"How is that possible!"

Xia Duo placed his hand on the back of Niya's hand, gently soothing her, "The previous temporary additions to the exams were indeed due to a shortage of people, but more importantly, it was the number of Level 3 Apprentices.

"Now, after those few temporary sessions, the number of Level 3 Apprentices has decreased significantly. It is expected that it will be difficult to return to the previous state in the short term."

"Then what do you intend to do?" Niya asked again.

"It's difficult!"

"Can't you recruit fewer people?"

Xia Duo heard that there was actually no dissatisfaction in Niya's words, but rather confusion; she did not know why Xia Duo had to be so urgent.

But in fact, this was already the speed after Xia Duo had slowed down significantly; it was the result of compromising with the Territory, the Tower of Time, and even the external environment.

If it were up to his own ideas, it would be best to go straight to universal education. Although it wouldn't be teaching Magic right away, one would still have to establish such a mechanism first.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Duo only said four words—"Time waits for no one!"

Hearing this explanation, Niya was stunned for a moment, but then nodded thoughtfully, "Then are you going to transfer Level 2 Apprentices to teach Enlightenment Classes to the new Apprentices?"

"That is also possible. Not everyone has enough talent to become an Official Mage. At least within the three-year agreement period, it is estimated that many people will face the dilemma of breach of contract."

"Then you mean—"

"Of course, it's to provide them with a job to pay back the debt quickly!" Xia Duo laughed.

The Apprentice Training Program originally started the year before last, and all new Apprentices recruited afterward joined this program. Now that the three-year term was halfway over, basically everyone had a ruler in their heart regarding whether they had enough talent.

Now that the agreement period had not yet arrived, for those with higher talent who could pass the Rank Examination within three years, Xia Duo felt it was better to let them continue studying.

But for those with average talent who were destined not to pass the exam within three years, Xia Duo felt there was no need for them to waste any more time.

It was more practical to start working early to earn money and pay off the breach of contract penalty. Moreover, even if they started working, it did not mean their Magic Path had come to an end.

Even Magic Technicians had opportunities to advance further, let alone Teachers. Perhaps one day they would have a breakthrough on the job, staging a good show of late blooming.

In fact, in Xia Duo's view, an Official Mage was equivalent to a primary school graduate. Even if someone failed to graduate smoothly during that period, it did not mean that primary school Knowledge was forever cut off from them.

As long as they were engaged in work related to Magic, after a long time, these basic Knowledge points would easily be mastered naturally. This is called "Learning on the job, growing at the post!"

The academy route has the benefits of the academy route, and the technician route has the wonders of the technician route. In the future Magic civilization, there is no absolute distinction between superior and inferior.

As long as they follow him unswervingly, both have a bright future.

……

"By the way, for this year's new Apprentice teaching, I plan to adopt a brand-new teaching method."

"What method?" Niya asked curiously.

"An Automatic Q&A Machine; it is actually a type of 'Artifact Spirit' prepared specifically for them!"

Xia Duo told Niya about his research from a while ago. Although they might not be able to form a Wisdom brain for the time being, these 'Artifact Spirits' could not be left idle; they could completely be used by the Apprentices first.

Incidentally, one could also test the stability of the "Artifact Spirit" through extensive use. If one could find a few "bugs" because of this, that would be even better.