Chapter 2327: Environmental Initiatives and the Tower of Time

Considering that the Snow Melting Competition is still being held over in Xin Saiwendun, Xia Duo plans to wait until the competition ends before convening the first Council of Great Arcanists meeting of this year.

He is also preparing his own bargaining chips to pass a resolution prohibiting future acts such as intercepting mountain peaks or other actions with significant hazardous properties.

That is the Element-level Spell Pool; if this is not enough, Xia Duo's bottom line is the Deep Petrification spell. Once this spell is mastered, it is enough for any Great Arcanist possessing a Mythallar to create the prototype of their own Floating City in the Narrow Sea.

As for whether the water in the Narrow Sea will run out, there is absolutely no need to worry about that. Although the Narrow Sea is an inland sea, it is connected to the oceans at the West Pole and South Pole of the Plane through surface rivers and underground currents.

At the very worst, one could open a few Water Elemental Channels to keep the water level within a certain limit for a long time, or go to an Other Plane to build; there is always a way to figure it out.

Compared to this, intercepting mountain peaks is far too reckless.

……

Over the next two days, the 500 newly enrolled New Apprentices were directly assigned to the new school in the Floating City's Education Zone under the arrangements of the Tower of Time's Academic Affairs Office.

At present, the school here is still just a simple prototype, and the relevant basic infrastructure has not been fully constructed, but for the newly enrolled New Apprentices, there is no need for many complex facilities; having a basic environment for accommodation and lighting for the time being is sufficient.

With the enrollment of the New Apprentices, the Job Rank Assessment, which is generally held in the middle of the month, was moved up to the beginning of the month; this year's arrangements for the Melting Snow Month are tighter than at any time in previous years.

The Tower of Time's Job Rank Assessment does not distinguish between current and previous cohorts; after all, it happens once every month, and since this is only the beginning of the path of job ranks, there is no need to be too harsh. Any apprentice above the second year can try to participate in the assessment if they wish.

Many people choose to try once every month because the questions for the Job Rank Assessment are different from the weekly and monthly exams; they are not set by the Academic Affairs Office, but by Xia Duo, and the question types are numerous, cover a wide range, and are different every time.

It is the best testing method to verify an apprentice's grasp of the basics.

In the Tower of Time, a new Mage is nothing; one can become an Official Mage just by performing Ascension Casting. However, due to the tradition of the 【Ascension Trial】 initiated by the Progress Society, almost everyone will not perform Ascension Casting before passing the Job Rank Assessment.

Because only those who pass the Job Rank Assessment and obtain a Level 1 job rank can be considered to have truly left the apprentice stage!

The results of this Job Rank Assessment did not have many variables compared to previous ones, but because quite a few people had previously used the Inheritance Ritual, the number of people who passed the assessment this time was slightly higher than usual.

One can make leaps in progress through the Inheritance Ritual, but the acquisition of a job rank can only be achieved by taking the periodic Job Rank Assessments level by level; it is a product similar to a mix of academic qualifications and professional titles.

From Level 10 Mage and above, the color of the Research Institute's academic qualification begins to fade, and at this point, the job rank leans more towards a professional title.

Therefore, in Xia Duo's planning, there will not be dozens of Mage levels in the Tower of Time system. A newcomer starts from the first year upon enrollment, then gradually advances to the second and third years.

By the third year, one can take the Job Rank Assessment, testing up level by level from Level 1 Mage to Level 10 Mage. In the future, when various Independent Research Labs or official research institutions recruit people, there will be corresponding job rank requirements.

And upon reaching Level 10, which is the High Mage level, one can choose a specialization or, in other words, choose a major. By this step, the foundation is already very solid, and generally speaking, there is hope for becoming an Advanced Arcanist, and the odds are not small.

Of course, this is only for the Tower of Time Mages who have received systematic education; Mages outside the Tower of Time will remain as they are.

By this time, the 【Negative Energy Downgrade】 technology that Xia Duo has been maintaining should also be ready to be brought out for use. Basically, there will not be people following the Archmage-Legendary Mage route; unless they are too foolish, they can get through it even just by grinding.

A Level 10 Mage will continue to pursue advanced studies according to their chosen major and can begin to apply for the Researcher job rank. For the time being, it is only divided into Levels 1, 2, and 3, and these three levels of job ranks, which lean more towards professional titles, are not entirely determined by exams.

It also requires a comprehensive consideration of the applicant's contributions; generally, contribution here refers to the number of papers, as well as academic and application achievements.

Of course, seniority will also be considered, but the content considered is not time, but rather related to the quantity and quality of students cultivated. In other words, a student's contribution can be converted into a teacher's seniority at a certain ratio, pushing the teacher to upgrade.

This also gives a chance to those Researchers who have limited achievements in academic and application fields but are exceptionally good at leading students, so that their true contributions are not buried.

In Xia Duo's planning, generally speaking, Level 3 Researchers are basically Great Arcanists. By using the researchers from 【Projection Plane: Empire Remnants】 as a reference, Xia Duo can well control the promotion speed of researchers.

After all, the higher the researcher level, the more resources they can mobilize, and these resources are often provided without asking for a return. If they were really opened up without limits, no matter how thick the family fortune is, it would not be enough to squander.

As for what is above Level 3 Researcher, Xia Duo has not thought about it yet, but it can also simply keep going up. This mainly depends on the development of the Tower of Time and Daxia Territory; if the development is good, it doesn't matter if there are a few more levels.

If the development is not good, perhaps a Level 3 Researcher will not even appear.

In addition, there is the advanced route above Great Arcanist, which is something many people are extremely concerned about. At present, Great Arcanist corresponds to the High Mage in the Elven Magic System, but there is no path above High Mage.

Or rather, a High Mage has already obtained the most rudimentary power of immortality and can use nearly infinite time to keep researching until they no longer wish to do so, and then head to Arvandor, the Elf God Kingdom in the Outer Planes, to enjoy themselves.

But according to what Xia Duo has learned, even in the Outer Planes, Mages will still continue to research Magic, but the Magic Net of the Outer Planes is more like an illusory projection, and the essence of the plane is more like idealism; researching there is simply twice the effort for half the result, unless what is being researched is not Magic.

The best place to research Magic is in the Material Plane, where everything is just right.

Therefore, regarding the conception of what is above Great Arcanist, Xia Duo is more inclined to first get rid of the shackles of lifespan. Currently, the Netheril Magic System already has Life Extension Spells, and some effects are quite good.

As for the changes to the human body itself, the Bloodline Sequencing Project is also proceeding steadily; the lifespan of future humans should be quite considerable.

But considerable does not mean being able to completely get rid of the shackles of lifespan. Xia Duo himself, after multiple Bloodline Awakenings, has a lifespan that is almost endless, but there still exists such an end!

As the possessor of the bloodline, he is very certain of this point!

The current him can only live a long life, but cannot achieve eternal life; even the most rudimentary immortality like that of an Elven High Mage is something he cannot achieve.