Chapter 729: New Era, Persuasion

"Uncle Aiboke, Mage Depake, I will just give you the simplest example. A few days ago, I went to Seventon, and a brand-new type of Communication Magic Tool has already appeared there, selling for 1,500 Gold Coins. What do you think their cost is roughly?"

"At least 500 or 600 Gold Coins, right!"

"If we let Tilake and the others produce it, the cost would be less than 300 Gold Coins!"

"That's impossible!"

It wasn't just Aiboke and Depake who looked disbelieving; even Niya showed a hint of hesitation, "Xia Duo, is what you said true?"

"Of course it's true! Could it be that you haven't paid any attention to the Tilake Research Lab at all?"

"Is it 【Permanent Magic】?! Did they research it?" Aiboke, who knew more about the inside story, asked immediately.

"It's not just Permanent Magic. Permanent Magic can only reduce the cost of materials, but for a Magic Item, the finished materials only account for a small portion. What truly accounts for the majority is labor—the labor cost of the Spellcaster!"

Afterward, Xia Duo summoned the Tower Spirit, pulled up a Projection, and said to Aiboke and the others, "Look, this is the scene inside the Public Level 021 Workshop. What does it make you think of?"

Inside the 021 Workshop is an assembly line. Of course, Magic Technicians at the Official Mage level are not yet in place; for now, there are only Apprentice-level technicians.

But one can glimpse the full picture from just this.

From the start of the assembly line, a small Mithril Ingot undergoes multiple rounds of inspection before entering an Alchemy Array, where Magic Technicians with spellcasting abilities skillfully perform tasks such as drawing auxiliary lines and shaping.

Afterward, it turns into a standard component and flows into the hands of the next Apprentice, where it is compared against standard measuring tools before flowing into the final assembly line.

Finally, it is assembled with other Mithril Components into the core of a Magic Item, and at the end, it is encapsulated by a skilled technician using a Magic Scroll. (This counts as a semi-finished product; encapsulation and the subsequent Link Magic Web and inspection all require Official Mages to perform, and we are currently short on people.)

In a short amount of time, Aiboke and the others witnessed with their own eyes the manufacturing process of various Mithril Components, as well as a semi-finished Crystal Ball being placed into a wooden box.

And inside that wooden box, seven or eight Crystal Balls were already neatly arranged, while in a corner of the workshop, a row of similar small wooden boxes had already been placed.

Xia Duo closed the Projection and continued to explain:

"This is the Tower of Time's current Magic Technician team. Through them, the production cost of any Magic Item can be reduced by at least twenty percent. Of course, don't think that this kind of division-of-labor production method only exists in the Tower of Time; many Mage Towers in Seventon have been doing this for a long time!"

This was, of course, Xia Duo bluffing them. Although he guessed that Mage Towers in Seventon had already begun division-of-labor production, he was not certain to what extent.

However, with the Tower of Time's own Magic Technician demonstration on-site, no matter how much he exaggerated, others wouldn't find it too abrupt.

In fact, Xia Duo had long since mentioned to Aiboke and Niya that new production methods might appear in Seventon, but they hadn't taken it seriously.

"From now into the future, the production of Magic Items has entered an era of cost-compression competition. Even if you are unwilling to accept it, other Mage Towers won't care about your feelings! When the day comes that the Tower of Time's products can't sell a single piece, it will be too late to regret it!"

Having seen the high efficiency of the Tower of Time's workshop with their own eyes, combined with Xia Duo's earnest persuasion, Aiboke and Depake finally accepted this reality, but—

"What does this have to do with actively cultivating low-level Mages? Aren't there already quite a few Apprentices now?"

"It has a lot to do with it. Once competition begins, it's a contest of who can possess cheaper industrial workers. And what is cheaper than treating Spellcasters like ordinary people! The more Spellcasters there are, the lower the cost naturally becomes. At the same time, this also relates to the essence of competition, which is the strength of each Mage Tower itself. If the strength is too weak, how can one defend such a large market!"

When it comes down to it, whether it's selling Magic Items for money or any other way of making money, only when the Tower of Time itself is strong does it have the confidence to do those things!

And if one wants the Tower of Time to be strong, besides qualitative improvement, quantity is also very important. After all, even a Great Arcanist is not strong enough to ignore the number of (Spellcasters).

After finishing, Xia Duo looked left and right, lowered his voice, and whispered, "Don't you think there are too few people in the Tower of Time? The Seven Towers rely on massive input from their Territory to maintain the birth of Great Arcanists generation after generation. What about the Tower of Time?"

This was, of course, exaggerated and fabricated, and it selectively ignored that the Tower of Time relies on Bloodline Inheritance, while the Seven Towers have actually turned into a system of selecting the best from the masses.

It is just that the current Xia Duo can be considered to be standing at the pinnacle of the Tower of Time's talent, and also at the pinnacle of power; saying this naturally doesn't feel too incongruous, and it is easy for people to subconsciously ignore the possibility of being surpassed by others.

Of course, as far as Xia Duo himself is concerned, he is not worried that being surpassed by others would lead to bad consequences; there are, after all, still scruples within the Seven Towers.

Furthermore, Niya's great-grandfather, the Great Arcanist Saville, is about to return. By then, the Tower of Time will definitely be one of the Nether Sixteen. If the Tower of Time produces a genius Great Arcanist, it will only increase the Tower of Time's weight.

Falling to the practical level, it is still the same saying: if there is no permission from those in power (usually mentors), it is almost impossible for a new Great Arcanist to appear. If they feel threatened, they just wipe them out; where would there be any opportunity for him to continue advancing!

……

Hearing Xia Duo's almost naked hint, Aiboke was immediately moved. If he hadn't felt much before, he now knew that the future required competition in manpower, required strength in numbers, and even required more people to give birth to Great Arcanists.

There was almost no other path to take; they had to expand recruitment and had to actively cultivate!

"I agree, but we must observe for a period of time. If the results are not good or if any accidents occur, I hope we can stop immediately!"

"That goes without saying!"

Regarding Aiboke's cautious words, Xia Duo naturally agreed happily. He knew that once academy-style collective cultivation began, it would be very difficult to stop.

The pressure of reality, the temptation of the grand vision, and perhaps the addition of some idealistic influence—he had finally persuaded Aiboke and Depake.

As for Niya, Xia Duo was not worried; young people, after all, are always willing to accept new things!

……

After finalizing the matters of transferring the relations of the low-level Mages with Depake, Xia Duo left in a hurry. Transferring the relations of low-level Mages on paper was very simple, merely a change in data.

But those living, breathing people were troublesome. Arranging their studies and work, and making the Academic Affairs Office truly become an Academic Affairs Office—this was not something that could be solved in a few words.