I, a cultivator, have ended up in the wizarding world

Chapter 588 The Academy's Strangeness and Genius

Inside the laboratory, Jieming held out his hands, and a ball of pale golden light was slowly gathering in his palms.

last step.

His mental power, like a precise carving knife, etched the final rune within that ball of light.

That is the core that solidifies the soul and body, the finishing touch of the entire elixir of immortality.

The moment the rune took shape, the light suddenly contracted.

A pill the size of a longan fruit emerged from the light and fell into Jemin's palm.

It is pale gold in color, with faint light patterns flowing across its surface.

Jemin stared at it for a few seconds, then put it directly into his mouth.

The pill melted upon entering the throat, and a warm sensation spread throughout the body.

Those warm breaths, like living things, automatically searched every corner of my body.

Muscles, bones, blood, internal organs...

In the end, it even transcended the boundaries between matter and soul, reaching the edge of the soul.

Then these molecularized substances begin to move along the rune structure that was arranged during manufacturing.

The aging cells are reactivated, the loosening soul structure is reinforced, and the state of the entire body and soul is fixed at its peak.

Jemin closed his eyes, sensing the subtle change.

As a magical artifact that can coexist with the human body, the elixir of immortality does not have an explosive effect, but rather a slow and subtle one.

It won't make you suddenly stronger, but it will keep you in the "strongest" state.

A moment later, Jemin opened his eyes and nodded in satisfaction.

"It's done."

Based on his actual experience, the effect has completely reached the level of a standard longevity elixir.

The Magic Network terminal suddenly started vibrating.

Jemin looked down and paused for a moment.

Today is the day to go to College Noren 147.

He actually forgot about that.

Jemin strode out of the laboratory, tidied himself up quickly, and stepped onto the teleportation array.

Spatial energy surged around, and a few seconds later, the scene before us completely changed.

Noren College 147.

Jemin stepped out of the teleportation array, stood in the central square of the academy, and took a deep breath.

This place has changed quite a bit since his last visit.

More buildings, more sophisticated magic arrays, and denser crowds.

After all, the school has been established for nearly a thousand years, so it's normal for the facilities to become more and more complete.

He walked along the central avenue, intending to first report to his advisor's office.

But after walking a few steps, he frowned slightly.

There were quite a few wizards on the road today.

That's normal; it's academy, after all, so it's normal to have many wizards.

But what's abnormal is the ranking.

Jemin's gaze swept over the passing wizards.

Those wearing apprentice robes are apprentices; these wizard apprentices are not a big problem.

But those wearing formal wizard robes...

Level 3.

level four.

Level 5.

Another Level 5.

Another Level 5.

Jemin stopped in his tracks, his brow furrowing even deeper.

Noren College 147 was founded less than a thousand years ago, making it quite young compared to other colleges with earlier serial numbers.

Normally, considering the speed of wizard advancement and the fact that this plane has only been developed for a short time, the average aptitude of the students graduating here wouldn't be very high. Therefore, the instructors here should primarily be level two or three certified wizards.

But the formal wizards he sees now are mostly level three, four, and even level five.

Jemin glanced at a level 5 wizard hurrying past in the distance and sensed the other's aura.

verified.

Although that aura reached the standard of level five, it did not give him the same sense of "threat" as a normal level five wizard.

It's like a knife that's sharpened but has a soft texture; it looks intimidating, but it won't last long in a real fight.

"Looks like he was forced into the promotion..." Jemin stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Under what circumstances would a wizard be forcibly promoted? Aside from accidents, it would naturally be a more brutal war.

The first thing that came to mind for Jemin was the wizard war that Norn Workshop fought against the Chaos Cult and the Tower of Annihilation hundreds of years ago.

The war was brutal, and many elite wizards had to force themselves to break through to level five in order to save their lives.

Those people should be the ones in front of us.

In other words, these people are the elite wizards who were selected as elite combat units and eventually gathered in the academy when Noren 147 was first established... or even before it was established.

By all accounts, Jemin can be considered one of the earliest elite wizards.

But the problem is... how come they're all here?

Jemin continued walking forward, his gaze constantly scanning the surroundings.

More and more level 5 wizards came into his view.

It's understandable that occasionally one or two wizards from elite combat units would take on teaching duties.

But having so many here is really strange.

Wizards in elite combat units do not need to perform teaching duties at all.

Although these wizards belong to Academy Noren 147, they should not be visible under normal circumstances.

Most of the time, the actual teaching duties were performed by the new batch of wizards trained after Norren Academy 147 was on track. "What about the original group of young instructors?"

A sense of doubt welled up in Jemin's mind.

He had also been following the news about the Norren Workshop, and there hadn't been any large-scale wars recently.

Just as he was pondering, he suddenly sensed something was amiss.

That was an instinctive warning from the monk.

His body, which has undergone countless adaptive evolutions, combined with his enhanced ability to achieve a state of "unity of man and nature" after comprehending the Dao in the information plane, allows him to perceive subtle "disharmony" in his surroundings.

In an instant, Jemin pinpointed the source of his feeling.

In the distance, in the shadows beneath the pillars of the corridor, something is there.

Someone is watching him.

Without stopping, Jemin made a clean turn and headed straight in that direction.

There was a moment of silence in the shadows, and then a figure stepped out.

That's a woman.

With long black hair and a black wizard's robe, he was like a walking shadow.

Her features were exquisite, but her eyes held an eerie depth, as if they could see right through people's hearts.

The moment Jemin saw her, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"It's you! It's been so long, Serafina."

It turned out to be an acquaintance.

When he graduated from Norren Academy, he participated in the Elite Trial and met other level 10 talent geniuses from Norren Academy.

Proficient in dark magic, illusion, and stealth, and skilled in mental infiltration and precise assassination.

After more than a decade, her aura had become even more profound, likely at level five.

Serafina looked at him, her deep eyes filled with the gaze of someone looking at a monster.

"Jermin."

Her voice was a little hoarse. "The technique I used to hide there was a stealth technique that my mentor taught me personally. Even a level six wizard shouldn't have been able to detect me."

Jemin nodded: "Oh."

"Oh?" Serafina's eye twitched. "You only have one 'oh'?"

Jemin thought for a moment, then raised his hands and clapped lightly at her: "Well... you're amazing! So incredible!"

Serafina took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"Fine, I won't argue with you." She looked Jemin up and down. "Your strength... has increased significantly again? I feel like you've become much more dangerous than before."

Jemin modestly replied, "It's alright, I've made some progress."

Serafina rolled her eyes.

Jemin didn't continue the topic and asked directly, "What are you doing here? Also, what's going on at the academy? Why are there so many level five wizards?" Seraphia's expression became somewhat subtle.

"I'm here for the same reason as you—I've had some free time lately, so I came to help out." She paused. "As for these level five wizards... I've heard some things, but I don't think they're enough to cause this situation."

"What news?"

Serafina: "The graduation plane used by this year's graduates was provided by one of the earliest specially appointed mentors of the academy."

Jemin paused for a moment, then realized what was happening.

After completing their ten-year studies, wizard apprentices are required to participate in the first interdimensional war upon graduation.

These selected planes came from a variety of sources, but most were discovered by mentors within the academy.

Under normal circumstances, if a high-level wizard wants to launch an interdimensional war, he needs to contribute military merits and hire a large army.

While not employing elite combat units would reduce the consumption somewhat, it would still be an astronomical figure.

Collaborating with a college makes all the difference.

Hiring wizards can save a significant amount of military merit.

Although most of those who come are apprentices, most of these apprentices will quickly advance to become full-fledged wizards in battle.

By simply hiring a few more mid-to-high-level combatants, a plane can be taken over at a low cost.

For high-level wizards, this is a very worthwhile deal.

However, Norren Academy 147 was established too recently, and it didn't have enough wizards of level six or above, so the planes it discovered were naturally fewer than those of other academies. Often, they could only use the graduation planes of other academies.

Therefore, the fact that someone has offered their own dimension is indeed special news for the academy.

But as Serafina said, just because of this, it wouldn't be enough to make so many level 5 wizards come to be mentors, would it?

The current situation is that the original group of wizard instructors in the academy have disappeared, which is why Dean Avery Knight has entrusted them with teaching duties.

Even if this graduation dimension is special, there's no need to have so many mentors go with us.

Jemin looked at Serafina.

Serafina shrugged. "That's all I know. You'll have to ask the dean for details."

Jemin nodded and continued walking forward: "Okay, we'll talk later. I'm going to report now."

After walking a few steps, he looked back at the shadow under the pillar.

There was nothing there.

But he knew that Serafina had hidden herself away again.

This woman's habits haven't changed at all.

Several months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Jemin's life became unusually regular: he would come to Norren 147 Academy every ten days, attend half a day of classes, and then return to continue his research. This teaching assignment, just as Dean Avery Knight had said, was indeed not much trouble.

He is currently in a rather unique timeframe; the older batch of students has just graduated and gone to participate in the interdimensional war.

The new batch of trainees has not yet been recruited.

Those who remain at the school now are the older students who have studied for five years and are in a critical period of improvement.

These people have a solid foundation, clear needs, and don't require any special care.

Based on Jemin's experience as a wizard apprentice, if it weren't for the need to show respect to formal wizards, these students would rather study on their own every day and wouldn't care about teaching at all.

Therefore, every time Jieming comes, he only needs to read from the lesson plan and explain some basic alchemical theories and advanced techniques.

At most, a little time will be set aside at the end of class to answer a few questions from wizard apprentices.

It's very easy.

As for the issue of the large number of level 5 wizards in the academy, Jemin also asked Dean Avery Knight about it through the magic network terminal.

But the other party seemed to be busy with something, and the message disappeared without a trace, never receiving a reply.

Jemin didn't pay much attention.

The situation is indeed a bit strange, but it doesn't affect him personally.

Judging from conversations with other wizards, there doesn't seem to be any problem.

So these wizards who came to help should soon be attending classes and doing their research, without delaying either.

That day, Jemin had just finished a class on "Rune Optimization in Energy Conduction" and was preparing to leave the classroom.

"Lord Jemin!"

A tutor rushed over from the other end of the corridor, his expression anxious.

Jemin stopped in his tracks: "What's wrong?"

"Emergency meeting. Please proceed to the conference room now."

Jemin raised an eyebrow, asked no further questions, and followed the other person toward the conference room.

The conference room is located on the top floor of the college's main building; it is a large hall that can accommodate hundreds of people.

When Jemin pushed open the door, there were already quite a few people sitting inside.

His gaze swept over the area, and a slight thought crossed his mind.

Most of those present were level five wizards, roughly thirty or forty people in total.

Two level-six wizards sat in the main seats—the academy's highest combat strength besides Avery Knight.

In the absence of the dean, this is essentially the highest leadership level of the college at this stage.

Jemin spotted Serafina in the crowd. She nodded to him, and Jemin returned the nod before finding an empty seat in the level 5 wizard area.

After waiting a few more minutes, several level 5 wizards arrived one after another.

A level six wizard sitting in the main seat stood up.

He was an elderly man with gray hair and beard, a serious face, and wearing a dark blue wizard's robe.

"Most of the people have arrived, let's begin."

The meeting room fell silent.

The old man's gaze swept over everyone, and he slowly said, "The reason I've gathered everyone here is because a genius has emerged among this year's students at the academy." Jemin had initially thought it would be some bad news, but upon hearing the word "genius," he became interested instead.

The old man continued, "That apprentice was a student of runic literature in the logistics department. During his research, he discovered a special runic structure. After preliminary verification, this structure is also quite useful for fourth-level wizards."

A slight commotion arose in the conference room.

Jemin understood.

Rune structures useful even for level four wizards...

This means that the student's research achievements have surpassed the level of ordinary apprentices and reached a level that can truly influence formal wizards. For wizarding academies, this is actually not uncommon.

After all, each academy is a collection of all qualified talents from an entire plane of existence, with a large enough pool of individuals, so it's normal for a few prodigies to occasionally emerge. But for Noren Academy 147, this is truly a first.

After nearly a thousand years of history, the school has finally produced a true genius.

"Excitement is understandable, but we can't skip the necessary procedures." The sixth-level wizard's voice turned serious. "Next, we need to conduct an in-depth review of this student."

Jemin nodded.

This is standard practice.

The review was not intended to make things difficult for the student, but to ensure that the genius was a genuine wizarding genius.

Instead of being a spy sent by some other civilization, or an unfortunate soul whose soul was possessed and replaced by some unknown outsider.

He was also examined in the same way when he created refined gold.

"The review involves several aspects." The level six wizard began assigning tasks. "The review at the soul level requires examining whether the other party's soul essence is pure and whether there are any traces of modification or replacement."

A level-five wizard, proficient in soul magic, nodded in acceptance.

"The assessment at the level of mental consciousness requires examining the state of the other party's mental state to confirm that there are no external mental imprints."

Another wizard accepted the order.

"The detection of unusual thought patterns is handled by several members of the Illusion Department."

"Compare the situation back in his hometown and send people to the dimension he was born in to verify it."

One task after another was assigned.

Finally, the level six wizard looked at Jemin.

"Sir Jemin, you are responsible for analyzing the public video footage of this student stored in the academy. Confirm whether there is anything unusual about the student's daily behavior."

Jemin nodded.

This task was very simple for him.

With the computing power provided by the Destiny System, analyzing tens of thousands of video clips won't take much time.

"Task assignment complete." The level six wizard stood up. "Everyone, get moving. Once everything is confirmed, we'll discuss the apprentice's treatment."

Everyone got up and left.

Jemin also stood up, preparing to go back and retrieve the video data.

Seraphine appeared beside him at some point and whispered, "Has Dean Avery Knight replied?"

Jemin shook his head: "No, but I asked my mentor, and nothing's been happening at the workshop lately. Since nothing's happening, let's just wait for his reply."

Serafina nodded, said nothing more, and turned to disappear into the shadows of the corridor.

(That's all for today. I've forgotten what the outline is for the rest of the chapter.)