Translator: AnubisTL
What "rule" should one choose as the primary focus of their research for the long road ahead?
For any wizard who had crossed the threshold into the second tier, this was a crucial question, one that could determine their future destiny.
It directly impacted a wizard's potential for growth and their ultimate achievements.
Of course, this didn't mean wizards couldn't study multiple rules simultaneously.
In fact, many great high-rank wizards mastered several, even dozens, of different types of law power.
However, based on centuries of development experience accumulated by wizard civilization through massive data analysis and summarization, it was generally best to specialize in a single core rule before advancing to the sixth tier.
Moreover, most wizards simply lacked the energy or innate talent to study a second rule.
Therefore, when Dean Avery Knight posed this question, most wizards would typically appear deeply conflicted and hesitant.
Yet, contrary to Dean Avery Knight's expectations, Jieming and David, after their initial shock, merely exchanged a glance before answering with remarkable speed and decisiveness.
"Dean Avery Knight, I wish to obtain the origins related to the Four Great Elements!"
The two wizards spoke almost in unison.
Dean Avery Knight's perpetually calm face couldn't help but break into a faint smile of approval upon hearing their answers.
He gazed at the two young second-tier wizards before him, sensing a remarkable confidence in their eyes.
The "Four Great Elements"—earth, fire, water, and wind—represented the fundamental rules governing these elements.
Within the wizard civilization, these elements were arguably the most popular and widely studied.
Even the academy's database contained the largest number of textbooks and research papers related to these elements.
After all, among the nine ninth-tier wizards who stood at the pinnacle of the civilization, six of them had core rules related to the Four Great Elements.
However, Jieming and David's answer seemed somewhat... overly general.
Under normal circumstances, a wizard who genuinely needed to rely on plane origins to break through a research bottleneck would specify exactly which branch of the Four Great Elements—earth, fire, wind, or water—they required.
They might even request more specific branches, such as the "Combustion" branch under the "Flame" rule or the "Gravity" branch under the "Earth" rule.
But they didn't.
They simply asked for a general "Four Great Elements" origin.
This clearly indicated one thing: they didn't intend to primarily rely on this origin to enhance their knowledge.
They wanted to personally observe, learn, and research the rules through their own abilities!
The most likely reason they chose the "Four Great Elements" origin was because this type of origin was the most widely circulated, had the best market value, and was the easiest to exchange for other resources—the "hard currency" of the wizarding world!
Theoretically, using plane origins to assist with advancement had no substantial side effects.
It wouldn't damage your soul or limit your future potential.
However, problems could arise on a psychological level.
Humans are inherently lazy.
Once you've experienced the effortless, enlightening process of being infused with a plane origin, like having wisdom poured directly into your mind...
In the future, whenever you encounter a research bottleneck, struggling to find a solution through deep meditation, your subconscious will inevitably turn its hopeful gaze toward the "plane origin," that convenient tool.
While shortcuts exist in the study of "laws," no such convenience applies to other areas like constructing witchcraft models, innovating in alchemy, or exploring the essence of the soul.
Throughout the long history of wizard civilization, many once-genius wizards, unable to adjust their mindset, became addicted to the ease provided by the "origin," ultimately achieving far less than their initial potential.
This is the biological instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm.
No matter how clearly your reason warns you against dependence, your subconscious remains vulnerable to its influence.
Consequently, wizards hold diverse attitudes toward using the "plane origin" for advancement.
Some see no issue, believing that power is power, regardless of its source.
Others view it as a grave threat, insisting that only knowledge gained through painstaking, step-by-step research is truly solid and truly their own.
Still others advocate for maintaining a balanced mindset, treating it as a highly useful tool but strictly avoiding overreliance.
Therefore, Dean Avery Knight had little to say about Jieming and David's choice.
After all, wizards were never accustomed to interfering with the paths others chose.
He merely admired the two young men's confidence and persistence.
After a moment's thought, Dean Avery Knight suddenly added:
"I wasn't clear enough earlier."
His voice remained calm, but his words once again stirred up a storm of shock.
"This target plane not only contains eighth-tier beings, but it appears there are more than one. This means the plane's value far exceeds our initial estimates."
"Following the fundamental wizarding principle of 'equivalent exchange,' your discovery of such a plane warrants a correspondingly greater reward. This time, I plan to grant you not the usual 'strand' of plane origin, but 'ten strands'!"
"So..." The dean's gaze returned to the two young men. "You should reconsider carefully. Are you truly certain you only want origins related to the 'Four Great Elements' rule?"
Jieming and David's eyes widened in simultaneous astonishment at the dean's words.
They had never imagined the dean would offer such a lavish reward!
A "strand" was the fundamental unit used in the wizard world for trading "plane origin."
Typically, a single strand of standard, single-rule "plane origin" contained enough law information to instantly advance a wizard's comprehension of that rule from 0% to 0.1%, even if they had no prior knowledge of it.
This number might seem small.
However, considering the requirements for wizard advancement, it meant that an average second-tier wizard who obtained just one strand of origin could effortlessly advance to the third tier without encountering any bottlenecks.
After all, accumulating mental power was simply a matter of time, but accumulating knowledge depended entirely on individual aptitude.
Ten strands of origin, on the other hand, would allow a wizard to directly advance their comprehension of a single rule to 1%!
This meant that Dean Avery Knight's reward was guaranteed to allow a second-tier wizard to advance to the fourth tier!
Although the difference between the third and fourth tiers was only one level, the significance was worlds apart!
Such a vast gap truly warranted their careful reconsideration.
Beside them, David's once-firm gaze now wavered with visible hesitation and struggle after hearing Dean Avery Knight's words.
Jieming, however, showed no signs of deep contemplation.
His answer remained as decisive as before: "Yes, Dean. I still want the origin related to the Four Great Elements rule."
Upon hearing this, Dean Avery Knight and David exchanged surprised glances.
Then, a hint of admiration flickered in their eyes—genuine respect for Jieming's unwavering resolve and determination to follow his chosen path.
Dean Avery Knight, as a high-rank wizard, understood well that whether a wizard used an origin was not the critical issue.
The most crucial factors were whether a wizard truly understood the path they wished to tread and whether their resolve to walk it remained steadfast.
Provided one possesses sufficient aptitude and unwavering determination to walk their own path, maintaining a powerful and pure heart unswayed by external influences, even using the origin would pose no mental or emotional risks.
Jieming was clearly such a wizard.
Inspired by Jieming's resolve, David's hesitant gaze instantly cleared. He took a deep breath, steeled his resolve, and declared to the dean, "Dean, I too wish to acquire the origin related to the Four Great Elements rule!"
Jieming, however, blinked in confusion at their admiring gazes. He couldn't immediately grasp why they were looking at him that way.
After all, Jieming's unwavering choice stemmed not only from his early certainty about the rule he wanted to study, but also from a far more crucial reason...
Jieming knew that the knowledge related to the "rules" he truly wanted to study in depth could never be provided by a normal material plane.
From the very beginning, Jieming's strategy for the plane origin resource was simple: to use it as hard currency for trading other resources.
In essence, this resource was as universally valuable as high-level military merits.
Dean Avery Knight nodded in satisfaction at the two young men's performance.
"Excellent," he said. "You may return to rest now. The refinement of the plane origin will take some time. In approximately... a dozen years, I will personally deliver your rewards."
Jieming and David bowed respectfully to the powerful dean to bid farewell, then turned into streaks of light and departed from the sea territory, which was still bustling with "demolition" work.
(End of the Chapter)
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