Translator: AnubisTL
After submitting his adamantium sales application for review, Jieming couldn't help but feel smug for a long time.
He had already begun to imagine himself making a fortune from the adamantium, then using the earned merit points to improve himself, creating a perfect resource cycle that would ultimately lead him to become an unparalleled powerhouse.
Occasionally, when he saw apprentices toiling tirelessly for merit points, though he showed no outward expression, Jieming couldn't suppress a sense of self-satisfaction.
"Indeed, without unique skills or means of production, one can only be exploited. This kind of backbreaking work with pitiful merit point rewards... even a dog wouldn't..."
"I'll do it! If the dogs won't, I will! I fucking love doing tasks!"
In the third distillation tower area, Jieming's expression twisted.
The air here was thick with a nauseating mix of odors, like rotting vegetation and spoiled magic potions.
Clad in heavy protective gear, including goggles and a mask, Jieming held a long-handled scraper and a rag soaked in pungent solvent, both issued by the workshop.
His task was to clean the abnormally massive metal distillation tower before him, which stood at least ten stories tall.
For reasons unknown, the tower's interior was coated with a viscous, tar-like black substance.
Rumor had it that this substance was highly sensitive to energy factors and completely resistant to wizardry, leaving manual labor as the only solution.
He had to climb into the cramped interior and scrape, scrub, and wash it away, bit by bit.
As for why he was here doing this task... well, that was a long story full of tears.
He had once believed that refining adamantium—one of the most urgently needed materials for wizards—would solve his resource problems once and for all.
But reality struck him another crushing blow.
Jieming had initially feared the worst-case scenario: that his adamantium would go unsold, lost among a sea of similar isolation materials.
The truth proved far harsher than he could have imagined—he hadn't even reached the point of selling!
The "white iron-based isolation material" he submitted displayed a glaring "Awaiting Inspection" status on the workshop's magic network system.
No matter how many times he checked each day, the status remained unchanged, as if forgotten in some dusty corner.
Without passing inspection, the material couldn't be listed for sale, denied even the dignity of being rejected, let alone earning merit points.
This secret path to wealth, discovered by chance, was now firmly blocked by an unexpected obstacle.
Meanwhile, Jieming's need for merit points grew as urgent as breathing.
As his studies progressed, his demand for merit points skyrocketed.
Want to practice shaping techniques with special materials after class?
Fine, first exchange merit points for new supplies at the materials depot.
Want to analyze an unknown mineral using your newly acquired knowledge?
Sorry, the more detailed Compendium of Material Properties requires merit points to unlock access.
Want to use a slightly better crucible with mental power assistance for more complex experiments?
No problem. Just pay the merit point rental fee through the magic net terminal.
Everything in the academy revolves around merit points!
The alchemy workshop doesn't tolerate idlers.
They provide basic food, lodging, and knowledge, but anything beyond that must be earned through labor and results.
"Fucking hell! What kind of goddamn inefficient bureaucracy is this?!"
Jieming cursed under his breath, but he dutifully donned his protective suit and prepared for work.
The work was monotonous and grueling.
The protective suit blocked most odors but made movement clumsy and slow. Even with Jieming's physique, the extreme heat inside the distillation tower was unbearable.
Sweat steamed inside the suit, and the grating sound of the scraper against metal echoed through the tower.
"This is fucking exhausting..." another apprentice muttered nearby, his protective suit coated in stubborn grime.
Jieming nodded in agreement, though he didn't complain aloud. He mechanically repeated his tasks, seemingly drained of any interest in conversation by the relentless labor.
Beneath his seemingly passive exterior, Jieming's powerful mental power was secretly at work.
He meticulously observed the internal structure of the distillation tower: the intricate network of pipes, the energy transmission runes etched into the metal, the seamless fusion of different materials... Each detail served as a living textbook.
He swiftly relayed the information to the Great Dao Library Pavilion, instructing it to find similar knowledge for comparative study.
"The design of this energy interface... shares striking similarities with the fundamental artifact forging techniques in the Great Dao Library Pavilion. It even seems to utilize the principles of spatial folding... but the core remains rune-based energy conduction. I need to memorize this aspect thoroughly. It seems I must begin studying rune studies as soon as possible."
Amidst the grueling conditions, Jieming endured the monotony and exhaustion while integrating the knowledge of the Wizard World into his understanding of the cultivation system.
After a full day's work, he returned to his dormitory and collapsed onto his bed.
Though mentally drained, his body felt surprisingly refreshed. His true essence had even become more refined.
Even more critically, Jieming could feel the energy within him accumulating at a frenzied pace. The barrier of the first layer of qi refining had become so fragile that it could shatter at any moment!
Climbing out of bed, he assumed a meditative posture and turned his gaze inward to his mental sea.
Within the seemingly boundless ocean, three radiant, intricate patterns occupied three points around the perimeter, drawing in a continuous stream of elemental power from the outside world.
Over the past month, he had unconsciously inscribed three truth runes into his mental sea, completing the runes representing the core concepts of alchemy: "Transformation," "Fusion," and "Refinement." His progress in the meditation technique had reached the peak of a first-tier apprentice in the wizard system!
His mental sea had more than doubled in size since he first enrolled, and his mental power had become both more condensed and more vibrant.
Now, all that remained was for him to successfully meditate and inscribe a fourth truth rune to officially become a second-tier apprentice.
However, at the same time, the mental power reserves granted by Jieming's "innate talent" had been completely exhausted.
Now, Jieming could only rely on constant meditation to absorb elemental power from the outside world, replenishing and accumulating more mental power to support his breakthrough to the next rune.
This was one of the advantages of being a genius. With his innate talent, he had effortlessly advanced to a first-tier wizard apprentice. Jieming speculated that top-tier geniuses at the eighth or ninth-tier might not exhaust their natural mental reserves until they reached the second-tier wizard apprentice stage.
Accumulating mental power was not a process that could be rushed, so the progress of his meditation technique wasn't his immediate concern.
The real problem was that Jieming's cultivator cultivation was also on the verge of breaking through!
It had been less than two months since he had broken through to the first layer of qi refining, yet now he was on the cusp of advancing to the next layer.
The energy within his body had become uncontrollable, as if it were about to explode at any moment.
(End of the Chapter)
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