Translator: AnubisTL
"Still... the academy is actually willing to offer high-level military merit as rewards? Can the Dean really afford that?"
After the initial excitement, Jieming calmed down and noticed the oddity.
As Clark had pointed out, the academy had undoubtedly commissioned more than just him. It was likely that every high-level wizard in the school skilled in alchemy would be tasked with creating materials resistant to energy erosion.
Jieming himself was only a third-tier wizard apprentice. His production volume and the effectiveness of his materials would certainly pale in comparison to those of the other high-level wizards.
The military merit would likely be distributed based on individual contributions. Considering this, the total amount of merit the academy was offering was quite substantial.
These were all high-level military merit, which could not be exchanged for either merit points or low-level military merit. They could only be obtained by completing missions from the Star Orbit Tribunal.
To even accept missions from the Star Orbit Tribunal, one had to be at least a seventh-tier wizard.
Within the entire Noren Academy, the only seventh-tier wizard was the Dean himself, whom Jieming had never met.
"Why do you think the Dean hasn't shown his face for so many years?" Clark asked, a rare look of schadenfreude on his face. "Of course, he's been working like a beast of burden on the frontlines."
"Hiss..."
The thought of the mysterious Dean having to toil like a beast of burden made Jieming want to laugh.
But remembering he would soon be working under the Dean's command, and fearing the Dean might hold a grudge upon his return, Jieming forced his expression into a grimace, baring his teeth and sucking in a sharp breath.
"Ahem... hmm... To support the entire academy single-handedly... the Dean is truly a model for us all..."
"Just laugh if you want," Clark said, glancing at him with a half-amused look. "That old geezer was never one for formalities anyway."
Perhaps out of resonance with their shared experience as beasts of burden, Clark's expression seemed less rigid.
Jieming's lips twitched upward, but he managed to suppress his laughter.
To change the subject, he raised another question:
"That Shadow Plane sounds like a real headache."
"That plane has a very peculiar structure. Its inhabitants exist in a semi-elemental, semi-biological state, and the unique nature of the shadow element itself has caused significant losses for our wizards."
Clark, showing no hesitation, smoothly relayed all the intelligence about the Shadow Plane. After all, Jieming's second-tier cultivation protocol granted him the authority to access such information.
"So it's that difficult to conquer... Then why doesn't the Dean personally intervene?" Jieming couldn't help but wonder.
Judging by the academy's and Clark's reactions, the Shadow Plane likely lacked any powerhouses on par with the Dean. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so relaxed.
Moreover, the higher a wizard's tier, the greater the gap between them and equivalent-tier beings from other civilizations. High-rank wizards far surpassed ordinary creatures of the same tier in power.
Even if the Shadow Plane truly harbored seventh-tier beings—even if there were more than a dozen of them, bolstered by the entire plane's energy—they likely wouldn't stand a chance against the Dean, who could probably crush them with a single hand.
"Because that world is guarded by a divine being equivalent to a Sixth-Tier Creature."
"Hmm?" Jieming tilted his head in puzzlement.
Clark glanced at him, ignoring his confusion, and instead asked, "What do you think is the true purpose behind the wizard civilization's obsession with waging Planar Wars?"
The wizards' purpose in waging war?
Jieming blinked, pondering carefully for a moment before cautiously replying, "To... acquire resources and knowledge?"
The wizards pursued many things, but ultimately, their goals boiled down to these two: resources and knowledge.
"Correct. At least you're not as blind as those fools," Clark said with a rare approving smile.
"We don't wage war for the sheer pleasure of destruction... though there are such fools among us. The vast majority of wizards participate in Planar Wars simply to continuously acquire more knowledge and resources, allowing them to advance further."
"If a plane were to immediately surrender all its knowledge and resources upon invasion, the wizards wouldn't necessarily destroy its native civilization. They might even accept them as new servants... Many of the servant planes in the Noren Workshop came about this way."
"Even if the indigenous people of a plane resist fiercely, the wizards don't care—they might even welcome it, because war catalyzes the birth of knowledge."
"In fact, because war is such an effective catalyst, some factions, after discovering a new plane, will deploy wizards of balanced strength to ensure the conflict remains at maximum intensity, thereby accelerating the emergence of new knowledge."
As he spoke, Clark glanced down at the inconspicuous bracelet on his wrist. "Of course, such extreme factions are usually aligned with the Crimson Court. The Star Ring Federation's philosophy leans more toward what I described earlier."
Can we really distinguish between good and evil in these two factions' ideologies? Jieming thought, his eye twitching involuntarily.
In Jieming's view, both the Star Ring Federation and the Crimson Court were Class A war criminals!
Neither group had a shred of decency.
What?
I'm now a member of the Star Ring Federation?
Ah, never mind then.
Jieming now understood why the academy was willing to expend so many resources on the Shadow Plane. Such a formidable plane undoubtedly held even more promising resources and knowledge.
Noticing Clark's gaze, Jieming cleared his throat and suppressed his thoughts. "If that's the case, shouldn't we have the Dean handle this? At least we could preserve most of the resources that way."
"That's the most troublesome part," Clark replied, shaking his head. "Sixth-Tier Creatures are indeed insignificant. In a direct confrontation, even some skilled fifth-tier wizards could defeat them."
"The problem is that once a creature reaches the sixth tier, it gains access to the plane origin. While they can't manipulate it with the precision of a wizard, even crude application of this power allows them to drag the entire plane into mutual destruction."
Jieming finally understood. It all came down to cost-effectiveness and potential gains.
If they forced a direct confrontation, the creature's desperation could very well render the wizards' expedition fruitless.
"So, how should we handle situations like this?"
"There are three methods. First, find a more powerful wizard to deal with it. Generally, an eighth-tier wizard can forcibly suppress the opponent's attempts to destroy the plane, even if the opponent is also an eighth-tier being. The second method is to continuously deploy forces to gradually weaken the plane's power until its origin is sufficiently diminished. Or..."
Clark paused, casting a meaningful glance out the window. "...a wizard in that plane could ascend to the sixth-tier."
(End of the Chapter)
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Translator's Corner
🛑LAST CHANCE! Massive Monthly/Yearly Discount Ends TOMORROW. 𝐰𝐰𝐰.𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦🔥