The teleportation square returned to order.
The alchemical wizards responsible for maintaining the arrays had already gathered around the smoking teleportation circle, beginning to inspect the damaged runic formations. Jie Ming glanced over and confirmed that it was only a partial overload of the energy circuits, not damage to the spatial anchor points. He breathed a slight sigh of relief. At least he wouldn’t have to pay too much for repairs.
Just as he was about to head toward the academy assembly hall, a familiar voice came from behind.
“Jie… Ming?”
Jie Ming turned around.
Not far away, a young man in a black wizard robe was waving at him.
Bill Ling Black.
The soul-system prodigy who had entered Nolen Academy in the same year as him, and now the largest distributor of Liquid Adamant within the Noren Workshop’s territory. Jie Ming cracked a smile.
“Black.”
Black walked over quickly.
“What a coincidence. I thought I might have mistaken you.”
But the moment Black opened his mouth, Jie Ming froze.
Because… it was too slow.
Black’s lips parted slowly, each word stretching out as if artificially lengthened, spilling from his mouth bit by bit.
“How… have… you… been… lately…”
The voice wasn’t distorted, just painfully slow.
Even Black’s raised hand, waving in greeting, seemed slowed by several times.
Just standing there waiting, Jie Ming couldn’t help but feel an odd urge.
Faster.
A little faster.
This pace made him almost want to finish the other’s sentence for him.
But as soon as the thought arose, he realized what was happening.
It wasn’t that Black had slowed down—it was that he himself had sped up.
More precisely,
their perceptions of the passage of time had fundamentally diverged.
A glimmer of understanding flashed in Jie Ming’s eyes.
The greatest transformation of a sixth-level wizard was not just the Law-Crystallization Domain, nor just the spiritual sea.
What truly leaped was the entire life level.
With the improvement of his Law-Crystallization Domain, Jie Ming’s life level had grown rapidly. After centuries of accumulation, coupled with the breakthrough of his true body, his thinking speed had long surpassed that of fourth- and fifth-level wizards. Thus, in his perception, Black appeared so slow.
In the Infernal Sulfur Plane, Jie Ming had faced only sixth-level beings like the Black Giant Priests, so the difference hadn’t been as noticeable. With this thought, he actively slowed his own thought speed, and the feeling of time being stretched finally eased.
“I’ve been doing well lately.”
He answered with a smile, his powerful computational ability ensuring his speaking speed matched Black’s.
“My experiments are going smoothly.”
Black chuckled. “I heard you developed a talent enhancement technique? When I start my family later, don’t turn down my trade offer!”
“Of course.”
Jie Ming nodded.
“And thank you for your help with Liquid Adamant all these years.”
“Mutual benefit.”
Black waved a hand.
“By the way, you’re now one of the most famous people in the academy.”
The two chatted as they walked toward the assembly hall.
Throughout, Jie Ming deliberately suppressed his thinking speed.
Even so, he constantly had to remind himself to be patient.
By the time Black finished a sentence, in Jie Ming’s subjective perception, it was nearly enough time to think through the sentence a dozen times.
It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
Yet in this somewhat protracted conversation, a wave of emotion suddenly washed over Jie Ming.
No wonder.
No wonder most of the high-rank wizards he had encountered along the way seemed so aloof toward lower-rank ones.
He used to think it was just due to the vast gap in power.
Now, having experienced it himself, he finally understood.
The root cause was time.
The world high-rank wizards saw was inherently faster than that of lower-rank wizards.
Communicating with a lower-rank wizard was like asking an ordinary person to patiently watch a video slowed down dozens of times.
Every sentence required waiting.
Every action felt drawn out.
Moreover, high-rank wizards had to actively slow their own thoughts and control their speaking speed just to be understood. This was undoubtedly a patience-taxing task.
No wonder.
Even though the Magic Net terminal allowed real-time communication, the high-rank wizards who actually managed the academy preferred to send text messages. After all, text communication had no time difference.
Thinking of this, Jie Ming smiled.
He thought of Senior Viola and his mentor Clark. In every conversation with him, neither had ever shown the slightest impatience. Viola, in particular, could even banter with him for a long time.
Now that he reflected, they must have been constantly accommodating his own time rhythm.
A warmth spread in Jie Ming’s heart.
The two arrived at the assembly hall.
The vast semicircular hall could hold thousands.
Tiered seating rose in concentric rings, silver-white walls inlaid with numerous spirit-amplification runes, and dozens of three-dimensional light screens floated in the center. The hall was nearly full.
Looking out, there was a dense sea of wizards.
In an ordinary civilization, these thousand-plus wizards could easily destroy several worlds.
But here in Nolen 147 Academy, it was just a routine meeting.
Jie Ming swept his gaze across the hall.
He felt a sense of emotion.
When the academy was first established a few thousand years ago, almost everyone sitting here were first- and second-level wizards.
Third- and fourth-level wizards were rare.
Now, the lowest rank in the hall was fourth-level, and fifth-level wizards made up a considerable proportion.
Even sixth-level wizards numbered in the dozens.
In just a few millennia, Nolen 147 Academy had truly grown into a major academy capable of steadily cultivating high-rank wizards.
Jie Ming and Black nodded to each other, then walked to their respective areas.
As per custom, seats were arranged by wizard rank.
Fourth- and fifth-level wizards sat in the outer ring, while sixth-level wizards occupied the front.
Jie Ming took his seat.
Not long after he sat down, the entire hall fell silent.
A figure slowly materialized on the high platform.
Dean Avery Knight still wore his simple gray robe.
Though he released no pressure, his mere presence naturally hushed the hall.
Dean Avery Knight scanned the audience, confirming everyone was present. Without any preamble, he spoke directly: “My mandatory rest period is about to end.”
That single sentence caused a slight stir in the hall.
Many sixth-level wizards grew serious.
Jie Ming was somewhat surprised, but his expression soon calmed.
He had not been entirely unprepared for this.
According to Star Ring Federation regulations, a seventh-level wizard who had completed a long-term frontline mission was required to undergo a ten-thousand-year mandatory rest. However, if during the rest period they undertook important duties—like nurturing juniors or building academies—the term could be halved.
Avery Knight’s decision to establish Nolen 147 Academy fell under that clause.
Now, five thousand years had passed, and his rest period had officially ended.
A seventh-level wizard had the qualifications to enter the front lines of Wizard Civilization.
There, they carried out high-level missions and earned high-level military merits.
Though most of the time their roles were strategic support, plane stabilization, and law restoration—each mission often lasted centuries or even millennia.
Therefore, Dean Avery Knight’s prolonged absence from the academy was essentially settled.
Avery continued: “Thanks to everyone’s efforts, the academy’s development is on track. Even without me, normal operations won’t be affected.”
“However, according to Federation regulations, for safety, every academy must always retain at least one high-rank combat unit on station.”
With that, his gaze slowly swept across the front row before settling on Jie Ming.
“Jie Ming, I have already informed Viola.”
“From now on, the two of you will take turns handling the academy’s garrison duty.”
Jie Ming nodded. “Understood.”
In the hall, many wizards showed expressions of “as expected.”
This kind of garrison duty primarily considered combat capability.
Currently, the only ones in the academy capable of stably fulfilling this role were the two of them.
Avery paused, thought for a moment, and added: “If Wizard Berta Vera Augusta titled War God, attains sixth level during this period, then the three of you will rotate garrison duty.”
Hearing this, many nodded slightly.
Clearly, the academy’s high ranks held high expectations for Augusta’s advancement to sixth level.
Having finished that, Avery calmly surveyed the hall.
“Next, I will assign the specific work for the academy in the coming period…”