Chapter 196: The Advancing Jorrod

Grand Wizard Galon's words left Richard both shocked and delighted. It was undoubtedly a good thing to be noticed by someone of Galon's stature, but from the way Galon spoke, Richard suspected that this sudden disappearance likely meant he was going to consult with the Black Tower Grand Wizard about his inheritance.

Although Richard felt that someone of Galon's caliber wouldn't resort to coercing Jorrod into handing over the Adapted Body wizardry, he couldn't help but wonder, what if?

He pushed down that small worry and was soon joined by Jimmy, who came over to congratulate him.

"Richard, you've really made a name for yourself! The Minister himself invited you to join the Academy—this is truly rare!"

Richard smiled. "It's all a coincidence, just a coincidence."

With that, Richard handed over the inheritances he obtained in the secret realm to Jimmy, including the two Secret Traditions, the Changshan Fist Intent, and the Rock Crushing Fist, among other Tianxia Traditions.

Richard had always adhered to the agreements he made.

Jimmy took them, glanced through them, and said in surprise, "The Secret Traditions of Changshan Monastery? The abbot and the chief monk of Changshan Monastery are both third-tier beings, and their power could even rival many third-ring wizards. You actually got their Secret Traditions! How did you manage that?"

Richard smiled confidently. "Naturally, I traded for them. These Mountain Dwarfs aren't mindless beasts. As long as the price is right, even Secret Traditions can be exchanged."

Jimmy's eyes widened in realization, and he couldn't help but laugh and scold, "You're a clever one. The Minister opened the secret realm for us to challenge these Mountain Dwarfs and hone our skills, not to mention using the special environment of the Mountain World to enhance our physical strength. But here you are, making business deals with them!"

Richard shrugged. "The rules didn't say anything against making trades. Since I don't have the power of other masters, I had to take a different route."

With the inheritance handed over, Richard's time in the secret realm came to a close. 

The seal placed by Grand Wizard Galon quickly lifted, and once released, Richard's body returned to its normal state.

Before leaving, Jimmy told Richard to visit the club more often if he had the time. Many wizards pursuing physical cultivation were in the Wizarding World these days, so finding a suitable sparring partner would be easy.

Leaving the arena, Richard made his way directly to the commercial layer.

"Your materials total 182 Magic Essence, thank you for your patronage," the attendant said.

Richard nodded and handed over the Magic Essence.

After the materials were delivered to the Wizard Tower, Richard immediately went to the basement library.

The library housed a large bookshelf, each book meticulously labeled by Richard.

His fingers ran across the spines of the books, finally finding what he was looking for—a cryptic notebook.

In the dimly lit basement, Richard silently opened the cryptic notebook, made from the skin of some unknown creature. A stream of information appeared before his eyes.

**Materials: Unknown Wizard's Cryptic Notebook** 

**Extractable Information: Gravity Field Rune Array** 

**Extraction Cost: 2.5 mental power**

Richard often didn't extract the information from these notebooks right away for various reasons, but he had some idea of what knowledge might be hidden within them.

After the extraction, Richard instantly had the design diagram of a Rune Array for gravity fields in his mind.

With this diagram, Richard could now simulate the gravity conditions of the Mountain World in the Wizarding World.

Leaving the basement, Richard was preparing to unpack the materials delivered by the guild and set up a gravity training room. But a magical fluctuation from the third floor interrupted his actions.

It was the fluctuation from a long-distance communication crystal ball.

Richard went upstairs and saw a message from Jorrod, instructing him to visit the Black Tower Wizard Academy.

"This… what did Grand Wizard Galon do?" A hint of unease flashed through Richard's mind as he quickly flew toward the Black Tower Wizard Academy.

After half a month of flight, Richard met with Jorrod. But to Richard's surprise, Jorrod greeted him with a bright, cheerful smile, as though something delightful had happened.

"Teacher, what's got you so happy?" Richard asked curiously.

"Happy?" Jorrod grinned, his lips curling into a wide smile. "It's more than happy. I, your teacher, am about to advance to a third-ring wizard!"

"Third-ring wizard!"

Jorrod's words sent a jolt through Richard's heart.

As everyone knew, the greatest challenge for a wizard to break through was the materials required for the advancement ceremony, and more importantly, the Darkness of the Soul during the advancement process.

Ironically, it was the latter—seemingly more difficult—that was often easier to deal with.

Wizards' pursuit of knowledge through experiments was not due to the fact that wizards were more intelligent or capable than other races. It was driven by the need to confront the Darkness of the Soul.

When wizards first discovered the Darkness of the Soul in ancient times, they began searching for ways to counter it. This search process, in turn, inspired the development of wizardry.

The terror of the Darkness of the Soul lay in the endless waiting, while the search for a solution also seemed endless.

Once wizards realized this, the first wizard was born.

Therefore, when wizards advanced, they often did not rush the process, for encountering the Darkness of the Soul meant death. It was better to study and refine their character.

Compared to the Darkness of the Soul, the materials for advancement were often even harder to obtain.

Apart from Richard's unique method of devouring Soul Essence for his advancement, other methods of advancing required a ceremony.

These ceremonies were mostly passed down from predecessors, with earlier wizards using their wisdom and knowledge to create pathways to advancement.

But a few wizards would design their own ceremonies.

These wizards were considered the pioneers of the next generation.

Jorrod was one such wizard preparing to become a pioneer. His inheritance did not include a method to advance to the third ring, and although he had designed his own advancement ceremony, it had been stuck on paper due to the lack of a key material.

Now, Jorrod was ready to advance, which meant either the materials had been found or the ceremony had been revised.

"Teacher, did you find the Heart of the Soul?"

Jorrod shook his head. "No, I feel like I'll never find it in this lifetime."

Upon hearing this, Richard immediately understood.

"It's the Dean, or perhaps Grand Wizard Galon?"

"It's Grand Wizard Galon."

Jorrod looked puzzled. "It's strange, though. For some reason, Grand Wizard Galon suddenly came to the Dean to inquire about you and then found me."

"Do you have some connection with Grand Wizard Galon?"

Richard nodded and explained everything that had happened.

"I see now," Jorrod stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You should consider what Grand Wizard Galon said. As for the Academy, don't worry too much. The Academy isn't one to prevent wizards from joining other academies."

With that, Jorrod suddenly became serious and took out a sealed scroll from his pocket.

"Richard, this is my will. Although I'm quite old and believe my disposition is strong enough, you understand the terror of the Darkness of the Soul. In case of any accident, this will will automatically open, and you can distribute my belongings accordingly."

Richard solemnly took the scroll, and Jorrod added:

"Besides this will, I also wanted to ask you for something else."

"What's that?"

Jorrod pointed to the blackboard in his laboratory. "As a faculty member of the Academy, I'm going to advance. According to Academy rules, you students still here will have to take over my classes."

"It's not too much. Each of you will have to teach for thirty years."

"…That works."

After giving the instructions, Jorrod patted Richard's shoulder and flew toward the upper levels of the Black Tower.

Jorrod wasn't planning on going to the Tower of Truth; he intended to advance within the Black Tower, where he had spent thousands of years.

Richard watched his teacher's back and, though not a believer, silently prayed:

"May the gods bless my teacher, Jorrod, in his successful advancement."

---

Before his teaching duties began, Richard made one more trip to the Tower of Truth to deliver his materials to the Central Black Tower.

Teaching at the Academy was relatively easy, given the long lifespan and vast experience of wizards. Teaching a group of young students was certainly a breeze.

But since he was going to teach, Richard decided to take it seriously.

His junior sister, Yelina, had become a wizard decades ago. Though she wasn't good at combat, she had excellent talent in synthesizing beasts. Under Jorrod's recommendation, she became part of the faculty. She would be involved in interplanar wars and would serve as a logistical wizard.

Although logistical wizards didn't gain much during wars, their safety was assured. If she followed the proper path and with Jorrod's help, she would likely become a second-ring wizard without much trouble.

On the 67th floor of the Black Tower, Richard found Yelina's lab and went to ask her about the teaching requirements.

In the lab, Yelina was busy at her workbench, while two identical young girls were at the dissection table, studying the anatomy of an alien creature.

Noticing Richard's presence, Yelina turned toward the lab door.

"Hey, Richard!"

Seeing Richard, Yelina's face lit up with surprise.

"Yelina, long time no see. Are these your apprentices?" Richard asked, pointing to the two young girls at the dissection table.

Yelina nodded and walked over to the table, patting the heads of the two apprentices. "Aliya, Polina, this is your senior, Richard."

But to Richard's surprise, the two apprentices didn't move at all at Yelina's words.

Aliya stood motionless, her body tense like a drawn bowstring. She had heard Yelina's words, but her body couldn't move in the face of the terrifying wizard behind her. She instinctively activated her body's defense mechanism—remaining completely still.

Aliya barely turned her eyes to glance at her sister, but noticed that Polina was just as frozen.

The telepathic connection between twins allowed them to sense each other's emotions.

But right now, all they could feel was fear—the deep, primal fear of facing a predator.

Their teacher's senior... What kind of monster is he?

"Hmm?" Yelina furrowed her brow, about to say something when Richard awkwardly interjected, "My bad, I forgot to suppress my life radiation."

Since Richard usually interacted with wizards, he hadn't paid much attention to his life radiation. After just coming back from the Mountain Secret Realm, his cells were still in a highly active state, making his life radiation more intense than usual.

This radiation wasn't much of a problem for wizards, but for apprentices, it was overwhelming.

As Richard suppressed his life radiation, the two apprentices collapsed to the floor, drenched in cold sweat.

"Haha, my bad, my bad."

Richard laughed awkwardly and looked around the lab, attempting to change the subject.

There were many glass tanks in the lab, containing various alien creatures. But what was strange was that despite their different forms, all these creatures shared the same kind of scales.

Richard looked closer and asked, uncertain, "Are you studying... Dragonblood species?"

(End of Chapter)