Today is the basic theory class of the Alchemy Workshop.
Sunlight streamed in through the tall windows, illuminating the ever-serious face of Professor Clark at the podium.
He was explaining some fundamental energy conduction properties of ore, his voice as monotonous as grinding stone.
Jeming sat towards the back, mechanically taking notes in his notebook while skillfully operating the Inner Circulation Method to suppress True Essence fluctuations.
With the breakthrough in his power, his Inner Circulation Method became even more complete, hiding better than when he was at the Qi Cultivation First Layer.
Thanks to that wisp of Eastward Purple Qi, his Qi Cultivation Second Layer's realm stabilized overnight, but further cultivation required more accumulation and more points to rent a laboratory.
After all, with the purification of his soul by the Eastward Purple Qi, his aptitude improved again, and the increase in Spiritual Power after the Qi Cultivation breakthrough also boosted the efficiency of his Meditation Method.
Even though Jeming hadn't inscribed the Fourth Truth Rune yet, the speed at which the Meditation Method absorbed Elemental Power to convert it into True Essence was alarming, requiring him to constantly suppress it carefully.
He calculated that even if he doesn't inscribe the Fourth Truth Rune temporarily to disguise his talent, at this pace, he would face another "crisis" of breakthrough in about a month's time.
To avoid repeating the previous crisis moments, he must grind several tasks to accumulate enough points for the next safe breakthrough.
While his thoughts were drifting, Professor Clark, as usual, left the classroom decisively when the time came, and an excitedly subdued whisper came from the side.
"Hey! Jeming, have you heard? Big news!"
It was Amy, looking particularly lively today, her face displaying the expression of having discovered a big secret, sneaking over.
Jeming politely turned his head, showing a slightly weary, aligning with the character of an "effortful but slow-progressing Sixth Level Talent Apprentice" smile: "What news? You seem so excited."
"You would never guess!" Amy whispered, but the excitement in her tone was undeniable, "There's a super impressive apprentice at the workshop! Developed a new kind of material that even shocked the official wizards!"
"Oh?" Jeming's heart stirred.
He was quite interested in materials that could attract wizards' attention. After all, the material system of the Wizard World was completely new knowledge to him, maybe providing more inspiration to integrate the Cultivation Immortality system.
"'Oh' doesn't cut it!" Amy exaggeratedly waved her hand, "It's BIG! BIG! BIG! news!" she mouthed the words, eyes glowing with gossiping excitement.
"The material was just submitted for testing, and the old wizard in charge of testing was almost knocked over out of surprise! When the evaluation results came out, it startled every wizard at the testing center! Think about it; these are official wizards who've seen all sorts of strange things. They were still shocked by an apprentice's thing!"
Jeming listened with great interest.
Indeed, managing to astonish official wizards meant this apprentice's achievement was not simple.
In comparison to his refined gold material that had sunk without a trace, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
It's true, comparison can be deadly. Even with his advantages, he couldn't outdo those innate geniuses?
Speaking of which, he seemingly forgot to check the material review results yesterday, but it's likely still under review, so there's no need to worry too much…
He cooperatively showed a surprised expression: "So exaggerated? What material is it?"
"It's exaggerated!" Amy mysteriously said, "I asked around for a long time to find out! It seems to be some insulating material! But it's extraordinarily powerful! I heard from the people responsible for testing that its resistance to elemental erosion and curses is terrifyingly high! There were even some tests where their instruments couldn't evaluate the upper limit and just reported it as 'beyond range'!"
Jeming was still smiling, with just the right amount of praise and curiosity on his face.
He imagined how the unknown apprentice must be a genius to research such a powerful thing.
To stir waves in the Wizard World, that's the true genius…
Ah? Wait?
His smile froze for a moment.
Insulating material?
Terrifyingly high resistance to elemental erosion and curses?
This description… Why does it sound so familiar?
He shook his head:
"Impossible, absolutely impossible! There are countless materials worldwide… and although refined gold encompasses some of these concepts, it's just a basic material, it can't be that strong… I guess…"
From the knowledge provided by the Great Dao Book Pavilion, refined gold is just the most basic spiritual material, and concepts can continuously be condensed on its basis to obtain more top-tier materials.
So, theoretically, there shouldn't be any problem… right?
Amy didn't notice Jeming's subtle change and continued excitedly: "Moreover, the most extreme thing is that as soon as the material was listed for sale on the workshop's internal Magic Net, it was snatched up by those official wizards! Now many wizards are privately inquiring about who this apprentice is, wanting to buy it! The price has already skyrocketed! I heard… one unit costs a hundred contribution points!"
"A hundred contribution points! Oh my god!" Amy marveled at the staggering price, "I can't even afford a fraction with a month's worth of points! I wonder who this incredible person is, silently getting rich! And I heard the submitter's information is kept confidential, as if the academy attaches great importance to this material!"
In Jeming's mind, the record in the workshop task terminal with his apprentice number uncontrollably emerged.
Amy continued to describe: "I also heard that this apprentice named the material rather casually, just calling it… 'White Iron Base Insulation Material'? Hahaha, what an ordinary name, who would have thought? So you see, people can't be judged by appearances, nor can materials!"
Jeming's face was completely stiff.
Hearing the name of that material he both dreamt of and cursed out, it was as if a planet exploded in Jeming's mind!
It seems…
Maybe…
Perhaps…
Possibly…
That wizard apprentice… really… refers to himself?!
Watching Amy vividly describing the "awesome" deeds of that "mystic apprentice," Jeming only felt dizzy.
Silently? Getting rich?
Get rich my ass!
I just wanted to make a little points with low-level materials, and suddenly, out of nowhere, I became the focus?!
Great, now there's no need to be silent anymore, just because of this material, it drew significant attention to the whole academy and even other academies!
Amy was still talking, completely unaware that a certain apprentice was going through an internal tsunami.
"Amy, I suddenly remember there's something urgent!" He half-heartedly came up with a lame excuse, and without caring about Amy's puzzled eyes, he rushed out of the classroom like a gust of wind.
He ran to the task hall, found the Magic Network terminal in a corner, trembling hands reached for his badge.
Log in!
His gaze immediately locked on the "points balance" section of the personal information page.
On the screen, a dazzling and dizzying number appeared like the harshest judgment in Jeming's eyes:
Points Balance: 500
F… Five hundred?!
Jeming felt a sway, knees weakening, almost failing to stand.
Under normal circumstances, he would be ecstatic to see such a balance.
But now, leaning against the cold wall, looking at the shocking points number on the terminal and the "sold out" status in the material sales record beside it, his vision filled with gold stars.
"I'm screwed!"