The laboratory had no concept of day or night, only countless runic glows silently flowing between the metal walls.
In the blink of an eye, fifty years had slipped by.
When Jie Ming lifted his head from the iterative experiment on the Talisman Imprint Rune Artifact, lingering traces of complex runic deduction still rippled through his spiritual sea.
He glanced at the ever-changing time measurement magic array at the top of the lab, and only then realized with belated awareness that a full half-century had passed since Viola last mentioned that matter.
Clark's and Castilio's wedding remained as distant as ever.
Jie Ming was not surprised in the slightest.
Both seventh-level wizards were currently at the most critical stages of their respective research.
According to Jie Ming's rough estimate, they would need at least another one or two hundred years before they could truly begin preparing for the wedding.
Thinking of this, Jie Ming couldn't help but smile.
For ordinary people, a hundred years is almost an entire lifetime.
But for high-level wizards with long lifespans, it is as fleeting as a few months for ordinary humans.
Not to mention a delay of a hundred years; even holding the wedding several centuries later would not be surprising.
His thoughts quickly returned to the experiment.
At the center of the workbench, a core model composed of hundreds of layers of three-dimensional runes slowly rotated, countless energy streams as fine as hair intertwining and flowing within, continuously calculating various possibilities.
Jie Ming picked up his rune pen again, preparing to adjust the energy flow structure of the Talisman Imprint Rune Artifact's core runes.
Just then.
Whoosh...
A faint fluctuation broke the long-standing silence of the laboratory, and the Magic Net terminal suspended in mid-air emitted a soft silver-white glow. Seeing this, Jie Ming paused his movements and raised his hand to activate the communication.
The light converged, and a familiar virtual figure slowly materialized.
It was Felix, the artificial intelligence managing the Star Ring Federation's Magic Net.
It gave a slight bow, its tone as steady as ever: "Long time no see, Wizard Jie Ming. On behalf of the Star Ring Federation Technology Exchange Center, I am forwarding an invitation to an academic exchange conference."
"Oh?" Jie Ming raised an eyebrow, curiously setting down his rune pen. "An academic exchange conference?"
"Yes, I am requesting your teleportation permission."
"Alright."
As Jie Ming's words fell, a palm-sized silver-white teleportation array silently appeared on the experimental table.
As the array's light pillar brightened, an obsidian-gold invitation slowly descended from within the pillar.
Jie Ming reached out and caught it.
The invitation was cool to the touch, its material not paper but some kind of ultra-thin metal foil, so light it was nearly weightless, yet emitting a faint energy fluctuation.
On the cover, two ancient emblems shone in mutual reflection.
One belonged to the Void Architecture Academy, the other to the Anti-Entropy Alliance.
Jie Ming brushed his hand over the invitation, and ornate script text continuously emerged, detailing the invitation to Jie Ming along with the time and location. As Jie Ming examined the invitation, Felix continued its introduction: "This conference is jointly hosted by the Void Architecture Academy and the Anti-Entropy Alliance, a regular high-level academic exchange activity between the two major powers. The invitation has been delivered through official diplomatic channels to the Federation and forwarded to you by the Technology Department."
Jie Ming looked down at the invitation, a hint of confusion in his eyes: "Why invite me?"
He had almost no prior interaction with these two top-tier powers.
Over the years, he had spent most of his time within the Star Ring Federation.
Even when occasionally taking on outsourced tasks, he generally operated within Federation territory.
He had only crossed paths with members of the other three major powers back in the parallel plane, but had never truly engaged with the core circles of these two powers.
Felix pointed at a spot on the invitation, flipping to the information section behind, and quickly highlighted a line of text: "The reason lies in a technical achievement you previously made public: the Self-stabilizing Field Regulation Protocol."
Jie Ming was slightly taken aback; he had initially thought the invitation was due to the Blood Sacrifice Method.
Felix continued calmly: "The original design purpose of this technology you researched was to assist low-level wizards in stabilizing elemental energy within a region. Thanks to its simple structure, high compatibility, and low manufacturing cost, it has spawned over ten thousand derivative technologies in practice."
"Several years ago, a research team from the Void Architecture Academy used one of those derivative technologies to successfully break through a stability bottleneck that had long plagued the field of nano-architecture, solving the problem of long-term structural maintenance of nano-architectural units in cross-plane environments."
"Therefore, the two powers decided to jointly host this specialized exchange conference and list you as a special guest."
The laboratory fell silent again.
Jie Ming looked down at the invitation in his hand, his fingertips gently tracing the cold metal patterns.
A basic protocol he had casually made public three thousand years ago had developed all the way to this day, even influencing an important research direction of another wizard civilization.
Even he had not anticipated such an outcome.
Felix, however, was not finished. A stream of data flickered through its virtual eyes.
Then, its tone grew more solemn than before: "Wizard Jie Ming, as the core artificial intelligence of the Federation, I am obliged to remind you of the potential risks of attending this conference."
Jie Ming straightened up, interlacing his fingers under his chin and leaning forward slightly: "I'm all ears."
Felix continued: "The conference itself has an extremely high level of security."
"The venue is located in a public area at the border between the Void Architecture Academy and the Anti-Entropy Alliance, with joint security from both sides. During the conference, your personal safety and academic rights will be formally protected, so there will be no direct danger."
"However, what truly requires caution is the period after the conference."
In the laboratory, only Felix's steady voice echoed slowly.
"At that time, you are very likely to receive private invitations from various factions. Some of these invitations may involve cooperation that goes beyond the scope of normal academic exchange."
"If you accept these private invitations, the organizers will no longer assume any responsibility for your safety."
Jie Ming nodded silently upon hearing this: "Understandable. Even within the Star Ring Federation, there is no absolutely unified interest, let alone at an exchange event spanning multiple civilizations."
To be honest, he was no stranger to backstabbing.
On the battlefield, wizards might die side by side, but once exposed to too much benefit, it was common for a combat squad that had just cooperated sincerely to stab each other the next second.
And if one stepped away from battle and focused on "peaceful" times, there were even more points of conflict.
Resources, achievements, schools of thought... all kinds of competition, omnipresent.
The contracts of Wizard Civilization only bound acts of betrayal against the race, collusion with the enemy, and actions that harmed the interests of the entire civilization.
As for academic disputes, resource competition, factional struggles, and even hidden interest games, as long as they did not cross the line, the upper echelons of civilization usually did not intervene.
Because competition itself was part of how Wizard Civilization continuously filtered out the strong.
"I'm glad you understand."
Felix continued: "Furthermore, even during the conference, someone may openly challenge your research results."
"While the Self-stabilizing Field Regulation Protocol has advanced the development of Wizard Civilization, it has also affected the interests of certain schools of thought."
"These wizards may pose aggressive questions to you during the open discussion sessions."
Jie Ming merely smiled faintly at this.
If the earlier threat had managed to pique his attention, this one hardly mattered.
True research should always be open to scrutiny, refutation, and continuous improvement.
Otherwise, what was the point of seeking truth?
Seeing Jie Ming's calm expression, Felix said no more.
"That concludes my report. Whether to attend is your own decision."
It gave a slight bow, and its silver-white data-light stream began to dissipate bit by bit.
Soon, the virtual projection vanished completely, and the laboratory returned to silence.
Only the obsidian-gold invitation lay quietly on the experimental table, refracting a faint metallic luster under the cold blue lighting.
Jie Ming opened the invitation and read again the recorded conference time, location, and preliminary agenda.
The conference would be held several years later.
As for the location, it was a neutral space station at the border between the Void Architecture Academy and the Anti-Entropy Alliance.
He read it over twice, and quickly made up his mind.
During the conference, the joint security guarantee from the two major powers was sufficient.
As for private invitations after the conference... he simply wouldn't go.
He had no plans to travel across various planes at present, nor any interest in getting entangled in the complex interest networks of those powers.
As for the so-called academic challenges...
Jie Ming's lips curled slightly.
If one feared peer scrutiny, they should not step onto the podium of an academic conference.
A true wizard never shies away from debate.
He put away the invitation and lightly flicked his sleeve.
The light screen before him expanded again, revealing a cascade of future experimental plans.
That exchange conference was likely to run for quite a while, so it was better to arrange all matters in advance.