A dozen or so years passed in the blink of an eye.
In Jie Ming's laboratory today, the new version of the Talisman Imprint Rune Artifact hovered silently at the center of the experiment table. Silver-white runes slowly flowed across its surface, like countless miniature streams of stars converging in endless motion.
The artifact had kept its classic gemstone shape, but its internal intricacy far surpassed what Jie Ming had crafted back then.
Jie Ming stood before the table, quietly gazing at the finished piece. Over these years, he had invested almost all his energy into forging this new version, and after immense time and effort, he had finally refined it to this level.
Moments later, the display instrument beside him showed the test results—everything had reached the expected standard. Jie Ming raised his hand and lightly tapped the artifact with his fingertip.
Hum...
A gentle glow bloomed over the entire artifact. Inside, countless rune circuits lit up in sequence, energy nodes linking together and interweaving into a nearly perfect whole.
"There's no stagnation in energy flow, no trace of leakage, and the efficiency of channeling external elements is above standard." Jie Ming confirmed once more with the True Illusion Void-Breaking Eye.
After a while, the light gradually faded, and he nodded with satisfaction.
"Good. The foundational part is complete."
This new version of the Talisman Imprint Rune Artifact surpassed the original by far in stability, operating efficiency, and carrying capacity. But... Jie Ming's gaze settled on the artifact's core, where a formation designed purely for testing was inscribed. He chuckled. "Now only the final step remains."
Strictly speaking, the artifact was already ready for practical use. Purchasing a few mature sixth-rank sorceries and inscribing their rune structures into the core would be enough to make it a formidable weapon.
But Jie Ming intended to create a sorcery of his own and inscribe that instead. More precisely, an entirely new sorcery created by combining Wizard Redes's spiritual wave theory.
Over the years, aside from perfecting the artifact itself, he had never stopped studying Redes's mental frequency modulation technique. The deeper he delved, the more Jie Ming felt that the potential concealed in that technique was far more astonishing than he had initially imagined.
Still, he had yet to uncover its fundamental principle, so for now he could only work with pre-existing rune combinations. With the initial rune combinations restricted, designing his own sixth-rank sorcery became considerably more difficult.
"But the design for the new sorcery is nearly complete. In a few more years, I'll be able to finish the fully realized Talisman Imprint Rune Artifact." With that thought, Jie Ming waved a hand and stored the artifact away on the side shelf.
Just then, with a hum, the Magic Net terminal beside him lit up with a screen, followed by a familiar notification tone. Jie Ming glanced at the message:
[Nolen 147 Academy Assembly Notice: All idle full-time instructors are to report to the Central Meeting Hall within one day.]
Looking at the message, Jie Ming was taken aback. It was supposed to be a college-wide assembly, yet only idle instructors were being summoned. He swiped the screen and noted the appended message, then understood.
[Dean Avery Knight has returned.]
So Dean Avery Knight was back. It had been several centuries since the dean had last returned to the academy after leaving for a mission at the front. During those years, almost all college affairs had been jointly managed by the vice dean and the department heads.
Of course, this kind of situation was commonplace among the various academies. It was only because Jie Ming had won a bet against Augusta that he had avoided getting tangled up in administrative matters all this time.
Now that Dean Avery Knight had returned, a full assembly was naturally needed to arrange things for the upcoming period.
Without further delay, Jie Ming straightened his mage robe and stepped into the spatial teleportation array.
Nolen 147 Academy, Central Meeting Hall.
By the time Jie Ming arrived, many instructors had already gathered. Some were chatting quietly in small groups, catching up on recent events, while others sat alone, calmly flipping through documents.
As Jie Ming appeared, quite a few instructors nodded to him, their looks filled with unconcealed respect. After all, his performance at the Academic Symposium had genuinely earned the academy a great deal of prestige.
Moreover, setting aside that achievement, his status as one of the academy's most powerful combatants was enough to command respect.
Jie Ming returned the greetings with a smile as he walked to his seat.
Not long after, a soft ripple spread across the space at the center of the hall, and a tall figure stepped out. It was Dean Avery Knight. His attire was almost exactly as it had been when he left, but the faint smile at the corner of his mouth suggested the mission had yielded considerable gains.
The instant he appeared, the entire hall fell silent, and every wizard rose to pay their respects.
"Dean Avery!"
The Dean smiled and nodded, scanning the room. "Everyone, it's been a long time. It seems that in my absence, you've done a fine job developing the academy. I see many new faces too. Excellent!"
His voice was calm and gentle, yet it carried an unspoken weight that made those under his gaze straighten up involuntarily.
After a few brief pleasantries, the meeting moved on to its main agenda.
It was nothing special; a few administrative wizards summarized the academy's recent development, and Dean Avery Knight met the instructors who had been appointed over the past few centuries.
Finally, the dean and the sixth-rank instructors roughly discussed the academy's arrangements for the next few hundred years. The meeting did not drag on and ended soon enough.
As Avery Knight left, the rest of the wizards began to file out as well. Jie Ming was about to return to his laboratory as well when a familiar voice came from behind him.
"Jie Ming."
He turned to see a tall woman with jet-black hair trailing down her shoulders, standing not far away with a gentle smile. It was Augusta.
Seeing her, Jie Ming gave a slight nod. "Lady Augusta, it's been a long time. I must thank you for covering my duties all these years."
"A bet is a bet. Do you have time for a chat?" Augusta asked.
"Of course."