Chapter 224: Repaying Debts

After finishing his conversation, David hurriedly ended the call, not even bothering with farewells.

From the faint trace of

anxiety

and

urgency

that slipped through his attempts to conceal it, Jie Ming guessed that David was likely burdened with a mountain of debts he couldn’t clear.

Jie Ming hung up, letting out a wry chuckle.

He had come to realize that in the wizarding civilization, if you hadn’t accumulated debts spanning centuries, you could hardly call yourself a “genius” with a straight face.

It made sense, in a way.

For wizards, a group defined by extreme rationality and belief in equivalent exchange, so-called “investments” were never free.

Only when they confirmed your potential for further growth—enough to yield substantial returns—would high-ranking wizards or massive organizations deign to invest in you.

In the wizarding world, the amount of debt a wizard carried was, to some extent, a measure of how much potential the outside world saw in them.

The truly promising wizards were often drowning in astronomical debts.

After parting ways with David, Jie Ming once again immersed himself in studying the vast ocean of spatial knowledge.

He figured it’d be a while before he could chat with David again.

Since David had decided to go into seclusion to advance to a second-tier wizard, he likely wouldn’t respond for the next decade—or even decades.

The reason Jie Ming had managed to become a second-tier wizard in just a few months was that, during his fifty long years in the Flamefrost Plane, he had already laid the groundwork for the prerequisites needed for advancement.

For a first-tier wizard to ascend to the second tier, the most critical and time-consuming step was a thorough, systematic “reorganization” and integration of all the knowledge accumulated since their apprentice days.

This meant that the time required for a first-tier wizard to advance to the second tier varied greatly depending on their knowledge reserves.

Logistics wizards, with their broad and complex knowledge, had to sort through and integrate an astronomical amount of information during advancement.

This made their progress notoriously slow, often measured in years, rendering advancement on the ever-changing battlefield nearly impossible.

Combat wizards, on the other hand, were the opposite.

Their knowledge was specialized in combat and killing, relatively simple and focused.

During advancement, they typically only needed a few days to optimize their combat system and complete the process swiftly.

Thus, on the battlefield, combat wizards often advanced at astonishing speeds.

With enough luck to secure sufficient resources and a moment of combat insight, they could ascend on the spot.

Logistics wizards, however, were far slower.

Of course, a higher rank didn’t necessarily mean greater combat strength.

A wizard’s true power depended on the breadth of their knowledge and the depth of their understanding.

A wizard’s rank merely raised the upper limit of the power they could contain and unleash—it didn’t mean they could fully utilize that potential.

Many top-tier sixth-tier wizards, with their vast resources and wealth, could brute-force hundreds of “instant” sixth-tier wizards in a short time using pure resources.

But such “instant” sixth-tier wizards had little actual combat ability.

Not only could they not compete with elite alchemical units crafted by true sixth-tier wizards, but they’d likely lose to native deities of the same tier who fought purely on instinct.

Take Senior Viola, for example.

With a single dose of the

Soul Sublimation Potion

, she had leaped to the sixth tier, appearing mighty and awe-inspiring.

But in reality, aside from her thorough mastery of the Law of

Pain

and its applications, her combat ability in other areas was so lacking that she’d likely lose to even a well-prepared logistics fourth-tier wizard, let alone a true veteran fifth-tier wizard.

The reason Mentor Clark had rushed to the Flamefrost Plane and dragged Viola along as his assistant was twofold: to make her work off her debts and to give her access to top-tier materials like a

Living Plane

.

It was also to help her accumulate enough knowledge and experience during the process, transforming her empty rank into real strength as quickly as possible.

In the following days, with the aid of the Body Forging Technique, Jie Ming’s progress in studying spatial knowledge far exceeded his expectations.

In just over twenty years, he mastered knowledge that he had estimated would take nearly a century to learn, achieving full comprehension.

After finishing, he became even more certain of one thing—the spatial knowledge assigned by Master Roland was, for now, of little practical use to him.

Though he now understood the theoretical aspects and manifestations of

Spatial Gaps

, his current mental strength and soul perception were nowhere near capable of directly observing such microscopic phenomena within spatial interstices.

Without observation, there could be no manipulation.

Thus, at his current stage, aside from helping him repay part of his loans, this advanced knowledge had little practical value.

Still, Jie Ming wasn’t too disappointed.

He had anticipated this.

Wizard knowledge was inherently progressive, and while this spatial knowledge was useless to him now, it would save him significant trouble when he reached the third tier and began tackling spatial matters.

Laying a strong foundation was never a bad thing.

Some time later, after confirming that his

All-Purpose Eye

spell model had evolved into a new form with the integration of this new knowledge, Jie Ming promptly contacted Master Roland from the

Tower of Annihilation

.

“Oh? Wizard Jie Ming? You’ve completed it?”

When Master Roland received Jie Ming’s message from the other end of the communication, his tone was filled with unconcealed

astonishment

.

In his view, completing the task within a century would already mark Jie Ming as exceptionally gifted.

He never imagined it would take only twenty years.

When Roland received the optimized and upgraded

All-Purpose Eye

spell model from Jie Ming and tested it in his mental sea, his

shock

deepened.

The observation capabilities were even better than he had expected!

Jie Ming hadn’t just completed the task—he had done so with quality far beyond imagination!

This level of observational ability was something Roland had expected Jie Ming to achieve only at the third tier.

The evolution of a spell model was deeply tied to a wizard’s understanding of knowledge.

This meant Jie Ming hadn’t just learned the knowledge—his comprehension of spatial matters surpassed even some third-tier wizards who specialized in the field!

“Incredible… truly incredible!” Master Roland exclaimed with heartfelt admiration. “Wizard Jie Ming, your talent in spatial perception and model construction is unparalleled! If… you’re willing, once you reach the third tier, you’re welcome to join my research team! I guarantee you’ll have access to the best resources and the most cutting-edge knowledge in

Spatial Gap

research!”

“Well… I’d need to check with my mentor’s arrangements…”

Faced with a solemn invitation from a fifth-tier wizard, Jie Ming gave an awkward smile and politely declined.

He knew Roland was speaking the truth, but there was a lot of exaggeration in it.

After all,

Spatial Gaps

were a minor, almost negligible branch of spatial knowledge.

Jie Ming believed Roland when he called it cutting-edge knowledge, as it was indeed useless in the broader scope of spatial studies and could easily be overshadowed or replaced by other spatial knowledge.

Jie Ming suspected

Spatial Gaps

were a prerequisite for certain unique spells in the

Tower of Annihilation

, which was why Roland studied them so intensely.

From any perspective, there was no need for Jie Ming to delve deeply into

Spatial Gaps

.

Despite the rejection, Master Roland expressed genuine regret but didn’t take offense. Instead, his attitude grew even warmer.

He seemed determined to build a good relationship with Jie Ming, this “genius” brimming with potential.

“Very well, I won’t press you,” Roland said, his tone tinged with

disappointment

. Then, he shifted gears. “By the way, Wizard Jie Ming, to thank you for your outstanding work, I’d like to offer you a small gift. Are you interested in a more advanced spatial teleportation escape artifact?”

“I can pull some strings and have my seventh-tier mentor personally craft one tailored for you.” He dangled a temptation that made Jie Ming’s heart skip a beat. “With the might of a seventh-tier wizard, the spatial artifact can ignore most forms of spatial interference or confinement! It’s the ultimate life-saving tool!”

Sensing Jie Ming’s potential hesitation, Roland added, “Don’t worry about the cost. Even if you can’t pay now, it’s fine—you can always… take out another loan with my mentor!”

At the mention of “loan,” Jie Ming instantly understood Roland’s true intentions.

He gave another awkward smile and hurriedly declined the “kind” offer.

A loan from a fifth-tier wizard was already something he’d be repaying until the third tier.

If he took on a debt to a seventh-tier powerhouse, he’d probably never climb out of it in his lifetime.

Seeing this, Master Roland expressed some regret.

Before ending the call, he reiterated that if Jie Ming ever changed his mind, he could reach out anytime.