Chapter 236: The Choice

What kind of “rule” should one choose as the primary focus of study for the long road ahead?

For any wizard who had crossed the threshold of the second level, this was a critical question—one that could very well determine their future destiny.

Because it directly influenced a wizard’s potential for growth and ultimate achievements.

Of course, it wasn’t to say that a wizard couldn’t study multiple rules at once.

In fact, many great high-tier wizards mastered several, even dozens, of different types of law-based powers.

However, based on the vast data and accumulated experience of the wizarding civilization over countless years, it was generally advised that before advancing to the sixth level, one should focus solely on a single core rule.

Moreover, in truth, most people lacked the energy or talent to study a second rule.

Thus, when faced with this question from Dean

Avery Knight

, most wizards would appear visibly conflicted and hesitant.

Yet, to Dean

Avery Knight

’s surprise,

Jie Ming

and David, after a brief moment of shock, exchanged a single glance and answered with astonishing speed and decisiveness.

“Dean

Avery Knight

, I wish to choose the origin related to the Four Elements Rule!”

The two spoke almost in unison, their voices resolute.

Upon hearing their response, a faint smile of approval broke across Dean

Avery Knight

’s usually composed face.

He looked at the two young second-level wizards before him, seeing a spark of confidence in their eyes.

The “Four Elements”—Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind—were the foundational rules.

In the entire wizarding civilization, they were arguably the most popular and widely studied rules.

Even the academy’s database held the greatest number of texts and research papers on these rules.

After all, among the nine ninth-level wizards standing at the pinnacle of the civilization, a full six had core rules tied to the “Four Elements.”

However,

Jie Ming

and David’s response was… somewhat overly vague.

Under normal circumstances, a wizard relying on a plane’s origin to break through a research bottleneck would specify exactly which of the Four Elements—Earth, Fire, Wind, or Water—they needed.

Some might even request a more refined branch, such as the “Explosion” sub-rule under Fire or the “Gravity” sub-rule under Earth.

But they didn’t.

They simply asked for something “related to the Four Elements.”

This made one thing abundantly clear—they had no intention of primarily relying on this origin to advance their knowledge.

They wanted to observe, learn, and study the rules themselves, with their own abilities!

And the most likely reason they chose an origin related to the “Four Elements” was because, in the wizarding world’s internal market, this type of origin was the most widely circulated, had the best market value, and was the easiest to trade for other resources—a veritable “hard currency”!

In theory, using a plane’s origin to aid advancement carried no significant side effects.

It wouldn’t harm the soul or limit future potential.

But on a

psychological

level, it could pose problems.

Humans are inherently prone to laziness.

Once they experienced the effortless, epiphany-like process of absorbing knowledge through a plane’s origin, the next time they hit a research bottleneck and found themselves unable to break through despite tireless pondering, their subconscious would instinctively turn to the plane’s origin as a convenient tool.

While it was possible to take shortcuts in studying “rules,” other aspects—like constructing wizardry models, innovating in

Alchemy Technique

, or exploring the essence of the soul—offered no such conveniences.

Throughout the long history of the wizarding civilization, there were no shortage of once-brilliant wizards who, unable to adjust their mindset, became addicted to the ease of origins, ultimately achieving far less than their potential.

This was the instinct of living beings to seek profit and avoid harm.

No matter how clearly one’s rational mind warned against dependency, the subconscious would still be affected.

Thus, wizards held varied opinions on using plane origins for advancement.

Some were indifferent, believing power was power, regardless of its source.

Others treated it as a grave danger, insisting that only knowledge gained through painstaking, step-by-step research was truly solid and belonged to them.

Still others believed in maintaining a balanced mindset—treating it as a highly useful tool but never over-relying on it.

So, Dean

Avery Knight

had little to say about

Jie Ming

and David’s choice.

After all, wizards were not in the habit of interfering with the paths others chose.

He simply admired the confidence and determination of these two young wizards.

After a moment of thought, Dean

Avery Knight

suddenly spoke again, adding, “I wasn’t entirely clear earlier.”

His voice remained calm, but his words stirred a storm.

“Because the target plane not only harbors eighth-level beings but, from what we can tell, there’s more than one. This means the plane’s value is far greater than we initially estimated.”

“Following the wizarding world’s fundamental principle of ‘equivalent exchange,’ your contribution in discovering such a plane warrants a corresponding increase in rewards. This time, I intend to grant you not the usual ‘single strand’ of plane origin but

ten strands

!”

“So…” The dean’s gaze settled on them again. “Are you certain you only want origins related to the ‘Four Elements’?”

Jie Ming

and David’s eyes widened in shock!

They hadn’t expected such generosity from the dean.

A “strand” was the basic unit used in the wizarding world for trading plane origins.

Typically, a single strand of a standard, singular-rule plane origin contained enough law information to propel a wizard with no prior knowledge of that rule from 0 to 0.1% comprehension!

That number might sound small.

But, based on the requirements for wizard advancement, it meant that an ordinary second-level wizard with just

one strand

of origin could advance to the third level without any bottlenecks!

After all, mental power could be accumulated over time, but knowledge accumulation depended on individual ability.

And

ten strands

meant a wizard’s understanding of a single rule could reach a full 1%!

This reward from Dean

Avery Knight

was enough to guarantee a second-level wizard’s promotion to the fourth level!

The gap between the third and fourth levels, though only one rank, was a chasm of immense significance!

Such a disparity was indeed worth reconsidering carefully.

David, standing nearby, began to show clear hesitation and struggle in his once-firm gaze after hearing the dean’s words.

But

Jie Ming

didn’t seem to dwell on it.

His response was as swift and decisive as before. “Yes, Dean. I still want origins related to the ‘Four Elements.’”

Both Dean

Avery Knight

and David looked at him in surprise.

Then, a trace of admiration flickered in their eyes.

It was genuine respect for

Jie Ming

’s unwavering resolve and decisiveness in his path.

Dean

Avery Knight

, as a high-tier wizard, knew well that whether or not to use an origin wasn’t the critical issue.

What truly mattered was whether a wizard clearly understood the path they wished to take and whether their determination to follow it was steadfast.

With sufficient talent, as long as one walked their path with unshakable resolve and a pure, unyielding heart unmoved by external temptations, using an origin would never cause psychological issues.

Clearly,

Jie Ming

was such a wizard.

David, seemingly inspired by

Jie Ming

’s resolve, saw the hesitation in his eyes clear in an instant.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself, and said to the dean, “Dean, I’ll take the same—origins related to the ‘Four Elements’!”

Meanwhile,

Jie Ming

, who was being regarded with such admiration, blinked in confusion.

For a moment, he couldn’t understand why they were looking at him like that.

After all, his resolute choice wasn’t just because he had long decided which rule to study.

There was a more important reason…

The rule

Jie Ming

truly wished to delve into was one whose related knowledge couldn’t possibly be provided by a normal material plane!

From the start,

Jie Ming

had viewed plane origins as nothing more than a hard currency for trading other resources!

In his eyes, it was a resource as valuable as high-level military merits!

Dean

Avery Knight

nodded with great satisfaction at the two young wizards’ performance.

“Very well,” he said. “For now, you may return and rest. Extracting plane origins will take some time. In about… a decade or so, I will personally deliver the rewards to you.”

Jie Ming

and David bowed respectfully to the esteemed dean once more before transforming into streams of light and departing from the bustling sea region, still busy with “demolition” work.