Translator: AnubisTL
After leaving Viola, Jieming returned directly to his laboratory.
Click.
As the door locked, the laboratory's protective magic array activated simultaneously, plunging the world into instant silence.
With a mental command, Jieming retrieved the two space expansion pouches he had filled to near capacity in the Frostdark Realm. He carefully placed them in the center of the spacious laboratory.
Whoosh!
Guided by his mental power, the pouches tilted, their openings widening like floodgates.
In the next moment, countless items radiating a bone-chilling aura poured forth in a torrential cascade!
First came the snow monster cores.
Tens of thousands of Ice Crystal Cores, each emitting pure ice elemental energy, piled up like a diamond mountain under the laboratory's bright lights. Their dazzling, icy brilliance refracted across the room, causing the temperature to plummet several degrees.
Next came a variety of rare materials scavenged from the Frostdark Realm.
There was "ice essence," as pure and frozen as solidified moonlight; "Frozen Earth Hearts," pulsating with the power of the earth meridian; and unidentified ice-attribute metals and minerals salvaged from the ruins of Snow Monster City.
These materials were piled high like a mountain, nearly covering half the laboratory floor.
Finally, scattered among the heaps were energy crystals and miscellaneous items.
Jieming stood before this "ice mountain" of wealth, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
Instead of manually counting each item, he activated his "scouting eye" and connected it to his magic net terminal, initiating the "asset evaluation" function of the Military Merit Exchange System.
An invisible screen projected from the terminal, slowly scanning the mountain of materials.
Lines of data rapidly refreshed, flickered, categorized, and appraised on the screen.
Detected: Tier 1 Snow Monster Core, quantity: 98,452, estimated military merit value...
Detected: Tier 2 Snow Monster Core, quantity: 7, estimated military merit value...
Detected: Ice Essence. Weight: approximately 6.7 tons. Quality: Excellent. Estimated exchange value: military merit...
Detected...
The data stream cascaded down like a waterfall, finally converging at the top of the luminous screen into a number that satisfied Jieming.
Total Estimated Value: 534,700 Military Merit Points.
This figure represented only the quantifiable materials and energy crystals!
Next, Jieming pulled up his combat records from the operation—the glorious feat of annihilating an entire Snow Monster City.
Though the vast majority of the slain were first-tier snow monsters, their sheer numbers compensated for their lower individual value.
After the system's automatic assessment and merit calculation, a massive sum was directly credited to his account.
Mission Merit Points: 138,900 Military Merit Points.
If he could sell the materials before him, the combined total would exceed 670,000 Military Merit Points!
And this didn't even account for the true "jackpot"—those assets that couldn't be easily quantified in terms of military merit.
For example, the fourth-tier lava giant corpse, still radiating terrifying pressure, lay quietly at the deepest part of his space expansion pouch. And within the two gourds, he had collected a massive quantity of Yin Fiend Qi, already refined to the Profound Black grade!
"Hah..." Jieming exhaled deeply.
His expedition to the Frostdark Realm had indeed gone as he'd predicted—no, it had even surpassed his wildest expectations!
By exploiting the information gap, he had reaped rewards beyond the comprehension of ordinary wizards.
This haul had yanked him back from the brink of poverty, once again granting him the capital to spend lavishly.
In the wizard world, assets were a crucial measure of a wizard's foundation.
After all, a weak wizard might still be wealthy, but a powerful wizard was invariably rich.
An average wizard apprentice typically possessed a total net worth of only a few dozen to a few thousand merit points.
A qualified first-tier official wizard, with assets reaching tens of thousands of merit points, was already considered moderately wealthy.
A second-tier wizard typically possesses assets worth several hundred thousand merit points, while a third-tier wizard generally commands a vast fortune of several million merit points.
The exchange rate between Military Merit Points and the "school points" used at the Noren Workshop is approximately one to ten.
This meant that Jieming's loot, which could be directly sold or exchanged for military merit, was worth the equivalent of 6.7 million school points!
This was nearly equal to the entire lifetime savings of a long-established third-tier wizard!
However, after the initial excitement subsided, Jieming gazed at the mountain of spoils before him and compared them to the adamantium and Red Dust Magic Potion that had once been his primary sources of wealth. He couldn't help but sigh with mixed emotions.
"As expected, for wizards, even war is ultimately just an occasional windfall. The most profitable and stable income always comes from the monopolistic advantages derived from the knowledge in one's mind."
He understood that this windfall, though seemingly immense, was essentially a one-time opportunity.
He couldn't expect to encounter such a "good fortune" every time—a situation where high-level combatants collectively withdrew, leaving him free to take whatever he pleased.
Such opportunities were rare and unpredictable.
But monetizing knowledge was a completely different matter.
Take, for example, the adamantium refinement technique Jieming had mastered and demonstrated during his apprenticeship.
Due to its highly specialized nature, its overall evaluation as a wizard material was only classified as "fifth-tier material."
Yet this meant that even as an apprentice, Jieming possessed an exclusive technique comparable to the core products of a fifth-tier wizard!
Even as raw material, its technological barrier and value were far beyond the comprehension of low-tier wizards.
Therefore, Jieming's earning rate during his apprenticeship already approached the efficiency with which a fifth-tier wizard could monetize their core knowledge!
This was the fundamental reason why he, as an apprentice, had accumulated a terrifying fortune that would make countless formal wizards green with envy.
"A one-time plunder can never rival the sustained power of a monopoly."
This extraordinary windfall only reinforced Jieming's resolve to focus on researching knowledge.
The sixty-odd thousand military merit points he had plundered seemed vast, but they were merely a drop in the bucket compared to the resources he would need for his future cultivation and research.
This meager sum might be entirely consumed by a single large-scale experiment.
True wealth, he realized, lay in things that could not be quantified.
"It's a pity that such a massive, one-time gain blinds many wizards to this truth," Jieming mused. "I should chat with Amy and Victor next time I see them. I hope they don't choose to become combat wizards."
With this realization, Jieming's mind settled completely.
He began sorting through the materials scattered on the ground, categorizing them meticulously.
Items useful for his research were stored separately, while those of little value beyond their military merit exchange value were bundled together for disposal.
The news spread quickly.
Shortly after Jieming's return, all the wizards in the camp confirmed that Master Augustine, the supreme commander of the expeditionary force, would personally "pilot" the ship plane back to the junction point to summon reinforcements.
This meant that for an extended period, the camp would lack its highest combat power and communication with the main plane's high command would be severely disrupted.
To prevent any problems during this time, the entire camp initiated a new round of construction and fortification.
Temporary defensive structures were transformed into permanent buildings, the energy hub was reinforced against potential raids, and more advanced protective magic array nodes were built and activated.
Everything proceeded methodically to prevent any unforeseen issues during Augustine's absence.
Given this context, Jieming saw no urgency to venture deep into enemy territory again.
He had accumulated a substantial amount of military merit, enough to cover his experimental expenses for the next several years, so he was in no particular hurry.
He proactively applied to the camp command for a mission to construct protective magic array nodes within the camp.
This task offered moderate intensity, allowing him to earn a steady stream of merit points while also providing downtime during construction to continue his research in his laboratory.
Of course, beyond no longer being short on military merit, there was an even more crucial reason for Jieming's temporary change in strategy—he had made a surprising discovery: he no longer needed to specifically seek out Mortal Dust Qi!
Recently, the camp had been buzzing with news beyond Augustine's troop deployments. The strange phenomenon occurring on the Flamefrost Plane—the simultaneous withdrawal of high-tier combat forces from both indigenous races—had become widely known among the wizards and spread rapidly throughout the camp.
Combined with the news of Augustine's movements, this intelligence struck the seemingly calm Wizard Camp like a bombshell, triggering countless speculations, anxieties, and concerns about the future of the war.
Even the most rational wizards couldn't resist discussing the current situation.
Moreover, the current situation was directly tied to their safety, naturally increasing their focus and, consequently, the production of Mortal Dust Qi.
While still far from matching the output of a normal sentient society, the efficiency of its generation had reached a considerable level.
"Is this anxiety? Fear? Or the mental exhaustion from speculating about the unknown?" Jieming pondered in his laboratory, silently analyzing the sources of this Mortal Dust Qi.
The fluctuations in Mortal Dust Qi production also revealed to him that beneath the wizards' seemingly calm exteriors, their inner selves were like volcanoes, ready to erupt at any moment.
At this collection rate, combined with the imminent arrival of thirty thousand reinforcements...
Jieming secretly calculated in his mind. Based on his service time in the Flamefrost Plane, he might actually be able to gather enough Mortal Dust Qi.
Therefore, the best strategy now was to fortify his position within the Wizard Camp and patiently await the shifting tides of the situation.
(End of the Chapter)
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