Chapter 18: Apprentice Assessment

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Apprentice Assessment

Leia added, "Of course, this is merely a division of power levels. It has nothing to do with actual combat strength, and to Wizards, it only serves as a reference.

"True combat strength is affected by multiple factors. Take me, for example. I’m a Second Level Apprentice. I haven’t even become a full Wizard yet, but I can rely on equipment to capture Tier Three creatures.

"Another example is the Chaos Dragon Mother Tiamat of the Giant Dragon World Community. In her world, she has the blessings of the world’s will and the faith of all dragons, allowing her to reach Tier Eleven combat strength. However, if she leaves her world community, she only possesses Tier Ten combat strength."

Chen Shang was greatly puzzled. "Why base it on the physical constitution of a Pure Element Wizard..."

"Because a Pure Element Wizard’s physical constitution is the most basic. If we based it on certain Body Refining Wizards, the standard would be raised too high."

"But..." Chen Shang wore a conflicted expression. "According to that logic, this Tier Three creature you captured is a being on the same level as Lord Haimer..."

Leia laughed. "Don’t take these indigenous creatures too seriously. Their methods are limited, and their intelligence is low. As long as you find their weaknesses, they aren’t hard to deal with.

"Just like the one I captured—as long as you can withstand its mental shock, it has almost no other means of resistance. So what if it has a Tier Three power level?

"But Wizards are different. Wizards have far too many unpredictable tricks up their sleeves, and physical constitution is the most insignificant among them.

"There is a famous saying circulated throughout the Pan-Wizard World: Never fight a fully prepared Wizard, because you never know what the hell they might pull out."

Chen Shang was speechless, though upon careful thought, he couldn’t find any flaws in her logic.

During the Age of Discovery, even the most powerful warrior among the natives was no match for a gun in the hands of an outsider’s three-year-old child. This was the crushing weight of a superior civilization.

Right now, Leia was that three-year-old child, the device in her hand was the gun, and the spiritual aggregate of the Mermaid Ancestor was naturally the hapless warrior.

The disparity here was perhaps even greater, much like how Jiang Ziya could use the Xinghuang Banner to defeat true immortals, or how the Silver Horn King could use the Purple Gold Gourd to give the Great Sage Equal to Heaven a hard time.

Of course, the Silver Horn King’s fatal flaw was his low IQ; he ultimately failed to suck in the monkey and was refined instead.

However, such a fatal flaw did not exist in Leia. Compared to an elite cultivated under the Wizard education system like her, the spiritual aggregate on the other side—capable of only mindless babbling—was essentially a retard.

Seeing Chen Shang lost in thought, Leia spoke up again, "However, I must remind you: never underestimate the races of the Endless Star Sea, and always maintain reverence for the unknown. Otherwise, you could meet a disastrous end at any moment.

"With this spiritual aggregate, I left a backup plan when I activated it, which is why I was able to capture it so easily. Don’t go foolishly fighting high-level creatures head-on."

Chen Shang nodded repeatedly and then stated his reason for coming, "Senior, I’d like to borrow a few combat units."

"What for?"

"I’ve made a mechanical armor and want to test if I can engrave onto them." Chen Shang briefly explained his thought process.

Leia raised an eyebrow. "I didn’t expect you to produce results so quickly. Very good! Just take whichever ones you want to use. If they get broken, simply report them as combat losses."

Following that, the two began dismantling the equipment. Leia had already completely unraveled the underlying principles of this Holy Land; they were ready for the return journey.

"Senior, is this Holy Land useless now? Will the Merfolk Race still be able to receive their ancestor’s revelations in the future?"

"They can. The structure of the white sand at the bottom of the lake still exists. I merely packed up the spiritual power that had accumulated over the years."

Leia shook the small bottle. It took her nearly half a year to use a single glass bottle to pack away the dreamscape murmurs a race had spent countless years accumulating.

Subsequently, this accumulation would not only allow her to advance, but it would also leave a mark in the Wizard Celestial Net, integrating into the entire Wizard system like a drop of water merging into the ocean, allowing any Wizard or Apprentice in need to share this knowledge... for a price, of course.

This kind of thing happened across countless worlds, collectively pushing the evolutionary framework of the entire Wizard system forward.

After they finished packing up, the colossal combat units slowly stood up and began to withdraw, though a portion remained behind to stand guard.

Chen Shang stood on the back of one, taking one last look at the shimmering silver wetlands.

Both of them had reaped bountiful harvests. Leia had obtained a relatively strong spiritual aggregate, Chen Shang’s mechanical armor was mostly perfected, and he even had a sound transmission shell tucked in his embrace.

Incidentally, the Merfolk Race had also undergone massive transformations.

The establishment of a trading system, the circulation of resources and information, the narrowing of the social class gap, and various other measures led to tremendous changes in all aspects of the Merfolk Race.

An explosion in ideology, culture, technology, and other fields was ready to erupt at any moment.

This transformation would also resonate with other worlds, ultimately feeding back into the Wizard system.

"You’ve finished engraving the runes for all thirty-seven energy foundation arrays? Then you can prepare for your advancement to a First Level Apprentice."

Chen Shang humbly asked for advice, "What do I need to prepare for the assessment?"

Leia held up three fingers. "The assessment is divided into three parts in total.

"First, the written test. It covers Rune Basics, Elemental Theory, Plane Common Sense, Wizard History, the Common Tongue... basically everything in the round disc."

Chen Shang’s mouth twitched. It sounded simple, but the knowledge system of the Wizard World was far too vast.

A single rune had thousands of basic variants, Elemental Theory consisted of over a dozen major schools of thought, and Plane Common Sense involved the characteristics of hundreds of world types... He truly lacked confidence.

"Second, actual combat. You’ll be placed in a simulated environment to test your problem-solving abilities. However, let me remind you: combat strength isn’t the sole criterion. Testing your degree of evolution is the essence."

Chen Shang calculated inwardly. In terms of witchcraft, he only knew Energy Ball Ejection, but if he used his affixes, he could still put up a fight.

"Third, you must submit a design. It can be a rune array, an alchemy device, a potion formula... anything goes. But it must be original, it has to pass a test, and you need to articulate your reasoning and principles."

Leia looked at Chen Shang and added, "Your idea for that mechanical armor is quite good. If you can actually build it, using it as your assessment design shouldn’t be a problem. Junior, you truly are cut out to be a Wizard!"

Chen Shang remained silent. Ben Bo’Erba’s mechanical armor design had made some headway, but there was still a long way to go from design to finished product.

He suddenly thought of that Mermaid Ancestor consciousness aggregate. It had absorbed countless spiritual fragments from mermaids, hoarding energy for god knows how many years, only for Leia to stuff it into a jar in under a minute.

A dimensional strike.

This was the Wizard system. Spiritual power that took tens of thousands of years to amass was nothing more than a specimen in the eyes of a Wizard.

Chen Shang looked up and sighed heavily. He had no choice but to study; he didn’t want to be subjected to a dimensional strike by other Wizard Apprentices...

Seeing Chen Shang sighing endlessly, Leia consoled him, "Don’t fret. You started late, so take your time with the assessment. Next, you can consider Body Refinement.

"Our laboratory has an agreement with a Dragon Emperor from the Giant Dragon World Community. We can send you over to undergo a baptism in dragon blood..."

"Huh? Something like that exists?" Chen Shang was dumbfounded.