"Is this the owner of the ruins? Judging by his condition, he probably died from severe injuries." Katrina watched Xiao Yun pick up the beast-hide scroll. She had encountered many dangerous traps along the way, so she guessed that since this skeleton had reached this place in life, he had at least been a level-seven wizard.
Such a powerhouse had a lifespan of several thousand years. The odds of dying of old age were too small; he had most likely suffered severe injuries and died without treatment.
"More or less."
Xiao Yun put away the beast-hide scroll and nodded. "It records a level-eight fire-element spell model. He was probably trying to study a perfect spell model so he could advance to a level-eight wizard."
Katrina suddenly understood. "Since he left behind these ruins, that means he was a free wizard. And for a free wizard to cultivate to the level-seven wizard realm is already the limit, because advancement potions for level-eight wizards almost never make their way outside. Unless he joined an academy—but academies always make outsiders like this sign certain contracts, and those contracts come with severe restrictions. That is why many powerful free wizards are unwilling to join an academy."
Xiao Yun nodded. That had been his guess as well. The Temple controlled the entire Wizard World and monopolized the advancement potions for level-nine wizards.
Meanwhile, the academies were responsible for managing the Wizard World and monopolized the advancement potions for level-eight wizards.
Link after link locked into place, making the class structure of the entire Wizard World extraordinarily stable, nearly impossible to break.
Moreover, among these classes, while the Temple was certainly a beneficiary, the academies were beneficiaries too. Even the academies' "professors" benefited, as did their teachers and students.
After all, once one joined an academy,