The reception banquet on the floating island lasted for three whole days. This group of insatiable Body Refinement Wizard ate hundreds of tons of food, leaving the four little ones responsible for hosting and chatting dumbfounded. Although they knew that Body Refinement Wizard could eat, they had never seen anyone eat so much.
Even if you gave them an elephant, they could devour it in minutes, leaving not even bones.
Fortunately, these prey were all caught by the Gulu Beast from the wild; otherwise, it would have been a considerable expense.
"If you're willing to mine resources with those Body Refinement Wizard, your pay will double, and the academy's official library will be open to you," Charlotte said to the few Official Wizard in the academy.
There were too few people. Even though they knew these Official Wizard were in a crucial period of adapting to their newfound power after their promotion, they had no choice but to use underhanded tactics to keep them around.
"Dean, I won't participate. I still have some experiments to conduct at my wizard tower."
Hu Jianxing seemed not to have heard the conditions of doubled salaries and access to a formal-level library, and rejected the proposal very decisively. The words that Long Kaqi had said to them that day were still echoing in his mind.
Hu Jianxing seemed to have undergone a transformation overnight. He was no longer the person who was complacent about becoming Level One Formal Wizard. He became calm, wise, and had a clearer understanding of himself.
Normally, the remaining three people— Shi Xiang, Liu Xinqi, and Meng Jie— would all side with Hu Jianxing. Hu Jianxing did not agree to the proposal, the other three would not agree either.
Shi Xiang and Liu Xinqi did not agree and prepared to return to the Tower of Elements with Hu Jianxing.
But things were different with Meng Jie. He said helplessly, "You guys go back first. My sister is involved in a mining mission. Our parents have both passed away, and she's my only sister. I'm worried about her, so I need to stay and look after her."
Meng Jie's younger sister is Meng Mengmeng, a talented girl praised by Leo. She is now a High-Rank Wizard Apprentice and returned to the wizarding academy with Meng Jie.
"Then be extra careful."
Of the four, only Meng Jie still had family members alive, so Hu Jianxing and the others couldn't say much, and the four could only separate for the time being.
With the departure of Hu Jianxing and his two companions, a large number of Official Wizard also left the academy. They clearly understood that making money was not the main priority now; the main priority was to adapt to the identity and transformation of a first -First-Level Wizard, so as not to die in the century-long mandatory expedition mission.
In the end, only thirteen of the original 98 Official Wizard at the Leo Wizard Academy remained.
Ultimately, the number of participants in this collaboration between the two academies was as follows: 2,000 Official Wizard from the Undying Body Wizard Academy, 13 Official Wizard from the Leo Wizard Academy, 30,000 Wizard Apprentice, and 500,000 Gulu Beast.
A large contingent of wizards formed a mighty mining army and marched toward the former territory of the Black Skull Wizard Academy.
On the floating island, Leo asked Tao Mia, who had been following him around like a shadow ever since he arrived, "Why aren't you going?"
"I'm not here for any mining mission, I'm here to see my teacher." Tao Mia, with her fiery red hair, walked as if a flame was burning in her hair. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Leo, the intense gaze matching the color of her hair.
"If you slack off, I can tell your dean and have him punish you." Leo pretended not to see Tao Mia's gaze, standing on the edge of the floating island, gazing into the distance day after day, sometimes gathering a wisp of water and slowly drinking it.
"It's alright, teacher, just go ahead and talk to them. No one in our academy can control me." Tao Mia remained calm, standing with Leo at the edge of the floating island, looking towards the horizon.
Leo twitched his shoulder, signaling Yaoyao to make a move, but Yaoyao motionless like a statue, her eyes vacant, completely ignoring Leo's little gesture.
Helpless, Leo said to Tao Mia, "I see you're on the verge of advancement. I have a Elemental Body Refinement Wizard's Notes here; take a good look at it, it will be helpful to you."
Leo reached out and handed a thin notebook to Tao Mia. This notebook was the one that the Beast Blood Boiling Stigmata Wizard had given him.
"Thank you so much, teacher. You're the best to me."
Tao Mia smiled as she took the notebook, tucked it into her clothes, and then continued to stand beside Leo, gazing at the distant scenery.
"Don't neglect your studies, go and take a look. If you don't understand anything, come ask me."
Leo waved to signal Tao Mia to hurry up and study. Tao Mia gave Leo a deep look, then glanced at Yaoyao on Leo's shoulder. In the end, Yaoyao pretended to admire the scenery in the sky, like a wooden doll, and did not make eye contact with anyone.
"Teacher, I'll go study now, and I'll come back to ask you if I don't understand something."
"Go."
Tao Mia seemed to have a thousand words to say, but looking at Leo's unchanging face, she could only helplessly jump off the floating island and go to the academy to find a place to study.
"How come I didn't know you were so charming?" Yaoyao looked at Tao Mia, who had disappeared below, and finally stopped pretending to be a block of wood.
Leo remained silent. Even a blind man could understand what Tao Mia meant, but Leo simply couldn't accept it.
Sunrise and sunset, day and night
Leo sat alone on the floating island. Several tea sets appeared in front of him at some point, and he drank different kinds of tea every day. But if you looked closely, there wasn't a single tea leaf in his tea; it was just plain water. Yet, he still enjoyed it immensely.
Sometimes when I drink with Yaoyao, Yaoyao spits it out after a few sips, which means it's not normal water and doesn't taste very good.
Life seemed to suddenly transform into that of a beautiful young woman with long, flowing hair, sitting quietly at her dressing table, combing her hair.
Leo sipped his unpalatable tea, tending to the Tree of Life that grew taller and stronger each day, waiting for the day Godslaying Staff would complete its transformation.
The Falling Stars Stigmata Great Wizard has already contacted Leo. It wasn't the Falling Stars Stigmata Great Wizard who contacted him personally, but their academy dean. He repeatedly expressed his pleasure at Leo's participation and said that Leo didn't need to go in advance. Leo would be teleported there using a one-time teleportation array when the expedition departed.
It has to be said that sometimes privilege is such a blessing; you don't even need to rush to the starship's location beforehand.
The expedition is expected to last another twenty years, while the Godslaying Set will only need about ten years to be repaired, so it's more than enough time.
Enjoying the cool air, fishing, and drinking tea, Leo never stepped into the laboratory, as if he had forgotten everything he had learned, choosing to waste his time lying down.
Several years have passed in the blink of an eye. During these years, Tao Mia would occasionally fly to the floating island to discuss Elemental Body Tempering knowledge with Leo. It was as if she had returned to the time when Leo was teaching at the Undying Body Academy. At that time, Tao Mia was still an inconspicuous apprentice, and now she was about to advance to the second level.
As for the joint mining plan between the two academies, it is also progressing smoothly. It must be said that these Body Refinement Wizard are extremely violent. They led the Gulu Beast and pushed their way through, plowing the area that needed to be mined more than a dozen times.
Then the apprentices carefully mine the resources. Why can't the Gulu Beast do this kind of mining work? Because the mining of many resources requires special tools and special preservation methods. Some resources cannot even be put into the Wizard's Ring. Such delicate work can only be done by apprentices with rich knowledge and experience.
Once a certain amount of resources has been extracted, the two colleges will jointly send personnel to transport the resources back to the colleges.
At first, the resources that were transported back were normal, but later these guys somehow got information and even dug up a lot of the soil with red streaks.
Of the resources transported back, 60% were taken by the Undying Body Academy, 30% of the remaining 40% were taken by Charlotte to repay the loan to Green Cottage, and the remaining 10% was exchanged for various goods and consumed by the academy's teachers and students before it even entered the academy's treasury.
" Leo, you didn't see it, Charlotte was too ruthless. She didn't leave us any treasures at all; she sent them all to Green Cottage. Such a good bloodstone, I only took one look at it and it was gone."
Yaoyao clung to Leo's shoulder, howling loudly, lamenting that so many treasures, yet none of them belonged to him.
Leo withdrew his gaze, swallowed the water in his mouth, and stopped thinking. He just wanted to comfort Yaoyao. There was nothing he could do; their academy owed too much money, and the resources they had mined now weren't even enough to pay the interest.
Yaoyao went to check on the resources that had been transported back, but he didn't dare to look. Seeing so many resources being taken away made his heart bleed.
Just as Leo was about to open his mouth to comfort Yaoyao, the five-hundred-meter-diameter beating heart on the crown of the Tree of Life above his head suddenly exploded with a thunderous sound.
"Boom"
The massive, violently pulsating heart beat like a war drum, its throbbing audible for miles around.
The entire canopy of the Tree of Life trembled violently, all the branches resonated in unison, and the leaves rustled, as if countless soldiers were awaiting the general's command.
In Leo's perception, an energy stronger and more concentrated than ever before was drawn up from the ground by his heart, flowing through the trunk of the Tree of Life into the beating heart, and then through the heart's throbbing, flowing into the entire Tree of Life.
Nourished by this powerful energy, every leaf of the Tree of Life emitted a dazzling light, stretching its body with all its might. In that instant, countless tender buds matured, and countless slender branches grew strong.
In an instant, it seemed as if several months had passed in the Tree of Life, and its evolution speed had accelerated!
"Boom"
The heart pounded violently once more, the war drums beat even louder than before, and the entire Tree of Life trembled violently, as if preparing to welcome the most important moment of its life.
A surge of rich energy was absorbed and, as it was pumped throughout the body by the heart, the Tree of Life, which was already 1,500 meters tall, suddenly grew a bit more, reaching 1,510 meters in the blink of an eye, growing ten meters taller with each breath.
"This is...?" Yaoyao stopped complaining about all her treasures being taken away and exclaimed in surprise as she looked at the rapidly growing and glowing Tree of Life.
The Godslaying Staff has been released ahead of schedule, even though it hasn't reached the ten years Leo had anticipated!
It's done.
Leo stepped forward and appeared beneath the Tree of Life. He could sense the entire tree rejoicing, preparing for its next transformation with unprecedented vitality.