Chapter Twenty-One. Guofate After the old man finished speaking, the apprentices below fell into a bit of a panic.
"What do we do? How should we choose?" Beilu's face was grim.
"Paying naturally gets you something better than not paying! That's common sense!"
"You should still have some extra Magic Stones, right?" Lei Lin asked, somewhat puzzled.
"But... I only have one Magic Stone left on me. My family had to sacrifice an entire battalion back then just to get two Magic Stones!"
Beilu was clearly reluctant to part with it. Lei Lin was also startled inwardly, instinctively reaching into his pockets.
"I never expected that the value of Magic Stones would exceed even my imagination. Robbing Olin back then really was a huge bargain!"
"Wait, no—our Keli Archipelago is known as a wasteland for Wizards, with naturally scarce resources. On this continent, the value of resources like Magic Stones is probably relatively more abundant!"
"That's something only you can decide!" Lei Lin said to Beilu.
"Alright! First one—Lannuo!" the old man called out.
"Which one do you choose?"
"I... I don't have any Magic Stones left. Can I put it on credit? I have fourth-grade talent!" Lannuo's face flushed slightly.
"Not bad talent! Too bad, rules are rules!" The old man shook his head.
He pointed at a crystal ball on the table, and Lannuo's name appeared within it, along with many unfamiliar names, flickering back and forth.
The black python, Banban, flicked its tongue and tapped the crystal ball. The flickering text stopped: "Lannuo! Mentor—Ganfulin!"
"Take these! A set of apprentice clothes, an identity badge, a crystal ball containing a beginner Meditation Method for apprentices, along with your room number and key!"
The old man tossed a black bundle to Lannuo, then snapped his fingers. BOOM!!! A black sphere suddenly materialized in the room, floating in midair.
"Follow this Shadow Servant—it will take you to your mentor!"
The old man made a gesture of dismissal. Lannuo followed the black sphere out with a resigned expression on his face.
"Next! Luoxi!"
The apprentice who had mocked
"Oh! What do we have here? A Nightmare Mark! Poor thing! You're going to suffer for the next month!"
"Ca... can you have this mark removed?" Luoxi's voice was trembling.
"Sure! A hundred Magic Stones! No credit!" The old man agreed with startling briskness.
Luoxi shook his head and fished a Magic Stone out of his robe. "I want to choose my own mentor!"
"Mm!" The old man pocketed the Magic Stone and tossed a massive tome—something like an encyclopedia—to Luoxi. "The profiles of all mentors willing to take on apprentices are in there. Take your time and pick!"
*Bang!* An hourglass appeared on the desk, grains of sand trickling down one by one.
"Almost forgot to mention—one Magic Stone buys you only one hourglass of selection time. Go over, and you'll have to pay up again!" The old man's grin was downright sinister.
Luoxi swallowed hard, glanced at the steadily falling sand, and hurriedly began flipping through the pages.
"That hourglass—seems like only about five minutes! Not even enough to browse through!" Lei Lin narrowed his eyes.
"
"Well? Made your decision, or want to keep looking?" the old man asked.
"I've decided! I choose Teacher Vivian!" Luoxi took a deep breath.
"Take your things and follow the servant!" The old man tossed another black bundle—identical to the previous one—to Luoxi, then summoned another Shadow Servant.
Luoxi gave a slight bow and followed the floating servant out through the door.
"Next,
……
The old man continued calling names. Lei Lin watched closely as the apprentices went up one after another. Kreweir clearly came from considerable wealth—he paid three Magic Stones, browsed through every profile, and only then made his choice.
In the end, Beilu still didn't pay any Magic Stones and opted for a random draw. No one knew whether the result would be good or bad.
"Next! Lei Lin!" The old man called out Lei Lin's name.
Lei Lin took a deep breath and stepped forward.
"My own choice!" Lei Lin handed a Magic Stone to the old man.
"You know the rules!" The old man snapped his fingers. The hourglass flipped and the timer began once more.
The massive tome was heavy as a dictionary, and it had a satisfying texture when touched.
Lei Lin flipped through the pages at great speed, scanning the information written on the parchment.
"It's the language and script from Keli Island — looks like it was prepared specifically for apprentices from our side."
"Chip! Record this. Extract the information!"
"Lisiteer — Necromancy System mentor. Specializes in Mutationology, Neurology, and Negative Energy Structure.
Can provide three paid knowledge courses for free.
Requirement: The apprentice must assist in one experiment per month and may not refuse under any circumstances!!!"
……
"Duolote — Shadow System mentor. Specializes in Anatomy, Energy Conversion, and Necromantic Resurrection.
Requirement: The apprentice must pay one Magic Stone per month and cooperate with experiments!"
"Guofate — Potionology mentor. Specializes in Potionology, Plant Cultivation, and Negative Energy Neutralization.
Can provide one paid knowledge course for free.
Requirement: The apprentice must help clean the laboratory every day, pre-process all kinds of medicinal ingredients, and assist the
"Estoro — Cursed Arts mentor. Specializes in Cursed Arts, Human Anatomy, and Spirit Studies.
Can provide five paid knowledge courses for free, with the type chosen by the apprentice. Teaching can be conducted at any time and any place!"
"Requirement: Assist with one experiment! Just one!!!"
The pages turned, rustling noisily, and by the time the last grain of sand had fallen, Lei Lin had also flipped past the final page.
"Good memory — very useful for your studies going forward! Well then, which one will you choose?" The old man asked with a smile.
Lei Lin closed his eyes. "Chip! How's the data compilation coming along?"
"Ding! Compilation complete. Information on 53 mentors collected, misleading and deceptive information filtered out!"
Lei Lin's expression darkened slightly. "The information in Mentor Guofate's parentheses earlier really concerns me. Wizard experiments seem genuinely dangerous — they can actually put an apprentice's life at risk!"
"And Guofate was only doing Potionology experiments. Can you imagine the Shadow System, Necromancy, and the rest?"
"No wonder they offer such generous conditions — free paid knowledge, no strings attached! It's all to lure apprentices into cooperating with experiments. You might not necessarily get hurt, but if something goes wrong, it's over!"
"Chip! Run a filter — conditions for cooperation: match my personal situation."
"Ding!!!" A flash of blue light, and the pale blue screen in front of Lei Lin shifted instantly. Information on most of the other mentors vanished, leaving only a handful — and Duolote's was among them.
"Duolote — Shadow System Mentor. Specializes in anatomy, energy transmutation, necromantic resurrection...
Requirement: Apprentice must pay one Magic Stone per month and cooperate with experiments!"
"Guofate — Potionology Mentor. Specializes in Potionology, Plant Cultivation, Negative Energy Neutralization.
Can provide one paid knowledge course for free.
Requirement: Apprentice must assist in cleaning the laboratory daily, pre-process all kinds of medicinal ingredients, and assist the Wizard in potion experiments (provided the apprentice's personal safety is not endangered!)"
……
"It looks like Duolote is one of the gentler mentors at the Academy. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent him to pick up the new students."
Lei Lin thought to himself, "Unfortunately, I don't have enough Magic Stones, and he already has Jiamen. I'm afraid he won't pay me much attention!"
"Most mentors in the Darkness system and similar fields require you to cooperate with experiments, and they don't even guarantee your safety. What a rip-off!"
Resigned, Lei Lin crossed out the Darkness system.
"Everything else is covered — only the Potionology mentors are left! The Chip has a unique advantage in high-precision work like this. I can completely use potions to earn money and then purchase Shadow System knowledge to study!"
The people outside could only watch as Lei Lin closed his eyes, and after opening them again, he had made his decision.
"I choose Mentor Guofate!"
"Potionology?" The old man was somewhat surprised. "You want to become an Apothecary? The upfront investment in that field is terrifying! Why not consider something else? I think Duolote would suit you quite well!"
"Thank you, sir!" Lei Lin bowed sincerely. "I have a genuine interest in potions, and I've studied some of this area before."
"The pharmaceutical knowledge of the mundane world and the Potionology of the Wizard world are completely different things!" The old man shook his head, but seeing the determined look in Lei Lin's eyes, he couldn't help but say: "Since you've already decided, then let's make it official!" The old man finished speaking, picked up a quill pen, and began scratching away at the parchment.
"Here's your package. Follow the Shadow Servant to Guofate's quarters!"
The old man handed a black package to Lei Lin.
Lei Lin bowed deeply at the waist, then nodded to the remaining apprentices before walking out the door.
The black Shadow Servant drifted ahead of him, occasionally spinning in a few circles. Its pace wasn't particularly fast, and with Lei Lin's peak Preliminary Knight physique, he could keep up with ease.
Apprentices passed by from time to time, and they all looked at Lei Lin with expressions that said this was nothing out of the ordinary.
Lei Lin followed the Shadow Servant through several corridors and two large halls, then past a garden, before finally stopping in an area that resembled a laboratory.
The Shadow Servant's entire body suddenly turned semi-transparent, passing directly through the closed door and leaving Lei Lin stranded outside.
Lei Lin was speechless. Not daring to simply knock on the door, he stood outside and waited quietly.
After a moment, a middle-aged man's voice came from behind the door.
"Lei Lin? Come in!"
"Yes!" Lei Lin pushed open the laboratory door and stepped inside.
A pungent, sweet mixture of smells filled the entire laboratory, mingled with something similar to disinfectant. Lei Lin's brow furrowed involuntarily.
An enormous table occupied nearly half the laboratory's floor space, covered with glass bottles, test tubes, beakers, and other tools Lei Lin couldn't even identify. The sight gave him an almost surreal sense of returning to his previous life.
Standing in front of the lab table was a middle-aged man with white hair, clad in a white robe with golden patterns embroidered along the collar. His eyes glowed with a golden light, resembling two golden gems.
"I am Guofate. The Shadow Servant has already told me the details. So, Lei Lin, are you willing to become my disciple?" The middle-aged man set down the test tube in his hand, his tone solemn.