Free Web NovelChapter 522: Chapter 450: First Level Nurturing Protocol
Viola naturally also immediately sensed that something was off with her friend.
She stood up, frowned, and asked, "Starfall? What’s wrong with you? You look like your Soul is about to fall apart. Even if the Star Ring Federation didn’t agree, or提出 some harsh conditions, it wouldn’t be this bad, right?"
Viola’s words were like a shout that woke someone from a dream.
The Starfall Wizard slowly raised her head, looked at Viola, then glanced at Jeming and Clark,
and a complicated expression surfaced on her face—mixed confusion, shock, ecstasy, and a trace of being at a total loss.
"No... it’s not that they didn’t agree..." Starfall’s voice was a bit dry, carrying an ethereal echo, but it couldn’t hide the trembling inside, "The Star Ring Federation... agreed. As long as the ’little guy’ is willing and can successfully sign the contract, we can officially start teaching it basic Wizard knowledge and accept it as a special member of the Wizard Civilization."
"That’s a huge piece of good news!" Viola was baffled. "Then why do you look like your Soul has flown out of your body? You scared us half to death."
The Starfall Wizard took a deep breath, as if she were doing her best to calm herself, then spoke in a tone that was almost like sleep-talking:
"The one who contacted me... wasn’t an ordinary auditor or High Tier Wizard..."
She paused, and each word came out abnormally clear, as if she herself could hardly believe it:
"It was ’Felix’. The Star Ring Federation Magic Net main-control Artificial Intelligence—Felix personally handled and processed this application."
"What?!"
This time, the ones who cried out were Viola and Jeming.
The two of them practically stood up at the same time, their faces written full of shock.
As one of the four great Wizard Influences of the Wizard Civilization, the Star Ring Federation’s territory was vast beyond measure, ruling over countless Planes, civilizations, and Wizard Organizations, with the information and affairs that had to be processed every day as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.
Thus, the one maintaining the normal operation of the Federation’s Magic Net and dealing with the overwhelming majority of daily affairs was a cluster system of Artificial Intelligence so powerful it was hard to even imagine, and its core consciousness was given the name "Felix."
Under normal circumstances, "routine" affairs like reviewing some special individual’s entry into the Wizard Civilization didn’t need to bother Felix’s main consciousness at all; its distributed calculation subprograms were more than enough.
Felix’s main body only handled those matters that truly concerned the Federation’s strategy, the direction of civilization, or involved extremely high authority and resources.
Back then, by relying on the "Self-Stabilizing Field Regulation Protocol" technology, Jeming had obtained an opportunity to speak directly with one of Felix’s high-level subprograms and hammer out the details of a deal—that was already the highest-tier official existence he had ever come in contact with.
And it was precisely that transaction which brought him the enormous cut of Military Merits he now enjoyed—steadily exceeding one hundred million Low Level Military Merits every year.
But even in a situation like that, it still didn’t seem enough to make Starfall lose her composure to this degree.
Merely being personally received by Felix shouldn’t be enough to make a firm-minded Sixth Level Peak Wizard who had just verified her own theory "float" like this, right?
Viola and Jeming exchanged a glance and both saw doubt and an even deeper curiosity in each other’s eyes.
Viola couldn’t help but press on, "And then? Other than agreeing, what else did Lord Felix say?"
The Starfall Wizard tugged at the corners of her mouth, trying to force out a smile.
But that smile looked incredibly stiff. She looked at her close friend, then at the knowledge-hungry Jeming, and at Professor Clark who had remained calm the whole time, and then, in a tone as solemn as if she were proclaiming a universal truth, she said, enunciating every word:
"Lord Felix... on behalf of the Star Ring Federation’s Supreme Council, formally informed me that..."
She paused for a moment, as if she needed to gather strength to utter the next words:
"I, Starfall, for the forward-looking and subversive contributions I have made in the fields of ’Plane Activation Theory and High Tier applications of the Spiritual Law’, as well as in ’expanding the Wizard Civilization’s scope of acceptance and the pattern of constructing its strategic strength’, have been granted..."
"The Star Ring Federation First Level Cultivation Agreement!"
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Everyone, except for Professor Clark—who seemed to have long expected this and was still expressionlessly sipping his hot drink.
Jeming and Viola were like they had been turned to stone, frozen where they stood, their eyes round as saucers, even their breathing seemingly halted.
A few seconds later...
"Hiss!!!"
The two of them sucked in a cold breath almost at the same time!
This inhalation was so long it was as if the two of them wanted to suck all the air in the warship into their lungs.
First Level Cultivation Agreement!!!
Jeming was no longer the Apprentice who had once been completely ignorant of the upper structure of the Wizard Civilization.
He had long since gained a basic understanding of the Star Ring Federation’s cultivation and support system for internal Genius Wizards.
The lowest tier, the "Third Level Cultivation Agreement," was actually the basic welfare that all Official Wizards could enjoy: access to knowledge bases within the corresponding authority level, protection of one’s research成果 from being easily plundered, and the enjoyment of the civilization’s basic shelter.
This was essentially a universally accessible "benefit."
The "Second Level Cultivation Agreement," in contrast, was special preferential treatment for those "genius seeds" considered highly likely to advance to the High Tier (usually referring to Seventh Level and above).
Back in his Wizard Apprentice days, Jeming himself had obtained a Second Level Cultivation Agreement because he had displayed extraordinary potential with Refined Gold, that Fifth Level Material.
Its main content is to provide broader permissions for acquiring knowledge, more favorable ratios for resource exchange, and a certain degree of research freedom and market bias.
It’s more like a kind of "recognition" and "convenience," offering a platform and opportunities rather than directly pouring in resources.
Whereas the "First Level Cultivation Agreement"...
That is an entirely different level of concept!
It is granted only to those peerless individuals whom the highest leadership of the Federation judges that their research, their path, their very existence, may drive the overall strength of the entire Wizard Civilization to achieve a "leapfrog" ascent!
Once you obtain a First Level Agreement, what does that mean?
It means that every year there will be "unconditional research funds" allocated directly from the Federation, in an amount so enormous that it would make most Eighth Level Wizards green with envy!
It means that if you are willing to submit part or all of your research成果 to the Federation, the payment you can obtain will be rich to the point of being unimaginable—one could even say beyond imagination.
It means that almost the entire resource vault of the Star Ring Federation will be thrown wide open to you!
Anything you need, even rare materials, special environments, or forbidden knowledge permissions that you’ve never even heard of...
As long as they exist, and do not touch upon core taboos, the Federation will unconditionally do its utmost to coordinate supply!
Even if it involves core taboos, it can still be negotiated!
They might even, if you require unique resources possessed only by several other supreme influences—such as the Deep Red Royal Court, the Void Architecture Institute, and the like—have Felix personally come forward to attempt coordination and exchange!
This is a direct express ticket leading to the true uppermost echelon of the Wizard Civilization!
It is a symbol of resources, authority, status, and infinite possibilities!
If the Second Level Cultivation Agreement is a High Tier Wizard admission ticket that ninety‑nine percent of ordinary Wizards can never obtain, then the First Level Cultivation Agreement is a "privilege" that ninety‑nine percent of Eighth Level Wizards cannot even imagine!
Jeming’s mind spun rapidly; after the initial shock, on careful thought, the fact that the Starfall Wizard had obtained the First Level Cultivation Agreement seemed... reasonable, even taken for granted!
What is her contribution?
Not only did she successfully activate a Plane, verifying the High Tier application path of the Spiritual Law.
More crucial still was the subsequent idea she proposed—letting a Living Plane become a Wizard!
What does that imply?
The innate terror of a Living Plane lies in its incomparable "quantity" and its natural affinity with the Plane’s Laws.
The Energy and matter that a single Living Plane can mobilize is something an individual Wizard cannot hope to reach, even in their wildest imagination.
They can often challenge above their level precisely because of this advantage in "scale."
Meanwhile, the power of a Wizard lies in the leap in "quality," in using knowledge to explode limited power into thousands upon thousands of times its original efficacy.
So for such a monster that combines the two, just how terrifying would its true combat strength be?
Jeming felt a chill in his heart just from a slight mental deduction.
Setting aside the bizarre ability of Ninth Level Creatures to rewrite world rules, a Seventh Level Living Plane Wizard, by relying on its Plane Level Energy reserves and the amplification of Wizard knowledge, would likely be sufficient to suppress many of the weaker Ninth Level Creatures in a head‑on confrontation!
In other words, at the Seventh Level, a single Living Plane could accomplish tasks that would otherwise require three Eighth Level Wizards working together.
If it can advance to the Eighth Level and complete Law Solidification, becoming immune to most distortions on the level of rules...
Then, given its sheer mass combined with the terrifying multiplier effect an Eighth Level Wizard has on Elemental Power...
It might truly serve as a "conventional strategic unit" comparable to those conventional Ninth Level existences!
And that still wouldn’t be the end.
If Starfall’s theory is perfected and the technology matures, making "cultivating Living Plane Wizards" a replicable, scalable path...
That would mean the Wizard Civilization could potentially "mass‑produce" these super units possessing quasi‑Ninth Level, or even full Ninth Level, combat strength!
This is a Strategic Level breakthrough sufficient to change the balance of civilizational power and reshape the pattern of known Wizard Influences!
So the Starfall Wizard obtaining the First Level Cultivation Agreement is not a reward, but an investment!
It is a clear signal that the Star Ring Federation is staking a sea of resources on her, expecting her to blaze this trail wide and far, and bring a leapfrog ascent to the entire civilization!
Having figured all this out, the look Jeming cast at the Starfall Wizard shifted from shock to deep respect.
Viola had obviously thought of something similar. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end only walked forward and fiercely embraced Starfall’s Soul.
"You bastard..." Viola’s voice was slightly muffled, "this time you really... broke the sky itself."
Only now did the Starfall Wizard seem to recover a little from that immense impact.
She returned Viola’s hug, and at last a smile bright as the blazing sun bloomed on her face, while the previously dim Soul light flared brilliantly.
"Yeah..." she said softly, her gaze sweeping over Jeming and Clark, finally turning toward the void as if seeing the Starfall Plane. "This time, it seems I really... broke through the sky."
