**Chapter 31: Authority**

Jie Ming stared at the constantly refreshing material list on the mana network, from common copper and iron to rare elemental crystals and mineral samples from unknown star domains…

Though his credits were substantial, purchasing and studying every “ordinary material” was nearly impossible!

There were simply too many types!

And these were just the ordinary materials!

Above them were “extraordinary materials” imbued with unique energies, laws, or concepts—key to crafting powerful magical artifacts and potions!

His current credits, compared to the vast material reserves of the wizarding civilization, were like a drop in the Pacific Ocean.

Not to mention extraordinary materials, even collecting samples of all ordinary materials would quickly drain his credits through purchasing, shipping, and storage costs.

“Looks like… I’ll have to take it slow…”

Jie Ming sat in his mid-tier laboratory, gazing at the material list on the mana network, sighing.

The excitement from earning a massive amount of credits was significantly dampened by the sheer scale and complexity of the material system.

His path to “becoming stronger” seemed far longer and more arduous than he’d imagined.

Abandoning the idea of a massive purchase, Jie Ming symbolically bought a few special materials that seemed to have counterparts in the cultivation system, planning to start with those.

With a calmer mindset, Jie Ming’s days returned to a peaceful routine.

He attended classes during the day, returned to the lab to study the basics of alchemy, potioncraft, and runic studies afterward, and at night, during cultivation, he delved into his consciousness to meticulously study the knowledge from the Great Dao Book Pavilion.

Under this intense study schedule, Jie Ming’s life became fulfilling and tightly packed, his desire to earn credits waning slightly.

Over a month later, the academy restocked fifty cubic units of gold, but this time, he didn’t buy much—only twenty cubic units to refine into gold as a base stock for future crafting, choosing not to sell the rest.

After all, with his current situation, the credits from his last refined gold sale were enough to last him a long time.

One day, after finishing a public lecture on basic alchemy theory, Jie Ming was about to head back to his lab as usual when Mentor Clark, uncharacteristically, called out to him.

“Apprentice Jie Ming,” Clark said, looking at him with his usual expressionless face.

“Mentor, is something the matter?” Jie Ming’s heart instinctively tightened.

Clark seemed oblivious to Jie Ming’s tension, asking in his emotionless tone, “What research have you been working on lately?”

“Uh… is he showing concern for me?”

Jie Ming blinked, unable to glean anything from Clark’s stoic face.

After a moment’s thought, he decided to answer partially truthfully: “I’m trying to familiarize myself with the properties of various materials.”

Clark gave him an unreadable look.

Without further comment, he simply instructed, “Go check the task section on the mana network.”

With that, he turned and left, leaving Jie Ming standing there, filled with confusion.

“Was… that look just now a sign of approval?” Jie Ming wasn’t sure, as his mentor’s expressions were notoriously subtle.

He sometimes envied Clark’s poker face, which made it nearly impossible to discern his true thoughts.

Following his mentor’s odd instruction, Jie Ming said goodbye to a surprised Amy and returned to his mid-tier laboratory.

He activated the lab’s mana network terminal, connected to the academy’s internal network, and navigated to the task section.

Scrolling through the announcement board, he browsed casually.

The familiar low-tier tasks were still there, but a new announcement at the top instantly caught his eye:

**[Workshop Urgent Project Announcement: Lower-Level Storage Material Sorting Project Initiated!]**

**[Description: The wizarding civilization has conquered countless planes, resulting in a massive backlog of unprocessed old-era or extraplanar material samples in the lower-level storage. These samples are diverse and complex, urgently requiring personnel for preliminary cataloging, cleaning, and basic property analysis. We are recruiting volunteer apprentices with a foundation in material studies who are willing to contribute.]**

**[Task Duration: Long-term.]**

**[Credit Reward: Moderate (calculated based on workload and results).]**

**[Special Note: Participants will have the opportunity to interact with a large number of unclassified rare material samples. This is an excellent opportunity to enhance material studies knowledge and broaden horizons.]**

**[Application Method: Submit an application to the task office.]**

Jie Ming’s eyes lit up as he read the announcement.

This was exactly what he needed right now!

A legitimate opportunity to access a vast array of different materials and conduct preliminary research!

And for such a task to remain unclaimed? Jie Ming would eat the desk if there wasn’t something fishy going on!

It was like a pillow delivered to someone dozing off—and a top-grade down pillow at that!

Privileges were despicable!

Oh, wait, the privilege was for him?

Never mind, then.

Without hesitation, Jie Ming clicked the “Apply” button on the mana network terminal and submitted his apprentice ID.

Application successful.

He glanced back at the task announcement board, intending to review the details.

But in the blink of an eye, the announcement that had just been at the top vanished silently, as if it had never existed.

Jie Ming froze for a moment before realizing what had happened.

“Well, well, well, not even pretending, huh!”

So that’s what Mentor Clark’s unreadable look meant…

Sitting in his chair, staring at the now-empty task announcement board, Jie Ming felt a surge of gratitude and awe.

He finally understood the true convenience of the second-tier cultivation protocol.

It wasn’t just about credits and permissions—it was the subtle support from high-tier wizards providing “information” and “opportunities”!

This protocol had opened hidden channels for Jie Ming that ordinary apprentices didn’t even know existed.

Meanwhile, in his own laboratory, Clark nodded with satisfaction as he saw the task claimed on his terminal interface, then used his authority to close task applications.

In a world where knowledge was power, no one dared spy on a wizard’s laboratory—that was a grudge deeper than wiping out a family.

But gathering trivial information didn’t require such extremes. For instance… one could infer quite a bit from someone’s recent purchase list.