While the graduation examination was in full swing, outside the cave, Moritz and a group of instructors were discussing the graduation ceremony.

    “Dean, I heard that this year’s graduates will be joining the exploration team in the underworld after joining the Knights’ Guard. Is that true?”

    “Yes,” Moritz nodded slightly. “This graduation examination is meant to prepare them for this. It allows them to adapt to the environment and combat of the underworld.”

    “The underworld is fraught with danger. Isn’t it too soon for these students to join exploration missions right after graduation?” An instructor said with concern.

    Moritz smiled faintly. “This just shows Lord Su Nan’s expectations of this batch of students.”

    “Don’t look at these students through the lens of the past. Our academy is the first academy in the Starfire Dukedom, perhaps even the entire Starlight Continent, to cultivate knights. Have you ever seen someone become a knight from a commoner in just four years?”

    Everyone shook their heads.

    Not only had they never seen it, but they had never even heard of it.

    They had all spent years diligently cultivating, taking twenty to thirty years to become knights.

    Before joining the Dragonheart Knights’ Academy as instructors, they never thought there would be a place that could cultivate a group of knights in just four years.

    “So, the knight students who graduate from this academy are different from us old fellows.”

    A look of sentiment crossed Moritz’s face.

    “The world they will experience and see will be completely different from ours, from the knights in the army. Naturally, the requirements for them will also be different.”

    The instructors present all thought about it.

    They all remembered the Magic-Inscribed Construct they had seen recently.

    It was a wondrous piece of armament that would surely stir up a huge storm in the knight world once it was released.

    And this powerful armament was prepared for these students.

    As the dean said, their future path was different from theirs. It was no longer appropriate to look at the students through the lens of the past.

    The open space in front of the cave fell silent for a moment.

    Everyone silently waited.

    The underworld had no distinction between day and night. Only the magic hourglass was used to divide time.

    Ten hours of exam time flew by.

    As time ran out, the Manticore, which had been meditating nearby, suddenly opened its eyes, took out a whistle and walked to the entrance of the cave, putting it in its mouth and blowing.

    The shrill whistle echoed far into the cave.

    Soon, the flapping of wings and footsteps could be heard from inside the cave.

    One by one, the students walked out of the cave, led by the red-eyed ravens.

    Almost every student had injuries, though some were more severe than others.

    But fortunately, no one had died.

    Moritz breathed a sigh of relief, immediately ordering people to bring out healing potions for the students to take, then began to count the points.

    During the wait, Sheen found Rug and Solrano. Seeing that they were not seriously injured, he was relieved.

    “How was your harvest?” Sheen asked.

    “I only got twenty-five points.” Rug was a little apprehensive. “I don’t know what rank this score will put me.”

    “I got twenty-four points.” Solrano said, then asked back, “What about you, Sheen?”

    Sheen smiled slightly. “I was lucky. I managed to kill a Toad Beast at the last moment, and got a ten-point crystal ball. Now I have a total of fifty-three points.”

    “Fifty-three points!” Rug exclaimed, then a look of excitement crossed his face. “That’s amazing. You’re definitely going to be the top scorer this time!”

    Rug’s voice quickly attracted the attention of those around him.

    “Sheen got fifty-three points? Really?”

    “He’s too strong. I haven’t even reached half his score.”

    “He deserves to be the top student!”

    “Rosy and Colen both got forty-plus points. Looks like Sheen is going to be number one again this time.”

    The crowd buzzed with discussion.

    Rosy and Colen were both strong rivals who had fought Sheen for the top spot in the past. Even they were no match for Sheen, so the others stood no chance.

    Sure enough, when the instructors announced the exam scores, Sheen unsurprisingly came in first.

    Rug and Solrano also made it into the top fifty.

    All three had joyful smiles on their faces.

    “Quiet!”

    “It would be best to find a third-rank mage apprentice to manage the No. 1 base. That way, I wouldn’t have to handle so much, and I would only need to review reports regularly.”

    Su Nan thought silently.

    But while he could think about it, finding a suitable candidate wasn’t easy.

    It wouldn’t be difficult to convince a third-rank mage apprentice to manage the No. 1 base for him. If he gave them enough benefits, he could definitely find someone willing.

    The key was to ensure that they wouldn’t betray him.

    A soul contract?

    It probably wouldn’t work. No third-rank mage apprentice would willingly sign such a contract.

    An oath contract might work, but it wasn’t very reliable.

    After all, much of the No. 1 base involved the secrets of the synthetic magic cube. If he were to let someone else manage it, he had to ensure their reliability and loyalty.

    In short, choosing a manager for the No. 1 base was very important and he had to be extremely cautious.

    As he pondered, Su Nan had already returned to the No. 1 base.

    Two years had passed, and the number of students in the base had increased by more than a dozen.

    Now, the entire base had 284 people.

    Nearly a third of them had already built their second Star Ring.

    Ethan and Atilla were currently making the fastest progress. It was estimated that they would be able to build their third Star Ring within a year, becoming the third and fourth second-rank mage apprentices in the base after Sheman and Corey.

    As he walked, students kept stopping to greet Su Nan.

    Occasionally, he would also see various strange and unusual creatures from other worlds.

    The No. 1 base now had almost as many creatures from other worlds as students, summoned by Su Nan, including a large number of elves and fairies.

    These creatures from other worlds were mainly responsible for managing the various areas of the base.

    It was because of them that even though Su Nan was away for most of the time, the No. 1 base could still operate smoothly.

    Su Nan continued walking, inspecting each of the important areas in the base.

    Counting the two magic plant gardens that were still being developed, Su Nan now had twelve magic plant gardens, numbered from 1 to 12.

    The No. 1 magic plant garden in the No. 1 base was of paramount importance.

    After the development of the No. 7 to No. 12 magic plant gardens, the output of Dragonblood Fruit and Silver Moon Flowers increased significantly, basically enough to meet the needs of the base, the Knights’ Academy and the Blackrock Cavalry Regiment.

    So, Su Nan removed the Dragonblood Fruit and Silver Moon Flowers from the No. 1 magic plant garden and replaced them with other valuable rare magic plants.

    Since he now had enough manpower, he could open up a few more magic plant gardens if he needed to increase the output of Dragonblood Fruit and Silver Moon Flowers in the future.

    In the insect nest, the dull gemstone insect crawled slowly on the ground, the gemstone on its back shimmering.

    With the rare metals supplied by the Star Alliance for making fission nutrient, the gemstone insect population grew rapidly.

    Now there were thirty-two of them.

    The gemstone output of the insect nest also increased to more than one thousand one hundred gemstones per year.

    That translated to more than twenty thousand gold coins.

    Although it was far from the profit generated by the Star Alliance’s mines, it was a steady stream, and there was no need to worry about resource depletion.

    Moreover, this output would gradually increase over time, making it a promising prospect.

    In the workshop, the magic crystal forging furnace rumbled low.

    Dozens of cubicles were occupied by people working.

    Su Nan took a look around and found that most of the apprentices were forging magical mithril.

    For apprentices who had initially mastered “Magic Artifact Manufacturing,” the most worthwhile task in the base was undoubtedly forging magical mithril.

    Apprentices who took on the task would receive mithril and materials from the warehouse, then forge it and hand it in, earning a certain number of contribution points.

    Of course, if they failed, they would have to bear the cost of the loss.

    It is worth mentioning that the funds used to purchase mithril were taken from the treasury of the Starfire Dukedom by Su Nan.

    In the first few years after the war, the Starfire Dukedom spent most of its tax revenue on reviving its people, particularly rebuilding the Frostbite Province. For most of the time, its finances were in a state of deficit.

    Only recently had it begun to have a surplus.

    Su Nan didn’t hesitate to pull a sum from Kei, using it to forge mithril Magic Puppets.

    The Dragonblood Fruit provided to the army over the past two years had not been free.

    Su Nan had been thinking about separating the base and the Starfire Dukedom economically, making them independent entities. He decided to make a clean break with Kei in the near future and begin the process.

    Only by shifting from an unclear dependent relationship to a mutually beneficial trading relationship could both the base and the Starfire Dukedom develop better.