**Chapter 86: Nine Years**
Ti passed like a fleeting white colt, and in the blink of an eye, Jie Ming had been at Noren Academy for nine years.
For the apprentices of Noren Academy, these nine years were a journey of accumulating strength, transforming from naivety to maturity.
Jie Ming’s gains were imnse.
In this “stable” world, he was like a dragon lurking in the abyss, biding his ti.
All his energy was devoted to consolidating his Foundation Establishnt cultivation, honing his runic artifacts, refining the Five Aggregates Rainbow Mirror, and delving deeply into the arts of potions and alchemy.
When Noren Workshop’s summons for the comprehensive test reached the academies, his edge, tempered over nine years, was finally ready to be unsheathed.
Jie Ming’s Noren Academy was, more precisely, Noren Academy 13.
As one of the mid-to-upper-tier academies among the hundred-plus Noren Academies, it sent its top 10% apprentices from the last trial, including Jie Ming, to the comprehensive test.
At dawn, the central plaza of the Academy was packed with apprentices.
Aside from the quinquennial aptitude tests, the plaza had never been so lively.
Not only were the apprentices heading to Noren Workshop’s test present, but those who didn’t qualify also ca to see them off.
Newly enrolled apprentices gazed at the crowd in the plaza’s center with shining eyes, many filled with ambition.
It was now clear that Noren Workshop’s test would likely beco a regular event.
Likewise, trials within Noren Academy 13 to select qualifying apprentices would also beco routine.
Watching these senior apprentices representing the Academy at Noren Workshop, many new apprentices were eager to prove themselves.
In the crowd, a flash of blinding lightning streaked by, converging into a slender yet powerful figure—Berta Vera Augusta.
Clad in a tailored dark wizard robe that accentuated her lithe fra, she exuded an aura subtly tinged with faint traces of lightning elents, a natural overflow of her inner power.
Nine years had stripped away her forr naivety, replaced by a blend of composure and sharpness. Her deep eyes seed to hold a thunderstorm ready to erupt.
Her appearance drew countless gazes, but she seed oblivious.
Augusta’s sharp eyes scanned the dense crowd, ignoring the renowned top apprentices and locking onto Jie Ming, still unobtrusively tucked in a corner.
An invisible current surged within her, driven by an intense competitive urge.
Her defeat in the Academy trial five years ago, and Jie Ming’s terrifyingly efficient actions, had left an indelible mark on her.
That pressure, like an invisible whip, drove her relentlessly over the years.
She trained tirelessly, pushed her limits, and studied deeply, honing her lightning sorcery to perfection. Now, she had independently constructed lightning spells with her own knowledge.
Augusta believed she could now face a true first-level wizard in combat without falling behind.
Her progress was so swift that she outshone most of her peers.
Yet, whenever she thought she was strong enough to surpass Jie Ming, a lingering unease gnawed at her.
She was eager to face him again, to prove herself and uncover the secrets of this enigmatic figure.
Her eyes burned with an unconcealed desire for battle.
Not far off, a tall, steady figure appeared on the teleportation plaza.
It was Augusta’s forr rival—Horn.
Now a standout among wizard apprentices, his strength was remarkable.
Taking advantage of Augusta’s years of secluded study, he had rallied support and beco a leading figure in Noren Academy.
Surrounded by a few equally strong apprentices, he had ford his own core team.
His gaze briefly lingered on Jie Ming, but without Augusta’s fiery competitiveness.
To him, Jie Ming was a “forr rival,” soone he had already surpassed.
He glanced once, then looked away with the arrogance and confidence of a superior, redirecting his attention to Augusta.
Jie Ming sensed their gazes, returning a calm look before averting his eyes.
His face showed no emotion, though he inwardly admired Augusta’s progress—she had clearly worked hard these years.
As for Horn… he seed to have aged a bit.
Soon, it was ti to depart.
Led by Clark, several Academy ntors approached, glanced at the plaza, and said nothing, rely gesturing to the qualifying senior apprentices.
“Let’s go.”
No grand declarations or words of encouragent.
Wizards were clever and composed fanatics.
As long as the rewards were sufficient, they would never hold back their power.
The teleportation array in the plaza glowed brightly. Jie Ming, along with over five hundred other apprentices and several ntors, stepped into the shimring light.
A familiar dizziness hit, but this teleportation was longer and the spatial fluctuations stronger than any before.
When the light faded, Jie Ming landed steadily, and the sight before him left even his steady heart montarily stunned.
This was Noren Workshop’s headquarters, an entire plane transford into a colossal miracle.
Gone were familiar land and sky, replaced by countless massive floating platforms, intricate energy conduits, and thousand-ter rune spires.
In the distant void, miniature laboratories and training spaces twinkled like stars.
The city resembled a futuristic space tropolis from a sci-fi novel, sustained by stable, mountain-like energy cycles. Unknown tals and glowing energy pathways wove together, blending extre industrial aesthetics with transcendent magical aura.
They stood in the grandest teleportation plaza.
It was teeming with elite apprentices from over a hundred Noren Academies, converging like a tidal wave.
The noisy plaza buzzed with the chatter of tens of thousands of apprentices, like a boiling pot of porridge.
The air thrumd with excitent, tension, and uncontainable waves of power, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
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