The Master waiting outside the ditation Room pushed the door open, holding a freshly issued copy of the Sage Report, a look of disbelief on his face.
"Professor, you must look at this! It's Prince Colin... He's published a paper on the 440th Void Realm!"
"Oh?" Arist's tone carried a hint of dismissive arrogance, "What earth-shattering insights could that flashy guy have?"
The Master dared not respond, only silently handing over the newspaper.
Arist extended his thin hand, casually taking the Sage Report, his gaze falling on the paper credited to "Colin" as the first author.
However, within just a few seconds, his composed expression completely froze.
Especially when he saw the observational data cited in the discussion section, he was so astonished he nearly dropped his jaw.
He realized almost imdiately that he had made a foolish mistake—he had severely underestimated Colin's true level!
This guy was by no ans a show-off fool; all his previous behavior was just "playing dumb to catch the wise"!
Arist's expression turned terrifyingly grim.
Particularly when he thought about how he had deliberately fanned the flas in the council to help this guy secure that undeveloped 440th Void Realm, he regretted it to his core!
Now, this is good!
The pie is thrown at the dog, gone forever!
The 440th Void Realm will undoubtedly be thoroughly exploited by this Prince, and there was no chance for either himself or Professor Hector to gain anything from it!
Suppressing the boiling anger and regret in his chest, his face full of wrinkles returned to an unfathomable calm.
After a brief consideration, he handed the newspaper back to his subordinate, giving a calm command with an emotionless tone.
"Since Prince Colin has provided us with a new approach, we can't lag. You go back imdiately and try to apply the experintal strategies ntioned in this paper in the 178th Void Realm you're responsible for and see if they can be replicated."
The Master quickly took the paper, respectfully saying.
"Yes, Professor."
Arist waved his hand.
"You may go."
Watching the Mage bow and retire, Arist slowly closed his eyes, wanting to re-enter ditation but found himself intensely restless, unable to calm down.
He had no grudge against Colin, but thinking about how he was so mistaken ignited a naless fire in his heart.
He didn't know where that fire ca from.
Just as he felt agitated, the flickering Crystal also moved slightly.
Arist took a deep breath, pointing forward with his index finger. The stone sparrow perched by the window suddenly flapped its wings and spiraled down toward the tower.
Soon after, a knock sounded again outside the ditation Room.
Along with it ca Skein's respectful voice.
"Professor, did you call for ?"
Arist spoke with a cold face.
"Enter."
Hearing the cold tone, Skein felt a pang of anxiety but still mustered his courage to enter Professor Arist's ditation Room.
Sure enough.
As soon as he stepped into the ditation Room, he imdiately felt an overwhelming pressure descend upon him, almost suffocating.
"Skein."
Arist turned around, his cold gaze like a snake flicking its tongue, licking the entire body of this apprentice with a dangerous look.
"Do you know why I called you here?"
Skein imdiately knelt, trembling and lowering his head.
"Forgive this student's ignorance..."
No matter whether he knew or not, he could only answer that he didn't know now.
Otherwise, it would be even worse.
Arist let out a cold laugh, speaking unhurriedly.
"The intelligence you provided was severely insufficient, even misleading. This directly led to a significant misjudgnt of Roxey Colin's strength, causing to lose a valuable Void Realm resource."
Faced with this unexpected bla, Skein could only bitterly smile in his heart.
However, fortunately, Professor Arist seed just a bit enraged and not to the point of resorting to extre asures.
"It was this student's negligence! Please, punish , Professor!"
Skein humbly lowered his head, admitting his mistake earnestly and then softly reminded him with respectful and sincere tones.
"But Professor, allow a word in my defense. I'm just an apprentice, the intelligence I can gather is indeed limited. Moreover... you yourself told before not to bother reporting such 'trivial matters' concerning His Highness."
Arist's expression subtly stiffened, recalling the incident and realizing his misplaced anger seed sowhat unjust.
Just as importantly, his anger had mostly dissipated, and he considered that it was about ti to let the matter rest, as further blaming an apprentice would serve no purpose.
He pondered for a mont, turning his sullen face away, muttering lowly, seemingly to himself.
"...It seems I should personally get in touch with this Prince Colin."
He judged that the storm triggered by the paper would soon reach the ears of the Council of Sages.
That was the true top echelon of the Academic State.
Perhaps he should establish a relationship "more than friendly" with that guy before he climbed to a higher position.
Though there were so minor unpleasantness, it was far from being enmity, and he didn't need to stand in opposition to him.
Yet just as Arist contemplated this, a whisper from the void continually repeated a phrase in his mind—
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