Chapter 497: Hall of Advanced True Knowledge
Locke opened several other letters from top wizard organizations in various Wizard Lands. First, two major wizard organizations from the Sun Shadow Peninsula had sent him invitations.
One was from the Breeder Academy of the Essosende Weavefire Academy, inviting him to a Chair Mage position. It guaranteed that as long as he could publish one top journal article in the Sun Shadow Peninsula or ten Association S-grade articles, as well as apply for and successfully complete a First Ring fund within five years, he could obtain a Formal Wizard mentor teaching position at the Essosende Weavefire Academy.
The other was from the True Knowledge Institute of the Jungle Hand in the Sun Shadow Peninsula. They invited him, stating that as long as he could write a True Knowledge Institute exit article and finish a True Knowledge Institute fund project within five years, he would obtain an exit certificate.
In the office, Locke fell into deep thought. The condition for promotion to Wizard Mentor within five years at the Essosende Weavefire Academy was to publish a top article in the Sun Shadow Peninsula and complete a First Ring fund.
Meanwhile, the ordinary True Knowledge Institute of the Jungle Hand required completing a True Knowledge Institute fund to obtain an exit certificate, with lower requirements for articles.
After all, a True Knowledge Institute's completion article did not involve competition with other articles seeking publication in a journal; as long as it was written and met quality standards, it sufficed. Thus, the difficulty of obtaining an exit certificate from the Jungle Hand's ordinary True Knowledge Institute was undoubtedly far less than the promotion difficulty at the Essosende Weavefire Academy.
However, this was only natural.
After all, the True Knowledge Institute was never meant to be a formal teaching system; it should be viewed as a springboard for young One-Ring Wizards with greater ambitions.
A True Knowledge Institute exit certificate usually allowed one to obtain a higher-level teaching position than they would have otherwise received.
In other words, for an individual wizard, the essence of the True Knowledge Institute was actually a springboard.
Currently, the various True Knowledge Institutes were more like training bases for One-Ring Wizards for those advanced Wizard Academies. They would let the True Knowledge Institute train them, select the best from among them, and then have the advanced Wizard Academies take in these young One-Ring Wizards as their Wizard Mentors.
Locke pondered, "The Essosende Weavefire Academy and the Jungle Hand branch's True Knowledge Institute are both good places, relatively speaking. But I have better choices."
Locke opened the invitation letter from the Golden Dynasty in the Hui Ming Borderland. A Third Ring high noble of the Golden Dynasty had invited him to serve as a Chair Mage in the [Sun Holy City] under the Golden Dynasty.
They also guaranteed he would become a Wizard Mentor within five years. The requirements were similar to those of the Essosende Weavefire Academy: publish one article in a [borderland] journal or 12 Association S-grade articles, and complete a First Ring fund project.
But [Sun Holy City] also had teaching task requirements, namely that he train one Formal Wizard within ten years.
The invitation letter also specifically mentioned special treatment tasks, as there were some injured wizards in the Sun Holy City who needed his care...
Locke's expression turned strange. "The Golden Dynasty's Sun Holy City in the Hui Ming Borderland is asking too much of me. I haven't even gone yet, and they've set requirements for articles, research results, teaching, and treatment. Other invitation letters, at most, mention articles, research, and teaching."
"Forget it. I won't consider this one; the Sun Holy City itself has nothing worth my while."
Hui Ming Borderland's Golden Magic research has always been at the forefront, and there is even a large amount of ancient creature research, but for Potionology, Breeding Science, and Botany, it is mediocre.
Next, Locke opened the other invitation letters, which were mostly from major wizard organizations in the Three Ze Lands. After all, the Yunze Cup was a Three Ze Lands competition, so it carried the most weight there.
Among them were Montgomery and Barbara the Witch, who had gone to that [Crawler Garden].
Wizard organizations in the Three Ze Lands generally had teaching, project, and article requirements for him, with the difficulty generally being higher than or similar to the Essosende Weavefire Academy in the Sun Shadow Peninsula.
However, this was normal; the level of the Wizard Lands in the Three Ze Lands was two or three grades higher than the Sun Shadow Peninsula, so the teaching promotion conditions for the Wizard Academies there were certainly more difficult.
Even wizard organizations like the Crawler Garden, Bonifacius University, and the Rose Council could not guarantee that he would definitely be promoted to Wizard Mentor within five years, because there were too many candidates for too few positions; they could only guarantee him priority for a Wizard Mentor teaching position.
"These wizard organizations are all top wizard organizations in the Three Ze Lands; they naturally do not lack wizards, nor do they lack geniuses and excellent One-Ring Wizards."
Locke said, "Actually, these are all quite good platforms. Any of these invitation letters, if given to another One-Ring Wizard, would make them agree immediately."
"But I don't need to be in such a hurry."
Locke began to think, sorting the invitation letters and picking out the one from the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge. "Whether it's an invitation from the Sun Shadow Peninsula or the Three Ze Lands, no matter how good the conditions are, as long as they aren't so good that they give me an absolute reason to go, I don't really need to consider them."
"I still prioritize the Wizard Academies of the Star Domain Sea. Because I have the option of the True Knowledge Institute, I don't need to be so anxious."
"Currently, only small fry from the Star Domain Sea have sent me invitations, but that doesn't mean that in the future, top organizations from the Star Domain Sea won't send me invitations, just as top organizations from the Three Ze Lands are doing now."
"As long as I can get the exit qualification certification from the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge, I can take my resume up another level. Moreover, the True Knowledge Institute has a large amount of advanced resources to provide me..."
"Whether it's for promotion, researching magic, or adding luster to my resume, it will be a good choice."
Locke thought for a moment, placed all those invitation letters from Wizard Academy organizations into a Vine-Whisper Box, and then tucked it into his astral ring.
Including that invitation letter from the Star Domain Sea.
Although it's said that one should rather be the tail of a phoenix than the head of a chicken—and while being the head of a chicken only makes one a bit happier and more comfortable, but nothing else—there was still no need to step directly into the pitfalls of the Star Domain Sea.
And the three invitations for the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge before him were actually rewards from the Yunze Cup competition.
Only this time, the Halls of Advanced True Knowledge of three top wizard organizations in the Yunze Wetland had sent him invitations simultaneously, all hoping he would go to the True Knowledge Institute sites established by their respective Wizard Academies.
The first was Bonifacius University, the second was the Rose Council, and the third was the Golden Crown Mountain Dragon Blood Society.
Locke quickly looked at the exit conditions for these three universities; they were actually all similar, and the exit conditions were all insane!
First was three Yunze Wetland first district journals, or three top journals from other Wizard Lands, but with a restrictive condition—these top journals from other Wizard Lands must be at least equivalent to a Yunze Wetland first district journal.
The Three Ze Lands have a total of four tiers of journals. The Southeast Corner Region's "southeast" and the Spiral Basin's "Spiral" are both in tier 2, while the Six Towers Land's "Six Towers" is in tier 4.
Many first district journals in the Three Ze Lands are hosted by their major Wizard Academies or even by prestigious wizards at the Throne Wizard level or above.
Because the host of a first district journal must simultaneously satisfy the two conditions of being a Third Ring Wizard and a Throne Wizard, this hard requirement naturally makes it impossible for journals from many Wizard Lands without Third Ring Wizards to be rated as tier 1 in the Three Ze Lands.
At the same time, those three Halls of Advanced True Knowledge, in addition to requiring him to publish three first district journal articles within five years, also required him to teach Wizard Apprentices and guide two of them to become Formal Wizards, and there was one more key point.
The Hall of Advanced True Knowledge actually required completing a First Ring fund project from the Association Headquarters, as well as completing a Three Ze Lands Key Research and Development Sub-project.
Locke's expression turned strange. "I remember that Key Research and Development Projects from the Association Headquarters can only be applied for by at least a Third Ring Wizard; they are very high-level funds. Of course, if it's just a Three Ze Lands Key Research and Development Project, a Second Ring Wizard should be able to apply, which is a step down in level."
"But even so, it's still a Key Research and Development Project."
"The exit qualification credentials for the three Halls of Advanced True Knowledge are actually quite a bit higher than the conditions for promoting from Chair Mage to Wizard Mentor at top colleges in other Wizard Lands."
"The exit conditions for other True Knowledge Institutes are just completing an exit completion article and completing a True Knowledge Institute fund project."
"But the exit conditions for these three Halls of Advanced True Knowledge are actually to complete a Key Plan Sub-project, a First Ring fund, publish three tier 1 articles, and train two Formal Wizards."
"Just leaving a True Knowledge Institute is actually more difficult than becoming a Wizard Mentor in a proper wizard university."
Locke frowned and began to weigh the pros and cons.
The logic of the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge seemed completely different from that of an ordinary True Knowledge Institute.
Locke looked at the small print on the invitation letter—if one obtains the exit certificate from the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge, it is equivalent to obtaining an entry ticket to the Star Domain Sea; all wizard organizations in the Star Domain Sea recognize young One-Ring Wizards trained by the Halls of Advanced True Knowledge in the Three Ze Lands.
At the same time, after leaving the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge, one can rely on the exit certificate to directly skip the Chair Mage position and become a Wizard Mentor in top wizard organizations of the Three Ze Lands, and it will be much simpler when promoting to Senior Wizard Mentor and Chief Wizard Mentor in the future.
Locke made a comparison between going directly to Bonifacius University to be a Chair Mage with priority for promotion to Wizard Mentor within five years, and the exit conditions for the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge at Bonifacius University.
The conditions for both were actually similar, but it was obvious that the exit conditions for the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge were higher.
Although both required training two Formal Wizard students within five years, the promotion to Wizard Mentor at Bonifacius University did not require the completion of a Three Ze Lands branch Key Special Sub-project; it only required doing five or more First Ring funds, and the requirement for published first district journals was only two articles.
In other words, the exit conditions for the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge were actually slightly higher than the difficulty of promotion to Wizard Mentor at the university itself.
This was likely because the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge in the Three Ze Lands was equivalent to a ticket to the Star Domain Sea or even other top Wizard Lands.
It was also because taking this path was a way to obtain resources and teaching promotions faster, even for a young One-Ring Wizard staying in the Three Ze Lands, but it was also a much harder path to walk.