Chapter 221: Chapter 200: Harvest Settlement and Camp Tasks

Leaving Viola’s place, Jeming went straight back to his laboratory.

Click.

As the sound of the door locking echoed, the Protective Array of the laboratory activated simultaneously, and the entire world fell silent in an instant.

With a thought, Jeming solemnly took out the two Space Expansion Bags that were packed to the brim in the Frost Dark Realm and placed them in the center of the spacious laboratory.

Rustle!!

Guided by his Spiritual Power, the mouth of the Space Expansion Bag tilted, resembling the opening of a floodgate.

The next moment, countless items exuding a chilling aura gushed out from the bag’s mouth like an avalanche!

The first to gush out were the cores of the Yetis.

Tens of thousands of Ice Crystal Cores, each radiating pure Ice Elemental Energy.

They piled together, refracting dazzling and icy light under the bright laboratory lights, forming small mountains that caused the laboratory’s temperature to drop sharply by several degrees.

Following that were various rare materials scavenged from the Frost Dark Realm.

There was the “Essence of Frost,” like solidified moonlight, the “Heart of Permafrost,” exuding the Power of Earth Veins, and some unknown ice attribute metals and minerals dismantled from Yeti City structures.

These materials piled up like mountains, almost covering half of the laboratory floor.

Finally, there were scattered Energy Crystal Stones and some miscellaneous items.

Standing before this “iceberg” of wealth, satisfaction flashed in Jeming’s eyes.

He didn’t count them piece by piece but instead activated the “Eye of Scouting,” simultaneously connecting to his Magic Network Terminal, and launched the “Asset Evaluation” function of the military merit exchange system.

An invisible light screen projected from the terminal, slowly scanning over the mountainous heap of materials on the floor.

Lines of data rapidly refreshed, bounced around, categorized, and estimated on the light screen.

[Detected ’First Level Yeti Core,’ Quantity: 98,452 pieces, Estimated Military Merits Exchange…]

[Detected ’Second Level Yeti Core,’ Quantity: 7 pieces, Estimated Military Merits Exchange…]

[Detected ’Essence of Frost,’ Weight: Approximately 6.7 tons, Quality: Excellent, Estimated Military Merits Exchange…]

[Detected…]

The data stream cascaded like a waterfall, finally converging into a number at the top of the light screen that satisfied Jeming.

“Total Valuation: Five Hundred Thirty-Four Thousand Seven Hundred Military Merits.”

This was merely the value of materials and Energy Crystal Stones that could be quantified!

Next, Jeming pulled up his combat records from this operation—a brilliant achievement that involved taking down an entire city of Yetis.

Although the vast majority were only First Level Yetis, the daunting number made up for the lack of quality.

Automatically judged and calculated by the system, a massive sum was deposited directly into his account.

“Mission Merits: One Hundred Thirty-Eight Thousand Nine Hundred Military Merits.”

If he could sell the materials before him, adding the two together, his total haul from this trip would exceed Six Hundred Seventy Thousand Military Merits!

This doesn’t even count those that can’t be simply measured by military merits—the true “headliners.”

For instance, the “Fourth Level Magma Giant Corpse” lying quietly in the deepest part of his Space Expansion Bag, still exuding a terrifying aura, and in those two gourds, the vast amount of “Yin Sha Qi” already reaching Profound Black Level!

“Phew…” Jeming let out a long breath.

This trip to the Frost Dark Realm indeed went as he had anticipated…no, it even exceeded his imagination!

Capitalizing on information asymmetry, the return was beyond what ordinary wizards could imagine.

This haul directly pulled him back from the “poverty line,” providing him with capital to splurge once more.

In the Wizard World, assets are an important measure of a wizard’s foundation.

After all, an underpowered wizard may not necessarily lack money, but a powerful wizard is sure to be wealthy.

A standard wizard apprentice, their entire fortune usually ranges from tens to thousands of points.

An official First Level Wizard, with total assets reaching several tens of thousands of points, is already considered to have modest wealth.

A Second Level Wizard usually has assets in the hundreds of thousands range, and by the Third Level, they generally possess vast fortunes running into the millions.

And Military Merit Points, compared to Nolun Workshop’s “School Points,” have a value difference of about one to ten.

In other words, just the sellable items exchanged directly for military merits by Jeming this time are equivalent to Six Million Seven Hundred Thousand School Points!

This is nearly equal to the lifetime accumulation of a renowned Third Level Wizard!

However, after the initial excitement subsided, Jeming looked at the mountains of loot before him and compared them with the “Refined Gold” and “Red Dust Potion” he once relied on to make his fortune, letting out a complex sigh.

“Indeed, for wizards, even war is ultimately just an occasional windfall. The most profitable and stable income always comes from the monopolistic benefits of the knowledge in one’s mind.”

He clearly understood that this harvest, although seemingly terrifying, was essentially a one-time event.

It was impossible for him to always encounter such good fortune, where high-tier forces collectively withdrew, allowing him to take whatever he wanted.

Such opportunities are hard to come by and cannot be pursued.

But the monetization of knowledge is entirely different.

Just like the “Refined Gold” refinement technique he showcased during his apprenticeship period.

Due to its overly specialized attributes, it could only be rated as “Fifth Level Material” in the wizard materials grading.

But this meant that Jeming had mastered a proprietary technology during his apprenticeship that could rival the core products of a Fifth Level Wizard!

Even though it’s just “raw material,” its technical barriers and value are beyond the imagination of Low Tier Wizards.

Thus, during his apprenticeship, Jeming’s earning speed was already close to the efficiency of a Fifth Level Wizard monetizing their core knowledge!

This was the fundamental reason he could accumulate wealth terrifying enough to make numerous Official Wizards envious while still an apprentice.

“A one-time plunder can never compare to sustainable monopoly.”

This exaggerated gain instead strengthened Jeming’s resolve to focus on studying knowledge.

The over sixty thousand Military Merit Points he looted this time seemed plentiful but were still a drop in the ocean for his future cultivation and research.

These Military Merit Points might be mostly consumed by a single large-scale experiment.

The real wealth remains those things that cannot be priced.

“Unfortunately, the huge benefits gained at once prevent many wizards from seeing this point clearly… I should chat with Amy and Victor next time and hope they don’t go into combat wizards.”

With this realization, Jeming’s mindset completely calmed down.

He began to organize all the materials on the ground, categorizing them.

Those useful to him were stored separately, while those with no use to him, only good for exchanging Military Merit Points, were packed together to be disposed of in one go.

…

…

The news spread quickly.

Not long after Jeming returned, all the wizards in the camp confirmed that Augustine, the commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Army, would personally “pilot” the Ship Plane back to the Boundary Point for troop deployment.

This meant that for a long time, the camp would lose its highest strength oversight, and communication with the high ranks of the main plane would be greatly affected.

To prevent any issues during this period, the entire camp began a new round of construction and reinforcement.

Temporary defenses were converted into permanent structures, energy hubs fortified to guard against potential raids, and more advanced Protective Array nodes were built and activated…

Everything proceeded in an orderly manner to prevent any unexpected problems while Augustine was away.

In this context, Jeming was not in a hurry to venture deep into enemy territory.

He had a large amount of Military Merit Points in hand, enough to sustain his experimental consumption for several years, so he was in no rush.

He voluntarily applied to the camp command to take on a task of constructing Protective Array nodes inside the camp.

This task was of moderate intensity, allowing him to earn stable merits and continue focusing on his research in the lab during downtime from construction.

Of course, besides not lacking Military Merit Points anymore, another crucial reason made Jeming temporarily change his strategy—he was pleasantly surprised to find that he might no longer need to look for “Red Dust Qi” specifically!

After all, besides the news of Augustine’s troop movements, the recent anomalies in the Ice and Flame Plane—the synchronized withdrawal of high-tier power from the two native races—had become well-known and quickly spread among the wizards in the camp.

These two pieces of intelligence together were like a bomb dropped into the seemingly calm wizard camp, inciting countless speculations, unease, and concerns over the future battles.

In short, even rational wizards inevitably like discussing the current situation.

Moreover, this situation was closely related to their safety, naturally garnering more attention, which in turn led to increased production of Red Dust Qi.

Though still far from what is generated in normal mortal societies, its production had reached a considerable level.

“Is this anxiety? Fear? Or the mental strain brought about by speculating on the unknown?” Jeming silently analyzed the source of this “Red Dust Qi” in the lab.

However, the change in Red Dust Qi production also informed him that beneath the seemingly unruffled surface of wizards lay a heart ready to erupt like a volcano.

Judging by this collection efficiency, coupled with the upcoming arrival of thirty thousand reinforcements…

Jeming quietly calculated in his heart; by rendering service on the Ice and Flame Plane, he indeed had the potential to gather enough Red Dust Qi.

Therefore, the best strategy now was to consolidate himself within the camp and wait for the situation to develop.

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