Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

In the underwater ruins, Hughes quickly found Vaka, who was still sitting in that corner, fiddling with a model made of water elements.

However, his body seemed to have become even more bloated, and viscous liquid kept seeping from the gaps in the scales on his body.

"Hey, Hughes, you've finally arrived!"

Upon seeing Hughes, Vaka immediately put down the model in his hand, then awkwardly moved his body and slowly walked to a box.

"The organization has verified the identities of the two half-pool wizards that you and Wizard Kent killed last time; they are indeed members of the Black Pact Nest."

As he spoke, he took something out of the box and put it into Hughes's hand.

"This is your reward from the organization—a bottle of merman potion."

Hughes glanced at the potion in his hand. The light blue liquid in the bottle looked like a viscous living thing, and there was a strange object that looked like a tentacle slowly wriggling inside.

This is the combined potion – Mermaid Elixir, which combines several potions, including [Sea Gills], and can temporarily transform the user into a mermaid.

"Okay, sure. By the way... did you find any clues about the Black Pact's Nest from those two?"

After accepting the reward, Hughes feigned doubt.

"Sigh... that Druni's black magic is really something else..."

Upon hearing this, Vaka sighed deeply.

"Their souls vanished completely, and no matter how much Geda tried to extract them, he couldn't find a trace of their souls."

—Then I'm relieved.

Hughes thought to himself, but on his face, he subtly revealed a hint of guilt.

"It's a pity. The situation was too urgent at the time. Lord Kent had already fallen, so I had no choice but to kill them."

Kent waved his hand and said:

"It's alright. It's just like when Jin Huan dealt with Hei Huan Mian Zhang. They knew the other party had the means to eliminate their soul, but they had to rush to defeat them."

Upon hearing this, Hughes' fingers, hanging by his side, curled slightly as he suppressed the smile welling up inside him.

The Black Ring Crown group could destroy their own souls, but the assassins of the Black Pact Nest had all their souls collected into the Sighing Bone Flute. It was no wonder that it was too late to stop them.

After a pause, seeing that Hughes had not yet left, Vaka asked in confusion:

"Alright, Hughes, is there anything else?"

Hughes hesitated for a moment, then expressed his doubts to Vaka:

"Waka, I've been at the Tower of Ten Thousand Edges for so long, why haven't I heard anything about going to the Wizarding Plane? Like trials or assessments or anything like that?"

Wakka was taken aback at first, then chuckled as if he had heard something unexpected and said:

"Heh, where did you hear that from?"

He tapped the edge of the table lightly, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes, but it wasn't directed at Hughes.

"The Tower of Ten Thousand Spires—no, the entire Oren Plane—has not held such a trial for a full five hundred years."

"Five hundred... years?"

Hughes paused for a moment upon hearing this, and repeated it in a low voice.

"That's right, a full five hundred years."

Vaka nodded.

"Hughes, since you want to go to the Wizarding Plane, you must know that the Prime Material Plane stipulates that only those who have become formal wizards before the age of 30 can participate in their assessment, right?"

"I've looked into it, and I meet the requirements."

"Yes, this regulation will cut off a large number of people, including me. I was only promoted to a formal wizard at the age of 50."

At this point, a hint of regret appeared on Vaka's face.

"The wizards of the prime plane come to preside over an assessment every 60 years, but the assessment is not a test of combat power like the Five Crown Trials, but rather—knowledge."

--Knowledge?

Upon hearing this, Hughes raised an eyebrow slightly, but did not interrupt, simply waiting quietly for what was to come.

"The Wizarding World is not short of powerful but mediocre individuals. After all, there are plenty of wizards with mediocre talent in the Wizarding World itself."

Wakka turned around and took out an old copy of the "Oren Dimension Century Report" from the bookshelf.

"The aptitude we test is certainly important; it can help you meditate better, possess stronger mental strength, and magical power... but what happens after you become a formal wizard?"

As he spoke, he handed the newspaper in his hand to Hughes.

Hughes took the newspaper, opened it, and found that it contained the scene of the arrival of the prime materialist wizard, which was recorded by the Star Insight Society at that time.

They used an entire page to record this scene:

In the sky, five star rings spun rapidly, and then the artificial star at the center of the star rings emitted a surge of white light.

At this point, the entire scene was obscured by white light.

Something happened in the middle, and then the scene flashed, and several wizards appeared in the sky above the Oren plane.

On the other side, Vaka continued:

"After becoming a formal wizard, your aptitude will still have some impact on your future advancement, but the vast and boundless knowledge requires more than just strong mental strength to master."

"Therefore, once you become a formal wizard, the most important thing on the path of wizardry becomes your logical ability, your desire to explore knowledge, and in short, your 'wisdom' itself."

"What the Wizarding Dimension needs is precisely this kind of talent, after all—only wizards with true 'wisdom' can reach higher levels."

"..."

Seemingly having gained some insight, Hughes's face also showed a thoughtful expression.

After a pause, Wakka steered the conversation back to the main topic:

"As for how they conduct the assessments, after each assessment, they release some knowledge that only exists in the wizarding world as the topic for the next assessment."

"And when they return 60 years later, they will test the wizards' understanding of this knowledge. Those who pass will be able to follow them to the wizarding plane."

"This cycle repeats every 60 years, which is both the time for the assessment to begin and the time for the wizards to prepare."

At this point, a look of disgust suddenly appeared on Vaka's face, and he continued:

"Five hundred years ago, the assessment could still proceed in such an orderly manner, but five hundred years later—the power of the Golden Ring Crown has expanded to the point that no organization can shake it, and it has completely occupied a dominant position."

"After that, the five great families had the courage—the courage to face the entire plane."

"They hold onto the knowledge left behind by the wizards of the prime plane, distributing it only to their juniors who become formal wizards before the age of 30, and then focusing on nurturing them."

"As for the others? Ha, not even the Fourth Ring Family got a share."

"..."

Upon hearing this, even Hughes was shocked by the shameless behavior of the Golden Crown.

He never expected that the other party had monopolized the "exam questions" for the assessment.