At this moment, the centaur laborers in the quarry were also startled, gathering around the massive piece of jade material with excitement.
"This is the crystallization caused by the condensation of Leyline Energy... It's almost equivalent to raw Mana Crystal Mine!"
"How much would such a large piece be worth?"
"Money? Talking about money is so vulgar. This is something even Wizard Lords would covet, something money can't buy!"
Amid the discussions, Roy walked over and looked up at the stone material before him.
Gold had indeed not exaggerated.
This was indeed a high-quality piece of jade material.
The massive jade was like a crystallized Mana Crystal Mine embedded in the mountain.
When the centaur craftsmen were quarrying, they happened to expose a corner of it. Overjoyed, they quickly chiseled away the cracked surrounding rock to reveal the entire piece.
Thus, they obtained a naturally formed treasure of such magnitude.
Roy asked, "What grade of treasure would such a large piece of jade material be?"
Gold replied, "At least a first-grade treasure!"
The craftsmen chimed in, "This must be a true Magical Treasure."
"Rare indeed, such a large piece!"
Roy remained silent, instead using the [Eye of Hermes] to observe and appraise it.
As expected, within the green hues, a few traces of blue and white Magical Aura were revealed.
It was a natural gem material between first and second grade!
"Given Vizel's system, it's very common for Wizards to exploit the colonies for their own gain.
Thus, a system similar to tax farming was adopted—designating a territory and setting a quota for contributions.
Theoretically, I could keep this piece of jade material for myself and craft a high-quality Golem.
But since I don't have the necessary essence and soul to create a new first-grade Golem, it's better to maximize the benefits this way!"
After some thought, Roy suddenly pulled out a chisel and hammer made of Star Iron and began chiseling away at the edges of the stone material, knocking off the protruding corners.
Those were the parts of the large stone material with the more refined Blue Aura... the second-grade material!
And the parts emitting Green Spiritual Light, the first-grade material... he also chiseled off more than ten pieces!
After a busy period of work, the rough outline of a centaur statue began to take shape.
"Alright, the large piece goes to the teacher, and the small pieces go to the student. That's fair, right?"
He glanced around, looking at Gold and the other craftsmen, and spoke with a faint smile.
Fair, absolutely fair!
Everyone nodded repeatedly like chicks pecking at rice.
...
"You've unearthed an enormous piece of magical jade material in your territory and plan to offer it to me?"
Not long after, Flosf learned of Roy's report.
"You didn't dig up two or three pieces, keep some for yourself, and report only one, did you?"
The old Wizard's expression was somewhat peculiar.
"No, no, I just chiseled off some scraps for my own research."
Roy broke into a cold sweat.
The teacher is truly experienced.
He probably did this a lot when he was a student himself!
Flosf was clearly just teasing Roy. He had his own informants in the quarry, including the High Goblin steward Gold, whom he had assigned there.
There were also a group of stonemasons, servants, cooks, and other key positions filled by humans or centaurs, all potential informants.
How could he not know the general situation?
However, Flosf still hadn't expected that Roy would possess such an extraordinary Alchemy Talent as the [Eye of Hermes], which allowed him to easily appraise these treasures even at the level of a first-rank Wizard.
This unreasonable talent surpassed hundreds or even thousands of years of appraisal experience.
"Alright, I'll send someone to collect that stone material. After appraising its value, it will be deducted from your lord's taxes!
How many years it can offset is still hard to say for now.
But a first-rank material of this size can at least offset the value of over 100 pieces of Enchanted Cloudstone of the same size.
That's more than 10 years of taxes!
If I personally appraise it and find it even more valuable, I can offer you an additional benefit.
For example, a first-rank combat-capable Wizard-level Golem, how about that?
However, it would be a basic, unmodified Golem, without skill modules or enhancement projects..."
"That works."
Roy didn't fuss over this matter.
As a "tenant," it was impossible for him to take advantage of his teacher, the "lord," in this situation.
Even this extra benefit was merely to provide some defensive strength within his territory to prepare for future crises.
If he were to leave after completing his apprenticeship, it was uncertain whether he could take it with him.
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If he converted it into property and sold it to his teacher, he would undoubtedly be severely lowballed.
...
After some busy work, what Roy ultimately valued was that second-rank jade material, along with over a dozen pieces of first-rank jade.
But this time, he wasn't in a hurry to carve them into Golems.
Because these materials were too small, they were more suitable for jewelry-like Arcane Objects.
Or perhaps, decorative items for the table.
But he didn't start making these either, as he planned to combine the "Talent Seed" to research something more meaningful.
The Philosopher's Stone...
To be precise, a legendary item in the field of [Mana Crystal Studies].
The Talent Gem!
"Similar Mana Crystals are not uncommon.
For example, Attribute Gems that increase strength or agility when worn...
Enhancement crystals that grant various magical properties to creatures or equipment...
And stones like Attribute Gems that can sense the Life Energy field of a living being and resonate with it, floating around the body...
But Mana Crystals that can directly enhance a person's knowledge and abilities...
These are extremely rare and precious!
This involves a logical issue: humans are inherently incomplete, with low abilities and defects...
How can one exert subjective initiative to complete oneself by creating a Philosopher's Stone?
This is actually a form of transcendence and evolution, requiring some external assistance to achieve 'self-lifting'!"
Roy had been pondering these questions for quite some time.
His answer was the Talent Gem.
Starting with the tangible Talent Gem, he would gradually shift his research to the soul level.
Ultimately, the goal was a solution for Innate Wizardry—embedding it in the fate disk, just like Innate Wizardry!
In doing so, perhaps he could break free from certain limitations and gain more, better abilities!
The same applied to the body.
Currently, his soul foundation or Soul Rank was relatively strong, but it was constrained by his physical body.
His previous self was originally destined to be at the zero rank.
If he could gradually replace his body through certain methods...
From Level Zero to Level One, from Level One to Level Two, from Level Two to Level Three...
Could this be the way to forge a "self-lifting" ladder to divinity, ascending step by step without any bottlenecks?
Theoretically feasible, but lacking in practice.
He decided to give it a try!
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