Director Morrison said somewhat guiltily, "Little Locke, unfortunately, I didn't negotiate any favorable contract for you with Bonifacius University's Advanced Origin Academy." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Locke stood up and bowed to Director Morrison, saying, "I'm already very grateful to you, Director."

Although Director Morrison, as a Second Circle wizard and Young Cadre wizard, might feel slightly regretful for not helping him negotiate better conditions, as a young First Circle wizard, it was better to express respect.

Director Morrison showed a satisfied smile. "But it doesn't matter. I negotiated good conditions for you at Golden Crown Mountain."

"Your monthly salary for working in their Advanced Origin Academy can be raised from ten thousand magic stones to twenty thousand magic stones."

"However, you need to keep this part confidential and can't tell others. Golden Crown Mountain's Advanced Origin Academy implements a salary confidentiality system to prevent wizards' hearts from becoming unsettled, so they don't know each other's monthly benefits."

"Besides that, as soon as you enter that Advanced Origin Academy, you can choose an advanced meditation method."

Hearing this, Locke immediately looked up in astonishment. "Director Morrison, is this a benefit every Advanced Origin Academy has?"

Director Morrison showed a proud smile, enjoying Locke's current expression. His efforts in persuading Yekaterina and Golden Crown Mountain's Advanced Origin Academy dean weren't in vain.

"Of course not. Although the difficulty of obtaining an advanced meditation method in Advanced Origin Academies is very low, it's impossible to obtain one right after entering. You'd need at least half a year before having qualification to apply."

"And it's not necessarily approved."

"There's a pile of prerequisite conditions requiring you to meet the Origin Academy's requirements before they'll give you the advanced meditation method."

"But I negotiated this most important benefit for you, so you can directly receive an advanced meditation method as soon as you enter."

Director Morrison smiled.

Locke expressed thanks to Director Morrison again. "Thank you, Director Morrison."

Director Morrison said, "Besides these two basic welfare benefits, you also enjoy doubled scientific research startup funding after entering the Origin Academy—from one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand magic stones."

"Plus your salary—in other words, within five years, the Origin Academy will successively pay you a total of 1.4 million magic stones."

"Besides that, that Advanced Origin Academy will provide you with free employee dormitory housing and let you share laboratory equipment with research personnel and cooperative mentors in the Advanced Origin Academy."

Locke nodded slightly.

No wonder Advanced Origin Academy was a dream destination for all wizards. As soon as he went over, they would provide him with resources worth 1.4 million magic stones within five years.

Plus a series of basic benefits needed for living and doing experiments.

For many wizards without funds to further research the magic they wanted to study, this was resources like timely rain.

Director Morrison said, "Besides resources with a total value of 1.4 million magic stones, after entering the Advanced Origin Academy, you have two more benefits."

"The first benefit is that you can apply for Origin Academy project funding. After entering, you can first do a small Origin Academy project, giving you about 200,000 to 500,000 magic stones."

"The specific cost depends on your project budget and required funds."

"Basically, as long as you enter the Origin Academy and apply for this Origin Academy fund, the White Wizard Association headquarters will approve it."

"Everyone in the Origin Academy can apply for Origin Academy funding once. Basically everyone can pass, so this counts as a benefit of entering the Origin Academy."

Locke nodded slightly. Indeed, especially for wizards not skilled at pulling projects and investments, this Origin Academy benefit was quite substantial resource assistance for them.

"The second benefit is the opportunity to apply for special-grade funding. That's the White Wizard Association's true support for Origin Academies. Ordinary Origin Academies' special-grade funding amounts are one to two million magic stones, while your Advanced Origin Academy's special-grade funding amounts are... between three to five million magic stones."

"With so many magic stones, you truly can do some meaningful research, rather than the small projects you did before."

Locke looked at Wizard Morrison with confusion. In his perspective, whether it was him, Wizard Edgar, Witch Diana, Witch Yennefer, or Wizard Alaric, the research they conducted and magical plants they developed weren't small projects at all.

They had very practical utility and universality.

But Locke keenly noticed that Wizard Morrison seemed to be evaluating his and others' research using a second principle, so he cautiously didn't speak.

This principle was precisely the reason he needed to go to more advanced places.

Locke continued listening to Wizard Morrison say, "The biggest purpose for many wizards entering Origin Academies is obtaining this special-grade funding project money. But special-grade funding is different from Origin Academy funding—not everyone can get it. It's merit-based selection, one in ten thousand. Even in Origin Academies, wizards who can obtain this project funding are still a minority among minorities."

"That's one of your biggest goals going to the Advanced Origin Academy!"

"The second goal is naturally the graduation certificate. That represents your qualified performance in the Advanced Origin Academy and is the only thing that can gain trust from those wizard academies."

"You've seen Golden Crown Mountain's graduation conditions. Besides Origin Academy funding and special-grade funding, you also need to strive to get a key plan sub-project allocation from your cooperative mentor."

"That means after going to the Origin Academy, you need to complete at least these three major funds to be considered a perfect harvest." Wizard Morrison instructed, "Generally, even if wizards before entering think they're geniuses, they'll soon be discouraged in the Origin Academy."

"Genius wizards outside the Origin Academy are one in ten thousand. Inside the Origin Academy, they're all over the streets."

"So many confident wizards, before just entering the Origin Academy, still think they can obtain these three major funds, but unfortunately, in the end they at most obtain one ordinary Origin Academy fund."

Wizard Morrison sent the contract he negotiated with Witch Yekaterina to Locke through the gray stone tablet. "Look at this contract. In the contract, you'll also enjoy the right to freely allocate funding without any interference, without needing to find a cooperative mentor's signature."

"At the same time, you have authority to independently recruit assistants, though there's a limit—you can only recruit two."

"Generally, other wizards in Advanced Origin Academies can only recruit one assistant."

Wizard Morrison said, "Since I didn't anticipate Bonifacius University's attitude, I'm changing my previous suggestion to you. After all, the academy's strengths are secondary. The treatment they give you is what you truly grasp in your own hands."

"My personal suggestion is still to recommend you choose Golden Crown Mountain."

"Golden Crown Mountain has thirty-seven colleges. The main campus has twenty-two colleges, called the Twenty-Two Gardens, plus fifteen colleges—fifteen gardens distributed outside."

"If you go, you'd go to Dragon Fern Garden among the main campus's Twenty-Two Gardens."

"Golden Crown Mountain's thirty-seven colleges are divided among three major forces. The first major force is the Council of Elders, the academy's actual leadership managing finances and rules. The second major force is the Academic Committee, mainly composed of various academic authority representatives, controlling Golden Crown Mountain's academic authority, project reviews, etc."

"The third major force is the Executive Patrol Group, a product of Golden Crown Mountain's major important laboratory directors uniting."

"The thirty-seven gardens are respectively managed by these three organizations within the academy."

"Golden Crown Mountain also has a wizard academy that's actually independent but still connected in various ways—Landbridge Academy."

"Landbridge Academy has a scale no smaller than Golden Crown Mountain. The two together form one of Cloud Marsh Wetland's seven top-tier wizard academies."

Only now did Locke understand that wizard academies in Cloud Marsh Wetland had more complex organizational structures than wizard academies in the southeastern quadrant and Land of Six Towers, composed of various branch colleges and schools.

Locke asked in a low voice, "Director Morrison, may I ask how many First Circle wizards Golden Crown Mountain has in total?"

Wizard Morrison smiled. "I'm not too clear on specifics, but I can tell you that the number of official wizards within one garden is probably over a hundred."

Locke quickly calculated. The total number of official wizards in all gardens added up to probably several thousand official wizards!

Lilith's Cottage had close to a hundred official wizards before he left.

Back then, when the southeastern quadrant's black wizard alliance's four wizard organizations combined for joint action, they only deployed over a hundred First Circle wizards at once.

The southeastern quadrant's black and white wizard war was equivalent at Golden Crown Mountain University to... basically just a small-scale brawl between two colleges.

At this moment, Locke finally felt what kind of behemoth Golden Crown Mountain and Landbridge were!