I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

The start of academy life came sooner than Ji Tian had expected. He had barely closed his eyes and completed less than half a cycle of his internal energy when there was a knock on the door.

He opened his eyes and scanned the doorway with his divine sense—a young man wearing the outer courtyard's standard robe, with slightly curly brown hair, regular features, and a harmless smile on his lips.

His cultivation level is roughly at the peak of a high-level mage, his aura is profound, and his foundation is considered excellent among mages.

Ji Tian twitched his fingers slightly, and the door opened.

"Junior! Good evening!" The young man stepped in, carrying a cloth bag in his hand. The bag was not tied, revealing several palm-sized crystal flakes with pale blue runes flowing on their surfaces.

"I'm a fifth-year student from the School of Magic Research and Creation. You can call me Victor. We have a tradition in our outer academy that on the first day of school, the senior students are supposed to offer them some warmth and support."

Ji Tian glanced at him, then at the cloth bag in his hand. "What are you giving me?"

"A communication rune!" Victor pulled a crystal from his bag and shone it under the light. "This is a good thing. It's engraved with a directional communication array. As long as you inject a wisp of magic into it, you can send messages to anyone wearing the same rune within the outer courtyard. There are no limits on distance or number of messages. Of course, the rune itself needs to be purchased."

Ji Tian took the crystal and examined it carefully, turning it over and over. He probed it with his divine sense and found that it did indeed contain a communication array, its structure intricate and more complex than any communication magic he had ever seen in this world.

"How much?"

Victor held up five fingers, a bright smile on his face. "It's not expensive, five gold coins. That includes the rune itself and a year's service fee. The second year's renewal is only ten silver coins."

In this world, one standard gold coin in the human kingdom can be exchanged for twenty silver coins, and one silver coin can be exchanged for one hundred copper coins.

Above these are platinum coins, mostly concentrated in the hands of nobles or wealthy merchants, one of which can be exchanged for five gold coins.

Ji Tian did not haggle, took out five gold coins from his Purple Mansion space and placed them on the table.

Victor's eyes lit up, and his hand, which was already halfway out, suddenly retracted.

"Wait a minute—junior, aren't you curious why the outer academy can use it, but the inner academy can't?" He lowered his voice mysteriously.

Ji Tian had already guessed some of it, but he still asked, "Why?"

Victor pointed to the tower to the north, faintly visible in the twilight, outside the window. "The Inner Court has its own magic tower. Every fifteen minutes, that thing emits a magical detection pulse, covering the entire academy. It locks the Inner Court's magical communication frequency band, and any unauthorized magical signals are filtered out directly."

He paused, then emphasized, "Moreover, that dilapidated tower in the inner courtyard can also strike people. People from the outer courtyard can't use any magic there. Otherwise, the magic tower will automatically lock onto you and strike you with lightning. It's said that last year, an outer courtyard lecturer of archmage level forgot to turn off his shield and got his hair singed from the lightning strike."

Ji Tian nodded. "It seems that the inner courtyard is the true essence of the academy."

Upon hearing this, Victor immediately perked up, pulled up a chair, and began to ramble on: "Of course! The resources in the inner courtyard are incomparable to those in the outer courtyard: most of the forbidden books in the library are free to read, the concentration of magic energy in the meditation room is more than three times that of the outer courtyard, and the food in the canteen is cooked by the head chefs using magic crystal stoves. Our fire magicians in the outer courtyard can't even control the heat properly; last week they turned the steak into charcoal."

He licked his lips and continued, "And then there are the dorms! They live in single, detached houses with private bathrooms and meditation rooms. What about us in the Foreign Languages ​​Department? Small single rooms, communal bathrooms, and you have to queue to shower. Isn't that infuriating?"

Ji Tian listened expressionlessly.

Seeing his lukewarm reaction, Victor leaned closer and lowered his voice: "However—the outer court has its advantages too. You know about 'anchor runes,' right?"

"Know."

"The academy claims that anchoring runes are only provided free of charge to students in the inner court. But in reality, students in the outer court can also get them." Victor glanced around, his voice lowering slightly. "There's a magical place in the academy that specializes in buying and selling these controlled resources. Anchoring runes are sold there, at 30% cheaper than through the official channels of the Mage's Guild outside, and there's no requirement to align with any faction; it's cash on delivery."

Ji Tian raised an eyebrow. "So cheap? Can students afford it?"

Victor grinned and patted him on the shoulder: "Junior, this is the academy's 'exclusive benefit' for non-noble students! The academy is a powerful institution, would we lie to you? Outside, commoner mages who want to buy a rune have to pull strings, find a guarantor, and wait in line for approval, which might take years. In the academy, as long as you can afford it, you can get it the next day."

Ji Tian felt this tactic sounded familiar. "How much?"

Victor's eyes lit up, but he feigned reluctance: "Well... the price fluctuates quite a bit. But if you're interested, junior, I can help you make the connection. Coincidentally, a friend of mine is planning to sell a pretty good one..."

"What I'm asking is, how much are you planning to make me pay?"

Victor's words came to an abrupt end.

He looked into Ji Tian's eyes, which were neither as clear nor as foolish as those of a freshman, and felt a chill run down his spine. He chuckled dryly and said:

"Junior, what are you saying... How could I possibly make money off you? I'm your senior, I'm just offering help—"

Ji Tian finished the sentence for him, "Give me the identity card, and I'll pay for the anchor rune."

Viktor's smile froze on his face.

The room fell silent for a moment.

"Hahaha, so you're an expert. I won't bother you, I'm leaving!" With that, Viktor turned to run away.

The door closed silently behind Victor.

Viktor's shoulders stiffened, and he turned around, his smile more painful than a grimace.

Oh dear! I've truly met a master.

The way the door was closed just now didn't even have any magical fluctuations; he, a peak high-level mage, admitted that he couldn't do that.

Viktor raised his hands, took two steps back, and leaned against the desk. "Junior, let's talk this out... Don't hit me in the face, and don't use large-scale magic in the dorm. Otherwise, you'll get a demerit at best, and expelled at worst. You've just enrolled; there's no need for you to do this."

After saying that, he put his hands behind his head and squatted down, the movement extremely practiced.

Ji Tian looked at his senior squatting on the ground, remained silent for a few moments, then walked up to him and said, "I won't hit you."

Victor peeked out from between his arms. "Really?"

Ji Tian didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "First, answer me, what's the use of the ID card? Of course, you can try to lie."

Viktor swallowed hard, abandoning the lie he had just prepared, "...A loan is possible."

Explain yourself.

Viktor stood up, his voice low, as if he were confessing to something shady: "The academy has a policy for newly enrolled students: with their identity cards, they can apply for a student loan at the academy's finance office. The annual interest rate is extremely low, almost symbolic, and the loan amount depends on your magician level and magical potential. The higher your magic level and potential, the larger the loan amount you can obtain."

Ji Tian recalled that the entrance exam for students in the Foreign Languages ​​Department didn't include a crystal ball test, and asked疑惑地问道：“How is potential determined? Is it tested with a crystal ball during the loan application process?”

"Of course, it's judged by one's own understanding of magic. We're not those geniuses in the inner academy with heaven-defying talent. How strong can talent be? Our Academy of Magic Research and Creation is famous for its understanding of magic, and it has the largest quota."

He paused, secretly observing Ji Tian's expression. Seeing that Ji Tian didn't interrupt, he continued, "Ordinary advanced mages in other branches can borrow about five hundred gold coins, but if you're from our branch, you can borrow two thousand gold coins, which is exactly the price of one 'Anchor Rune.' If some of your research yields results, the loan amount can be even higher."

Ji Tian nodded. "How much kickback can the middleman take?"

Viktor's expression stiffened slightly; he hadn't expected the other party to know even this.

That's quite the expert.

His voice lowered, "...usually it's 20%. That is...the college will give a commission to the person who helps you apply for the loan. The higher the amount, the more commission."

"So your real intention in selling anchor runes is to use this as a pretext to obtain my ID card for a loan."

Viktor hurriedly shook his head and said, "The channel for anchoring runes is real. I do know people. If you really want it, I can get it for you tomorrow night."

Ji Tian didn't respond to that question, but instead asked, "What if the students who took out the loans can't repay them?"

Viktor seemed to have been struck by something, and his expression became somewhat subtle.

"If you can't pay it back... then you'll have to sign an agreement. After graduation, you'll stay at the School of Foreign Languages ​​as a teaching assistant. Half of your monthly salary will go towards repaying the loan until it's paid off. The school won't kick you out or chase you for the debt, so it's like you've sold yourself to the school."

He gave a wry smile. "Actually, the terms aren't that harsh. The salary for teaching assistants in the foreign language department isn't high, but it's stable, and they provide room and board. Many students with average qualifications can't find good jobs after graduation, so they voluntarily apply to stay at the university. To put it bluntly, the college's system is to provide ordinary students with a way to move up in the ranks, and it also helps the college build up its own pool of teaching staff."

Have you ever taken out a loan?

Viktor sighed upon hearing this. "I took out a loan. When I first enrolled, my family couldn't afford the tuition, so I managed to get through it with loans. Later, I paid it off by helping people find jobs and by earning patent fees from my magical research."

He looked up at Ji Tian, ​​a hint of sincerity in his eyes. "So what I did, though not exactly honorable, didn't harm anyone. The students who took out loans didn't lose out, the college didn't lose out, and I just made a commission as a middleman."

He paused, then added, "Of course, junior, if you don't want to take out a loan, no one will force you. That communication rune is genuine; you can keep it. I won't take the money. I... I'll be going now?"

Ji Tian nodded, watching the other person's back as if granted a pardon, and suddenly realized that academy life was not quite what he had imagined.

That's it.

Since things have come to this, let's focus on self-cultivation first.