I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

"My name is Lucius Virgil, the current Dean of the Royal Capital Magic Academy. What brings you here?"

As he spoke, his fingers secretly pinched a warm ruby ​​inside his robe sleeve—his most treasured defensive artifact, which he would only use as a last resort.

Ji Tian ignored his subtle gestures and went straight to the point: "Have you been to another world?"

The dean's pupils contracted sharply as he stared at Ji Tian's face, trying to find something in that expressionless expression.

"Who exactly are you?!"

Ji Tian had already discerned something from the other person's brief change in expression. Without responding to the question, he directly asked in fluent Chinese:

"Odd changes, even remains the same."

The old dean raised an eyebrow, as if he had figured something out or understood something, and replied in Chinese as well:

"The sign indicates the quadrant."

The two stared at each other for a moment, and the invisible tension in the air quietly dissipated.

The dean let out a soft sigh, loosened the ruby ​​in his sleeve slightly, took a half step back, and made a "please" gesture.

"This isn't the place to talk. If you don't mind, how about we discuss this further in my office at the Magic Tower?"

Ji Tian nodded, removed the spatial rift, and followed with his hands behind his back.

The two walked through the garden one after the other, entered through the side door of the magic tower, and climbed the spiral stone steps.

The dean walked slowly, seemingly considering his next words, and never looked back.

He pushed open the heavy oak door, stepped aside to let Ji Tian go in first, then closed the door behind him and activated the soundproof barrier in the room.

This office is even more modest than the one in the administration building.

The bookshelves were piled high with manuscripts and ancient books, and several sheets of parchment covered with complex formulas lay on the table. The wardrobe that had been moved back to the corner stood quietly, its surface engraved with fine runes.

"Sit." The dean pulled up a chair and sat down opposite him, then couldn't help but scrutinize Ji Tian a couple more times. "Your code word is the language of that world. Could it be that you were someone who passed through that world many years ago?"

Ji Tian didn't respond, but instead asked, "Tell me first, how did you get there?"

The dean leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the deepening twilight outside the window, as if sorting through a long memory.

"In the history of this world, there are more than a dozen recorded instances of 'other world beings' coming to this world, causing quite a stir. Most of these are called 'divine descents.' There were also some smaller ones, but they were not remembered."

About nineteen years ago, while researching spatial magic, I accidentally discovered an extremely unstable spatial channel. It appeared and disappeared intermittently, each time lasting less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

I spent sixteen years repeatedly calculating and experimenting, and finally found a way to unlock it.

He paused, a smug smile appearing on his lips.

"Three years ago, I successfully got in. Guess where I ended up?"

Ji Tian didn't reply, but he remembered that it seemed he had transmigrated at that time.

"Could it be that the spatial fluctuations I caused upon arriving in this world were sensed by this dean?"

Seeing that the other person was deep in thought, the dean asked himself and answered:

"A world without magic! For some reason, the teleportation point is above the streets of Z City. I learned their language first, the one I just spoke with you, it's even more difficult than Elvish."

After that, I spent more than a year cramming on my math fundamentals before I could start exploring more cutting-edge topics.

That world explains everything with science; they can even precisely calculate the degree of space curvature using formulas, which gave me a sudden insight into certain issues.

Ji Tian's heart stirred slightly, and he asked the question that concerned him most: "Can you still go back?"

The dean grinned. "Of course, I've memorized the coordinates of that passage. It only takes some time to recalibrate and a lot of magic to open it again."

I've only completed a small portion of the courses there, and the more I learn, the more I realize how ignorant I am. I'll finish up my academic chores before heading back.

Seeing that Ji Tian seemed to be deep in thought, he said directly, "You must have been to that world too. Ask me anything you want to ask, no need to beat around the bush."

After a moment's hesitation, Ji Tian finally asked, "Could you tell me the exact location of that passage?"

The dean felt he couldn't do anything to the other party, and even less could he afford to cause conflict within the academy, so he truthfully stated:

"It's located about 30 miles north of the capital, beneath an abandoned magic observation station. However, the passage itself is extremely unstable and needs to be reinforced with magic regularly to maintain its stability. I can take you there once I've finished dealing with matters at the academy, within about three days."

Ji Tian nodded, not showing his joy, and turned his gaze to the wardrobe in the corner, changing the subject, "What's that?"

He was actually quite curious about the college's strange tale about "frequent noises from the dean's office".

The dean followed his gaze, sighed, and said, "Merlin's wardrobe. It's a spatial beacon left by the legendary great sage. The agreement was that if the capital were in danger, opening the wardrobe would bring him back from anywhere. But in that world, I wasted most of my magic on studying..."

He stood up. "Perfect timing, you can take a look too. When I open the wardrobe later, there should be a phantom of Merlin inside. That old guy has a terrible temper, but the phantom will only curse at me, it won't hurt anyone."

Ji Tian became interested and got up as well.

The dean walked towards the wardrobe, gestured for Ji Tian to step back a few steps, then placed his hands on the wardrobe door and slowly infused magic into the runes.

The patterns on the cabinet doors lit up one by one, emitting a low hum.

He took a deep breath and suddenly pulled open the cabinet door.

A blinding white light surged from the cabinet, and then a phantom rushed out of the light, raising its hand to deliver a heavy punch to the dean's right cheek.

"Lucius! You old bastard! You actually came back?!"

Didn't you say you wouldn't hit people?

The phantom was an old man wearing a gray robe with messy white hair; his face was blurry, but his aura was astonishing.

He grabbed the dean by the collar, spitting almost onto the dean's face. "Three years! Three years! Do you know how much effort I've put into maintaining this phantom? When the evil god caused trouble in the capital last time, I almost couldn't resist opening the portal and coming back myself!"

The dean quickly raised his hands, "Senior, please calm down! I know I was wrong! I was stuck on the math over there, and for a moment—"

"Mathematics? Is mathematics more important than the safety of the capital?!" The phantom threw another punch, but the force was noticeably lighter, more like a venting of anger.

Ji Tian stood aside, watching the farce with a blank expression, but secretly marveled at it.

The fact that this phantom could remain for more than three years and still maintain a clear consciousness and emotions suggests that Merlin's mastery of space and time is probably even stronger than he had anticipated.

After the illusory figure finished cursing, it finally loosened the dean's collar, took a step back, looked him up and down, and then turned its head to look at Ji Tian.

"Huh? Who is this young man? His aura is quite interesting."

The dean rubbed his collar, which had been pulled red, and quickly introduced, "This is the person who defeated the evil god that night."

The illusory figure raised an eyebrow, its gaze lingering on Ji Tian for a few moments before it hummed in agreement, asking no further questions and simply waving its hand.

"Alright, I'm not going to waste any more time with you guys. This phantom's energy won't last long. Now that you're back, the safety of the capital is in your hands. As for my main body... you can apologize to him in person whenever he has time to come back."

After speaking, the phantom transformed into countless starlight and vanished, leaving the wardrobe silent once more.