181: Return and Celebration (I)

Three days later.

When the expeditionary team returned to Plant Heart Academy, they were greeted with immense glory and a grand celebration ceremony.

As soon as Green Anglet emerged from the secret realm and was confirmed to have achieved Formal Wizard status, the Academy's mentors immediately notified the personnel stationed in the Wizard Tower through special long-range communication methods.

Therefore, when the many Wizards of the expedition returned with the fruits of victory, the Academy had already made preparations for the celebration.

This was the second greatest joyous occasion in Plant Heart Academy's hundred-year history.

Green Anglet's achievement as a Formal Wizard was not just pressure on him alone, nor just on the expedition team, but on the tens of thousands of people across the entire Wizard Academy, all contributing to the Academy's continuation.

During this period, everyone was cautious and treading on thin ice, yet they fully supported every policy of the Academy; some Wizards even donated their life savings without compensation, others worked day and night to craft weapons and equipment for the Academy, but all without complaint or regret; some Wizards voluntarily undertook various tasks, offering their efforts for free... It was through the selfless dedication of tens of thousands of people across the entire Academy, without regard for cost or return, that the expedition team had its luxurious lineup and incredibly rich resource allocation.

As their old rival—a certain masked Wizard from Blood Fortress—once said: This time, Heart of Plants truly emptied its coffers and fought with its back against the wall.

If it had failed, this Wizard Academy, with its mere hundred-year history, would likely have been swept into the dust of history.

But, if it succeeded, it would shine brightly in the Wizarding World of Mist Coast, slowly rising to become a legendary Wizard Academy... Fortunately.

This time, fate was on the side of Heart of Plants; they succeeded.

Therefore, this celebration was held with extreme solemnity.

Green Anglet also personally received the Staff of Inheritance from Joyce at the Academy's grand celebration, becoming the second Dean of Plant Heart Academy.

On the high platform, the succession of old and new generations symbolized the end of one era and, even more, the dawn of a new era—this was Green Anglet's new era.

Joyce, with his white hair, delivered his final speech to everyone in the Academy from the high platform, bidding farewell to the Plant Heart Academy he had painstakingly nurtured and protected for over 100 years.

"Children, my students..."

"In this season of the great winter, you have all done well; in unity, you have also overcome this harsh winter and are about to usher in the spring of hope."

"And Wizard Green Anglet is the hope that will lead our Plant Heart Academy towards a beautiful spring, and he is the rising star who will succeed me in guarding this Wizard Tower."

"Recalling the bits and pieces of building this Wizard Tower, some of the older generation of Wizards should have participated:

130 years ago, construction officially began on this Wizard Tower. In the same year, I recruited a large number of Wizard Apprentices. In this desolate land, brick by brick, from nothing to something, from zero, a magnificent White Wizard Tower began to take shape... 100 years ago, after more than 30 years and countless arduous struggles, hundreds of Wizards and thousands of knights worked hard to build it. We taught, earned money, and also acted as construction workers, personally building this Wizard Tower.

Here, I want to thank that initial group of Wizards. Under such harsh conditions, you remained loyal and always supported me, propping up this Wizard Tower.

Originally, among that initial group, there were a few promising talents who had some hope of achieving Formal Wizard status, but they were all hindered by the environment.

After the Wizard Tower was completed, our Academy was officially established. In that year, we also joined the Seven Towers Alliance, and in that year, we began large-scale enrollment, cultivating batches of fresh blood for the Wizarding World.

I and those initial hundreds of Wizards became the Academy's first batch of mentors.

In just 40 years, we created a miracle. Relying on an excellent teaching system and the tireless efforts of our teaching mentors, our Academy successfully became one of the Seven Executive Wizard Towers of the Seven Towers Alliance, laying the foundation for the Academy's further development.

Time flies, and Plant Heart Academy, in my hands, has gradually grown from a tiny sapling into a towering tree that can shelter from wind and rain.

In this Academy, I practiced my teaching philosophy, spread my Wizardry inheritance, and, of course, gained a large number of lovely students.

In you, I see the light of the inheritance of Wizard civilization. Now, a student who has inherited my entire Wizardry lineage has appeared—he is Green Anglet.

In the future, he will also bear the heavy responsibility of inheriting the Botany School, and I have already completed my mission and it is time to seek my next path.

I will remain on the Mist Coast for another ten years. Once Green Anglet has smoothly taken over Plant Heart Academy, I will depart.

And by then, the Wizard Tower will be entrusted to you. I hope you will properly pass on our Botany School. Tomorrow is yours."

..."Teacher, please don't leave..."

"Dean, we can't bear to see you go..."

Everyone below the stage was stunned. On this joyous day, everyone had just been moved by the seniors' hard work and sacrifice.

How could they hear such shocking news the next moment, that Joyce, who had guarded Heart of Plants for over a hundred years, was about to depart?

In the first two rows below the high platform were some white-haired old Wizards. They were the first batch of Wizards in the Academy, as mentioned by Joyce, the meritorious officials who had built the foundation with Joyce.

It's just that time spares no one. Over a hundred years have passed, and even though Wizard Apprentices have a maximum lifespan of 150 years, many Wizards did not live to this time.

These 40 or so white-haired old seniors were the last remaining elders of Heart of Plants.

"Teacher, I can't bear to see you go..."

An emotional old woman cried and fell to the ground, wailing:

"Teacher Joyce, how can you leave before me? No, Teacher, when you leave, please take little Lina with you. Anyway, I don't have many years left to live..."

"Oh, Teacher..."

Teacher Joyce on the stage was originally very pleased. These students he had taught were not cold-hearted people; each one was a good Wizard with strong feelings and loyalty.

But the subsequent words started to sound increasingly wrong.

"Cough cough..."

Joyce seemed to realize something and immediately exuded a deterrent aura, attracting everyone's attention.

"Everyone, please don't misunderstand. What I just said was a bit inaccurate."

"In ten years, I will indeed leave, but it's not a departure due to the end of my lifespan, as you imagine."

"I've broken through and become a Tier 2 Wizard. The resources here on the Mist Coast can no longer support me, which is why I have to leave. Understand?"

"Tier 2 Wizard?!"