This wizard only wishes to be a teacher

Time soon arrived for the next meeting, and Lucien arrived on time at the designated address, feeling relieved at the sight of the familiar Wizard, Thunder.

Taking advantage of the fact that the meeting had not yet started, Lucien released a strand of spiritual power and proactively extended it towards Thunder, quickly sensing Thunder’s spiritual power. The tips of their spiritual tendrils touched and formed a stable connection.

When the connection stabilized, Thunder’s consciousness sent over a querying wave of spiritual power.

"I have some matters I’d like to discuss with you in private, concerning the Dream World and the truth about the endless cycles of the players," Lucien cut straight to the chase, revealing his purpose.

Thunder’s consciousness fell silent for a moment, and the spiritual connection seemed a bit unstable.

"How can I be sure what you’re saying is true? Besides, if you have relevant information, you could simply share it at this meeting. I believe many players, myself included, would be willing to trade ink or other resources with you."

After about ten seconds, Thunder finally sent back this message, which allowed Lucien, who was already prepared to give up on Thunder and find an opportunity to connect with other more reliable or exploitable players, to breathe a sigh of relief.

"The matter involves a major organization, and I’m not yet sure who all the players inside the organization are. If you’re worried about us meeting in private, you can choose the location," Lucien offered his greatest sincerity.

"I’ll think about it and give you an answer after the meeting," Thunder’s tone had become very serious. He actively broke off the spiritual connection, and after nodding slightly to Lucien as a greeting, he took his seat at the meeting.

Lucien too found a place to sit and began observing the other players who were attending the meeting.

Compared to the last meeting, there were a few familiar faces missing this time around; meanwhile, there were two newcomers who seemed somewhat guarded and distant from the other players.

"Let’s begin the meeting," said the "Judge" seated at the head, lightly tapping the table to signal the start of the meeting. Under his leadership, a player whose appearance was similar to that of a human but noticeably stockier was the first to speak.

"I need some Casas Fruit. I’m willing to trade a drop of ink for two mature Casas Fruits," the player stood up, his eyes eagerly scanning the others.

However, given his short stature, even standing up, he was only eye-level with most other players. Ultimately, his hopes were dashed as no one raised their hand to trade with him; after a few seconds, he could do nothing but sit down dejectedly and pass the opportunity to the next player.

The second individual was a newcomer, with a body similar to that of a human, but his head resembled a hybrid of a water buffalo and a lion, his voice faintly accompanied by the roar of a storm, as if his belly hid a mini cyclone.

"I want to trade for some information about the Dream World, the more detailed the better. As for the reward, they can choose anything from these things I have." Saying this, the minotaur-like player placed five items on the table in front of him.

Full of hope, he awaited the other players’ responses; however, most of them lost interest in trading after inspecting the items. In the end, only a handful of people raised their hands and, under the Judge’s supervision, traded with the minotaur-like player, taking two of the items he offered.

"Wait a minute, I feel the information isn’t equivalent to the items I offered!"

Suddenly, after examining the information, the minotaur-like player stood up agitatedly. His pair of emerald green bull eyes glared at the player who had exchanged an ancient horn, his eyes seeming to brew a storm.

"That is a Holy Relic from our tribe’s former priests, and the information he provided contains too many ’perhaps’ and ’seems’!"

"We’re all just players after all, and our understanding of this world is also based on our subjective deductions. That’s all the information I have, and besides, my information was checked by His Honor, the Judge," the thin player who had traded for the horn scoffed, then looked toward the gaunt old man seated at the head.

"He indeed is the second most comprehensive in terms of information among those who provided it today," the Judge spoke calmly, "Of course, the information he provided is indeed overvalued compared to your item."

The minotaur-like player’s breathing grew rough, and as he looked at the thin player beside him who was not hiding the mockery in his eyes, the flames in his heart seemed to be ignited. He roared, his previously emerald eyes turning blood red and the pair of horns on his head now resembled daggers that could pierce the sky.

"Mu—" He let out a muffled roar and, despite the ongoing gathering, charged towards the skinny player, with an aura that almost approached the level of a second-level Wizard.

But at the next moment, the Judge’s bony palm simply pressed down lightly in front of the desk.

Bang— 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The Minotaur, who had just erupted with aura, suddenly wilted, as if an invisible giant hand had harshly slapped him. His whole presence became somewhat chaotic, and a large amount of fresh blood even surged from his nostrils and mouth.

"How dare you show off in front of His Honor the Judge, truly seeking death," sneered the skinny player, but the next moment, it was as if someone had grabbed his throat. His face turned somewhat purplish, and he was lifted into the air, his hands tightly clutching his neck while his legs helplessly thrashed about as if he were a hanged ghost struggling before death.

Several seconds passed before the skinny player was thrown to the ground. Ignoring the pain, he knelt and gasped for breath, his eyes filled with the fear and relief of having survived a catastrophe.

The other players, seeing the dire state of the two conflict’s main characters, slightly straightened up, and another newcomer even stiffened his back, much like a student whose posture and attitude suddenly corrects when the teacher calls on him to answer a question.

Lucien observed all this with a somewhat indifferent gaze, while also contemplating in his mind the limitations of this Judge.

Perhaps this was the condition for him to exert his full strength? Required the other players to violate the rules he set or to disrupt his "justice"?

Lucien looked at the two players who were now pale with fear and quickly reaching a settlement agreement, then quietly glanced again at the Judge, sitting at the head of the table.

He even began to miss the special talent awakened by Lurah; perhaps under these circumstances, he could observe more details he usually couldn’t notice by leveraging the talent of Mind Reading. But soon, Lucien’s attention was drawn to an item brought out by another player.

"I need some ink. These are some items I can use for trading, but I only accept exchanges with ink," said the player, who wore a hood that concealed his face.

And the item he produced made Lucien’s eyes light up.

It was a few emerald fruits, each about the size of a baby’s fist. At the sight of these round, emerald fruits, Lucien couldn’t help but be reminded of the scene of everything sprouting in the forest in spring.

The sensation was very similar to when Lucien had encountered the high-level fairies inside the Cloud Kingdom Sanctuary, even purer than the aura of fairies.

This pure life aura also attracted the attention of many players, many of whom used various methods to investigate, but were intercepted by the owner of the fruits using his methods.

"This is the Life Fruit, possessing a rich vitality. If one is severely injured but still breathing, either consuming it or crushing it to apply on the wound activates the life force inside for healing, which can quickly mend injuries similar to some worlds’ one-time-use magical items."

"However, due to the limited life energy in each fruit, some non-fleshly creatures find it difficult to heal with this kind of fruit, and higher-level Cultivators also need more fruits for treatment..."

The owner of the Life Fruits detailed their effects and limitations, which piqued the interest of many players. They raised their hands, wanting to converse privately with him, and many others who coveted the Life Fruits but lacked ink showed frustration on their faces, since no Cultivator would consider having too many life-saving items.

"Three drops of ink," Lucien communicated privately with the player and exchanged three drops of ink for one green Life Fruit.

However, Lucien didn’t intend to consume this fruit but planned to give it to Carly after returning from the Dream Layer, attempting to let Carly use the Fairy Clan’s affinity with plants to cultivate it within Cloud Country.

He felt this fruit and the Fairy Clan, which shared a similar aura to the fruit, must have a deep connection. Perhaps under Carly’s cultivation, some wonderful chemical reactions might occur with this fruit.

"’Shadow’, I’ve made up my mind. Let’s meet in the Maple Forest near the Menter family estate," just after Lucien completed the transaction, he felt a touch of spiritual power from Thunder and received a message from him.

"No problem," Lucien revealed a smile and quickly responded to Thunder with spiritual power.