From Wizard Apprentice to Conqueror of Myriad Worlds

"Tsk tsk! The River Flows Eastward is only a First Level Apprentice, yet he has two papers being published in the first section of the same issue of *Shine*. In the hundreds of years since *Shine* was first published, this has to be a first, right?" The voice was filled with incredulous wonder.

"It must be! This First Level Apprentice is going to be famous! Once the journal is released tomorrow, everyone will know his name," another voice chimed in.

"I heard that the papers submitted by Official Wizards this issue weren’t anything special. The River Flows Eastward just capitalized on an opening," another voice explained from a different perspective.

"With so many Third Level Apprentices in the academy, who among them could capitalize on an opening against so many Wizards? At the end of the day, it just proves this First Level Apprentice’s strength in the Divination Domain is truly formidable," this voice offered a different opinion.

"If only I knew The River Flows Eastward. Maybe I could collaborate with him on a paper." This voice held a hint of longing, as well as some poorly-hidden scheming.

"In your dreams!" the previous voice sneered. "The man probably chose to submit his work anonymously precisely to avoid shameless people like you showing up at his door."

The corner of Roy’s mouth curled up. ’You can all forget it,’ he thought. ’From now on, Mr. Anonymous is going to be watched like a hawk by the Lord Wizards.’

「Not long after.」

Explosive news spread throughout the entire society.

"After a collective discussion among the twelve Reviewing Editors-in-Chief, the paper ’Highway Bridge Technique’ will be the lead article in the first section of the next issue of *Shine*!"

The pen in Roy’s hand CLACKED onto the desk, but he didn’t even notice, his body frozen as if he’d been hit by a Freezing Technique.

’By the Mystery, it’s the lead article!’

The title of the lead article would be printed on the cover, which was why it was also called the "cover paper."

It was the most prominent position, the first thing every reader saw when they picked up the journal. It was the face of the entire publication.

Even for an Official Wizard, this was a great honor that brought them much prestige.

*Shine* was published bi-weekly, and the cover paper of nearly every issue was the exclusive domain of Official Wizards.

It was "nearly" every issue because there had been instances of an Apprentice’s paper making the cover before.

But Roy recalled that had happened about a hundred years ago.

Back then, that Apprentice was already a Third Level Apprentice, on the verge of becoming an Official Wizard.

But for a paper by a First Level Apprentice to become the cover paper for *Shine*... this was an absolute first in the journal’s history!

Roy still had a question in his mind. ’Weren’t Lady Nai Luo and Lord Terry just arguing over whether to put the paper in the second or third spot? How did it suddenly become the cover paper?’

He pulled a colleague aside to ask and quickly found out why.

"Another Reviewing Editor-in-Chief, Lady Mei Na, announced that she had just received news from her Clear Spring Witchcraft Laboratory."

The colleague lowered his voice, but he couldn’t hide the shock in his tone:

"During an ongoing project to improve a Second Level Witchcraft, a Wizard discovered that the ’Highway Bridge Technique’ could solve an extremely tricky Divination calculation problem.

"This problem had plagued the laboratory for months. The Wizard saw the paper two hours ago, tried using the Highway Bridge Technique to solve it, and has already made a breakthrough."

The colleague grew more and more excited as he spoke. "After this news broke, there was no longer any debate among the twelve Reviewing Editors-in-Chief.

"Lady Nai Luo and Lord Terry, who had been arguing endlessly over the second or third spot, both fell silent.

"The other editors who hadn’t planned on speaking also voiced their support one after another."

Roy listened, his face a mask of utter shock.

He completely understood why this news would land "Highway Bridge Technique" on the journal’s cover.

Within the academy, whether for journal articles or research projects, Second Level Witchcraft was considered the "pinnacle" of academic research.

This was because research on Third Level Witchcraft and above involved higher-level secrets and more dangerous taboos, so it would never appear on the academy’s internal platforms or in its databases.

When a Divination Theory could effectively solve a difficult problem in Second Level Witchcraft research, it would inevitably be regarded as a top-tier Divination tool.

Of course, the word "top-tier" here should come with the qualifier "within the academy."

In that case, the "Highway Bridge Technique" naturally had the qualifications to be the cover paper.

This astonishing fact made Roy’s heart ache even more.

He walked back to his workstation, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling, letting out a long sigh.

’Sob! My review rights!’

He hadn’t expected to keep the review rights for "Mr. Anonymous" long-term; he had only hoped to hold on to them for a year.

In that one year, even if the author only submitted five or six papers, it would have been enough to help him build up his credentials and perhaps advance further in the society.

Unfortunately, that little demon Wizard’s claws had struck far too quickly.

Lady Nai Luo’s declaration—"From now on, all papers submitted by the Silver Pen Member, The River Flows Eastward, will be reviewed directly by me"—had shattered his wonderful dream.

Despite his heartache, Roy also felt a touch of schadenfreude.

’I’m afraid all the editors-in-chief have their eyes on The River Flows Eastward now. Lady Nai Luo’s power and resources are only lower-middle tier among the editors. There’s no way she’ll be the one to get the review rights for this genius Apprentice’s papers.’

’Hmph!’

’If I can’t have it, neither can you!’

*****

「Black Tower One, Apartment 804.」