There was a commotion among the students as they heard the announcement. Most people in their lives would never go to other continents. And there were other continents. In total, there were four other continents with different compositions of inhabitants.

There was the continent to the east of us, Eihibesh. It consists mostly of humans with a distinctly different culture from us that cultivates chi. Next was the continent to the west of us, Eayes. It was the home continent of the elves, dwarves and beastmen and was dominated by all three who had their own kingdoms. To the north of us was the home continent of the Udonavon family, Ulux. They have totems of power and are usually warlocks of some sort with the totems granting clans power. Last but not least, to the south of us was Draigonith which was ruled by the dragon king, the father of the current empress.

“This student is from one of the leading sects of the Eihibesh continent situated to the east of us. He has graciously agreed to answer questions you may have”

‘The eastern continent huh.’

They were the pioneers of chi cultivation, though they call their pinnacle immortality instead of godhood. Also, their cultivation techniques usually include a concept in them that makes it easier for developing a concept when an appropriate level is reached.

“You can come in, Wei An.”

The door opened and a young man with long straight black hair, narrow black eyes and a robe-like attire entered into the room. He began speaking the language with a slight accent.

“Salutation. I am called Wei An, last name Wei, first name An. I come from the Plum Blossom sect, one of the top sects of my home continent and one of the three that were sent here for our two year long intermission so I can graduate with you. Feel free to ask any questions.” I wonder who would go first.

“Hello.” Of course it’s her.

“My name is Serena Campbell and I hope you have a lovely year. How is it that you are well versed in magic, a completely different system of power from yours?” Actually a good question. We all lasered in to hear his answer.

“Thank you for the sentiment. Our sect library includes books on the formation of magic circles and different spells and the theory of spell formation. I volunteered to come here for the program to further my knowledge from the limited pool of information we had.”

‘Ohhh, an overachiever then.’

“Thank you for the answer.” Serena with a smile. He smiled back at her.

“Does your sect concentrate on the sword arts?” Lancelot.

“Yes. We are at the forefront of swordplay on our continent. Only some other sects can match our power and sword style as a whole.” Lancelot got a gleam in his eye.

“When you are available, can we spar?” Really, such a sword freak.

“Yes, whenever I am free.” Lancelot just nodded.

“Does your sect have an alchemy department? I’ve read that the alchemy in Eihibesh is different.” Octavia asked.

“From what I’ve researched, our alchemy at the core is similar. We combine the essence of various materials through an ‘alchemical’ process that usually results in a novel product that is more than the sum of its parts. However, the alchemy in Eihibesh concentrates on creating pills and elixirs that boost cultivation.” Octavia had a thoughtful look on her face as she pondered what was just said.

“Alright, enough questions. You can meet with him later for more questions. You can take that seat over there, Wei An. Now this year-” He continued on and on so I tuned him out again.

The day, and consequently, week went on like normal with higher level classes that started narrowing down what we learned. At the weekend, I prepared myself to go to the territory. I stood in my room and lifted up my palm, facing it forward. An intricate geometric circle with glyphs appeared in front of my palm, forming a portal that led straight to the tree.

‘Luckily, I can go further now that I’m a 3rd circle wizard.’

I had achieved my third circle and seventh tier in both chi and aura during these long years. My saturation for both had also been at 98% for quite some time now, though I was stalling its advancement to 100% for as long as I could because that would have an outward expression on my person.

I walked through and beheld the tree in all its glory.

‘Truly magnificent.’

It had broken the fifty feet mark of its growth quite some time ago and now that it had truly begun the purification, things were looking good.

“Didn’t know you were coming here today.”

‘Oh, he’s here.’

“Good morning, Mr Flamel.” He comes here regularly to just bask in the pure mana that is coming off the tree, like I do. I'm sure he noticed something and was waiting to ask me.

“So? The reason you’re here today?”

‘Might as well.’

“The rate of breaking down the curse has finally surpassed the rate of the curse restoring itself. So the curse is being consumed in earnest from now on and the rate of consumption will exponentially grow.” His smile widened.

“Good, good. You will follow me tomorrow to the emperor to explain all of this. We've kept it from him long enough and he has been kind enough to behave like he couldn’t see all that was going on. Don’t worry, it’s just a precautionary step. You can't exactly grow a world tree in someone’s empire without at least telling him about it. And it’ll also give the tree some protection.”

‘I knew this would happen.’