Chapter 145: Tempering the Heart in the Red Dust (Part 1-2 Combined)

After a moment of thought, Gao Jie Ming made his decision.

"Mentor, I have decided," Gao Jie Ming said, his voice firm and clear. "I choose a demon plane." This book is first published on Tiantian Kan Xiaoshuo, accompanying your leisure at ttks. tw, offering a super convenient reading experience with no erroneous chapters and no disordered sequences.

Mentor Clark nodded silently, seemingly unsurprised by this choice.

"A very good choice. I will immediately contact the person in charge of the Elosia Plane to handle the relevant procedures. The detailed plane coordinates and data will be sent to you shortly. Remember, regardless of which plane you choose, you must explore and master it yourself. This is the true path of a wizard."

"Yes, Mentor." Excitement gleamed in Gao Jie Ming's eyes.

Then he recalled the information Amy and Victor had brought earlier: "Mentor, does this 'person in charge' you mentioned refer to the future Dean of the Elosia Plane?"

"It seems you already know this news," Clark nodded calmly. "That's correct. The other party is a newly promoted Level Seven Wizard who has just retired from the battlefield. With a mandatory rotation period of one hundred years, they are basically confirmed as the future overall person in charge of the Elosia Plane."

Gao Jie Ming, however, thought of another issue: "Then... after the rest period ends, what are we supposed to do next? Go to the Star Ring Federation?"

Gao Jie Ming remembered clearly that the reason the Plane Nuolun Workshop initiated this trial was reportedly due to some major movement on the Star Ring Federation side.

Yet after the trial ended, everyone seemed to forget about this matter; instead, this trial appeared to have turned into a recruitment drive for new faculty members of the new academy?

"As for that... you don't need to worry just yet. Given the characteristic of those old fellows in the Federation to prepare for a rainy day, they probably started releasing news hundreds of years in advance. It's unlikely they'll need you anytime soon."

"The reason the Workshop plans to open a new Plane Nuolun Academy on the Elosia Plane is probably just to make 'useful waste' out of you lot."

Gao Jie Ming looked helpless: "We shouldn't have fallen to the level of being considered waste, surely."

"Just understand the spirit of the meaning."

Clark sized up Gao Jie Ming in the communication screen, unable to suppress a smile in his eyes: "Moreover, even if there truly is a need, with your current strength, you wouldn't qualify to participate anyway. Rather than worrying about such things, you'd be better off finding ways to improve your own strength."

Gao Jie Ming scratched his hair, knowing Clark spoke the truth.

Given the sheer scale of the Star Ring Federation, if there truly were a demand, a novice Level One wizard like him indeed lacked the qualifications to participate.

Clark, however, paid it no mind; he had gone through this stage himself.

High-spirited young people always feel they are unmatched under heaven, eager to achieve something noteworthy.

Compared to certain novices who had already become arrogant after their trials, Gao Jie Ming, who had always devoted himself quietly to research, was truly the "child from another family."

"Additionally, judging by the Workshop's decision, even after the rest period ends, you don't need to rush to the front lines."

"Eh?" Gao Jie Ming was stunned. "Then the contract..."

"The Workshop's contract isn't actually that strict," Clark said carelessly. "Participating in the plane war of the Elosia Plane can also offset part of your military service."

"Furthermore, according to Workshop regulations, every wizard who completes a war is entitled to a recuperation period of at least half a year and at most five years. So after this half-year ends, you can still choose an additional recuperation time ranging from half a year to five years."

"It can be done this way?" Gao Jie Ming was somewhat dumbfounded.

The corner of Clark's mouth curled up: "The Workshop cultivates you to become stronger wizards. The so-called military service is merely to put some pressure on you, urging you to advance faster. As long as we ensure you can apply what you've learned and aren't fools who only research blindly, that's enough. Moreover..."

"Moreover?"

"Moreover, a little wizard of your level doesn't even qualify to be exploited."

Gao Jie Ming was speechless. Although these words were hurtful, they seemed to be the truth.

After all, aside from that group of brutes in the combat division, proper wizards are highly skilled at manufacturing various products, and high-level wizards are individually equivalent to human production lines.

Coupled with the fact that wizard civilization is currently in a period of rapid expansion, with various resources continuously flowing in from the outside world.

If it comes down to production, the combined output of tens of thousands of low-level wizards cannot match that of a single high-level wizard.

After Clark ended the communication, Gao Jie Ming thought for a moment and temporarily cast these messy matters aside.

Not to mention the new academy that doesn't even exist yet, even descending to the plane he applied for would be impossible in the short term.

"First... let's continue researching."

A bronze mirror, flowing with a faint rainbow light, hung quietly before Gao Jie Ming.

Its style was ancient and simple, yet its mirror surface possessed a strange sense of chaos, as if covered by a thin mist, causing the reflected images to always carry a hint of obscurity.

This was Gao Jie Ming's innate magic treasure, the Five Aggregates Rainbow-Transforming Mirror.

Through Gao Jie Ming's years of consecration, the various decorations and patterns behind the Five Aggregates Rainbow-Transforming Mirror had become increasingly complex, signifying that this magic treasure was growing stronger.

"The Elosia Plane is a good place. The new 'Five Lights' are nearly complete; the first 'Reforging' is not far off."

Magic treasures in the Great Dao Library are roughly divided into two types. The first type possesses a fixed form and substance from the start; this category is relatively simple to refine, and the material requirements are not too troublesome (for the cultivation world).

The drawback is that once refined, it is difficult to improve them further; occasionally, under special circumstances, improvements occur, but they are exceptionally slow.

The second type is like the Five Aggregates Rainbow-Transforming Mirror, which essentially lacks a solid form. The drawback is that acquiring materials is quite troublesome, and refinement is difficult.

The advantage is that as long as materials are continuously supplemented and consecration is performed, theoretically, it can be improved with almost no upper limit.

However, each round of reforging for such magic treasures requires materials of greater quantity and quality, so actual improvement is still quite difficult.

Fortunately, for Gao Jie Ming, this is merely a matter of spending more time.

"However, now might be the time to try another method of consecration."

Gao Jie Ming's expression turned serious.

He extended his finger, and a wisp of imperceptible mist was drawn out from his internal space, gently brushing across the mirror surface of the "Five Aggregates Rainbow-Transforming Mirror."

The Qi of the Red Dust is the refined essence of impure emotions, gathered from the joys, angers, sorrows, loves, hates, and affections of myriad living beings.

It carries the most intense aroma of mortal life and has a substantial tempering effect on "spirituality."

Gao Jie Ming employed the Qi-control method he had practiced for a long time, using extremely exquisite control to slowly permeate the mirror surface with the purest and gentlest parts of it.

At first, the mirror surface merely rippled with a deeper layer of chaos, as if covered by invisible sludge.

That chaos was not a flaw, but a kind of "ignorance" inherent when the magic treasure was first formed, representing an "uncomprehended" state regarding the mortal world.

The Qi of the Red Dust, with its essence of ten thousand miles of red dust, serves to "wash and refine" this ignorance, allowing the magic treasure to truly understand and reflect the mortal world.

But as the Qi of the Red Dust continued to permeate, that sense of chaos began to recede slowly yet steadily.

The thin mist gradually dispersed, the mirror surface became clearer, and the reflected light grew ever purer.

This change was extremely slow, requiring Gao Jie Ming's patient control.

He could feel that as the red dust qi was absorbed bit by bit by the mirror surface, the faint spirituality deep within the magic treasure was being activated.

It was no longer merely a tool, but more like a lifeform possessing a primitive level of "thought," beginning to understand everything it reflected.

When that wisp of red dust qi was completely exhausted by absorption, the entire "Five Aggregates Rainbow Mirror" was utterly transformed.

The mirror surface was clear as water, vividly reflecting Gao Jie Ming's slightly weary yet surprise-filled face.

Its rainbow light became more restrained and profound, as if capable of encompassing all phenomena of the world.

Those obscure runes on the mirror's surface also became more vivid, as though they had gained breath.

More importantly, Gao Jie Ming felt the spirituality of the magic treasure had grown even stronger.

Due to the deep connection between the treasure and himself, Gao Jie Ming personally felt his own consciousness become transparent and clear,

"The effect is excellent," Gao Jie Ming whispered in praise, withdrawing the magic treasure.

But immediately after, his eyebrows knitted slightly.

In the feedback from the treasure, he clearly perceived a trace of slight "fatigue."

This tempering seemed to be a "radical enhancement" of the treasure's spirituality; it should not be performed multiple times in a short period, or else the treasure's spirituality would be damaged, even risking collapse.

"It seems the principle that extremes beget their opposite applies equally to the path of cultivation," Gao Jie Ming mused, storing the "Five Aggregates Rainbow Mirror" within his body to let it recover slowly.

After a brief rest, Gao Jie Ming did not waste time; he prepared for a second attempt, an even bolder one—to directly imbue a wisp of red dust qi into his own soul.

Sitting cross-legged, he drew his spiritual power inward, guiding the vast amount of red dust qi within his internal space.

This time, he extracted only a strand even fainter than before, as thin as a hair, and carefully guided it toward the depths of his soul.

The instant that wisp of red dust qi touched his soul, Gao Jie Ming's spiritual world felt as if a bomb had been dropped into it!

It was not pain, nor impact, but an experience nearly all-encompassing!

His consciousness was instantly torn apart, then reassembled.

He was no longer Gao Jie Ming, but one among countless mortals.

He saw a poor farmer tilling the fields under the scorching sun, sweat soaking his clothes, all for a single bowl of hot soup for his family.

His heart was filled with longing for a bountiful harvest and fear of natural disasters; that simple, stubborn determination to survive flowed into Gao Jie Ming's heart like a warm current.

He felt young lovers confessing their hearts under the moonlight, two souls tightly connected; that pure love and the sweetness of first romance made Gao Jie Ming's heart tremble involuntarily.

He became a soldier on the battlefield, amidst flashing blades and flying flesh, the screams of comrades and the sinister laughter of enemies echoing in his ears.

That despair of impending death, longing for home, and the frantic will to survive erupted in the final moment, leaving Gao Jie Ming gasping for breath, nearly suffocating.

He experienced a mother who had lost her child, sobbing uncontrollably in a cold, rainy night; that heart-rending grief and helplessness brought tears streaming uncontrollably from Gao Jie Ming's eyes.

He transformed into a noble of the Wang Ting, clinking glasses at a lavish banquet, where behind hypocritical smiles lay endless calculation and greed; that craving for power, pursuit of pleasure, and the insatiable emptiness deep within the soul made Gao Jie Ming feel extreme oppression.

Scene after scene of life's myriad forms, joy and anger, sorrow and happiness, greed, hatred, obsession, love, hate, and vengeance played out within the depths of his soul with extreme realism and immediacy, like a revolving lantern.

He was not an observer but a participant, able to personally experience every emotion and sensation they had felt at that time.

It was the collection of the most authentic life experiences of hundreds of thousands, even millions, of mortals.

A massive stream of information, a turbulent flood of mixed emotions, struck Gao Jie Ming's soul like a volcanic eruption.

His spiritual power was nearly drained in an instant, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.

Sweat soaked his robes, his face pale as a sheet of paper.

Gao Jie Ming clenched his teeth, desperately guarding the last shred of clarity deep within his soul, barely avoiding being completely lost in this endless illusion of the red dust.

I don't know how long passed; when that wisp of red dust qi completely merged into the depths of his soul, transforming into a faint, barely perceptible red light, Gao Jie Ming suddenly broke free from that terrifying experience.

He gasped for air in great heaves, his chest heaving violently, as if he had just walked back from the gates of hell.

He opened his eyes, his gaze carrying a trace of bewilderment and the relief of surviving a catastrophe.

It took several full minutes for his consciousness to fully return to his physical body.

Gao Jie Ming let out a long sigh, his body collapsing limply onto the ground, his expression revealing exhaustion that could hardly be concealed.

This exhaustion was not physical depletion, but weakness resulting from the extreme draining of spirit and soul.

Yet, after the fatigue came an indescribable clarity and sublimation.

The speed of his thought seemed to increase slightly, and his perception of surrounding elements became sharper.

It was as if his originally somewhat turbid mind had been washed by the red dust qi, becoming crystal clear.

If the "Purple Qi from the East" he absorbed daily improved the quality of his soul, then the red dust qi improved the "purity" of his spiritual power!

It seemed to strip away and refine the impurities, stagnation, and redundancies within his soul, bit by bit.

This increase in "purity" brought Gao Jie Ming's control over his own spiritual power to an entirely new realm.

Translated into the specific manifestations of the wizard path, Gao Jie Ming could clearly feel that the threshold of activity required for him to manipulate elements had decreased once again.

This meant that casting spells now consumed less spiritual power than before and felt easier, as if the elements were more obedient to his will.

Even if he encountered some planes with slightly lower element activity, Gao Jie Ming would not be greatly affected.

At the same time, the precision of his spiritual manipulation improved dramatically, allowing for more microscopic and finer control of energy.

This subtle manipulation of energy and spirit directly drove a rapid increase in his alchemy proficiency.

Many precise alchemical operations that previously remained only at the theoretical level or required repeated trials now came effortlessly to his hands, with success rates greatly improved.

Unfortunately, just like tempering a magic treasure, this method could not be used multiple times in a short period.

Gao Jie Ming could feel that faint red light deep within his soul; it was currently in a saturated state, needing time to settle and digest.

Forcing another imbuation would instead cause irreversible damage to the soul.

"Refining the heart with red dust... truly a cultivation method recommended even by the Great Dao Library," Gao Jie Ming said, his eyes filled with the joy of gain.

(End of Chapter)