Chapter 166: Gathering

The horn of war came faster than Jie Ming imagined.

Less than a month after he signed up at the intersection point, the magic network terminal issued a sharp prompt—the notification to go and gather was clearly listed.

This efficiency far exceeded Jie Ming's expectations.

He quickly checked all the arrangements inside and outside the Golden Garden, confirmed they were correct, and then contacted Wei Aola through the magic network communication rune.

Wei Aola's voice carried a trace of faint excitement, indicating that she had also received the notification, and agreed to meet at the designated location at the intersection point.

Stepping onto the teleportation array again, the figures of Jie Ming and Wei Aola manifested in that twisted spatial debris of the intersection point.

This place was still in its grotesque appearance; the vertical streets, floating shops, and various strange exotic creatures and servants all maintained a strange harmony like a frozen oil painting.

However, the atmosphere permeating the air now, besides the bustle, had a trace of pre-war murderousness and tension.

"Are you ready?" Wei Aola's voice sounded. She was wearing a black tight leather armor convenient for action, with two metal staves crossed behind her back, and a confident smile on her face.

"Ready at any time." Jie Ming nodded.

He was wearing a black wizard robe, and the six floating cannon arrays were looming behind him like wings.

Wei Aola's smile slightly converged. She turned to Jie Ming, her tone becoming serious: "Jie Ming, after entering the war plane, besides the indigenous people of the plane, you must pay extra attention to the wizards of the Kemeili Society and the Hundunmi Sect."

"Although our Nuolun Workshop cooperates with them, we do not belong to the same force. On the battlefield, interests are often the first priority; for the sake of grabbing spoils of war, it is not surprising that they do anything out of line."

"After all, everyone does not belong to the same force. If you really meet them, it is better to be careful. On the surface, they will not backstab you, but secretly, doing some small actions is the norm."

"Remember, never completely hand your back to wizards who are not of the same source." Wei Aola's words were concise and direct.

Jie Ming's expression tightened, and he nodded solemnly: "I understand, senior sister. I will pay attention."

He knew the reality of wizards; precisely because wizards are rational enough, sufficiently large interests can make them act rationally.

The two waited at the intersection point for another two days.

During these two days, wizards from the three major wizard forces poured in continuously, and the hall was bustling with noise, the clamor deafening.

Most of the wizards wore standard or self-made magic robes and carried various wizard tools.

They emitted different elemental fluctuations, their auras mixed, yet forming a strange sense of oppression.

Finally, the moment of gathering arrived.

Tens of thousands of wizards crowded the sign-up hall densely, even extending to the "streets" outside.

The vast majority were Tier 1 and Tier 2 wizards; they are the cannon fodder and executors that form the foundation of the wizard legion.

High-tier wizards above Tier 3 began to be scarce; they are usually squad commanders or elite forces responsible for certain strategic points.

As for Tier 4 wizards, they are even rarer, and each one is enough to attract onlookers.

Just as all the wizards were waiting for instructions, the sky above the intersection point, which was originally a background of chaotic void, was suddenly shrouded by a huge shadow.

The sky suddenly darkened, and an indescribable huge outline, like the body of a prehistoric giant beast, slowly emerged from the void—it was a desolate land, covered with scorched mountains and deep rifts, emitting an ancient and wild aura.

"That is the plane for expedition rented by the intersection point," Wei Aola looked up at the continent floating in the void and explained to Jie Ming, "It is the 'ship' for our expedition this time."

"Ship?"

Jie Ming subconsciously recalled his rare two trips in and out of different planes; one was by teleportation, and the other was directly thrown in by a high-tier wizard of the workshop.

"The situation of the Elosia plane was an exception. Under normal circumstances, outside every plane is an infinitely large chaotic void," Wei Aola began to popularize science for Jie Ming.

"Although it is called a void, it is actually not a void without energy and matter. On the contrary, the chaotic void drifts with a large amount of discrete elements, which are richer than the interior of any plane. The key to the chaotic void lies in the word 'chaotic'."

She paused, pointed to the desolate plane floating in the sky, and pointed to the invisible power shaking faintly around the spatial debris of the intersection point: "The basic earth, fire, wind, and water elements we are familiar with are constrained by rules inside the plane, stably forming matter, energy, space, and time."

"However, the chaotic void outside the plane, because it is extremely chaotic, is not only filled with various discrete and complex matter and energy, but even time and space are extremely chaotic. Time may be fast or slow, space may be twisted and folded at any time, and rules are changing all the time."

"If ordinary living beings were directly exposed to the chaotic void, they would likely be twisted and torn by the chaotic time, space, and even chaotic rules on the spot, turning into nothingness," Wei Aola's tone carried a trace of warning. "The only ones who can truly wander outside the plane are wizards of Tier 6 and above."

Jie Ming nodded thoughtfully; he actually knew about this point.

The reason why Tier 6 wizards can survive in the chaotic void is that Tier 6 wizards begin to master law solidification technology.

This technology can not only be applied to external objects but also to themselves, allowing them to maintain a certain stability in the chaotic void.

They can forcibly fix the laws around themselves, forming a temporary stable area, so they can stay in the void for a short time.

"But even so, Tier 6 wizards dare not be exposed to the chaotic void for a long time," Wei Aola continued. "Because besides those twisted laws, time, and space, chaotic matter and energy will also constantly wear down the existence of the wizard themselves. Even Tier 6 wizards cannot withstand that kind of endless wear and tear for a long time."

"And the so-called plane is actually a miracle that occasionally appears in the infinitely large chaotic void," Wei Aola pointed to the huge desolate continent above, her tone carrying a trace of emotion.

"When some elements that particularly conform to the laws are gathered together by accident, the prototype of a plane will be formed. When the total volume of these elemental groups exceeds a certain limit, a plane barrier will be formed spontaneously."

"The so-called plane barrier is actually the ability to forcibly assimilate and absorb all chaotic elements contacted in the chaotic void into the interior of the plane. Its essence is the natural assimilation ability formed after the gathering of massive elements, which can actively exclude all chaotic matter and energy that do not belong to the interior of the plane, maintaining the stability and development of the plane."

Wei Aola's explanation made Jie Ming understand.

"And we low-tier wizards, whether it is the chaotic void or the plane barrier, cannot break through with our own abilities," Jie Ming subconsciously answered. "But high-tier wizards need the power of us low-tier wizards as cannon fodder and executors, so the only method is to use a 'plane' as a 'ship' to carry us through the void and crash open the barrier of the target plane."

"That's right, worthy of being the student Mentor Clark took a fancy to; you are very smart!"

Wei Aola smiled satisfactorily: "But high-tier wizards who need the power of low-tier wizards must not have their own planes yet. Because if they already have their own planes, they can completely form their own servant legions without sharing spoils of war with us. So, this is the main reason why the intersection point provides plane rental."

Jie Ming secretly sighed.

Wei Aola's words explained many doubts in his heart before.

No wonder Tier 6 wizards clearly have powerful strength, yet each one lives like a beast of burden.

Whether it is renting this kind of war plane that can travel through the void and carry a large army, or hiring these wizards to go on a long expedition, it all costs real resources and knowledge.

What's more, even after the target plane is taken down, it takes quite a lot of resources to transform it, build a wizard tower, and construct an energy network.

Thinking about it this way, a wizard like Mentor Clark who has his own "Wizard Tower" is simply a super existence standing at the pinnacle of the wizard pyramid.

Mentor Clark's private plane was clearly built and maintained at the cost of countless resources.

Its wealth and strength far exceed his imagination.

While Wei Aola was introducing, the eyes of all the wizards in the hall were also cast on the desolate continent in the sky; that was the "warship" they were about to step on.

Just at this moment, four figures suddenly flew down from the desolate plane in the sky.

They hovered in mid-air, like four towering mountains, emitting a powerful pressure that was difficult to describe in words.

Among them, three were Tier 5 wizards.

Their auras were vigorous and restrained, and law fluctuations flowed around them. Although they were only naturally emitting power, they still made most of the low-tier wizards below feel difficulty breathing and feel awe in their hearts.

And the remaining one was the Tier 6 wizard who initiated this expedition.

He walked at the very front of the four, his figure not tall, but like the center of a world.

He did not emit any deliberate pressure, but his mere existence made the surrounding space seem to become stagnant.

Every tiny movement seemed to be in harmony with the laws of heaven and earth, giving people a sense of powerfulness that was irresistible and incomprehensible.

Clearly, Jie Ming often saw his own mentor and other high-tier wizards at the Nuolun Academy, but when he truly met Tier 5 and Tier 6 wizards from other forces, he still couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart.

That was a natural reaction of his body, a physiological fear deep in his soul when encountering a superior who could not be resisted.

Even without that Tier 6 wizard, just the three Tier 5 wizards beside him were enough to make Jie Ming's body tremble involuntarily.

He suddenly realized that he had been in contact with the mentors of the Nuolun Academy too much, subconsciously taking the state of those mentors trying their best to restrain their power and energy as the norm.

He was accustomed to their gentleness and restraint, mistakenly thinking that the strength of high-tier wizards was nothing more than this.

This is like seeing a fierce tiger through a thick iron fence in a zoo and thinking nothing of it, even feeling that it is somewhat lazy and clumsy.

But if you suddenly encounter a real tiger in the wild, even if it is not as robust as the one raised in the zoo,

and it appears thin and scaly,

the predator aura it emits still makes one's heart tremble and legs go soft. ===== CHAPTER 167 =====