Chapter 340

Purgatory Sulfur Plane, above the boundless sea of lava.

Jie Ming stood suspended in the air, surrounded by a faint halo of light.

He raised his right hand, and a newly crafted crystal, with a structure far more complex and precise than in his Tier 2 period, was flickering with the blue light of runes.

This was the prototype of the Tier 3 rune wizarding tool he had developed by combining his Tier 3 Wizard elemental control with a deeper understanding of the laws of spiritual energy.

He locked onto a vast, empty expanse of the firmament in the far distance, his mind stirring slightly.

Whoosh!

A highly condensed, fist-sized ball of incandescent white light shot out from the front of the crystal, silently slicing through the sky dyed dark red by sulfurous smoke, its speed exceeding the limits of visual capture.

A few seconds later, at the edge of his vision, the incandescent white light ball suddenly expanded!

That expanse of airspace seemed to be gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand, and the surrounding atmosphere became distorted.

Immediately following, a terrifying halo of light with a diameter of over one hundred kilometers erupted violently, as if a miniature sun had been forcibly created on the firmament of the plane for a brief moment!

The extreme light and heat were released instantly, illuminating the vast sea of lava below into a pale white.

Following closely behind was the delayed roar that seemed to tear the soul apart!

A visible circular shockwave spread crazily in all directions with the halo as the center!

Wherever the shockwave passed, a huge vacuum zone was torn open in the sky, and the sulfurous cloud layer was completely evaporated and cleared away.

The sea of lava that had been flowing peacefully below was forcibly pressed into a huge crater by this terrifying pressure descending from the sky, with dark red lava waves hundreds of meters high rising at the edges, rushing and crashing toward the periphery, triggering a lava tsunami that affected a wide range.

The scorching storm, carrying deadly radiation and energy fragments, swept across a vast area below the explosion point equivalent to the size of a medium-sized province.

Within this range, any life or structure below a certain energy level would be instantly vaporized.

Looking at this attack that was enough to wipe out a province from his previous life, Jie Ming silently evaluated the effect of this strike and nodded with satisfaction.

"The power is sufficient. According to the classification standards of low-level civilizations, this strike can already be called 'nation-destroying'."

This power had already far exceeded the destructive limit of a "city-destroying" level for an ordinary Tier 3 Wizard.

It even surpassed most wizards who had just entered Tier 4, and was enough to rival veteran wizards who had been working in the Tier 4 realm for many years.

This was the advantage brought by the combination of his deep accumulation and unique path.

However, the satisfied expression lasted only for a moment before Jie Ming's brows furrowed slightly.

"Area damage is excellent for clearing out cannon fodder, but when facing individuals of the same tier or even stronger, the power is too dispersed, and the efficiency is instead low." He carefully analyzed the shortcomings.

"At this current energy level, if one wants to further compress and increase the penetrating power of a simple energy projectile form, it is already approaching the limit of energy control."

It was not that it could not be compressed further, but that the technical content required had already exceeded the control level of a Tier 3 Wizard.

After a little thought, he had a new direction.

"It seems that the main attack direction of Tier 3 rune wizarding tools needs to turn toward ray-type wizardry with more concentrated energy and stronger penetrating power. Only by constraining destructive power to a single line can one break through strength and destroy the strong."

Having figured out the keynote for subsequent research, Jie Ming's figure flashed, and he returned to the laboratory located at the core of the plane's array.

Just after returning, he noticed that two "express" packages flickering with spatial fluctuation marks had arrived via fixed-point teleportation.

Opening the first spatial expansion bag, inside were the large amounts of rare metals, energy crystals, and various special catalysts he had ordered.

Most of these were raw materials supplied to the automated factories in his internal space for the mass production of Tier 3 rune wizarding tools.

In the corner of the bag, there were also a small number of peculiar ores and chips emitting faint spatial ripples, which were precious materials he had purchased to assist in the research of spatial knowledge.

Next, he opened the second spatial expansion bag.

When he sensed the creation inside that emitted stable and majestic energy fluctuations, a sincere smile appeared on Jie Ming's face.

That was a Tier 5 large-scale elemental pool with a shrunken form but an incomparably precise structure!

In order to gather the astronomical military merits to purchase this elemental pool in a short time, Jie Ming had almost gone all out during this period, using automated arrays to refine massive amounts of liquid refined gold.

Jie Ming himself had no problems, but it had exhausted Black to the point of near-collapse.

But it also allowed the latter to make a fortune, with no complaints.

His current internal space, after the expansion and continuous reinforcement of the Nascent Soul stage, had an area comparable to a modern metropolis.

The spatial barrier was also solid enough, fully possessing the conditions for installing a Tier 5 large-scale elemental pool.

An elemental pool of this level was already sufficient to serve as the core energy source for a small plane, supporting it as a powerful mobile Wizard Tower.

Using something of this level to supply the automated factories and "nests" in his internal space was simply more than enough.

With the valuable experience and knowledge from installing and debugging the Tier 7 large-scale elemental pool, the structure of the Tier 5 elemental pool before him appeared incomparably clear to Jie Ming.

He only studied the interface and control system for a moment before he understood it completely.

He nimbly dismantled the Tier 4 large-scale elemental pool that had been slightly cramped in his internal space, and backhanded it onto the Magic Network trading platform to wait for sale to recover funds.

Subsequently, he did it himself, spending a few months carefully installing and debugging this Tier 5 large-scale elemental pool, perfectly connecting it to the energy network of his internal space.

Surging and stable energy instantly filled the entire internal space, the operating efficiency of the automated factories improved visibly, and the nests also flickered with more active light.

Having solved the problem of energy upgrading, Jie Ming devoted more energy to the research of spatial knowledge.

Promoting to a Tier 3 Wizard brought not only the growth of spiritual power but also a qualitative change in the perceptual level.

Only by reaching this level could a wizard's various senses and spiritual tentacles initially and directly "touch" the subtle wrinkles and fluctuations of space.

One can only influence if one can observe, and one can only control if one can influence.

Previously, when he used wizardry such as the "Eye of Universality" to observe space, it was more like reading converted data through instruments, feeling as if there was a layer in between.

But now, sensing spatial fluctuations was like an ordinary person feeling the flow of air to him; although it was still faint and elusive, it was already a real "personal experience."

Therefore, only at the level of a Tier 3 Wizard was Jie Ming qualified to "research" spatial technology and knowledge, rather than just "learning" it like swallowing whole.

Coupled with the super-strong calculation and deduction ability brought by the adaptive evolution of the brain and soul through years of body-refining methods, Jie Ming found that the speed at which he started with spatial knowledge was so fast that even he himself felt surprised.

Less than ten years of dedicated research, and he had achieved preliminary results.

Inside the laboratory, in a test field extremely magnified by spatial expansion technology.

Jie Ming casually threw an ordinary metal ball with force in one direction.

Under the influence of his terrifying brute force, even without much effort, the metal ball still whistled and flew over a distance of more than ten kilometers.

At this moment, Jie Ming then unhurriedly manipulated the control instrument beside him.

A set of ring-shaped devices made of silver-white metal, following Jie Ming's manipulation, constantly lit up with complex runes.

Finally, after the light brightness reached the limit, the surrounding space underwent a slight tremor.

Hum...

At the far end of the test field, the light and shadow distorted slightly.

The next second, the metal ball that had just arrived more than ten kilometers away disappeared out of thin air, and instantly appeared above Jie Ming's spread-out palm, falling steadily.

"Success!" Jie Ming couldn't help but reveal a proud smile on his face.

This was actually not a very high-end technology, just the most basic application of spatial knowledge—short-distance material teleportation.

But for Jie Ming, this technology had incomparably important strategic significance.

"If this technology is miniaturized and integrated into the core of the Black Giants... then, in the future, when the Black Giants execute self-destruction tactics, they can instantly recover the core 'life crystal nucleus' safely through spatial teleportation the moment the explosion ends!"

His eyes flickered with sharp light: "No longer need to worry about the core being damaged in the explosion, or being captured by the enemy, leaking technical secrets!"

Thinking of those terrifying numbers of Black Giants, especially the two Tier 5 leaders, all becoming reusable "self-destruct trucks," Jie Ming felt a burst of excitement.

In this way, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance his tactical flexibility and deterrent power.

But after the excitement, a trace of worry floated into his heart again.

"With this core recovery technology, plus the Black Giants' near-infinite potential for troop production supported by the Tier 7 elemental pool... the 'Patrollers' and 'Nests' cannon fodder units I studied before have their roles greatly reduced."

The "Nests" could at least stay in the internal space as a rapid reshaping factory for the Black Giants.

And the "Patrollers," which purely pursued speed and destructive power, appeared eclipsed in front of the Black Giant army that could be resurrected infinitely and had exaggerated self-destruction power, whether in quantity, destructive power, or functionality, and were almost about to be completely eliminated.

"It seems I have to find a way to strengthen and upgrade the 'Patrollers' and 'Nests'..." Jie Ming rubbed his chin and began to conceive a new design plan.

To this, he was already accustomed.

The wizard's path of growth was like this; every major advancement meant the renewal of the knowledge system and the iteration of combat methods.

Old tools would be eliminated, but on this basis, more powerful new tools would be created.

"However, time waits for no one." He glanced at the countdown on the Magic Network terminal; there were only a few years left before heading to the plane battlefield.

"Installing the spatial recovery module for the Black Giant core can only be done for a portion of the most elite individuals first. Prioritize guaranteeing those two Tier 5s, and a portion of the Tier 4 Black Giants with higher potential."

Jie Ming did not wait for the last moment of the mandatory military service period, and submitted his application to participate in the plane war on the Magic Network terminal two years in advance.

Almost the moment the application was confirmed, a battle report with a very high encryption level was transmitted to his terminal.

However, unlike what he expected, this was not a characteristic of the target plane's power or an introduction to the forces, but merely urgent intelligence about the relevant battle situation.

Browsing only the first few lines of text, Jie Ming's pupils suddenly contracted, and huge waves surged in his heart.

The content of the intelligence was shocking: the plane battlefield he was about to head to was not the first batch of support, but the second batch of reinforcements!

What was even more shocking was that the entire expeditionary army previously sent, led by multiple high-tier wizards, and the subsequent first batch of support forces, had actually all fallen into that plane, and there had been no news since!

If it were just heavy losses, perhaps it could be attributed to the enemy's powerful strength.

But the situation described in the subsequent intelligence carried a creepy weirdness.

First, from the moment the expeditionary army stepped into that plane, until the intelligence was issued, no effective information had been transmitted back.

No battle reports, no environmental data, no distress signals, and even the pre-set emergency communication runes were like stones sinking into the sea.

That plane seemed like a silent giant mouth, swallowing all entrants, so quiet that it made people panic.

However, in stark contrast to this dead silence was the result of remote life status monitoring through the eternal contract that every wizard signed with the civilization at the beginning of becoming a wizard, branded deep in the soul.

The results fed back by the contract showed—except for three unlucky ones confirmed dead, the total of over one million wizards trapped in that plane were all alive!

Moreover, their vital signs were incredibly stable, and the data showed that they might not even have signs of injury!

This was too abnormal!

It simply violated the basic logic of plane warfare!

Even the plane famous for illusions that Black once encountered, although information transmission was difficult in the early stages, still had sporadic information and warnings managed to be sent out.

Moreover, wizards trapped in illusions would have their vital signs slowly decline over time, and the mortality rate was not low in absolute numbers.

But what about this plane?

One million people trapped, only three died, zero injuries, zero information leakage!

It was as if they were not going to war, but collectively had a dreamless sleep, or were "preserved" intact by some power.

If it weren't for the confirmation that the Tier 9 Wizard had cleared out all planes with Tier 9 power when advancing the front line, just looking at this intelligence, Jie Ming would have thought that there might be a Tier 9 living being hidden inside this plane.

It was precisely because of this weird state that the high-level officials of the Star Ring Federation did not immediately take the most extreme measures, such as sending multiple Tier 8 wizards to forcibly enter.

Even if this measure might force the plane's natives to jump over the wall in desperation, self-destructing the plane and perishing together, leading to a total loss, they would definitely have to intervene forcibly.

After all, as long as these one million wizards could be saved, the loss of the benefits of one plane was not unacceptable.

But tolerance had limits.

Jie Ming knew clearly in his heart that if their second batch of elite support were like the first two batches, completely losing contact after entering, yet showing everyone alive...

Then, the thunderous anger of the Tier 8 Wizard would probably descend the next second, tearing open the disguise of that plane at all costs.

"As expected of a mission specifically prepared for elite combat units..." Jie Ming put down the terminal, his brows locked. "Just this intelligence alone carries a weirdness..."

He began to rapidly deduce various possibilities in his mind.

To be honest, his first reaction was still that there might be Tier 9 power hidden within this plane.

But considering that he was definitely not the only one with this conjecture, those Tier 8 wizards who controlled the battle situation had probably already conducted tests.

Since nothing was found, it meant it could only be other reasons.

"Is it some kind of unprecedented super illusion or mind cage that can completely block information transmission? But what kind of illusion can trap one million wizards at the same time, including high-tier existences who can see through falsehoods, and keep them in a near-perfect vital state?"

"Or is the spatial structure of that plane extremely special, such as the existence of an inner space isolated from the main plane, trapping the entire expeditionary army inside?"

"But with the knowledge and means of those veteran wizards in the expeditionary army, they shouldn't be unable to identify spatial traps, at least they could send out warnings..."

Thinking back and forth, the most reasonable explanation might be the most troublesome one—what they were about to face was an unknown enemy or phenomenon that exceeded the current cognitive scope of the Wizarding Civilization.

"Fortunately... for now, there is no immediate danger to life." Jie Ming took a deep breath, suppressing the waves in his heart. "This is a rare opportunity to go and see what exactly it is that can make one million wizards 'quietly' disappear."

The unknown often meant huge risks, but it could also hide unprecedented knowledge and opportunities.

For a wizard pursuing truth, this temptation was hard to resist.

Of course, seeing is seeing, but one must never go to die without preparation.

Fortunately, Jie Ming was also quite confident in his own preparation.

"No matter what is in there," Jie Ming's eyes flickered with inexplicable light, "it won't be that easy to leave me behind silently."

(One chapter today, beginning of the month plus beginning of the week, I'm already exhausted.)

(End of chapter)