Chapter 375: Space Slash!

The Tier 5 wizard in the dark red wizard robe looked at the patroller wreckage that had turned into black slag, his brows locked tightly.

Experience told him that this kind of creature with an overly simple body structure was likely a man-made object.

And after the second patroller was destroyed by him, he could basically confirm that his position had been exposed without a doubt.

Since he had been exposed, it was no longer suitable to continue hiding.

The Tier 5 wizard's spiritual power surged, and he instantly put on three layers of shields with different attributes.

After completing the defense, he lifted his feet off the ground, preparing to rise into the air rapidly to escape this area that might be surrounded.

Just as his figure was about to rise, a trace of extremely faint, water-like abnormal fluctuation came from a space about a thousand meters to the front left.

"Spatial teleportation? Or hiding?" The Tier 5 wizard's alarm bells rang in his heart.

As a Tier 5 wizard, he was extremely keen on spatial fluctuations, and also had a certain understanding of spatial knowledge, instantly realizing that an enemy was approaching with the help of spatial means. 【375-10

He did not panic; his rich combat experience allowed him to make the most reasonable reaction—on the surface, he maintained the posture of ascending, but secretly he had already mobilized his spiritual power, and a Tier 4 spell specifically used to counter spatial movement, 【Spatial Stagnation】, was already primed and ready.

Now is the time!

At a certain peak of the spatial fluctuation, he suddenly mobilized his spiritual power to lock onto the source of that fluctuation, and the tip of his staff burst out with silver-gray light.

【Spatial Stagnation】, like an invisible spider web, instantly covered that area!

He was very confident; as long as the other party appeared from that position, even a brief stagnation would be enough for his follow-up spells to crush the opponent.

Sss-rip—!

However, almost at the same instant 【Spatial Stagnation】 took effect, a teeth-grinding, harsh sound like cloth being forcibly torn apart came from behind him!

The three carefully arranged shields around his body, especially the outermost force field shield, flashed wildly, their structures becoming extremely unstable!

"Behind? How is that possible?!!" The Tier 5 wizard's hair stood on end instantly, and a cold sense of despair rushed straight to the top of his head along his spine.

He wanted to dodge, wanted to turn around, but just now, in order to precisely release 【Spatial Stagnation】, his spiritual power and body were in a state of short-term "recovery," and he simply couldn't make an effective reaction in time!

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The three shields were easily pierced and torn apart like paper in the face of absolute power and a strange method of attack!

The next instant, Gao Jie Ming's figure appeared behind the Tier 5 wizard like a ghost, without any warning, as if he had been standing there all along.

And his right hand was maintaining a forward thrusting posture, with tiny black cracks caused by cutting space still remaining on the edge of his palm.

【Spatial Slash】!

This strike, derived from the spatial shearing force generated during phase switching, ignored conventional energy defenses and precisely broke through the Tier 5 wizard's shield, robe, and the flesh and blood beneath.

It opened a huge wound with incredibly smooth edges in his heart!

And Gao Jie Ming's palm followed closely after the 【Spatial Slash】, like a sharp blade passing directly through that defensive gap, piercing through the wizard before him in one strike.

On the palm that had penetrated the entire body, it was clutching the opponent's heart, which was still beating powerfully!

"Ugh...!" The Tier 5 wizard's body stiffened suddenly, and the severe pain and the weakness of rapidly losing life force struck at the same time.

Gao Jie Ming was expressionless, his five fingers gripping hard!

Pfft!

That heart containing vast life energy burst open in his hand like a ripe fruit.

He then pulled out his arm, bringing out a spray of hot blood.

The Tier 5 wizard staggered a step and fell to his knees.

Covering the terrifying hole in his chest with both hands, he gasped violently, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.

He felt the emptiness and severe pain brought by the missing heart, struggled to raise his head, and looked at Gao Jie Ming behind him, whose breathing was steady and whose wizard robe wasn't even stained with much blood; a trace of bitterness and relief flashed in his eyes.

"I... lost." He spoke hoarsely.

A shattered heart could only be considered a minor injury for a Tier 5 wizard; he had several ways to maintain life or even reshape the heart.

But he knew very well that the fact that the other party could instantly break through all defenses and complete a "fatal" blow in such a strange way when he was most vigilant meant the gap was already obvious.

That he could live was only because the other party followed the rule of "stopping at the point of contact."

Gao Jie Ming's face returned to that harmless smile, and he bowed slightly to this defeated Tier 5 wizard, which could be considered expressing the etiquette between fellow disciples.

Immediately, his figure flickered and disappeared into thin air again, as if merging into the air, leaving no trace behind.

The Tier 5 wizard endured the severe pain and weakness, carefully sensing the area where Gao Jie Ming had disappeared, his spiritual power combing through every inch of space like a comb.

But he was stunned to find that it was as calm as if nothing had happened, with no spatial disturbance remaining and no energy dissipation.

"Completely... don't understand..." He sighed helplessly, his face full of frustration.

In the wizarding world, not understanding the other party's methods often meant there was an insurmountable chasm in the relevant knowledge field.

He had to admit that he had completely lost to a wizard two levels lower than himself in the understanding and application of spatial knowledge.

He mobilized his spiritual power to manipulate his body, and the huge penetrating wound on his chest began to squirm and heal at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even the heart grew back.

After the injury was mostly healed, he shook his head, struggled to stand up, and prepared to fly back to the palace.

Since he had already lost, there was no point in staying here.

However, just as he raised this thought, and before he even had time to mobilize his spiritual power, the scene before him suddenly blurred and changed.

When his vision cleared, he had already returned to that magnificent hall.

He knew this must be Wizard Plane Nuolun taking action, directly teleporting him back after confirming his defeat.

He looked up and found that the atmosphere in the hall was somewhat subtle.

Most wizards' attention was not on him, the loser who had just returned in defeat, but was almost all focused on the several huge light screens floating above the hall.

The light screens clearly showed the battles taking place in various parts of the competition area.

And the most conspicuous one, attracting the most attention, was the light screen in the center tracking Gao Jie Ming's movements.

Inside the hall, there were only the images of energy intertwining on the light screens and the occasional low discussion.

The wizards present were all called geniuses outside; their eyes were incredibly sharp.

Gao Jie Ming's sudden attack and concealment just now, while seemingly simple, actually contained technical content that made even high-tier existences like them, who were knowledgeable and experienced, look sideways.

"Using one mind for three tasks, simultaneously maintaining two continuous spatial spells acting on himself, and still being able to distract himself to control bait fluctuations and launch a precise attack..." a third-generation disciple with white hair and beard muttered to himself, his face full of disbelief.

Simply using one mind for three tasks was not difficult for wizards whose spiritual power had been tempered through thousands of trials.

Handling multiple tasks simultaneously and constructing multiple spell models was a required course for many elite wizards.

Simply releasing spatial spells, although complex, was something many present who were proficient in this could do.

But combining the two—continuously maintaining multiple high-consumption, high-precision spatial spells in a fierce battle with a rapidly changing environment, and acting on a "high-value, high-interference" target like himself—this was simply unbelievable!

The reason lay in the "computational power black hole" characteristic of spatial spells, which was daunting.

Space is one of the basic frameworks that constitute a plane, and its rules are complex and subtle.

Any spell involving space, from the most basic 【Flash】 to the profound 【Spatial Jump】, requires massive real-time calculations to locate coordinates, stabilize channels, and resist the "resilience" of space itself and external interference.

This computational volume increases geometrically with the improvement of the spell's effect.

And spatial spells that are cast continuously, especially spells like 【Phase Shift】 and 【Spatial Stability】 that need to maintain effects at all times and even dynamically adjust parameters as the wizard moves, are bottomless pits for computational power consumption.

They are not like one-time attack spells that end after being released, but require continuous input of spiritual power for precise regulation.

A more critical point is that when spatial spells act on the caster themselves, their computational complexity increases explosively with the improvement of the wizard's own energy level!

Because the wizard themselves is a huge collection of energy and mass, the spatial disturbances and computational load required to safely and stably embed such a "colossus" into phase space, or to build a stable spatial force field around them, are directly linked to the wizard's own volume and energy level.

It can be said that the computational power consumption of continuous spatial spells acting on oneself is calculated as a percentage of the wizard's own energy level!

The higher the level, the more terrifying the consumption!

For those super geniuses with extraordinary talents, relying on spiritual power control and computational power far exceeding their peers, they might be able to barely manage to maintain two spatial spells acting on themselves simultaneously by "using one mind for two tasks."

But wanting to split a third strand of mind to precisely control another independent spell is simply wishful thinking—at least before the soul essence undergoes a leap at Tier 7, this is almost universally recognized as impossible!

However, Gao Jie Ming did it.

"Tsk tsk, Clark, this apprentice of yours... is a bit strange," Wizard Augusta nudged Clark next to him with his elbow, his tone full of amazement, "What he did just now... can you do it?"

Mentor Clark gave him a "what kind of stupid question are you asking" look without expression and didn't say a word.

But Augusta understood immediately that even Clark himself might not be able to do it.

In fact, it wasn't just Clark; probably no Tier 6 wizard present could do what Gao Jie Ming had just done.

"Unless... I install another head for myself. But this little guy doesn't seem to have any traces of body modification..."

He immediately became more interested in Gao Jie Ming in the light screen, stroking his chin and clicking his tongue in wonder.

(Extra update today, one more chapter to go)

(End of chapter)