Chapter 387: The Genius Madman

Following Viola, the three flew over the still sporadically firing war zone.

They finally arrived at a vast, seemingly ordinary grassland, lush and green.

As soon as they drew near, Gao Jie Ming sharply sensed an extremely subtle spiritual fluctuation permeating the air.

This subtle spiritual fluctuation acted like an invisible barrier, silently guiding the perceptions of outsiders, causing all creatures that inadvertently approached this grassland to instinctively wish to flee the area.

"A crude psychological suggestion field—old trick."

Viola snorted, and without needing Anya's guidance, landed effortlessly on a spot of the grassland, extending her pale palm to gently press against the seemingly empty air.

Hum…

A faint vibration echoed; Gao Jie Ming saw the air before him ripple like water, and a door suddenly appeared, its edges flowing with silver runes.

Beyond the door was no longer the grassland, but a bright corridor leading into the interior of a solitary tower.

Anya stared in astonishment: "There's another passage here?! I didn't even know about this!"

"Little one, you have no idea how many things you don't know. Come on, this fellow's lab protections are a nuisance—stay close to me, don't wander off." Viola said.

Gao Jie Ming nodded and stepped into the corridor with Anya.

They quickly entered; Viola turned and pulled back, and the air door silently sealed shut, the grassland outside returning to its original state as if nothing had happened.

Inside the tower was not a traditional structure, but filled with intricate, complex magical instruments and energy conduits.

Gao Jie Ming clearly sensed multiple layers of strict detection along their path—some overt, some hidden—checking energy signatures, soul fluctuations, and even levels of mental activity.

Fortunately, with Viola present, they encountered no obstacles and reached a core area.

It was a vast chamber paved entirely with pure silver-white metal—simple, cold, with only several massive three-dimensional projection screens floating at its center.

On them flowed waterfalls of complex data and dynamic models, depicting the real-time battlefield conditions of the external "rebellion" and various lifeforms' energy and spiritual parameters.

Before the screens stood a figure.

Without exaggeration, this figure perfectly matched the "classic high-level wizard template."

She looked as if she hadn't properly tended to herself in a long time—her hair messy and tousled, strands sticking up defiantly.

Her eyes, bloodshot from over-focus, wore a wizard robe of exceptional material, yet it hung crookedly; even the cuffs bore stains suspected of energy fluid.

"Grandmother," Anya stepped forward and softly called, "Wizard Viola and the wizard Gao Jie Ming she invited have arrived."

The wizard, immersed in the sea of data, suddenly snapped back to awareness, her bloodshot eyes turning toward Viola and giving a sluggish nod in greeting.

Then her gaze passed over Viola and locked precisely onto Gao Jie Ming.

In an instant, those weary eyes blazed with a brilliance rivaling searchlights!

Gao Jie Ming felt his vision blur—a powerful energy surge passed by, and the disheveled wizard had already appeared before him as if teleporting, her hands reaching out with palpable eagerness.

Gao Jie Ming's scalp prickled; he instinctively assumed a defensive posture.

"Stop!"

Fortunately, Viola, experienced and sharp, anticipated her move the instant she stirred, and with practiced ease, reached out.

Like plucking a kitten, she precisely seized the back collar of the wizard's robe, halting her mid-motion and lifting her into the air.

"Star Fall, calm down!" Viola sighed. "You'll scare the children. Take it slow, one step at a time."

Then she turned to the slightly stunned Gao Jie Ming and introduced: "Gao Jie Ming, this is my friend, Sixth-Rank Wizard 'Star Fall.'"

She shook the still struggling wizard in her hand: "Star Fall, this is Gao Jie Ming—the one you wanted to meet."

"Star Fall?" Gao Jie Ming heard the name and raised an eyebrow in surprise, glancing at Anya Star Fall.

He had assumed Anya's use of "grandmother" implied only a blood relation, never realizing this Sixth-Rank wizard was the very origin of the name "Star Fall."

In the wizard world, only nobility bore surnames, and noble surnames typically derived from the name or title of their founder.

To establish a wizard family using one's own title as a surname inherently signified immense power and a long-standing legacy.

Interrupted by Viola, the wizard named Star Fall seemed to emerge slightly from her frenzied research state.

She struggled to land on the ground, sheepishly smoothing her wild hair, then frantically tried to flatten the wrinkles in her robe.

After a deep breath, she performed a formal and solemn wizard bow toward Gao Jie Ming, her voice hoarse from long disuse: "My apologies, Gao Jie Ming wizard. I am Star Fall—delighted you've come."

Gao Jie Ming suppressed his astonishment and returned the bow with equal solemnity: "Star Fall, it is an honor to meet you."

With the brief introduction complete, the atmosphere finally normalized slightly.

Wizard Star Fall invited them to sit on energy-formed chairs along one side of the chamber, and the formal conversation began.

Viola sat down and immediately launched her attack, pointing at the fierce battle on the surrounding screens: "What's going on with this 'lively' spectacle outside? Did your little experiment go off the rails again?"

Wizard Star Fall's face flickered with embarrassment, but more prominently, with unrestrained excitement: "Yes… this was indeed triggered by my experiment. But I didn't lose control—the main reason is that I recently achieved a critical breakthrough in my research on the 'Spiritual' Law, and then… accidentally, the scale and effect slightly exceeded expectations…"

"Critical breakthrough?" Gao Jie Ming caught the term, recalling her earlier fervor upon seeing him, and suspected the answer—he asked: "What aspect of breakthrough did you achieve? Is it related to my 'Imaginary Element'?"

"Exactly! That's it!" At the mention of her research, Wizard Star Fall's eyes lit up again, her speech rapid: "Gao Jie Ming wizard, the properties of your Imaginary Element are simply astonishing!"

"I discovered that this element is not inert—it contains an extremely pure and unique 'potential spirituality,' a blank slate with extraordinary adaptability and guidance ability!"

She waved her arms, visibly excited: "It can subtly guide living beings that come into contact with it toward more refined, harmonious, and potent forms of 'optimized evolution'! More importantly—though it lacks inherent intelligence, I've found a method to use it as a 'spiritual spark' and 'cognitive template' to forcibly 'ignite the flame of wisdom' in lifeforms that originally lacked it!"

Gao Jie Ming's face showed appropriate awe and admiration: "Guiding evolution… igniting wisdom—this is incredible!"

Yet, compared to his surface astonishment, his heart was already in turmoil.

As a cultivator, he understood exactly what this meant.

Enlightenment!

This was the technique of Enlightenment!

This Wizard Star Fall, merely through decades of research on the "Imaginary Element" (spiritual energy), had somehow touched upon a great divine art of the cultivation world—the ability to awaken sapience in life!

In the cultivation world, such power was typically reserved for Immortals whose cultivation had reached profound depths and who comprehended the laws of heaven and earth.

Even Gao Jie Ming himself, with the vast knowledge of the Great Dao Book Hall, could not guarantee he could stably master such a technique involving the essence of life and the soul's foundation at the Sixth-Rank stage.

He couldn't help but think again: The wizard world's truth-seeking knowledge explorers were truly overpowered in research capability and efficiency in converting theory into practice!

The fact that she had reached this point so quickly meant her "expansion" and "deepening" of the "Spiritual" Law had reached an astonishing height.

Perhaps… this Wizard Star Fall was not far from ascending to Seventh-Rank!

As Gao Jie Ming was internally stunned, Viola beside him suddenly realized a critical question.

She fixed her gaze on Star Fall, her tone tinged with disbelief: "So… after discovering this property, you immediately tested it on your world's 'inventory'? What species did you grant intelligence to?!"

Star Fall nodded excitedly, like a child showing off her masterpiece: "To test the universality and limits of this 'wisdom ignition,' I chose two vastly different base lifeforms!"

"One was the 'Ironwire Devouring Demon Vine' found everywhere in my garden—purely a plant with only basic life responses! The other was the 'Luminous Aggregate,' formed from stray energy in my lab—essentially just a high-density, unconscious energy mass!"

She spread her hands, her face radiant with success: "The results—you've seen them! Both succeeded! They gained basic intelligence, formed social prototypes, and even began waging war over resources and living space!"

"The data is perfect! I was even planning to try granting sapience to ordinary soil or rock—but the experiment failed, and I've exhausted my remaining Imaginary Element materials…"

Listening to her describe her near-"creation" experiment with such casual ease, Gao Jie Ming and Viola exchanged glances, both seeing a hint of helplessness in each other's eyes.

Fortunately… fortunately, she failed to grant sapience to soil and rock.

Had stones gained sentience, the army they'd just teleported into wouldn't have been just plants and light clusters—it would have been a sky-covering horde of stone giants shouting, "Kill the flesh monsters!"

This Wizard Star Fall's research constantly teetered on the edge of creating miracles and triggering disasters.

(End of Chapter)