Chapter 481: Post-War (Two-in-One)

Behind Fortress No. 7, about fifteen kilometers away, was a "rest area" that had been temporarily leveled.

Calling it a rest area was a bit of a stretch; there were no tents for shelter, only a piece of grey-white land barely compacted by alchemy, and thousands of metal lounge chairs placed randomly, temporarily conjured by alchemy on the ground.

Jie Ming was sitting on one of the lounge chairs.

He held a cup of warm potion in his hand, glowing with a pale green fluorescence.

Looking at the sky in a daze for a while, Jie Ming subconsciously blew on the warm magic potion, then took a small sip like drinking tea.

【Soul Spring】, a Tier 3 magic potion, its main function is to soothe the soul restless due to excessive consumption of spiritual power and assist in restoring the stability of the spiritual sea.

It tasted like mint mixed with rust, not exactly delicious, but after drinking it, a cool sensation indeed came to the brain.

Feeling the stinging pain from his soul significantly eased, Jie Ming let out a long sigh of relief and lay back on the chair.

Sitting with him were nearly a thousand other Tier 4 and Tier 5 wizards who had also participated in the turret operation.

Everyone was pale, their eyes tired, mechanically drinking the uniformly distributed recovery potion.

And on the periphery of the rest area, a busier scene was unfolding.

Tens of thousands of Tier 3 wizards were shuttling between the various fortresses like worker ants.

These wizards were mostly logistics wizards from the alchemy and rune departments. Under the command of high-tier wizards, they checked the energy circuits of the defensive arrays, repaired the fortress outer walls damaged in battle, and reinforced the underground elemental transport pipelines.

After a battle, there were almost no direct casualties among Tier 3 wizards.

After all, the turret itself required the full spiritual power of one Tier 5 wizard to fire once, Tier 4 wizards could pool their spiritual power with ten people, and for Tier 3 wizards, it would take more than a hundred people to fire one shot.

In this way, the number of people required was too large, and the space inside the fortress was limited, so in the previous battle, it was Tier 4 and Tier 5 wizards who operated the turrets and defensive arrays.

Tier 3 wizards mostly stayed in the safest area at the core of the fortress cluster, mainly continuing to build defensive lines under the leadership of several Tier 5 wizards.

However, this work was not easy either; after all, it was visible to the naked eye that everyone was exhausted.

Jie Ming saw a Tier 3 wizard who looked like he had modified his body, standing over four meters tall, holding a rune substrate taller than himself, staggering towards Fortress No. 6.

Halfway there, his feet went soft, and he almost fell. Another Tier 3 wizard next to him hurriedly supported him, and the two of them panted heavily, dragging the substrate together to continue forward.

Looking around, basically all Tier 3 wizards were like this.

Although there were not many casualties in the intense battle before, they had to transport materials and build the fortress cluster arrays, and also had to grit their teeth to continue the boring work of carving runes, smelting metal, and connecting energy lines amidst the roar of artillery fire.

Basically, they had also exhausted their spiritual power, and even their physical strength had bottomed out.

But at least it was just fatigue, which was better than the state of the Tier 4 and Tier 5 wizards.

After a battle, except for monsters like Jie Ming, other Tier 4 and Tier 5 wizards all had more or less soul damage.

Fortunately, the command headquarters uniformly distributed potions, and it wouldn't be long before they were lively horses again.

Jie Ming withdrew his gaze and continued to drink the potion like an old man sunbathing.

The "Body Tempering Method" in his body was slowly running, cooperating with the medicinal effect to repair the subtle damage to his spiritual sea.

He could feel that his total spiritual power was about 120% higher than before the battle, his control precision over spiritual power had increased by about 12%, and his tolerance threshold for "fatigue" had increased by nearly 30%.

Battle is indeed the best catalyst for the promotion of body cultivators.

"Yo, little junior brother is still alive?"

A smiling voice came from overhead.

Jie Ming looked up and saw Wei Aola slowly descending from the air, landing beside him.

At this time, Wei Aola was much more disheveled than before.

Her exquisite dark purple wizard robe had more than a dozen tears, and some edges had charred marks.

Her silver-grey long hair was no longer smooth, and a large cluster on the right side was clearly burned by fire, curled and yellowed.

Her face was stained with some ash, and there was a long, thin wound on her forehead that had healed but left traces of blood.

But her silver-grey eyes were astonishingly bright.

Deep in her pupils jumped a kind of near-pathological excitement, the corners of her mouth couldn't stop rising, and her breathing was slightly faster than usual.

That was definitely not caused by fatigue, but more like a physiological reaction after some emotion reached its peak.

Jie Ming understood after just one glance.

"Won?" he asked.

"Won." Wei Aola's voice carried irrepressible joy, "Although it was just repelling the joint effort of two Tier 6 wizards from the other side, without leaving any of them... but it was very satisfying to fight."

She sat down on the empty lounge chair next to Jie Ming, leaned back without caring about her image, and looked up at the lead-grey sky.

"Orthodox wizards... are really not the same concept as those wild creatures that only have Tier 6 or Tier 7 energy intensity." She muttered to herself, as if savoring, "Those wild creatures, no matter how high their level, their fighting style is very primitive. Either relying on instinct or relying on talent, fighting them is like bullying a fool, boring."

"But wizards are different."

Wei Aola turned her head to look at Jie Ming, the excitement in her eyes almost overflowing.

"Every wizard has their own unique fighting style, has secret techniques hidden in their sleeves, and has the ability to adapt to the situation. You never know what strange wizardry the opponent will pull out in the next second, or what unexpected way they will use to crack your attack."

"That feeling of dancing on the tip of a knife... that kind of game at the soul level... that kind of despair of watching the opponent struggle under your power, yet never finding a way to escape..."

Her breathing became a bit faster, and her cheeks flushed with an abnormal red.

"Too wonderful."

Jie Ming turned his head expressionlessly to look at the sky on the other side of the rest area.

He had long known that his senior sister's psychology was not normal—taking pleasure in observing the suffering of others, the more powerful the existence that fell into suffering, the more excited she became.

But now it seems that with the improvement of strength, this "hobby" seems to have a trend of intensifying.

The scene in the air diverted Jie Ming's attention.

The high-tier wizards who had finished the battle were landing one after another with their respective cannon fodder units.

Most Tier 7 wizards were hovering about 300 meters above the rest area, where a "high-tier rest area" had been temporarily set up.

In fact, it was dozens of floating platforms made with space expansion technology, each platform having an independent protective barrier and energy supply.

And among these Tier 7 wizards, the figure of one Tier 6 wizard was particularly conspicuous.

Ke La Ke.

He stood alone in the very center, his black robe swaying gently in the breeze.

From Jie Ming's angle, he could only see his back, but the aura emitted by that back made all the Tier 7 wizards around him subconsciously keep a certain distance—not rejection, but a kind of near-instinctive awe.

Wei Aola also followed Jie Ming's gaze.

The flush on her face gradually faded, and her eyes returned to their usual elegance and composure... at least on the surface.

"Mentor he..." Wei Aola spoke softly, "just how strong is he."

This question, Jie Ming also wanted to know.

The two sat in silence, looking at Ke La Ke in the distance, looking at those Tier 7 wizards who were whispering in the high-tier rest area, occasionally casting complex glances in Ke La Ke's direction.

After a while, Jie Ming finally couldn't help but lower his voice and ask:

"Senior sister, you say... what law does mentor actually master? Or rather, what technology? How can he be so strong to that extent?"

Wei Aola shook her head.

"Don't know." She was very frank, "I only know that when I was promoted to Tier 6, I went to mentor for advice. He just took one look at me at that time... really just one look, didn't even raise his hand, and then used the Law of Pain to demonstrate three advanced directions I had never thought of on me."

Her tone carried a hint of disbelief.

"After that, I have only barely understood the first of the three directions mentor demonstrated, the second one has just entered the door, and the third one... I don't even have a clue."

"Sometimes I suspect that the law mentor masters is also of the emotional type, just particularly exaggerated in 'expandability'. But sometimes looking at the way he fights, it doesn't look like it at all..."

The two whispered and discussed.

From the Law of Fate that Ke La Ke might master, to the Law of Time, to the Law of Space, and then to some rare composite laws... the more they guessed, the more outrageous it became, and the more excited they became.

After all, for a wizard, exploring the unknown is an instinct carved deep into the soul.

When the two were discussing intently...

"You are both too timid in your guesses."

A voice, calm without the slightest emotional fluctuation, abruptly cut into their spiritual conversation.

Jie Ming and Wei Aola's bodies stiffened at the same time.

Like cats whose tails had been stepped on, they shrank their necks violently, then turned their heads cautiously.

Ke La Ke had appeared behind them, he didn't know when.

He had changed into a new wizard robe, still simple black, without any decoration.

On his face, the scars left on his hands during the battle had disappeared, and his left arm and right leg were also intact.

At this moment, he was looking at his two students with those calm, waveless eyes.

Jie Ming and Wei Aola looked at each other, both seeing embarrassment and a hint of panic in each other's eyes.

In the wizard civilization, discussing privately and guessing the core knowledge of other wizards—especially the kind that the other party clearly does not want to make public—is a quite taboo behavior.

Lightly, it provokes displeasure; heavily, it may be regarded as coveting others' knowledge, triggering the ruling of the Star Track Sanction Court.

Although they were master and apprentice, Ke La Ke was usually tolerant of them, but this behavior was ultimately crossing the line.

"Men, mentor..." Wei Aola laughed dryly, trying to explain, "We were just chatting casually..."

Ke La Ke did not respond to her explanation.

He just looked at the two quietly for about three seconds.

Just when Jie Ming thought mentor was going to reprimand them, Ke La Ke suddenly spoke:

"You want to know what law I am researching?"

Jie Ming and Wei Aola were stunned at the same time, the two subconsciously looked at each other, frantically passing information with their eyes:

"Mentor seems to be in a good mood, did he have any extra gains?"

"Did the old man take the wrong medicine today?"

Then, Wei Aola was a little bolder... or rather, curiosity about knowledge outweighed awe of mentor.

She leaned closer and asked in a low voice:

"Mentor... the law you are researching, what exactly is it?"

Ke La Ke's gaze swept across the two faces.

Then, he spat out two words:

"All."

Jie Ming and Wei Aola were stunned at the same time.

"All?" Jie Ming subconsciously looked at Wei Aola, his eyes full of confusion, "Is... is there a law called 'All'?"

Wei Aola's expression also became serious, she frowned, pondered for a few seconds, and then tentatively asked:

"Is it a fictional law? Or some kind of... collective term for a composite concept?"

Ke La Ke looked at his two students who he thought were a bit "stupid" and sighed gently.

"It's just the literal meaning." He explained calmly, "I am researching... all the laws."

The air solidified at this moment.

Jie Ming looked at Ke La Ke blankly, as if he hadn't reacted, his mouth open, but he couldn't make any sound.

His brain was frantically processing the information in this sentence.

All the laws?

What is meant by all the laws?

Fire Law, Water Law, Thunder Law, Wind Law, Earth Law, Light Law, Dark Law, Space Law, Time Law, Fate Law, Pain Law, Life Law, Death Law, Mechanical Law, Symbiosis Law, Chaos Law, Order Law, Concept Law, Emotion Law, Matter Law, Energy Law...

All known, all unknown.

All basic, all composite.

All that can be named, all that have not yet been named.

... Is that what "all" means?

Wei Aola on the side had the same expression.

Her pupils were contracting violently, Ke La Ke's calm face was reflected in her silver-grey eyes, but deep in her eyes was shock like a landslide and tsunami.

Ke La Ke looked at the two, seemingly satisfied.

He nodded and added a sentence:

"Don't go around saying it."

After speaking, he turned and walked towards the depths of the rest area, where there was a dedicated passage to the core area of the fortress.

And at the same time Ke La Ke turned and left, Jie Ming suddenly realized that a layer of extremely exquisite sound-insulation barrier had been set up around the three of them, he didn't know when.

The barrier was transparent and invisible, perfectly integrated with the surrounding environment, and even the energy fluctuations were minimal, so that he and Wei Aola hadn't noticed it at all just now.

Not until Ke La Ke left did the barrier shatter silently like a bubble.

But now, Jie Ming no longer had the heart to sigh at his mentor's exquisite barrier technology.

All his thinking was occupied by Ke La Ke's sentence just now.

"All the laws... literally all the laws..."

Jie Ming muttered to himself, his brain running at high speed.

What is meant by literally all the laws?

Very simple.

To put it bluntly, Mentor Ke La Ke intends to research all the types of laws currently known to the wizard civilization!

What is this concept?

Jie Ming just turned his brain and subconsciously thought of a void miracle he had seen with his own eyes and was shocked by: a living plane.

That's right.

A plane that has self-awareness and can autonomously research, grow, and evolve, what is its essence?

It is a "collection of world laws."

A normal plane itself contains all the laws that constitute its existence foundation.

From the most basic four elemental laws, to the space law that maintains spatial stability, to the time law that drives the flow of time, and then to more complex life laws, energy cycle laws, matter conversion laws...

And a plane that has "come alive" means it has the ability to actively understand, master, and even modify these laws—although the vast majority of living planes have no such consciousness at all.

Mentor Ke La Ke's path of "researching all laws," if taken to the extreme, what does it mean?

It means he is now... actually a humanoid living plane!

And also a humanoid living plane that possesses wizard wisdom, masters the wizard knowledge system, and can actively learn and optimize laws!

"No wonder..." Jie Ming took a violent breath, his eyes widening, "No wonder mentor's reaction was so strange when the Star Fall wizard activated the plane before!"

He remembered clearly.

Back in the Flame Frost Plane, Ke La Ke showed unusual interest in the living plane, and even personally observed and researched it at close range.

If mentor was curious about this special void miracle at that time, then later when the Star Fall wizard successfully activated a plane, Ke La Ke directly expressed his willingness to guide and cultivate the newborn activated plane, which seemed too enthusiastic. (Chapter 451 foreshadowing)

This surprised Jie Ming at the time, because Ke La Ke was not the type of character who would take the initiative to take on things.

Now everything makes sense.

Because Ke La Ke himself is actually walking the path of a "humanoid activated plane"!

He wants to see how a real activated plane understands, masters, and applies the laws it was born with.

He wants to verify his path from another angle.

And the plane activated by Star Fall is an excellent "reference sample" for him.

"So that's how it is..." Jie Ming couldn't help but mutter to himself, "No wonder... no wonder those enemies showed such obvious 'law counter-restriction' situations during the battle before..."

In a normal battle, to make the opponent be "law counter-restricted," the prerequisite is that your research level on that law must far exceed the opponent's.

For example, two wizards who both study the Fire Element Law fight, the side with a deeper understanding of the Fire Element Law can easily suppress the other side's fire element wizardry, and even make the opponent's spell backfire on themselves.

To put it bluntly, this belongs to the knowledge suppression between scholars of the same type.

But what is Ke La Ke facing?

It is hundreds of Tier 7 wizards studying different laws, and thousands of Tier 6 wizards mastering different fields.

The attacks they released covered dozens of completely different law systems.

But Ke La Ke was still able to easily counter them.

Jie Ming thought before that Ke La Ke used some advanced technology to suppress those laws from a higher level.

Now it seems...

It is indeed suppression in technology.

But more of it is pure "numerical crushing"!

Jie Ming was still speculating before how strong the combat power of those living planes that become wizards would be after the Star Fall wizard's technology is expanded.

Now it's good, he has seen it intuitively.

"No wonder the Star Fall wizard can get a Tier 1 cultivation agreement..."

Jie Ming thought this, turned his head and looked at Wei Aola.

Both saw the same shock, the same realization, and the same...

Excitement.

Excitement for knowledge, excitement for the unknown path, excitement for "it can actually be like this."

Almost simultaneously, the two bounced up from the metal lounge chairs and chased in the direction Ke La Ke left.

As wizards, interest in the unknown instantly outweighed awe of mentor.

Wei Aola ran faster than Jie Ming, after all, she was Tier 6, and her physical fitness and spiritual reaction were far beyond Jie Ming.

In a few breaths, she caught up with Ke La Ke, leaned to mentor's side, with irrepressible excitement on her face.

Fortunately, she still had some sanity, didn't come up and ask directly, but chose to find other topics to open the conversation:

"Mentor! You look like you are in a good mood! Did you have any gains from this battle?"

Ke La Ke's footsteps did not stop.

"Not bad." He said, "This battle allowed me to come into contact with several new laws. The 'Disorderly Proliferation' on the Chaos Secret Sect side, the 'Positive and Negative Annihilation' on the Tower of Extinction side, and several special laws I hadn't seen before, should be special branches researched by the Tower of Extinction themselves."

His tone was very flat, just like saying "the dishes for lunch today are not bad."

But hearing it in Jie Ming and Wei Aola's ears was no different from thunder.

One battle... and learned several new laws?!

And it sounds like the other party's trump card, clearly belonging to the core laws that are not passed on?!

Jie Ming leaned to Ke La Ke's other side with a look of surprise:

"Mentor, is your speed of learning and researching new laws... already this fast?"

Ke La Ke turned his head and looked at Jie Ming.

"Just drawing inferences from one instance." His explanation was still concise, "When you have mastered enough 'basic laws' and understood the 'connection laws' between them, new laws are no longer a puzzle that needs to be cracked from scratch in your eyes."

"It's more like a 'new machine' composed of 'parts' you have already mastered, combined in a new arrangement."

"All you have to do is disassemble it, see what parts it used, how these parts are connected, and why this connection method produces new functions."

"Then, you have learned it."

Jie Ming opened his mouth and couldn't speak for a long time.

Sounds... like it makes sense.

... As if!!!

How is this different from putting an elephant in the fridge?!

How familiar must one be with "known parts" to be able to disassemble and learn just by looking at it?!

But this also made the two even more excited.

"Mentor, do you think I have the qualifications to learn this from you?!"

"Yeah, yeah, and me!"

"You? Hehehe..."

The three master and apprentices walked into the depths of the fortress cluster while chatting like this.

(Hard to split the chapter, combined into two-in-one)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 482 =====