Chapter 510: True Name and Cooperation

On the way to the central command tent, Gao Jie Ming clearly felt the atmosphere around him was different.

The witches he passed—whether hurrying toward the front lines or repairing witch artifacts in temporary workshops—always lingered their gazes on him a moment longer than necessary.

Their stares held no hostility, but rather a mix of curiosity, inquiry, awe, and… some unspoken gossip-like undertone.

He could even faintly catch fragmented, encrypted spiritual force waves in the air—clearly, someone was whispering about him privately.

Gao Jie Ming frowned slightly.

He wasn't used to being watched so closely, especially after his recent severe injuries.

"Don't mind it," Viola, beside him, seemed to read his thoughts; a wry smile curled at her lips as she lowered her voice.

"You're 'famous' now, junior. You single-handedly reversed and killed three sixth-rank enemies, including the 【Hand of Annihilation】, then finished off the Chaos Cult's flagship 【Holy Son】 while critically wounded… such a record makes it impossible to go unnoticed."

"The command staff hasn't officially announced it yet—they're probably verifying details and assessing tactical value—but witches have their own channels, especially in frontline camps; even the faintest whisper spreads like wildfire."

"So that's it… bull!" Gao Jie Ming glanced at his senior, "You've bragged too much!"

Viola didn't blush—she beamed with pride: "Oh, it's nothing, nothing at all… I didn't help much anyway…"

Gao Jie Ming sighed, but he knew that for witches, this wasn't necessarily bad.

He himself didn't think it was bad either—his earlier discomfort was merely a reflex.

After all, witches are fundamentally "scholars," and whether for "academic exchange" or "selling products," having some reputation is always better than obscurity.

He grew curious.

In the witch world, outstanding achievements often spawn corresponding "titles"—an almost unwritten custom.

"So… do I have a title yet?" he asked, tone tentative.

He'd always thought titles like 【Holy Son】, 【War God】, or 【Hand of Annihilation】 sounded a bit childish.

But now that it might be his… it didn't feel so bad?

Viola's silver-gray eyes flickered with unmistakable mischief.

She deliberately sized him up before speaking slowly: "Title? Not yet."

"Huh?" Gao Jie Ming froze.

"Titles aren't handed out lightly," Viola explained. "They usually stem from a witch's most defining trait—his dominant law, signature spell, primary research focus, or even unique conduct. Like my 【Pain】, or the 【Hand of Annihilation】 you killed."

She spread her hands, her smile deepening: "But you? My dear junior, you're too 'clean.' Every enemy who's seen your full power has left no survivors."

"Your comrades' most vivid impression of you, beyond your terrifying combat record, is probably… how dozens of towering, grotesque black giants carried you back to camp like some fragile treasure."

She leaned closer, whispering with playful malice: "You don't actually want your title tied to that kind of 'triumph,' do you? Like… 【Lord of the Black Coffin】? 【Carpenter】? Or even plainer—【The One Who Was Carried Back】? Lately, that's already starting to catch on…"

At Viola's words, Gao Jie Ming's expression stiffened.

Come to think of it, his return to camp had indeed been undignified.

Damn it—if his final title became 【Black Men Carrying the Coffin】…

Gao Jie Ming's mind instantly flashed to a video he'd seen in his past life of a professional black team—his skin prickled with revulsion.

Compared to that, his plain, unadorned name "Gao Jie Ming" sounded like celestial music!

"... I think my real name is fine," he said dryly.

"Hahaha!" Viola burst out laughing, clearly delighted by his reaction.

After laughing, she grew slightly serious: "Actually, having no fixed title can, in some ways, be an even greater honor."

"Oh?" Gao Jie Ming perked up.

"It means when people mention your 'name,' they automatically mean you—no prefix, no suffix needed to distinguish you," Viola said, a hint of longing in her eyes. "That's rarer than having a personal title. It means your very existence carries enough 'uniqueness' and 'recognizability.'"

Here, Viola winked at Gao Jie Ming: "For example… our mentor has no title either…"

Gao Jie Ming listened, entranced: "Then… how does one reach this… 'manifesting by true name' state?"

"Very simple."

A flat, piercing voice came from behind them.

Gao Jie Ming and Viola turned simultaneously to see Master Clark, having appeared several steps behind them—still in his gray robe, expression blank, as if his remark hadn't come from him at all.

"Master," both said quickly.

Clark gave a slight nod, kept walking, and naturally stepped ahead of them, leading them toward the heavily guarded command room door, shimmering with layered wards.

His presence alone was the highest-level passcode; the armored sentries and inspection witches merely verified his spiritual signature once, then bowed and let them through without any further checks—even Gao Jie Ming and Viola were exempted from the usual procedures.

As they passed through security, Clark continued his earlier point in his signature monotone: "To maintain your true name, there are generally two paths."

"First," he raised his index finger, "in front of peers—or even higher-ranked opponents—never display any noticeable, categorizable 'signature' ability. Your spell damage is just inexplicably stronger, your defense inexplicably higher, your speed inexplicably faster."

"Your techniques' principles and execution exceed your enemies' and observers' comprehension—they can't analyze, replicate, or define them, even if they witness them firsthand. Over time, your 'title' remains unresolved; people can only refer to you by your true name: that 'undefinable force.'"

Gao Jie Ming pondered this carefully—and the more he thought, the more absurdly difficult it seemed.

It demanded total, flawless dominance, with a technical system so unique it stood entirely apart, utterly unanalyzable by others.

This wasn't just about power—it was the ultimate expression of individuality and depth of knowledge.

"And… the second method?" Viola asked for Gao Jie Ming; she was curious too.

Clark's steps paused slightly in the wide corridor of the command room; he turned his head, and his lips twitched—almost imperceptibly upward.

It wasn't even a smile—it sent an inexplicable chill through Gao Jie Ming and Viola.

"The second," Clark said, voice steady, "is relatively 'simpler.'"

"Always operate alone… and ensure every enemy who witnesses your power can never speak again."

He paused, then added: "Of course, as the number and strength of your enemies grow, achieving 'total annihilation' becomes exponentially harder. But…"

He looked again at Gao Jie Ming, his gray eyes calm as still water: "I personally recommend combining the first and second methods. That way, your chance of preserving your true name increases significantly."

Gao Jie Ming and Viola exchanged glances, speechless.

From any angle, both methods were far from "normal"—even bordering on horrifyingly extreme.

In plain terms, this wasn't a path ordinary witches could even consider.

As they spoke, they reached the core of the command room.

The space was vast, its high arched ceiling casting a deep blue glow.

At its center stood a massive 3D tactical sand table, countless light points shifting across its surface, representing troop deployments and reconnaissance movements of both sides.

Around the walls, large real-time monitor screens displayed energy readings, spatial fluctuations, and localized battle footage from different fronts.

A low hum filled the air, layered with dense spiritual command waves; witches and constructs moved swiftly between them, the atmosphere tense yet orderly.

Clark gave them a slight gesture, then walked toward Dionysus Spencer, who was discussing quietly with several Gao Gao Jie witches beside the sand table.

Gao Jie Ming followed protocol and approached the mission reception desk.

A more refined silver construct greeted him.

After identity verification and confirmation that his injuries had recovered to mission-ready status, the construct projected a list of available reconnaissance missions before him.

Gao Jie Ming scanned quickly, his gaze finally settling on the large strategic map displayed on the central screen.

As Viola had said, the vast "midfield" zone between the blue area representing Plane Nuolun Workshop and the red areas of the enemy alliance (Chaos Cult and Tower of Stillness) was now mostly marked in varying shades of green.

This indicated those regions had been reconnoitered to varying degrees, with relatively manageable risks.

Only behind the enemy's red zones remained large, glaring patches of uncharted deep red—interlocking with patches of light green, like incomplete, dangerous puzzle pieces.

"There," Gao Jie Ming decided. He selected a long-term reconnaissance mission targeting the edge of that deep red zone.

The mission required continuous monitoring of energy anomalies, troop movements, and, if possible, uncovering hidden secondary bases or high-rank witch activity trails.

Risk level was high, but the military merit reward was extremely generous.

After accepting the mission, confirming the operation code and emergency comms channel, Gao Jie Ming nodded to Viola and Master Clark in the distance, then turned toward the command room exit.

His thoughts still lingered on Clark's discourse about "true names" and the integration of his newly acquired techniques.

Yet the moment he stepped through the heavy metal door of the command room, a faint, almost instinctive sense of "wrongness" brushed across his mind.

Like a ripple too faint to see on still water, or a single dust mote deviating unnaturally from its path.

Had his soul not just been reshaped, his perception not been greatly enhanced, and had he not possessed the extraordinary sensitivity granted by the 【Body Forging Art】 toward harmony between self and environment, he would have missed it entirely.

He stopped, frowned slightly, and stood still.

His gaze swept casually over the witches passing, the busy constructs, the glowing runes on the walls.

Nothing seemed amiss.

But that sensation—of being "pressed against" by something at point-blank range—refused to fade.

Fortunately, Gao Jie Ming had endured much; he was familiar with such feelings.

He subtly activated the 【Body Forging Art】, recalling the source of the wrongness.

One second… two seconds…

Finally, under the adaptive evolution of the 【Body Forging Art】, his perception shattered a threshold.

A delicate, cicada-wing-thin "veil" covering his sensory boundary revealed a minuscule "wrinkle."

Gao Jie Ming's eyes snapped open, sharp as lightning, locking precisely onto the seemingly empty space beside him.

"Come out, Black." His voice was calm, quiet, but certain.

The air rippled, as if heat had warped the scene.

In the next instant, a tall figure emerged as if stepping from a water curtain, blurring into clarity.

A male witch, roughly Gao Jie Ming's age, pale and strikingly beautiful, with an ethereal, sun-deprived delicacy; his short black hair perfectly neat.

Now, Black's eyes were wide, his pupils filled with unmistakable shock—bordering on terror.

A soul-system prodigy who entered Plane Nuolun Academy at the same time as Gao Jie Ming, and Gao Jie Ming's key partner in selling liquid adamantium.

A soul-system prodigy who entered Plane Nuolun Academy with Gao Jie Ming, and his key partner in selling liquid adamantium.

"J… Gao Jie Ming?" Black's voice cracked; he instinctively stepped back half a pace, his deep purple pupils shrinking. "H… how did you find me?"

No wonder Black was terrified.

【101】 His 【Perception Concealment】 was his core ability—blending soul suggestion, optical refraction, scent elimination, and subtle temporal perception interference.

Not to mention witches of the same level, even witches two levels higher than him could hardly detect it.

Without exaggeration, as a Soul-system witch specializing in intelligence gathering, this technique was his very foundation for survival.

To be so easily uncovered was, to him, equivalent to the most lethal threat being openly laid before him—this meant that the moment he was seen through, his life and death were already in the other's hands.

Gao Jie Ming found Black's stunned expression somewhat amusing; the unease he'd felt from being followed had largely dissipated.

"Your technique has indeed improved vastly since then—almost flawless," he said honestly. "But I've grown a little stronger too."

Black's expression shifted, several times opening his mouth as if to speak, then closing it again; finally, he forced a slightly awkward smile, suppressing the panic of being exposed.

"No wonder you took down the 【Hand of Annihilation】 and the 'Holy Son'… the rumors were true after all."

He quickly changed the subject, as if trying to escape the earlier embarrassment: "I see you've taken on a reconnaissance mission too? Judging by your direction, you're planning to go behind the Red Zone (enemy-controlled territory)?"

"Correct," Gao Jie Ming nodded, not hiding anything.

Black's eyes brightened slightly; he stepped forward, lowered his voice, and spoke in a tone of negotiation: "How about… a temporary partnership?"

Gao Jie Ming was curious.

It wasn't that he wondered how Black, a fourth-level witch, had received a reconnaissance mission—after all, Black was a Soul-system witch, specialized in this exact work.

The requirements for such missions must differ greatly from those for regular witches.

What intrigued him was that, given the nature of Soul-system witches, they typically weren't suited to cooperating with others.

Seeing Gao Jie Ming's questioning look, Black understood his thoughts and immediately explained: "Not a team. Our combat styles and reconnaissance methods are too different—forcing us together would only hinder each other."

"What I mean is, we operate independently but within range to support and urgently respond to each other, advancing in parallel. This expands our search coverage, improves efficiency, and ensures mutual backup if we encounter a strong enemy—enough time to warn or assist in retreat."

He paused, then added the most crucial point on profit-sharing: "As for the intelligence gathered and the military merits earned, we split them evenly. What do you say?"

Gao Jie Ming didn't answer immediately, but swiftly weighed the pros and cons.

Black was a professional Soul-system witch; even as a fourth-level, his reconnaissance range would certainly surpass Gao Jie Ming's, a fifth-level witch whose knowledge accumulation was inadequate.

More importantly, though Black was somewhat gloomy in temperament, his reliability and strength as a partner had been proven.

"Agreed," Gao Jie Ming decided, extending his hand. "Pleasure working with you, Black."

Black seemed to exhale in relief; a genuine smile appeared on his pale face as he shook Gao Jie Ming's hand: "Pleasure working with you, Gao Jie Ming. I hope we both return richly rewarded this time."

A faint glow lit up his personal terminal as he sent Gao Jie Ming an encrypted short message and a temporary communication channel code linked to a spiritual marker.

The two exchanged basic outlines of their routes and emergency signals, then said no more pleasantries.

Black's figure first blurred, like an ink drop dissolving into the background, vanishing without a sound.

His "Perception Concealment" was active again, but this time, Gao Jie Ming faintly sensed an extremely faint "anchor point" moving in the agreed general direction.

Gao Jie Ming no longer delayed; he confirmed the direction, and an invisible force lifted him as he sped toward the camp's perimeter.

(That's all for today—two chapters merged, as it's hard to split.)

(End of Chapter)