Chapter 512

Jie Ming didn't try to contact Blake.

After all, he was in Phase Space now and had no way to send information to the outside world.

And if he dared to leave Phase Space, it would be no different from setting up a target.

Jie Ming calmed down, stood still in the cracks of Phase Space, his gaze like a precise scanner, sweeping across the rugged rock pillars, gray-white sand, and energy-poor sky below inch by inch.

The "Body Tempering Method" operated at full power, and that extreme sensitivity to "environmental harmony" and "self-existence" was elevated to the extreme.

He no longer looked for "abnormal energy sources" or "hidden life forms," but felt whether the "overall existence state" of this area was perfect and flawless.

Time passed in silence.

One minute, two minutes...

Finally, after the adaptive evolution of the Body Tempering Method pushed forward a few more stages, Jie Ming finally discovered the abnormality.

About three hundred meters to his front left, a gray-white giant rock that looked ordinary and indistinguishable from other rock pillars had its "presence" appear with an extremely subtle "incoordination" in Jie Ming's perception.

That feeling was like a small piece of paint in a perfectly copied painting having a subtle difference in texture and sense of age from the whole.

Although the other party was also presence shielding, the concealment method was different from Blake's idea of "completely erasing one's own existence."

This wizard was more like adjusting his own "presence attribute" to be completely consistent with the surrounding environment, like the highest-level protective color, making you subconsciously classify it as part of the background even if you saw it.

Two methods, it's hard to conclude which is better or worse, but both are undoubtedly extremely tricky.

Jie Ming didn't alert the enemy.

He didn't even have any thoughts of striking, but instead quietly exited this area along the path he came, at a slower and more cautious speed.

Until he retreated to the vicinity of the starting point where he entered Phase Space, ensuring that his existence would not bring trouble to Blake, did he lift the concealment state.

He immediately sent information to Blake through the encrypted channel: 【Found a lurker, soul-system, concealment method is high-tier 'environmental assimilation'. Besides him, are there traces of other enemies within the detectable range of this area?】

Blake's reply came very quickly, clearly also having been tense. 【Not detected. The opponent is soul-system, most likely pursuing extreme concealment and single-person action efficiency; the possibility of teammates coordinating combat nearby is not high.】

He paused, and the information continued to be transmitted: 【But he is very likely like us, with 'responders' or 'combat groups' waiting in the further rear. I could discover the 'abnormality', he most likely also perceived the disharmony, just hasn't locked onto my specific location for the time being. What now? Fight, or retreat?】

Jie Ming fell into a short thought.

Retreating is the safest choice.

Both sides are masters of stealth; in the absence of being able to precisely locate each other, they won't easily break out into conflict. Retreating now, the other party most likely won't have the strength to pursue.

But... what does it mean for a forward area to be guarded personally by such a high-level soul-system wizard?

There must be a bigger secret in the rear, a bigger "fish."

And where there are big fish, there is a very high possibility of a Level 6 Wizard sitting in command.

Risk and opportunity, like the two ends of a balance.

A moment later, Jie Ming made a decision. He quickly replied to Blake: 【You leave immediately, and send the coordinates of this area, the discovery of a high-tier soul-system lurker, and the 'important target' and risk assessment that may exist in the rear back to the camp as emergency intelligence.】

【What about you?】

Jie Ming continued to input: 【I will stay behind and do a tentative reconnaissance. If there really is a Level 6, I am alone, and it will be easier to escape; there is no need to worry about companions.】

This is the most reasonable division of labor.

Blake is good at infiltration and intelligence transmission; having him send the key information back has huge value.

And Jie Ming, relying on his strong survival ability and mobility, can take the risk to conduct deeper exploration; even if he encounters a strong enemy, he has the confidence to escape.

Blake was silent for a few seconds on that side, seemingly making a final trade-off.

Soon, the reply came: 【Understood. I will send the intelligence back safely. You must be careful, the old hands of the soul-system often have very dirty methods. Keep the channel silent; I will leave a one-way warning mark at a safe distance. If a super-high-energy battle breaks out on your side, the mark will give me a warning.】

Jie Ming looked at Blake's reply and his eyelids jumped; he felt like this guy was inadvertently scolding himself too?

【Received.】

The communication channel was completely quiet.

Jie Ming knew that Blake should be moving away from this dangerous area silently now.

He didn't delay any longer, took a deep breath, re-entered Phase Space, and once again used the spirituality of the Five Elements Transformation Rainbow Mirror to cover the outer layer, elevating the concealment effect to the limit.

Then he once again moved "slowly" toward that coordinate point, the lurker's position, in a familiar way.

Soon, he returned to that rock pillar area and locked onto that "incoordinated" giant rock.

From the perspective of Phase Space, there was an extremely faint human silhouette on the surface of the rock, almost merging with the environment.

This was also because Jie Ming had improved his observation ability with the Body Tempering Method; otherwise, under normal conditions, even a Level 6 Wizard wouldn't have been able to find the problem in this area.

Separated by the barrier of Phase Space, Jie Ming couldn't precisely perceive the other party's soul strength level.

But he speculated that the other party was most likely Level 5.

If a Level 6 soul-system wizard were sitting in command here, with their control over soul fluctuations and perception range, Blake would probably have been dragged out during his first attempt at reconnaissance and wouldn't have had time to issue a warning.

Even so, a Level 5 soul-system wizard specializing in concealment and reconnaissance was absolutely a quite troublesome scout.

After thinking about it, Jie Ming didn't act immediately.

Since there was a very high possibility of a Level 6 Wizard behind the enemy, he definitely couldn't rush up so recklessly.

At least, he had to fully arm himself before launching an attack.

He released the dozen or so floating cannons from his inner cave again and equipped them through the spirituality of the Five Elements Transformation Rainbow Mirror.

The floating cannons were like a swarm of metal bees with life, floating silently in the Phase Space behind Jie Ming, their muzzles slightly adjusted, locking onto the blurry figure below.

Then he checked again to ensure there were no problems with the various protections and wizarding tools attached to his body.

Jie Ming also took out the acceleration rune wizarding tool and cast acceleration on himself.

After ensuring he was armed to the teeth, Jie Ming waited patiently, silently calculating the time in his heart, ensuring that Blake had moved far enough away to be safe.

(Additional update, one more chapter.)

(End of chapter)