Chapter 516: The [Fiction] That Is Not Fiction (Extensive Setting)

First, a fact must be clarified.

Namely: the 【Fiction】 Rule is not the Fiction Rule.

Although the 【Fiction】 Rule is called the origin and starting point of the Fiction Rule, it is not the Fiction Rule itself—it is genuinely real.

In the vast, boundless power system of the Wizard Civilization, "Ninth Level" is a realm both awe-inspiring and endlessly speculative.

Countless records and oral traditions all point to one truth: a Wizard who reaches Ninth Level gains "infinite" power and can arbitrarily twist laws to achieve a kind of "manifestation of will."

Their interference with reality is like a creator wielding a brush—nearly unconstrained by logic.

Such immense power, its principles and roots, naturally captivate every Wizard seeking the ultimate knowledge, driving them to exhaust their minds trying to decipher it.

And the 【Fiction】 Rule is one such "outcome" deduced and ultimately reached by countless Wizard sages while studying the ultimate mystery: "How do Ninth-Level beings twist laws?"

Or rather—"degraded imitation."

In terms of results, the 【Fiction】 Rule's performance is unremarkable.

It can indeed achieve a "manifestation of will" to some degree, but its internal logic is utterly different from the irrational, foundational distortion of Ninth Level, and it suffers from fundamental, insurmountable flaws.

The core flaw lies in this: the 【Fiction】 Rule can only accomplish what the user, given their own strength, knowledge, resources, time, and other conditions, could theoretically complete.

It can only help the user skip the process to achieve what was already theoretically possible.

For example, facing Gao Jie Ming's "Gui Xu Armor," this black-robed Sixth-Level Wizard who wields the 【Fiction】 Rule—if he were willing to spend sufficient time, invest massive spiritual energy, consume vast computational power and resources, and apply all the knowledge and magical techniques he possesses—

Theoretically, he could eventually break through the Gui Xu Armor's defense.

Since it is "theoretically possible," the 【Fiction】 Rule allows him to "skip" the lengthy struggle, complex calculations, and enormous consumption required to achieve this, directly manifesting the result: "Gui Xu Armor has been shattered."

From this perspective, the 【Fiction】 Rule is undoubtedly a powerful and convenient ability in combat.

It enables users to rapidly convert their theoretical "upper limit of possibility" into actual combat results with extreme efficiency, especially against enemies with complex defenses that are hard to defeat by conventional means.

Yet, this power's brilliance is largely confined to Seventh Level and below.

Once a Wizard reaches Eighth Level, they complete "Law Solidification," binding their core law deeply to their very existence, making it stable and resistant to external distortion.

At that point, even Ninth-Level law distortion can be resisted—how much more so the 【Fiction】 Rule, a degraded, "possibility-based" version of "result-jumping"?

Thus, Wizards who specialize in the 【Fiction】 Rule often see their combat power plummet after ascending to Eighth Level, becoming indistinguishable from the crowd.

This is a path that, to many, appears to have virtually no future.

Even at Sixth and Seventh Levels, the 【Fiction】 Rule is not invincible.

This relates to its second major flaw: the "amount" of process it can skip is limited.

A Wizard specializing in the 【Fiction】 Rule, wishing to skip the resources, energy, computational power, time, and other costs required to shatter a defense, complete a complex spell, or achieve a specific result, can only skip a quantity determined by their depth of study and mastery of the 【Fiction】 Rule itself.

But even if this law is studied to the theoretical peak of Sixth or Seventh Level, its "skip quota" does not grant decisive superiority over top-tier combat Wizards of the same level—especially those who wield pure destructive laws like "Annihilation," "Collapse," or "End."

It can make the user an "elite" or "standout" among peers, but rarely the absolute pinnacle.

More importantly, non-Ninth-Level beings inherently lack infinite power.

Therefore, users of the 【Fiction】 Rule cannot, like Ninth-Level beings, achieve infinite combat power stacking by "twisting laws" and "infinite power" as if stepping on their own foot.

Their total spiritual energy, energy reserves, physical strength, depth of knowledge, and other factors—their combined "scale"—fundamentally limit the upper bound of what they can "fiction."

A Fifth-Level Wizard can never "fiction" a result of defeating a Seventh-Level Wizard, because that far exceeds the scope of what he could "theoretically achieve."

In summary, the 【Fiction】 Rule in combat is a powerful, efficient ability with clear ceilings and future bottlenecks, ranking among the upper-mid tier among combat Wizards.

But in research, the 【Fiction】 Rule's evaluation is far lower—even quite poor.

The primary reason is its extreme shortcoming in range.

The essence of law is knowledge, and the magical devices Wizards create from knowledge are essentially manifestations of law.

A Sixth-Level Wizard, after completing "Law Solidification," can create a device centered on their solidified law; even if taken to another plane infinitely distant, as long as it remains intact, it still functions as designed.

But objects created by the 【Fiction】 Rule, or effects driven by it, must maintain direct spiritual connection with their creator to exist and function.

This includes any attack, defense, or effect initiated by the 【Fiction】 Rule itself—all must rely on the caster's direct spiritual control through a medium, such as a spell model or spiritual tendril.

Although a Sixth-Level Wizard's spiritual control range can cover thousands of kilometers, compared to other solidified law products that operate independently across infinite distances, the 【Fiction】 Rule's "range" flaw is especially lethal in macro-strategic and research applications.

Second, although the 【Fiction】 Rule can "skip research processes and directly obtain results,"

this holds limited, even harmful, value for Wizards who pursue "knowledge."

The most fundamental problem is this: you obtain the result, but not the knowledge.

Any experienced researcher understands that if you do not thoroughly grasp the internal process and core principles of a technique or phenomenon, even with identical conditions and steps, you cannot reliably reproduce the result.

And the 【Fiction】 Rule, when "skipping the process," does not kindly provide a detailed "instruction manual."

You have no idea which key condition among your own resources led to success, nor which subtle factor, if missing, would cause failure.

You cannot even determine whether failure stems from insufficient conditions or from a fundamentally flawed initial hypothesis.

Even if you Jiaoxing directly "fiction" a usable result, ignoring the range limitation imposed by spiritual connection, without accumulated intermediate techniques, further research becomes impossible.

Long-term reliance on the 【Fiction】 Rule as a shortcut causes a Wizard's research ability to stagnate completely, eroding the foundation of independent exploration and innovation.

More importantly, in many cases, the vast "byproducts" and "failed experiences" generated during research may hold greater value than the final target result itself.

Just as Gao Jie Ming's former homeland, in its prolonged development of an aircraft carrier, spawned countless critical materials, processes, designs, and management experiences—these technologies' overall diffusion may have mattered more than the carrier itself.

The very existence of the 【Fiction】 Rule is a perfect illustration of this point:

As one of the final theoretical products of studying "Ninth-Level law distortion," its long, arduous exploration produced many valuable "byproducts."

One of the most important was revealing partial key "pathways" and theoretical models for transitioning from Seventh to Eighth Level "Law Solidification," helping to open the path to Eighth Level.

On the other hand, the existence of the 【Fiction】 Rule shattered the boundary between theory and reality, providing essential technical support for the birth of true Fiction Rules.

Indeed, all Fiction Rules later born in the Wizard Plane rely on the knowledge from the 【Fiction】 Rule concerning the breaking of the theory-reality boundary.

Whether the path to Eighth-Level Wizardry or the construction of Fiction Rules—

These knowledge assets, for the entire Wizard Civilization, far surpass the value of the 【Fiction】 Rule itself as the "main product."

At this moment, Gao Jie Ming stared at the black-robed Wizard nearby, whose aura grew ever deeper, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He suddenly understood why, years ago, when he first revealed the "Spiritual Energy" system—radically different from elemental energy—to his mentor Clark and the seniors and colleagues at Plane Nuolun's Workshop under the name "Imaginary Element," they had worn expressions of awe, regret, and profound complexity.

They knew this Wizard, by choosing this path, had his future power ceiling almost locked, destined to fade on the true road to Eighth Level and beyond.

Yet "now," on this battlefield, the strange, efficient, almost irrational "result-actualization" ability he displayed—

Its difficulty and immediate threat far surpassed most conventional Wizards of the same level!

"Truly—a troublesome ability," Gao Jie Ming silently warned himself, yet also felt a flicker of relief.

Relief that the Gui Xu Armor, built upon the core concept of "consumption, transformation, and return to nothingness," was indeed extraordinarily stable and resistant to abnormal effects.

Even against the 【Fiction】 Rule's Guiyi technique of directly defining "results," it could forcibly negate the "shattered" definition at the cost of its own "breakage."

More importantly, his own vast spiritual and physical scale—gained through the Body Forging Scripture and soul reshaping, surpassing ordinary Fifth-Level Wizards and nearing that of some Sixth-Level Wizards—and the resources stored within his inner space—seemed to exceed the current 【Fiction】 Rule's "skip quota" capacity.

This meant the opponent could not simply "fiction" a result like "instantly kill Gao Jie Ming."

Because the process skipped would be too immense, exceeding his law's instantaneous processing capability. Combat.

Thus, he was pulled back into the need for repeated offense-defense, consumption, and maneuvering—the "process."

On the other side, the black-robed Wizard, whose law's foundation had been exposed by Gao Jie Ming's single remark, felt a faint flicker in his crimson eyes beneath the hood—as if no longer bothering to conceal.

Since his trump card had been seen, hiding was meaningless.

His form once again underwent that unsettling "change."

No movement trajectory. No energy surge as precursor.

One instant he was a kilometer away; the next, the result "he stands before Gao Jie Ming" was directly manifested in reality, erasing all intermediate advancement.

That gloved hand, like Death's own hand, struck again toward Gao Jie Ming.

Simple. Direct. Yet carrying an unavoidable "inevitable hit" quality.

Gao Jie Ming's pupils contracted; as he retreated swiftly, his mind raced, instantly grasping the essence of the opponent's attack pattern.

The opponent was not moving too fast to react—he simply erased the "attack motion" process, directly manifesting the result: "hand strikes target."

To break or interfere, one must actively intervene in the premise of this "result"!

So he responded exactly as before—he swung his newly regrown right fist, unerringly meeting the incoming palm!

This was not a brute-force clash—it was him actively providing a controlled, predetermined "landing point" for the opponent's "attack result"!

Whoosh—

The same scene played out again.

The fist, upon contact with the palm, dissolved like smoke and disintegrated.

Gao Jie Ming's face paled; he decisively "abandoned" his entire right arm, while simultaneously activating the Grand Void Step to its full extent, using the faint recoil from the shattered outer layer of Gui Xu Armor to violently retreat!

Yet the black-robed Wizard clearly had no intention of giving him time to breathe or regenerate.

Just as Gao Jie Ming retreated dozens of meters, the opponent's figure appeared like a ghost, once again "jumping" over the pursuit process and directly "appearing" ahead of Gao Jie Ming's retreat path.

His hand rose—this time, the target was Gao Jie Ming's head!

He clearly sought to directly "define" the more decisive result: "Gao Jie Ming's head shattered."

A sense of crisis drenched him like ice water!

But this time, Gao Jie Ming reacted faster!

At the instant the opponent's palm touched the outermost Gui Xu Armor, causing it to shatter instantly, the compressed "attack process" finally revealed a trace due to the Armor's resistance!

That single trace gave Gao Jie Ming precious reaction time!

At the moment the second layer of Gui Xu Armor shattered, Gao Jie Ming's left arm rose like a conditioned reflex, fiercely blocking before his forehead!

Simultaneously, his head deliberately slammed hard into his own arm!

Crack!

His left arm turned to ash again, but the self-inflicted recoil, combined with the Grand Void Step's burst, allowed Gao Jie Ming to narrowly Lakai distance once more!

The black-robed Wizard's figure halted, not immediately pursuing.

Beneath his hood, his brow furrowed slightly.

It wasn't that he didn't want to launch continuous attacks; rather, the use of the 【Fiction】 Faze involved an extremely complex mental load and computational cost.

His attack frequency could never match the relentless barrage of other sixth-rank Wushi who specialized in energy bombardment or close-quarters combat.

Each "skipping of the process" required precise calculation and a brief "cooldown" or "reset."

That was why, when he previously used energy bullets, he had to divide the attacks into wave after wave.

A normal sixth-rank Wushi using such a simple attack could easily sustain it without pause.

They wouldn't need to deliberately split each wave into multiple bursts, just to mask the gaps between attacks, as he did.

And in that single moment of pause, Gao Jie Ming's monstrous regenerative ability reappeared.

Blood and flesh on his right shoulder writhed wildly, rapidly forming a brand-new arm; at the stump of his left arm, now reduced to ash, pink tissue buds emerged and began rebuilding at visibly rapid speed.

"————You bastard————" The black-robed Wushi finally spoke, his voice muffled beneath his hood, carrying a rare note of exasperation and disbelief, "What kind of regeneration beast are you?"

He had seen countless Wushi who specialized in bodily modification and pursued immortality.

But the speed of this fifth-rank junior Wushi 's bodily regeneration had reached an eerie level.

It even surpassed many sixth-rank bio-enhanced Wushi he knew, famed for their tenacious lifeforce!

Coupled with that strange field capable of nullifying one 【Fiction】 effect, his energy beams reaching sixth-rank thresholds and his bizarre high-speed movements seemed almost insignificant by comparison.

"If that's the case————" Gao Jie Ming gasped, quickly stabilizing the energy and spiritual drain caused by his repeated arm regeneration, "perhaps you might show mercy and spare my life?"

He forced a stiff smile onto his face.

This wasn't weakness—it was rational assessment.

He wasn't unwilling to immediately activate the 【Light Transformation】 technique and flee.

But his battle with the 【Hand of Annihilation】 had taught him that against a true sixth-rank Wushi, simple long-range high-speed movement rarely broke lock-on.

As long as the opponent theoretically possessed the ability to track and intercept him, the 【Fiction】 Faze could "skip" the tracking process and directly manifest the result: "he is intercepted."

The black-robed Wushi fell silent for a moment; a faint sigh emerged from beneath his hood.

When he raised his head again, the faint ripples in his dark red eyes had vanished.

Only a cold, absolute rationality remained—the hallmark of a battlefield Wushi.

"I'm sorry," his voice was steady and clear, "after witnessing your strength, especially this————growth potential and threat level—I cannot allow you to leave this battlefield alive. Otherwise, to our fifth-rank Wushi, you will be a walking disaster."

The killing intent in his words was unmasked.

Upon hearing this, the last trace of Gao Jie Ming's stone-cold smile vanished entirely.

He drew a deep breath, accelerating the flow of spiritual power within; the stored energy in his dantian and the spiritual sea began to be mobilized with greater efficiency.

His newly grown arms clenched into fists, feeling the surging power refill his limbs.

He understood: the pretense and stone-coldness were over.

What followed would be a fight to the death.

(Got a quick errand—only one chapter today.)

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