Translator: AnubisTL
The call to war came sooner than Jieming had anticipated.
Less than a month after registering at the junction point, his magic net terminal emitted a sharp alert—a notice to assemble was prominently displayed.
This efficiency far exceeded Jieming's expectations.
He quickly inspected all the preparations inside and outside the Golden Garden, confirming everything was in order, before contacting Viola via the Magic Net Communication Rune.
Viola's voice carried a hint of excitement as she confirmed she had also received the notice. They agreed to meet at the designated assembly point at the junction point.
Stepping onto the teleportation formation once more, Jieming and Viola materialized within the distorted space fragment that constituted the junction point.
The place retained its bizarre appearance: vertical streets, floating shops, and a menagerie of otherworldly beings and servants, all frozen in a surreal harmony like a still-life painting.
However, the atmosphere now carried not only the usual bustle but also a palpable sense of pre-battle tension and urgency.
"Ready?" Viola's voice cut through the air. She wore form-fitting black leather armor, two metal staves crossed on her back, and a confident smile played on her lips.
"Anytime," Jieming nodded.
He wore a black wizard's robe, and the six Floating Cannon Array behind him shimmered like ethereal wings.
Viola's smile softened slightly as she turned to Jieming, her tone turning serious. "Jieming, once we enter the war plane, you must be especially wary of the wizards from the Tower of Annihilation and the Chaos Secret Sect, in addition to the plane's indigenous inhabitants."
"Although our Noren Workshop collaborates with them, we are not part of the same faction. On the battlefield, self-interest often takes precedence. Don't be surprised if they resort to extreme measures to seize spoils of war."
"After all, we belong to different factions. If you encounter them, caution is paramount. They won't openly betray you, but covert maneuvers are common practice."
"Remember this: never completely entrust your back to wizards from other factions." Viola's words were concise and direct.
Jieming's expression sharpened as he nodded solemnly. "Understood, Senior Sister. I'll be careful."
He understood the harsh realities of the wizarding world. Precisely because wizards were so rational, sufficiently great gains could compel them to act ruthlessly.
The two waited at the junction point for another two days.
During this time, wizards from the three major factions poured in continuously, filling the hall with a deafening cacophony of voices.
Most wore standardized or self-made wizard's robes, adorned with various spell artifacts.
Their bodies radiated distinct elemental fluctuations, their qi mingling to create a peculiar oppressive atmosphere.
Finally, the moment of assembly arrived.
Tens of thousands of wizards packed the registration hall, spilling out onto the "streets" beyond.
The vast majority were first and second-tier wizards, the cannon fodder and executors who formed the foundation of the wizard legions.
Third-tier and higher-level wizards were increasingly rare, typically serving as squad commanders or elite forces responsible for strategic strongholds.
As for fourth-tier wizards, they were as rare as phoenix feathers, each one drawing crowds of onlookers.
Just as the wizards awaited instructions, the sky above the junction point—previously a chaotic void—was suddenly engulfed by a massive shadow.
The sky suddenly darkened as an indescribably massive silhouette, resembling the body of a prehistoric giant beast, slowly materialized from the void.
It was a desolate land, scarred with charred mountain ranges and deep, yawning ravines, radiating an ancient and savage aura.
"That's a conquest plane leased from the junction point," Viola explained to Jieming, gazing up at the continent suspended in the void. "It's our 'ship' for this campaign."
"Ship?"
Jieming instinctively recalled his two rare journeys to otherworlds. Once, he had traveled via teleportation, and the other time, he had been unceremoniously tossed in by a high-rank wizard from the workshop.
"The situation with the Elosia Plane was an exception. Normally, beyond each plane lies the infinitely vast chaotic void," Viola began educating Jieming.
"Though called a 'void,' it's not an empty vacuum devoid of energy or matter. On the contrary, the chaotic void teems with dispersed elements, far richer than any single plane. The key to understanding the chaotic void lies in the word 'chaotic.'"
She paused, pointed to the barren plane in the sky, then gestured toward the faint, shimmering energy around the space fragments at the junction point. "The four fundamental elements we know—earth, fire, wind, and water—are governed by the laws within a plane, forming stable structures of matter, energy, space, and time."
"However, the chaotic void beyond the planes is utterly chaotic. It's not just filled with scattered and complex matter and energy, but even time and space are in extreme disarray. Time might suddenly speed up or slow down, space could twist and fold at any moment, and the laws themselves are in constant flux."
"Ordinary beings exposed directly to the chaotic void would likely be twisted and torn apart by the chaotic time-space, or even by the chaotic laws themselves, reduced to nothingness." Viola's tone carried a hint of warning. "Only sixth-tier wizards and above can truly roam beyond the planes."
Jieming nodded thoughtfully, already aware of this.
The reason sixth-tier wizards could survive in the chaotic void was because they had mastered the Law Solidification Technique.
This technique could be applied not only to external objects but also to oneself, allowing one to maintain a degree of stability within the chaotic void.
By forcibly stabilizing the laws around them, they could create temporary stable zones, enabling them to briefly linger in the void.
"Even so, sixth-tier wizards dare not expose themselves to the chaotic void for extended periods," Viola continued. "Beyond the distorted laws, time, and space, the chaotic matter and energy constantly erode a wizard's very existence. Even a sixth-tier wizard cannot withstand such relentless attrition indefinitely."
"And what we call 'planes' are actually rare miracles that occasionally emerge within the infinite chaotic void." Viola gestured toward the vast, desolate continent above, her voice tinged with awe.
"When specific elements, exceptionally aligned with natural laws, accidentally accumulate in sufficient quantities, they form the embryonic stage of a plane. Once the total mass of these elemental clusters exceeds a critical threshold, a planar barrier spontaneously forms."
"The so-called planar barrier is essentially the ability to forcibly assimilate and absorb all chaotic elements encountered in the chaotic void into the plane itself. At its core, it's a natural assimilation force formed by the convergence of massive quantities of elements, actively repelling any chaotic matter and energy that doesn't belong to the plane, thus maintaining its stability and development."
Viola's explanation clarified things for Jieming.
"As low-tier wizards, we can't break through either the chaotic void or the planar barrier on our own," Jieming replied instinctively. "But high-rank wizards need us low-rank wizards as cannon fodder and executors. So the only way is to use a 'plane' as a 'ship' to carry us through the void and ram through the target plane's barrier."
"Exactly! You truly are a student favored by Mentor Clark—you're quite clever!" Viola smiled approvingly. "But high-level wizards who need the power of low-tier wizards likely haven't acquired their own planes yet. If they already possessed their own planes, they could simply build their own servant armies and wouldn't need to share the spoils of war with us. That's why the junction point offers plane rentals as its primary service."
Jieming sighed inwardly.
Viola's explanation had cleared up many of his previous doubts.
No wonder sixth-tier wizards, despite their immense power, lived lives of relentless toil.
Whether it was renting a conquest plane capable of traversing the chaotic void and transporting massive armies, or hiring wizards like them for distant expeditions, both required substantial resources and knowledge.
Moreover, even after conquering a target plane, considerable resources were still needed to terraform it, construct wizard towers, and establish energy networks.
Considering this, a wizard like Mentor Clark, who possessed his own wizard tower, was clearly a supreme being at the apex of the wizarding hierarchy.
Mentor Clark's private plane had undoubtedly cost countless resources to establish and maintain.
His wealth and power far exceeded Jieming's imagination.
As Viola continued her explanation, all the wizards in the hall turned their gazes toward the barren plane floating in the sky—the "warship" they were about to board.
At that moment, four figures suddenly descended from the barren plane in the sky.
They hovered in mid-air like four towering mountains, radiating an indescribable aura of overwhelming power.
Three of them were fifth-tier wizards.
Their qi was profound and restrained, their bodies swirling with faint fluctuations of law. Even this natural emanation of power made most of the low-tier wizards below struggle to breathe, filling them with awe.
The remaining figure was the sixth-tier wizard who had initiated this expedition.
He walked at the forefront of the group, his stature not particularly imposing, yet he seemed to be the center of the world.
He emitted no deliberate aura of power, but his mere presence seemed to freeze the surrounding space.
Every subtle movement he made resonated with the laws of heaven and earth, conveying an irresistible, incomprehensible power.
Though Jieming had frequently witnessed his mentor and other high-rank wizards at Noren Academy, encountering fifth-tier and sixth-tier wizards from other factions still made his heart clench.
It was a natural reaction from his body, a primal fear deep within his soul upon encountering an irresistible superior.
Even without the sixth-tier wizard present, the mere presence of the three fifth-tier wizards beside him was enough to make Jieming's body tremble uncontrollably.
He suddenly realized that his frequent interactions with the mentors at Noren Academy had subconsciously led him to mistake their carefully restrained power and energy as the norm.
Accustomed to their gentleness and restraint, he had mistakenly believed that the strength of high-rank wizards was merely this.
It was like casually observing a tiger through thick iron bars at the zoo, feeling unimpressed and even finding it somewhat lazy and clumsy.
But if one were to suddenly encounter a real tiger in the wilderness, unarmed and alone, even if it were less robust than its zoo counterpart, appearing gaunt and bony, the predatory aura it exuded would still send shivers down one's spine and make one's legs tremble.
(End of the Chapter)
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