Translator: AnubisTL
Let's rewind time a bit. Master Alvin transformed into a streak of light, retreating in disarray back to the "Ship" Plane.
His robes were charred, and his qi was unstable, clearly indicating he had suffered significant injuries.
Standing on the desolate earth, Jieming watched this scene, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
He turned to Viola beside him and remarked, "As expected of a seasoned wizard. His acting is superb—it looks like he barely managed to escape."
Viola's eyes also lit up with amusement. "This is standard practice in planar wars: lure the enemy deep, deplete their strength, and stretch their lines. Every shift between offense and defense is meticulously calculated by high-rank wizards."
In truth, given the wizards' capabilities, they had quickly analyzed the situation after encountering the Flamefrost Plane's indigenous peoples' fierce resistance.
The most glaring clue was that while both races had launched simultaneous attacks against the wizards, their attack patterns and territories were distinctly separate, and they occasionally even interfered with or accidentally harmed each other.
This revealed a crucial and brutal truth: the lava giants and Snow Monsters were likely long-standing enemies, perhaps even sworn rivals locked in an eternal feud.
They had joined forces only because of the common threat posed by the invaders.
"To conquer this entire plane, we must simultaneously anticipate the strategies of both monster kings while accounting for their subtle and complex rivalry," Jieming said, stroking his chin as he analyzed the situation. "The best approach is to emulate Master Alvin's strategy: demonstrate strength surpassing that of a single monster king, yet remain slightly weaker than their combined might."
"Master Alvin's apparent defeat in his duel against the two kings was actually a brilliant maneuver," Viola agreed. "He successfully stalled the two sixth-tier powerhouses for hours, forcing them to expend their resources and retreat."
"This tactic achieves several objectives," Jieming continued. "The indigenous forces see a glimmer of hope for defeating the wizards, yet remain wary of our strength, preventing them from launching a reckless all-out assault. They will regroup after resting, but won't risk committing all their forces, buying us wizards ample time."
"More importantly, the deep-seated animosity between the two races will be our greatest asset. They cannot truly cooperate; every attack, every reinforcement, will be delayed by mutual suspicion."
"This strategy allows the wizards ample time to continuously weaken the plane's core, ultimately seizing complete control."
It was a calculated move, a strategic gambit that even the indigenous sixth-tier powerhouses, upon seeing through it, would struggle to fully counter.
As Jieming and Viola marveled at the high-rank wizards' far-reaching plans and the intricate art of planar warfare, their magic net terminals simultaneously vibrated, displaying an urgent, pinned message broadcast to all users.
The message was stark and unadorned, a single line of cold text:
Important Notice: Commander Master Alvin did not retreat intentionally. He was genuinely outmatched by the combined assault of two sixth-tier indigenous powerhouses. All wizards are urged to remain vigilant and exercise caution.
Upon reading this message, every wizard present, including Jieming and Viola, paused in momentary surprise.
Then, in an instant, their eyes lit up!
The message's sender was none other than Master Alvin himself, one of the commanders leading the invasion.
His purpose was to sound the alarm among the wizards, reminding them that the indigenous forces of this plane were indeed stronger than average.
The wizards' eyes gleamed not from fear, but from the realization that this crisis presented even greater opportunities.
The development of all things follows inherent laws. For a plane to give rise to two such powerful races, it couldn't have happened by chance.
This meant the plane's resources must be exceptionally abundant!
Two sixth-tier powerhouses capable of challenging fifth-tier wizards implied the plane possessed the resources to support their advancement—likely containing rare elements, fragments of laws, and even undiscovered veins of mystical minerals!
To wizards, formidable enemies often concealed even greater treasures behind them.
With their battle strategy and the plane's value now clear, the wizards' efficiency reached its peak.
Under their combined efforts, the camp was rapidly established.
Defense walls constructed by alchemical golems and wizards rose swiftly from the ground. Energy cores were buried deep beneath the earth, and the glow of runic arrays circulated around the camp, forming visible protective barriers.
Although sporadic skirmishes continued at the frontline—indigenous counterattacks and wizards consolidating their positions—the scale of the conflict had significantly diminished.
It was clear both sides were waiting for the opportune moment.
The logistics wizards seized this precious opportunity to immediately resume their standard operational procedures.
Unlike his experiences on the Elosia Plane, where Jieming had been abruptly thrown into battle without any proper training in logistics work, formal logistics wizards rarely engage directly in combat during the early stages of a planar war.
Instead, their primary role during this phase is to analyze elemental data from the plane, as well as the diverse resources and intelligence brought back from the frontline.
Each newly invaded plane represents an unimaginable treasure trove for the wizard civilization, brimming with vast reserves of unknown resources and information.
In just a few short days, as frontline troops cleared the areas around the landing points and reconnaissance wizards brought back samples through spatial rifts, Jieming himself had already analyzed several unique resources.
One such resource was a peculiar plant from the Blazing Sun Realm, named blazing light grass. Resembling a flickering flame, it grew in the crevices of volcanic rock.
Though the plant itself was relatively fragile, roughly comparable to ordinary grass, it possessed an astonishing resistance to fire and extreme heat.
Jieming, using his Universal Eye to analyze its internal structure in detail, discovered that the plant's cell walls spontaneously condensed fire elements, forming an ultra-microscopic barrier.
Through a series of tests, he found that, disregarding physical shockwaves or spatial tears, this plant could withstand a third-tier wizard's fire attacks without sustaining any damage!
This defensive property was simply unbelievable.
Due to the limited time, Jieming hadn't yet fully researched how to refine it into a magic potion that could permanently integrate into a wizard's body for lasting defense.
However, using special methods, he had successfully created a thin film from the plant as a raw material.
By covering oneself with this blazing light grass film, one could achieve a similar defensive effect for a short period.
For wizards who needed to engage in close-quarters combat or for disposable bioweapons, this was undoubtedly an extraordinary passive defense material.
Another unique mineral came from the Frostdark Realm.
This mineral, named iceburst crystal, appeared as an ordinary transparent crystal with no apparent reaction under normal conditions.
However, after Jieming analyzed it, he discovered that exposing it to high-heat environments—especially lava or extremely hot flames—would violently disrupt its internal ice element structure, causing an instantaneous explosion of unimaginable destructive force!
This destructive force, born from the extreme collision and backlash of elements, was even capable of leveling a small mountain.
This meant it was both an extremely dangerous material and a potentially devastating weapon.
Shortly after Jieming discovered the crystal's properties, a group of wizards from the Tower of Annihilation approached him.
After paying a portion of their knowledge, the wizards gleefully departed the camp, heading deeper into the Frostdark Realm.
Watching the wizards' jubilant retreating figures, Jieming found himself at a loss for words.
"You'll get used to it," Viola said, materializing beside him. "The wizards of the Tower of Annihilation specialize in annihilation-type spells. Iceburst crystals are practically their natural spellcasting material."
Jieming looked puzzled. "Isn't it research material?"
Viola threw her hands up in exasperation. "You've been in the Noren Workshop's Logistics Department for too long. You think all wizards outside are like that?"
"Huh?"
Viola sighed and explained patiently, "It's not that they won't research it, but the Tower of Annihilation has very few logistics wizards skilled in research. Materials like iceburst crystals, while decent, aren't high-priority research targets... Before any in-depth study, they'll likely just be used directly as spellcasting materials."
"Wait, why?" Jieming asked, startled.
Viola shook her head. "I told you, you've been in the Noren Workshop too long. Being a logistics wizard isn't easy.
"With the ever-expanding body of knowledge, many struggle just to learn it all. Asking them to research the underlying principles and advance further is practically impossible. Remember, the Noren Workshop is named after a workshop, yet even there, logistics wizards make up only about 2% of the total."
"The disparity between the Logistics Department and the Combat Department is even more pronounced in other wizard factions. From what I know, the ratio in the Tower of Annihilation drops to as low as 1%, while in the Chaos Secret Sect, nearly all wizards—except for a few founding members and their successors—belong to the Combat Department."
Seeing Jieming finally grasp the point, Viola shook her head and gestured toward the research area of the camp with a disdainful curl of her lip.
"Just look at the number of people here."
Jieming instinctively glanced at the somewhat sparsely populated research area.
He hadn't paid much attention to this before. To him, while the area seemed spacious enough, it was still more compact than his own laboratory.
Moreover, the lack of experimental equipment had been a major hindrance. Without the Universal Eye, his research progress would have been far slower.
But now Jieming realized that the spaciousness wasn't just to provide ample space for each logistics wizard; it was also because there were so few of them.
(End of the Chapter)
---------------------------------------------------------
Continue Reading (WIZARD) on CinderTL• ⓒⓞⓜ
Read Ahead to Ch282 • Free Chapters • No Login
---------------------------------------------------------