Translator: AnubisTL
During brief but intense research intervals, Jieming never allowed himself a moment's slack.
On this day, he uploaded his newly completed research report on lava giants, donned his wizard robes, and with a flicker of movement, vanished from the temporary laboratory at the center of the camp.
He didn't rest or seek out other wizards for conversation. Instead, he headed straight for the battlefield where blood and flesh had flown just days prior.
The violent aftershocks of the landing battle had subsided, leaving only an eerie silence in the air.
Yet to a wizard's keen senses, this vast expanse of land was far from tranquil.
In the recent landing battle, wizard cannon fodder, lava giants, and Snow Monsters had clashed in this area, their blood and flesh mingling amidst rampant energy surges. The slaughtered creatures numbered at least a million.
Chaotic energy particles intertwined, forming a massive, swirling vortex of chaotic energy in the wizards' perception.
But Jieming wasn't interested in these phenomena. What he sought were the "concepts" left behind by the brutal conflict.
In Jieming's vision, the area was permeated by the lingering malevolent qi of the battlefield and the stagnant death qi.
Jieming strode lightly across the scorched earth, the air thick with the nauseating stench of blood and the putrid reek of decay.
Beneath his feet lay dried bloodstains, shattered weapons, twisted remains of bioweapons, charred rocks, and frozen corpses. Every inch of this land seemed to have endured countless cycles of tearing and destruction.
After all, besides him, many low-rank wizards were also engaged in "cleanup" operations across the battlefield.
Some wizards, wearing rune gloves, carefully extracted residual energy cores from the charred bodies of lava giants. Others directed golems to sort and stack the battlefield's mangled corpses for recycling. Still others, specializing in soul magic, cautiously collected lingering soul fragments with bizarre containers.
Just as souls and blood essence in the immortal cultivation world could be transformed into spiritual energy, in the wizard world, souls and flesh served as valuable materials for many wizards.
Jieming ignored the bustling figures around him. He murmured a spell, and the Gangsha Gathering Gourd at his waist detached itself.
The gourd, dark and ancient, glowed faintly with runic light. Its mouth slowly opened, forming a nearly invisible vortex.
The malevolent qi and death qi that permeated the air—laden with sorrow, resentment, fury, and the will to destroy—flowed inexorably toward the gourd's mouth, drawn by an unseen force, and were completely absorbed.
On the gourd's surface, the once-dim markings now pulsed with a subtle rhythm, steadily and resolutely drawing in the negative energy.
Jieming made no attempt to conceal his gathering process from others.
After all, his method of collecting "raw materials" was hardly conspicuous on this battlefield, where wizards wielded a myriad of arcane techniques.
Nearby, he even spotted a wizard brandishing a massive black banner!
The banner billowed in the wind, its surface adorned with countless twisted, malevolent ghost patterns. Each design seemed to contain the writhing souls of countless wronged spirits.
As the wizard chanted his spell, the banner snapped and crackled, conjuring bone-chilling gusts of yin wind.
Within a radius of several hundred meters, all stray soul fragments and death qi were swept into the banner, emitting silent wails in a scene both eerie and magnificent.
The intense visual spectacle nearly made Jieming believe he had once again transmigrated to an immortal cultivation world, witnessing the legendary Ten Thousand Souls Banner!
"Truly..." Jieming shook his head inwardly, withdrawing his gaze to focus on absorbing the malevolent qi.
As Jieming immersed himself in the sea of malevolent qi, he encountered several low-rank wizards along the way.
They appeared to be clearing the battlefield's periphery, preparing to seek new hunting targets.
When they saw Jieming, a trace of involuntary respect flickered in their eyes, followed by practiced flattery.
"Ah, isn't this Lord Jieming? Are you also diligently collecting?" A weary-looking first-tier wizard stepped forward, his tone warm and ingratiating. "You're truly dedicated! To personally undertake such tedious work!"
"It's merely adding bricks to the foundation of my own studies," Jieming replied with a gentle smile, his voice calm and composed, like that of an ordinary scholar. "You've all worked hard too. Continue your collection."
"Not at all! Our efforts pale in comparison to yours!" another second-tier wizard immediately chimed in, his tone even more respectful. "If it weren't for the reports you published earlier, my team and I would still be struggling to figure out how to deal with those lava giants! Who would have thought that using high-frequency sound waves and suffocating them would be so effective?"
"Indeed, indeed! Lord Jieming, do you have any new tactical analyses? We're all eagerly awaiting them..."
Jieming skillfully deflected their praise with a perfectly measured smile, a routine he had grown accustomed to.
In recent days, such encounters had become increasingly frequent, and their compliments and gratitude all converged on one point: the analytical reports he had published on the physiological characteristics of lava giants.
However, there was an unexpected twist.
In his reports, Jieming had emphasized what he believed to be the most effective method for quickly killing lava giants: first, subject them to extreme cold to freeze their outer skin, then shatter their weakened bodies with concentrated physical attacks.
This "cold-plus-physical assault" method had been largely ignored by the low-rank wizards.
However, the other two methods detailed in the report were hailed as gospel by low-rank wizards and widely adopted.
These were the techniques for restricting lava giant movement using suffocation-based spells (or elemental suppression based on similar principles), and the later-published method of damaging the lava giant's auditory organs with targeted high-frequency sound waves.
Both methods proved surprisingly effective.
Regarding "suffocation-based spells," Jieming explained in his report that while lava giants were elemental creatures, they still required a form of "breath."
This wasn't traditional oxygen respiration, but rather a process of "heat pumping and elemental conversion" through surface fissures and an internal circulatory system, essential for maintaining the stability of their core furnace.
Therefore, by isolating, suppressing, or directly blocking these "breathing" fissures, wizards could disrupt the lava giant's thermal balance and elemental flow, rendering it rigid or unconscious.
Wizards no longer needed to painstakingly search for weaknesses; a specific spell could "suffocate" this colossal creature, temporarily incapacitating it.
Normally, suffocating an elemental creature would be difficult, but Jieming was astonished to find that wizards had discovered suitable spells almost immediately.
The reason lay with one of the nine ninth-tier wizards of the wizard civilization.
This wizard's true name was unknown. Upon reaching the ninth tier, all personal information became shielded, and even their life story was only known by their codename: "Breath."
This codename stemmed from the law of "breath" that the wizard chose to study during their third-tier advancement.
While most wizards pursued grand and complex laws, this individual focused on the seemingly simple concept of "breath."
However, they later mastered the law of "breath" to an extraordinary degree. By the time they reached the fourth-tier, they could use it to sever a target's energy exchange with the outside world.
Moreover, they generously shared the corresponding witchcraft models, even creating simplified versions that low-rank wizards could construct. This made finding a method to suffocate the lava giant far easier than Jieming had anticipated.
The principle behind the "high-frequency sound wave" was even more ingenious.
In his report, Jieming hypothesized that the lava giant's auditory system was composed of special mineral crystals.
While these crystals could detect seismic waves, their internal structure might be extremely vulnerable to specific high-frequency sound waves, causing resonance and structural collapse.
Based on this hypothesis, combat wizards quickly began experimenting with incorporating specific high-frequency vibrations into high-intensity explosions and sustained wind spells.
The results were remarkable. These high-frequency sound waves could directly penetrate the lava giants' rocky skin, inducing violent internal resonance that disrupted the balanced flow of lava within their bodies. This caused excruciating pain and even temporarily incapacitated them.
The widespread adoption of these methods stemmed not only from their unexpected effectiveness but, more importantly, from their ability to allow wizards to easily capture lava giants without harming them.
This capability was the core reason why these research findings became so popular among low-rank wizards.
News of the battle between the two powerful monster kings (Karamos and Agron) and Master Alvin during the initial landing operation quickly spread among the wizards.
Faced with the Flamefrost Plane's immense combat potential, the wizards naturally recognized the immense value of its indigenous inhabitants.
For low-rank wizards, the greatest immediate reward from the Flamefrost Plane wasn't the readily visible resources, but the two indigenous races themselves!
For low-rank wizards, a living lava giant or Snow Monster was akin to a walking treasure trove.
Whether captured and enslaved, used as experimental subjects for various spells, or transformed into bioweapons, golems, or even wizard's servants, their value was immeasurable.
A living lava giant could provide alchemists with the purest samples of lava plasma, offer biological wizards unique bodily structures for research, and even be directly used to create more powerful biological weapons.
Low-rank wizards could even sell them to major wizard factions, earning astonishing military merit and resources in return.
However, before Jieming's breakthroughs, the lava giants' formidable strength made them exceedingly difficult for low-rank wizards to capture successfully.
Killing them was easy, but capturing them intact while preserving their abilities during the process was a challenge of an entirely different magnitude.
Jieming's accidental research findings had opened Pandora's Box for these low-rank wizards, allowing them to capture lava giants with minimal cost, risk, and maximum efficiency.
In a remarkably short time, Jieming's name had spread far and wide throughout the camp, earning him the esteemed title of "Master Biologist."
Of course, Jieming knew that his sudden fame was largely due to the simplicity of his research topic.
While the lava giant's physiology was unique, it remained a relatively elementary area of study compared to the plane's fundamental laws and more complex biological forms.
He was aware that the camp had already attracted numerous logistics wizards from the Noren Workshop, the Tower of Annihilation, and even the Chaos Secret Sect—individuals of higher tiers and greater experience.
Among them were masters with a far deeper understanding of biology and plane laws.
Once these experts completed their more advanced research projects, they would undoubtedly uncover more effective and precise strategies for dealing with the plane's indigenous inhabitants.
At that point, his own "minor achievements" would quickly be swept away by the tide of history.
But none of this concerned him at the moment.
Regardless, Jieming found the feeling of assisting fellow wizards and earning their recognition rather pleasant.
(End of the Chapter)
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