Translator: AnubisTL
Jieming didn't act rashly.
The power of alchemy silently activated beneath his feet. The scorching ground split open without a sound under the invisible force, the gravel and scorched earth parting like flowing water.
In the blink of an eye, a narrow tunnel just large enough for him to fit was dug.
He darted inside and used alchemy to seal the entrance, completely concealing himself.
While hiding, Jieming subtly twisted his left wrist. A fourth-tier defensive rune-imbued magical artifact on his wrist emitted a faint glow.
After a brief delay, an almost transparent elemental shield silently enveloped his body.
This shield wasn't merely defensive; its surface runes also subtly isolated his qi and energy fluctuations, making him perfectly undetectable in this scorching underground space.
Based on the information he had extracted from the soul of a second-tier lava giant, Jieming had a clear understanding of the lava giant settlement's troop distribution.
A dozen or so second-tier lava giants guarded the inner circle, protecting the core stronghold at the center.
Thousands of first-tier lava giants were densely distributed around the perimeter, either patrolling or hauling rocks, busily maintaining the stronghold.
"A dozen second-tier giants, thousands of first-tier ones, and the strongest chief has reached the peak of the second-tier... Given the lava giants' combat power, even I would sustain some injuries in a frontal confrontation," Jieming mused from the narrow burrow he had dug.
"However, since I have the element of surprise and am fully prepared, there shouldn't be any major problems."
But this wasn't his primary objective.
His main goal was to collect Mortal Dust Qi.
With this in mind, Jieming no longer felt rushed. He remained tucked away in his burrow, adjusting his breathing to meditate and draw the fire element from the surrounding space. He calmly and leisurely contemplated his next course of action.
His thoughts naturally drifted to the lava giants he had captured and was about to "soul-search," and—if he were to use their Mortal Dust Qi to create a magic potion, what would that feel like?
The defining characteristic of the Red Dust Magic Potion is its ability to allow the user to personally experience the lived experiences of those who produce Mortal Dust Qi.
In the past, the Mortal Dust Qi Jieming used had mostly come from ordinary humans or humanoids on the Elosia Plane. These groups shared similar physical structures and social compositions, so the experiential differences were relatively minor, mostly emotional in nature.
But now, if the target were an elemental creature like a lava giant, composed of rock and lava, the unknown factors in the experience would increase exponentially.
"Could it be that I'll have to create an 'Exotic Flavor' Red Dust Magic Potion?" Jieming couldn't help but laugh.
He imagined what it would be like to truly experience the primal, fiery emotions of a lava giant, or to perceive their affinity for lava and their aversion to ice and snow.
"If that's the case, these potions might surprisingly effective for mental training."
He wasn't worried about the potion's effects being so potent that they would expose flaws when circulated within the wizard civilization.
Jieming had chosen the Red Dust Magic Potion as his primary product after careful consideration.
It wasn't just because the Red Dust Magic Potion's effects were easily marketable.
More importantly, the potion's inherent nature easily led other wizards to associate it with faith power.
In Jieming's view, faith power was closer to the "Incense Power" of the immortal cultivation world—a potent spiritual energy formed by the collective thoughts of countless mortals.
The Mortal Dust Qi he now collected was likely seen by other wizards as "impurities" of faith power. While faith power was pure and focused, Mortal Dust Qi was chaotic and disordered. Yet, undeniably, both showed striking similarities in their observable effects.
Coincidentally, after arriving on the Elosia Plane, one of Jieming's primary research interests had been the "Divine Power Faith Network."
He had also extensively studied the nature and classification of faith power.
Therefore, when he presented the Red Dust Magic Potion, many wizards perceived it as a byproduct of his research into the "Divine Power Faith Network" or a product stemming from the study of some related phenomenon.
Wizards are highly intelligent. They excel at piecing together complex patterns from the smallest clues and constructing logical explanations in their minds.
Jieming was precisely exploiting this trait.
He didn't need to fabricate a flawless alibi or deliberately explain the source of the magic potion's ingredients.
As long as he didn't directly reveal the Mortal Dust Qi, the other wizards would naturally rationalize the Red Dust Magic Potion based on his established knowledge and research direction. They would conclude it was an accidental byproduct of some in-depth study he was pursuing.
This was precisely why Jieming wasn't worried about Mentor Clark or other high-rank wizards discovering anything amiss with the potion he had created using the lava giant's Mortal Dust Qi.
However, just as he was enthusiastically lost in thought, he suddenly noticed something extremely bizarre:
He hadn't collected a single trace of Mortal Dust Qi from the lava giant!
Jieming's consciousness immediately sank into his dantian, where he meticulously examined the talisman seal responsible for collecting Mortal Dust Qi.
The talisman seal was still slowly and sporadically gathering minute amounts of Mortal Dust Qi.
Unfortunately, Jieming's analysis revealed that the detected energy clearly originated from wizards, not the thousands of lava giants before him!
"What's going on?! Could the talisman seal be malfunctioning?" Jieming couldn't help but frown, confusion clouding his eyes.
He re-examined the surrounding lava giants. Their roars, their labor, their collisions—all indicated intelligence and emotion, which should have generated Mortal Dust Qi!
Jieming recalled the emotional fluctuations he'd witnessed among wizards fighting over spoils on the battlefield.
That Mortal Dust Qi had been so thin and precious, yet undeniably real.
These lava giants, both in number and circumstances, should have produced enough Mortal Dust Qi to be captured by his talisman seal!
"Because they're an alien race... No!" Jieming shook his head decisively mid-thought.
The nature of conceptual material was that as long as the basic conditions were met, it could be obtained.
Without a doubt, the fundamental conditions for collecting Mortal Dust Qi had nothing to do with race. The Great Dao Library Pavilion even contained specific records of Demon Clan settlements that could gather this energy.
Could it be that for the lava giants' biological system, this underground outpost doesn't yet qualify as a true 'society'? Jieming pondered.
This was a plausible explanation, as all the other conditions seemed to be met.
Yet Jieming remained uncertain.
The only way forward was to investigate a larger lava giant settlement!
If they couldn't collect Mortal Dust Qi there either, he would have to re-examine the situation here.
As for how to find a larger lava giant settlement...
Based on the lava giants' ecological intelligence, that chief must know the coordinates of a larger settlement.
With this thought, Jieming no longer concealed himself.
He even actively released his energy fluctuations and moved, emerging from his underground cover.
His appearance instantly shattered the underground cavern's tranquility.
"Invader detected!!" a patrolling lava giant roared deafeningly.
Jieming gave them no time to react, immediately activating his slaughter mode.
With a thought, the six fully reinforced and modified autonomous floating cannons behind him unfurled instantly, forming a circular array behind him.
Simultaneously, over a hundred small, shimmering, crystal-like rune-imbued magical artifacts materialized around his body.
These pre-prepared artifacts formed a slightly smaller-scale "Great Light Phase" combat formation around his body!
"Kill!" Jieming roared.
The Great Light Phase array, composed of over a hundred small rune-imbued magical artifacts, unleashed a dense barrage of energy missiles. Like celestial flowers scattering petals, they instantly blanketed the surrounding area's first-tier lava giants.
Meanwhile, the six autonomous floating cannons, under the control of the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror, began unleashing their own barrage. Precise energy beams lanced out, striking the second-tier lava giants attempting to organize a counterattack.
The lava giants roared and charged forward, their bodies toughened by the extreme heat, their surfaces flowing with viscous lava that had nearly liquefied.
Their affinity with the fire element had reached its peak. The lava bombs they spewed were even hotter, and their earth spikes were more formidable.
Jieming's fourth-tier shield remained active, but he made no defensive moves, pouring all his energy into the offensive rune-imbued magical artifact behind him.
In his haste to verify its capabilities, Jieming didn't bother capturing live specimens. Runes flared one after another, their terrifying destructive power instantly blasting away the first group of gathered lava giants.
"High-Frequency Sonic Suppression!"
Seizing the momentary opening, Jieming unleashed his high-frequency sonic spell.
Though these lava giants were in a strengthened state, the sonic waves still caused discomfort within their crystalline structures, temporarily stiffening their movements.
"Tsk! I've been too busy with my research to replace most of my rune-imbued magical artifacts with more targeted destructive spells!"
Feeling the effects of the rune-imbued magical artifact behind him, Jieming couldn't help but frown.
The Great Light Phase's destructive power was indeed formidable, but its drawback was that it was too overwhelming.
Once activated, everything in its path was obliterated, leaving no spoils behind.
Yet crafting new rune-imbued magical artifacts wasn't as simple as modifying the core runes; each required considerable effort from Jieming.
"Never mind. Now's not the time to dwell on that."
Focusing his mind, Jieming aimed the Great Light Phase at the second group of barely gathered lava giants.
(End of the Chapter)
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