Translator: AnubisTL
Jieming mentally simulated the scenario and arrived at the same conclusion as Levin Mills: "This will exponentially increase the search area, and we can't maintain our previous formation."
"Therefore, I've decided to divide the wizards into two teams," Levin Mills announced his plan.
"The wider, taller region above will be searched by our team, whose members have better coordination."
"The narrower region below will be searched by youโthe recruited wizards."
Jieming and the others had no objections to this arrangement.
While it was clear that the wider region held greater potential for resource acquisition, they understood their limitations. Firstly, their individual strength was limited to self-defense, with virtually no collaborative combat skills. Secondly, as recruits, their primary mission was to locate the "lost wizard," not to hunt for treasure.
Given their capabilities, it was better for most of them to cooperate and support each other rather than scatter. By focusing on the narrower region, they might actually search faster and potentially acquire more resources.
Thus, Levin Mills' proposal was adopted without opposition, settling the matter without a ripple.
The next day, the two teams of wizards split up and advanced according to the agreed-upon plan.
Jieming, being the strongest among the recruited wizards, was elected as the temporary captain.
Leading the remaining ten recruited wizards, he explored the lower part of the space, following the designated route.
This space beneath the distorted region turned out to be much smaller than they had imagined, compared to the vast, desolate area they had previously traversed.
After careful exploration, they determined that the space was likely only a dozen kilometers wide.
The wizards decided to abandon their scattered formation and regroup into a combat formation, advancing together to provide mutual support.
As soon as Jieming entered this area, he immediately sensed a difference.
Perhaps due to the unique inverted trapezoidal shape of the space, a large amount of matter had accumulated at the bottom.
The cloud mist beneath their feet, previously ethereal and unstable, had finally taken on a slightly more substantial form.
Although this soft "ground" offered little practical use to the wizards, who could fly freely, it at least provided a solid footing during rest.
After searching the precinct for several more days, Jieming noticed that the area they were searching was steadily shrinking.
The width of the entire space had narrowed from its initial ten-plus kilometers to just a few kilometers.
As the space continued to contract, the density of the originally pure white earth beneath their feet increased dramatically, and various other colors began to appear.
This meant that the material density in the region had become extremely concentrated, to the point where there was even "spare" matter available to create pigments capable of reflecting specific wavelengths of light.
Naturally, the biological and mineral resources in the area also became increasingly abundant.
The number of biological communities they encountered along the road also increased, and their strength gradually grew as well.
However, this was precisely where the benefits of the recruited wizards working together became apparent.
The collective combat power of a wizard squad far surpassed what a single wizard could achieve alone.
Even when encountering particularly challenging creatures, knowledgeable wizards quickly identified their weaknesses and devised countermeasures.
The only downside was that as materialized material resources became more abundant, the quantity of pure energy-based resources dwindled significantly.
Jieming theorized that the high-value energy resources in this precinct were primarily concentrated in the upper atmosphere, where material resources were scarce.
Therefore, Jack and Levin Mills' team should be harvesting larger quantities of these resources.
However, according to Jack's reports, the area they were searching had also undergone changes.
In contrast to Jieming's team, the area Jack's team needed to inspect expanded exponentially as they ventured deeper.
To conduct more thorough searches, Levin Mills' party had to drastically slow their forward progress.
Unwittingly, the aerial search team and the rapidly advancing ground team began to diverge in speed, creating a significant gap between them.
When Jieming noticed this discrepancy, a faint sense of unease stirred within him.
Jieming had no reason to voice his unease. Through the mosquito swarm network, he observed that Jack and the others were indeed working diligently, so he kept his concerns to himself.
That day, Jieming's wizard squad was astonished to discover that the spatial dimensions of the area they were exploring were rapidly shrinking as they advanced.
Soon, they found themselves in a space flanked by solid cliffs of mist, a narrow and deep canyon-like formation.
Conversely, the vertical height of this space seemed to stretch endlessly upward, rising at an alarming rate.
Before long, it exceeded Jieming's maximum sensory range.
The wizards grew cautious, deploying all their controlled glowbugs to meticulously search the surrounding area.
Yet they made a bizarre discovery: despite the area's seemingly ideal conditions for life, they found no trace of any living creatures.
Unable to resist, Jieming activated his Universal Eye, risking soul damage to scrutinize the vicinity for ambushes.
But the results remained consistent with previous reconnaissance efforts: there were no signs of any threats.
After drinking a bottle of soul-healing magic potion, Jieming turned to the others. "What do you think we should do?"
The group exchanged glances. Once they confirmed the area was indeed safe, they decided to press onward.
They journeyed through the seemingly endless canyon for an unknown duration when Jieming suddenly sensed that some of the scouting glowbugs flying ahead had entered an exceptionally vast region!
Even with his current mental power, he couldn't push the glowbugs to explore the boundaries of this area, no matter how hard he tried.
More importantly...
"Strange... it feels like something's blocking us. Could it be the spatial barrier of this distorted space?" Jieming murmured, puzzled.
The other wizards, sharing his perception, shook their heads in equal confusion.
Without further hesitation, the group hurried toward the direction indicated by the glowbugs.
When they reached the massive space discovered by the glowbugs, everyone was awestruck by the sight before them.
Having left the narrow, mist-shrouded canyon, they now stood on a vast, barren white earth, as flat and reflective as a mirror, stretching endlessly in every direction.
At the extreme edges of the vast earth, towering walls of dense white mist rose vertically, as if cleaved by a colossal axe.
These mist formations resembled majestic mountain ranges, forming two colossal walls that seemed to connect heaven and earth.
Everyone prepared for battle and continued advancing toward the region where the scouting glowbugs had been unable to penetrate.
After a long time, they finally approached the edge of that area.
When their vision pierced through the layers of white mist and the scene before them became clear, everyone froze in astonishment.
Behind the impenetrable "spatial barrier" sat a wizard, his body covered in wounds and his appearance utterly disheveled. He sat there weakly.
Jieming couldn't make out the wizard's blood-stained face, but he could still sense the faint aura emanating from him.
Feeling that abyss-like, boundless qi, Jieming couldn't help but swallow hard.
According to his perception, the wizard before them... was actually a fourth-tier wizard!
Jieming and his group's arrival also startled the wizard who was healing his injuries.
Or rather, the glowbugs had already alerted him.
Seeing the hostile glint in the wizard's sharp eyes, Jieming was about to step forward and greet him, explaining their purpose.
Then, the wizard suddenly raised his hand toward them all!
"Careful!"
"Evade!"
The clamorous shouts of his companions rang out.
Witnessing the wizard's blatantly aggressive gesture, the other wizards reacted swiftly, either raising defensive shields or casting spells to conceal themselves.
Despite the vast disparity in power between the two sides, everyone instinctively prepared to resist or evade the fourth-tier wizard's impending attack.
Only Jieming, after a moment of stunned hesitation, his pupils contracting sharply, decisively activated his "Acceleration"!
Using the transcendent reaction speed granted by "Acceleration," he whirled around with lightning speed!
Facing the empty direction from which he had come, he deployed a massive shield!
Boom!
With a deafening roar, Jieming had barely turned and raised his shield when a barrage of diverse attacks came hurtling from the direction he had come.
Fortunately, his reflexes were swift, and all the attacks struck the newly deployed shield!
Simultaneously, the terrifying attack from the fourth-tier wizard behind him descended silently.
But its target wasn't Jieming and his group.
Instead, it was aimed at Jack and his party, who had launched the initial assault on Jieming's group and had somehow arrived at this location unnoticed!
As the fourth-tier wizard clenched his fist, vast swathes of space began to distort wildly!
By observing the shifting patterns of the surrounding white mist, Jieming could clearly see the massive space distortion engulfing the entire sky!
Yet this attack, capable of instantly annihilating a third-tier wizard, missed its mark!
Levin Mills and his group had anticipated this move. The moment the fourth-tier wizard's attack landed, they had already retreated in perfect unison, precisely avoiding the area of space distortion.
Jieming slowly rose from the aftermath of the explosion.
His gaze pierced through the distorted space, locking onto Jack's icy expression high above.
(End of the Chapter)
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