Translator: AnubisTL
As his words faded, the surrounding space seemed to ripple.
One figure, then two, then three...
A steady stream of people began to emerge from stealth, each revealing themselves in a different way. Some stepped out from distorted light, others rose from the shadows on the ground, some simply dispelled their illusion magic, and a few cautiously approached from the distance.
These were the final survivors of this brutal battle royale, aside from Jieming and the two fifth-tier wizards who had just been eliminated.
They had remained hidden, witnessing the earth-shattering battle from the sidelines.
Jieming swept his gaze across the area. The figures that had materialized like ghosts numbered exactly thirteen.
Among them were six fourth-tier wizards and seven third-tier wizards.
They had formed a loose circle, their positions seemingly random yet strategically blocking most possible escape routes. Their auras were faintly connected, a clear sign of a temporary alliance.
So, they've allied? Jieming thought, unsurprised.
Wizards were a class that relied on intelligence and knowledge for survival. Choosing to join forces when faced with a powerful enemy they couldn't defeat alone was a testament to their rationality and wisdom.
And Jieming's ability to detect their presence didn't come from any detection spell.
After all, under the spatial blockade and the interference of the energy turbulence, such methods were severely hampered. Besides, Jieming himself was in poor condition and lacked the strength to even pay attention to his surroundings.
The reason he could detect his enemies was based on a simple fact: Helios and Morpheus had already admitted defeat and retreated, yet the [Spatial Anchoring Force Field] blanketing this area remained as stable as ever.
This could only mean one thing: the person maintaining the force field was still here, or rather, there was still enough power to sustain it.
His gaze finally landed on the figure standing at the very front of the alliance, his expression a complex mix of conflict and resolute battle intent—Rex.
A knowing smile touched Jieming's lips as he spoke, "Rex, if I'm not mistaken, you're the one who brought them all together, aren't you?"
Rex nodded, admitting it candidly. "It was me. Jieming, after interacting with you on the 'Justice' plane, I knew very well that none of us here are your match one-on-one."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over his allies. "Especially after witnessing firsthand how you 'dealt' with those fifth-tier seniors, I realized that uniting was our only chance to stand against you, or even... find a sliver of hope for victory."
Hearing this, Jieming's curiosity was piqued. "In that case, the optimal strategy would have been to launch a lightning strike while I was locked in fierce combat with those two seniors, or right after I'd finished—when I would be at my most vulnerable. Why wait until now, giving me a chance to catch my breath?"
A helpless yet determined smile touched Rex's face. "Because I gave them two reasons to follow me. First, I could lead them to defeat the most formidable enemies—you and the other fifth-tier wizards. Fortunately, you've already dealt with most of them. Second..."
He took a deep breath, his eyes burning with intensity as he looked at Jieming. "I voluntarily forfeit my right to the final victory in this competition. My goal isn't the 'Substitute Death Puppet'—I want a real fight with you! I want to know exactly how wide the gap between us truly is!"
"Me?" Jieming pointed to himself. "Are you sure you want this now?"
Jieming's current state was somewhat disheveled—his breathing was ragged, the Great Light Phase's radiance had dimmed, and the Black Giant Legion within his internal space was nearly depleted.
"Yes, your current state is perfect! This is my only chance to force you to reveal more of your abilities and gauge the gap between us!"
Jieming's expression cleared, a flicker of admiration crossing his eyes.
To abandon a precious reward within easy reach just to seek knowledge and a measure of strength—this was very much the wizard's way.
He glanced around at the dozen or so wizards standing ready, then suddenly smiled, his tone carrying a strange lightness. "So, these are the last of the people on the field, right?"
Seeing that smile, Rex's heart leaped, and a powerful sense of foreboding washed over him like ice water.
Jieming sighed softly, as if lamenting something. "If you were scattered across a vast battlefield, I would indeed be powerless in my current state and would have to admit defeat."
"Or, if you had all launched an all-out assault the moment you met, I probably wouldn't have lasted much longer. But fortunately... you didn't."
"What?!" Rex's expression changed drastically. Though he didn't understand what trump card Jieming still held, his combat instincts told him to immediately shout the order for a full-scale attack!
However, the very instant he exhaled, an extremely strange, unprecedented sense of suffocation violently seized his throat and chest!
It was the kind of suffocation an ordinary person would feel if suddenly thrown into a vacuum.
But Rex couldn't understand it. Wizards were not ordinary humans. Especially at the level of a Formal Wizard, their heavily modified bodies would be completely fine even if thrown into a real vacuum.
So he quickly realized that what he was feeling was not physical oxygen deprivation. The air around him still existed.
It was a deeper, more profound kind of "suffocation"—as if the very foundation of his existence was being shaken!
He instinctively tried to condense his most proficient Explosion Formula, extending his mental power to capture and guide the surrounding fire elements.
But something bizarre happened. His mental power clearly sensed "something," yet it couldn't manipulate them as freely as before. Those "things" were extremely inert, ignoring his mental commands and even transmitting a faint sense of rejection.
After struggling to gather enough elements to barely construct an unstable formula model, it instantaneously collapsed upon activation due to its extreme incompatibility with the surrounding environment. The resulting mental backlash left him dizzy.
"What's happening?!"
"My wizardry is failing!"
"The elements... the elements won't obey!"
A wave of panicked mental fluctuations and low exclamations immediately erupted all around.
The other wizards were facing the same situation. A few with exceptionally powerful mental strength, or those who relied on their fleshly bodies or special bloodlines, managed to launch a few attacks.
But their power was drastically reduced, their trajectories skewed, and they were easily blocked by Jieming.
An inexplicable "suffocation," an invisible barrier, the large-scale failure of wizardry...
Rex fought through the soul-deep discomfort, frantically scanning his surroundings with every detection spell in his arsenal—no energy fluctuations, no force field interference, no known curses or domain effects...
Every reading came back "normal," yet their spellcasting abilities were crippled!
It felt as if they had been plunged into a foreign plane with alien laws, possessing a reservoir of power they simply couldn't tap into.
Nothing exists... that can exert a real influence... that can interfere with elemental response... Rex's mind raced, systematically eliminating every possibility.
Suddenly, a concept he had only read about in ancient texts flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning.
He snapped his head up, staring in disbelief and horror at Jieming, who was strolling toward him with leisurely ease. His voice came out as a dry, strangled rasp:
"The... Imaginary Element?! Your Law... The Law you wield... is it the Imaginary Element?!"
Jieming stopped before Rex, who was half-kneeling on the ground, struggling against the suffocating pressure.
He nodded calmly. "Yes, you could say that."
"Imaginary Element..." Rex repeated the words, his face a mask of utter bitterness and resignation.
Seeing his expression, Jieming shook his head.
What Jieming had just done was not to cast some powerful offensive wizardry, but to invoke the "Spiritual Qi Law" he controlled!
While his overall mastery of the Spiritual Qi Law was indeed not very high, he was proficient in one of its key techniques—Element-Spiritual Energy Conversion!
In the brief interval of his conversation with Rex, Jieming had already silently activated this ability.
Centering on himself, he had converted the various basic elemental particles in the surrounding space—the very elements wizards relied upon to cast spells—into another form of energy: Spiritual Qi!
This sounded like a mere conversion of energy forms, lacking any direct lethal power.
But just as when oxygen first appeared in Earth's atmosphere in the remote antiquity, it was no different from a catastrophic, poisonous disaster for the anaerobic organisms of that time!
Both elements and Spiritual Qi were fundamental building blocks of the world.
But for wizardly spell models and spiritual guidance modes built entirely upon the elemental system, being suddenly thrust into an environment filled with the "alien" fundamental particles of "Spiritual Qi" was catastrophic.
Their mental commands could not effectively guide the spiritual energy; their spell models could not operate stably in a spiritual energy environment; the very "rules" they relied on for survival had been temporarily overwritten or distorted!
This was why Rex and his companions felt "suffocated"—it was their souls and cognitive frameworks rejecting and struggling to adapt to the unfamiliar fundamental rules.
This was why their wizardry failed—because the "bricks" (elements) used to construct it had been temporarily replaced with incompatible "wood" (spiritual energy)!
This was why no anomalies could be detected—because spiritual energy itself was not a curse or a force field; it was simply an "objective existence." The conventional detection methods of this plane were based on the elemental system, and thus naturally unable to identify or comprehend it!
Under the influence of the plane's laws, the forcibly converted spiritual energy was being rapidly corrected by the plane itself, reverting to its original elemental form.
But this required time, and in a battle, this brief window was already enough.
Rex looked at Jieming standing before him, feeling the "otherworld" environment gradually begin to recede, yet still leaving him utterly powerless.
Finally, all his battle intent and resentment dissolved into a long sigh. He lowered his head:
"I lost."
"We surrender."
With Rex's surrender, the other wizards also gave up their resistance and declared their withdrawal.
A few who were still unwilling to accept defeat tried to charge forward, relying on their physical bodies or special artifacts, but Jieming easily subdued them with martial techniques far beyond mortal skill, forcing them to retreat in resentment.
One after another, flashes of teleportation light lit up, transporting the surrendering wizards away from the battlefield.
In the blink of an eye, only Jieming remained on this ravaged, scorched earth.
He felt the spiritual energy swirling around him, which was being rapidly "purified" by the plane, and a smile of relief and a hint of smugness finally appeared on his face.
"I won."
With a flash, he too was enveloped by the teleportation power and vanished from the dueling arena.
(End of the Chapter)
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