Translator: AnubisTL
In the days that followed, the grand hall seemed to return to its usual atmosphere of research and exchange.
High-rank wizards continued to discuss profound laws, while low-tier disciples delved into their own studies or held small-scale sparring matches.
But for Jieming, things had changed completely.
Ever since he had displayed his "Imaginary Element" ability during the competition, he had become a minor but significant focal point within the hall.
A constant stream of people came to exchange wizardry and discuss alchemy insights with him. Among them was a group with a more specific purpose—to buy the "Imaginary Element" he created for their research.
Exchanging ideas was acceptable, even mutually inspiring.
But this constant buying for research... was giving Jieming a headache.
The main problem was that some people were buying it too frequently.
Jieming looked at Rex, who was standing before him once again, and couldn't help but rub his brow and sigh. "Rex, it hasn't even been an hour, has it? You've already used up the last batch?"
Rex's face showed a mix of frustration from his stalled experiment and a hint of helplessness. He pointed to the specially made crystal container in his hand, which was already empty.
"The nature of your 'Imaginary Element' is too unique. Once it leaves the sealed environment you've reinforced, its duration becomes terrifyingly short under the continuous correction of the plane law! I just guided it into the observation rune array, but before I could even record its basic wave spectrum, it had already begun to dissipate and shift in nature!"
Jieming looked at him speechlessly. "Then why don't you take it back to your personal laboratory at the academy and study it using the highest-grade isolation force field?"
"Besides, with your current level and depth of understanding of the laws, it's fundamentally impossible for you to effectively analyze an 'Imaginary Element' of this level, right?"
As he spoke, he still skillfully drew a wisp of pure Condensed Spiritual Energy from his internal space, stuffed it into the specially made test tube, and handed it over.
Rex's movements were equally practiced as he used his magic net terminal to transfer a significant amount of low-tier military merit to Jieming's account.
He took the test tube, feeling the energy aura within that was so utterly alien to the world, and sighed in frustration. "I know. Theoretically, I know all of this! But... I just can't help myself!"
"This thing is too strange. I can sense it, but my mental power struggles to guide it deeper. It's like trying to observe a landscape on the other side of a pane of frosted glass—the more I can't see, the more I want to!"
Jieming could only shake his head in resignation.
In his eyes, Rex's behavior was like throwing military merits into the water without even making a splash.
The Imaginary Element—or rather, the "Imaginary Element" it was disguised as—spiritual energy, essentially stemmed from a fundamental logic different from the mainstream rule system of the current Wizard Universe.
To Jieming, spiritual energy was the authentic foundation of immortal cultivation.
But within the cognitive framework of the wizard civilization, it perfectly fit all the definitions of an "Imaginary Element": originating from the "Law of Fiction," incompatible with the existing system, and unstable under the plane self-adaptation mechanism.
And this type of "Imaginary Element" had a particularly profound impact on wizards at a specific stage.
Specifically, those who had already begun to touch upon and understand laws, but whose own mastery was insufficient to construct a complete worldview of laws—wizards whose souls and cognition were in a critical period of reshaping. This specifically referred to the third-tier to fourth-tier stage!
Higher-tier wizards had already solidified their own law systems, their cognitions deeply ingrained. They would not be swayed by "noise" from external, differing systems.
Lower-tier wizards, on the other hand, hadn't even touched the threshold of the laws. Their souls and cognitions were like blank slates. Exposed to a spiritual energy environment, they would at most feel their spellcasting become sluggish—like punching through a viscous liquid—but they wouldn't experience any fundamental "rejection" or "discomfort."
Only wizards like Rex, at the third and fourth tiers, were in a sensitive period where their souls and cognitions were leaping from "using rules" to "understanding and defining rules."
They had extremely poor resistance to energy like spiritual energy, which represented a completely different set of "rules."
Simply being in an environment rich in spiritual energy would cause a "cognitive suffocation" akin to oxygen deprivation. Their mental power would stagnate, making it difficult to effectively mobilize or analyze.
This was why the third- and fourth-tier wizards who recognized the "Imaginary Element" in the previous competition had decisively conceded. In such an environment, seventy percent of their abilities were rendered useless; they simply couldn't fight.
This was also the confidence that allowed Jieming to prioritize eliminating the more threatening fifth-tier wizards in his previous tactics, unconcerned about being swarmed by mid- and low-tier wizards.
Therefore, for Rex, a third-tier wizard, delving deeper into the study of spiritual energy was an extraordinarily difficult task.
Even with a complete set of top-tier laboratory equipment, it would be like asking a primary school student who had just learned addition and subtraction to understand calculus—a futile effort with virtually no chance of achieving substantial results.
"Rex," Jieming couldn't help but advise, "with your innate talent, you'll probably advance to a fifth-tier wizard in less than a thousand years. By then, your soul will be stable, and your cognition will have formed its own system. Studying this will be much smoother. As long as I don't die young, you can always come back and buy it from me then."
How could Rex not understand this?
He nodded with a wry smile. "I know, but... I just can't help myself."
The maddening frustration of facing unknown knowledge yet being powerless to delve deeper was undoubtedly a form of torture for a genius wizard eager for knowledge.
He sighed, took the newly acquired spiritual energy sample, and turned to find a place to attempt his observation experiment, which was destined to yield little.
After seeing Rex off, Jieming was about to take out the spatial knowledge and enjoy some peace and quiet for a while when Viola flitted over like a butterfly drawn to the fragrance of flowers.
"Junior Brother~" she chirped, her voice brimming with excitement. "Another batch—no, three batches! And make it high concentration!"
Jieming shot her a sidelong glance. "Senior Sister, are you ramping up your research too? Did you discover some new property?"
Viola's eyes sparkled as she spoke enthusiastically, "Exactly! My preliminary experiments show that your 'Imaginary Element' has an extraordinarily gentle yet profound nourishing effect on biological tissue! It's not a crude infusion of energy, but more like... well... an infusion and guidance of life essence itself! I plan to buy a large quantity and try using it to cultivate several high-tier demonic plants, to see if it can induce beneficial mutations or enhance their quality!"
As she spoke, even the usually composed Mentor Clark stepped forward.
Without a word of greeting, he directly operated the magic net terminal.
Ding! Received high-tier military merit transfer from Clark: 10,000 points.
Jieming's eyes widened as he stared at the skyrocketing number in his account, nearly dropping the Knowledge Crystal in his hand. "M-Mentor?! You want this much?! This amount is enough to fill a small Sixth-Tier Elemental Pool!"
Mentor Clark's expression remained impassive as he explained, "This isn't all for me. The excellencies on the high platform, including Patriarch Noren, are also very interested in your 'Imaginary Element' and have asked me to procure a portion on their behalf."
He paused, his gaze meeting Jieming's with a rare, undisguised hint of admiration. "Jieming, this 'Imaginary Element' of yours is indeed extraordinary."
"After his preliminary research, Patriarch Noren concluded that its potential is immense. Its internal structure is complex yet orderly, and its energy level is vast—even... faintly touching upon the level of the four fundamental elements."
Jieming's heart tightened.
Clark continued, "Furthermore, Patriarch Noren speculates that you aren't merely simulating a single element. Your 'Law of Fiction' framework seems to be attempting to use one or two variants of the 'Imaginary Element' to encompass—or even replace—the functions of the four fundamental elements. You've constructed your Law of Fiction based on the 'Grand Unified Theory,' haven't you? That's quite bold, and very resourceful."
His tone was encouraging. "We're all looking forward to it. If you truly manage to forge this path, perhaps a new top-tier Law of Fiction, one no less than 'Fate' itself, will one day be born."
A cold sweat instantly broke out on Jieming's back.
As expected of a class dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge—a wizard's research capabilities are simply terrifying!
Wizard Noren had managed to grasp the core of "spiritual energy" in just a few days, despite having only a few samples, lacking any systematic knowledge of immortal cultivation, and possessing no advanced research equipment.
He had even guessed the essence of how Yin-Yang spiritual energy constitutes all matter, coming incredibly close to the truth!
At this moment, Jieming felt profoundly grateful that he had chosen to wrap spiritual energy in the guise of a "Law of Fiction." He was also thankful that the wizard civilization boasted so many geniuses that all sorts of wild ideas were a common occurrence.
If not for this, once he grew more powerful and the fundamental differences between their systems were exposed, the result would likely not be curiosity and research, but a storm of unpredictable consequences.
Seeing Jieming's apparent tension, Clark softened his tone and offered a reassuring word. "You don't need to put so much pressure on yourself. The 'Grand Unified Theory' is already a subject of intense debate and riddled with unsolved loopholes in the academic world. The path of exploration is destined to be arduous."
"Even if you don't achieve complete success in the end, the excellent properties your 'Imaginary Element' has already demonstrated are enough. By adjusting your direction in time and focusing on its application, you can still go very far on this path. If all else fails, you can always pivot to a deep study of other Laws after reaching the sixth tier, when your soul and cognition undergo a qualitative transformation. It will not be too late."
Hearing this, Jieming finally let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "Thank you, Mentor. I understand. I will act within my means."
Then, glancing at the massive sum of money, he added with a hint of embarrassment, "But Mentor, extracting such a large quantity of 'Imaginary Element' all at once will take some time. I don't have that much on hand right now. The reserves in the Purgatory Sulfur Plane are sufficient, but the transportation and purification..."
Clark waved his hand, his tone calm. "No matter. You can replenish the stock later. There's no rush."
Before they could finish their conversation, suddenly...
A strange and grand rhythm, like the awakening heartbeat of a slumbering giant beast, or the first chord struck at the dawn of the universe, erupted without warning from the small figure at the center of the hall. It instantly swept through every corner of the chamber.
This rhythm was not sound, nor was it an energy shockwave. Yet, it clearly shook the spiritual origin of every wizard present, causing a momentary ripple in their perception of the surrounding laws.
All conversations, experiments, and thoughts within the hall came to a dead halt.
Every single person, regardless of their rank, turned their gaze in unison and involuntarily toward the source of the rhythm—Grandmentor Anton Buchanan, seated beside the main throne. He had closed his eyes at some unknown moment, and indescribable ripples of law were now undulating around his body.
Without a word, a realization dawned upon everyone:
The moment of Wizard Anton Buchanan's advancement had arrived!
(End of the Chapter)
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