Translator: AnubisTL
And just like that, in the brief pause between steps of a delicate surgical procedure, Jieming had seamlessly advanced to a fourth-tier wizard.
So... I'm fourth-tier now? Jieming himself was somewhat surprised by the sheer tranquility of it all.
Unlike immortal cultivators, who often needed to enter secluded cultivation and trigger celestial phenomena to achieve a major realm breakthrough, a wizard's advancement—especially in the low and mid-tiers—was more of a natural progression. It occurred when the accumulation of knowledge and the quantitative changes in one's life level reached a qualitative tipping point.
Once his mental power met the standard and his understanding of the laws reached the required threshold, the advancement happened as a matter of course.
Though the speed of his advancement was far faster than he had anticipated, Jieming also knew that this breakthrough would not bring an immediate and dramatic surge in power.
The core of a wizard's strength lay in knowledge. The status of a fourth-tier wizard simply meant he now possessed the "container" and "permissions" to hold more profound knowledge and construct more complex wizardry models, effectively unlocking a higher power ceiling.
But to translate this ceiling into tangible combat strength, he would still need to invest a vast amount of time learning and researching the more esoteric wizardry knowledge and techniques that only fourth-tier wizards could master.
In terms of individual combat capability, he remained at the level of a third-tier wizard.
Of course, advancing to the fourth tier was not without its benefits.
Almost the exact moment his mental power completed its leap, Jieming sharply sensed the Nascent Soul within his dantian snap its eyes open, its radiance suddenly flaring with blinding intensity!
The Qi Refining Method he primarily cultivated was a profound technique that used "Qi" as its core to drive the continuous circulation and mutual growth of the Three Treasures: "Essence," "Qi," and "Spirit."
At this moment, his "Spirit" (mental power and soul strength), having surged far beyond the levels of his "Essence" (fleshly body's qi and blood) and "Qi" (spiritual power cultivation) due to his wizard advancement, created a powerful gravitational pull through the operation of the Qi Refining Method!
His Spirit, now overwhelmingly powerful, acted like a high-speed spinning core, violently dragging the lagging Essence and Qi along with it, forcing them to soar upward!
It had been several hundred years since he reached the Nascent Soul Realm. His cultivation, which had been stalled at the mid Nascent Soul stage, shattered the barrier to the late stage in a mere few breaths.
And the speed of his growth showed no signs of slowing down as he hurtled straight toward the Peak Nascent Soul Realm!
If cultivators of the same level in the cultivation world knew of this rocket-like surge in cultivation, their jaws would surely drop in shock.
But for Jieming, this was merely a positive interaction between two different power systems under specific conditions.
However, at this moment, neither the rise in his wizard level nor the explosive growth of his immortal cultivation could fully hold Jieming's attention.
His gaze quickly refocused on the operating table before him.
Fixed to the table was a large-scale "insect" of an utterly bizarre design.
Or rather, it merely retained some basic insectoid features.
Its most striking characteristic was the slender "horn" on its head, which occupied over ninety percent of its body volume.
The horn was entirely colorless and transparent, with the texture of crystal. Its edges were sharp and angular, glinting with a heart-stoppingly cold light. In form, it resembled a meticulously polished, long and narrow crystal blade!
Its actual head and torso, by contrast, were extremely shriveled, curled at the very base of the crystal blade and taking up only about one-tenth of the overall volume.
A pair of disproportionately large compound eyes, like polyhedral gemstones, were embedded on either side of the shrunken head, gleaming with a frigid light.
From a distance, this did not look like a living creature at all. Instead, it resembled a crystal Divine Weapon, with two magnificent gems set into the hilt.
This was the new Shuttle Hunter—the result of Jieming's decades of painstaking effort, completely redesigned and upgraded using the mutant spider snake as a blueprint!
The old Shuttle Hunters had been geared toward reconnaissance and harassment.
Though they possessed a self-destruct function, the old Shuttle Hunters had become utterly fragile and powerless against the ever-strengthening Black Giant Legion, gradually rendering them useless.
To overcome their weaknesses in aerial combat, aquatic operations, and reconnaissance, Jieming resolved to grant them new life.
"Begin performance testing. Unit 01," Jieming commanded, his voice calm.
On one side of the laboratory, the protective force field of the testing grounds shimmered into existence. A Black Giant Priest released the "Crystal Blade Patroller" from its operating table.
The creature's crystal-blade body trembled slightly. The next instant, it blurred out of everyone's sight, vanishing as silently as a drop of ink dissolving in water.
Even with his "Universal Eye" activated, Jieming could barely trace a faint, ghostly trail moving rapidly through the phase gap.
"Phase Concealment activated. Energy fluctuations are below the threshold. Optical camouflage and energy shielding are performing optimally," the Black Giant Priest reported calmly.
"Mark the movement trajectory. Deploy the simulated target—a fourth-tier energy shield generator," Jieming ordered.
In the center of the testing grounds, a shield force field emitting a steady energy glow was activated.
Almost the exact moment the shield appeared...
Less than three meters from the shield, space itself seemed to be torn open by an invisible hand, revealing a faint rift.
The "Crystal Blade" materialized with a speed that defied visual capture, appearing without warning as if it were an inherent part of space itself.
The moment it emerged, the edges of its long, blade-like body erupted with visible ripples of spatial distortion.
Ssh—rip—
A faint yet piercing sound, like cloth being forcibly torn, echoed through the air.
The energy shield, capable of withstanding a relentless barrage of conventional fourth-tier spells, was sliced through like butter by a hot knife.
Where the spatial distortion ripples passed, a perfectly smooth gash appeared.
The shield's structure was forcibly torn apart on a physical level. Its light flickered violently a few times before it shattered, dissolving into a cloud of dissipating energy particles.
After delivering this thunderous strike, the "Shuttle Hunter's" form blurred again, vanishing back into phase space.
The entire sequence had occurred in the blink of an eye. From materialization to attack and then to concealment, the Shuttle Hunter's figure had been nothing more than a fleeting phantom.
"Spatial slash complete. Target shield destroyed. Results meet expectations; demonstrates extremely high penetration against both energy and material defenses," the Black Giant Priest recorded meticulously.
A satisfied look crossed Jieming's face. The test results had even exceeded his expectations.
In addition to their existing high-speed movement, Jieming had equipped this new model of Shuttle Hunter with powerful vision to enhance their reconnaissance capabilities. They had also perfectly inherited the most core innate talent of the mutant spider snake: the instinctive ability to manipulate space.
Their spatial abilities were nearly identical to those of the mutant spider snake. They could vanish into phase space, drastically increasing their survivability and stealth. More importantly, they could condense the violent spatial shearing force generated during a phase shift to form a lethal Spatial Slash!
This caused a qualitative leap in their lethality, transforming them from mere nuisances that could only scratch the enemy's surface into assassin's blades capable of posing a fatal threat to defenses of the same or even a higher tier!
Of course, limitations still existed.
When moving through phase space, they had to keep their speed below the speed of sound. Otherwise, even though they could instinctively adjust the phase around their bodies, excessive speed would easily trigger spatial turbulence, tearing them to shreds.
But for assassination missions—infiltrating, closing in, and then delivering a fatal blow—this speed restriction was still within an acceptable range.
"Excellent." Jieming watched as the testing field returned to stillness, a slight smile playing on his lips. "From now on, the Shuttle Hunters will no longer be insignificant cannon fodder."
They would be used specifically to eliminate key enemy units, such as commanders, important spellcasters, and energy node guardians... This perfectly complemented Jieming's own combat system.
(End of the Chapter)
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