Translator: AnubisTL
Following Viola, the three flew over the war zone where sporadic skirmishes were still taking place.
Finally, they arrived at a vast, seemingly unremarkable grassland covered in lush green grass.
As they drew near, Jieming keenly sensed a subtle mental fluctuation permeating the air.
This subtle mental fluctuation acted like an invisible barrier, silently manipulating the perceptions of outsiders, causing any creature that accidentally approached this area to subconsciously want to stay away.
"A crude psychological suggestion field. An old trick," Viola snorted. Without even needing Anya's guidance, she landed on a specific spot in the grassland with practiced ease. She extended her fair hand and gently pressed it against the seemingly empty air.
Hum...
With a faint vibration, Jieming saw the air ripple like water, and a doorway with silver runes flowing along its edges materialized out of thin air.
Beyond the door, the grassland was gone, replaced by a brightly lit corridor leading into an isolated high tower.
Anya stared, dumbfounded. "There's actually a passage here?! I never knew about this!"
"Little one, there's a lot you don't know," Viola said. "Let's go. This woman's laboratory defenses are a nightmare. Stay close to me, don't wander off."
Jieming nodded and stepped into the passage with Anya.
They moved inside quickly. With a wave of her hand, Viola sealed the air door shut. The grassland outside returned to its pristine state, as if nothing had ever happened.
The High Tower's interior was no traditional structure; it was a labyrinth of intricate wizardry instruments and energy conduits.
Jieming could clearly sense the various, both overt and covert, security checks they passed through—scanners for energy signatures, soul fluctuations, and even mental activity.
Fortunately, with Viola guiding them, they reached the core region without any hindrance.
This was a vast chamber paved in pure silver-white metal, stark and cold. At its center hovered several massive, three-dimensional light screens.
Cascades of complex data and dynamic models flowed across them, depicting the real-time battle of the "rebellion" outside, along with the energy and spirituality parameters of various creatures.
Before the light screen stood a figure.
It was no exaggeration to say she perfectly fit the "classic high-rank wizard template."
She looked as if she hadn't properly groomed herself in ages. Her hair was a fluffy, tangled mess, with a few stray strands sticking out wildly. Her eyes were bloodshot from intense focus, and though her wizard's robe was made of extraordinary material, it hung crookedly on her body, its cuffs stained with what appeared to be energy fluid.
"Grandmother," Anya stepped forward and called out softly. "Wizard Viola and her guest, Wizard Jieming, have arrived."
The wizard, who had been completely immersed in the ocean of data, finally snapped back to her senses. Her bloodshot eyes turned to Viola, and she gave a slow, stiff nod in greeting.
Then, her gaze swept past Viola, locking onto Jieming with pinpoint accuracy.
In an instant, those previously weary eyes erupted with a fervent glow, as bright as searchlights!
Jieming's vision blurred. A powerful surge of energy swept past him, and the disheveled wizard had already appeared before him as if she'd teleported, her hands reaching out with an impatient eagerness.
Jieming's scalp prickled with dread. He instinctively raised his hands in a defensive posture.
"Stop!"
Fortunately, Viola was experienced. She had anticipated the other wizard's move the moment she started and reached out with practiced ease.
Like someone scruffing a kitten, she grabbed the back of the wizard's robe and halted her mid-stride, dangling her in the air.
"Starfall, calm down!" Viola said helplessly. "You're going to scare the boy. Don't be so impatient. Let's take this one step at a time."
She then turned to the bewildered Jieming and introduced her: "Jieming, this is my friend, a sixth-tier wizard, 'Starfall'."
She gave the wizard—who was still struggling futilely in her grasp—a little shake. "Starfall, this is Jieming, the person you wanted to see."
"Starfall?" Hearing the name, Jieming's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He glanced at Anya Starfall beside him.
He had heard Anya call the other woman "Grandmother" before and had simply assumed it was a matter of blood relation. He never expected that this sixth-tier wizard was the very source of the name "Starfall."
In the wizard world, only nobles possessed surnames, which typically derived from the names or titles of their founders.
To establish a wizard family using one's own title as a surname, and to pass it down through generations, was itself a testament to immense power and a long-standing legacy.
Viola's interruption seemed to snap the wizard known as Starfall out of her fervent research state.
She struggled to get down from Viola's grip, awkwardly smoothing her frizzed-out hair and fumbling to flatten the creases on her wizard's robe.
After taking a deep breath, she finally offered Jieming a formal and solemn wizard's salute. Her voice was slightly hoarse from long disuse. "Forgive my rudeness, Wizard Jieming. I am Starfall. It is a pleasure to have you here."
Jieming suppressed his astonishment and returned the salute with equal gravity. "Excellency Starfall, it is an honor to meet you."
With the formal introductions complete, the atmosphere finally settled into something resembling normalcy.
Wizard Starfall invited them to sit on chairs formed from condensed energy along one side of the room, and only then did the formal conversation truly begin.
Viola wasted no time. As soon as she sat down, she pointed to the fierce battle raging on the light screens surrounding them. "What's with this 'lively' scene outside? Did your 'little experiment' get out of hand again?"
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Wizard Starfall's face, but it was quickly overshadowed by an irrepressible excitement. "Yes... this was indeed caused by my experiment. But I didn't lose control. The main reason is that I've recently made some key breakthroughs in my research on the laws of 'spirituality,' and then... by accident, the scale and effects of the experiment slightly exceeded my expectations..."
"Key breakthroughs?" Jieming caught the phrase. Recalling the wizard's fervent gaze upon seeing him, he formed a vague suspicion and seized the opportunity to ask, "What kind of breakthrough did you achieve, Excellency Starfall? Does it have something to do with my 'Imaginary Element'?"
"Exactly! That's it!" At the mention of her research, Wizard Starfall's eyes lit up again, and her words poured out in a rapid torrent. "Wizard Jieming, the Imaginary Element you created—its characteristics are simply astounding!"
"My research has revealed that this element is not inert," she explained, her voice brimming with excitement. "It possesses an incredibly pure and unique 'latent spirituality'—a blank slate, yet one with extraordinary adaptability and guidance potential!"
She gestured animatedly with her arms. "It can subtly guide any living being it touches toward a more perfect, harmonious, and potent form of 'optimized evolution'! More importantly—though it lacks a fully formed intelligence of its own, I've discovered a method to use it as a 'spiritual spark' and a 'cognitive template.' This allows us to forcibly 'ignite' the fire of intelligence in lifeforms that originally lacked the foundation for it!"
Jieming's face registered a well-timed expression of awe and admiration. "Guiding evolution... igniting intelligence... This is truly incredible!"
Yet, beneath his feigned astonishment, a storm was raging in his heart.
As a cultivator, he understood the true nature of this discovery far better than anyone.
Enlightenment!
This is the Technique of Enlightenment!
Wizard Starfall, through mere decades of studying the "Imaginary Element" (spiritual energy), had actually touched upon one of the cultivation world's most profound divine abilities—the power to enlighten living beings and awaken their spiritual intelligence!
In the cultivation world, such a feat was typically reserved for Immortals whose cultivation had reached profound heights and who possessed a deep understanding of the laws of heaven and earth.
Even Jieming, with the vast knowledge of the Great Dao Library Pavilion at his disposal, dared not guarantee he could have stably mastered a technique touching upon the very essence of life and the roots of the soul while still a sixth-tier wizard.
He couldn't help but marvel once more: These truth-seeking knowledge explorers from the wizard world are simply too broken when it comes to their research capabilities and the efficiency of translating theory into practice!
For her to achieve this in such a short time meant her "expansion" and "deepening" of the "Spirituality" law had reached an astonishingly high level.
I'm afraid... Wizard Starfall is not far from advancing to the seventh tier!
Just as Jieming was reeling from the shock, Viola, standing beside him, struck upon a crucial question.
She stared at Starfall, her voice tinged with disbelief. "So... after you discovered this ability, you couldn't wait to experiment on the 'stock' in your plane? What species did you grant intelligence to?!"
Starfall nodded enthusiastically, like a child showing off her masterpiece. "To test the universality and limits of this 'Spiritual Intelligence Ignition' effect, I chose two vastly different subjects!"
"One is the 'Iron-Wire Demon-Devouring Vine' that grows all over my garden—a purely basic plant with only the most rudimentary life reactions! The other is a 'Glow Aggregate' formed from energy leaking out of the lab—essentially a dense mass of unconscious energy!"
She spread her hands, her face alight with the joy of success. "And the results, as you can see, were a complete triumph! Both achieved basic intelligence, formed a proto-society, and have even started warring over resources and living space!"
"The data is perfect! I'd even tried to see if I could grant sentience to ordinary soil or rock, but that experiment failed. Besides, I've run out of the Imaginary Element materials I had on hand..."
As they listened to her describe her "Genesis"-like experiment in such a casual tone, Jieming and Viola exchanged a glance, both seeing a flicker of helplessness in the other's eyes.
Thank goodness... thank goodness she failed to enlighten the soil and rocks.
If even the stones had gained sentience, they wouldn't have just faced plants and glowing orbs upon teleporting here—they would have been met by a vast army of stone golems screaming, "Slay the flesh-and-blood monsters!"
This Wizard Starfall's research truly walked the razor's edge between creating miracles and unleashing disasters.
(End of the Chapter)
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