Chapter 417: Excitement and Departure
Translator: AnubisTL
Jieming and Anya quickly cleared the battlefield.
They brought out imprisonment crystals embedded with space-stabilization runes and energy-suppression materials, carefully guiding the Light-Cluster Elemental Lifeforms—those that had lost their fighting strength but still retained their spirituality—into them to be sealed.
For the sixth-tier light-cluster lord firmly restrained by the Black Giant Priests, Jieming was even more cautious. First, Anya cast several layers of vitality-suppressing and soul-soothing wizardry. Then, they wrapped it in a highest-specification multiple energy-binding array, finally placing it into a sealing casket with a constant, faint time-slowing effect inside.
After the two Black Giant Priests completed their mission, they dissolved into black shadows and returned to the internal grotto-heaven within Jieming’s body to await orders.
Just as they finished the initial processing of all the “spoils of war” and were about to catch their breath, Wizard Starfall’s planar transmission, filled with irrepressible excitement, poured directly into their minds once more:
[Excellent work! I saw it all! The sample integrity exceeds all expectations! Don’t bother packing up—I’m bringing you back right now!]
The moment the words fell, before Jieming or Anya could even respond, a vast and gentle Plane Power descended upon them.
The surrounding scenery blurred and swirled like an oil painting washed in water, and the slight weightlessness characteristic of spatial teleportation washed over them.
The next instant, the light faded, and they found themselves standing on the floor of Wizard Starfall’s silver-white metallic hall.
All the light-cluster creatures they had just sealed—including the most important sealing casket—were neatly suspended in the air around them.
Wizard Starfall stood nearby, but Jieming froze for a moment when he saw her state.
This sixth-tier wizard, who had looked disheveled just moments before, now radiated a spiritual aura as intense as a lit torch.
An almost tangible glow of excitement burned in her eyes. The grin stretching across her face nearly reached her ears, and her hands rubbed together unconsciously, betraying the pure joy of a child who had just received their favorite toy.
“Your Excellency Starfall, what’s…?” Jieming asked, puzzled.
While successfully capturing a resisting sixth-tier construct was a research achievement worth celebrating, this level of excitement seemed a bit excessive, didn’t it?
“Hehe, follow me! I’ve got an even bigger surprise for you!”
Wizard Starfall didn’t answer directly. Instead, she gave a mysterious wave of her hand, and the floating Light-Cluster Sealed Artifacts automatically formed a line, drifting behind her as she headed deeper into the laboratory.
She gestured urgently for Jieming and Anya to follow.
Driven by curiosity, they trailed Starfall through several brightly lit corridors until they reached a much larger experimental zone.
Seeing the scene before them, Jieming instantly understood why Starfall was so excited.
The zone was ablaze with light, filled with large-scale analytical instruments and energy containment devices humming in operation.
Viola was already there, directing several automatic puppets and energy tentacles as they processed another batch of “spoils of war”—not Light-Cluster Elemental Lifeforms this time, but piles of dark brown “Demon-Devouring Vines,” bound tightly with tough energy cords, still writhing faintly.
These Animated Plants were also considerable in size. One of them even radiated an energy fluctuation close to the fifth tier, clearly an elite or chief-level unit of their swarm.
“Do you see?! It’s not just those little light clusters!” Wizard Starfall rushed to the side of the captured Demon-Devouring Vines, gesturing wildly, her face flushed and her voice strained with excitement.
“These vines! My other ‘children’! They’re the same! They were planning to turn on me, their ‘Creator’! Hahaha!”
She pointed to the bound Demon-Devouring Vines, then to the light-cluster sealed artifact they had just brought in, her words tumbling out in a rush of excitement.
“What’s even better is—based on Viola’s interception and analysis of their residual spirit-wave fragments, and my own review of the surveillance footage… These two groups! These two mortal enemies who’ve been trying to beat each other’s brains out! They’ve actually been in secret contact! They formed some kind of fragile alliance against us, their ‘Creators’!”
Wizard Starfall’s eyes shone with a terrifying intensity. “The massive light-cluster underground causing such a commotion… on one hand, it was indeed trying to nurture a high-level combat force that could oppose us. But on the other hand, it was also a lure! A meticulously designed lure!”
“They bet on the fact that we’d either be curious or wary of such an abnormal energy buildup, and would likely send someone—or come ourselves—to investigate! Their true killing blow was the elite strike team composed of these vines, attempting to seize the opportunity to launch a sneak attack and destroy the Creator’s core laboratory!”
She took a deep breath, as if trying to calm her overwhelming excitement, but it did little to help. “Rebellion! Awareness of their ‘created’ destiny! Secret alliances between mortal enemies! Feints and strategic diversions! This is no longer simple ‘spirituality.’ This is intelligence endowed with a rudimentary civilizational mindset, social game-theory capabilities, and strategic vision!”
As Jieming listened to Wizard Starfall’s impassioned explanation, a wave of emotion gradually rose within him.
He fully understood why she was so thrilled.
The spark of rebellion was nothing unusual for living beings.
But to reverse-engineer the concept of a “Creator” from recent events alone meant their cognitive framework had already transcended instinct and basic survival needs, touching upon the very “root of existence.”
This required a remarkably high level of abstract thinking and logical reasoning.
And on top of that, two newly born races locked in a brutal war had managed to temporarily set aside their hatred, identify the “Creator” as a greater common threat, and even attempt secret communication to devise a joint action plan…
The level of intelligence, risk assessment, and potential for executing complex strategies displayed here was simply astonishing.
This was no behavior that could be guided by the mere fragments of incomplete knowledge Wizard Starfall had inadvertently leaked during her “enlightenment.”
It could only mean one thing: the “Ignition of Intelligence” she had conducted, utilizing the “Imaginary Element” and its “Spirituality” Law, had achieved far more than just granting basic sentience.
She had successfully implanted within these elemental and plant-based lifeforms a “Seed of Wisdom” capable of self-learning, evolution, and the development of complex social and strategic thinking!
She had, in a truly meaningful sense, created the prototypes of intelligent life with the potential to form independent civilizations!
This meant the path she was exploring—the “Spirituality” Law—was not only correct but held boundless promise!
Such a milestone breakthrough would send any researcher into a state of ecstatic delirium.
As Jieming watched Wizard Starfall, acting like a child with a new toy, rush eagerly to a large-scale analyzer to personally begin a deeper soul scan and memory extraction on the captives, he couldn’t help but marvel at the sight.
Just then, Viola strolled over and patted Jieming’s shoulder, a smug look on her face. “So, Jieming? Is this ‘technical exchange’ trip proving to be far more ‘exciting’ than you expected?”
“You’ve seen the most successful ‘work’ of our Great Wizard Starfall, and even participated in a one-of-a-kind ‘Joint Anti-Creator Operation’ suppression. Quite a haul, wouldn’t you say?”
Jieming looked at Viola and nodded earnestly, his eyes filled with excitement and anticipation. “Indeed, I’ve gained a great deal. Her Excellency Starfall’s research is truly breathtaking. I’m very much looking forward to the formal ‘exchange’ session now.”
Viola chuckled, pointing first to Starfall, who was already completely absorbed in her research, then to Anya, who was resting nearby, and finally to the ‘precious specimens’ filling the laboratory.
“Rest assured, with so much ‘material’ and so many ‘case studies’ at hand, the upcoming exchange will definitely send you home ‘with a full load.’ But for now… let our ‘Creator’ enjoy the joy of her harvest.”
Jieming followed her gaze. The Wizard Starfall was cackling—”Jie jie jie jie jie jie”—as she stared at the memory fragments of the “joint conspiracy” salvaged from the initial scans of the captives’ souls.
She looked just like a villainous scientist from a storybook.
The silver doors of the High Tower Laboratory slowly closed behind them, shutting out the flickering observation screens and Viola’s faint, unconscious humming as she remained immersed in the sea of data.
Jieming stood in the hallway leading to the teleportation formation and let out a soft sigh of relief. His face bore a complex expression—a mixture of satisfaction, exhaustion, and a lingering sense of unfinished business.
It had been over a decade.
This “short-term technical exchange,” originally planned to last only a few months or even weeks, had been stretched to over ten years. The delay was driven by the constant stream of new discoveries and ideas from both sides, as well as Wizard Starfall’s explosive breakthroughs in her research on the laws of “spirituality.”
Now, the time had finally come to say goodbye.
On the platform where the teleportation formation was located, Wizard Starfall had made a rare appearance to see him off personally.
She looked even more disheveled than she had over a dozen years ago, but her eyes shone with a deeper, brighter light, as if countless stars of wisdom were swirling within them.
She slapped Jieming’s shoulder hard, nearly knocking him off balance. Her voice was thick with both anticipation and reluctance.
“Leaving already? Are you sure you won’t stay a few more years? I feel like we’ve only just scratched the surface of our research on ‘The Gradual Rewriting of the Material Plane’s Underlying Logic through Collective Spiritual Resonance’!”
Jieming steadied himself and sighed helplessly. “Your Excellency Starfall, if I stay any longer, I’m afraid my ‘Imaginary Element’ reserves and my brain’s processor will both burn out. The knowledge density and experimental pace here are… a bit too intense.”
Hearing this, Wizard Starfall’s eyes shone even brighter. She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a low murmur. “Speaking of Imaginary Elements, Jieming, Viola and I have developed a new model! If you can provide a sufficiently vast and pure supply of Imaginary Elements, combined with my perfected ‘Ignition of Spirituality’ and ‘Law Infusion’ techniques… we might be able to attempt…”
She paused, as if searching for the most awe-inspiring words, before enunciating each one deliberately: “To animate an entire plane!”
(End of the Chapter)