Several months later, at the edge of a massive spatial distortion zone known as the “Eye of the Storm.”
Two towering black figures, massive as mountains, guarded a slightly weary silhouette as they broke through the final chaotic energy currents, stepping into the relatively calm core region.
It was Jie Ming and his two remaining Black Giants.
Thirty years of conquest had not come without cost.
Another Black Giant had been utterly destroyed in an ambush by a powerful native creature horde, leaving only these two original stalwarts by his side.
Through continuous devouring and evolution, they had undergone a complete transformation.
Their bodies had grown even larger, the original ten-meter frames now towering higher, with one exceeding thirty meters. Beneath their black skin flowed an energy glow like molten lava, exuding a heart-stopping pressure—both had ascended to fourth-level beings!
The earliest third-level Black Giant, in particular, had reached the peak of the fourth level, only a single opportunity away from stepping into the fifth.
As elemental creatures crafted from molten giants and snow beasts, the Black Giants were naturally attuned to the laws of “energy” and “time.”
Their path to advancement, unlike wizards, required less profound comprehension of laws and more the accumulation of resources and the unlocking of their innate potential.Coupled with the body-forging and five-viscera techniques Jie Ming had installed, their advancement speed was terrifying as long as resources were abundant.
With their ability to fight above their level, these two fourth-level Black Giants now possessed combat strength surpassing even their master, Jie Ming, capable of tearing apart ordinary fifth-level beings with their bare hands!
“Finally here…” Jie Ming let out a long breath, wiping sweat that didn’t exist from his face—liquids could hardly flow naturally in a gravity-free environment.
He scanned his surroundings, lingering trepidation in his heart.
The gravity rules within the “Eye of the Storm” were utterly chaotic, at times yanking him violently in one direction, at others hurling him away, or even pulling from multiple directions simultaneously, as if to tear him apart.
The chaotic gravity churned energy and matter, creating a terrifying spectacle like an eternal storm.
Only in this core region, where extreme gravitational forces canceled each other out, did the familiar gravity-free calm of the Void Realm return.
Yet, calm often heralded greater danger.
The stable environment and alarmingly high energy density made the biological population here far denser than the outskirts.
No sooner had Jie Ming steadied himself than he felt countless cold intents locking onto him.
From the swirling, vibrant energy mists around him, tens of thousands of creatures slowly emerged.
Their forms resembled translucent giant jellyfish, with umbrella-like caps ranging from a few meters to dozens in diameter, their soft tentacles swaying like ribbons, emitting a mesmerizing halo.
But these “jellyfish” were far from harmless. At the center of their caps glowed dangerous energy cores, and the tips of their tentacles condensed sharp energy spikes capable of piercing spatial shields.
“Tch, Serenity Jellyfish colony… and a mutated, enhanced version at that,” Jie Ming sighed, his face showing deeper exhaustion, though his eyes sharpened instantly.
“No surprise there.”
Without hesitation, he willed forth over a thousand crystalline talisman artifacts that shot out from his sleeves.
These talisman artifacts, as if alive, swiftly arranged themselves behind him, forming a complex, radiant halo emitting seven-colored light—the Great Radiance Mode!
“Roar!”
Without needing Jie Ming’s command, the two Black Giants let out earth-shaking roars and charged forward!
Their massive bodies erupted with astonishing speed disproportionate to their size, crashing into the jellyfish colony like two black war fortresses.
The battle erupted instantly!
The fourth-level Black Giants’ power was terrifying, and with their inherent time acceleration, they plunged into the colony in an instant.
Each swing of their frost-wreathed energy fists obliterated several Serenity Jellyfish, shattering their energy shields into dust!
Opening their massive maws, they spewed scorching molten breath, the wild elemental forces weaving through space, clearing vast swathes in an instant.
Jie Ming, meanwhile, hovered in place, his “Great Radiance” operating at full capacity.
Thousands of energy bolts poured out like a torrential storm, precisely targeting jellyfish attempting to flank or encircle the Black Giants, as well as those with unusually large sizes or intense energy signatures.
The collision of energy bolts and jellyfish shields unleashed relentless booms and blinding flashes, illuminating the core region like a supernova explosion.
The Serenity Jellyfish colony displayed remarkable resilience and intelligence.
Rather than fighting recklessly, smaller jellyfish linked tentacles to form larger combined shields, withstanding the Black Giants’ assaults.
Certain unique individuals unleashed powerful mental shocks, attempting to disrupt Jie Ming and the Black Giants’ minds.
Some even detonated their energy cores, creating devastating energy tides that posed significant trouble for the Black Giants.
The battle raged for days and nights.
The core region’s energy fluctuations never ceased, with explosive lights replacing the eternal glow.
Jie Ming’s face grew pale, his mental energy draining like a breached dam, yet his control over the “Great Radiance” remained steady.
The Black Giants’ battle fervor only grew wilder. As the fight progressed, their body-forging techniques increased their resistance to the jellyfish’s various attacks.
The abundant biomaterial around them fueled their recovery and evolution.
Finally, when the last giant Jellyfish King, with the strongest energy signature, was torn apart by the two Black Giants and burst into a sky of light, the chaotic core region fell into temporary silence.
Jie Ming, nearly exhausted, downed a vial of potion, retracted the “Great Radiance,” and ordered the Black Giants to stand guard while he swiftly collected relatively intact, research-worthy biological samples.
Only after finishing did he truly relax, beginning to investigate the “anomalous energy” mentioned in the task.
He pulled out the camp-issued spatial fluctuation detector and infused it with mental energy.
His vision shifted, revealing smooth spatial patterns indicating relative stability, with no obvious anomalies.
He tried various standard detection spells—energy sensing, elemental scanning, even subtle rule probing—but found nothing.
“Something’s off…” Jie Ming frowned.
The task description clearly noted an anomalous energy reaction in the core region; it couldn’t be baseless.
If conventional methods failed, he’d have to resort to the unconventional.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes briefly before snapping them open.
“All-Purpose Eye, activate!”
Instantly, white mist dispersed, and a deluge of information flooded his mind like a broken dam!
Subtle spatial folds, the essence of energy flows, the underlying code of rules… an overwhelming torrent of complex data nearly shattered his consciousness.
Jie Ming grunted, immediately narrowing the observation range to within two meters of himself.
Even so, the information surge left him dizzy, his soul stinging with pain, though still within tolerable limits.
Like a blind man wielding a precise probe, he began scanning the seemingly calm core region inch by inch, slowly and arduously.
The process was immensely taxing, forcing him to pause frequently to recover his mental energy.
Days passed as Jie Ming toiled like a miner sifting through an ocean of information.
Half a month later, as he moved to a seemingly empty area, the feedback from the “All-Purpose Eye” abruptly changed!
The spatial structure there wasn’t smooth or continuous but concealed an exquisitely intricate, near-perfect “fold” and “disguise.”
A seemingly natural spatial crease cleverly masked the truth behind it.
Jie Ming’s heart jolted. Focusing all his mental energy, he gently peeled back the veil with his gaze, peering into the fold.
It was a rift.
A massive yet astonishingly stable spatial rift, hidden behind the folded space!
Suppressing his shock, Jie Ming carefully “observed” along the rift’s edges.
Its scale was unimaginable. He “flew” in one direction for a long time before roughly gauging its size—a diameter exceeding one kilometer!
So vast, so stable, and hidden by such sophisticated means…
“Artificial! Definitely artificial!” Jie Ming concluded instantly.
This was no natural spatial rift but a deliberately created and concealed passage!
Not daring to linger, he immediately deactivated the “All-Purpose Eye.”
The prolonged use left him dizzy.
Still, he pushed through, quickly recording his discovery on the magic network terminal: In the core region of the Eye of the Storm, discovered a hidden, large-scale stable spatial rift, suspected to be artificial, coordinates recorded.
…
…
As the message was successfully sent, far away in the deepest, tranquil chamber of the floating city.
Dionysius Spencer reclined lazily on a sofa, holding a thick ancient tome, as if the outside world’s chaos had nothing to do with him.
Yet, his seemingly idle mind was processing the vast stream of information uploaded by tens of thousands of wizards through their terminals at a terrifying speed.
Suddenly, his slender fingers, flipping through the pages, paused slightly.
His gaze swept over a highlighted message in his consciousness—from second-level wizard Jie Ming, regarding a discovery in the Eye of the Storm’s core region.
On his ever-gentle and handsome face, the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile.
No longer warm, it carried a chilling, predatory satisfaction, like a top predator about to unleash chaos.
He gently closed the book, murmuring in a voice that echoed through the empty room, tinged with barely perceptible excitement:
“Found…”