Initially, Jie Ming had little interest in their disputes.
Such meticulous haggling over contributions held little appeal for him.
He was about to focus his mind and consider how to efficiently process his fresh molten giant specimens.
But suddenly, a strange glint appeared in his expression.
He sensed a faint pulsation from the rune seal deep within his dantian, used to collect Mortal Dust Qi.
Immediately, he focused inward, his mental energy probing the seal.
To his delight, Jie Ming discovered that the seal’s surface had indeed gathered a trace of faint Mortal Dust Qi!
“How… is this possible?” Jie Ming’s heart surged with unprecedented astonishment.
He had long suspected that Mortal Dust Qi stemmed from intense emotional fluctuations and interactions tied to the concept of “society.”
On the Elosia Plane, such energy was almost ubiquitous.But among wizards, especially within the orthodox wizard civilization, Mortal Dust Qi was exceedingly rare, almost nonexistent.
Wizards’ daily interactions were steeped in rational rules and cold data.
They rarely succumbed to anger, deep emotions, or pursued mundane warmth.
Thus, he had hardly collected any Mortal Dust Qi from wizards.
Instinctively, he turned his gaze to the nearby wizards, still arguing heatedly with flushed faces, then extended his mental energy to sense the scattered auras of other wizards tallying spoils in the distance.
Though they strove to maintain calm expressions, their emotional fluctuations were clear in his highly sensitive perception system.
Anger, reluctance, greed, cunning, and even suppressed desires—all were evident.
In that instant, clarity dawned on Jie Ming!
He finally understood!
Wizards, these near-extremely rational beings, rarely produced Mortal Dust Qi because most were profoundly logical.
In daily life, they seldom quarreled or engaged in the vibrant social interactions of mortals.
Their exchanges revolved around knowledge, power, and utility, lacking the intense clash of mortal passions.
But!
When faced with tangible interests, when vying for resources critical to their growth, even wizards would bicker like ordinary people for their own gain!
Their rationality still dominated, but they would act, curse, and unleash their suppressed greed, competitiveness, reluctance, and even darker emotions.
These seemingly trivial emotional ripples were precisely the source of Mortal Dust Qi!
Jie Ming exhaled deeply, a newfound understanding surging within him.
This confirmed his years-long speculations about “Mortal Dust” and shattered his rigid assumptions about wizard civilization.
He had thought wizards were entirely detached from mortal concerns, but it turned out “rationality” merely suppressed their emotional expression, not eradicated it.
When core interests were at stake, cracks appeared in the wizards’ cold, rational shells, revealing the “mortal heart” within.
No wonder wizard civilization was perpetually embroiled in wars!
No wonder their desire for external conquest was so fervent!
He had once wondered why these beings, pursuing eternity and ultimate rationality, were so zealous about plane conquests.
Now he understood: the entire wizard civilization had long been transformed.
For this civilization, true “social” interactions and conflicts were no longer confined to peaceful life but had been artfully shifted to the battlefield!
Through plane wars, they acquired resources, distributed spoils and merits, and through these direct, primal allocations, they ignited the most fundamental “seven emotions and six desires” of individual wizards—greed, slaughter, competition, control…
These emotions, once suppressed by rationality, were not only unleashed on the battlefield but became the intrinsic drive for wizards to continuously enhance their strength and pursue eternity.
This was a civilization both ruthlessly cold and supremely efficient!
It transformed all negative emotions into war-driven momentum, channeling personal desires into external expansion.
As Jie Ming observed the heated spoils dispute in the distance, the wizards’ arguing voices seemed to carry a peculiar rhythm.
He sensed again the faint but steady stream of Mortal Dust Qi from the wizards flowing into his dantian.
Yes, this was the wizards’ “society.” Only in such battlefields of life-and-death struggles for gain were the most primal flames of wizards as living beings truly ignited.
They bloomed with those fleeting glimmers of “Mortal Dust.”
“Hey… an unexpected gain,” Jie Ming muttered, a grin spreading across his face.
Unbeknownst to him, his smile mirrored those of the wizards around him, equally laced with greed.
…
…
Jie Ming stood in midair, watching the other wizards continue their pursuit of the scattered native legions.
The distant sounds of chase and slaughter no longer concerned him.
After this battle, Jie Ming chose not to join the others in further hunting.
Unlike those still vying for merits and resources, his harvest was already sufficient.
The large number of valuable live molten giant captives was enough to saturate his upcoming research.
“Time to head back,” Jie Ming murmured, transforming into a streak of light and speeding toward the wizard camp without looking back.
For him, mere killing or capturing paled in comparison to dissecting and analyzing specimens to extract knowledge.
Moreover, he had another research target—the snow beasts of the Frostshadow Realm.
Upon returning to the wizard camp, he didn’t head straight to his temporary laboratory but went directly to the designated “resource trading zone.”
The area was brightly lit, filled with the low murmurs of wizards and the clashing hum of energy fluctuations, even in the lulls of war.
Countless wizards brought their spoils here to sell, trade, or seek needed materials.
The air was thick with the scents of alchemical potions, elemental materials, and magical ores, chaotic yet orderly.
Jie Ming had applied for a stall via the magic network terminal en route. Following its guidance, he stopped at his booth and carefully extracted several top-condition second-level molten giant captives.
These captives, bound by rune arrays, lay quietly in specialized containment boxes, their surfaces still emitting faint, searing heat.
They were meticulously selected from the thousands of routed enemies, each possessing intact vitality and powerful elemental cores—rare research specimens.
“Urgently need live snow beasts!”
Jie Ming didn’t shout his wares. Instead, he posted his needs through the magic network terminal, listing his trade offerings: high-quality live molten giants and copies of exclusive molten giant research data.
As expected, within moments, several logistics wizards specializing in biology and elemental affinity gathered around.
Second-level live molten giants were highly sought after, especially Jie Ming’s pristine specimens.
“Your molten giants are impressive. I have a few freshly captured second-level snow beasts, full of vitality. What do you say?” a biology wizard offered, eyes gleaming.
In his containment box, several snow beasts bound by ice-blue rune chains emitted low whimpers.
Covered in white fur, they were slightly smaller than their molten giant counterparts but radiated equally potent vitality.
After brief haggling, Jie Ming traded some of his molten giant captives and verified copies of his “high-frequency sonic suppression” data models and spell formulas for several live snow beasts.
Satisfied, he stored them in his spatial ring, these fresh specimens sufficient to fuel his research for some time.
After the trade, Jie Ming didn’t linger, heading straight to his temporary laboratory.
He was eager to begin detailed research on the snow beasts.
As representatives of the plane’s polar extremes, their elemental composition and physiological traits were bound to differ starkly from the molten giants, harboring vast knowledge.
Jie Ming placed a live snow beast in a special ice-crystal containment box on the dissection table, using the All-Purpose Eye to preliminarily scan its surface and external energy flows.
Clearly adapted to extreme cold, the snow beast’s ice elements were highly active, its white fur capable of condensing ice crystals to form natural armor.
Subdued and unconscious from witchcraft, its every breath carried such low temperatures that the surrounding air formed frost.
But just as he prepared for deeper analysis, his magic network terminal emitted an urgent, solemn tone!
This wasn’t a battle alert but a highest-priority notification for a new task.
Such notifications typically targeted all combat personnel or specific core departments.
Jie Ming’s heart stirred. He paused his research and opened the terminal.
As expected, it was a directive for all logistics wizards and select elite combat wizards.
The issuers were Master Elwin and another fifth-level wizard Jie Ming hadn’t yet met.
The task was clear and concise:
[Critical Urgent Task—Downgrading and Popularizing Targeted Destructive Witchcraft]
Task 1: Downgrade and refine the “Targeted Destructive Witchcraft” for molten giants (Code: Magma Annihilation).
Led by Master Elwin, with all relevant research wizards to cooperate closely.
Objective: Simplify the spell model to make it straightforward and comprehensible.
Requirement: Lower the spell’s rank, creating versions from levels 1 to 5 for combat wizards of varying strengths to learn and use.
Focus: Ensure the modified spell is understandable and usable by combat wizards in a short time.
Task 2: Downgrade and refine the “Targeted Destructive Witchcraft” for Frostshadow Realm snow beasts (Code: Frost Soul Disintegration).
Led by Master Roland Varnell, with all relevant research wizards to cooperate closely.
Requirements and objectives same as Task 1.
Jie Ming’s eyes quickly scanned the task list, unsurprised by its contents.
Targeted destructive witchcraft required the highest knowledge level among spells of its tier. To popularize it among the wizard forces, especially the reckless combat types, simplification was essential.
This was a golden opportunity for Jie Ming, as accepting the task would grant access to related research data, immensely valuable for his work.
“Roland Varnell, though?”
Reading Task 2, Jie Ming’s gaze turned peculiar at the name.
Strictly speaking, this master was half an acquaintance. When Jie Ming enlisted at the junction point, Roland was among the Tower of Annihilation wizards who approached him.
He was also one of the three fifth-level wizards in this campaign.
“All acquaintances, huh…”