Translator: AnubisTL
Even Augustine, a sixth-tier wizard, wore an unusually grave expression as he maneuvered the ship plane to confront the colossal monster.
After all, this plane was a living entity, possessing its own will and terrifying power.
No wonder the wizards had scoured the entire plane without finding any other signs of intelligent life.
The most powerful "overlord" was the Flamefrost Plane itself!
The definition of life varied wildly across the endless planes known to the wizards.
However, the generally accepted principle was that only beings with a "soul" could truly be considered alive.
In Jieming's previous world, life was a miracle—an organic marvel formed through countless coincidences.
In the wizards' world, life was a miracle born from mental power under specific environmental conditions.
Of course, neither "soul" nor "mental power" referred to fixed substances or energies. Rather, they were umbrella terms for whatever within a plane's living entity could carry consciousness—similar to the concept of a "spirit."
In reality, the composition of a soul isn't fixed at all. On the contrary, the fundamental elemental structures of souls vary greatly among creatures from different planes.
In the endless planes, what can be called a "soul" exhibits an astonishing diversity of forms.
Precisely because of this, the bodies suitable for souls to inhabit are equally varied.
The creation of many elemental creatures is based on this principle.
Extrapolating from this principle, if a suitable element were to gather in a sufficiently vast quantity, and by sheer chance avoid collapsing due to its own gravity or energy conflicts, it could instead form an extraordinarily massive, unified "soul."
Upon this foundation, if enough elements were then assembled to construct a body, it could indeed create a living organism the size of the plane before them!
Animated Planes, Planar Behemoths, Living Planes...
Wizards have different names for such entities, depending on their specific forms.
But fundamentally, all these terms describe cosmic-scale miracles born from a perfect alignment of coincidences!
As Jieming gazed at the Living Plane before him, still roaring in fury and causing the entire void to tremble, the knowledge etched deep within his mind flashed through his thoughts.
After the initial shock and awe, his first reaction was: Wizard Augustine has struck gold!
Yes, struck gold!
The birth of a Living Plane required an improbable series of coincidences, making its very existence a miracle surpassing even the Divine Power Faith Network.
Without exaggeration, even a legendary eighth-tier wizard would drool with envy at the sight of this Living Plane!
Whether captured, enslaved, dissected, or studied, its value would be immeasurable!
Jieming's second reaction was to suddenly recall a geological anomaly he had discovered on this plane.
The lava giants and snow monsters periodically waged massive wars, with the victor's territory expanding accordingly.
During his discussions with Viola, Jieming had once speculated that the two monster factions might possess some special technology to alter the illuminated regions of their respective elemental projections.
Looking back now, how absurd that hypothesis seemed!
What technological means?
These two powerful monster factions were clearly just playthings of this Living Plane before him!
For lifeforms on a plane to alter the elemental projections, they would require extremely advanced technology and vast amounts of energy.
But for a Living Plane, changing the proportion of elemental projections was as simple as a human shifting slightly while sunbathing to tan more evenly!
ROAR!!!
Another wave of soul fluctuation, radiating pure rage, swept across the area.
Jieming stared blankly at the other side of the fissure, at the Living Plane that roared silently once more, its massive magma maw attempting to devour the surrounding matter and energy. A third question involuntarily surfaced in his mind:
Can Augustine... defeat it?
Based on the information he knew, Living Planes were absurdly powerful!
They were inherently integrated with the very rules of their planes, or rather, they were the planes themselves.
For such beings, every gesture was a natural disaster!
Can we really defeat Wizard Augustine?
"We should... we should be able to, right?" Jieming reassured himself inwardly. After all, judging by his demeanor, he's been preparing for this meticulously, even sacrificing the entire Wizard Camp to launch a preemptive strike against this Living Plane...
Jieming's mind raced with bizarre, disjointed thoughts.
He appeared to be lost in thought.
But only Jieming knew that his dazed state stemmed from the overwhelming spectacle before him—an avalanche of information too vast for his current capabilities to process.
Put simply, he was utterly outmatched by the situation, causing his brain to momentarily crash.
Jieming wasn't alone in this reaction. Most of the other wizards on the ship plane were similarly frozen in mid-air, their faces etched with shock, confusion, fear, and a hint of uncontrollable fervor.
For wizards, renowned for their rationality and composure, such uncontrolled mental chaos was a profound breach of decorum.
As Jieming gazed at the dazed and disoriented wizards before him, he suddenly realized something was missing.
"Ah~ such exquisite suffering~"
A voice, filled with perverse delight and ecstasy, abruptly echoed in his ear.
The voice carried a sickly magnetic quality, instantly revealing what Jieming had overlooked.
No, this is definitely a pervert, Jieming mentally groaned.
He turned to see Viola, who had silently materialized beside him.
Her cheeks flushed an unnatural crimson, and her silver-gray eyes blazed with feverish excitement.
Oblivious to Jieming's gaze, she remained immersed in her own world, greedily inhaling the "suffering" secreted by the wizards in the void.
After a moment's observation, Jieming noticed Viola's attention wasn't solely focused on the wizards teetering on the brink of mental collapse.
Her gaze seemed more drawn to the distant Living Plane, still roaring in fury and radiating endless waves of pain from its grievous wounds.
Jieming's lips twitched. He couldn't resist asking, "Senior sister, do you... enjoy the suffering of that thing too?"
"Of course!" Viola turned her head, licked her lips, her eyes glazed over. "Such a powerful creature, such a magnificent miracle, yet it's wailing in such agony... It's truly... thrilling to the point of trembling..."
Jieming clicked his tongue, deciding to abandon any philosophical discussion with this lunatic.
He forcibly changed the subject, asking Viola what they planned to do next.
Truthfully, Jieming didn't expect any reliable answers from her.
He simply wanted to distract himself from the indescribable, overwhelming pressure he felt from directly confronting the Living Plane.
But to his surprise, Viola actually gave him an answer this time.
Suppressing some of the fervor on her face and regaining a semblance of her usual icy composure, she said calmly, "Next... you'll likely receive missions to assist Wizard Augustine in taking down that massive creature below."
Jieming blinked in surprise.
Soon enough, just as Viola had predicted, clear and cold directives were precisely transmitted through the magic net terminals to every wizard on the ship plane.
Jieming glanced down at his magic net terminal and discovered his mission: [Proceed to Formation Node 369-7, transfer energy, and adjust the formation.]
He instinctively looked up and noticed that a spatial teleportation array had silently materialized amidst the crowd.
Wizards, having received their missions, were already following the instructions and gradually stepping through the Space Formation to teleport to their designated areas.
Without hesitation, Jieming joined the stream of wizards heading toward the array.
A flash of light, followed by a sensation of weightlessness.
Through spatial teleportation, Jieming quickly arrived at a desolate wasteland indistinguishable from other parts of the ship plane.
The ground here was a metallic gray-black, devoid of vegetation, creating an eerily lifeless landscape.
The only unusual feature was a small fortress abruptly rising from the wasteland, seemingly forged from various molten metals.
The fortress exuded a simple yet imposing beauty, its surface etched with intricate energy circuits.
Jieming activated his magic net terminal, verified his identity, and entered the fortress without delay.
Inside the citadel, Jieming skillfully manipulated the control panel, connecting his wizard authority to the system.
He quickly deciphered the information displayed, realizing that the citadel served as the operational core of a formation node.
As for the entire magical formation... based on Jieming's extensive knowledge, its intricate structure and colossal energy circuits suggested it was part of an ultra-large-scale protective magic array.
Activating his "scouting eye," Jieming unleashed an invisible wave that radiated outward from the citadel.
A quick scan revealed that within a radius of several dozen kilometers, there were only three or four similar nodes!
If the spacing between nodes was already this vast, the complete formation they formed must be unimaginably colossal!
Could it be... a protective magic array covering the entire ship plane?
The moment this thought flashed through Jieming's mind—
Thump!!!
The ground outside suddenly began to tremble violently!
This tremor far surpassed the intensity of the lava giant legion's earlier march, as if some colossal entity weighing billions of tons were slowly awakening deep beneath the ship plane's surface!
(End of the Chapter)
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