Translator: AnubisTL
Jieming hovered above the entrance, his Scouting Eye's perception spreading downward.
Simultaneously, he activated his alchemy, sending his mental power down the adjacent metal wall like tentacles to probe the depths.
The feedback from the detection spell materialized clearly in Jieming's mind: below was not a simple corridor, but a vast underground space.
Its layout vaguely suggested it had once been some kind of commercial area, now reduced to a battlefield.
Three wizards in gray robes were backed against a fractured metal support column, struggling to hold their ground. The wizard auras around them flickered erratically, a clear sign of their immense exhaustion.
Their adversaries were dozens of Giant Spirit Realm natives of various forms.
Most of these indigenous creatures had semi-fluid, slime-like base bodies fused with various mechanical components, wielding energy weapons or unleashing innate spell-like abilities.
The most striking among them were four exceptionally large elite individuals, their energy fluctuations reaching the fourth tier.
Like minor bosses on the battlefield, they commanded the other low-level natives in a relentless assault.
For three third-tier wizards to face four fourth-tier elites and a swarm of minions, victory seemed nearly impossible.
Jieming's undisguised mental power swept over the area, immediately detected by the wizards below who were struggling to hold their ground.
"Friend above! Help us deal with these enemies, and we'll split the spoils of war found here!" the leading third-tier wizard called out via mental power without hesitation, his voice tinged with obvious desperation.
"Deal."
Jieming replied concisely, his figure diving toward the cave entrance without further delay.
As he descended, the battle below suddenly took a critical turn.
One wizard, forced to dodge a corrosive spear wrapped in ominous black smoke that shot from the shadows, activated his elemental incarnation, transforming his entire body into a pool of flowing water.
The spear pierced through the water screen. Although it caused no physical damage, the attached soul erosion power left the wizard's face as pale as paper when he reformed into human shape.
Immediately after, an unnatural flush surged across his face, and he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, his aura instantly withering. His soul had clearly suffered a severe injury.
"Roar!!!"
Just as the level 4 natives were about to seize the opportunity to finish off the heavily injured wizard, a roar shook the entire underground space!
A massive black figure crashed into the center of the battlefield like a meteorite—it was one of the level 5 Black Giants Jieming had revived!
The Black Giant's mere appearance unleashed a terrifying pressure that froze all the natives in their tracks.
Without wasting a single movement, it hurled a fist at the nearest level 4 native. The punch compressed the air so violently it created a sonic boom!
The slime-form level 4 native reacted with lightning speed. Its body instantly sprouted several viscous tentacles, which snatched up a few nearby low-level kin and hurled them like stones at the Black Giant's fist.
Using the momentum, the slime propelled itself backward, narrowly dodging the lethal blow.
"Look out!"
However, another wizard who had been observing the entire battlefield suddenly turned pale and screamed a warning to Jieming, who had just landed.
Almost at the same time he shouted, a figure that had been perfectly camouflaged in the shadows behind Jieming's flank erupted!
The creature wore no external machinery. Its body instantly stretched and hardened, transforming into a razor-sharp biological bone spear that lunged at Jieming's back with astonishing speed!
The enemy's stealth was so formidable that neither Jieming's scouting runes nor his own senses had detected the threat before the attack!
However, the expected scene of the bone spear piercing through his body never materialized.
The level 3 native, who had lunged forward, only saw a blur. Jieming's figure seemed to flicker slightly, and its thunderbolt strike had... missed?!
It couldn't comprehend it. Its speed had already reached its absolute limit. How could the opponent have dodged so effortlessly?
A smug smile flashed across Jieming's mind.
He naturally wouldn't tell the creature that the moment the Black Giant descended, its innate "Temporal Disorder" domain had already quietly covered the surrounding area.
The speed that the enemy perceived as being at its absolute limit was, in Jieming's temporal frame of reference, nothing more than an ordinary lunge.
"Trying to sneak attack me?"
Jieming raised his right hand. The ten rune-imbued magical artifacts on his wrist, carved from crystal, instantly lit up with a blinding radiance.
In the next instant, hundreds of fine, scorching energy rays shot out from the crystals!
After leaving the talismanic seals, these rays did not scatter in a random attack. Instead, under Jieming's exquisite control, they rapidly converged and fused in mid-air, ultimately forming a blazing white light cannon as thick as a bucket, brimming with destructive energy.
With unstoppable force, it slammed into the sneak attacker, who appeared "slow" due to the difference in time flow!
Trapped in the deceleration field, the attacker had no time to dodge. He could only watch in terror as the light cannon descended, vaporizing both his protective energy and his tough body in an instant.
After firing a few more shots to confirm the enemy was dead, Jieming carefully used his mental power to collect the remaining tissue fragments as spoils of war.
Meanwhile, the arrival of the Level 5 Black Giant instantly turned the tide of the battle.
The Black Giant tore through the enemy ranks like a tiger among sheep. Its immense physical resistance and energy absorption allowed it to ignore most attacks, while its Temporal Disorder Domain left the besieging enemies in agony.
The remaining three wizards, their burden greatly reduced, fought with renewed spirit. Together with the Black Giant, they swiftly eliminated the rest of the enemy.
Soon, the battle ended.
The three wizards, including the severely injured one who had barely stabilized his condition with medicine, approached Jieming.
When they saw the Alchemy Department Emblem on his robes, their faces involuntarily lit up with joy.
The injured wizard tore open his tattered robes and applied a cool-scented green salve to the strange black corrosive marks on his chest. As he did, he eagerly explained the situation to Jieming, his voice laced with the relief and excitement of someone who had just cheated death.
"My friend, thank you for the help! We're from the Grey Tower squad. We discovered a well-preserved treasure vault hidden deep within this underground complex! Judging by its structure and energy readings, it must be packed with resources. But..."
He paused, a hint of helplessness crossing his face. "The vault is locked by a special seal. We tried to force it open, but that triggered the self-destruct mechanism's early warning, which drew those guards and the reinforcements we just fought."
"We've already dealt with the vault's original stationary guards, but it seems some of the natives are unwilling to give up this place. They keep sending people to try and reclaim it or stop us."
Jieming nodded thoughtfully.
The fact that the natives were repeatedly infiltrating and attacking at all costs indirectly proved that the value of this treasure vault was likely extraordinary.
No wonder they were so pleased to see an alchemy wizard like him—breaking technical seals like this was precisely one of an alchemist's specialties.
"I can try," Jieming said succinctly, then stated his condition. "If I succeed, I want first pick of one of the spoils."
The other two wizards, who were still in relatively good condition, exchanged a glance before looking at their leader. The leader nodded without hesitation. "Of course! If you hadn't arrived in time, we wouldn't even be alive, let alone in the treasure vault."
With the agreement struck, Jieming, escorted by the Black Giant, approached a heavy metal door located in the deepest part of the underground structure.
The door's surface was inscribed with complex energy patterns, and a circular indentation in the center emitted a faint yet dangerous energy fluctuation.
Jieming extended his right hand and pressed it gently against the cold metal door. Closing his eyes, he channeled his alchemy, allowing his mental power to slowly seep into the sealing structure.
In his perception, the interior of the seal resembled a sophisticated trap.
Several strands of energy with strange properties acted like "tripwires," all connected to a massive and violent energy source.
Any attempt to violently alter the material form or energy state inside the treasure vault would instantly snap these "tripwires," detonating the colossal energy source and destroying everything inside—along with the one who had triggered it.
"An ingenious design," Jieming thought. "It uses the unique power characteristics of the indigenous people as a key..."
After a moment's consideration, he decided to take the safest approach.
While maintaining his alchemy, Jieming also began to employ the extraction art.
His mental power transformed into an invisible hand, cautiously bypassing the sensitive trigger points and acting directly upon the same strange energies that served as the "fuses."
Relying on the extraction art's ability, he painstakingly stripped these energies from the sealing structure, one wisp at a time, and channeled them into an energy container he had temporarily constructed within his internal space.
Wuuu! Wuuu! Wuuu!
The instant the final "fuse" was extracted, the runes on the treasure vault's gate flared with a blinding red light, emitting a piercing, shrill alarm!
The sound echoed through the vast underground space, carrying far into the distance.
However, that was all.
Without the "fuses" to detonate the massive energy source, the alarm was useless—it could only create noise and potentially attract more enemies.
Jieming remained unmoved, his movements steady.
Though the fuses were gone, the treasure vault was likely already secure.
But just in case, he cast the Extraction Art once more. This time, his target was the dormant yet colossal energy source at the seal core!
Under his efforts, that terrifying mass of energy—enough to blow up everything within a thousand meters—was extracted in its entirety.
It transformed into a constantly twisting and flashing sphere of light, which he carefully sealed within his internal space.
"Just in time to replenish what I spent..." Jieming felt a slight sense of relief. This high-quality energy mass was an unexpected windfall.
Having done all this, he took a step back and issued a command to the Black Giant, who stood beside him like a black iron tower.
The Black Giant let out a low roar, and its two massive palms, covered in liquid metal, slammed into the gap of the treasure vault's door!
Screeeech—CRASH!!
The ear-splitting sound of metal tearing rang out. The heavy metal door, now stripped of its energy protection and relying solely on its physical structure, was ripped open like wet cardboard by the Black Giant's terrifying strength, revealing the gaping darkness of the treasure vault's interior.
A dense aura of energy and a peculiar scent—a mixture of metal and some unknown compound—instantly wafted out from the open vault.
(End of the Chapter)
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