Chapter 190: Chapter 176: Wizard Society and Acquaintances

Originally, Jeming had no interest in their debate.

The petty squabbles over contributions held no great allure for him.

He was just about to focus his mind on pondering how to efficiently handle these fresh Magma Giant samples.

But suddenly, a touch of oddness appeared in his expression.

He felt a faint tremor from the talisman carved for collecting Red Dust Qi deep within his dantian, at some unknown point in time.

He immediately gathered his thoughts, delving into his dantian with spiritual power to carefully perceive the talisman.

Jeming quickly discovered with delight that the surface of the talisman had indeed accumulated some thin Red Dust Qi!

“This… how is it possible?” Jeming was struck by an unprecedented sense of astonishment.

He had previously speculated that Red Dust Qi originated from intense emotional fluctuations of living beings and their interaction with the concept of “society.”

On the Elorcia Plane, it was almost an energy present everywhere.

But in the Wizard Civilization, especially within the orthodox wizards, Red Dust Qi was extremely rare, almost non-existent.

The daily interactions of wizards were filled with rational rules and cold data.

They were not easily angered or entangled in emotions, nor did they pursue mundane warmth.

Therefore, he had scarcely collected any Red Dust Qi from the wizards.

Instinctively, he turned his gaze toward a few wizards still arguing heatedly nearby, then spread his spiritual power to sense the scattered presences of other wizards tallying the spoils from afar.

Though these wizards were trying hard to maintain a calm face, their emotional fluctuations were distinctly evident in his highly sensitive emotional perception system.

There was anger, unwillingness, greed, cunning, and even a trace of repression due to suppressed desires.

In an instant, clarity suddenly dawned upon Jeming’s mind!

He finally understood!

The reason why this almost extremely rational creature of a wizard rarely generated Red Dust Qi was due to the very rational nature of most wizards.

Under ordinary circumstances, it was difficult for them to quarrel with others or engage in socially interactive chaos filled with mundane fire and smoke.

All their communication revolved around knowledge, power, and utility, lacking the intense clashes of the mortal’s seven emotions and six desires.

However!

When facing real issues of interest, when vying for resources crucial to their personal growth, even wizards would argue like ordinary people for their own benefits!

At this moment, their rationality still dominated, but they would wield force, curse, and their latent greed, competitiveness, unwillingness, even those dark emotions hidden away, would be fully unleashed.

These seemingly insignificant emotional fluctuations were precisely the source of Red Dust Qi!

Jeming exhaled a long breath, a newfound clarity rising in his heart.

This validated his long-held suspicions of “Red Dust,” and completely overturned his stereotypes of wizard civilization.

He had thought wizards were beings entirely detached from the mundane, but it turned out that “rationality” merely suppressed the expression of their emotions, without vanishing their existence.

In the face of certain core interests, the icy rational shell of the wizards would also develop tiny cracks, revealing the “mortal heart” concealed within.

No wonder the Wizard Civilization had an unending stream of wars!

No wonder the desire for outward conquest in the Wizard Civilization was so strong!

He had once puzzled over why these beings pursuing eternity and extreme rationality were so fervently engaged in out-plane conquests.

Now he understood that the entire Wizard Civilization had been reshaped long ago.

For this civilization, genuine “social” interaction and game between individuals no longer resided within stable life but was cleverly shifted onto the battlefield!

They acquired resources through planar warfare, distributed spoils and merits through wars, using these most direct and primal interest distributions to stir up the most intrinsic “seven emotions and six desires” of individual wizards — greed, slaughter, competition, control…

These emotions, once suppressed by rationality, were not only released on the battlefield but became their internal motivator constantly pushing for strength and pursuit of eternity.

This was a civilization cold to the extreme yet equally efficient!

It converted all negative emotions into war power, guiding all personal desires towards external expansion.

Jeming looked at the heated spoils debate from afar, the quarrelling of the wizards around him seemed to carry a special rhythm.

He once again sensed that faint yet enduring flow of Red Dust Qi from within his dantian, emanating from the wizards.

Yes, this was the “society” of wizards. Only in such a life-and-death battlefield for interests would the most essential flame of the wizards as living beings truly ignite.

What emerged were the glimmers of light belonging to the “Red Dust.”

“Oh… a pleasant surprise.” Watching the scene before him, Jeming couldn’t help but grin.

Yet, he himself didn’t notice that his smile was no different from the wizards present, equally filled with greed.

…

…

Jeming stood in midair, watching other wizards continue their pursuit of the scattered indigenous army.

The distant sounds of pursuit and slaughter no longer concerned him.

After this battle round, Jeming chose not to follow others in continuing the hunt.

Unlike others who still needed to strive for military merits and resources, he had gained enough.

This time, acquiring a large number of precious living Magma Giant captives is enough to saturate Jeming’s upcoming research work.

“Time to head back,” Jeming murmured to himself, his figure transforming into a stream of light, speeding toward the Wizard Camp without looking back.

For him, the mere act of killing or capturing them was far less significant and valuable than dissecting and analyzing them to extract knowledge.

Moreover, he had another research target—the Yetis of the Frost Dark Realm.

After returning to the Wizard Camp, he did not directly return to his temporary laboratory but instead went straight to the “resource trading zone” designated within the camp.

Here, the lights were bright, even during the lull between battles, it was filled with the low whispers of wizards and the sound of energy collisions.

Countless wizards came here with their spoils, either to sell, exchange, or seek the raw materials they needed.

The air was filled with the scents of various alchemy potions, elemental materials, and magic ores, creating an atmosphere that was noisy yet orderly.

On his way back, Jeming had applied for a stall through the Magic Network Terminal, and now he stopped in front of his stall, cautiously taking out several of the best-condition Second Level living Magma Giants.

These living Magma Giants were restrained by a Rune Array, quietly lying in specially-made Imprisonment Boxes, their surfaces still emitting wisps of scorching heat.

They were carefully selected from among thousands of defeated soldiers, each possessing complete life activity and a powerful Elemental Core, making them rare research specimens.

“Urgently need living Yetis!”

Jeming did not shout out his offer loudly; he simply posted his needs through the Magic Network Terminal, clearly listing the items he could exchange—high-quality living Magma Giants and some exclusive research data copies related to them.

Sure enough, in just a moment, a few Logistics Element wizards specializing in biology and Elemental Affinity gathered around.

Second Level living Magma Giants were still in great demand, especially the ones at Jeming’s stall, which were quite intact.

“These Magma Giants of yours are indeed nice. I have a few recently captured Second Level Yetis here, with strong life energy. How about it?” a Biological Wizard’s eyes gleamed.

In his Imprisonment Box, a few Yetis, bound by ice-blue Rune Chains, let out low whimpers.

The Yetis were covered in white, long fur and were slightly smaller than creatures of the same level as Magma Giants, but they also emitted strong life auras.

After a brief haggling session, Jeming successfully exchanged a portion of his living Magma Giants, along with several physics data models and witchcraft formulas featuring “high-frequency sound wave suppression,” verified by the Magic Network, for a few living Yetis.

Satisfied, he stored them in his Spatial Ring, as these fresh specimens would sustain his research progress for a while.

After the transaction was complete, Jeming, without a moment’s delay, returned straight to his temporary laboratory.

He eagerly wanted to conduct a more detailed study of the Yetis.

As representatives of the plane’s two poles, the elemental composition and physiological traits of Yetis must be entirely different from those of Magma Giants, holding a treasure trove of knowledge.

Jeming placed a living Yeti into a specially designed Ice Crystal Restriction Box on the dissection table, using the “All-Purpose Eye” to initially examine its external energy flow and body surface.

This Yeti was clearly more suited to extremely cold environments, with highly active Ice Elements inside it; the white long fur on its body could even form ice crystals, creating natural armor.

It was forcibly subdued into unconsciousness by witchcraft, yet even so, every breath it took emitted an extremely low temperature, causing the surrounding air to condense into white frost.

However, just as he was about to delve deeper, the Magic Network Terminal emitted an urgent and solemn sound!

This time, it wasn’t a combat alert, but a top-priority notification for a new task.

Such notifications were usually directed at all combat personnel or a specific core department.

Jeming’s heart skipped a beat; he paused his research and opened the terminal.

As expected, it was a directive for all Logistics Element wizards and even some excellent Combat Wizards.

The issuer was Master Elvin, along with a Fifth Level Wizard Jeming had yet to encounter.

The task content was clear and concise:

[Important Urgent Task—Degrade and Disseminate Targeted Destructive Witchcraft]

Task One: Degrade and modify the “Targeted Destructive Witchcraft” on Magma Giants (code-named: Magma Annihilation).

Led by Master Elvin, all related research wizards must work closely together.

Objective: Modify the witchcraft model to make its structure simpler and easier to understand.

Requirement: Lower the witchcraft level, transforming it into different witchcraft models ranging from Level 1 to 5, for Combat Wizards of various strength levels to learn and use.

Emphasis: Ensure that the modified witchcraft can be understood by Combat Wizards and quickly mastered.

Task Two: Degrade and modify the “Targeted Destructive Witchcraft” on the Frost Dark Realm Yetis (code-named: Frost Soul Dissolution).

Led by Roland Faner, all related research wizards must work closely together.

Requirements and objectives are the same as Task One.

Jeming’s eyes quickly scanned the task list, having anticipated such a task.

After all, Targeted Destructive Witchcraft required a high level of knowledge among the same rank of witchcraft, and to popularize it among the army of wizards, especially considering those battle-hardened fighters, it had to be simplified as much as possible.

This was a good opportunity for Jeming, for accepting this task meant access to related research materials developed during the witchcraft’s research, which was very useful for him.

“But… Roland Faner?”

Looking at Task Two, Jeming glanced at the master’s name with an odd expression in his eyes.

This one was technically a half-acquaintance; when he registered at the Boundary Point, this wizard was among the group from the Tower of Annihilation that had surrounded him.

The person was also one of the only three Fifth Level Wizards in this expedition mission.

“They’re all acquaintances…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep