Chapter 209: Chapter 191: One Year

Unknowingly, another year has passed.

Throughout this year, the battle situation on the entire Ice and Flame Plane has not changed significantly.

The wizards and the monster tribes of the Ice and Flame Plane are locked in fierce combat, both sides engaged in small-scale skirmishes and probing along the extensive border.

The Wizard Legion, like a steel giant rooted in scorched earth, continuously consolidates their camp, radiating influence outward.

Meanwhile, the Magma Giants and Yetis rely on their familiarity with the native environment to mount a stubborn resistance.

Although forced by the might of the wizards to retreat step by step, the monsters seem not anxious, almost accustomed to it.

Everything seems to have fallen into a subtle balance, but Jeming knows this is merely the calm before the storm.

Today, he rarely spent time outside his laboratory.

Instead, at Viola’s invitation, he engaged in casual conversation in her office located in the camp’s high-level, overlooking the entire plain of scorched earth.

“You have probably heard the latest news, right?” Viola leisurely leaned on the soft sofa, holding a cup of blue liquid emitting wisps of cold air, contrasting sharply with the heat outside the Flame Sun Realm.

“Is Senior Sister referring to… the geologic structural changes in the plane?” Jeming asked calmly from across her.

“Exactly.” Viola took a sip of the liquid in her cup, a sharp glint flickering in her eyes, “Just yesterday, the frontline exploration team submitted the final report. The bold geological conjecture proposed in previous meetings has been completely confirmed.”

Jeming’s mind stirred slightly.

The so-called geological conjecture was precisely the matter Viola and Jeming had discussed before.

It refers to the long-term conflict between the Magma Giants and Yetis, where the victorious party’s territory expands, causing the actual boundary lines of the Frost Dark Realm and Flame Sun Realm to change macroscopically.

Back then, as Jeming was about to head to the Flame Sun Realm, this matter had garnered considerable attention from the logistics wizards.

It can even be said that this issue focused the camp’s primary attention on geological investigations, relieving Jeming from his demanding research duties, giving him enough time to proceed to the Flame Sun Realm.

“After a year of geological surveying and energy flow analysis, we can now be one hundred percent certain of the authenticity of this matter,” Viola continued with a hint of excitement in her voice.

“The results of this investigation are even better than we initially anticipated. Through energy residual analysis of ancient strata samples, the camp discovered that in the endless war history of this plane, during periods of greatest disparity between territories, the losing side’s habitable area was once compressed to less than ten percent of the entire plane’s total area!”

“Less than ten percent…” Jeming repeated the figure, a glimmer of insight in his eyes.

What does this mean?

It means that the Magma Giants or Yetis, both of these indigenous races, have faced near extinction crises.

Their homelands were compressed to the limit, their living space stripped away, but they ultimately held through and managed to come back in subsequent wars, pushing the boundary line back.

Jeming couldn’t help but feel excited as well: “This is excellent news for us.”

Viola put down the cup, leaned forward slightly, her gaze becoming intensely pressing: “Indeed! This indicates that both of these elemental races possess remarkably strong civilizational resilience and pressure resistance.”

If in a typical racial war, this character and pressure resistance is unquestionably an advantage.

But for the wizards whose initial target is the plane, such racial characteristics actually become a wizard’s advantage.

“This means that in the upcoming total war, we can employ more aggressive and brutal tactics.” Jeming interjected, “Without excessively worrying that the other side might collapse quickly, choosing to perish together with us, like detonating the entire plane as a final measure.”

“Absolutely correct!” Viola acknowledged with a nod of approval, “A civilization able to withstand near extinction pressure, its social structure and spiritual will are far more resilient than we imagined. We can dismantle their resistance in more efficient, direct ways, without being cautious.”

She paused, lowering her voice a few notches: “I’ve already received internal news, Augustine, the master commander of this expeditionary army, has formally issued the highest level communication request to the ’Boundary Point’, demanding… reinforcements!”

Reinforcements!

Jeming instinctively pressed his lips together.

He understood that this seemingly peaceful year was just the Wizard Civilization accumulating power, waiting for a reason strong enough to let them launch an all-out assault without hesitation.

And now, this reason has been found.

The will to endure a ninety percent loss of territory means that when the Magma Giants and Yetis attempt to detonate the Plane Origin, the wizards have already weakened this world’s life source through wanton slaughter sufficiently to control it.

An unprecedented, bloody storm sweeping across the entire Ice and Flame Plane will soon erupt completely!

After the conversation with Viola, Jeming’s mood remained undisturbed.

Compared to the grand war, his personal cultivation goals were evidently more crucial.

He gracefully declined Viola’s invitation for lunch, turned around and left the command tower, returning to his exclusive laboratory in the camp.

With the passage of this year, the area of the wizard camp continued to expand outward.

Numerous alchemy puppets and engineering sorcery work tirelessly day and night, constructing more defense towers, energy hubs, and functional buildings rising from the ground.

By now, the scale of the camp has expanded to nearly three times what it was a year ago, and resources are increasingly abundant.

Every Logistics Element wizard can finally have a completely independent laboratory of their own.

Sizzle…

The metal door slowly closed behind him, isolating all the noise from the outside world.

Inside the laboratory, lights were blazing, and the air was filled with a mix of disinfectant potion, metal, and a faint frosty scent.

On the central operating table, metal restraints securely held down an enormous figure.

It was a yeti.

Its size was smaller than the Third Level Magma Giants Jeming had encountered before, but still massive.

Its pure white fur had become mottled, stained with dried blood and traces of unknown chemical potions.

Its limbs were pierced by rune chains, fixed to the operating table. The eyes that should have been full of wildness and icy killing intent now only held endless weakness and numbness.

Its body was covered with dense incisions and suture lines. Some muscle tissue was even peeled away, exposing the cold bones and the pulsating energy veins beneath.

This yeti was on the brink of death.

Jeming calmly walked to the operating table, his eyes showing no trace of compassion, only cold dispassion and scrutiny.

He extended his hand, and several alchemy probes glimmering faintly stretched automatically from the nearby instruments, gently piercing into the yeti’s body to read its final life data.

A light screen unfolded before him, and streams of complex data flowed by.

“Energy core activity below 3%, soul fluctuations soon to dissipate, elemental regeneration ability completely collapsed… Hmm, the last experimental sample has reached its limit.”

Jeming looked at the data on the light screen and lightly shook his head.

Over the past year, he had obtained three live yetis through various channels as research subjects.

He didn’t rush to the Frost Dark Realm; instead, he chose the most prudent approach of conducting thorough analysis on this entirely new creature in his laboratory.

He dissected their bodies, analyzing their elemental composition and energy cycle method.

Through careful study and multiple experiments with the three live specimens, Jeming quickly integrated all the knowledge and intelligence he collected about yetis.

And now, the last experimental subject had also completed its mission.

Without further hesitation, Jeming initiated the operating table’s built-in cleaning procedure.

A high-intensity energy beam shot down from above, instantly vaporizing the dying yeti without leaving a trace of ashes.

Before it died, the tortured yeti even showed an expression of relief.

Afterward, he skillfully disassembled and sterilized every piece of “experimental equipment” on the workbench that had been stained with blood, including dissection knives, energy extractors, rune engraving needles, and so forth.

After completing all this, he activated the laboratory’s self-cleansing array to sweep the entire room spotlessly clean.

Ensuring the entire laboratory was perfectly cleansed, leaving not a single biological trace behind, he turned and left.

All preparations were finally completed.

He had mastered enough firsthand information about the yeti species.

He also custom-designed a complete set of alchemy equipment to cope with the extreme environment of the Frost Dark Realm.

Viola’s news made Jeming aware that as the Wizard Legion’s strategic offensive approached, the entire situation in the Ice and Flame Plane would inevitably plunge into unprecedented chaos.

Thus, he must complete his “experiment” before the onset of the full-scale war.

He returned to his dormitory, conducted a final inventory and organization of all the supplies, witchcraft artifacts, and newly refined magic potions he needed to carry, and then placed the crystal recording the detailed map of the Ice and Flame Plane in the most convenient spot.

“It’s basically confirmed that the Magma Giants over there cannot provide Red Dust Qi.” Jeming stood by the window, gazing into the distant, blurry horizon, where the Boundary Point between the Flame Sun Realm and the Frost Dark Realm lay.

“Well then, let me see…” Worry glimmered in his eyes, “What the situation will be like over in the Frost Dark Realm.”

After such a lengthy contemplation, Jeming had already figured things out.

Now, he was no longer concerned about his Red Dust Qi issue, but rather worried about another much more vexing matter.

“If the Frost Dark Realm can’t provide Red Dust Qi either, that would be… too troublesome…”

Jeming took a deep breath and sighed long and wistfully.

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