Translator: AnubisTL
The proctor observed the apprentices' reactions with satisfaction. He knew this reward would ignite their ambition and unlock their full potential.
To be honest, even a wizard like him felt a momentary flicker of desire upon hearing about the prize.
After all, at the Noren Workshop, not even every seventh-tier wizard could command a Noren Academy.
"Alright!" the proctor suddenly raised his voice, cutting through their daydreams. "The briefing is over! All apprentices, proceed to your designated areas according to your academy and group numbers! Prepare to enter Elosia. May your... campaign be successful!"
The teleportation formation glowed anew. This time, the apprentices' eyes held not only tension and excitement but also a burning hunger for the boundless treasures that awaited them.
"The wizards' operational efficiency is surprisingly high," Jieming murmured, watching the wizard apprentices already fully equipped and ready to move out after receiving their orders.
This alone demonstrated why wizards were so well-suited for planar warfare.
By normal logic, after traversing multiple planes to reach this place, one would expect them to rest for a few days, familiarize themselves with the local conditions, and then proceed with the next phase of testing.
But wizards had no such customs.
Since the teleportation formation had already eliminated the fatigue of long-distance travel, they could immediately begin working upon arrival, completely unburdened by morale issues.
Moreover, every wizard was a highly skilled individual who had devoted years to rigorous study—none could be considered truly foolish.
Before embarking on their journey, they would always gather intelligence about their destination.
With clear objectives, each wizard could fulfill their designated role.
Though their exceptional intelligence made them ill-suited for large-scale group combat, their overwhelming power compensated for this weakness.
As Jieming mused on this, tens of thousands of apprentices were enveloped by a peculiar energy and instantly vanished from the teleportation plaza of Noren Workshop Headquarters.
This planar teleportation was unlike any previous experience.
If past academy teleportations had been like riding a smooth airship through a seamless void tunnel, this felt like being crammed into a sealed sphere and hurled into a raging torrent.
The surrounding spatial barriers churned like mud, and the suffocating pressure threatened to crush them.
A piercing grinding sound filled his ears, and his vision blurred into a chaotic swirl of light and shadow.
His body was repeatedly jolted by violent tremors, as if being struck by some colossal entity or forcibly tearing through countless invisible barriers.
This brutal intrusion turned many apprentices pale, and some even began vomiting uncontrollably.
Jieming focused his mind, his powerful mental power forming an iron wall against the intense spatial turbulence.
He took a deep breath, circulating his true essence within his body to suppress the discomfort.
Suddenly, a tremendous force hurled him out of the chaotic space like a flung marble.
His body plummeted uncontrollably through the air, the howling wind and panicked cries from all directions filling his ears.
As he fell, Jieming glanced upward, his gaze piercing through the turbulent air currents. His pupils contracted sharply...
Above the torn sky, more than a dozen colossal divine phantoms, each capable of blotting out the sun, writhed in an entangled struggle.
Their forms varied wildly: some radiated an ancient, verdant green, others emanated a majestic golden radiance, while still others burned with scorching flames.
Without a doubt, judging by their immense power, these were projections of divine power from the gods of the Elosia Plane. Each phantom radiated a suffocating divine might.
Opposing them was an equally massive but indistinct wizard phantom.
The wizard was wreathed in complex runes, and each gesture sent spatial tremors rippling outward, tearing through vast swathes of divine power.
This was a direct clash between a fifth-tier wizard and beings of divine rank!
"So that's it..." Jieming realized instantly.
They hadn't been "teleported" here at all. The wizard civilization had forcibly torn through the barrier of the Elosia Plane, "breaking in" by brute force!
This plane was not yet fully under the wizards' control. Its planar barrier had been sealed by the native deities using divine power, requiring divine permission for any normal entry or exit.
To send their apprentice teams through, the wizards had no choice but to tear open a temporary passage with overwhelming force.
Naturally, the guardians of the passage—the deities of Elosia—wouldn't let them succeed so easily.
Thus, during the brief moment they breached the planar barrier, a terrifying clash had erupted in the outer space.
Jieming's gaze sharpened, clearly capturing the shifting dynamics of the battlefield:
Under the relentless assault of over a dozen divine phantoms, the wizard's phantom seemed to have reached its limit.
It let out a violent, anguished howl, filled with the despair of a dying struggle, as if conveying utter hopelessness in the face of the divine beings' inevitable victory.
Then, the wizard's phantom's light rapidly dimmed, dissolving into countless shimmering particles that vanished into the air.
The divine phantoms roared with triumphant joy, their colossal forms slowly fading away, seemingly satisfied with the wizard's "demise" and believing the passage had been sealed.
Jieming hovered in mid-air, a faint glow swirling around him. This was his alchemy at work, manipulating the qi beneath him to slow his descent.
As the dense qi gathered, his speed rapidly decreased until he floated down like a feather, his feet touching the ground lightly and silently.
He glanced up at the spot where the wizard's phantom had vanished, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. "That dying howl was too contrived, the performance too forced. Terrible acting! Unacceptable! Go back and practice!"
Indeed, he had seen through the wizard's feigned death at a glance.
The reason was simple: wizards couldn't reveal their true power.
If the wizard civilization demonstrated absolute dominance, capable of crushing the planar deities, the overwhelming pressure might drive the world's native gods to reckless desperation, even leading them to trigger an irreversible plane self-destruction ritual, taking the entire world down with them.
In such a scenario, the wizards' coveted planar resources and strategic expansion plans would be utterly ruined.
Therefore, during the standoff, the wizards had to carefully maintain a delicate balance.
Periodically, they would select powerful high-rank wizards to play the role of "unfortunate souls" who were killed and fell in battle. Through this continuous stream of "sacrifices," they aimed to sustain the Elosian deities' confidence, making them believe that while the wizard civilization was formidable, it was not invincible. This would encourage them to maintain the "stalemate" rather than resort to a "scorched earth" strategy.
This silent psychological warfare was crucial for preserving the integrity of the plane.
(End of the Chapter)