Translator: AnubisTL
Unnoticed, fifty years had quietly slipped away.
For mortals, this was half a lifetime of trials and tribulations.
But for wizards immersed in the sea of knowledge, it was merely the blink of an eye.
Jieming stood as always in his vast underground laboratory.
His gaze was fixed intently on two slowly merging orbs of light suspended in mid-air, maintained by countless precision instruments.
Within the intricate web of energy fields, a blue core and a red core, each radiating primordial qi, were fusing, permeating, and intertwining with each other at an agonizingly slow yet relentlessly determined pace.
Confirming the core's stability at last, Jieming's face finally revealed a mixture of exhaustion and anticipation.
The red core belonged to the lava giant, while the blue core originated from the snow monster.
Strictly speaking, these two pure elemental lifeforms lacked a traditional "core" in the biological sense.
When alive, the lava giant's so-called core was actually composed of countless rice-grain-sized crystalline fragments scattered throughout its body.
These crystalline fragments contained not only the lava giants' fundamental life information but also vast reserves of fire elemental energy.
Due to their sheer number, scattered throughout the giants' bodies, even losing a significant portion during intense battles posed no fatal threat.
When lava giants needed to reproduce, they would detach the most fully formed small crystal from their bodies and deposit it into a hatchery or an energy-rich magma pool.
The so-called "Lava Giant Core" before Jieming was actually an artificial construct. After a lava giant died, all the remaining tiny crystals in its body had been meticulously collected and forcibly fused together using specialized techniques to form this concentrated energy aggregate.
The "snow monster" core followed a similar principle, albeit with an even more extreme manifestation.
Living snow monsters lacked even a single fixed crystal within their bodies.
Yet these elemental lifeforms possessed a peculiar biological instinct: when exposed to high temperatures that caused their bodies to melt, the molten remains would instinctively coalesce, ensuring they could swiftly regain their combat capabilities.
This unique physiological characteristic persists even after the snow monsters die.
Upon death, the body parts with the strongest vitality and highest energy density automatically converge under the influence of this trait.
This process forms an irregular, ice-blue crystalline structure known as the Snow Monster Core.
When Jieming first proposed his research plan to "enhance the lava giant race," he targeted the snow monsters—creatures from the same plane as the lava giants but with diametrically opposed elemental attributes—as the primary source of enhancement materials.
However, during his time on the Flamefrost Plane, Jieming's research into these elemental life forms had been insufficient.
Moreover, he lacked expertise in genetic modification techniques related to the water element.
As a result, the entire project faced numerous obstacles and progressed at a snail's pace.
But ever since Dean Avery Knight awarded Jieming a strand of the Origin of the Water Element, his research speed had soared as if given wings, accelerating dramatically!
Now, the final results were within reach.
Jieming manipulated the controls on the nearby instrument console for a moment, studying the data displayed on the holographic screen. He silently calculated the figures in his mind.
According to the data, the fusion process of the two cores had entered a stable phase. It was estimated that within another year or so, the fusion would be completely finalized.
At that point, they would finally be able to determine whether this century-long research project had ultimately succeeded or failed.
Buzz...
Just then, the communicator beside him buzzed, indicating a space teleportation request had been received through the laboratory's internal authorization system.
Jieming raised an eyebrow and checked the request's origin. To his surprise, the sender was Viola.
"Is the research finished?" Jieming muttered to himself, casually confirming the request.
In the next moment, the teleportation formation at the center of the laboratory glowed brightly.
Amidst violent spatial fluctuations, a staggering figure stumbled out.
After decades apart, the two met again.
Even Jieming, who was rarely surprised, couldn't help but freeze for a moment at Viola's current appearance.
Viola looked utterly wretched.
Her once smooth, silky, moonlit silver hair was now dry, frizzy, and tangled, resembling a "frazzled" state after being struck by lightning.
Her silver-gray eyes, which had always sparkled with cunning and wisdom, were now dull and lifeless, filled with exhaustion.
Even her eye sockets were ringed with heavy dark circles.
For a sixth-tier wizard to appear so haggard, with such prominent dark circles...
It was clear she had been overworked as Mentor Clark's "beast of burden" in the harsh environment of the Flamefrost Plane for years.
"Oh, Jieming... Junior Brother," Viola greeted him weakly, waving a listless hand. Her voice was hoarse. "Sorry for dropping in uninvited."
"Senior Sister, what happened to you?" Jieming approached and offered her a potion to restore her spirit.
Viola accepted the potion and drained it in one gulp, letting out a long sigh. A flicker of vitality finally returned to her dull eyes.
She looked at Jieming, a genuine smile spreading across her face. "Speaking of which, I must thank you again for those spirit-enhancing and fatigue-relieving magic potions you sent me back then. If not for them keeping me going, I might have actually died in that hellhole."
Jieming's eyelids twitched as he observed her exhausted state. He couldn't help but remark, "Seeing you in such a miserable state... you must have had an incredibly exhausting time these past few years."
Viola nodded in deep agreement.
Suddenly, a feverish, manic flush spread across her face.
She licked her parched lips, her voice dripping with a near-orgasmic pleasure as she murmured, "Yes! It's truly... exhausting! That kind of pain... where both soul and body are pushed to their absolute limits, each second teetering on the brink of collapse! Ah... it's so rare! And it fills my heart with... such exquisite relief!"
The corner of Jieming's eye twitched violently, beyond his control.
He silently retracted his earlier concern.
How foolish of me to worry about this creature, he thought. It was utterly unnecessary!
Seeing Viola in this state, Jieming realized even more clearly that a complete psychopath like her was indeed the perfect wielder of the Rule of Pain.
"Alright, enough joking around," Viola quickly regained her composure, explaining her purpose. "I came here mainly to inform you about Mentor Clark's research progress on the Flamefrost Plane."
"Mentor Clark has achieved a major breakthrough in his critical research there. He'll likely need to remain on that plane for several more centuries before he can return."
"Mentor Clark asked me to tell you that if you've already finished brewing the batch of Red Dust Magic Potions you promised to repay your loan, you can contact him later through our shared mark and directly transmit the potions to the Flamefrost Plane."
Jieming understood immediately. This was his mentor's subtle way of pressing him for repayment.
After all, considerable time had passed, and it was indeed time for him to continue settling his debt.
He replied promptly, "Understood. Please tell Teacher Clark I'll brew the potions as soon as possible and send them over."
With that, he turned to Viola and asked, "What about you? What are your plans now?"
Viola stretched languidly, her exquisite figure on full display. "Me? After decades of intense research and 'experiencing' the laws of that plane, I've finally managed to cram my knowledge level up to the 'passing grade' for a fifth-tier wizard."
"So, Mentor Clark, in his great mercy, allowed me to leave temporarily. He told me to go back and thoroughly review the foundational knowledge I'd neglected, and... research how to repay my astronomical debt."
As she spoke, her silver-gray eyes, now brimming with renewed vitality, darted around before settling on Jieming. "So... Junior Brother Jieming, do you know of any quick ways to earn money lately?"
Jieming pondered for a moment, and the incident from fifty years ago immediately resurfaced in his mind.
After carefully organizing his thoughts, he briefly explained to her about Dean Avery Knight's recent discovery of a new plane.
He added, "I've heard the combat power on the other side is formidable, and the intensity of the war is extremely high, making combat strength highly valued. Because of this, the plane is not only rich in resources but also offers exceptionally generous exchange rates for battle merits. Senior Viola, if you're looking to earn a fortune quickly, you might want to check it out."
Jieming clearly remembered that Senior Viola held a visiting professor position at the newly established Noren Academy branch on the Elosia Plane.
Theoretically, she was also a wizard under Dean Avery Knight's command.
Her participation in the war would be perfectly reasonable.
"A new plane?!"
Viola's eyes lit up instantly, the gleam in them like that of a bloodthirsty wolf spotting a plump flock of sheep.
War meant chaos, death, and... pain!
But it also meant immense, unimaginable opportunities and wealth!
She clapped her hands excitedly. "It's settled! I'll go back and prepare for twenty or thirty years, get myself in peak condition, upgrade my adorable 'pets,' and then I'll head there immediately!"
Watching her rub her hands together, practically vibrating with impatience, Jieming could only mentally offer a three-second moment of silence for that unknown, unfortunate world.
(End of the Chapter)
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