Translator: AnubisTL
The elemental dust inside the Stasis Experimental Capsule slowly settled, marking the conclusion of this joint experiment that had spanned several years.
After assisting Mentor Clark in recording the final batch of data streams, Jieming politely took his leave and activated his planar teleportation authority.
The familiar scent of sulfur, mingled with an indescribable sense of order, washed over him as Jieming returned to his Purgatory Sulfur Plane.
The moment his feet touched the solid ground, he didn't rush to check the expansion of the Black Giant Legion. Instead, he immediately sank his consciousness into the earth beneath him, carefully sensing the vast system that spanned the entire plane—the Incense Divine Path.
"Running... everything is normal."
After a moment, Jieming opened his eyes, his voice carrying a hint of relief.
He had been gone for a short time—a mere decade or so.
For planar management, where time is often measured in centuries, this was but a mere blink of an eye.
The plane itself had not changed much. The black giant settlements continued to multiply and grow steadily through the hatcheries, but no qualitative leap had occurred.
The Incense Divine Path had only just completed its most basic structural framework. Energy circulated within it in a stable and orderly manner, without collapsing or conflicting. This in itself already met Jieming's minimum expectations.
As for anything else... Jieming hadn't expected any extra gains in such a short time, especially with such a rudimentary framework.
However, just as he was about to withdraw his mind, a faint but exceptionally clear sensation made him freeze in astonishment.
Concentrating his mind and sensing carefully, Jieming suddenly opened his eyes.
That's... Mortal Dust Qi?
Though the amount was small, it was undeniably authentic Mortal Dust Qi!
A sharp glint flashed in Jieming's eyes as he understood in an instant.
Of course! The successful construction of the Incense Divine Path framework was equivalent to "registering" his status as a "civilization deity" within the conceptual framework of this regional plane.
Although the main body of this "civilization" consisted of Black Giants with limited intelligence and a nearly blank cultural system, the nature of his connection to them had changed.
It had shifted from a potential "keeper and kept" dynamic to a relationship closer to "protector and faith."
It was the preliminary establishment of this relationship that had broken the invisible barrier that had previously hindered the generation of Mortal Dust Qi.
"Although the number of Black Giants is still too small, and their culture is practically non-existent, resulting in a limited total amount of Mortal Dust Qi... this is a breakthrough from zero to one!" A faint, irrepressible smile touched Jieming's lips.
This was an absolute windfall. It meant the first step in constructing his Incense Divine Path was not only correct but had already begun to yield substantial returns.
Even if the current amount of Mortal Dust Qi was small, it proved that this path held boundless potential.
He carefully collected the newly generated Mortal Dust Qi and stored it securely within his internal space.
After completing this, Jieming took a deep breath, sat down in the laboratory chair, and began to calmly plan his next moves.
The primary objective, naturally, was to continue refining the Incense Divine Path.
The current framework only ensured energy circulation. The real core—a system to generate and store Incense Power—still needed to be constructed.
He estimated roughly that with his current technical reserves and energy, he would need another two to three such mandatory rest periods to achieve a preliminary completion.
"Still, since it's already stably producing Mortal Dust Qi, I have at least a guaranteed minimum return. This is a win no matter how you look at it." Jieming's composure remained unshakable.
While other wizards might have to worry about their lifespans before reaching the sixth tier, Jieming was completely unconcerned. With his Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, he could live indefinitely as long as he didn't court death.
However, another pressing issue immediately surfaced in his mind.
He was likely about to advance to a fourth-tier wizard.
Ever since he successfully constructed the framework of the Incense Divine Path, his mastery of the "Spiritual Qi Law" had been skyrocketing, far surpassing the "1% law mastery level" required for advancement to the fourth tier.
Furthermore, although he had narrowly escaped being erased by "Justice" in that other plane thanks to the Substitute Death Puppet, the genuine experience of death had done more than just instill a bone-deep terror; it had also triggered a violent upheaval in his spiritual sea.
This intense spiritual fluctuation had acted as a unique catalyst, drastically stimulating the growth of his mental power. Even while staying in Mentor Clark's laboratory, Jieming could clearly feel the upper limit of his mental power rapidly increasing.
At this rate, there was a high probability he would advance to a fourth-tier wizard before the end of this four-hundred-year rest period.
The problem was... how long had it even been since he advanced to the third tier?
To put it bluntly, he hadn't even had time to settle into his seat as a third-tier wizard.
Forget about the fourth tier—he hadn't even had the chance to systematically study or accumulate much knowledge at the third-tier level itself.
"Knowledge is power" was no empty slogan in the wizard world; it was an iron law.
The most direct consequence of insufficient knowledge accumulation was a combat power that failed to match one's rank—possessing the realm but lacking the means to utilize it.
Take Senior Viola, for example. She had originally been a standout among third-tier wizards, but after her leapfrogging advancement to the sixth tier, she was likely still one of the most mediocre wizards at that level, even now.
"So, that means..." Jieming rubbed his brow, arriving at a somewhat helpless conclusion. "The long-awaited rest period I've been waiting for isn't for relaxing or deepening my research, but for... frantic catch-up lessons?"
No, "catch-up" wasn't even the right word.
For many domains he needed to learn from scratch, this was practically a preview!
Coming to this realization, Jieming sighed and resignedly opened the magic net terminal he carried with him.
A deep blue light screen unfolded before him, illuminating his slightly grim expression.
"Money is always scarce when you need it most," he muttered to himself. "Knowledge is no different."
He then began browsing the catalogs of the Noren Workshop's internal database and the Star Ring Federation's shared knowledge base.
This time, he wouldn't be as frugal as before. He was prepared to spend lavishly. Not only would he tap into the over one billion low-tier military merits in his account, but he was also ready to invest a significant portion of the one million high-tier military merits he had just earned from the last dimensional expedition.
After all, core knowledge often represented cutting-edge achievements or proprietary techniques in a given field—hard currency that was difficult to obtain with ordinary resources.
However, Jieming didn't let the sense of urgency cloud his judgment and lead him to make blind purchases. "I'll use low-tier military merits to buy foundational and general knowledge modules first," he reasoned, "and build a complete knowledge framework. Once I've accumulated enough basics and identified my specific shortcomings and research direction, I'll use the high-tier military merits to purchase the core, critical technologies or theories I actually need."
After formulating his procurement strategy, Jieming spent some time organizing and archiving the scattered fragments of knowledge he had acquired piecemeal while "scrounging" during the last planar conquest.
Come to think of it, aside from the one million high-tier military merit he had earned, these knowledge fragments were his only real gain from this planar war.
"A pity. The time was too short, and the knowledge I could gather was limited..."
As Jieming organized his findings, the other knowledge packages he had purchased began to arrive one after another.
After a moment's thought, Jieming's gaze settled on the "Space-system Knowledge" category.
Whether it was for traveling between planes, constructing more complex rune-imbued magical artifact arrays in the future, or even gaining a deeper understanding of the ultra-long-distance energy transmission of the Incense Divine Path, spatial knowledge was an indispensable foundation.
"It seems I'll have to start by tackling the space attribute."
Jieming made his decision. With a light tap on the light screen, he uploaded the first batch of knowledge packages—Basic Theory of Spatial Folds and Introduction to Dimensional Anchor Positioning—into his personal terminal.
Then, Jieming found a comfortable position, opened the terminal, and immersed himself in the knowledge before him.
(End of the Chapter)
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