Chapter 481
The Post-War
Chapter 481 The Post-War (Part 2)
About 15 kilometers behind Fort No. 7 is a "rest area" that has been temporarily leveled.
Calling it a rest area is a bit of a stretch. There are no sheltering tents, only a patch of grayish-white land that has been roughly compacted by alchemy, and thousands of metal recliners that have been hastily made by alchemy and randomly placed on the ground.
Jemin was sitting in one of the lounge chairs.
He held a cup of warm medicine that glowed with a pale green light in his hands.
After staring blankly at the sky for a while, Jemin subconsciously blew on the warm potion, then took a small sip as if drinking tea.
【Soul Spring】, a level 3 magic potion, primarily functions to soothe restless souls caused by excessive mental energy depletion and assist in restoring the stability of the mental sea.
It tastes like mint mixed with rust; it's not exactly delicious, but it does give you a refreshing feeling after drinking it.
Feeling the stinging pain from his soul lessen significantly, Jemin let out a long sigh of relief and lay back down in his chair.
Sitting with him were nearly a thousand other level four and five wizards who had also participated in turret operation.
Everyone was pale and tired, mechanically drinking the standardized recovery potion.
Outside the rest area, an even busier scene was unfolding.
Tens of thousands of level three wizards scurried between the fortresses like worker ants.
Most of these wizards are logistics wizards from the alchemy and rune systems. Under the command of high-level wizards, they inspect the energy circuits of defensive magic arrays, repair the outer walls of fortresses damaged in battle, and reinforce underground elemental transport pipelines.
After the battle, there were almost no direct casualties among the level three wizards.
After all, firing a single shot from a turret requires the full mental energy of a level 5 wizard, while a level 4 wizard can have ten people pool their mental energy together. However, a level 3 wizard would need more than a hundred people to fire a single shot.
This would require too many people, and the space inside the fortress is limited, so in previous battles, level four or five wizards operated the turrets and protective magic circles.
Most of the level 3 wizards stayed in the core safe zone of the fortress complex, mainly continuing to build defenses under the guidance of a few level 5 wizards.
However, this job was not easy either, as everyone was visibly exhausted.
Jemin saw a level three wizard, who looked like he had modified his body and was over four meters tall, carrying a rune plate that was even taller than himself, staggering toward Fortress Six.
Halfway there, his legs gave way and he almost fell. Another level three wizard next to him quickly helped him up, and the two of them, panting heavily, dragged the baseboard forward together.
Looking around, basically all level three wizards are like this.
Although there were few casualties in the previous intense battle, they had to transport materials and build fortress arrays, and grit their teeth to continue the tedious work of inscribing runes, smelting metal, and connecting energy lines amidst the roar of artillery fire.
They had basically exhausted their mental energy, and even their physical strength was almost depleted.
However, it's just fatigue, which is better than the condition of a level four or five wizard.
After the battle, apart from monsters like Jemin, the other level four and five wizards all suffered some degree of soul damage.
Fortunately, the command center distributed the medicine, and it won't be long before he's a lively and energetic animal again.
Jemin looked away and continued drinking his medicine like an old man basking in the sun.
The Body Tempering Technique within his body was slowly circulating, working in conjunction with the medicinal effects to repair the minor damage to his mental sea.
He could feel that his total mental strength had increased by about 120% compared to before the war, his control over his mental strength had improved by about 12%, and his tolerance threshold for "fatigue" had increased by nearly 30%.
Combat is indeed the best catalyst for physical cultivation advancement.
"Hey, the junior is still alive?"
A cheerful voice came from above.
Jemin looked up and saw Viola slowly descending from the sky, landing beside him.
Viola was in a much worse state than before.
The exquisite dark purple witch's robe had more than a dozen tears, and some edges even had charred marks.
Her long, silver-gray hair was no longer smooth; a large clump on the right side was clearly burned by flames, curly and yellowed.
His face was covered in ash, and there was a thin, long wound on his forehead that had healed but still left traces of blood.
But her silver-gray eyes were surprisingly bright.
A near-morbid excitement flickered deep in his pupils, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up, and his breathing was a little more rapid than usual.
That was definitely not caused by fatigue; it was more like a physiological reaction after some kind of emotion had reached its peak.
Jemin understood at a glance.
"Did you win?" he asked.
“We won.” Viola’s voice was filled with barely suppressed joy. “Although we only repelled two level six wizards working together and didn’t leave any alive… it was a very satisfying fight.”
She sat down on the empty recliner next to Jemin, leaned back without a care for her image, and looked up at the leaden sky.
"Orthodox wizards... are indeed completely different from those wild creatures that only have level six or seven energy strength." She muttered to herself, as if savoring the memory. "Those wild creatures, no matter how high their level, have very primitive fighting methods. They either rely on instinct or talent, and fighting them is like bullying idiots. It's boring."
“But wizards are different.”
Viola turned her head to look at Jemin, her eyes practically overflowing with excitement.
“Every wizard has their own unique fighting style, their own secret techniques, and their ability to adapt to changing circumstances. You never know what strange magic your opponent will pull out next, or what unexpected way they will break your attack.”
"That feeling of dancing on a knife's edge... that battle on a spiritual level... that despair of watching the other struggle under your power, yet never finding a way out..."
Her breathing quickened, and an unnatural blush rose to her cheeks.
"It's wonderful."
Jemin turned his head expressionlessly and looked at the sky on the other side of the rest area.
He had long known that his senior was not psychologically normal—she took pleasure in observing the suffering of others, and the more powerful a being was in pain, the more excited she became.
But now it seems that as their strength increases, this "hobby" is becoming more and more intense.
The view from the sky distracted Jemin.
The high-ranking wizards, having completed their battle, are landing one after another with their respective cannon fodder units.
Most of the level seven wizards were hovering about three hundred meters above the rest area, which had been temporarily set up as a "high-level rest area".
In reality, they are dozens of floating platforms manufactured using space expansion technology, each with its own independent protective barrier and energy supply.
Among these level seven wizards, one level six wizard stood out.
Clark.
He stood alone in the very center, his black robe swaying gently in the breeze.
From Jemin's perspective, he could only see Jemin's back, but the aura emanating from that back caused all the level seven wizards around to subconsciously keep a certain distance—not out of repulsion, but out of a kind of almost instinctive awe.
Viola followed Jemin's gaze.
The flush on her face gradually faded, and her eyes regained their usual elegance and composure... at least on the surface.
“Just how strong is my mentor…” Viola began softly.
Jemin also wanted to know the answer to this question.
The two sat there in silence, watching Clark in the distance, and the seventh-level wizards who were talking quietly in the high-level rest area, occasionally casting complicated glances in Clark's direction.
After a while, Jemin finally couldn't help but lower his voice and ask:
"Senior, what kind of laws or techniques does our mentor possess? How could he be so powerful?"
Viola shook her head.
"I don't know." She said frankly, "I only know that when I advanced to level six, I went to my mentor for advice. He just glanced at me... really just glanced at me, without even raising his hand, and then used the Law of Pain to demonstrate three advancement paths on me that I had never thought of at all."
There was a hint of disbelief in her voice.
"After that, of the three directions my mentor demonstrated, I've only barely grasped the first one, I'm just getting started with the second one, and the third one... I don't even have a clue about it."
“Sometimes I suspect that the laws my mentor masters are also based on emotions, only they’re particularly exaggerated in their ‘expansion.’ But sometimes, watching him fight, it doesn’t seem like it at all…”
The two began to discuss it in hushed tones.
From the laws of fate that Clark might have mastered, to the laws of time, to the laws of space, and then to certain rare composite laws... the more you guess, the more outrageous it becomes, and the more exciting it gets.
After all, for a wizard, exploring the unknown is an instinct etched deep in their soul.
As the two were engrossed in their discussion...
"You're all being too timid in your guesses."
A voice so calm it was devoid of any emotion abruptly interrupted their mental conversation.
Jemin and Viola both froze at the same time.
Like cats whose tails have been stepped on, they shrank back sharply and then cautiously turned their heads away.
Clark had somehow appeared behind them.
He had changed into a new set of priest's robes, still plain black, without any decorations.
The wounds on his face and hands from the battle had disappeared, and his left arm and right leg were also intact.
At this moment, he was looking at his two students with his calm and unwavering eyes.
Jemin and Viola exchanged a glance, both seeing embarrassment and a hint of panic in each other's eyes.
In wizarding civilizations, discussing and speculating about other wizards' core knowledge in private—especially the kind that the other party clearly doesn't want to reveal—is considered a highly taboo act.
At best, it might offend someone; at worst, it could be seen as coveting someone else's knowledge, triggering a ruling from the Star Orbit Sanctions Court.
Although they were master and apprentice, and Clark was usually quite lenient with them, this behavior ultimately crossed the line.
“Mentor…” Viola chuckled awkwardly, trying to explain, “We were just chatting casually…”
Clark did not respond to her explanation.
He simply watched the two of them quietly for about three seconds.
Just as Jemin thought their mentor was about to reprimand them, Clark suddenly spoke up:
"You want to know what laws I'm studying?"
Jemin and Viola were both startled. They instinctively exchanged a glance, frantically trying to communicate with each other through their eyes:
"The mentor seems to be in a good mood. Did he gain something extra?" "Did the old man take the wrong medicine today?"
Then, Viola became a little bolder... or rather, her curiosity about knowledge overcame her awe of her mentor.
She leaned closer and asked in a low voice:
"Mentor... what exactly are the laws you've been researching?"
Clark's gaze swept across the two men's faces.
Then, he uttered two words:
"All."
Jemin and Viola were both stunned.
"All?" Jemin subconsciously looked at Viola, his eyes full of doubt. "Is there... is there a law called 'All'?"
Viola's expression also turned serious. She frowned, pondered for a few seconds, and then tentatively asked:
"Is it a fictional law? Or a general term for some kind of... composite concept?"
Clark looked at his two students, whom he considered somewhat "stupid," and sighed softly.
“It means exactly what it says,” he explained calmly. “I study…all the laws.”
The air froze in that instant.
Jemin seemed not to have reacted, staring blankly at Clark, his mouth agape but unable to utter a sound.
His brain was frantically processing the information from that sentence.
All the laws?
What is meant by the complete set of laws?
Fire Law, Water Law, Lightning Law, Wind Law, Earth Law, Light Law, Dark Law, Space Law, Time Law, Fate Law, Pain Law, Life Law, Death Law, Mechanical Law, Symbiosis Law, Chaos Law, Order Law, Concept Law, Emotion Law, Matter Law, Energy Law...
All that is known, and all that is unknown.
All basic, all composite.
All that can be named, and all that has not yet been named.
...Is that all there is to it?
Viola, standing to the side, had the same expression.
Her pupils contracted sharply, her silver-gray eyes reflecting Clark's calm face, but deep within them was a shock as devastating as a landslide.
Clark seemed fairly satisfied with the two of them looking at each other.
He nodded and added:
"Don't tell anyone."
After saying that, he turned around and walked towards the depths of the rest area, where there was a private passage leading to the core area of the fortress.
As Clark turned to leave, Jemin suddenly realized that an extremely sophisticated soundproof barrier had been set up around the three of them at some unknown time.
The barrier was transparent and invisible, blending perfectly with the surrounding environment. Even the energy fluctuations were negligible, so much so that he and Viola hadn't noticed it at all.
The barrier shattered silently, like a bubble, only after Clark left.
But now, Jemin had no time to marvel at his mentor's superb barrier skills.
His entire mind was occupied by Clark's words.
"All the laws... all the laws literally..."
Jemin muttered to himself, his mind racing.
What is the complete set of rules in the literal sense?
Very simple.
To put it bluntly, Mentor Clark intends to study all the known laws of the wizarding civilization!
What is this concept?
Just a thought flashed through Jemin's mind, and he subconsciously thought of a void miracle he had once witnessed and been deeply impressed by: the living plane.
That's right.
What is the essence of a plane that possesses self-awareness and is capable of autonomous research, growth, and evolution?
It is "a collection of world laws".
A normal plane of existence inherently contains all the laws that form the basis of its existence.
From the most basic laws of the four elements, to the spatial laws that maintain spatial stability, to the temporal laws that drive the flow of time, and then to the more complex laws of life, energy circulation, and matter transformation...
A plane that comes to life means that it has the ability to actively understand, master, and even modify these laws—although most living planes do not have this awareness at all.
What would it mean if Clark's approach of "studying all the laws" were taken to its extreme?
This means that he is now... actually a living, human-shaped dimension!
Moreover, it is a living, humanoid dimension that possesses wizarding wisdom, masters the wizarding knowledge system, and is able to actively learn and optimize the laws!
“No wonder…” Jemin gasped, his eyes widening. “No wonder my mentor’s reaction was so strange when the Starfall Wizard activated the plane!”
He remembers it very clearly.
Back in the Frost Dimension, Clark showed an extraordinary interest in living dimensions, even personally observing and studying them up close.
If the mentor's initial motivation was curiosity about this unique void miracle, then Clark's subsequent offer to guide and nurture the newly activated plane after the Starfall Wizard successfully revitalized it seemed overly enthusiastic. (Chapter 451 Foreshadowing)
This surprised Jemin at the time, because Clark was not usually the type to take on responsibilities.
Now everything makes sense.
Because Clark himself is actually following the path of "humanoid animated dimension"!
He wanted to see how a truly active plane of existence would understand, master, and utilize the laws it inherently possessed.
He wanted to validate his path from another perspective.
The plane that was activated by the falling star served as an excellent "reference sample" for him.
“So that’s how it is…” Jemin couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “No wonder… no wonder those enemies showed such obvious signs of being ‘counteracted by the laws’ during the battle before…”
In a normal battle, if you want your opponent to be "counteracted by the law," the prerequisite is that your level of research on that law must far exceed that of your opponent.
For example, in a battle between two wizards who both study the laws of fire, the one with a deeper understanding of the laws of fire can easily suppress the other's fire magic, or even cause the opponent's spells to backfire on them.
To put it bluntly, this is a case of intellectual suppression among scholars of the same type.
But what is Clark facing?
They are hundreds of seventh-level wizards who study different laws, and thousands of sixth-level wizards who master different fields.
The attacks they unleashed encompassed dozens of completely different systems of laws.
But Clark was still able to easily counter them.
Previously, Jemin thought that Clark had used some advanced technology to suppress those laws from a higher level.
Now it seems...
There is indeed a technological advantage.
But more often than not, it's pure "numerical crushing"!
Previously, Jemin had been speculating about how powerful the living planes that would become wizards would be after the Starfall Wizards' technology was expanded.
Now it's great, we can see it directly and intuitively.
"No wonder the Starfall Wizard was able to obtain a Level 1 training agreement..."
As Jemin thought this, he turned and exchanged a glance with Viola.
They both saw the same shock, the same realization, and the same... in each other's eyes.
excited.
Excitement about knowledge, excitement about unknown paths, excitement about "how things can be done this way."
Almost simultaneously, the two sprang up from the metal recliners and chased after Clark in the direction he had left.
As a wizard, the interest in the unknown instantly overshadowed any awe he felt for his mentor.
Viola ran faster than Jemin; after all, she was a Level 6, and her physical abilities and mental reflexes far surpassed Jemin's.
In a few breaths, she caught up with Clark, moved close to her mentor, and her face was filled with undisguised excitement.
Fortunately, she still had some sense and didn't ask directly, but instead chose to start a conversation by talking about something else:
"Mentor! You seem to be in a good mood! Did you gain anything from this battle?"
Clark did not stop.
“Not bad,” he said. “This battle introduced me to several new laws. There’s the ‘Disorderly Growth’ from the Chaos Cult, the ‘Positive and Negative Annihilation’ from the Tower of Annihilation, and a few other special laws that I hadn’t seen before. They must be special branches that the Tower of Annihilation has been researching on its own.”
His tone was flat, as if he were saying, "The dishes for lunch today were not bad."
But to Jemin and Viola, it was like a thunderclap.
One battle... and I learned several new rules?!
Moreover, it sounds like it's one of the other party's most closely guarded secrets, clearly a core principle that's not to be passed on to others?!
Jemin, looking on in surprise, moved closer to Clark's other side:
"Mentor, your speed in learning and researching new laws... has it already reached this level?"
Clark turned his head and glanced at Jemin.
"It's just about applying the same principles to other situations." His explanation remained concise. "Once you have mastered enough 'basic principles' and understood the 'connections' between them, new principles will no longer be a puzzle that needs to be solved from scratch."
"It's more like a new machine made up of the 'parts' you already know, arranged in a new way."
"All you have to do is take it apart, see what parts it uses, how those parts are connected, and why this connection method creates new functions."
"Then, you'll learn it."
Jemin opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time.
That sounds...too reasonable.
...Yeah, right!
What's the difference between this and putting an elephant in a refrigerator?!
To what extent must one be familiar with "known parts" to be able to disassemble something and learn how to do it just by looking at it?!
However, this only made the two of them even more excited.
"Mentor, do you think I'm qualified to learn this from you?!"
"Yeah, yeah, me too!"
"You guys? Hehehe..."
The three of them chatted as they walked deeper into the fortress complex.
(It's hard to separate these into chapters, so I've combined them into one.)
(End of this chapter)