**Chapter 53: Intelligence**
Jie Ming was somewhat perplexed.
For days, elemental fluctuations had been emanating from that direction.
As time passed, the fluctuations grew fiercer, and even from a vast distance, Jie Ming could sense their unusual intensity.
Since his goal in this trial was to develop and test his runic wizard tool, he hadn’t planned to collaborate with other apprentices and naturally hadn’t purchased a communication artifact.
Thus, he was unsurprisingly clueless about what was happening.
No matter—curiosity could be satisfied by seeing for himself.
After days of testing, Jie Ming was confident in his runic tool’s combat power, believing ordinary apprentices posed no threat.
If something major was happening, he could observe without getting involved.
Decision made, Jie Ming adjusted his course toward the fluctuation’s source.Maintaining a hunter’s mindset, he swept the surroundings with Alchemy and Analysis Technique, collecting materials that piqued his interest.
As he neared the area, he caught sight of several disheveled figures.
A few wizard apprentices, pale and stumbling, their robes tattered, magical shields flickering like candles in the wind.
Behind them, a hundred-strong native squad pursued relentlessly.
This squad, clad in superior armor and weapons, exuded potent enhanced power—clearly an elite unit.
“Run! They’re catching up!”
“Damn it! My mental energy’s failing!”
“Just escape their spatial lockdown range, and we can leave!”
Amid chaotic shouts, some apprentices burst forward with sudden speed, vanishing as their forms twisted.
They’d likely activated their teleportation rings.
Only two unlucky apprentices remained, drained of trump cards or mental energy, unable to shake their pursuers.
Desperate roars echoed as they staggered, nearing collapse.
The native soldiers’ eyes gleamed with bloodlust, their spears and axes closing in.
Jie Ming frowned, sensing a familiar energy signature on the pursuers—kin to the ambushers he’d faced before.
Judging by the apprentices’ escape direction, they’d fled from the fluctuation’s source.
Curious, Jie Ming acted decisively.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Several fireballs shot silently from his fingertips, locking onto the leading natives with searing heat.
The transcendent natives didn’t even scream before being consumed, reduced to twisted charcoal.
More fireballs followed like a storm, engulfing the remaining pursuers.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Relentless explosions wiped out most of the squad in an instant.
The lagging pursuers and the two apprentices, caught off guard, were dazed by the shockwaves.
The surviving natives froze in terror, unable to pinpoint the attack’s source as their comrades fell lifeless.
The horrifying scene spurred them to flee.
*Rumble!*
The ground trembled, and a dozen massive stone spikes erupted, impaling the remaining natives.
“Using Alchemy to control matter for attacks is still a bit lacking…” Jie Ming muttered, landing slowly and approaching the surviving apprentices.
From attack to end, the process took less than ten seconds.
The menacing pursuit squad was erased by Jie Ming’s casual strike, leaving no survivors.
The two fleeing apprentices stood frozen, staring at the fallen natives and Jie Ming approaching leisurely, as if he’d merely swatted flies. Their faces were etched with disbelief.
“You… you…” one stammered, speechless.
Jie Ming ignored their shock, asking directly, “What happened over there? The elemental fluctuations are unusual.”
Snapping back, the apprentices hurriedly recounted the valley’s events.
“A kilometer-wide spatial lockdown?” Jie Ming’s eyes flickered with interest.
His Analysis Technique had previously detected a unique energy source on the natives, capable of disrupting space.
But a lockdown this vast was unexpected.
Achieving this would require at least a fourth-rank wizard, wouldn’t it?
Yet, if the natives had a fourth-rank wizard, these apprentices wouldn’t have lasted this long.
“Yes! We barely escaped the edges, thinking we were safe, but they had dedicated kill squads…” the apprentices said, still shaken, cautiously eyeing Jie Ming.
This figure, effortlessly wiping out an elite native squad, was no ordinary apprentice.
Relieved he meant no harm, they thanked him, activated their teleportation rings, and left the Limestone Realm.
“A war, huh… sounds dangerous,” Jie Ming mused, uninterested in getting involved.
The fate of thousands of apprentices meant little to him—they were competitors in this trial. He cared more about the plane’s valuable materials.
Joining a large-scale war was too risky for meager rewards.
Better to hunt for rare materials.
“Time to go,” Jie Ming decided, turning to resume his treasure hunt.
But while he didn’t seek trouble, trouble found him.
Moments after turning, his Alchemy and Analysis Technique detected stronger life and energy signatures rapidly converging from multiple directions.
Not one or two squads, but dozens, encircling him.
Among them were powerful “knights” and “shamans”—the native coalition’s main force!
He stopped, his sharp gaze scanning the surroundings.
“What’s this? They found me?” Jie Ming frowned.
He didn’t recall leaving traces, and his prior encounters were handled cleanly, without alerting larger forces.