It wasn’t just Jie Ming and Viola; the other logistics wizards clearly shared the same sentiment.
Jie Ming stretched again. “The camp’s main task now is probably to expand the geological survey and confirm this theory, right?”
Viola pulled over a chair and sat down leisurely. “Exactly. Something this important will be prioritized immediately. The camp’s focus will likely shift to this.”
“Then we’re off the hook and can finally rest for a bit…”
That was why both had sighed in relief earlier.
After all, tasks like geological drilling and sample collection didn’t strictly require logistics wizards. Most wizards could handle it with minimal training.
Moreover, confirming the data required a large workforce, so the task would primarily fall to the more numerous combat wizards.
Combat wizards were already roaming the Flamefrost Plane daily, so this task merely meant collecting samples while gathering resources.
Viola swung her legs casually. “So, what do you plan to do during this break?”
“Me?” Jie Ming leaned back in his chair, gazing at the camp’s ceiling. “I’m going to take a stroll.”“Not bad for a young guy, full of energy. Old folks like me need a few days’ rest in the camp,” Viola teased.
Jie Ming shook his head with a smile, saying nothing more.
“It’s time to venture deep into enemy territory and search for more Mortal Dust Qi,” he thought.
His original purpose for joining this expedition was to collect Mortal Dust Qi, but the overwhelming workload of a logistics wizard had delayed him until now.
Though the wizards had provided him with a fair amount of Mortal Dust Qi over the past year, it was still far from what he needed.
Without alerting anyone, he quietly packed his research reports and donned a lightweight robe suited for mobility.
Jie Ming set his magic network terminal to minimal contact permissions, activated his Flight Technique, and headed straight for the depths of the Flame Realm.
To maximize his collection of Mortal Dust Qi, he planned to explore the Flame Realm first, then the Frost Realm, covering the core areas of both extreme civilizations.
With the camp now focused on geological survey tasks to confirm the earlier findings, wizards were flying about everywhere, so Jie Ming’s departure went unnoticed.
…
…
The Flame Realm was a true scorched wasteland.
After flying for days, Jie Ming arrived at a desolate area covered in volcanic ash, with occasional streams of molten lava.
The air was thick with the scent of sulfur and minerals, and the ground glowed an unsettling dark red, dotted with dormant volcanoes still emitting wisps of white smoke.
The environment here was harsher than the camp’s surroundings.
Jie Ming landed because his senses had locked onto a peculiar area.
It was a dilapidated ruin, the remnants of a town once inhabited by Lava Giants.
Charred stone structures stood in broken fragments, desolate and bleak under the eternal blazing sun.
Though abandoned, the ruins still told Jie Ming that this place had once housed a dense population of Lava Giants.
Due to the wizards’ activities, the Lava Giants’ settlements had been pushed back repeatedly. Stumbling upon such a ruin, Jie Ming hoped to find new clues.
As he prepared to descend and investigate, he suddenly sensed a faint but rapidly moving cluster of life energy fluctuations.
“Looks like I got lucky,” Jie Ming chuckled.
Through the All-Purpose Eye, he identified three Level 2 Lava Giants leading over a hundred Level 1 Lava Giants—a small reconnaissance team.
The Lava Giants had also spotted Jie Ming.
Locking onto the lone wizard in the sky, they roared furiously after a brief moment of surprise.
To them, a solitary Level 1 wizard daring to infiltrate their heartland was practically begging for death!
“Intruder! Die!” the leading Level 2 Lava Giant bellowed, spewing molten lava from its mouth. The other giants on the ground began gathering energy, preparing to attack.
Jie Ming wasted no time. The six “Autonomous Floating Cannons” behind him sprang to life, their dark barrels gleaming as they spun in the air.
Over the past year, he had refined the cannons, enabling them to maintain wide-area firepower while also performing precise sniping and targeted strikes.
“Clear them!” Jie Ming issued a simple command.
In the next second, the six cannons unleashed their full power. Hundreds of missiles and energy beams wove a dazzling web of death, instantly engulfing the hundred-plus Level 1 Lava Giants.
Lacking agility and precise defenses, the low-level giants stood no chance.
Their bodies shattered like paper under the relentless barrage, reduced to scattered piles of charred rubble in mere seconds.
Meanwhile, Jie Ming focused on the three Level 2 Lava Giants.
The offensive rune artifact on his right wrist hummed, and three razor-sharp light blades shot out almost simultaneously, too fast for reaction.
The Level 2 Lava Giants, with sharper instincts and quicker reflexes, swung their molten fists to block, but Jie Ming’s rune artifact was too swift. The light blades tore through their lava armor with precision.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three muffled explosions rang out as the blades struck their core vulnerabilities—weak points Jie Ming had thoroughly analyzed over the year.
The blades detonated on impact, their powerful shockwaves shattering the giants’ lava cores.
The three Level 2 Lava Giants didn’t even have time to scream before collapsing like statues stripped of their vital components, their molten flows ceasing as they hardened into stillness.
The entire battle lasted less than ten seconds. The once-menacing reconnaissance team was now just heaps of charred stone and debris amidst the ruins.
“Not bad. My new witchcraft works well,” Jie Ming nodded in satisfaction.
The rune artifact on his wrist stored a spell derived from his year-long modifications to Lava Annihilation.
Optimized for speed and equipped with auto-locking, combined with the devastating power of targeted destructive witchcraft, it could one-shot even Level 2 beings.
This was the terrifying strength of wizards: once they conducted targeted research on a species, their lethality became extraordinarily exaggerated.
Jie Ming approached a Level 2 Lava Giant’s corpse, retrieving a Level 4 soul-searching artifact and placing it gently on its core.
The All-Purpose Eye in his gaze flared, and his vast mental energy, guided by the artifact, delicately infiltrated the giant’s fragmented soul, initiating a soul search.
From the shattered memory fragments, he quickly extracted valuable intelligence: the Lava Giants’ recent activity ranges, gathering points, and concealment methods.
After a year of intense combat, the Lava Giants had grown cunning.
They no longer lingered on the surface, instead hiding deep within the earth’s veins, even submerging themselves in scalding lava.
These lava zones, with their extreme heat and immense pressure, effectively blocked most Level 1 wizards.
Even Level 2 wizards, if lingering too long in lava, would expend significant mental energy maintaining defenses, severely reducing their combat effectiveness and limiting pursuit.
But this was no issue for Jie Ming.
Though still a Level 1 wizard, his body, forged through intense Body Forging Methods in the Elosia Plane, far surpassed the imagination of his peers.
His physical strength alone allowed him to withstand the lava’s heat and subterranean pressure without constantly maintaining a high-cost energy shield.
“Found it,” Jie Ming murmured, locking onto a massive underground lava vein from the memories.
He took flight, following the giants’ path from the memory, and located a massive active volcano crater.
Inside, molten lava flowed slowly, exuding suffocating heat.
Without hesitation, Jie Ming stored his clothes in his spatial artifact, leapt forward, and dove straight into the bubbling, searing lava!
The crimson lava enveloped him instantly, yet no energy shield flared around him.
His formidable physique allowed him to move effortlessly through the molten rock.
The only downside was the lava’s density, which prevented graceful swimming-like movements, making him feel more like a mole burrowing through earth.
Jie Ming sighed, his hands acting like massive shovels, carving a stable tunnel through the lava.
The surrounding lava parted briefly under his strength, creating a path forward.
Like a true subterranean creature, he dove swiftly through the scalding lava, descending into the earth’s veins.
Soon, he reached an outer entrance to a Lava Giant settlement, as indicated by the memories.
Jie Ming quickly encountered his first obstacle: the entrance wasn’t merely sealed with rock but guarded by a near-solid energy barrier.
The translucent orange-red barrier shimmered with complex, primal runes, radiating unsettlingly powerful energy fluctuations.
It was highly integrated with the surrounding earth vein energy, as if part of the lava itself, virtually indestructible.
Jie Ming probed it with a trace of mental energy, quickly assessing the barrier’s strength.
It wasn’t just defensive; it had an energy-absorbing effect.
Though simple, the barrier’s integration with the surrounding earth vein energy made it an exceptionally sturdy fortress.
After exhausting his inspection methods, Jie Ming found no way to breach it.
With his current knowledge and strength, even depleting his mental energy wouldn’t break through.
Using the Great Radiance could blast it open, but the commotion would likely allow the Lava Giants to escape through the earth veins.
Moreover, the barrier was part of an alert system—any breach, by any means, would alert the giants inside.
Yet, far from being discouraged, a glint of amusement flickered in Jie Ming’s eyes.
He recalled a saying from his past life: “When the door is too strong, the wall becomes the door.”
Ignoring the impregnable barrier, Jie Ming swam back through the volcano, retracing his carved tunnel to a point near the entrance.
He set his sights on the thick, solid rock wall—the “wall” protected by the energy barrier.
Unable to take a deep breath in the lava, he adjusted his mindset and activated his Alchemy Technique, channeling mental energy into the volcanic rock.
An invisible drill seemed to form before his hands, parting the stone wall as he focused, allowing it to flow like sand before instantly solidifying to maintain a narrow workspace.
Jie Ming began digging, not through lava this time, but through solid volcanic rock and hardened lava layers.
The rigid crust, under his Alchemy Technique, became malleable, then solidified behind him to prevent lava from flooding in.
The intense heat and pressure pressed in from all sides, but his robust physique rendered them harmless.
With precise Alchemy Technique and resilient mental energy, he carved over a kilometer through the solid rock beneath the lava.
Crack…
A faint snap sounded as the rock ahead thinned.
Jie Ming carefully applied his Alchemy Technique, pushing aside the final layer of stone.
A blast of unprecedentedly searing air, thick with sulfur, hit him.
With a leap, he emerged from the narrow tunnel, landing steadily on scalding ground.
With a wave of his hand, he “healed” the stone wall behind him.
Before him lay a vast, blistering underground cavern.
Far grander than he’d imagined, the space was towering, ablaze with firelight, its walls embedded with massive lava crystals radiating intense glow.
In the distance, he heard the low rumble of molten lava and…
The deep roars and conversations of countless Lava Giants!
A cold smile curved Jie Ming’s lips as he narrowed his eyes.
He had bypassed the sturdiest “door” and slipped through the “wall,” successfully infiltrating the true lair of the Lava Giants.