Chapter 242: Making a Fortune!

Jie Ming submitted the [Self-Stabilizing Field Regulation Protocol] and paid it no further mind.

His focus had shifted entirely to the cultivation of the “Black Giant.”

For a dedicated wizard, time was always the cheapest commodity.

Ten years later.

The new crystal core, fused with the essence of a third-level snow beast and a fourth-level lava giant, finally ceased its pulsing under the intricate interplay and tempering of countless energy fields.

When it fully stabilized, the crystal core

emitted

a black radiance, as if swallowing the light of the entire laboratory!

As the initial energy burst dissipated, a perfect core—deep as obsidian, yet harboring swirling blue and red starlight within—emerged: the completed “fourth-level Black Giant core.”

Jie Ming reached out, gently caressing the core from a distance, its terrifying pressure palpable.

He could clearly sense the horrifying power fluctuations emanating from it, capable of freezing or tearing space itself.

A satisfied smile spread across his face, like a proud father gazing at his exceptional child.

The next step was critical.

Using this powerful, perfect core as the “matrix,” he would formally “hatch” the first true Black Giant through the massive incubation pool.

In the Infernal Sulfur plane, Jie Ming carefully extracted a grain-sized fragment from the black core.

Activating his All-Purpose Eye to confirm the fragment’s condition, he solemnly placed it into the incubation pool, roiling with specially crafted magma.

He then moved to the monitoring equipment, analyzing the data streaming across the display to calculate the time needed to cultivate this Black Giant.

His smile abruptly vanished, his face darkening.

The Black Giant produced from a fourth-level core had exceptional potential! According to the energy model, it could reach a biological level close to third-level! With proper nurturing, it might even peak at the third-level pinnacle as an adult.

But the downside…

The energy required to cultivate this Black Giant was astronomical!

Breeding a new species combining two extreme forces demanded dozens of times more energy than an ordinary lava giant.

And with the high grade of this batch of Black Giants…

The incubation pool’s energy, drawn solely from the elemental plane, was proving insufficient.

“Damn it…”

“At the current energy absorption efficiency of a second-level incubation pool, without external energy supplements, it would take over a hundred years to birth this Black Giant!”

“And due to energy constraints, only one can be nurtured at a time!”

A century for a single unit that, in future high-end battles, might only serve as “elite cannon fodder”… what use was that?

By the time an army of fodder was ready, the war would be long over!

Jie Ming scratched his hair in frustration, racking his brain for solutions.

For this energy shortfall, his thoughts turned to the seventh-level large-scale elemental pool he had ordered from his mentor, Clark.

According to Clark, the pool would be completed in a few decades.

Speaking of which… though he had scraped together the deposit, the 18 billion military merit points for the final payment remained a distant dream.

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Clark had mentioned that, as his student, Jie Ming could apply for an internal interest-free loan to pay it off gradually…

Though, at his earning rate back then, it might have taken two or three thousand years to clear the debt.

Jie Ming absentmindedly opened his personal terminal to check his balance.

The next moment, his eyes nearly popped out!

[Account Balance: 30,121,514,586 low-level military merit points]

Thirty billion!

He rubbed his eyes, wondering if exhaustion had caused a hallucination.

Counting digit by digit, he confirmed it was real!

In just ten years, the [Self-Stabilizing Field Regulation Protocol] had earned him thirty billion low-level military merit points?!

What a joke!

The seventh-level elemental pool he ordered cost a mere 20 billion in total!

To cover the two-billion-point deposit, he had fought a life-or-death battle on a planar battlefield and tirelessly crafted over five hundred bottles of Mortal Dust Potion to scrape it together!

Yet this seemingly minor “auxiliary technology” had, unnoticed, covered the entire remaining payment for the elemental pool?

This sudden windfall left Jie Ming stunned.

After repeatedly confirming the cold, hard numbers on the terminal, he forced himself to calm down from the overwhelming shock.

Once composed, he quickly grasped the reason.

The [Self-Stabilizing Field Regulation Protocol] had earned such a fortune in a decade because, early on, major wizard factions, spurred by the “artificial intelligence” Felix’s official endorsement, cautiously purchased it for internal testing, regardless of immediate need.

With “official certification,” sales exploded.

But such explosive earnings wouldn’t continue.

Checking the income details over the past ten years, he confirmed his suspicion.

The first year accounted for ninety percent of the total revenue.

He estimated that, as the technology spread, its income would stabilize at about 100 million low-level military merit points annually.

Only low-level logistics wizards needed the protocol, and they were a minority. Its primary users—alchemists, potion makers, and runecrafters—further narrowed the market.

Not all low-level wizards in these fields would buy it, so his estimate seemed reasonable.

Still, this income was astronomical!

Even high-tier wizards above sixth level would envy such figures, let alone a struggling low-level wizard like Jie Ming!

“

Whew…

”

This unexpected fortune had thoroughly alleviated his financial woes.

Without hesitation, he contacted Mentor Clark.

When the call connected, Clark’s eternally impassive face appeared on the screen.

Suppressing his excitement, Jie Ming spoke calmly: “Mentor, this is the full payment for the seventh-level elemental pool I ordered.”

He deftly transferred the staggering 18 billion military merit points to Clark.

On the other side, Clark paused, a rare moment of silence.

His deep eyes studied Jie Ming before he asked, in a tone that nearly choked him: “You… sold yourself?”

Jie Ming’s face darkened as he hurriedly explained the legitimate source of his wealth.

Then, cautiously, he asked, “Mentor, when will the seventh-level elemental pool be ready?”

Clark listened quietly, a faint, unnoticed trace of pride flickering in his cold eyes.

But he quickly resumed his near-indifferent demeanor.

Shaking his head, he replied, “I’ve been researching a living plane in the Frostfire plane, so I haven’t closely followed the pool’s construction progress.”

Jie Ming watched as his mentor contacted someone through another channel.

After a long pause, Clark responded: “The pool’s main structure is complete. It now requires final essence infusion and calibration. At this pace, it’ll be delivered in less than a decade.”

Jie Ming was surprised; he hadn’t expected such speed.

A seventh-level elemental pool was exorbitantly priced for good reason.

It was essentially a “man-made miniature elemental plane.”

Its core material was a planar essence containing a “complete fire element rule.”

This meant enough law information for a wizard ignorant of fire elements to master the entire “fire element rule” from scratch, reaching the sixth-level threshold—equivalent to a thousand strands of essence!

The cost of this single material was a staggering 10 billion low-level military merit points!

And that was just one component of the pool’s construction.

Clark’s claim of offering a cost price was no lie, given the value of the raw materials.

After receiving the payment, Clark looked at Jie Ming and asked, “Your ‘mandatory conscription’ time is approaching, isn’t it?”

Jie Ming froze, recalling the standard contract he signed at the Junction.

In wizard civilization, low-level wizards were obligated to join planar wars, while for high-level wizards, it was a reward.

Though his academy’s mandatory service had ended, low-level wizards couldn’t rest easy.

The contract from the Junction included a clause: [First- to third-level wizards, after completing a planar war, have up to 200 years of free rest time. Beyond that, they will be conscripted for the next war.]

For most struggling wizards, this clause barely mattered.

Few had the resources or ability to research uninterrupted for 200 years.

They often returned to the battlefield early due to depleted points or research bottlenecks.

Jie Ming’s situation was a rare exception.

Calculating the time, he realized his “rest” period was indeed running short.

It would barely last until he received the elemental pool, leaving little time for modifications or calibration before he’d be thrown into another unknown battlefield.

Thanking Clark for the reminder, Jie Ming watched him end the call and began planning his next steps.

The seventh-level elemental pool and deep modifications to the Infernal Sulfur plane would have to wait until after the next war.

But if he acted quickly, he could test the true combat prowess of his newly developed Black Giant in the upcoming war!

With that, Jie Ming stopped hesitating and opened the magic network terminal to begin “splurging.”

Since the seventh-level pool wasn’t immediately available, he decided to buy a slew of small-scale elemental pools as temporary energy plugins to fuel the incubation pool and accelerate the Black Giant’s birth!

Based on his design, with enough energy, a Black Giant’s incubation could be shortened from a century to mere months.

The downside was the immense energy cost.

In terms of small-scale pools, that meant burning through vast military merit points.

But, flush with his recent windfall, Jie Ming wasn’t concerned!

If he moved fast, he could assemble a Black Giant combat squad before the war.

—