Chapter 394: Excitement and Departure

Jie Ming and Anya swiftly cleaned up the battlefield.

They took out containment crystals laced with spatial stabilization runes and energy-suppression matrices, carefully guiding the incapacitated yet still-spirited light-elementals inside for sealing.

For the sixth-ring light-lord firmly held by the Black Giant Priests, Jie Ming was especially cautious: Anya first layered multiple spells of life-activity suppression and soul-soothing, then they wrapped it in the highest-grade multi-layered energy restraint arrays, and only then placed it inside a sealing casket with a constant weak time-dilation field.

Once their task was complete, the two Black Giant Priests dissolved into black shadow and returned to standby within Jie Ming’s inner world.

They had barely finished preliminary processing of all the “spoils” and caught their breath when Wizard Starfall’s planar transmission poured directly into their minds, brimming with irrepressible exhilaration:

“Beautifully done! I saw everything! Sample integrity far exceeds expectations! No need to pack—just come straight back!”

Before Jie Ming or Anya could reply, a vast yet gentle planar force descended.

The surroundings blurred and spun like a watercolor painting rinsed clean; the faint weightlessness unique to spatial transfer washed over them.

The next instant, the light faded. They were already standing on the silver-white metal floor of Wizard Starfall’s grand hall.

All the freshly sealed light-elementals hovered neatly around them, including the most crucial sealing casket.

Starfall stood not far away. The moment Jie Ming saw her current state, he froze slightly.

The sixth-ring wizard who had previously looked rather disheveled now appeared largely unchanged on the surface, yet her entire aura blazed like a newly lit torch.

Her eyes burned with almost tangible excitement, her grin stretched nearly to her ears, and her hands rubbed together unconsciously—she looked exactly like a child who had just received the toy of her dreams.

“Lord Starfall, you…” Jie Ming began, puzzled.

Yes, successfully capturing a sixth-ring creation that had attempted rebellion was a joyous research achievement, but this level of excitement seemed a bit much, didn’t it?

“Hehe, come with me! I’ve got an even bigger surprise for you!”

Instead of answering directly, Starfall waved mysteriously. The hovering sealed specimens automatically lined up and drifted after her toward the deeper parts of the laboratory.

She beckoned vigorously at Jie Ming and Anya to follow.

Curiosity piqued, they trailed Starfall through several brightly lit corridors until they reached a much larger experimental zone.

One glance at the scene inside, and Jie Ming instantly understood why she was so ecstatic.

The area was ablaze with light. Massive analytical instruments and energy containment devices hummed in operation.

Viola was already there, directing several automated puppets and energy tentacles as they handled another batch of “trophies”: not light-elementals, but piles of dark-brown Devouring Demon Vines, still writhing faintly despite being bound tight by resilient energy cords!

These animated plants were numerous, and one even radiated energy fluctuations approaching fifth-ring—clearly an elite or leader of its kind.

“See that?! It’s not just the little light balls!” Starfall dashed to the captive vines in a single bound, gesturing wildly, face flushed, voice cracking with excitement.

“These vines! My other batch of ‘children’! They were planning the exact same thing—trying to turn around and bite their ‘Creator’! Hahahaha!”

She pointed first at the bound vines, then at the newly arrived light-elemental seals, words tumbling out at machine-gun speed:

“And the best part! From the residual spiritual fluctuation fragments Viola intercepted and the monitoring logs I back-traced… these two groups—these mortal enemies who’ve been bashing each other’s brains out—were secretly in contact! They actually formed a fragile alliance against us, the ‘Creators’!”

Her eyes gleamed with terrifying brilliance: “That massive commotion the underground light-lord caused was partly to birth high-end combat power capable of opposing us, but it was also bait! Carefully designed bait!”

“They calculated that we would grow curious or wary of such an abnormal energy convergence and would most likely send someone—or come personally—to investigate! Their real killing move was a simultaneous strike by these vine elites, aiming to raid and destroy the Creator’s core laboratory while we were distracted!”

She drew a deep breath as if trying to calm herself, but it barely helped: “Rebellious consciousness! Awareness of their ‘created’ fate! Secret coalition between sworn enemies! Feints and diversionary tactics! This is no longer mere ‘spirituality’—this is wisdom possessing the embryonic form of civilization-level thinking, social game theory, and strategic vision!”

Listening to Starfall’s impassioned explanation, ripples gradually rose in Jie Ming’s heart.

He completely understood why she was so overjoyed.

Rebellious consciousness in living beings was nothing rare.

But to reverse-engineer the very concept of a “Creator” from recent events required a cognitive framework that had already transcended instinct and basic survival needs, reaching toward contemplation of existential origins.

That demanded exceptionally high abstract thinking and logical reasoning ability.

And on that foundation, for two races that had only just been born and were locked in brutal war to temporarily shelve their hatred, identify the “Creator” as a greater common threat, secretly communicate, and formulate a joint operations plan…

The level of intelligence, risk assessment, and capacity for complex strategy this revealed was astonishing.

This was behavior that could never have arisen from the mere scraps of knowledge Starfall unconsciously leaked during ignition.

It could only mean one thing: the “ignition of intelligence” she performed using Imaginary Element and her research into the Laws of Spirituality had effects far beyond merely granting basic sentience.

She had successfully planted “seeds of wisdom” in these elemental and plant lives—seeds capable of self-learning, evolution, and the development of complex social structures and strategic thought!

She had, in the truest sense, created prototypes of intelligent life with the potential for independent civilization!

This meant the path of “Spirituality” she explored was not only correct but possessed limitless prospects!

A breakthrough of this magnitude was enough to drive any researcher into ecstasy.

Watching Starfall rush to a large analyzer like a child with a new toy, personally operating it to begin deeper soul-scans and memory extraction on the captives, Jie Ming couldn’t help but click his tongue in wonder.

At that moment, Viola strolled over, patted his shoulder, and smirked with faint pride: “So, Jie Ming, was this ‘technical exchange’ trip far more ‘exciting’ than you expected?”

“Got to witness our great Wizard Starfall’s most successful ‘works’ up close and even personally participated in suppressing a one-of-a-kind ‘anti-Creator joint operation.’ Quite the harvest, right?”

Jie Ming looked at her, nodded sincerely, excitement and anticipation shining in his eyes: “I profited immensely. Lord Starfall’s research results are staggering. I’m now thoroughly looking forward to the upcoming formal exchange sessions.”

Viola chuckled, pointing first at Starfall (already lost in research), then at Anya resting off to the side, and finally at the laboratory full of “precious specimens”:

“Don’t worry—with this much ‘material’ and ‘case studies,’ the coming exchanges will definitely send you home loaded to the brim. For now, though… let our ‘Creator’ bask in the joy of her harvest.”

Following her gaze, Jie Ming saw Starfall cackling “kyehehehehe” at the preliminary scans of the captives’ memories of their “secret joint conspiracy.”

She looked exactly like the archetypal mad scientist from certain stories.

…

…

The silver gates of the tower laboratory slowly closed behind him, sealing away the still-flickering observation screens and the faint, unconscious excited humming Viola made while drowning in oceans of data.

Jie Ming stood in the corridor leading to the teleportation array, letting out a soft breath. His expression was a complex blend of satisfaction, exhaustion, and lingering excitement.

More than ten years.

What was originally planned as a short technical exchange lasting months, or even weeks, had—thanks to the endless stream of new discoveries, new ideas, and Wizard Starfall’s explosive breakthrough in the Laws of Spirituality—been stretched into more than a decade.

Now, at last, it was time to part, for the moment.

On the platform housing the teleportation array, Wizard Starfall had come personally to see him off—an extremely rare gesture.

She looked even more disheveled than she had over a decade ago, yet her eyes burned brighter and deeper, as though countless stars of wisdom swirled within.

She slapped Jie Ming’s shoulder hard enough to nearly stagger him, voice thick with anticipation and reluctance:

“Leaving already? Why not stay a few more years? I keep feeling we’ve only just scratched the surface of ‘how collective spiritual resonance gradually rewrites the underlying logic of the material plane’!”

Jie Ming steadied himself and gave a helpless sigh: “Lord Starfall, if I stay any longer, I fear both my Imaginary Element reserves and my brain’s processing core will burn out completely. The knowledge density and experimental pace here are… a little too ‘fulfilling.’”

At the mention of Imaginary Element, Starfall’s eyes lit up even more. She leaned in conspiratorially and lowered her voice:

“Speaking of Imaginary Element—Jie Ming, Viola and I have a new model! As long as you can steadily supply a sufficiently massive and pure quantity of Imaginary Element, combined with my perfected ‘spiritual ignition’ and ‘law immersion’ techniques… we might be able to try…”

She paused dramatically, searching for the most earth-shattering phrase, then enunciated each word:

“Animating the entire plane!”