Chapter 440: Invitation Letter and Visitors

Infernal Sulfur Plane, Sixth Energy Convergence Point.

This was a vast basin deep within the Crimson Mountains, with dark golden lava rivers flowing across the surface, the air filled with high concentrations of sulfurous fumes and thin yet vibrant spiritual essence.

At the center of the basin, a composite spell formation over three kilometers in diameter was under construction.

Jie Ming hovered in mid-air, his black robes unmoving amid the heat waves.

His hands pressed into the void, with dozens of semi-transparent control screens unfolding before him, each displaying real-time parameters from different sections of the formation.

Below, over three hundred black giant priests worked methodically.

They either transported massive metal components inscribed with runes, carefully calibrated energy conduction crystal clusters, or etched intricate patterns into the bedrock with fingertips like liquid metal.

“Seventh node, reduce spiritual essence injection rate by three percent, maintain phase difference with elemental flow within 0.05 radians.”

“Ninth conduction arm, third rune group needs recalibration; energy loss is exceeding limits.”

Jie Ming’s voice calmly transmitted through mental links to each priest’s consciousness.

This was one of the key components of the Incense Fire Divine Dao’s cross-spatial energy transmission module. Once completed, it would become a stable energy channel linking the Infernal Sulfur Plane to external battlefields—no room for error.

Both Jie Ming and the black giant priests below had grown accustomed to this, as similar projects had been repeated for over sixty years.

For wizards, this was merely a not-so-lengthy segment in the long river of research.

Yet Jie Ming could feel that as the Incense Fire Divine Dao system gradually perfected, his comprehension of the Spiritual Qi Law was deepening in tandem.

At that moment, a slightly slimmer black giant priest, with a brighter liquid metal sheen on its surface, flew swiftly from the basin’s edge, holding a magic network terminal.

It hovered beside Jie Ming and respectfully presented the terminal.

“Master, there’s a priority-marked message.”

Jie Ming glanced at the terminal screen, his hand movements pausing slightly.

It was an invitation letter.

The background was a profound starry sky, with a slowly rotating silver star phantom suspended in the center—this was Wizard Starfall’s unique emblem.

The invitation’s content was concise and elegant, with formal wording and clear core information: Sincerely inviting Wizard Jie Ming to proceed to the “Starfall” plane in five years to attend Wizard Starfall’s celebratory ceremony.

“Wizard Starfall…”

Jie Ming murmured the name softly, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

He remembered clearly that when he left her plane years ago, Wizard Starfall had privately mentioned that she felt she had found the path to seventh-ring advancement, thus deciding to seal the plane and focus on preparations.

Her tone at the time carried anticipation, but also caution.

Advancing to seventh-ring was a critical leap on the wizard’s path, involving the expansion and deepening of laws—far from easy.

But now, from that time, not even two centuries had passed.

“This ceremony… has she prepared for advancement so quickly?”

A trace of doubt arose in Jie Ming’s heart.

This speed was abnormally fast.

Seventh-ring wizard advancements, especially those involving abstract and profound fields like “spirituality laws,” often required vast spans of time for sedimentation, verification, and adjustment.

Spending a millennium in preparation was commonplace; two centuries… seemed more like a node for some key breakthrough, not the moment of complete success.

As he pondered, the magic network terminal screen flashed, and another message popped up.

This time, it was a teleportation request.

Requester: Viola.

Seeing this name, Jie Ming barely hesitated, his finger tapping the “confirm” key.

At the same time, he issued orders to the surrounding black giant priests: “Continue installing nodes seven through twelve according to current parameters; synchronize data in real-time to the central control console. I have matters to attend to back at the lab.”

“As you command, Master.” The lead priest bowed in response.

Jie Ming’s figure flashed, vanishing from the basin.

The next moment, he appeared in the core laboratory.

Just stepping out of the teleportation array’s glow, he saw that familiar figure.

Viola was seated on the obsidian chair at the lab’s center.

Unlike her usual elegant and composed demeanor, as if everything was under control, she now leaned slightly forward, her fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest, her eyes holding a rare trace of anxiety.

Upon seeing Jie Ming appear, Viola immediately lifted her head, forcing a smile onto her face, but it looked stiff no matter how one viewed it.

“Senior Sister, what’s the situation?” Jie Ming asked directly, walking to the control console and casually activating the lab’s silencing and isolation barriers.

“You’ve probably received that invitation by now, right?” Viola skipped the pleasantries, getting straight to the point.

“Just got it. Wizard Starfall’s ceremony invitation.” Jie Ming nodded, sitting in another chair, his gaze fixed on Viola. “Looking like that… could the invitation be fake?”

Viola took a deep breath, straightening her posture, her expression turning serious: “The invitation itself isn’t fake. But it was automatically sent by Starfall’s terminal when the time came. Now… there’s a bit of a problem.”

She paused, seeming to organize her words, then slowly said: “Do you remember why Starfall thought she’d found the path to seventh-ring back then?”

Jie Ming’s thoughts raced, memories swiftly rewinding to that meeting.

At the time, Wizard Starfall’s research had hit a bottleneck, and the “imaginary element” Jie Ming demonstrated—namely, spiritual qi—with its ability to derive from nothing, nourish all things, and even spawn embryonic consciousness, had provided her with crucial inspiration.

“She believed my imaginary element… could help advance her spirituality laws further.” Jie Ming recalled, his brows gradually furrowing. “I remember her plan was… to ‘vitalize’ a resource plane under her complete control?”

As he spoke, Jie Ming immediately understood.

He abruptly looked at Viola, his eyes full of shock: “She succeeded in creating a ‘living plane’?!”

Viola nodded heavily, the last trace of ease vanishing from her face: “She did succeed… but according to the monitoring formations I set up around that plane’s periphery… something seems off.”

“The energy tide fluctuation patterns are abnormal, the spirituality aggregation speed far exceeds model predictions, and most importantly, the ‘will’ fluctuations emanating from the plane itself… are extremely unstable, even risking loss of control.”

“The issue is that the entire plane has entered lockdown mode, and I can’t contact that guy…”

Jie Ming couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.

A living plane out of control!

One must know that wizards, when facing other civilizations in the endless chaotic void, could generally fight across one level.

Only when confronting living planes, which had virtually no civilization grade, were wizards the ones being outleveled.

Having personally experienced war with a living plane, Jie Ming knew the terror of such enemies all too well.