Chapter 445: Data and Perception

“Hum!!!”

A low rumble, too deep for ordinary hearing, resonated directly on the soul level from the depths of the plane.

It was the instinctive fury and resistance of the plane’s will after being “stabbed.”

The scarlet spell formations, which had been operating steadily, suddenly blazed with intensified light. The rune chains flickered wildly, clearly enduring a terrifying surge of pressure from within.

The contest between the binding formations and the living plane’s will unfolded fiercely in the silent void.

Viola’s figure had already appeared at the core node of one of the binding formations.

Jie Ming could see her pressing her hands forward into empty space, her vast spiritual power merging seamlessly with the enormous formation beneath her feet.

She was trying to stabilize the formation and suppress the plane’s frenzied awakening will.

Yet the living plane’s struggle was far beyond imagination.

Even under Viola’s full effort to maintain it, the binding formation emitted groans of unbearable strain. Overload warning alarms screamed incessantly across Jie Ming’s control console.

The thick scarlet rune chains began developing fine cracks. Their light flickered erratically, as though they could snap at any moment under the barbaric, growing force from within.

Time passed second by second.

There was still no word from Mentor Clark or Wizard Starfall.

The communication channel remained dead silent.

The expression on Viola’s face grew increasingly grim. While she poured everything into keeping the binding formation from collapsing instantly, she kept glancing toward the plane, the anxiety in her eyes almost tangible.

Finally, she seemed to make up her mind.

A pre-agreed emergency attack command signal was transmitted into the warship’s control system, appearing synchronously on Jie Ming’s main light screen, framed by a glaring red warning border.

The meaning of the signal was simple: Launch the extermination attack immediately!

Viola’s reasoning was straightforward.

Mentor Clark carried the marker crystal; the extermination formations’ firepower would automatically avoid the area marked by its energy signature.

As long as he wasn’t unlucky enough to be hit directly by the first coordinated salvo at his exact coordinates, there was no worry about friendly fire.

Even if the old man truly suffered such an astronomically improbable stroke of bad luck, with Clark’s unfathomable strength and preparations, he could withstand a direct hit from an extermination formation without dying.

Since it couldn’t kill him, there was no need to hold back!

After all, the binding formations were already at their limit—they couldn’t afford to wait any longer!

Yet what stunned Viola was that her attack command sank like a stone into the sea.

The warship did not respond.

The three plane extermination formations remained in their pre-charge state, showing no sign of further activation.

“Jie Ming?!” Viola’s urgent voice burst through the comms channel, laced with disbelief and barely suppressed rage. “What’s going on? Why haven’t you launched the attack?! The binding formations can’t hold much longer! Once it breaks free completely, without having inflicted heavy damage beforehand, our three attack formations won’t withstand its assault at all!”

On the other end, Jie Ming remained silent for a moment.

His gaze was locked tightly on the deep spectral analysis chart of the living plane’s will fluctuations, fed back by the detection arrays.

On that chart, the waveforms symbolizing aggression and destructive intent did indeed exist—and they were growing stronger with every struggle.

But… there was also a special “feeling” that he had keenly captured.

It wasn’t malice. It wasn’t murderous intent.

It was… the unease of a newborn infant, the instinctive rebellion against restraint, the violent “physiological reaction” to unfamiliar stimuli, mixed with a chaotic, directionless restlessness—like something desperately searching yet unable to find what it sought.

This feeling did not come from any wizard data analysis model. It was more ethereal, more intuitive.

Jie Ming knew very well that this sensation stemmed from his identity as a cultivator—from the mysterious, profound resonance between himself, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, and the vitality of all things.

A cultivator was naturally connected to the heavens and earth, so his “spiritual sense” was quietly telling him: this newborn plane consciousness, in its current violence, was more like a giant infant thrashing and crying out from pain, fear, and discomfort—rather than a demon bent on destroying everything.

“Senior Sister,” Jie Ming’s voice came through the comms channel, exceptionally calm, even carrying a trace of reassurance, “don’t be hasty yet. Let’s observe a little longer. The binding formations can still hold for a while.”

“Observe what?!” Viola nearly roared. “The data has already made everything clear! It’s rampaging! Its aggressive waveforms are skyrocketing! Jie Ming, this is not the time to be soft-hearted!”

“I know the data,” Jie Ming persisted, his eyes never leaving the charts that to others looked like nothing but chaotic waveforms. “But we should also trust Mentor Clark’s abilities. With Mentor’s strength, the current living plane can’t possibly stop him. If he still hasn’t emerged by now, he must have his reasons.”

“Perhaps… he’s attempting to communicate with this nascent consciousness? Or he’s found a critical clue regarding Wizard Starfall? If we bombard it indiscriminately with the extermination formations now, we might ruin Mentor’s plan and even trigger unpredictable chain reactions.”

He paused, then added, “Senior Sister, please do your best to control it. For now, refrain from using your Pain Law to actively stimulate or attack its consciousness core. Pain can suppress, yes, but it might also drive it into complete madness and sever any possibility of communication.”

On the other end, Viola was so furious she almost wanted to stomp her foot—unfortunately, there was no ground to stomp on in the void.

So she stared at the binding formation in front of her, its scarlet light growing dimmer and dimmer, cracks spreading further, then glanced toward the motionless warship, her mind torn in fierce internal conflict.

Data, reason, emergency protocols—every rational analysis was screaming at her to override the attack authority, to force the enemy to “quiet down” first.

Yet on the other side stood her junior brother’s unusually stubborn, almost obstinate judgment.

In the end, Viola clenched her teeth hard.

“Fine! Jie Ming, I’ll trust you this once! And trust that damned old man too!” Her voice carried a desperate, all-in resolve. “But if the binding formations really collapse and there’s still no news from inside… you know what happens next!”

She no longer demanded an immediate attack. Instead, she poured her entire focus into maintaining the stability of the binding formations, using the gentlest possible energy channeling and buffering methods.

Sensing that Viola had been temporarily persuaded, Jie Ming secretly let out a breath of relief.

But his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

He looked at the increasingly dire objective data on the screen, then felt the increasingly clear yet theoretically unprovable “intuition” in his heart. The pressure weighed on him like a mountain.

He knew his reasoning didn’t truly hold up.

To a wizard, “feelings” were the least reliable thing imaginable.

He couldn’t explain it, and he certainly couldn’t reveal his spiritual sense as a cultivator.

He could only wait silently for the outcome.

And beyond the viewport, the living plane’s struggle continued.

The scarlet light of the binding formations flickered dimly under the onslaught of green waves, like a candle in the wind.