Chapter 450: The Sudden Wizard War

Wizard Starfall’s soul drifted lightly out of the lounge, heading toward the main control room to connect to the terminal.

The alloy door slid shut silently. Inside the room, only Clark, Viola, and Jie Ming, the master and his two disciples, remained.

Almost the instant the door closed, Jie Ming keenly sensed that the atmosphere in the room had undergone a subtle yet unmistakable shift.

It wasn’t hostility or tension, but rather a kind of…… stillness.

The stillness that comes after finishing discussion of relatively “private” or “technical” matters, and now having to face a far more serious topic.

Even the air seemed to grow heavier.

Jie Ming instinctively straightened his back. His gaze unconsciously flicked toward Mentor Clark, who was still calmly sipping his hot drink at an unhurried pace, and then toward Viola beside him.

Senior Sister Viola had clearly noticed it too. The lively expression on her face from bantering with Starfall quickly faded. Her brows furrowed slightly, and her eyes became sharp and focused.

Ahem.

Mentor Clark gently set down the metal cup in his hand. The bottom made a crisp yet soft sound as it touched the tabletop.

He raised his eyes and calmly swept his gaze across his two students. In that flat, even tone, he spoke words that would jolt the heart of any member of Noren Workshop:

“Start making preparations ahead of time. It won’t be long before Noren Workshop goes to war with the Tower of Annihilation and the Chaos Secret Cult.”

Jie Ming’s heart lurched violently. He blurted out in shock: “War? With the Tower of Annihilation and the Chaos Secret Cult? Why?”

In his understanding and experience, Noren Workshop had always maintained quite amicable, even intimate, cooperative relations with these two other wizard factions under the Star Ring Federation.

The most direct evidence was the “Junction Point.”

That enormous cross-plane transit hub jointly funded, jointly constructed, and jointly maintained by all three parties.

Its very existence was to provide the wizards of the three participating factions with a stable, secure, fully-equipped forward base for plane wars.

In the multiple plane wars Jie Ming had participated in, most of the early-stage preparation and assembly had taken place at the Junction Point.

On the battlefield, wizards from these three different factions fought shoulder to shoulder and supported one another as a matter of course.

Jie Ming himself had once cooperated with wizards from the Tower of Annihilation.

Although there were occasional frictions among the three great powers, the overall atmosphere had always been rational and efficient—everyone pursuing the common goal of seizing plane resources and expanding wizard civilization.

So how could close allies who had worked seamlessly together suddenly become mortal enemies locked in a fight to the death?

Viola’s reaction was calmer than Jie Ming’s, but her brows knitted even tighter. She looked at Clark and spoke in a grave tone:

“They… can’t hold back any longer?”

A faint, almost mocking smile appeared on Clark’s face.

He spoke slowly:

“Originally, among our three great factions, each had only one eighth-ring wizard holding the fort. Although the accumulated heritage and specific scale of each power varied, when viewed from the perspective of top-tier decisive strategic strength, a fragile balance was maintained. Disagreements could be negotiated; interests could be divided. The benefits brought by win-win cooperation far outweighed whatever gains might come from confronting each other.”

He paused. The gaze beneath his gray robe grew deep and dark:

“But now the situation has changed.”

Clark’s words were like a key, instantly unlocking a corner of Jie Ming’s mind that he had overlooked.

Anton Buchanan!

Mentor Clark’s own mentor—Jie Ming’s grand-mentor!

Not long ago, he had completed law solidification and advanced to become the second eighth-ring wizard of Noren Workshop!

At the time, Jie Ming had been present on-site, shaken by the vast manifestation of laws and the torrent of knowledge.

He had only felt that the Workshop’s strength had greatly increased and its future looked bright—he hadn’t deeply considered what tremendous shockwaves this would send through the surrounding political landscape.

For so long, the wars he participated in had all been outward expansion—fighting alien civilizations, plundering plane resources.

This had unconsciously caused him to equate “war” with “external,” and subconsciously ignore that within wizard civilization itself, between different wizard factions, there likewise existed cold, rational competition and struggle based on benefits.

Thinking about it now, it was the most natural thing in the world.

Even on the plane battlefield, when a temporarily formed wizard squad discovered some precious resource valuable enough to drive one mad, after weighing risks and rewards, there was always the possibility of “rational betrayal”—turning on one’s comrades.

If that could happen between individual wizards, how could giant interest collectives like wizard factions possibly coexist in eternal peace?

The pleasant cooperation of the past had merely been the optimal solution built upon the foundation of “roughly equal strength.”

The pie produced by cooperation was large enough that everyone could eat their fill—far more worthwhile than tearing faces and both sides suffering heavy losses.

But now, the balance had been broken.

Grand-mentor Anton Buchanan’s successful advancement to eighth-ring meant that Noren Workshop’s top-tier strategic power had gone from “one” to “two”!

In wizard civilization, high-ring wizards, especially seventh and eighth-ring existences, represented almost ninety percent or more of a faction’s deterrence and actual combat power.

The birth of a new eighth-ring wizard could, without exaggeration, nearly doubled Noren Workshop’s overall war potential!

How could the Tower of Annihilation and Chaos Secret Cult not panic? How could they not be anxious?

How could they allow someone to snore beside their bed?

Especially when this “someone” had suddenly grown an extra “giant arm” capable of easily crushing them.

Just as Jie Ming rapidly pieced together this cruel political logic in his mind, Mentor Clark’s calm voice continued, confirming his thoughts:

“From a purely rational analysis, their choice is not wrong. Striking now—while Mentor Anton has only just advanced, has not yet fully adapted to or mastered eighth-ring power, and has not yet completely transformed that power into a comprehensive strategic advantage for the Workshop—is their only possible window of opportunity to contain us, or even turn the tables and seize benefits for themselves. The earlier they act, the more advantageous it is for them.”

Jie Ming’s heart tightened: “Then… doesn’t that mean war could break out at any moment?”

He had no doubt whatsoever about the action efficiency of wizards. Once they figured this out, they might launch the war immediately.

Viola shook her head from the side and took over the conversation, her tone carrying a trace of sarcasm:

“Not as fast as you think. Because the Star Ring Federation will not allow it.”

“Star Ring Federation?” Jie Ming looked toward Mentor Clark.

Clark nodded and explained:

“Noren Workshop, Tower of Annihilation, and Chaos Secret Cult are ultimately all member forces under the Star Ring Federation. The Federation usually does not interfere in the internal affairs of its member forces and grants them a high degree of autonomy. However, if large-scale armed conflict breaks out between member forces, the Federation has both the authority and the responsibility to mediate.”

Viola seemed to think of something; the corner of her mouth curved slightly as she added:

“After all, if they really let a group of wizards act freely, the scope of involvement would inevitably grow larger and larger.”

“But mediation is not about forcibly ordering a ceasefire—that would not accord with the core wizard logic of ‘equivalent exchange’ and ‘supremacy of power,’ and would easily plant even deeper hidden dangers.” Clark’s tone was like stating some objective law.

“The Federation’s mediation usually involves, based on the demands of the conflicting parties, their relative strength, the focal points of contention, designating a specific timeframe and a specific region. The conflicting parties are required to invest their main combat power into that region within the stipulated time to engage in a ‘decisive confrontation’.”

“The victor gains the disputed benefits or right to speak; the loser must bear corresponding costs—such as ceding a portion of interests, or being ‘exiled’ to more dangerous frontlines against other civilizations to open up new territory as compensation.”

He glanced at Jie Ming:

“Of course, one can also choose to disregard the Federation’s mediation, fight privately, and expand the war. But the consequence of doing so is simultaneously violating Federation rules and provoking all the other powers who fear the spread of war—facing joint sanctions from the entire Star Ring Federation system, possibly even including the Star Orbit Tribunal. No wizard faction can bear that price.”

Jie Ming immediately understood:

“So… the upper echelons of the Workshop used the Federation’s mediation mechanism to delay the start of the war?”

“Correct.” The extremely faint smile on Clark’s face disappeared, replaced by a trace of regret. “Although it did buy us precious preparation time… the delay is not particularly long.”

He raised his head. His gaze seemed to penetrate the warship’s bulkheads, looking toward some unseen future—or perhaps truly glimpsing a certain unknowable thread of fate.

“Based on the information currently circulating and the progress of internal Federation mediation,” Clark’s voice remained calm, yet each word struck clearly against Jie Ming and Viola’s hearts, “this war can be delayed at most until eighty years from now!”

“Within these eighty years, the Workshop will concentrate resources as much as possible, raise combat power, and integrate forces. However…”

He paused, his gaze sweeping toward the direction where Wizard Starfall had left, and gave a gentle shake of his head.

“It seems Starfall will not make it in time for this war.”

Hearing Mentor Clark’s assertion, a trace of confusion still lingered in Jie Ming’s heart.

Why was Mentor so certain that Wizard Starfall would not make it to the war eighty years later?

Just because she had lost her physical body?

For wizards—especially high-ring wizards—the destruction of the flesh body was indeed a major setback, but it was absolutely not an irreparable dead end.

Techniques for reshaping the body and matching it to the soul were not secret in wizard civilization; one could even say they were quite widespread.

It only required spending some resources and a few days to reconstruct a new body.

Once the new body was connected to the soul, the wizard could “live” again and recover most of their combat power.

Although Wizard Starfall had suffered heavy losses this time, her gains had also been considerable. It shouldn’t be to the point that she couldn’t catch this war, right?

Just as Jie Ming was silently pondering, the alloy door of the lounge slid open once again.

Wizard Starfall’s soul drifted back inside.

However, compared to the eager, action-filled state she had when she left earlier, the difference was stark.

Right now she appeared… unusually vacant.

Although she was originally a drifting soul, this “vacancy” was not the inherent illusoriness of a soul body, but rather the dazed state of a mind that had suffered a violent shock and could not condense its focus.

Her “drifting” entrance was noticeably slower than usual; the flow of light from her soul appeared sluggish and disordered.

Those half-transparent eyes had lost their focus, as though she were still immersed in some kind of unbelievable shock.