Chapter 452: Choice and the Starfall Awakening Technique

Jie Ming’s gaze settled on Wizard Starfall, who was still caught in a state of exhilaration. Her soul’s halo rippled faintly with excitement.

Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed his mind, and he instantly understood the true meaning behind Mentor Clark’s earlier words.

When Mentor Clark said that Starfall “might not make it in time for this war,” he had not meant that she would be unable to reconstruct her body or regain her combat strength within eighty years.

The real crux lay in this: after obtaining a Level-One Cultivation Protocol, the rational decision-making stratum of Noren Workshop would absolutely never again permit her to personally set foot in such a dangerous, life-or-death conflict between factions!

Wizard apprentices who obtained a Level-Two Cultivation Protocol were already one-in-ten-thousand geniuses, yet across the dozens of Noren Academies under Noren Workshop’s banner, every new cohort could still produce seven or eight such talents.

They were the future talent reserves of the Workshop—worthy of protection, but not irreplaceable.

But a Level-One Cultivation Protocol…

Jie Ming silently calculated in his heart. From the founding of Noren Workshop until now, including their long-time neighboring rivals the Tower of Annihilation and Chaos Secret Cult—three powers that had been entangled for who-knows-how-many tens of thousands of years—Wizard Starfall was very likely the first being in this entire sphere to receive a Level-One Cultivation Protocol!

No—considering the paradigm-shattering nature of her research, it was almost certain that she was the very first!

She was no longer merely a treasure of Noren Workshop. She had been marked by the highest echelons of the Star Ring Federation as a “strategic asset potentially capable of driving an overall civilizational leap”!

To allow such an existence to step onto the battlefield and participate in a high-intensity wizard war whose outcome was uncertain and where death could come at any moment?

From the most coldly rational perspective of利益, that would be an unforgivable act of stupidity.

Letting her remain in the safest rear area, free of distractions, to perfect her theory and advance the research of living-plane wizardification—

The long-term returns and strategic value this could bring far outweighed whatever contribution she might make on the battlefield.

Even if Noren Workshop were unfortunate enough to lose this three-way struggle and suffer devastating losses,

as long as Starfall and her research remained, the Workshop would still possess the most core “seed” and “trump card” capable of rising again in the future.

This logic held just as true—even more so—at the level of the Star Ring Federation itself.

Having thought this through, the faint heaviness in Jie Ming’s heart regarding the impending wizard war seemed to lighten slightly.

At that moment, Wizard Starfall finally appeared to gradually calm down from the colossal impact of receiving the Level-One protocol.

The fluctuations in her soul light stabilized, though the brilliance in her eyes was brighter than ever before.

Seeing this, Jie Ming stood and prepared to take his leave:

“Senior Sister, although the original purpose of this trip was to attend your advancement celebration, judging from your current state—and the condition of the ‘plane’ below—a formal celebration will probably have to be postponed.”

“So I’ll take my leave first. Once everything on your side is properly arranged and your body has recovered, we’ll come back to celebrate for you properly.”

Viola nodded as well, her expression returning to its usual calm:

“Mm. Since the most dangerous phase has already passed and you now have the Federation’s full support, there’s no need for us to stay any longer. As Mentor said earlier, we have to return and prepare for the ‘excitement’ that’s coming.”

Mentor Clark finished the last of the hot drink in his cup, set it down, pondered for a moment, and then spoke:

“I will stay.”

All three gazes focused on him.

Clark’s tone remained even:

“I am very interested in this newborn living plane.”

He turned to Wizard Starfall.

“If you have no objections, for the coming period I can remain here and serve as the ‘little one’s’ first teacher—guiding it in making initial contact with the wizard knowledge system while observing and recording data on its growth as the embryonic form of a ‘living-plane wizard.’”

Upon hearing this, both Jie Ming and Viola showed a flicker of surprise, but they quickly understood.

A living plane was itself an outrageously heaven-defyingly talented form of intelligent life. Its growth process, mode of thought, and patterns of power evolution held incomparable allure for any wizard dedicated to exploring the frontiers of knowledge.

If not for the war pressures each of them had to face and prepare for, they too would probably have been unable to resist staying behind to personally witness how this unprecedented “miracle” would grow step by step.

A thought briefly crossed Jie Ming’s mind, and he glanced at his mentor a few extra times.

He recalled how, back in the Frostflame Plane, Mentor Clark had shown unusual interest in the naturally born living plane “Frostflame Will” and had collected a large amount of data on it.

Now, facing this artificially catalyzed newborn plane—one with potentially even greater prospects—it was only natural that his mentor would display even stronger interest.

Perhaps Mentor had deeper research directions in the domains of “life,” “spirituality,” or related laws?

But the thought passed quickly; he did not dwell on it.

His mentor’s fields of study were vast and profound—far beyond what Jie Ming could fully fathom at present.

When Wizard Starfall heard that Clark was willing to stay and serve as the enlightenment teacher for the “Starfall Plane,” she was first overjoyed. This was undoubtedly an enormous boon!

Having such an unfathomably deep peak sixth-ring grand wizard personally instruct it would surely lay the most solid foundation for Little Green.

But immediately afterward, she felt a pang of loss at the thought that her close friend and junior brother were about to leave.

Then, as though suddenly remembering something, she hurriedly said:

“Wait! Just a moment, please!”

With that, her soul body shot out with a whoosh—moving so fast she left only a streak of light behind.

Not long after, she came rushing back just as hurriedly, holding a virtual terminal in her hands and operating it at blinding speed with her fingers.

Soon, simultaneous notifications arrived on the terminals of Jie Ming, Viola, and Clark.

Jie Ming opened his terminal with some puzzlement. A highly complex, dazzlingly intricate three-dimensional spell model immediately projected onto the light screen.

Countless tiny runes were embedded like stars within multi-dimensional energy circuits—layer upon layer, cycling endlessly, radiating a strange yet gentle aura of “vitality” and “enlightenment.”

Even in static form, the model gave the uncanny sensation that it was about to “come alive.”

“This is…” Jie Ming carefully examined the structural details of the model.

Viola, having spent far more time with Starfall, was more familiar with her research style and rune preferences.

After staring at it intently for a moment, realization flashed in her eyes. She looked up at Starfall:

“This is… the core spell you used to activate the plane?”

“Exactly!” Wizard Starfall nodded vigorously, her face filled with pride and the joy of sharing. “I’ve named it ‘Starfall Awakening Technique 1.0’! It is the core achievement of the series of spells I independently developed after deeply studying the characteristics of the ‘Phantasmal Elements’ that Jie Ming provided, combined with my own understanding of spiritual laws!”

She explained:

“Its effect is to grant clear spiritual intelligence to something that originally lacks consciousness or possesses only chaotic consciousness—through specific energy resonance and information injection—without needing to rely on ‘Phantasmal Elements’!”

“Of course, the strength and orientation of the resulting intelligence depend on the target’s foundation, the complexity of the injected information, and the intensity of the energy supplied. If the corresponding spell formation is built on a sufficiently grand scale and supplied with sufficiently vast energy, then in theory it can indeed be used to catalyze plane activation!”

“However, this is only the crudest initial version. If deployed on too large a scale, the probability of loss of control rises dramatically. So in the short term, it’s best to avoid trying to activate any planes with it.”

Jie Ming gazed at the exquisitely perfected model of the “Starfall Awakening Technique” on the light screen, filled with admiration.

He was not surprised that Wizard Starfall had been able to reverse-engineer—from the Spiritual Qi (Phantasmal Elements) sample he provided—a technology capable of achieving “awakening” effects without needing Spiritual Qi.

After all, absorbing the strengths of other civilizations to strengthen oneself was the very foundation upon which wizard civilization stood.

They might not fully understand the underlying principles of this alien energy called Spiritual Qi, but as long as they could record all observable “structural changes” at the material, energy, and information levels caused by that energy when it triggered certain phenomena—and then find ways to “reproduce” those structural changes within the wizard system—they could achieve similar, or even identical, effects!

This was a pragmatic technical route based on phenomenon observation and structural imitation.

First achieve “it works,” then slowly investigate “why it works.”

When Starfall eventually fully comprehended the deep principles behind these “structural changes,” her “Awakening Technique” would truly reach perfection.

At that time, perhaps just as imagined—she would be able to point at will and awaken all things, giving birth to an entire legion composed of living planes!

“This is my thank-you gift.” Wizard Starfall looked at the three of them and spoke with sincerity. “The Federation’s first batch of aid funds and resources hasn’t been approved yet. Right now I’m so poor I only have this bit of research left. All I can do is repay—with knowledge—the favor of you three risking yourselves to come help me. I hope you won’t disdain it.”

Jie Ming, Viola, and Clark exchanged glances. All three saw satisfaction in each other’s eyes.

This gift carried tremendous weight.

For Viola, this spell model involving spirituality and creation might provide entirely new ideas and inspiration for her research on the laws of suffering or her innovations in potions.

For Mentor Clark, the model itself already embodied Starfall’s unique understanding of spiritual laws. Combined with his observations of living planes, its value was incalculable.

And for Jie Ming, the significance of this gift was especially special.

Although the “Starfall Awakening Technique” was an imitative technology detached from Spiritual Qi, the model itself inversely revealed the most fundamental and core “structural variation” patterns at the material and energy levels that Spiritual Qi triggered when stimulating “spirituality” and catalyzing “life”!

Studying this model in depth would be equivalent to analyzing— from an entirely new perspective—the micro-mechanisms by which Spiritual Qi acted upon “spirituality”!

This would provide immeasurable assistance in deepening his mastery of the Spiritual Qi Law—especially in exploring its applications in high-end domains such as “life creation” and “consciousness enlightenment”!

If he could thoroughly comprehend it, perhaps he could greatly shorten the time needed to raise his mastery of the Spiritual Qi Law to 100%.

“This gift is extremely precious. Thank you, Senior Sister.” Jie Ming solemnly bowed to Wizard Starfall.

Viola and Clark also inclined their heads slightly, expressing their acknowledgment and gratitude.