Chapter 512: Decision

Jie Ming made no attempt to contact Black.

After all, he was currently inside phase space—there was simply no way to transmit messages to the outside world.

And if he dared to leave phase space now, it would be no different from painting a giant target on his back.

Jie Ming steadied his mind and remained motionless within the crevice of phase space. His gaze swept across the jagged rock pillars below, the ash-gray sandy ground, and the spiritually barren sky like the beam of a precision scanner, inch by inch.

The Body Forging Method operated at full power, pushing his extreme sensitivity toward “environmental harmony” and “self-existence” to its absolute limit.

He no longer searched for “anomalous energy sources” or “hidden lifeforms.” Instead, he sought to sense whether the “overall state of existence” in this entire area was perfectly seamless and flawless.

Time passed in silence.

One minute, two minutes…

Finally, after the Body Forging Method’s adaptive evolution advanced several more stages, Jie Ming at last detected something unusual.

Roughly three hundred meters to his left-front, among a cluster of gray-white giant rock pillars that appeared completely ordinary and indistinguishable from the rest, one particular massive stone gave off an extremely subtle “discord” in his perception.

It felt like a tiny patch of pigment in an otherwise perfectly copied painting—its texture and aging slightly mismatched with the rest of the work.

Though the other party was also employing presence concealment, their method of hiding differed fundamentally from Black’s approach of “completely erasing one’s own existence.”

This wizard seemed instead to have tuned their “existence attributes” to perfectly match the surrounding environment—like the most masterful camouflage. Even if your eyes fell upon them, your subconscious would automatically classify them as part of the background.

Which method was superior was hard to judge definitively, but both were unquestionably extremely troublesome.

Jie Ming did not startle the snake in the grass.

He didn’t even entertain the thought of attacking. Instead, he retraced his original path, retreating from the area at an even slower, even more cautious pace.

Only after withdrawing to the vicinity of the entry point where he had first entered phase space—and confirming that his presence would not bring trouble down on Black—did he finally drop his concealment.

He immediately sent an encrypted message to Black:

【Discovered one lurker. Soul-type. Concealment method is high-grade “environmental assimilation.” Apart from him, are there traces of other enemies within detectable range of this area?】

Black’s reply came almost instantly—clearly his nerves had been stretched taut the entire time:

【Nothing detected. Soul-type means high probability of prioritizing extreme concealment and solo operational efficiency. Low likelihood of nearby direct combat teammates.】

After a brief pause, more text arrived:

【But very likely, just like us, he has “backup” or a “combat squad” waiting farther back. I can sense the anomaly; he has almost certainly noticed the disharmony too, though he hasn’t yet pinpointed my exact location. What now? Fight or withdraw?】

Jie Ming fell into brief contemplation.

Withdrawal was the safest option.

Both sides were masters of stealth. Without precise mutual location, neither would rashly initiate conflict. If he retreated now, the other side would most likely lack the ability to pursue.

But… what did it signify that such an advanced soul-type wizard was personally guarding this forward area?

It meant there was almost certainly an even greater secret—and an even bigger “fish”—lying deeper behind.

And wherever a big fish was present, there was a very high chance a sixth-ring wizard was overseeing it.

Risk and opportunity balanced on opposite ends of a scale.

Moments later, Jie Ming made his decision. He quickly replied to Black:

【You leave immediately. Package the coordinates of this area, the discovery of a high-grade soul-type lurker, and the possible “high-value target” and risk assessment in the rear as urgent intelligence. Deliver it back to camp.】

【What about you?】

Jie Ming continued typing:

【I’ll stay and conduct a probing reconnaissance. If there really is a sixth-ring, I can escape more easily on my own without having to worry about a companion.】

This was the most rational division of labor.

Black excelled at infiltration and intelligence transmission; his safe delivery of critical information back to base carried immense value.

Meanwhile, Jie Ming—with his powerful survivability and mobility—could afford to take the risk of deeper exploration. Even if he encountered a strong enemy, he had confidence in escaping.

Several seconds of silence came from Black’s side, as though he were conducting one final mental weighing.

Soon the reply arrived:

【Understood. I’ll get the intelligence back safely. Be extremely careful—veteran soul-types often have very dirty tricks. Keep the channel silent. I’ll leave a one-way early-warning marker at a safe distance. If ultra-high-energy combat erupts on your side, the marker will alert me.】

Jie Ming’s eyelid twitched as he read Black’s message, suddenly wondering whether the man had accidentally cursed himself in the process.

【Received.】

The communication channel fell completely silent.

Jie Ming knew that Black should now be quietly withdrawing from this dangerous zone.

He wasted no more time. Taking a deep breath, he re-entered phase space and once again enveloped himself with the spiritual power of the Five Aggregates Rainbow Mirror, pushing his concealment to the absolute limit.

Then, moving with practiced ease, he slowly advanced once more toward that coordinate—the position of the lurker.

Soon he returned to the rock-pillar area and locked onto the “discordant” giant stone.

From the perspective of phase space, a very faint, almost perfectly blended humanoid silhouette could be vaguely discerned on the surface of the rock.

Without the heightened observational ability granted by the Body Forging Method, even a sixth-ring wizard would likely have failed to notice anything wrong with this place under normal circumstances.

Separated by the barrier of phase space, Jie Ming could not precisely gauge the other party’s soul-strength rank.

But he estimated the lurker was most likely fifth-ring.

If a sixth-ring soul-type wizard were truly stationed here, given their mastery over soul fluctuations and perception range, Black would almost certainly have been detected and dragged out the very first time he attempted reconnaissance—without even having the chance to send a warning.

Even so, a fifth-ring soul-type wizard specialized in concealment and scouting was still an exceedingly troublesome opponent.

After some thought, Jie Ming did not act immediately.

Since there was a strong possibility that a sixth-ring wizard stood behind the enemy, charging in recklessly was out of the question.

At the very least, he needed to fully arm himself before launching any offensive.

From his internal blessed land, he released the dozen or so floating cannons once again, equipping them through the spiritual link of the Five Aggregates Rainbow Mirror.

The floating cannons floated silently behind him in phase space like a metallic swarm endowed with life. Their muzzles subtly adjusted, locking onto the blurry humanoid figure below.

He then double-checked every protective layer and witch tool on his body, confirming nothing was amiss.

Next, Jie Ming took out an acceleration talisman witch tool and applied the speed buff to himself.

Only after arming himself to the teeth did Jie Ming patiently wait, silently counting time in his mind to ensure Black had already retreated to a sufficiently safe distance.