Chapter 729: Powerful Viola

**Chapter 729: Powerful Viola**

After offering their congratulations, Wizard Starfall and Anya quickly prepared to leave.

From her hurried demeanor, it was clear that Starfall was not as relaxed as she had claimed.

What surprised Jie Ming somewhat was that Viola left with them as well.

When Starfall was saying goodbye, Viola tugged at her sleeve. Usually poised, elegant, and in complete control, she now looked like a penniless pauper who had finally found someone to vent to. Her tone was so exaggerated it seemed she might fill the entire laboratory with resentment.

“I need to find a place to conduct my research right now, but I don’t even have a decent laboratory anymore. You can’t just watch me die, right?”

Starfall, worn down by her pestering, could only helplessly agree and lend her an unused standard laboratory from the living plane project team. Only then did Viola release her hand in satisfaction.

She turned back and waved at Jie Ming, the familiar smile on her lips.

There was always something else hidden beneath that warmth, making it hard to tell whether she was simply greeting him or plotting some mischief. After the three of them bid farewell to Clark, they left the laboratory.

The teleportation array lit up and then dimmed. Several figures vanished into the light, and the laboratory fell quiet once more.

Jie Ming, however, did not leave immediately.

After seeing Senior Sister Viola like this, a question suddenly occurred to him that he wanted to ask Clark in private.

“Professor.” He carefully chose his words. “Is Senior Sister’s financial situation… a bit off?”

Clark did not raise his head, still standing before the experiment. His fingertips lightly tapped the edge.

“You mean, why does she seem so poor?”

Jie Ming nodded. That was exactly what he thought.

After all, Viola had been at the sixth level for nearly three thousand years.

Even if her luck was so bad that she had never encountered an ownerless plane, with her strength and range of activity, she should have gained something in the endless chaotic void. Even in the worst case, if she truly hadn’t discovered a single plane, Viola’s ability to earn resources was absolutely not to be underestimated.

Although she had owed a considerable debt when she advanced, with her earning power, she should have paid it off long ago. The series of Pain Demoness potions she had developed were always rare goods in the Star Ring Federation’s trading houses. Selling just a few batches would bring in quite substantial resources.

Over two or three thousand years, even if she only accumulated military merits by selling potions, it should have been more than enough to clear her debts and buy an entire plane.

Yet Viola’s current state did not look like that of a top sixth-level wizard at all.

She could not even produce an independent laboratory and had to borrow one from Starfall.

But if one were to say she was truly poor, Viola could frequently exchange large amounts of high-tier military merits, proving she had been consistently earning resources. This was clearly abnormal.

Clark was silent for a moment, his slender fingers tapping the edge of the experiment station twice.

“Her situation before was rather special,” he said slowly. “She actually discovered two planes. The coordinates were good, and the resource endowments were decent. However, after discovering them, she immediately sold the relevant information in exchange for resources.”

A question mark slowly appeared in Jie Ming’s mind.

“But after today, that probably won’t happen anymore.” A trace of satisfaction that was hard to detect entered Clark’s voice. “Before long, she will likely find a new plane herself, conquer it, and transform it into her wizard tower.”

Jie Ming blinked. “Why after today?”

“Because Viola is quite an excellent genius.”

Jie Ming was stunned.

This evaluation was clearly not on the same level as the one Clark had given him.

What Clark had said about him was that he could also be considered a genius.

That “also” came with prerequisites.

Once he left the Dao Integration state, he probably would no longer fall within Clark’s definition of “genius.”

Yet the evaluation Viola received was “quite an excellent genius” with no qualifiers.

Based on Jie Ming’s understanding of Clark’s personality, the gap between them was large enough to fit an entire roster of elite combat unit geniuses.

“So… what is the connection here?” Jie Ming still didn’t quite understand.

Clark continued, “Although she is still stuck at the sixth level, she has expanded the Pain Law quite impressively. She has greatly extended the concept of ‘pain.’”

He raised his eyes, as if recalling something.

“Very early on, she already reached a threshold… Essentially, as long as it is a negative emotion, she can classify it as part of pain. Frustration, jealousy, anxiety, despair, unwillingness, shame… These emotions that ordinary people see as completely different from physical pain all fall under the branches of ‘pain’ within the scope of her law.”

As Jie Ming listened, a thread gradually began to connect in his mind.

“And as a wizard who primarily cultivates the Pain Law, the stronger the pain she feels, the greater her power, mental agility, learning ability, and all other aspects become,” Clark’s tone remained calm. “No matter whether this pain comes from enemies or from herself.”

Jie Ming slowly understood.

He quickly went over the entire logical chain in his mind.

Viola was deliberately keeping herself poor.

Being poor caused discomfort, discomfort caused pain, and pain made her stronger.

After becoming stronger, she would find herself still poor.

Thus, she would feel even worse, feel even more pain, and become even stronger…

“Holy shit!” Jie Ming couldn’t help exclaiming.

This was no longer ordinary application of a law. This was turning herself into a closed loop.

Jie Ming opened his mouth, but in the end only managed to squeeze out, “So Senior Sister is planning to… step on her own left foot with her right foot to ascend to the heavens.”

“Pretty much,” Clark surprisingly did not correct him.

Jie Ming digested this information for a while before another question came to mind. “Then why do you say that after today she will soon leave this state? Does she feel her power is already strong enough?”

Clark finally shifted his gaze from the experiment to him.

Those eyes reflected the faint golden traces left by the vertical eye between Jie Ming’s brows.

“Because she changed her anchor,” he said. “Her current anchor is you.”

Jie Ming blinked.

“Huh?”

“As her junior and senior sister’s pride and dignity as a senior, she refuses to let herself be surpassed by her junior. Once you surpass her in any aspect, she will feel pain… and then she will become stronger.” A trace of amusement actually appeared in Clark’s tone.

“On the other hand, although it sounds a bit dark, seeing you living so well—with your own plane, a hundred billion legions, Reflection Dimension samples, and even Broadleaf chasing after you to send knowledge—she will also feel jealous.”

“Jealousy also produces pain, so she will become stronger again.”

Jie Ming listened quietly, his spiritual sea already automatically organizing this logic.

In other words, from now on, whenever Viola saw his strength increase, she would be forced to increase her own.

Put another way, he had, in a sense, become Viola’s “growth fuel.”

“So in the future, when my strength improves, she will be compelled to become stronger?” Jie Ming asked.

“Correct.” Clark nodded. “This can actually be considered your contribution as well. Previously, Viola actually wanted to mark me as her anchor. Although I agreed, the gap between us was too large. She couldn’t even generate any jealousy, so the matter was dropped. In the end, she could only choose the extreme solution of keeping herself in poverty.”

Jie Ming understood. “So after seeing that I could progress so dramatically, Senior Sister made up her mind to change her anchor?”

“Yes. After all, for a wizard, having a suitable wizard tower (plane) as a base camp provides significant advantages—whether for conducting research in a dedicated laboratory, cultivating related resources, or increasing combat power.” Clark nodded. “A well-managed base camp amplifies a wizard’s progress no less than her law strengthening.”

Jie Ming agreed. One only had to look at the Incense Fire Divine Dao. Half of his current methods and earning power came from the Infernal Sulfur plane.

Clark suddenly said, “However, since she owes you a favor, if you encounter any enemies you cannot handle yourself in the future, you can go directly to her.”

Jie Ming was startled.

At this moment, an almost imperceptible trace of amusement floated into Clark’s voice.

Jie Ming could even hear a very faint loosening at the end of his words:

“The special nature of the Pain Law is right there. Viola is still very skilled in combat. As long as the enemy cannot instantly kill her, when she realizes she cannot defeat the opponent, she will feel despair and pain. Her own strength will then continue to increase until she can beat them.”

“Once the opponent feels pain due to her suppression, the outcome of the battle is already decided.”

Jie Ming stood in place, imagining the scene.

Then he couldn’t help shaking his head, the corners of his mouth pulling into an arc that was hard to tell was helplessness or amazement.

He had seen many wizards who played with laws in creative ways.

But someone who could play the Pain Law to this extent was truly rare.

Stepping on her own left foot with her right foot all the way to the peak of the sixth level, and conveniently turning her junior into new perpetual pain engine fuel.

It could only be said that Viola was truly a genius of this path.

Clark seemed to see through his thoughts. He tilted his head slightly, his gaze falling on the rune pen on the experiment station that was still automatically recording data. “I have conducted quite in-depth research on the Pain Law as well,” he said. “If we speak only of law mastery and application precision, she may not surpass me. However, if we speak of the breadth of law expansion and the extent to which she has extended the concept of ‘pain,’ I indeed cannot compare to her.”

Gulp!

Jie Ming couldn’t help swallowing. In his memory, this seemed to be the first time Professor Clark had ever admitted to being inferior to someone else.

“It can only be said that she truly is a genius of this path,” Clark concluded.