Chapter 509: The Final Piece of the Puzzle
Chapter 509: The Final Piece of the Puzzle
Two days passed quietly amid the restoration of his soul.
On the metal platform, Jie Ming slowly opened his eyes. Deep within his pupils, a gentle jade-like spiritual light flowed for a moment before quietly fading away.
He sensed the completely transformed state within his body, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily curved upward.
“Soul strength assessment complete.” The construct’s flat synthetic voice sounded at the right moment. “Current soul integrity: 62.7%. Conclusion: The soul has completed critical reconstruction. The missing portions are now self-mending at a stable rate.”
Sixty-two point seven percent.
The number still sounded incomplete, but Jie Ming himself understood the transformation best.
This recovered sixty-some percent of his soul — in both “volume” and “density” — was nearly equivalent to the entirety of his soul at its peak before he was injured!
Under the near-brutal “adaptive evolution” driven by the Body Forging Method, his soul had not simply “healed.” In the process of breaking and then rebuilding, it had been forced to absorb, compress, and convert far more nourishment drawn from his physical essence and environmental energies — achieving a qualitative and quantitative leap at the same time.
The strengthening of his soul also caused his mental power to rise accordingly.
He had a faint feeling that once his soul fully recovered, his mental power might actually be able to — albeit barely — catch up to the physical body that had already been repeatedly hammered by the Body Forging Method far beyond normal limits. More importantly, the stabilization of his soul’s main framework freed him from that fragile state where it could “leak” at any moment.
Previously, his soul had been covered in cracks, like a wooden bucket riddled with holes. No matter how much restorative energy converted from “essence, qi, and spirit” he poured in, the retention efficiency was pitifully low.
Now the bucket had been solidly repaired. What remained was simply filling it with water — letting the missing thirty-some percent slowly become full again.
Even without external medicinal assistance, this process would accelerate steadily, relying solely on the conversion efficiency of his own Qi Refinement Method for life essence, together with the continuous supply from his powerful physical body.
“That’s enough.” Jie Ming sat up from the metal platform. His movements were smooth and natural, no longer carrying the previous stiffness and pain. “I believe I no longer need to occupy critical-care resources here.”
The construct offered no objection. It simply issued a confirmation command. The formation lights surrounding the metal platform gradually dimmed and extinguished.
“Treatment program terminated. It is recommended that to avoid high-intensity soul load and extreme energy shocks for the next three to five days. Normal activity is unrestricted.”
“Understood.”
Leaving the treatment room still echoing with residual energy, Jie Ming was assigned to a relatively quiet single-person rest chamber equipped with a basic meditation auxiliary formation.
Though simple, it was more than sufficient for him now.
With his thoughts no longer disrupted by excruciating pain, his mind had become clear and sharp once again — even more agile and active than before the injury. This refreshing sensation filled Jie Ming with particular delight.
There was no way he would simply idle away, waiting passively for the last remnants of his injuries to heal naturally — that would be far too great a waste of time.
“Perfect timing. I can take a look at those two ‘rewards’.” From his portable spatial equipment, Jie Ming retrieved two crystalline memory crystals, each emitting a faint but distinct glow.
These were the technical materials given to him as thanks by the pair of fifth-ring wizard partners from Noren Workshop whom he had rescued during his earlier reconnaissance mission: 《Multi-Layer Barrier Nesting Optimization Algorithm》 and 《Water Element Shaping and Energy Compression Technique》.
At the time, the battle situation had been urgent. He had only given them a quick glance, confirmed their considerable value, and put them away.
Now, with a clear mind and limited remaining rest time, they were just right for study.
Jie Ming first carefully read through the contents of the Multi-Layer Barrier Nesting Optimization Algorithm.
“Interesting… This isn’t purely barrier studies. It leans more toward a systematic optimization approach for large-scale composite rune formations.” He read with great interest.
While the technique itself was not of particularly high tier, the “system integration” philosophy it contained — along with its exquisite design of energy flow pathways — gave him considerable inspiration.
Next, he activated the second memory crystal: 《Water Element Shaping and Energy Compression Technique》.
This technique was far more “specialized.”
It delved deeply into the plasticity limits of water element’s conventional material forms and their variants, and provided a series of extremely refined micro-manipulation models.
Under normal circumstances, this part would indeed be the most noteworthy aspect of the technique.
But Jie Ming paid little attention to those sections. Instead, after taking in the overall picture, he instinctively focused on another aspect of the knowledge.
“Shaping… compression…” Jie Ming murmured to himself. The light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Water element was not his area of expertise, yet the core idea of this technique, extreme form control combined with energy density management, acted like a key, suddenly unlocking a door in his mind that had previously refused to open completely.
He immediately set the memory crystal aside and began pacing back and forth in the rest chamber. His thoughts operated at unprecedented speed, while his fingers unconsciously traced complex trajectories through the air.
“Like this… yes, yes… although there are still some mismatches, they can absolutely be adjusted. Yes! Excellent…”
Jie Ming’s breathing grew slightly rapid.
He abruptly sat back down on the meditation cushion, closed his eyes tightly, and unleashed his vast mental power to frantically deduce, model, and collide within his sea of consciousness.
Time passed minute by minute.
In the rest chamber, only the occasional flicker of energy light across Jie Ming’s body remained, along with the complex rune structures and energy flow simulation diagrams, drawn purely from mental power, that continuously appeared, transformed, and vanished in the void before him.
Two days later.
When Viola learned through the construct network that Jie Ming’s injuries had basically healed and rushed excitedly to the door of his rest chamber—
Before she even pushed it open, she keenly sensed the peculiar residual fluctuations leaking through the crack — the distinctive afterglow of extreme mental hyperactivity.
She raised an eyebrow and pushed the door open.
Inside, Jie Ming stood with his back to the entrance, in the center of the room, staring in rapt attention at a slowly rotating three-dimensional model in midair — woven from a vast number of interlocking runes.
The model’s structure was exquisitely intricate, layered and nested, its flowing light carrying a harmonious yet dangerous beauty.
Hearing the door open, Jie Ming turned around.
Viola was astonished to see that her junior brother’s face still bore traces of excitement that had not fully faded — his eyes shining with startling brightness, as though stars were burning within them.
“Junior brother?” Viola stepped inside, casually closing the door behind her, and studied him curiously. “What’s this… did something good happen?”
Jie Ming blinked. It seemed to take him half a second to fully pull his attention back from the deductions still raging in his mind.
He let out a long breath, trying to calm his surging emotions, but the smile at the corners of his mouth refused to be suppressed.
“Senior sister, you’re here.” His voice carried a slight hoarseness yet brimmed with vitality. “Nothing much, just… remember how I saved those two people earlier? They gave me two techniques as thanks.”
Viola immediately understood. “Oh? Looks like you got results from studying them? Big gains?”
“Big doesn’t even begin to cover it!” At her words, Jie Ming couldn’t help but grow excited again. He nodded vigorously. “At first I thought they were just two rather unique techniques. But after diving deep into them… they helped me solve a major problem that had been troubling me for a very long time!”
He faced Viola directly, his eyes flashing with firm confidence. “Now, the final piece of my combat system has been filled in!”
Viola looked at the genuine excitement and confidence radiating from Jie Ming. She was momentarily stunned, then broke into a smile as well.
She understood this feeling all too well.
On the path of a wizard, very often it was precisely some seemingly insignificant “low-level” knowledge from an unrelated field that — by pure chance — sparked an inspiration and became the crucial missing piece needed to complete one’s own power puzzle.
“Congratulations.” Viola said sincerely. “So… a complete combat system still needs actual combat to test and refine it, right?”
Hearing this, Jie Ming clenched his fist hard. His gaze turned toward the window of the rest chamber.
“Exactly!” His voice was resolute. “My injuries have fully healed, and my condition has been tuned to its peak. I plan to immediately accept a reconnaissance mission.”
He looked at Viola, battle intent faintly igniting in his eyes. “I’m going out to find someone — and practice!”
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