novelraw Chapter 635: Dividing the Spoils and Heading to the Strange Plane
Chapter 635: Dividing the Spoils and Heading to the Strange Plane
Chapter 635: Dividing the Spoils and Heading to the Strange Plane
The two sealed containers floated quietly in the air above the fountain square, slowly rotating under the amber-colored light.
One was a test tube containing the salty finger, its blue glow forming a bizarre contrast with the pale finger.
The other was the container holding the graffiti ball, with runes flickering on its surface and a faint buzzing sound faintly audible from within.
The moment the sealing was completed, the atmosphere in the square changed subtly.
The nine wizards were spread out around the square, neither too close nor too far from one another.
Their gazes all fell on the two containers, yet no one spoke first.
The term “dividing the spoils” was not particularly elegant, but everyone present knew exactly what was about to happen.
The deep blue-robed male wizard gave a light cough, breaking the silence. “Two Strange, nine people. Does anyone have any ideas?”
“I suggest we divide the two Strange,” the slender male wizard pushed up the bridge of his nose. “Although these Strange have been compressed into conceptual aggregates, they can theoretically be segmented. How many portions we split them into depends on what we decide.” “Nine portions,” the burly male wizard said. “One for each person, fair and square.”
“The graffiti Strange can be divided into nine portions, but the salty finger cannot,” the young female wizard shook her head. “Its operating principle is completely different from the graffiti Strange. Segmenting it would destroy its integrity, and its research value would be greatly reduced.”
“So your meaning is that one person takes the salty finger while the others divide the graffiti Strange?” The burly male wizard frowned. “Then who gets the finger?”
No one answered.
After a moment of silence, the Curse Witch spoke. Her pale gray eyes beneath the hood calmly regarded the two containers as she talked.
“The graffiti Strange’s intensity far exceeds that of the salty finger. Even if divided into eight portions, each portion’s Strange intensity would still be stronger than the salty finger.”
Her words were blunt, but they stated a fact everyone present already knew, which was also the reason for their hesitation.
The salty finger was merely a low-level Strange that mechanically executed rules.
It could kill people, make them taste saltiness, and cause kidney failure, but that was all.
Its research value to wizards was not high.
The graffiti Strange was different.
It could rewrite reality, twist a sixth-ring wizard’s arm from half a town away, and still maintain astonishing vitality even when compressed to the limit.
Even if divided into eight portions, each portion’s value would still be higher than one complete salty finger.
“If we really have to say where the salty finger is stronger than the divided graffiti Strange,” Jie Ming spoke, his tone calm, “it’s probably that it remains a complete individual. For research purposes, there is still some difference between a complete sample and segmented samples.”
“But that difference isn’t important,” the life-system wizard waved his hand. “We will soon be heading to that Strange Plane. Wizard Austin said there are all kinds of Strange there. We won’t lack complete samples at that time.”
His words sounded like a statement of position.
Jie Ming glanced at him, then at the expressions of the other wizards.
Although nothing was said explicitly, the atmosphere made it very clear.
Everyone was inclined to give the salty finger to one person while the others divided the graffiti Strange.
Jie Ming looked at the two containers floating in the air, then at the eight wizards around him, and gave a slight nod. “Then I’ll take the salty finger.”
The wizards looked somewhat surprised.
“I have no objection,” the Curse Witch was the first to speak.
“Agreed,” the young female wizard nodded.
The other wizards also nodded one after another, with no one raising any objections.
Facing the strange gazes from these wizards, Jie Ming said nothing more.
In truth, to him, the value of the salty finger Strange was higher than that of the graffiti Strange.
After all, he had already gained a thorough understanding of the rules related to the graffiti Strange during direct contact earlier and had collected plenty of data.
Therefore, to him, another complete Strange of a relatively lower level held greater value.
“Then we’ll divide the graffiti Strange into eight portions,” the deep blue-robed male wizard looked toward the Curse Witch. “You do the division? You are most familiar with the structure of curse-type existences.”
The Curse Witch nodded and walked toward the floating container.
She extended her left hand, and the black rune appeared in her palm.
The rune rotated slowly, emitting fine black threads that probed into the container and wrapped around the curled-up graffiti ball.
The moment it was segmented, the graffiti ball trembled violently. The graffiti patterns on its surface shifted frantically, as if making a final struggle. But the Curse Witch’s technique was extremely precise. The black threads acted like scalpels, slicing along the conceptual fissures inside the graffiti ball and dividing it into eight roughly equal parts.
Each portion was individually encapsulated in a black sphere condensed from curse power, floating in the air and emitting faintly shifting colors.
“Take them,” the Curse Witch said.
The eight wizards each took one black sphere. Jie Ming also reached out and stored the test tube containing the salty finger into his inner cave-heaven.
With the division of spoils complete, the next step was to claim the “reward.”
The deep blue-robed male wizard walked to the center of the square and drew a rune in the air with a wave of his hand.
The rune flickered a few times and connected to the magic network terminal.
“Mission completed,” he tapped on the terminal and uploaded the completion marker.
Almost at the same instant, the air above the square shook violently.
A massive spatial rift tore open from the void, as if an invisible blade had slashed across the amber-colored sky. The rift extended from the ground to high above, fully over a hundred meters long and dozens of meters wide, its edges glowing with a blue light.
A phantom condensed from the rift’s light—it was Wizard Austin’s projection.
After this eighth-ring Archwizard’s projection appeared, his pale blue eyes calmly swept across everyone in the square.
His gaze lingered for a moment on the spot where the two containers had originally floated, then he gave a slight nod.
“Not bad efficiency.”
His voice was not loud, but every word carried a weight that unconsciously made people straighten their backs.
“I will now open the entrance for the mission rewards for you.” Austin raised his hand, and the hundred-meter-tall spatial rift became even more stable under his gesture. The blue light at the edges transformed into a steady silver-white. “On the other side of the rift is that Strange Plane. I have already invaded the interior of the plane, so once you pass through, you will directly be inside that world.”
The originally pitch-black spatial rift suddenly became transparent. On the other side was the scene of another world.
Wizard Austin then added, “I have a few requirements.”
The wizards listened quietly.
“First, I will not forcibly restrict your output energy levels. You may cast spells freely in that plane. However, I hope that when capturing Strange, you will limit your power as much as possible. Depending on the situation, if you can resolve it on a small scale, do not cause large-scale destruction. The environment of that plane is very fragile and cannot withstand the full output of high-ranking wizards.”
“Second, if possible, I hope you can disguise your identities and avoid being discovered by the native inhabitants of this plane. There are still many unclear aspects regarding the conditions for the birth of Strange. If we want this plane to continuously produce Strange, it is best not to damage the plane itself or disrupt the social structure of its native inhabitants.”
“Strange are indeed rare research resources,” the deep blue-robed male wizard nodded. “We understand. In order to turn it into a ‘renewable resource,’ maintaining the plane’s social structure and basic state is necessary.”
The other wizards also nodded one after another.
This was not some noble sentiment, but pure consideration of benefits.
A plane that could continuously produce Strange versus one that stopped producing them after being damaged—which was more valuable? Any wizard could calculate it clearly.
“Very good.” Austin’s projection nodded. “Then, I will give you all a hint.”
His expression became slightly more serious.
“There is one Strange in this plane that I call ‘Night.’”
“Night?” The young female wizard frowned.
“Exactly as the word suggests,” Austin said. “At night, do not allow yourselves to be in a lightless state. Otherwise, it will be rather dangerous.”
“Dangerous to what degree?” the life-system wizard asked.
“For you all, this Night Strange is not dangerous,” Austin’s tone was very calm. “But it has one troublesome characteristic… it is basically connected to the entire plane. If you resist too fiercely, your power will conduct through its ‘body’ into the plane’s law structure, very likely causing irreversible damage.”
“The method to avoid it is simple: just ensure you remain in a lit state even during the night.” Austin spread his hands. “It’s that simple. No need to fight, no need to seal it—just light a lamp. I’m reminding you only because I’m afraid you don’t know this characteristic and might casually extinguish it the moment you arrive, which would destroy the plane’s ecology.”
“Understood.”
The wizards present all nodded, indicating they were clear.
“As for the other Strange,” Austin’s projection began to turn transparent, “how to discover and capture them will depend on your own abilities. Good luck.”
The phantom dissipated.
The hundred-meter-tall spatial rift floated steadily above the square. On the other side was a wilderness shrouded in night.
The young female wizard moved first.
She walked toward the rift. Before crossing, she raised her hand and condensed a fist-sized energy light orb in her palm.
The light orb emitted a soft white glow, enveloping her entire body in a halo.
Then she stepped through.
Her figure disappeared on the other side of the rift.
The other wizards followed one after another. Every person crossing the rift first lit a light source.
Some were light orbs, some were glowing runes, and some were magical artifacts burning with flames.
No one found it troublesome. A casual action that could protect the ecology of the entire plane was worth it no matter how one calculated.
Jie Ming was last in line.
He walked to the rift and looked at the dark wilderness on the other side, lifting his foot to step through.
Then his foot stopped in midair.
It was not that he did not want to go, but that he could not.
The moment Jie Ming’s body touched the rift, he felt a strong sense of rejection.
That feeling… was like trying to stuff an elephant into a refrigerator.
Jie Ming was stunned for a moment, then understood the reason.
Because his current true body was a thousand-meter-tall Dharma Form.
Although he currently looked no different from an ordinary person, that was merely an illusion.
It was an appearance presented after his true body had been compressed, folded, and disguised.
His essence was still that dark golden, thousand-meter-tall colossus.
This spatial rift, over a hundred meters long and dozens of meters wide, was more than enough for an ordinary human body or a sixth-ring wizard who had not fully unfolded their Law Solidification Domain.
But for a thousand-meter-tall Dharma Form, it was too narrow.
Jie Ming stood before the rift, his expression somewhat awkward.
At that moment, he felt a gaze land on him.
The silver-white light at the edge of the rift trembled slightly, then stabilized again.
But Jie Ming keenly noticed that the “texture” of that light had changed. Previously, it had felt like an automatic program with preset parameters. Now, it had become “alive,” as if something had been injected into it.
Austin’s phantom reappeared.
But this time the phantom was different from before.
Its eyes were no longer that unfocused blue but had become lively and profound.
Clearly, after detecting the anomaly here, Wizard Austin had shifted his consciousness over.
“Hm?”
Austin’s gaze fell on Jie Ming. His pale blue eyes narrowed slightly.
With that glance, Jie Ming felt his disguise had been seen through.
“Interesting,” Austin said softly.
His phantom circled Jie Ming once. Those eyes scanned up and down Jie Ming’s body before stopping directly in front of him.
“Your research is quite interesting, little fellow. You are indeed still at the fifth-ring wizard level and haven’t even completed Law Solidification yet, but…” Austin tilted his head slightly. “Your current mode of existence already bears some similarity to a sixth-ring wizard’s Law Solidification Domain.”
“It is merely an insignificant piece of research,” Jie Ming respectfully bowed.
“Insignificant?” Austin repeated the word, the corners of his mouth curving upward slightly. “Little fellow, excessive humility is equivalent to arrogance.”
Jie Ming felt somewhat embarrassed at his words. After all, he could not very well say that this was actually power from another system.
“Never mind, let me see… your ‘existence’ has already exceeded a thousand meters. No wonder you couldn’t pass through.” Austin smiled, his smile filled with interest in something novel. “This rift of mine was opened according to the ‘existence’ size of a standard sixth-ring wizard. For you, it is indeed too small.”
He raised his hand and gave a casual wave.
The hundred-meter-tall spatial rift expanded violently under his action, like a giant door being pushed open.
The edges of the rift extended from one hundred meters to over a thousand meters and quickly stabilized.
The wilderness on the other side of the rift presented an even broader view through the enlarged opening. Beneath the dark canopy of the sky, faint firelights could be seen flickering in the distance.
Austin’s phantom turned around. Those lively eyes looked at Jie Ming once more.
“Little fellow, do well.” He said, “I have high hopes for you.”
Then the phantom dissipated.
Jie Ming stood before the enlarged rift, silent for a moment, then lifted his foot and stepped through.
His figure disappeared into the silver-white light.