Jie Ming hovered above the cave opening, the perception of his Eye of Detection extending downward.
Simultaneously, he activated his Alchemy Technique, his mental energy probing along the nearby metal walls like tendrils.
The feedback from his reconnaissance witchcraft clearly formed in Jie Ming’s mind: below was not merely a passage but a vast underground space.
Its structural layout vaguely resembled a former commercial hub, now reduced to a battlefield.
Three gray-robed wizards stood back-to-back against a fractured metal support pillar, struggling to hold their ground, their witchcraft auras flickering unstably, clearly heavily depleted.
Their opponents were dozens of Giant Spirit Realm natives, varied in form.
Most had a semi-fluid, slime-like base, fused with mechanical components, wielding energy weapons or innate spell-like abilities.
Most striking were four particularly massive elites, their energy fluctuations reaching the fourth rank.
Like battlefield commanders, they directed the lesser natives in a relentless assault.
Jie Ming’s unabashed mental sweep was immediately detected by the struggling wizards below.
“Friend above! Help us deal with these enemies, and we’ll split the spoils here evenly!” the lead third-rank wizard called out through mental transmission, his voice tinged with evident urgency.
Jie Ming responded tersely, no longer hesitating, and dove toward the cave below.
As he descended, the battle took a critical turn.
To evade a corrosive spear wreathed in ominous black smoke shot from the shadows, one wizard was forced to cast Elemental Embodiment, transforming into a flowing stream of water.
The spear pierced the water veil, causing no physical harm, but its soul-eroding power left the wizard pale as paper upon reforming, a flush of unnatural red surging over him. He coughed up blood, his aura wilting, clearly suffering severe soul damage.
Just as the four fourth-rank natives prepared to finish off the wounded wizard, a thunderous roar shook the entire underground space!
A massive black figure crashed into the battlefield’s center like a meteor—it was Jie Ming’s revived fifth-rank Black Giant!
Its arrival brought a terrifying pressure, freezing all the natives’ movements.
Without flourish, it swung a fist at the nearest fourth-rank native, the punch compressing the air into an explosive boom!
The slime-like fourth-rank native reacted swiftly, its body sprouting viscous tendrils that seized several slower low-rank allies, hurling them like stones at the Black Giant’s fist.
It used the recoil to retreat, narrowly dodging the lethal strike.
But another wizard, observing the battlefield, suddenly paled and shouted toward Jie Ming, who had just landed.
Almost simultaneously, a figure nearly blended with the environment sprang from the shadows behind Jie Ming!
Wearing no external machinery, its body stretched and hardened in an instant, forming a razor-sharp biological bone spear, thrusting at Jie Ming’s back with astonishing speed!
Its concealment was so masterful that neither Jie Ming’s reconnaissance sigils nor his own senses had warned him!
Yet, the anticipated scene of the spear piercing flesh didn’t occur.
The ambushing third-rank native only saw a blur as Jie Ming’s figure flickered slightly, and its lightning-fast strike… missed?!
It couldn’t comprehend how, with its speed pushed to the limit, the target had dodged so effortlessly.
A smug smile flashed in Jie Ming’s mind.
He wouldn’t reveal that the moment the Black Giant landed, its inherent “Temporal Disruption” field had silently enveloped the surrounding area.
What seemed blindingly fast to the enemy was, in Jie Ming’s time reference, merely an ordinary lunge.
“Trying to ambush me?”
Jie Ming raised his right hand, and ten crystal-like sigil artifacts on his wrist blazed with piercing light.
The next moment, hundreds of fine, searing energy rays shot from the crystals! Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
Instead of scattering, the rays, under Jie Ming’s precise control, converged midair, forming a bucket-thick, white-hot cannon of destructive energy.
With unstoppable force, it blasted toward the “slowed” ambusher caught in the temporal field!
Trapped in the decelerating field, the ambusher had no time to evade, watching in horror as the cannon obliterated its protective energy and resilient body, vaporizing it!
After a few more shots to confirm the kill, Jie Ming carefully collected the remaining tissue fragments with his mental energy, storing them as spoils.
On the other side, the Black Giant’s addition turned the tide.
Like a tiger among sheep, its formidable physical resistance and energy absorption made it nearly immune to most attacks, and its Temporal Disruption field tormented its assailants.
The pressure on the three wizards eased, their spirits lifting as they coordinated with the Black Giant to swiftly clear the remaining enemies.
Soon, the battle ended.
The three wizards, including the wounded one who had stabilized with potions, approached Jie Ming.
Upon seeing the alchemy badge on his robe, their faces lit up with joy.
The injured wizard, tearing off his damaged robe to apply a cooling green ointment to the eerie black corrosion marks on his chest, spoke with a mix of relief and excitement:
“Friend, thank you for the aid! We’re the ‘Gray Tower’ squad. We found a well-preserved treasury deep in this underground complex! Based on its structure and energy signatures, it’s packed with resources. But…”
He paused, a wry smile on his face. “The treasury is locked by a special seal. We tried to force it open, triggering a self-destruct warning, which drew those guards and reinforcements.”
Jie Ming nodded thoughtfully.
The natives’ desperate, costly counterattacks suggested the treasury’s value was extraordinary.
No wonder they were thrilled to see an alchemy wizard—cracking technical seals was one of their specialties.
“I’ll give it a try,” Jie Ming said concisely, adding a condition. “If I succeed, I want priority to pick one item from the spoils.”
The two healthier wizards exchanged glances, then looked at their leader, who nodded without hesitation. “Fair enough! If you hadn’t arrived, we’d have lost not just the treasury but our lives.”
Agreement reached, Jie Ming, guarded by the Black Giant, approached a massive metal gate deep within the underground complex.
The gate’s surface was etched with intricate energy patterns, a circular recess at its center emanating a subtle, dangerous energy fluctuation.
Jie Ming placed his right hand on the cold metal, closing his eyes to channel his Alchemy Technique, his mental energy seeping into the seal’s structure.
In his perception, the seal was like a intricate trap.
Several strands of peculiar energy acted as “tripwires,” intricately linked to a massive, volatile energy source.
Any attempt to forcibly alter the treasury’s internal matter or energy state would instantly snap these “tripwires,” triggering the energy source to detonate, destroying everything inside along with the intruder.
“A clever design, using the natives’ unique energy traits as a key…” Jie Ming mused.
After a moment’s thought, he opted for the safest approach.
While maintaining his Alchemy Technique, he employed his Extraction Technique.
His mental energy, like invisible hands, carefully bypassed the sensitive trigger points, directly targeting the “tripwire” energies.
With the Extraction Technique, he meticulously stripped and absorbed these energies from the seal, channeling them into a temporary energy container in his internal space.
As the final “tripwire” was removed, the gate’s patterns flared with blinding red light, emitting a shrill alarm!
The sound echoed through the cavernous underground, carrying far.
Without the “tripwires” to detonate the massive energy source, the alarm was merely noise, potentially drawing more enemies but otherwise harmless.
Unfazed, Jie Ming continued.
With the tripwires gone, the treasury was likely safe.
But to be certain, he used his Extraction Technique again, this time targeting the dormant yet immense energy source at the seal’s core!
Through his efforts, the energy—capable of leveling a kilometer radius—was fully extracted.
It formed a twisting, flickering orb of light, which he cautiously sealed in his internal space.
“Perfect to replenish my earlier losses…” Jie Ming felt a slight relief; this high-quality energy was an unexpected boon.
With that done, he stepped back and issued a command to the Black Giant, looming like a dark iron tower.
The Black Giant let out a low roar, its liquid-metal-coated hands plunging into the gate’s seams!
A teeth-grinding metal screech rang out as the thick gate, stripped of its energy protection and left with only its physical structure, was torn open like paper by the Black Giant’s terrifying strength, revealing the dark interior of the treasury.
A rich energy aura and a strange scent of metal mixed with unknown compounds wafted from the opened vault.