When Jie Ming, Viola, and the reinforcement wizard squad returned to the steel camp on the scorched junction line, a surreal feeling washed over him.

The air no longer carried the sulfurous stench of magma or the blood of battle but the cold of metal, the steady hum of rune energy, and an orderly discipline.

It was as if he’d returned from a savage, bloody hunt to a strict, civilized fortress.

Jie Ming’s first task was to rest and take stock.

He went to the legion’s logistics exchange, processing all materials gained.

Though the prior battle was harrowing, his haul was modest, mostly from the earlier small outpost.

Second-level magma giant energy cores, fire-element crystals, and heat-resistant plant samples…

These rare materials, valuable elsewhere, were appraised and swiftly converted into military merit points.

Of course, the “second-level incubation pool,” capable of drawing any faction’s envy, remained hidden deep in his spatial expansion bag, with no trace revealed.

Next, he visited the communications department to claim a new magic network terminal.

The cool touch of the new terminal, infused with his mental energy, reconnected him to the camp’s vast network.

Task lists, resource exchanges, and intelligence modules reappeared in his vision, giving him the illusion of returning to civilized society.

Finally, Jie Ming returned to his simple, functional dormitory.

He sat cross-legged, his mind sinking into his dantian.

The intense battle, especially the third-level giant’s inexplicable curse, had drained much of the stored astral energy in his “Mysterious Astral Mortal Dust Barrier” during its counterattack and mental shock resistance.

Closing his eyes, he began guiding the various astral energies collected during the campaign, converting them into refined astral energy to replenish the barrier.

Lacking mortal dust energy, he could only restore the barrier with astral energy.

Fortunately, after such prolonged warfare, his astral energy was of high quality, not only restoring the barrier but enhancing its power.

“Pity, without mortal dust energy, its effect on high-tier beings is reduced. But this much astral energy is enough to trip up third- or fourth-level beings,” he mused.

Mortal dust energy and astral energy had their strengths: mortal dust was highly lethal to high-tier beings, while astral energy was deadlier to lower-tier ones.

For now, Jie Ming found ample astral energy sufficient.

As the astral energy refilled, an invisible, tougher shield enveloped his soul, bringing him peace.

After handling these tasks, Jie Ming sensed something unusual.

Shifting focus from his mental sea, he examined his dantian.

“Hm? I’ve reached this level unknowingly?”

He clearly felt the true essence in his dantian’s qi sea had reached an unprecedented peak.

The liquid true essence formed a spinning vortex, each rotation exuding a fullness ready to break through a barrier.

His Qi Refinement cultivation had met all conditions to break through from early to mid Foundation Establishment!

A ripple stirred in Jie Ming’s heart.

Less than ten years after entering Foundation Establishment, he was already at the cusp of another breakthrough.

“This cultivation speed would rank me among geniuses in the cultivation world, right?” he thought gleefully.

Ordinary cultivators often needed decades to progress from early to mid Foundation Establishment, with lesser talents taking a century.

“The wizard world’s rich elemental environment and high-intensity battles boost Qi Refinement far more than I imagined,” Jie Ming analyzed.

Though different from the cultivation world’s spiritual qi, the wizard world’s elements could be absorbed through his techniques.

Life-and-death battles were the ultimate tempering for mind and body.

With this realization, he checked his wizard rank progress.

Sinking his consciousness into his mental sea, he observed the “Ring of Truth” representing his first-level wizard essence.

To his surprise, the complex ring of countless runes was nearly half-filled with his vast mental energy!

Its progress outpaced his Qi Refinement!

“Advancing from first to second-level wizard is indeed simpler,” he noted.

Once he fully filled the “Ring of Truth” with mental energy, restructured it with vast knowledge and computational power, and deeply activated his soul and body for perfect alignment, he’d naturally become a second-level wizard.

This was a key difference between wizard and cultivator paths.

Cultivators had clear early, mid, and late sub-realms per major stage, each breakthrough marked by leaps in true essence and divine sense.

In the wizard system, post-apprentice, formal ranks like first, second, and third had no sub-divisions.

The core factor in a wizard’s strength was the breadth and depth of knowledge, not just mental energy.

Pure mental energy accumulation didn’t grant significant combat power.

A wizard with strong mental energy but poor knowledge would be crushed by one with weaker mental energy but vast, advanced spell models.

“Still…” Jie Ming reflected calmly, “advancing to mid Foundation Establishment won’t boost my combat power much.”

His main combat relied on powerful rune artifacts.

Mid Foundation Establishment would strengthen his true essence and body but wouldn’t bring a crushing qualitative change.

“But it’s still progress,” he decided. “For the perilous ‘Frostshade Realm,’ an extra layer of security is never wrong.”

“Most importantly, the Internal Circulation method’s effects tie to Qi Refinement. Mid Foundation Establishment should expand my internal space significantly.”

Resolved, Jie Ming used his new terminal to apply for a secure, sealed laboratory for an “important personal experiment.”

After paying sufficient merits, his request was quickly approved.

A deep underground metal laboratory opened to him.

Isolated, its walls were meters-thick alloy inscribed with runes resisting fourth-level spells, powered by an independent earth vein core, immune to external interference.

Entering, the heavy metal door sealed, silencing the world.

Yet, he didn’t begin immediately. Cautiously, he retrieved dozens of array discs from his spatial bag, personally setting up layers of sealing arrays.

Combining cultivation array concepts with wizard rune techniques, they blocked energy fluctuations and confounded divination, preventing any spying.

With preparations complete, he sat cross-legged in the center, eyes closed, mind unified, and began his breakthrough to mid Foundation Establishment.

Surprisingly, the process was smooth, without danger or turbulence, flowing naturally.

His internal technique activated, the fully accumulated liquid true essence in his dantian spinning at unprecedented speed.

A deep vortex formed at the vortex’s center, fiercely compressing the surrounding essence.

Time seemed to slow.

Jie Ming could “hear” a river-like roar within, the sound of true essence surging through his meridians.

His body’s cells sang in joy under the refined essence’s wash.

After an unknown time, when the vortex compressed to its limit, a faint “pop” echoed from his soul!

The barrier broke!

A purer, denser true essence surged from the vortex’s core, flooding his dantian.

The once-liquid essence grew thicker, nearing solidification, its energy density rising several-fold!

His meridians widened and strengthened, his mental perception range expanded, sharper and clearer.

Jie Ming slowly opened his eyes, a glint flashing through them.

Standing, he felt the new power coursing through him.

His senses, strength, speed, and even thought speed had noticeably improved.

Not a qualitative leap, but this all-around enhancement gave him a greater edge against peers.

“Mid Foundation Establishment… achieved.”

After stabilizing his cultivation and adapting to the new power, Jie Ming didn’t linger.

He dismantled the arrays, left the laboratory, and headed to the camp’s intelligence archive.

With his breakthrough complete, his next goal was the cold, deadly Frostshade Realm.

Sitting at a private terminal, he accessed all available data, systematically gathering information on the Frostshade Realm and “snow beasts.”

A vast virtual screen unfolded, data streaming like a waterfall.

The realm’s geography, climate, mapped regions, elemental distributions…

Detailed reports on snow beasts: their social structure, reproduction, combat habits, known weaknesses…

Jie Ming collected it all.