Chapter 341: Joining the Battle

Though Jie Ming had great confidence in his preparations, facing a bizarre plane that had silently ensnared a million wizards along with the first wave of reinforcements, he dared not show the slightest negligence or underestimation.

In the final moments before departure, he raced against time to conduct his last reinforcements.

He expended vast mental energy, once more refining high-purity liquid essence gold, further integrating it into his protective treasure, the Mysterious Astral Mortal Dust Barrier.

He sought to endure a few extra moments when facing unknown mental erosion.

Immediately after, without pause, he prioritized inscribing the preliminarily mastered spatial teleportation technique onto the cores of more black giants.

This work was exceedingly delicate and taxing on the mind, but he understood that it might be the key to preserving these precious combatants in critical moments.

At the same time, he began screening his forces.

Though his internal space had expanded to rival a modern metropolis, the things it needed to accommodate were far too many: massive automated factories, mountains of various raw materials, the level-five large-scale elemental pool occupying the core position, the “nest” responsible for reshaping black giants… The space left for the black giants to reside in had become extraordinarily precious.

The black giants were enormous in size; level-three adults generally stood over twenty meters tall, like mobile five- or six-story buildings.

Higher-level individuals saw their sizes multiply exponentially.

After precise calculations, ensuring other functions operated normally and accounting for the need to handle complex environments like aerial or naval battles—thus requiring a reserve of a certain number of Prowlers—Jie Ming ultimately determined that he could only bring just over fifty thousand of the most elite black giants.

After over a century of proliferation and devouring evolution, those two level-five black giant leaders still failed to break through their bottleneck, but the number of level-four black giants had already surpassed a hundred thousand.

Jie Ming meticulously selected from them, taking only the standout elites of their rank.

Finally, the day of assembly arrived.

Jie Ming conducted one last check of his own condition, confirming no issues, then properly arranged the follow-up matters for the Infernal Sulfur plane and his laboratory, ensuring the Incense Fire Divine Dao could operate automatically during his absence.

Then, he took a deep breath and stepped into the teleportation array leading to the assembly point.

Light flickered, and Jie Ming appeared directly in a plaza within Noren Academy No. 147.

A level-one wizard who had been waiting there confirmed his identity and respectfully led him toward another, even larger teleportation array, its runes far more complex.

The instant he stepped into the array, a intense sensation of spatial tugging assaulted him.

When his vision cleared once more, a surge of countless mental fluctuations mingled with low murmurs crashed over him like a tangible wave!

Jie Ming focused his gaze and found himself in an incomparably vast space.

All around, teleportation arrays densely packed like a honeycomb continually lit up, figures stepping out from them one after another.

In the sky and on the ground, everywhere the eye could see was filled almost entirely with wizards!

The flow of people surged like a tide, endless and unrelenting.

Jie Ming instinctively moved with the crowd, quickly evacuating toward the periphery to make room for subsequent arrivals.

With a flash of his figure, he hovered in mid-air, finally able to survey the entire scene.

Beneath his feet was cold metal ground stretching to the horizon; overhead, a simulated firmament.

He immediately realized—he had been teleported directly to the “ship” plane.

He carefully sensed the wizards around him, a slight chill in his heart.

The average level here was frighteningly high—every single one was level three or above!

Among them were no shortage of level-five and level-six existences radiating majestic pressure.

What alarmed Jie Ming even more was that even the level-three wizards nearby gave him a clear sense of threat.

Without doubt, every person here was an elite among elites, far from ordinary.

At the same time, the other wizards were subtly sizing up their “companions” around them.

When their gazes met, there was no greeting—only scrutiny. The air was thick with a silent gravity.

A few minutes before the scheduled assembly time, the teleportation arrays scattered everywhere finally dimmed one by one, no new figures emerging.

Jie Ming swept his gaze over this boundless sea of people, roughly estimating that the number of wizards gathered this time likely approached a million!

“A million elites…” Jie Ming’s expression grew increasingly grave.

This scale of secondary reinforcements, on one hand, demonstrated the Federation’s regard for the fallen wizards; on the other, it highlighted how the value and eeriness of that target plane had reached a level necessitating such force.

He could imagine that if even this second wave of a million elites fell silent, the total number of wizards trapped in that plane would reach a staggering two million—and most of them elites!

By then, the array of wizards sent to handle the aftermath would likely be beyond imagination.

As it turned out, his premonition was entirely correct.

Not long after, a pressure that made souls tremble descended without warning.

Immediately following, a group of figures appeared on the high platform ahead of the assembly area.

Jie Ming glanced once, and his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

Over a hundred level-seven wizards!

Merely standing there calmly, the aura naturally emanating from them seemed to distort the surrounding light, making it impossible to look directly.

And ahead of this group of level-seven wizards stood proudly over a dozen figures!

Their presence seemed to solidify into substance—like mountains, like abysses. A mere sweep of their gaze made Jie Ming feel his own insignificance and fragility.

Level-eight wizards!

And more than ten of them!

Jie Ming was inwardly shocked.

If this force struck together, forget a single plane—even a large cluster of planes before them would likely be reduced to ashes in an instant!

Leading them was a level-eight wizard with an ancient countenance, his eyes seeming to contain the birth and death of starry seas.

He had no intention of introducing his name. His figure slowly rose into the air, overlooking the million elites below. His voice was calm yet clearly transmitted into every wizard’s mind:

“We are about to arrive at the target plane. After registering, you should have received the relevant intelligence and know the bizarre situation ahead. Therefore, I will clearly state the command center’s psychological bottom line…” He paused, his tone brooking no doubt. “Ten years.”

“If after ten years, you still transmit no effective information, we will no longer wait and will forcibly intervene.”

His gaze swept over the silent crowd below as he continued: “However, forced intervention means resistance cannot be predicted. The plane itself may violently repel or even collapse, and casualties may be unavoidable. Considering these risks, command has decided to grant you one final opportunity to choose.”

“If any believe this battle is beyond your capabilities or harbor doubts, you may leave now. No one will blame you.”

With those words, the vast assembly platform fell into brief silence.

A million wizards calmly weighed their options.

Moments later, figures turned silently, stepping back into the teleportation arrays they had arrived through. Amid flashing lights, they departed quietly.

In the end, over thirty percent of the wizards chose to leave.

Jie Ming and the others who remained watched them go in calm silence—no clamor, no mockery, only rational contemplation.

As wizards pursuing truth, clearly recognizing one’s limits and avoiding unnecessary risks was equally a manifestation of wisdom.

Staying required courage and confidence; leaving required self-awareness and reason.

Both were practices of the Wizard’s Path.