I Arrived At Wizard World While Cultivating Immortality Chapter 625: The Strange and the Restrictions

Jie Ming dashed forward at astonishing speed.

Indeed, everything related to the Infernal Sulfur Plane had already been meticulously set up long beforehand.

Since breaking through to the pinnacle of Void Refinement, he devoted ample time to solidifying his cultivation level, sorting out the grotto-heaven in his body, and improving the running effectiveness of the Incense Fire Divine Dao.

Every possible prior preparation stood finished. Departure could happen whenever he wished.

Jie Ming mounted the teleportation array, inputting the plane code from the mission info.

Spatial ripples swallowed him up in an instant.

Once the view ahead sharpened once more, Jie Ming found himself briefly dazed.

A colossal teleportation platform lay under his feet. A translucent, glassy floor stretched beneath him, filled with myriad minuscule light specks drifting lazily within, like a frozen starry river.

The platform hovered suspended in the air, lacking any pillars or braces, but it stood firm like an unmovable rock.

The landscape stretching beyond the platform held a beauty that seemed almost illusory.

This plane was a “miniature” one.

Jie Ming swiftly grasped what that phrase implied.

The plane wasn’t tiny in size itself; rather, all its contents displayed a highly polished “scaled-down” quality. Far-off landforms looked like finely sculpted miniature landscapes. Mountains, rivers, and creeks bore flawless ratios. Each tree and bloom appeared precisely sized by its maker, achieving perfect aesthetic harmony.

A light amber hue tinted the sky. No sun hung there, but gentle radiance suffused every corner, bathing the whole plane in glow.

A subtle flower scent wafted through the air. The climate felt pleasantly mild, moisture levels ideal, and breezes whispered softly.

Jie Ming extended his spiritual sense, probing this plane’s ecosystem. The deeper he delved, the greater his astonishment grew.

A flawless closed cycle.

Ecologically, it formed a fully independent realm.

Energy flow, resource cycling, creature breeding… each segment achieved near-perfect exactitude, like calculated formulas.

No scrap existed, no excess lingered. All components occupied ideal positions, fulfilling exact roles.

No natural world felt like this plane.

Instead, it resembled a masterpiece creation.

“Miniature Glass Garden…” Jie Ming remembered the mission’s label and thought it suited perfectly.

Beams flickered nonstop across the teleportation platform, summoning fresh arrivals successively.

Jie Ming scanned his environment subtly.

Newly landed wizards clustered in pairs or trios. Some murmured quietly, others sat eyes shut in meditation, and some, like him, examined the plane.

His eyes passed over the power auras radiating from these wizards, and a slight chill gripped his heart.

Sixth-rank.

Sixth-rank.

Yet another sixth-rank.

With one look, almost every wizard arriving now proved a high-level powerhouse at sixth-rank or higher.

Their power waves hung so thick they neared material form. Certain ones didn’t bother projecting aura—their mere presence drew nearby elements magnetically.

Jie Ming glanced at his own form.

Fifth-rank.

Amid this group, his level glared obviously.

Yet upon reflection, ease washed over him.

This slot grab tested pure reflexes. What let him outpace countless rivals was the Fate Subsystem’s data crunching paired with his main body’s hyper-quick responses.

United, these made his nerve reactions match or surpass sixth-rank speeds—in spots, even outpace them.

Other wizards remained unaware.

All they saw was a fifth-rank wizard claiming a spot and standing among them.

Jie Ming detected probing stares aimed his way.

High-rank wizards eyed him with nuanced looks—not scorn or aggression, but wary assessment, like appraising a mystery artifact.

Wizards all possessed sharp minds.

They knew full well that reaching this platform meant truly competing and winning a place.

For a fifth-rank to beat out hordes of sixth- and seventh-rank foes, he held either insane fortune or hidden aces.

And here, “insane fortune” counted as power too.

Jie Ming kept a blank face, rooted calmly as eyes roamed over him.

He hid nothing about his rank, nor pushed out aura to boast.

In such scenes, extra moves only hurt.

Flashing lights on the teleportation platform slowed their pace.

By now, nearly all the slot holders were present.

They formed scattered groups, keeping careful gaps between each other while creating clusters of varying sizes.

He avoided mingling with any group. Rather, he picked a spot close to the platform's border. From there, he could survey the whole area without seeming too alone.

Suddenly, a silhouette emerged right in the platform's heart.

No ripples disturbed the air at all. It felt like that visage and form had existed forever, merely veiled by an unseen barrier until now unveiled.

“Voidweaver” Austin.

Eighth-rank Grand Wizard.

Jie Ming's pupils shrank a bit as his spiritual power automatically pulled back to its utmost limits.

When confronting such a mighty being, the simplest respect meant avoiding any scan with spiritual power. He relied solely on his basic five senses to watch.

Austin looked like a man in his middle years. His frame was lean, his face plain, clad in a plain dark gray wizard robe lacking any adornments.

Silver-gray hair was neatly arranged on his head. His eyes held a faint blue hue, akin to watered-down heavens.

Yet what really gripped Jie Ming was this: unlike the other eighth-rank wizards he'd encountered, he sensed nothing of this one's presence whatsoever.

Austin stood plainly on the platform, just tens of meters distant, but Jie Ming grasped zero details about him.

No— it went deeper than mere absence.

“Power projection, or maybe a clone?” Jie Ming mused to himself. “Looks like he's tied up elsewhere for now.”

An eighth-rank wizard's might was plain for everyone. Without unique hiding laws or intentional masking, no way could his aura be damped this much.

Jie Ming couldn't tell if Austin's eyes were on him even.

That stare lay flat like still water, lacking focus, but somehow scanning all those gathered at once.

“Everyone.”

Austin uttered.

His voice stayed soft, but it rang true in every wizard's ears, like he whispered next to each one.

Silence blanketed the platform in an instant.

“Thank you all for responding to my bounty.” Austin's voice held steady calm, skipping greetings or chit-chat, like reciting some distant truth. “Before explaining the mission, I need to confirm one thing…”

He halted, those pale blue eyes gliding over the assembly.

“You should all have noticed that my plane is rather… delicate. During the upcoming mission, I hope you will keep this in mind.”

Lightly said, yet Jie Ming sharply sensed the veiled threat lurking below.

Austin offered no more details, but his mere presence as an eighth-rank Grand Wizard served as the ultimate check.

None dared act recklessly in the personal plane of such a titan.

“Now, onto the main matter.”

Austin flicked his hand. A huge holographic image bloomed over the platform, showing a plane's layout in detail.

“A few years ago, while I was conquering a plane, a small accident occurred.”

Casual words, but no 'accident' from an eighth-rank Grand Wizard could be trivial.

“That plane had a hole pierced through it by me. It should have repaired itself quickly. However, during the extremely brief period the hole existed, several special rule phenomena seeped through and infected my… back garden.”

As Austin uttered “back garden,” Jie Ming noted a subtle shift in his voice.

Before, he'd laid out the task like cold business; now, naming the “back garden,” this eighth-rank Grand Wizard let slip a hint of… sorrow.

“This is the plane we are currently on.”

Austin's eyes roamed the group. Calm lingered in his tone, yet an undercurrent stirred unease in every wizard there.

“What I need you to do is to locate those special rule phenomena that have seeped through and eliminate them, without causing large-scale damage to my plane or affecting the normal survival of the beings living on it.”

The image shifted, revealing bizarre, formless horrors beyond words.

These entities lacked stable shapes. Colors danced outside normal sight. Merely viewing the hologram, Jie Ming sensed a light prickle in his spiritual power.

“These special rule phenomena are native products of the plane I am currently conquering. They have a deep connection with laws and can, to a certain extent, be regarded as ‘activated diseased rules.’”

“According to the naming of the local indigenous inhabitants, this special phenomenon is called ‘the Strange.’”

Austin’s explanation stayed sharp and to the point.

“The Stranges themselves possess immense research worth—that counts as one segment of your reward. You can claim any Strange you vanquish as your personal spoils of war. Furthermore, once the mission concludes, I’ll unlock the gateway to that Strange plane. You’re free to enter, seize, refine, and examine the Stranges there, provided you avoid demolishing the plane’s core framework.”

A subtle disturbance rippled through the air around Jie Ming.

For wizards—particularly high-rank ones—the lure of an enigmatic entity deeply intertwined with laws proved virtually impossible to ignore.

Deep down, wizards were explorers and scholars of secrets. The drive to decode mysteries surrounding unfamiliar law manifestations was etched into the very essence of every wizard’s being.

“However.”

Austin uttered those two syllables softly, but they doused the crowd’s fervor like a bucket of ice water.

“I impose three conditions.”

He lifted a single finger.

“First, no one may inflict massive damage on my plane. The flora, trees, peaks, and waterways here have all been meticulously nurtured by me across endless years. Should anyone carve a massive pit into my garden…”

He left the punishment unspoken, offering only a subtle smile.

That faint grin silenced the assembled wizards instantly.

“Second, countless common folk inhabit this plane. While handling the Stranges, you must strive to safeguard their lives. I won’t tolerate accounts of widespread civilian losses.”

Austin’s voice grew stern at this point.

“I realize many among you are used to unleashing havoc freely on warzones, yet this isn’t a warzone. This is my residence.”

“Those everyday people might lack great strength, but they remain part of wizard civilization’s populace. Should your deeds cause mass civilian fatalities, even if I stay my hand, the Public Covenant will ensure you pay dearly.”

His statement cut sharp, but not a single wizard voiced dissent.

The Public Covenant wasn’t something to trifle with.

It stood as the unyielding foundation wizard civilization had maintained for eons. Violators faced inevitable punishment.

Not even an eighth-rank Grand Wizard would defy the Public Covenant’s power.

“Third.” Austin extended a third finger. “Given the prior two limits, all mission outputs must stay well below peak energy thresholds.”

He flicked his fingers sharply.

An unseen power instantly cloaked the whole plane, as Jie Ming perceived.

It felt akin to a… “restriction.”

Like slapping a “Quiet Zone” notice on a space. It wouldn’t chain you down or halt your steps, yet it clearly signaled what behaviors were off-limits.

“To clarify, any spell surpassing third-rank in single burst gets blocked by my embedded rules,” Austin elaborated. “Naturally, I trust you grasp this isn’t aimed at individuals—it’s solely to shield this plane.”

Quiet grumbles spread over the platform.

Jie Ming grasped why those high-rank wizards reacted so.

To beings habituated to effortlessly “scouring lands with laws and vaporizing continents,” capping power under third-rank felt like handing a starship ace a pair of forceps for ant-grabbing.

Infuriating.

Utterly infuriating.

Yet gazing upon the breathtaking Miniature Glass Garden encircling them, and then at the poised eighth-rank Grand Wizard, nobody dared voice refusal.

Jie Ming remained unaffected.

Truth be told, such power caps could even benefit him.

High-rank wizards, versed in vast displays of might, would chafe even wielding enhanced physiques, movements shackled.

The cultivation system granted Jie Ming superior self-mastery, letting him play to his strengths.

Austin paused briefly, allowing the wizards time to absorb the details, then pressed on.

“With no protests, the operation launches immediately. Detailed plane charts head to your secure feeds now. Strange hotspots are flagged already. Team up at will or go solo. Finds go to the finder. No share for me.”

He halted, lips twitching into a gentle arc—the inaugural hint of a true “smile.”

“Best wishes, everyone.”

As his voice faded, the platform’s wizards scattered.

Some swiftly grouped and departed, others streaked away solo as beams of light, while a few lingered calmly, poring over maps.