I Arrived At Wizard World While Cultivating Immortality Chapter 664: The True Researcher and a Single Punch

Jie Ming emerged from behind the stone pillar, maintaining the Great Void Step but deliberately reducing its power output to reveal himself. He observed the professor with a composed expression and a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"It appears you are not surprised by my presence," Jie Ming commented. "Do you possess knowledge about me?"

A mouth-like formation on the professor's blood-red face shifted almost imperceptibly, conveying an expression resembling self-deprecation. "Not precisely," his voice, now significantly deeper and resonating metallically, replied. "However, you evoke a sense of familiarity. That individual… though their aura is entirely distinct from yours, the feeling you both impart to me is remarkably similar." Jie Ming's eyes gleamed slightly. He was well aware of the person the professor referred to as "that individual" – the wizard who had collaborated with the clandestine black-robed organization on this plane and supplied the peculiar fusion technology. He had been diligently pursuing traces of this person without any direct leads.

"Might I inquire about information concerning that other individual?" Jie Ming asked calmly.

The professor paused, a silence Jie Ming perceived not as refusal, but as an exertion to recall past events.

"It is not that I am unwilling to divulge," the professor finally responded, his speech notably slower, as if each utterance demanded significant effort. "Rather, it was only after integrating with this Strange that I became aware of such a person operating alongside me." Jie Ming's eyebrows lifted slightly. The professor was implying that he had remained completely oblivious to the wizard's existence until the fusion with the Blood Net, after which his soul essence underwent a transformation, enabling him to perceive an individual operating covertly nearby. The level of concealment achieved suggested the wizard was adept in soul-based sorcery, capable of masking perceptions at the very core of consciousness.

Jie Ming nodded, refraining from pressing further, understanding that the professor had already shared all he could. "It seems your resolve remains largely unaffected even after fusing with the Strange," Jie Ming shifted the topic.

The professor lowered his head, gazing at his own crimson hands. "This technology is far from perfected," his voice diminished further. "My consciousness is dissipating rapidly. I can feel it… I am forgetting. Forgetting names, forgetting faces, forgetting the very reasons behind my actions." He lifted his gaze once more, fixing it upon Jie Ming. "Why did you detain me? What is it you desire?" Jie Ming inquired.

The professor's blood-red humanoid form advanced a step. Transparent net threads extended with his movement, maintaining comprehensive coverage of the vicinity. He produced a black-covered notebook from within his body. The notebook's cover bore no markings, but its edges were faded to white, and the spine showed evident creases, indicating extensive reading.

"I once struck a pact with that individual," the professor stated, holding the notebook aloft without relinquishing it, allowing it to hover just above his palm. "He furnished me with the fundamental Strange fusion technology. I have persistently refined the methodologies, frameworks, and underlying principles of the seals… However, with my current capabilities, I cannot advance it further." Jie Ming's attention was drawn to the notebook. A mere sweep of his spiritual perception revealed the immense repository of information it contained. It comprised not just text and diagrams, but something more profound—akin to imprints of the soul. During his research, he had imbued the very fibers of the paper with his thoughts, deductions, and even the emotions of his failures.

"This represents all the data from my research," the professor's voice conveyed an emotion Jie Ming had never previously detected from him. "You beings who crave knowledge, do you not? I bestow it upon you now, with the sole hope that upon perfecting this technology, you will impart it to the humans of this world, enabling them to truly escape the peril of the Stranges." The notebook detached from his palm and drifted slowly towards Jie Ming. Jie Ming extended his hand and received it. The instant his spiritual perception made contact, it delved into the notebook's contents. In less than a second, he had absorbed all information within. The notebook chronicled not only the technical specifications for Strange fusion but also the professor's exhaustive analysis of this world's Strange ecosystem, meticulous dissection records of every Strange encountered, and his ultimate contemplations on the concept of "humanity coexisting with Stranges." This compilation would prove immensely beneficial to his research. Yet, another aspect occupied Jie Ming's thoughts more significantly.

"Initially, I presumed that as the leader of a cult, you would employ methods of indoctrination or similar tactics," Jie Ming's tone was tinged with an indescribable blend of derision and empathy. "However, it appears that is not the case." A fleeting expression flickered across the professor's previously impassive, vacant blood-red visage. It was pride. A profound, heartfelt pride. "We act according to our own will."

His voice had shed its previous low tone, now carrying the confident, composed manner he reserved exclusively for lectures.

Jie Ming observed him, a moment of silence passing between them.

“Even if it necessitates the sacrifice of countless innocent lives?”

The professor’s inherent pride remained unshaken.

He met Jie Ming’s gaze, a look not of a cult leader refuting a dissenter, but of a martyr answering a seeker’s query.

“To liberate humanity from the threat posed by the Stranges, such sacrifices are unavoidable.”

Jie Ming regarded him with a profound stare.

Had this been spoken by another cult leader, it would have been mere pretense, a ploy to send people to their doom.

Such individuals often proclaimed noble ideals while wielding knives destined to pierce others’ chests.

But this man was different.

He had demonstrably placed his own life on the line.

Prior to Jie Ming’s intervention, with his mastery over this sub-space, the three members of the association would have been powerless to apprehend him.

Yet, he had made no attempt to flee!

He stood here, within the confines of this self-created sub-space, determined to personally acquire the final set of data.

His soul had already commenced merging with the Strange, his consciousness succumbing to an irreversible fade.

His pursuit was not for power or wealth, nor any conventional worldly gain.

He held a genuine conviction that his actions were solely for the purpose of freeing the human race from the pervasive shadow of the Stranges.

Jie Ming lowered his head, his gaze falling upon the black notebook he held. He then secreted it away into his inner cave heaven.

“You have acquired it?” inquired the professor.

“Indeed, I have,” Jie Ming confirmed with a nod.

The profound pride on the professor’s blood-red face gradually receded, giving way to an emotion a blend of relief and regret. “The technology remains imperfect,” his voice began to falter, growing softer. “My consciousness is fading rapidly. You should be capable of dealing with me, correct?”

His question was posed with striking calmness, akin to inquiring about the day’s weather or asking if an audience had grasped his lecture.

Jie Ming inclined his head in affirmation.

However, he did not act immediately.

With his hands in his pockets, he remained stationary, observing the professor as he initiated a discussion on an unrelated matter.

“Regarding the foundational architecture of your fusion technology, why was a diversion implemented at the third layer’s energy circuit nodes? Wouldn’t a direct routing through the main conduit offer greater efficiency?”

The professor exhibited a moment of stunned bewilderment.

Following this, a smile bloomed on his face.

It was a smile born of genuine delight—the sort a researcher expresses when their work garners recognition from a peer.

“You believe I hadn’t considered that possibility?” His voice resonated with renewed vigor. “I experimented with that approach no less than two hundred times. Direct routing through the main conduit results in the Strange’s power overwhelming the human host’s conscious defenses within a mere three seconds. The diversionary method disperses the impact across seven distinct nodes, with each node absorbing a fraction of the force. This elevates the human will’s resistance threshold by a factor of at least four.”

“And concerning the reflux phenomenon following the seventh node’s diversion? How is the energy reintegrated post-diversion?”

“Ah, that is the crux of the challenge. Reflux presents the most formidable obstacle. I employed a layered reflux system. Individuals possessing strong wills utilized high-layer reflux, whereas those with weaker wills were relegated to low-layer reflux. However, the energy dissipation inherent in low-layer reflux is exceedingly high—exceeding forty percent—which directly diminishes the fused entity’s combat prowess. I had been diligently searching for optimization strategies, but alas, time ran out…”

In this manner, the two stood within the central chamber of the sub-space. Above them, the remnants of the light sphere, imbued with the professor’s dissipated power, drifted. The ground beneath their feet was a tapestry of cracks and fragments on the somber gray surface.

They resembled two colleagues within a university laboratory, engaged in a spirited discussion of a technical problem before a blackboard. Their dialogue was serious, focused, and punctuated by the sharp, invigorating clash characteristic of academic debate.

Jie Ming was acutely aware of his own intentions.

He was deliberately delaying the inevitable, wishing for the professor to retain his humanity for just a little longer.

To persist, if only briefly, as Victor Raine—a researcher, a scholar, an individual who had ascended to the pinnacle of Strange research on this plane.

In the distance, the reverberations of explosions grew increasingly proximate.

The President and the two reinforcements were rapidly advancing, returning from the sector to which they had been displaced.

When Disaster Grade Spirit Mediums engaged in unrestrained combat, the Hazard Grade Step Strange proved utterly incapable of impeding their progress.

They traversed the expanse at tremendous velocity, now situated less than a kilometer from the central hall.

The professor lifted his head, directing his gaze toward their approaching figures.

His countenance remained impassive, yet a subtle yet palpable fading was occurring within his blood-red eyes.

“The hour has come,” he announced.

His voice had already begun to warp, imbued with a resonance distinctly inhuman.

The crimson humanoid form suddenly detonated.

Threads of the ‘Blood Net,’ constituting his physical form, radiated outward from the core, enshrouding every inch of the hall within mere milliseconds.

The ceiling, the walls, the floor, the very air itself…

Dense, sanguine threads surged forth from the void, converging upon Jie Ming at the epicenter.

The ‘Blood Net’ had initiated its assault.

Countless threads tightened simultaneously, like a garrote made of innumerable tiny blades, strangling toward Jie Ming.

The cutting power of those threads was enough to reduce steel to powder and tear ordinary Stranges into fragments.

Jie Ming’s body was wrapped in thick layers of the Blood Net. The threads embedded into his clothes, producing ear-piercing metallic scraping sounds.

Yet Jie Ming seemed completely unaffected.

He lowered his head and glanced at the threads wrapped around his right hand, then casually pulled. The threads snapped like ordinary spider silk.

“So this is the limit…”

Jie Ming raised his head and looked at the Blood Net gathering around the hall.

“Since we’re in another space…” Jie Ming’s voice was not loud, but every word was as clear as if etched on glass, “I can use a bit more strength.”

He clenched his right fist like an ordinary person.

Then he took a step forward.

The surrounding Blood Net tried to obstruct his movement but could not.

The moment his foot landed, the gray ground exploded.

Centered on his foothold, the entire floor rippled outward in layer after layer of wave-like cracks.

The cracks spread in all directions at terrifying speed, tearing the entire hall’s floor into countless fragments.

“Consider this… your send-off.”

Jie Ming threw a punch toward the professor, who had already dispersed into a sky full of Blood Net.

The motion was plain and unremarkable.

It looked like an ordinary person clenching their fist and swinging at the air directly above them.

Then, the Blood Net vanished.

Under Jie Ming’s absurdly exaggerated power, the sky full of Blood Net was like a sheet of paper set ablaze. Starting from the center, it spread outward and was completely “annihilated” in less than an instant.

The fine red threads that formed the Blood Net lost all structure and properties the moment the fist force passed through, turning into the most basic energy particles.

Those energy particles were then crushed by the fist force into even more fundamental existence, until nothing remained.

The existence of the “Blood Net” was completely erased by this single punch.

Yet even after easily destroying the Blood Net, the power of Jie Ming’s punch was not exhausted.

The now-dispersing force triggered a massive, visible shockwave.

A tsunami-like shockwave swept through the hall, through the floating steps and rooms.

Finally, this absolutely overwhelming power easily pierced the boundary of the sub-space created by the “Step” Strange.

Then it struck the bottom of the Mist Capital Psychiatric Hospital.

Boom!!!

The building’s foundation shattered like a biscuit under the shockwave. The reinforced concrete structure offered no resistance before the fist force. The entire building began collapsing upward from the base and was lifted into the air.

Shattered glass, broken bricks, twisted rebar, fractured concrete slabs… everything was swept up by the shockwave and hurled into the sky, gradually twisting into debris under the force.

The shockwave burst out from the ground, shot into the sky above Mist Capital, and flew straight toward the heavens themselves.

As it rose in altitude, the power rapidly dispersed.

The thick black clouds that perpetually shrouded the city, so dense they almost blocked out the sun, were torn apart like thin paper before the shockwave. A massive circular hole appeared in the center of the cloud layer, its edges as smooth as if drawn with a compass.

Behind the hole was a clear azure sky.

It was a blue the people of Mist Capital had never seen—pure as a gem.

The remaining dispersed shockwave transformed into fierce winds that swept outward in all directions from the center of the hole.

It blew across the harbor, parting the thick sea fog like a giant hand; it blew across the old city district, drying the perpetually damp stone roads; it blew across the factory district, instantly scattering the black smoke from the chimneys.

The thick fog over the entire city was blown away by the aftershocks of this single punch.

In that moment, the sky of “Mist Capital” became clear.

The Spirit Medium Association President was carried out of the ground by the shockwave.

He stood at the edge of the psychiatric hospital ruins, covered by a thin storm barrier that blocked the falling debris and dust from the sky. His eyes were wide open, reflecting the massive circular hole in the clouds and the pure azure sky behind it that he had never seen before.

The male and female reinforcements sent from headquarters leaped out of the ground behind him.

The female reinforcement’s mouth hung open, speechless.

The male reinforcement clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly.

Not far away, Harding and Dirk ran over from outside the blockade line, stumbling over the rubble.

Harding’s face was pale, and Dirk’s lips were trembling.

They looked at the sky, at the massive hole, at the scattered fog, and could not utter a single word.

The crowds evacuating around the psychiatric hospital also stopped in their tracks.

A nurse, cradling a child, stood by the roadside, her gaze fixed on the heavens. The azure expanse was mirrored in her tear-filled eyes, though she herself couldn't articulate if the sorrow stemmed from fear or another, unnamable reason. The child in her arms extended a tiny hand, pointing skyward and uttering indistinct babble. Meanwhile, at the factory entrance, Eric, alerted by his coworkers' cries of alarm, rushed outside. He shielded his eyes against the glare, his attention drawn to the sky, and then simply froze. The sky above Mist Capital had become a vivid blue. In his twenty-six years, he had never witnessed such a clear sky, a color he'd only encountered in picture books and dreamed of, never truly seeing it in reality. A strong wind whipped past, ruffling his hair. He made no move to shield himself, remaining exposed, head tilted back and mouth agape, like a blade of grass yielding to a powerful gust. As the obscuring fog was swept away, the view became astonishingly clear, and everyone present noticed the figure. It was a faint, indistinct silhouette, as if an eraser had smudged it from existence in the air. This figure stood amidst the ruins of the psychiatric hospital, directly below the immense rift in the sky. Despite the surrounding devastation of collapsed structures and swirling dust, its presence commanded all attention. No one could discern its features clearly. The Great Void Step had rendered Jie Ming's form an unfocused shadow. Nevertheless, the reality of his presence was undeniable. Everyone saw him, and everyone instinctively understood: he was the one who had delivered that decisive punch. The President involuntarily took a step forward. Jie Ming turned his head, his piercing gaze cutting through the debris and dust to fix upon the President. At that moment, the President's advance halted, the words he intended to utter caught in his throat. In that same instant, Jie Ming's form turned completely transparent. The Great Void Step had been activated to its maximum potential, causing his existence to vanish entirely from all senses, much like a single drop of water dissolving into the vast ocean, leaving only the stunned and terrified crowd behind.