Chapter 721: Negotiation |
**Chapter 721: Negotiation**
“Jie Ming.”
Wizard Broadleaf’s voice suddenly rang out in his spiritual sea.
Jie Ming turned his head and saw that Wizard Broadleaf had somehow already shifted to a spot not far from his side.
Amber-colored law light flowed slowly in the void, outlining his entire figure with exceptional clarity.
Those deep brown eyes were currently fixed on Jie Ming, as if appraising an extremely rare tool.
“Avery mentioned to me that your resistance to reflection dimension channels is exceptionally strong,” Wizard Broadleaf said, his tone carrying an inexplicable note of anticipation. “How strong exactly?”
Jie Ming pondered for a moment and decided to tell the truth.
“My current condition… allows me to endure dimensional disparity without sustaining injury.”
“He also said your true body is very large.” Wizard Broadleaf continued, speaking half a beat faster than before. “How large?”
Jie Ming blinked. An ominous premonition quietly rose in his heart.
He was all too familiar with this tone.
The implication of “let me first calculate whether you can be put to use” was practically overflowing.
“Roughly over a thousand meters tall, humanoid form,” Jie Ming replied.
“Your entire true body can endure dimensional disparity?” Wizard Broadleaf pressed, the light in his eyes growing even brighter.
That ominous premonition instantly intensified.
It felt like a trap that had already been triggered twice, its runes lighting up for a third time to warn him: run.
“…Yes.”
In the end, the temptation of reflection dimension knowledge made Jie Ming give an affirmative answer.
Wizard Broadleaf nodded. “Good.”
Good what?
What exactly is good?
Can’t you be clear about it?!
Jie Ming opened his mouth, internally ranting wildly.
But Wizard Broadleaf had already turned away, leaving him only with a back silhouette outlined by amber law light.
At the same time, the several seventh-ring wizards around them began adjusting their positions. The glow of solidified law domains flickered one after another in the void, clearly making final preparations for the upcoming battle.
Jie Ming swallowed back the questions that had reached his lips and took a deep breath.
The Return to Ruins Armor on his body’s surface began gradually increasing power output from standby mode. His heart beat violently, a slight heat rose from deep within his muscles, and his entire being entered a state ready for combat at any moment.
Jie Ming redirected his gaze toward the dragon. By now, the dragon had fully awakened.
Unexpectedly, after awakening, the dragon displayed no signs of frenzy or chaos.
Its enormous dragon head—nearly the size of a planet—tilted slightly. Dark golden dragon pupils slowly swept across the dozen or so tiny figures floating in the void. Deep within the dragon pupils’ irises, extremely fine patterns pulsed slowly, each one seemingly polished by countless years.
Those were not the eyes of a beast, but the eyes of a truly intelligent being.
Eyes that had experienced long ages, accumulated vast knowledge, and could complete complex deductions in an instant.
The first emotion Jie Ming read from those eyes was not anger or brutality, but a near-sagely calm.
Unlike any “forcibly awakened” existence he had encountered before, this dragon clearly understood exactly what had happened to it. The moment it awakened, it had already made the most correct judgment: it had been forcibly dragged back to the main world by the Dragonman Elder through a life sacrifice, and the beings hovering in the void before it were here to deal with the threat of its awakening.
This was only natural.
After all, this was an ancient existence capable of independently researching reflection dimension technology and even setting up cross-dimensional insurance mechanisms.
Its wisdom would certainly not be inferior to any wizard present, and in certain fields, it might far surpass them.
An existence of this level, even when forcibly pulled back to reality from prolonged dormancy, could not possibly behave like a mere beast that only knew how to roar.
Wizard Broadleaf flew forward a distance, deliberately entering the giant dragon’s direct line of sight.
His solidified law domain fully unfolded. Amber light spread into a stable light domain in the void, like a transparent fortress suspended in darkness.
He stopped directly in front of the dragon’s head, his posture neither humble nor arrogant. His steady voice pierced through the endless chaotic void and entered the consciousness of every being present.
“I am Broadleaf, a seventh-ring wizard of Noren Workshop and the current administrator of the Dragonman Plane. How should I address you?”
The dragon pupils slowly focused on him. Silence lasted for several breaths.
Then, a nearly solid consciousness resonance sounded simultaneously in all the wizards’ spiritual seas.
“My name… has been forgotten.”
“My kin called me ‘Suoyuan.’”
The dragon pupils shifted slightly, as if recalling a name unused for far too long.
“This plane was once my territory. You invaders have taken my bloodline as servants and my body as soil.”
“What qualifications do you have to stand before me?”
Wizard Broadleaf’s expression remained unchanged, still maintaining his businesslike attitude.
“Historical issues concerning the Dragonman Plane can be discussed later. For now, on behalf of Noren Workshop, I propose a collaborative research agreement to you.”
He raised his hand and drew a line. An amber light screen immediately appeared in the void.
On the light screen, a series of detailed terms were neatly listed.
“You possess extremely valuable research data on reflection dimensions, as well as powerful combat strength at the sub-ninth level. Noren Workshop can provide the resources you need for recovery, an independent research plane, and full sharing access to all knowledge at the second ring and below.”
“You only need to promise not to act as an enemy of wizard civilization and to periodically participate in joint research projects. As for specific resource allocation and research scheduling—”
“Cooperation?”
Suoyuan interrupted him.
When that word emerged from its consciousness resonance, it carried an extremely obvious sense of unfamiliarity, as if chewing a completely alien foreign term.
“You insignificant specks of dust dare to stand as equals with me.”
“I was trapped in the crevices of the reflection dimension for tens of millions of years, witnessing the birth and death of dimensions and experiencing the reshaping of laws.”
“You mere seventh-ring insignificant creatures…”
Its dragon pupils narrowed slightly, the condescending indifference in its tone barely concealed.
“What qualifications do you have to discuss cooperation with me?”
Wizard Broadleaf raised his hand to retract the light screen, his tone still steady.
“You were trapped in the reflection dimension for tens of millions of years. The reason you were able to awaken today is because the insurance mechanism you left behind back then was activated.”
“But have you considered why that Dragonman Elder—the last pure-blooded descendant of yours—would use the sacrifice of his own life to forcibly activate an incomplete array?”
He paused slightly, his gaze calm as still water.
“Because he had been forced into a desperate situation by us… or to put it another way, it was I who actively summoned you back. Therefore, I also have some understanding of your general situation.”
“Even with knowledge of your information, I was still willing to summon you back and offered a quite reasonable cooperation proposal… Under these circumstances, are you truly certain you wish to reject my offer?”
A trace of extremely faint fluctuation finally appeared in Suoyuan’s dragon pupils.
“You dare threaten me?!”
Having caught the meaning behind Wizard Broadleaf’s words, Suoyuan’s tone was filled with the anger of wounded pride.
Immediately after, Suoyuan’s consciousness resonance rang out again, its tone still as if overlooking dust:
“My descendant’s incompetence does not mean I am also incompetent.”
“You are merely a group who call yourselves ‘wizards’…”
Its words suddenly halted.
When it uttered the word “wizard,” it was as if some detail had abruptly pierced deep into its cognition.
Those enormous dark golden pupils refocused. This time, it no longer looked only at Wizard Broadleaf, but at everyone.
From the seventh-ring wizards behind Wizard Broadleaf, to the sixth-ring wizards on the flanks, and then to Jie Ming standing at the rear of the formation.
Its pupils swept across the solidified law domains on everyone’s bodies one by one, finally stopping on the Noren Workshop badge at the collar of Wizard Broadleaf’s wizard robe. The badge bore the most standard emblem of wizard civilization.
In the next instant, Suoyuan’s dragon pupils contracted violently.
Its dragon wings exploded open from a half-spread state to their maximum extent. The law patterns on the surface of its scales accelerated instantly from slow pulsing. Visible energy ripples were stirred up layer after layer in the void.
The previous calm and arrogant indifference was torn to shreds in less than an instant.
In its place was an emotion that made even Jie Ming subconsciously tense.
Anger… and fear.
“Wizards.”
This time, when Suoyuan spat out the word, the intensity of its consciousness resonance was more than a level higher than before. Every syllable seemed wrapped in raging flames ready to overflow their boundaries.
“You… You are wizards?!!”
Its dragon head reared up abruptly. A roar far heavier than the one during its awakening sounded from the depths of its throat.
The sound penetrated the endless chaotic void and the solidified law domains, pouring directly into the consciousness of every being present.
It was confirming—confirming that the existences before it were precisely the things buried deepest in its memories that it was most unwilling to face again.
While resisting the consciousness impact brought by the dragon roar, Jie Ming locked his True-False Void-Piercing Pupil firmly onto Suoyuan.
Pale silver star vortices spun wildly in the depths of his pupils, recording every change in the law patterns on the dragon’s body, every frequency band of energy pulses, and every emotional spectrum of consciousness fluctuations into his spiritual sea.
Yet in his mind, Jie Ming was pondering something else.
An eighth-ring peak dragon forcibly dragged back from the reflection dimension was showing fear toward a dozen or so beings whose highest level was only seventh ring. That meant… this fellow knew about wizards?
Wizard Broadleaf sighed softly, his tone carrying a weary “as expected” fatigue. “What a pity. It seems this dragon comes from the Multiracial Alliance…”
A wizard beside him let out a mocking laugh. “Obviously. There are only so many factions capable of independently exploring the reflection dimension. Did you really expect this dragon to have researched the related technology all by itself?”
Wizard Broadleaf shook his head regretfully. “Even so, cooperation was still possible. These fellows are really too reactive…”
He retreated a distance. The amber solidified law domain began reconstructing in combat mode. The edges of the light domain shifted from soft to sharp, like a circle of blades closing in.
Then, he raised his hand and made a concise gesture toward the dozen or so wizards behind him.
“Negotiations have broken down. Prepare for battle.”