Chapter 724: Compensation |
**Chapter 724: Compensation**
After the battle ended, the other wizards were still busy reinforcing the seals on Suoyuan’s body.
The time seal and spiritual seal were the final two locks, yet no one dared guarantee that a sub-ninth-rank dragon clan being that had been trapped in the Reflection Dimension for tens of millions of years wouldn’t have some hidden trump card.
Several seventh-ring wizards were positioned around the dragon’s body. The light of solidified law domains flickered on and off in succession.
With every additional layer of sealing, the energy fluctuations in the void grew heavier, as if the entire battlefield was sinking along with the massive dragon.
Jie Ming did not participate in the sealing process.
For one, he knew his own sealing techniques were far inferior to these veteran seventh-ring wizards. For another…
He was currently floating at the edge of the battlefield, his vertical eye at the center of his brow slightly narrowed, his expression somewhat strange.
The collision from earlier—the moment Wizard Broadleaf had used him as a battering ram and slammed him squarely into the center of Suoyuan’s dragon head—hadn’t felt particularly special in terms of physical sensation.
However, in the few seconds after the collision, a large amount of information had suddenly appeared in his spiritual sea.
At first, Jie Ming had nearly thought it was a forcibly injected data stream.
But after a careful inspection, he found no signs of intrusion. The way the information had appeared felt more like natural permeation. The knowledge was fragmented and incomplete.
Some concerned the tuning of energy frequencies in the Reflection Dimension.
Others involved the underlying rune structures of dragon bloodlines.
And some were simply blurry memory fragments, as if viewed through a layer of water vapor.
After thinking it over, he informed Broadleaf about the phenomenon.
“This is a characteristic of beings from the Reflection Dimension.”
Wizard Broadleaf supervised the final stages of the sealing while explaining distractedly, his tone calm and unhurried, clearly having seen this many times before.
“Didn’t I tell you all before the battle? Any knowledge gained during combat counts as your compensation. That’s exactly why I said that.”
“The Reflection Dimension is essentially a mirror of the main world’s mental activity. When beings from the Reflection Dimension—or beings possessing Reflection Dimension properties—come into contact with main world beings, they naturally infuse the information contained within themselves. The pressure differential between dimensions doesn’t just annihilate matter; it also causes information permeation at the contact surface.”
Wizard Broadleaf thought for a moment and offered a simple analogy.
“It’s like pressing a sponge into water—the water seeps in by itself. The physical impact of your collision earlier was only the surface phenomenon. The real contact occurred at the dimensional level. That dragon had stayed in the Reflection Dimension for far too long; a significant portion of its soul essence had already been transformed into a Reflection Dimension lifeform. When you slammed into it, its information seeped into your mind along the dimensional contact surface.”
Jie Ming fell silent for a moment. A faint gleam flashed across all three of his eyes. “Then if we could capture more Reflection Dimension beings…”
“Don’t even think about it.”
Wizard Broadleaf directly cut off his train of thought, his voice carrying a sigh—the helplessness of an experienced senior toward a junior’s unrealistic fantasies. “True Reflection Dimension beings cannot come to the main world at all. The laws of the two dimensions are incompatible. The moment they enter the main world, it’s like throwing a deep-sea fish into a volcano. It’s not a question of adaptation; their very mode of existence cannot be sustained within the main world’s physical framework.”
He glanced at Jie Ming and continued:
“Under normal circumstances, what people call ‘contact’ with Reflection Dimension beings is actually observation across an entire dimensional differential. The two sides are merely observing each other from different dimensions.”
“Even the sealed specimens we have were only barely preserved by using dimensional sealing techniques to strip away an entire small dimensional interlayer. As for the dragon you collided with earlier, it’s a special case because it was originally a main world creature that had only transformed part of itself into a Reflection Dimension lifeform while inside that dimension. It can still operate normally in the main world thanks to its original dragon body acting as an anchor. You won’t find many such special cases even if you search the entire workshop’s archives.”
He added one more line:
“Of course, if you’re willing to take on some missions to camp at the edges of the Reflection Dimension, there’s still a chance. But that’s something only eighth-ring wizards would seriously consider.”
Jie Ming nodded and temporarily pushed the idea back into the depths of his spiritual sea.
Wizard Broadleaf swept his gaze across the battlefield that was still being wrapped up, estimated the progress, then turned back to Jie Ming.
“This battle ended faster than expected. I originally estimated that after this dragon woke up, we’d have to go through several more rounds of offense and defense. But since the dragon itself possessed a certain degree of reality-alteration-by-thought ability, we couldn’t hold back and had to capture it in one go.”
Broadleaf’s tone carried a hint of helplessness.
“When Avery recommended you, he said you could endure dimensional differentials. I didn’t take it too seriously, but I didn’t expect you to be this capable…” He raised two fingers.
“Given your enormous contribution in this battle and the fact that the compensation you received is truly too little, I’ll give you some extra. Knowledge, or military merit—which do you choose?”
“Knowledge.”
Jie Ming answered without the slightest hesitation.
“Related to the Reflection Dimension.”
Broadleaf nodded, as if he had already guessed the choice.
“There are two delivery options.” He raised one finger. “First, after we extract results from research on this dragon, we’ll send you a copy of the relevant knowledge. The advantage is broad coverage—dragon bloodline, Reflection Dimension transformation techniques, ancient law solidification methods, all will be included in the research. The downside is that you’ll have to wait. Analyzing the techniques of a peak eighth-rank dragon isn’t something that can be completed in just a few years.”
He raised a second finger.
“Second, I currently have a portion of Reflection Dimension knowledge on hand and can give it to you directly. The content mainly covers the basic theories of the Reflection Dimension, standardized construction and closure techniques for dimensional passages, introductory principles of dimensional sealing spells, and a small amount of information fragments extracted from other Reflection Dimension biological specimens. The coverage isn’t as broad as the first option, but the advantage is that you can receive it right now.”
“The latter.”
Jie Ming still showed no hesitation.
“Very well.”
Broadleaf took out an amber recording crystal from his sleeve, lightly tapped the surface with his fingertip to inscribe the knowledge copy, then casually tossed it to Jie Ming.
The crystal traced a short arc through the void and landed steadily in Jie Ming’s palm.
“The military department will send confirmation of mission completion to your magic network terminal today. The compulsory conscription quota will also be canceled simultaneously.”
Jie Ming pressed the recording crystal against his vertical eye at the center of his brow. His spiritual power swiftly probed inside and quickly scanned through the directory.
Standardized construction and closure techniques for dimensional passages.
Introductory principles of dimensional sealing spells.
Basic theoretical framework of the Reflection Dimension.
Each item was a puzzle piece he needed most right now.
Combined with the details of the Judgement Art he had previously dug out from the iron-gray dragonman’s memories, as well as the fragmented information he had passively absorbed during the dragon collision, his technical accumulation in the field of the Reflection Dimension had gradually expanded from a single point into a level where he could barely sketch out an outline.
“Great, the knowledge is confirmed and there are no issues. Thank you very much this time.”
“No need. I should be the one thanking you. Without you, there was a real chance he might have escaped this time.” Wizard Broadleaf waved his hand.
Jie Ming put away the crystal, bowed in farewell to Wizard Broadleaf, then turned and stepped onto the spatial teleportation array.
The light of the teleportation array slowly converged behind him.
The familiar aura of the Infernal Sulfur Plane enveloped him from all directions.
The main control room was quieter than usual.
Viola was not there.
Jie Ming thought for a moment. He had handled matters too quickly this time; she probably hadn’t left yet and had most likely gone to rest.
Without notifying anyone else, he walked out of the main control room and headed toward the laboratory along the corridor.
As he passed the teleportation hall, he glanced outward.
Through the observation window on the side of the hall, he could see that the preliminary framework of the plane fusion project had already been completed.
The Tentacle Tree Plane had been fully integrated into the Infernal Sulfur Plane’s subsidiary plane cluster. The barriers of the two planes met at the fusion nodes, forming a stable two-colored light membrane.
Several engineering ships were performing final inspections near the light membrane. Black giants and Tentacle Tree technicians worked busily on the same operational platform. The scene was far more harmonious than he had anticipated.
The laboratory door slid open silently.
Pale blue cold light illuminated the familiar workspace.
The Five Aggregates Rainbow Mirror flew out from his spiritual sea and automatically hovered beside him, beginning to record and file the mission summary he dictated item by item.
He walked to the workstation, took out the amber recording crystal Broadleaf had given him from his inner cave heaven, and inserted it into the reading slot beside the workstation.
Within his spiritual sea, the basic theoretical framework of the Reflection Dimension began to unfold page by page.
And Jie Ming began his latest curse towards the people who read the novel at any other website but the project onigiri dot com. “You shall be damned for eternity” Jie Ming said.
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