Chapter 459: Chapter 396: Difficult Problems and the Development of the Inner Grotto Heaven (2)

But at the outer edges of the attack range—those areas theoretically marked as "affected areas"—the residual energy intensity might not even be able to kill a First Level Wizard Apprentice, at most causing some structural damage and casualties among ordinary people.

"The root of the problem..." Jeming closed his eyes and quickly deduced in his mind, "is that my current ’control finesse’ cannot keep up with the growth speed of ’energy mobilization total amount’."

This is understandable.

If the attack is compared to shooting an arrow, the path of the Wizard System is "to shoot an arrow once and then continuously enhance its power through various methods." In contrast, the Cultivation Immortality System’s path is more akin to "shooting more arrows at once."

Jeming’s actual "control ability" right now can support him to finely control "three arrows" at most.

But his Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivation is equivalent to stacking "dozens of arrows" on the bowstring.

Not only does it not enhance the attack effect, but it also reduces the power and precision of each arrow due to mutual interference, dispersing the bowstring’s strength, resulting in an overall effect that is even inferior to concentrating on shooting three arrows.

Of course, the simplest solution is "selectively lowering the output": when launching an attack, consciously suppress the intensity of the Cultivation Immortality System’s spiritual qi mobilization, only calling upon the portion of power he can finely control.

This can restore the cohesion and efficiency of the attack, theoretically making such an increase sufficient for Jeming to stand out among Fourth Level Wizards.

However...

"It’s too wasteful." Jeming opened his eyes, his gaze flickering with a touch of reluctance, "Obviously possessing the potential to mobilize greater power, yet self-restricting due to insufficient control power... it’s too wasteful!"

What he pursued was the advantage of integrating the two paths, creating an effect where one plus one is greater than two, rather than being forced to choose between them.

"I must find a method to integrate and focus all the power mobilized by the two systems with greater efficiency..." Jeming fell into deep thought.

His fingers unconsciously tapped on the console, countless formulas, rune structures, and energy flow models flashing and dissipating rapidly in his mind.

At this moment, the laboratory door slid open silently, and a Black Giant Priest in simple priest robes walked in.

Its movements were light, forming a sharp contrast with the muscular body, its voice transmitted directly into Jeming’s mind through spiritual fluctuation: "Dominant, the scheduled time has arrived, and energy needs to be replenished."

Jeming snapped out of his contemplation, glanced at the time, and nodded: "Understood." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He temporarily set aside his data analysis, followed the Black Giant Priest out of the test field, walked through several bright corridors, and arrived in front of a special cultivation room.

This cultivation room was completely different from other places.

The heavy door and walls were made of an alloy mixed with space-stabilizing metal, with surfaces covered in complex energy-conducting and insulating runes.

The Black Giant Priest stopped outside the door, waiting for Jeming to enter on his own.

Jeming pushed the door open, and a rich concentration of spiritual qi, almost materialized, rushed towards him.

There were no superfluous furnishings in the cultivation room, only a slightly elevated circular platform in the center.

The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of alloy capable of efficiently conducting and gathering spiritual qi, currently emitting a warm milky white glow.

The most striking features were the four corners of the room, each containing a complex array operating slowly.

These arrays were connected to the Incense Fire Divine Dao main network of the Purgatory Sulfur Plane and were continuously extracting and delivering a vast amount of purified spiritual qi.

Due to the high concentration of spiritual qi, a faint white mist formed in the air, slowly flowing and swirling.

Jeming walked to the central platform, sat cross-legged, and began operating his cultivation technique.

In an instant, the flow direction of spiritual qi in the entire room changed.

The previously uniformly diffused spiritual qi mist was, as if drawn by an invisible vortex, madly rushing towards Jeming.

His body seemed to transform into a black hole, greedily devouring all the surrounding energy.

But this devouring was not for his own cultivation.

If a keen observer were to examine carefully at this moment, they would find that the majority of the spiritual qi flowing into Jeming’s body was not refined and absorbed by his meridians, but through a deeper connection, flowing towards a "void."

That was an "existence" situated deep within his dantian yet beyond conventional spatial concepts.

That was his internal space.

No, perhaps it should now be more accurately referred to as his "Inner Grotto Heaven."

The changes brought by the promotion to the Divinity Transformation Stage were comprehensive, and among them, the most surprising and delightful for Jeming was precisely the metamorphosis of the space opened by this "Inner Cycle" Dharma Gate.

In past promotions, from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, from Golden Core to Nascent Soul, each time the internal space would, at the moment of breakthrough, absorb spiritual qi like a thirsty sponge, rapidly expanding in volume.

However, this time, after completing the promotion to the Divinity Transformation Stage, the internal space initially did not exhibit a clear desire for expansion.

Jeming once thought that the growth of this space had reached certain bottleneck.

Yet, in the months following the breakthrough, he gradually noticed anomalies.

This space was growing "autonomously."

Not through absorbing the spiritual qi he provides, but as if it had developed its "breathing" and "pulse," starting to draw nutrients from a deeper and vaster source.

Jeming eventually confirmed that his Inner Grotto Heaven was directly absorbing energy and matter from the "Endless Chaotic Void" of the Wizard World.

The most solid evidence appeared in the third month post-promotion.

That day, during cultivation and introspection of the Grotto Heaven, Jeming was shocked to discover that the space, originally with only constant gentle light sources, had developed a regular "day and night cycle"!

A warm but not scorching "sun" rose and set in the sky regularly, while at night, familiar stars appeared—not true stars, but projections of the Fire Elemental Plane and some stable elemental planes under new plane laws.

This is a characteristic only truly meaningful "planes" possess!

Fed continuously with plane origin by Jeming in the wake of his divinity transformation’s catalyst, the Inner Grotto Heaven had started evolving towards a self-circulating plane!

This discovery both excited and alarmed Jeming.

Theoretically, as long as this plane continues to grow, it may even develop a complete ecosystem, wise species, and even a unique law system in the future.

The cause for concern is that the "independence" of the plane is increasing.

Directly drawing elemental power from the endless void has made the growth rate of the Inner Grotto Heaven astonish.

If the "connection" between Jeming and this nascent plane isn’t strong enough, then as the plane’s self-contained laws become more perfected, and its mass increases, ultimately it might "seal" itself off from the external world, becoming a truly independent plane.

Thereby detaching from Jeming’s body and drifting into the endless void.

Thus, Jeming now needs to conduct this special "energy infusion" cultivation daily.

His main purpose for absorbing vast amounts of spiritual qi is not to enhance his own cultivation, but to use this pure spiritual qi as a "adhesive" and "reinforcer," steadily consolidating his foundational connection with the internal plane.

He needs to ensure that he remains the "dominant", its "Creator God" and "Core Law," and not merely a "landlord" or "channel."

At this moment, with the continuous infusion of spiritual qi, Jeming can clearly perceive the "world" within him that is flourishing.

Its boundaries extend outward extremely slowly but firmly, the elemental balance within becoming more stable, and some magic potions and minerals initially transplanted inside seem to be adapting to this new environment, showing signs of mutation and evolution.

"At this rate of growth, it will probably take several more decades to initially form a stable elemental cycle..." Jeming, during cultivation, assigned a hint of his spirit to evaluate.