Chapter 130: Body of Flame

Given the vastness of a plane, its inherent consciousness can never be as swift, agile, or responsive as a human brain. Yet, its fundamental likes and dislikes are identical to those of humanity. Every individual living within its embrace—whether a sentient being or an unconscious stone or piece of wood—is but an insignificant part of that plane’s consciousness. If a plane were to be completely sealed, with its internal resources and population kept at a constant total, that consciousness would lose the opportunity to evolve and grow stronger. Only by striving to preserve what it possesses while continuously usurping resources from the outside world for its own growth can a plane’s consciousness continue to expand, eventually awakening into a more powerful entity.

As a large-scale plane, the Wizard Continent has clearly long since birthed a great, unique consciousness, coalescing into a world will that defines the continent. Once this will was born, its only method of manipulating the plane was through the invisible and intangible hand of its laws. Every substance and living creature within this world exists under the constraints of these numerous rules. Wood creates fire, fire smelts metal, metal fells trees and splits stone, the earth bears all things and nurtures life within its soil, while water nourishes all—these are merely surface phenomena. Behind it all, directing everything, are the all-encompassing, all-accommodating laws of the plane. Even those top-tier wizards who claim to conquer planes and rival deities cannot ignore the existence of these laws or act with wanton impunity.

Thus, the more powerful a wizard is, the more profound their insight into the world’s will. Weak beings, however, can only perceive this in a hazy, illusory manner. The evolution of Greem’s "Fiery Body" is a manifestation of this plane’s consciousness, occurring at every moment and in every place. There is no god here, no deity; instead, there is an impartial and selfless plane consciousness hidden in the depths, silently driving the orderly operation of the world. Any action conducive to the well-being of the plane receives a faint, intangible feedback from this consciousness, thereby enhancing one’s control over and access to the laws of the plane. Conversely, actions that defy this consciousness invite its disgust, turning the offender into an object of scorn for all inhabitants of the plane.

It was through the monitoring and analysis of his own body’s data that Greem vaguely sensed an invisible hand controlling everything within the plane. To dismiss this as mere unconscious bodily instinct would be to underestimate Greem’s intelligence. It seems that a threshold every wizard apprentice must cross to become a formal wizard is the realization of these plane laws; otherwise, how could there be such a vast, heaven-and-earth disparity between a quasi-wizard with 20 points of mental energy and a wizard with 21?

Filled with questions, Greem left the Magma Sea as soon as his latest immersion in the Fiery Body was complete, avoiding the patrolling Magma Giants. After running until he reached a safe zone, he found a new campsite and settled in. After this period of consumption, his supplies of food and water were nearly exhausted, forcing Greem to revert to a primitive, raw-eating lifestyle. His food came from hunting fire lizards, and his water from pure water gathered through spells, supplemented by lizard blood.

To optimize his immersion time, Greem changed his camp every two days, varying the time and location of his forays into the Magma Sea. Using this method, he successfully avoided the ambushes and traps set by the Magma Giants, leaving them furious yet helpless. Through countless wordless "dialogues" with the giants, Greem gradually deciphered their thought processes and behavioral patterns. Through incessant probing and analysis, he finally broke through the blockade of the outer patrol and successfully approached their nest: the ring-shaped reef islands.

These ring-shaped reefs were essentially massive rocks floating on magma, bound together by thick alloy chains to form a chain of floating islands anchored in the center of the Magma Sea. The Magma Giants’ nests were located on these islands. A Magma Giant spends its entire life, from birth to death, in this vast sea of magma. This has resulted in them possessing wizard-level strength and high intelligence, yet lacking the sophisticated wisdom that should accompany it. In short, they are clever, but have not ascended to the level of "cunning." This is why, despite their immense power, they were kept in constant turmoil by a single "advanced apprentice" like Greem.

Of course, a deviant advanced apprentice like Greem is a rarity. Observing the floating islands from hiding, Greem’s greed remained undampened; he began to entertain the idea of robbing the Magma Giant family treasury. These giants had lived there all their lives, patrolling the Magma Sea daily, and their treasury was piled high with the high-level magic gems and top-tier spell materials nurtured by the subterranean volcanoes. If he could successfully loot such a treasury, Greem felt he wouldn’t need to worry about searching for resources for the next several centuries. This one haul would be enough to satisfy him.

However, after careful investigation, Greem was discouraged once more. The giants valued their treasury highly; it was built on the largest island, adjacent to the elders' dwellings, with two elite Magma Giants guarding the entrance day and night—a defense that could be described as watertight. Greem had his chip design countless plans, yet he still could not find a safe way to slip into the treasury under the noses of the two elite guards.

Yet, while fruitlessly searching for a way to steal the treasure, Greem made an accidental discovery: he found the Magma Giants’ graveyard. Although Magma Giants live for one or two thousand years, they inevitably face death. To provide a place for their kin to rest in peace, they had built a cemetery on one of the floating islands. When a clan member neared death, it would enter the cemetery to wait for the end in silence. After death, their massive, scorching bodies would gradually cool, solidifying into silent stone statues. The graveyard was filled with these statues, including the remains of powerful giants who had stood seven or eight meters tall.

The giants guarded their treasury with extreme vigilance to prevent human wizards or other fire-dwelling creatures from stealing their treasures, but Greem found no effective security measures for the family cemetery. This was understandable; after all, not everyone would harbor ulterior motives toward a lifeless stone statue. But when the giants encountered a master of scavenging like Greem—someone who could squeeze oil out of a rock—their family graveyard became highly vulnerable.

Greem’s target was the elemental crystal cores remaining within the giants' remains. Cores from those who had died long ago had lost their lingering soul energy and were difficult to utilize, but those from giants who had died within the last century might still contain conscious cores suitable for crafting magic golems.

One must realize that the giants entering that graveyard were the eldest of their kind, meaning every core was at least at the wizard level. If he were lucky, he might even find a core at the second-rank wizard level. The thought of such a powerful elemental golem made Greem’s heart race. He longed to rush onto the islands, shatter the remains, and claim all the cores.

Alas, such thoughts were mere fantasies. If he actually tried this, he would surely lose his life on the island. The giants would tear him apart. About 200 Magma Giants lived on the ring of islands, including about 70 quasi-wizard juveniles and over 140 mature individuals of wizard rank or higher. In this environment, free from natural predators and with an abundance of resources, their defensive mechanisms were not particularly sophisticated. If Greem were not of such a low rank, these dim-witted giants, despite their immense size and power, would have been his perfect prey. But as things stood, even taking down a juvenile would require significant effort.

Therefore, the only way to pluck the chestnuts from the fire was to stir up trouble and fish in the murky waters. With this preliminary plan, he stopped provoking the giants and became even quieter. He hunted only on the outskirts of the volcanic world, occasionally slipping into the Magma Sea for a quick "bath" before sneaking away. Through this consistent behavioral pattern, Greem successfully deceived the patrols, causing them to lower their guard and cease viewing him as a potential threat. While the hunt for him continued, it became little more than a routine cat-and-mouse game every day or two.

Greem was in no hurry. This subterranean mission was scheduled to last three months, and his Fiery Body required time to evolve. All he had to do was wait for the day his Fiery Body broke through. When that day arrived, he would put his plan into action.

Finally, two months after entering the volcanic world, the breakthrough Greem had long awaited finally occurred. As the chip’s projection of the transformation progress jumped from 99% to 100%, Greem felt his entire body undergo a cataclysmic change. Everything was different from before!

Body of Flame! He had finally crossed the stage of the Fiery Body and attained his own Body of Flame.