Chapter 168: Plane Reconnaissance

Three days later.

Greem and the other two scouts all returned to the camp, bringing back the intelligence they had gathered.

Having been absent for just three days, the teleportation point, which had been nothing more than a patch of green grass just a short while ago, now bore the preliminary scale of a small town.

A tall stone house had risen abruptly from the ground, enclosing both the humanoid phantom and the void vortex within its walls. There were no doors or windows on any of the four sides, leaving only a single wizardry-sealed doorway on the front facade. Centered around this stone house, rows of wooden cabins and stone chambers had been constructed, scattered in an orderly fashion across the outer perimeter.

The guards responsible for the perimeter of the outpost camp were now a pack of witch beasts. Lions, tigers, and leopards could all be found among them, and without exception, the special fluctuations of magical energy organs pulsed within their bodies. While these witch beasts, possessing only the strength of intermediate apprentices, might not amount to much in the eyes of true wizards, they were exceedingly well-suited for dealing with ordinary natives and wild beasts that accidentally wandered into the camp.

Internal security within the camp relied on a dense network of wizardry arrays and squads of uniquely shaped mechanical beasts. These mechanical beasts were clearly premium relics passed down from the City in the Sky, each possessing the strength of advanced apprentices. Taking into consideration their well-resistant hulls and excellent tactical coordination, they were more than enough to surround and slaughter a quasi-wizard.

In addition to these, there were several pterosaur knights.

Judging from their appearance, some kind of humanoid creature had been surgically grafted onto the backs of pterosaurs using wizardry, granting them both flight and ranged attack capabilities. Judging by their bloodied and mangled bodies, they were likely cobbled together from local materials, having undergone flesh modification just recently.

Because the work had been rushed, the lower bodies of the humanoid creatures had been entirely amputated and forcefully fused onto the backs of the pterosaurs. Where their flesh joined, blood streamed freely, and thick corpse-stitching threads were clearly visible.

Just as Greem walked back in, a pterosaur knight beat its leather wings and blocked his path.

The humanoid creature on its back was male, with a robust physique, taut muscles, and a bare torso. In his hand, he clutched a spear-like wizard tool gleaming with a pale blue light. He lowered his upper body and sniffed slightly. Perhaps sensing the heavy wizard aura emanating from Greem, he bowed in salute, then flapped his wings and rose into the nearby mountain forest.

Greem strode inward without a care. Behind him, more than twenty earthen golems were dragging a dozen large jungle creatures, advancing toward the camp amidst a chorus of shrill, mournful cries.

Hearing the commotion, Cogen walked out, his wizard robe stained with blood and filth. Upon seeing the lively saber-toothed elephants, four-armed apes, swamp crocodiles, and griffins, a look of wild ecstasy immediately crossed his face.

"Hahaha... Excellent! I was just lacking materials! Bring them all over here at once..."

Only then did Greem realize that Cogen possessed such formidable talent in the modification of witch beasts. Presumably, the new witch beasts he had seen just moments ago were all this man's handiwork. One had to remember that every single one of those pterosaur knights possessed the strength of a quasi-wizard!

Directing the earthen golems to deliver the "materials" into the massive flesh abattoir, the temporary camp leader rubbed his hands together in excitement. Looking at the nimble movements of the golems, he could not help but say, "I've long heard that you possess astonishing talent in the creation of elemental puppets. Now it seems that rumor is indeed true. Had I known this earlier, you would have been better off walking the path of an esoteric wizard; becoming a puppeteer is quite a respectable choice."

Greem stood beside Cogen, shaking his head with indifference. "A wizard's foundation still lies within oneself. Talent in puppet creation might allow me to run rampant for a time, but it is not conducive to my own growth. Between a powerful first-rank puppeteer and a weak second-rank elemental wizard, I would rather choose the latter!"

Cogen put away the smile on his face, narrowing his eyes in surprise. "To think that you've already attained such a realization just after advancing! Splendid... If Anderson had understood this logic three hundred years ago, he wouldn't have ended up in such a state..."

Greem remained silent.

Cogen forced a smile a moment later and instructed, "Go and get some rest! We will likely need to hold a meeting tonight!"

Greem nodded. Earthen golems walked to his side, dispersing the gathered earth elements and the binding soil and gravel. The golem cores drifted gently down into his palm.

Greem put the cores away properly, then leisurely walked over to a row of crude stone chambers.

There were over a dozen stone chambers, identical in size and style. Some had their heavy doors tightly shut, with personal insignia glowing with magical light etched onto the lintels. Others had their stone doors standing open, revealing empty interiors.

Those with insignia on the doorways obviously already had occupants inside, so Greem simply picked an empty one at random and walked in. With a casual wave of his hand, a streak of red light struck the stone door, and a pattern of a burning iron fist raised toward the sky instantly materialized in the center of the door. This was the personal insignia Greem had chosen for himself, which also served to indicate his basic developmental direction.

He had briefly glanced around upon arriving and had not found the insignia of Mary or Entik, which suggested the two of them had not yet returned. Therefore, Greem sat cross-legged on the stone bed, closed his eyes, and began communicating with the chip.

"Chip, what is the progress on the analysis of the plane's laws?"

"Beep. The current progress of the plane's law analysis is 97.14%. Estimated remaining time: 3 hours, 27 minutes, 11 seconds..."

Greem nodded in satisfaction, and his tightly wound nerves finally relaxed a fraction.

Those who have never intruded into a foreign plane can hardly comprehend the terrifying nature of plane suppression. It is akin to throwing a lion into the vast ocean; the drastic change in the survival environment makes every single movement in its daily life excruciatingly difficult.

After all, wizards are creatures whose power is rooted in rules. Once a shift occurs at the level of rules, their perceptions and the impact they suffer are undoubtedly the deepest and most intense!

Ever since entering this plane, Greem felt as though a thick, damp cloth had been pressed over his nose and mouth, making even breathing feel labored. Furthermore, his spiritual energy, which usually served to replace his eyes and ears, was suppressed within his body, unable to extend outward. He could no longer survey subtle changes in his surroundings at a glance as he had in the past.

This had a profound impact on the execution of his combat power!

A lion that falls into the ocean might struggle to survive, but wizards are far more intelligent than beasts. By simply analyzing the source of the anomaly in the plane's laws, wizards could adjust the rules to allow themselves to rapidly adapt to the environment here, thereby restoring their power.

***

The wizard meeting was conducted alongside dinner.

A massive bonfire was ignited in the center of the camp. Seven wizards sat clustered around it, enjoying golden-brown pork ribs roasted to perfection while listening to the intelligence summary presented by Greem and the other two.

Wizards have always been a group characterized by clear minds and vast knowledge!

Although Cogen had not assigned them any specific tasks, Greem and his two companions had spontaneously completed the sweeping of the jungle, the mapping of the terrain, and the probing of the plane's power system.

It was fair to say that in just three days, within a fifty-mile radius surrounding the camp, not a single large jungle beast or magical creature could be found anymore. Greem, Mary, and Entik each condensed a ball of smoke and tossed it to Cogen. After he inhaled the smoke into his body, he casually waved a hand, causing the flat ground before him to ripple and undulate like waves.

As the dense earth elements slowly dissipated, a complete topographical map of the surrounding camp area was laid out before everyone. On it were towering mountain ranges, interlocking peaks and rocks, dense forests, flowing streams, deep caverns, and profound ravines... Almost without stepping out of the camp, they could understand the surrounding topography and landforms at a glance.

The first to speak was Entik. His voice was hoarse and low, vaguely carrying a hint of insect chirping.

"The direction I went didn't yield any major discoveries. After passing through thirty miles of jungle, I encountered a human habitation zone. I discovered a small human city there, along with a small town and three or four villages.

"I captured a few natives in a small village and interrogated their souls. I found out that this place is the eastern region of something called the Green Forest. As for the powerful entities within their plane, they knew very little, only managing to extract information about a powerful organization called the Demon-Hunting Knights. Aside from that, there was nothing else.

"If we truly want to understand the power system of this plane, we will likely have to enter that human city to find any clues..."

Next was Mary's turn.

"The direction I took seemed to lead deep into the forest. The further in I went, the denser the trees became, and the more beasts and magical creatures there were. Some of them actually tasted quite good!" Mary licked her red lips. "Within two hundred miles, I found several large gathering points for magical creatures. There is an ogre tribe with about twenty adults, located right here... A group of venom dragons, numbering around eleven, are right here... A nest of griffins, with five adults and three cubs, is right here..."

Mary lived up to her reputation as an agile wizard. In just three days, her scouting range had expanded to a radius of two hundred miles. Judging by her familiar demeanor, it seemed she had personally visited every single large gathering point of magical creatures, and sampled their local cuisine was undoubtedly part of the trip!

Next up was Greem.

"The mountain forest on my side was relatively sparse. After just twenty miles of mountain trails, I cleared the edge of the jungle. There are three small human villages at the edge of the forest, located right here... here... and here... One of the small towns is developing quite well. I saw quite a few mercenaries and hunters there. Their activity range is quite broad, and they are very likely to stumble into our camp.

"I captured a mercenary and learned from him that the primary power sources of this plane are those Demon-Hunting Knights. Based on his description, ordinary Demon-Hunting Knights should roughly correspond to the level of wizard apprentices, while the so-called Law-Breaking Knights they speak of can basically reach the standard of a first-rank wizard.

"Above the Law-Hunting Knights are Radiant Knights, Dragon Knights, and Holy Knights. This implies that we may very well encounter a group of magic-warriors who harbor an extreme hatred for wizards in this plane."

The power systems of the two realms were not entirely identical, and a true evaluation of each other's strength would still require a clash of blades to ascertain. However, based solely on the information Greem brought back, it was evident that this plane might very well produce enemies with strengths reaching as high as the fourth rank.

For a group of first-rank wizards like them, that was simply far too powerful!