I, a cultivator, have ended up in the wizarding world.

Chapter 135 Identity and Purpose

As they drew closer and finally stopped at a wide intersection of pipes in front of him, Jemin finally made out their figures.

They too were shrouded in various disguises, but the unique magical resonance emanating from them indicated that these people had no intention of pretending anymore.

He stopped hiding and slowly emerged from the shadows, his footsteps sounding exceptionally clear in the silent sewers.

The four figures, who had been somewhat wary of each other, stopped abruptly upon hearing his footsteps, then turned around abruptly.

"Although I guessed there were many wizards in the capital, the fact that you were able to infiltrate to such a high position is truly remarkable. You are indeed geniuses."

Jemin stepped forward slowly, breaking the silence among them: "We don't have much time. Since you all have reservations, let me, a nobody, start..."

"You're not some nobody."

A clear, melodious voice interrupted him, and Jemin looked toward the rather petite figure.

The other person was dressed in a long black robe that covered their face, but judging from their voice and figure, they should be a woman.

"Surely no one would think that you, who once topped the contribution list, are an unknown nobody, am I right, Mr. Jemin?"

The other three were slightly taken aback when they heard about Jemin's identity, then their expressions changed to understanding, and several curious glances immediately turned to Jemin.

When Jemin heard what the other person said, he was genuinely surprised.

Although the name "Jemin" should indeed be quite famous among the wizards in Norren Workshop, Jemin is also well aware that apart from the wizard apprentices of Academy 13, no one else should know his specific situation and appearance.

Moreover, he has changed his appearance; he is now using the appearance of an adventurer named "Jack".

However, upon seeing the other person's appearance after removing the black robe, and the comfortable aura emanating from them, a look of understanding flashed in Jemin's eyes:

“So it’s Miss Mary… no, I should say Miss Anya.”

"what?"

Miss Mary, the human viscount's daughter with a powerful affinity, suddenly withdrew her comfortable aura, revealing her ethereal yet vibrant true nature—it was Anya!
Anya was probably able to discover his identity because she sensed the unusual life force emanating from him through her talent.

After all, back in the square of the Norren Workshop, the other party had spotted him at a glance from the crowd thanks to their innate perception.

She looked at Jemin, her eyes filled with curiosity: "How did you recognize me?"

“The aura emanating from you is all too familiar. Although it’s disguised to some extent, I’ve only ever seen that kind of affinity for life force on you.” Jemin smiled.

Anya frowned: "That doesn't make sense. Was my disguise really that bad?"

Jemin did not answer.

Of course, he wouldn't tell her that the most important reason he was able to recognize her was her gaze.

Jemin had already noticed when "Miss Mary" glanced at him at the banquet, a glance she thought was well hidden.

After all, the longing for the experimental subject in the other party's eyes was far too conspicuous for a cultivator like Jemin who had been frequently absorbing worldly energy lately.

However, with the two setting an example, the remaining three no longer hid themselves.

The disguise shrouding another tall figure dissipated like a thin mist, revealing her stunningly beautiful face—it was none other than the proud leader of the elven delegation.

A flicker of surprise and understanding crossed her eyes, then she smiled softly and whispered with a hint of amusement:
“Jamin? What a surprise… I never expected to run into you, the number one on the leaderboard, here. I am Serafina.”

As she spoke, Serafina's body swayed as if it were an unstable image, before reverting to her appearance as a level ten genius.

“That’s no longer the case. I’m almost out of the top ten now.” Jemin waved his hand. “Your name is renowned.”

Serafina's words were like a signal, and the other two did not hesitate to remove their disguises.

The rugged and bold orc warrior, his fur and wild aura fading, revealed his refined scholarly appearance—it was none other than Kel'Thuzad!

He grinned, a hint of self-deprecation in his eyes: "Finally, I've met my companions. I thought I was the only idiot here, having to act like a brute."

Then, the robust and unrefined aura characteristic of dwarves vanished, revealing a somewhat unfamiliar male figure.

Jemin looked at the other person with some uncertainty, but Kelene recognized him: "Rex? It seems like it's been a long time since I've seen you without your alchemical constructs."

Rex?
Jemin discreetly observed the other person's demeanor, unable to reconcile him with the tall, robotic figure.

A shrewd glint in Rex's eyes: "I never expected to run into you all here. It seems you're all intelligent people."

Five wizards, all considered geniuses in the Norren Workshop, have reunited in the sewers of the capital of Erosia.

As Jemin looked at the four familiar yet unfamiliar faces before him, he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

He recalled his previous complaints. It seemed that this world hadn't secretly updated its version, and those he could perceive as threats were all geniuses of the same level.

However, his laughter still drew everyone's attention.

Jemin raised his hand to his mouth and coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment, then spoke with a hint of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing regret, regret, and a sense of melancholy):
"It seems we share the same goal; great minds think alike."

"No, no, no... You overestimate me."

"Who would agree with a madman like you?"

"I'm not as crazy as you..."

"Hey! Don't slander me! I'm not that crazy!"

To Jemin's surprise, his words caused the other four to bristle as if they had been pricked by a needle, with some even involuntarily taking two steps back to distance themselves from him.

"?"

Jemin tilted his head: "What do you mean by this?"

Kelley, who seemed to be a kind-hearted person, pursed his lips upon seeing this and said, "You should know that we are only level one wizards, right?"

"correct."

"You, a level one wizard, are trying to scheme against hundreds of beings, ranging from level four to level seven. Don't you think that's a bit too crazy?"

"Huh?" Jemin felt like his brain couldn't process it. "Putting aside the fact that you guys are also scheming against the gods, what's there to be afraid of scheming about? Are you even proper wizards?!"

"That's precisely why they wouldn't do that!" Seraphina couldn't help but complain. "As wizards, shouldn't the most important thing be to rationally calculate the costs and benefits of a matter? They're not those mindless brutes from the combat specialties..." Kelene's expression also seemed somewhat helpless.
"Although both are schemes against the gods, they are different in nature. Our original plan was at most to secretly poison them, but judging from the magic array you set up, it seems you intend to feed them excrement in front of them!"

“Uh…” Jemin choked up involuntarily.

Recalling the magic arrays he had discovered, his expression involuntarily turned strange.

It seems... it seems he really did misunderstand.

From the moment Jemin was thrown into the Erosian plane, a question had been lingering in his mind: how could they, a group of wizard apprentices, possibly have an effective, or even decisive, influence on the battle in such a large mid-level plane community?

He knew very well that even if they were to advance to the level one formal wizard in the plane, their combat power would at best be equivalent to that of a legendary powerhouse in this world.

It sounds incredibly powerful, enough to crush everything in the mortal world.

But don't forget that in addition to mortals, the plane of Erosia also has tens of thousands of angels, and hundreds of gods behind them.

Even an angel, equivalent to a level three being, would be enough to drive him to his death.

However, if a god were to personally descend with angels, all of them, the wizard apprentices, would be beaten like dogs by the angels under the god's command.

Their contributions through destruction and combat alone are negligible and few.

Therefore, Jemin realized from the beginning that this interdimensional war could not be thought of in the traditional way of fighting.

He must find a clever breakthrough, a key that can leverage a small investment to achieve a large return and shake the core of the entire plane.

After studying in detail the divine power and faith network of the Erosian plane, as well as the complex relationship between gods and faith in this world, Jemin gradually had a bold idea: he could find a way to corrupt faith and influence the gods from the side!

In the Erosian plane, apart from the sole original god—the Supreme God—all other gods are not original gods, but rather gods of faith.

This means that their power is entirely based on the power of mortal faith, and therefore they are greatly affected by the purity of that faith.

Even the sole original deity, the Supreme God, has, to some extent, passively absorbed the faith of mortals due to the deliberate indulgence and indifference of the gods over the years.

While this greatly enhanced the deity's power, it also meant that He was not entirely detached.

What Jemin wanted to do was simple: to influence the entire pantheon of the Erosian plane by tampering with the power of faith.

The higher the level of a deity, the more faith it collects, and the greater the influence of corruption it receives.

Of course, he was also well aware that even if he exerted all his strength, the influence he could have on the gods would be quite small, perhaps only lasting for a moment.

But he doesn't need to cause too much of an impact; all he needs to do is distract the other party.

Even a fleeting moment is enough!
Because outside the Elosia Plane Cluster, there were still most of the high-ranking wizards from the Norn Workshop waiting!

With the power of high-level wizards, any seventh-level wizard could easily sweep through the entire plane cluster, crushing the mortals, angels, and even the gods they worship into dust.

The reason for the delay in taking action is simply to prevent the gods of the Erosian plane from resorting to desperate measures, triggering the plane's origin, and dragging the entire plane down with them.

Mentor Clark once told Jemin that in such a stalemate, wizards usually have three ways to seize the essence of a plane: find a higher-level wizard to handle it and weaken the essence power that permeates this plane, or have a wizard directly advance to level six in this plane.

In essence, all three methods aim to ensure that beings of level six or above in that plane cannot immediately unleash their primal power to destroy the plane.

What Jemin is going to do is actually based on the same principle.

As long as the corrupted power of faith can distract the gods, even for just a moment, that's enough!

The high-ranking wizards surrounding them could take this opportunity to suppress and capture the gods of the Erosian plane.

Despite having no communication with the outside world whatsoever, Jemin believed that with the wisdom of the high-ranking wizards outside and their understanding of interdimensional warfare, they would not let this opportunity slip by.

In particular, after he made a preliminary study of the divine power belief network of the Erosian plane, he deeply understood the wizards' desire for "gods" as advanced experimental subjects.

This desire is enough to make them seize any fleeting opportunity.

Before this, Jemin had always assumed that the other four people present shared the same thoughts as him, and that they were all working towards this common goal in their own ways.

But now I realize that something doesn't seem right.

"Initially, we only intended to stir up the negative emotions of the mortal races in this plane, making the power of faith they provided impure."

On their way to the magic circle node, the other four explained it to Jemin.

Rex, who had previously played the female dwarf, couldn't help but sigh: "Like me, I've now stirred up most of the dwarves' emotions about 'laziness'."

Serafina and Kelene, standing nearby, nodded in agreement, as they too stirred up a great deal of negative emotion about their disguised race.

“So those three magic arrays…” Jemin’s lips twitched.

"It's just a simple energy diffusion array, its purpose is to spread the energy of the items on their bodies throughout the entire human kingdom, thereby inciting negative emotions among humans," Anya sighed.

"Those three of them worked so hard to delay the negotiations so they could have enough time to set up the magic array. I was a little late in my actions, so I originally planned to hitch a ride with them, but I didn't expect you to directly change the essence of the entire magic array."

"So now we're on your pirate ship, and if we don't want all our previous efforts to be wasted, we have no choice but to keep going with you."

There are currently four ways for novice wizards to earn contribution points in the Erosian plane.

The first method is simple killing and destruction, but with the strength of novice wizards, this method can not earn many contribution points, and if they are unlucky, they may be killed instead.

The second approach is to consider the overall situation and find ways to get the various races in the Erosian plane to provide more troops for the wizard camp to kill.

The third method is similar to what geniuses like Anya and Kelene had previously considered: influencing the state of the gods by affecting the mortal world.

Although the effect was not significant, considering the importance of the deity itself, the contribution was definitely not insignificant.

The fourth type is like Jemin, who, although also aiming to influence the gods, uses more extreme and intense methods.

"Ah this..."

Jemin has now realized that few legitimate wizard apprentices would spend as much time as he did, at the crucial moment of earning contribution points, researching knowledge related to the divine power faith network.

He had previously calculated the energy diffusion effect of the three magic arrays and subconsciously assumed that others had the same idea as him, but he didn't expect it to be a misunderstanding.

He had initially thought that these people's skill in creating magic arrays was lacking, and even kindly helped them add and modify "a little bit" of runes.

(End of this chapter)