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

Chapter 180 Questions
Jemin did not act rashly.

The power of alchemy quietly activated beneath his feet, and the scorching ground silently opened up under the invisible force, with gravel and scorched earth parting to both sides like flowing water.

In the blink of an eye, a narrow hole large enough to accommodate his body was dug out.

He flashed inside and used alchemy to close the opening, completely concealing himself.

During the infiltration, Jieming lightly twisted his left wrist, and a level four defensive rune artifact emitted a faint light.

With a brief delay, an almost transparent elemental shield silently enveloped his body.

This shield is not just for defense; the runes on its surface also have the effect of subtly isolating auras and energy fluctuations, enough to allow him to perfectly conceal his presence in this scorching underground space.

Based on the information obtained from the soul of that level-two lava giant, Jemin had a thorough understanding of the approximate troop distribution at this lava giant gathering point.

There are a dozen or so level-two lava giants in the inner circle, guarding the core stronghold center.

Thousands of level-one lava giants were densely distributed around the perimeter, patrolling or moving rocks, busily maintaining the stronghold.

“There are a dozen or so level two monsters and several thousand level one monsters, and the strongest leader has already reached the peak of level two… Given the combat power of the lava giants, even I would be injured in a head-on confrontation.” Jemin pondered in the narrow cave.

"However, since I have the upper hand now, there shouldn't be any problems if I'm fully prepared."

But this was not his main objective for this trip.

His primary purpose in coming here was to collect the essence of the mortal world.

With that in mind, Jemin was no longer in a hurry. He huddled in the hole he had dug, adjusting his breathing and meditating to absorb the fire element from the surrounding space, while quietly and leisurely thinking about his next plan of action.

His thoughts naturally drifted to the lava giants he had captured and who were about to undergo "soul searching," and—what would it feel like to make a potion from the mortal energy of these lava giants?
The unique feature of the Mortal Realm Potion is that it allows users to personally experience the life of the producers of Mortal Realm Qi.

In the past, most of the mortal energy used by Jemin came from ordinary humans or humanoid beings in the Erosian plane.

These groups share similar physical structures and social configurations to varying degrees, so the differences in their experiences are not significant; the differences lie more in their emotional state.

But now, if the subject is an elemental creature like a lava giant, which is composed of rock and lava, the unknown nature of this experience increases exponentially.

"Could it be that we've created a 'foreign-flavored' mortal potion?" Jemin couldn't help but laugh.

He imagined how he could truly experience the primal and fiery emotions of the lava giants, or sense their affinity for magma and their repulsion from ice and snow.

"If that's really the case, these things might be surprisingly effective in training the mind."

He wasn't worried that the potion's effects were so pronounced that it might cause any problems when it circulated within the wizarding civilization.

The reason why Jemin chose Red Dust Potion as his main product was, of course, a result of careful consideration.

It's not just because the effects of the Red Dust Potion are easier to sell.

More importantly, the nature of the Red Dust Potion itself easily leads other wizards to associate it with things related to the power of faith.

In fact, in Jieming's view, the so-called power of faith is closer to the "power of incense" in the world of cultivation, which is a powerful spiritual energy formed by the convergence of the thoughts of millions of mortals.

The worldly energy he was currently collecting was probably similar to "impurities" of faith power in the eyes of other wizards—faith power is pure and directional, while worldly energy is complex and disordered. However, it is undeniable that the two are quite related in terms of their effects.

Coincidentally, after arriving in the Erosian plane, one of the main areas of research for Jemin was the study of the "Divine Power Belief Network".

He also dabbled in the nature and classification of the power of faith.

Therefore, when he took out the Red Dust Potion, many wizards thought it was a byproduct of his research on the "Divine Power Belief Network" or a product of his research on some kind of symbiotic phenomenon.

Wizards are very clever; they are adept at analyzing clues from the slightest hints and constructing logical explanations for them in their minds.

Jemin took advantage of this.

He didn't need to fabricate any flawless reasons, nor did he need to deliberately explain the source of the potion's raw materials.

As long as he doesn't directly reveal his worldly aura, other wizards will, based on his demonstrated knowledge system and research direction, perfectly "rationalize" the Worldly Potion in their minds, attributing it to an unexpected product of one of his in-depth studies.

For this reason, Jemin was not worried at all that the potions he made with the mortal energy of the lava giant would be discovered to be amiss by his mentor Clark or other high-ranking wizards.

However, just as he was enthusiastically indulging in his daydreams, he suddenly discovered an extremely strange situation.
He did not collect even a trace of worldly energy from the lava giant!
Jemin's consciousness immediately penetrated into his dantian, conducting a meticulous and thorough examination around the talisman that was collecting mortal energy.

The talisman continued to slowly and sporadically collect the subtle traces of mortal energy.

Unfortunately, after Jemin's examination, it was discovered that these were clearly from wizards, not from the thousands of lava giants in front of them!
"What's going on?! Could there be something wrong with the talisman?" Jemin couldn't help but frown, his eyes showing confusion.

He began to perceive the lava giants around him again. Their roars, their labor, their collisions... all indicated that they possessed intelligence and emotions, which should have generated worldly energy! Jemin recalled the emotional fluctuations that occurred when wizards fought for spoils on the battlefield.

That worldly air is so rare and precious, yet it truly exists.

These lava giants, both in terms of their numbers and the context, should be able to generate enough mortal energy to be captured by his runes!

“Because they are a different race… no!” Jemin shook his head decisively halfway through this possibility.

The characteristic of conceptual materials is that they can be obtained as long as the basic conditions are met.

Without a doubt, there is no issue related to race among the basic conditions for obtaining mortal energy. Moreover, even the records in the Great Dao Book Pavilion contain specific records of demon clan settlements being able to collect mortal energy.

"Could it be that, for the Lava Giants' biological system, this underground stronghold doesn't yet qualify as a true 'society'?" Jemin pondered to himself.

That's possible, since all the other conditions are met.

But Jemin isn't sure either.

The only solution now is to go check out the larger lava giant's stronghold!
If he can't gather the essence of the mortal world there either, then he'll need to reassess the situation here.

As for how to find larger lava giant gathering points...

"Based on the ecological intelligence of the lava giants, it can be inferred that the leader definitely knows the coordinates of a larger gathering point."

With that in mind, Jemin stopped hiding himself.

He even deliberately released the energy fluctuations, and with a swift movement, he broke free of the underground shelter.

His appearance instantly shattered the tranquility of the underground cavern.

"Intruder detected!!" A patrolling lava giant roared first.

Jemin gave them no chance to react and immediately activated the killing mode.

With a thought, the six "autonomous floating cannons" behind him, which had already been strengthened and modified, instantly unfolded and circled around him.

At the same time, hundreds of small, crystal-like magical artifacts, gleaming with sharp light, appeared around his body.

These pre-prepared rune artifacts formed a slightly smaller "Great Light Image" combat stance around his body!
"kill!"

He looked at Jieming and gave a cold shout.

The large array of light phases, composed of hundreds of small talismanic artifacts, burst forth with dense energy missiles, which, like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, instantly covered a surrounding area of ​​level one lava giants.

At the same time, the six autonomous floating cannons, under the control of the Five Elements Rainbow Mirror, began to unleash their firepower, with precise energy beams shooting towards the level two lava giants who were trying to organize a counterattack.

The lava giants roared as they charged forward. Their bodies became even stronger in the high-temperature environment, and their surfaces were covered with viscous lava, almost turning into a semi-liquid state.

Their affinity for fire element is also extreme, making the erupting magma bombs even hotter and the earth spikes even harder.

With his level four shield still active, Jemin made no attempt to defend himself, focusing all his energy on the offensive rune artifact on his back.

In his haste to verify, Jieming didn't bother to slowly capture the living creatures. Rune lights flashed incessantly, and terrifying destructive power instantly blasted away the first batch of gathered lava giants.

"High-frequency sound wave suppression!"

Taking advantage of this opening, Jemin used high-frequency sonic magic.

Although these lava giants are in an enhanced state, the sound waves can still cause discomfort to their internal crystalline structure, temporarily freezing their movements.

"Tsk! Research has kept us too busy; most of the rune artifacts simply haven't had time to be replaced with targeted destructive magic!"

Feeling the effects of the rune-inscribed artifacts erupting from his back, Jemin couldn't help but frown.

The "Great Light Phase" is indeed very destructive, but its drawback is that its destructive power is somewhat oversaturated.

Once activated, all the materials in front of you will be blasted away, leaving no spoils behind.

However, creating new rune artifacts is not as simple as changing the core pattern; each one requires a lot of effort from Jemin.

"Forget it, now is not the time to think about this."

Jemin focused his mind and manipulated the large beam of light to aim at the second batch of lava giants that had barely managed to gather.

(End of this chapter)