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

Chapter 231 Search
High in the sky, the fierce winds were kept out by an invisible shield.

Jemin and David transformed into two elusive streaks of light, flying towards the next marked area where the suspected target had been active.

During this high-speed flight, David's eyes were tightly closed beneath his mask, and his surging spiritual power, like the most precise probe, carefully examined the broken soul that was forcibly imprisoned within that head.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, his voice muffled through the armor: "The inspection is complete."

“This guy is just unlucky,” David concluded. “He’s not one of the target’s subordinates. He just happened to meet that illegal wizard not long ago and was forcibly infected by him with some unknown power, which is why he turned into this grotesque creature.”

In those fragments of his soul, only memories twisted by endless hunger and pain remained, along with the most primal fear of the figure that had turned him into a monster.

Almost at the same time, Jemin also finished his analysis.

He simultaneously employed "Analysis," "Alchemy," and "Omnipotent Eye" to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the twisted flesh.

Before him, a screen projected from the terminal displayed the most microscopic structural diagram of the "wizard's" body sample, which Jemin had analyzed.

“I have results on my end too.” Jemin’s voice was calm and even. “It’s confirmed that the ‘negative energy’ this guy was using is essentially a negative transformation of life force. The reason he became that inhuman, ghostly state is precisely because he was continuously tainted and eroded by this energy.”

Pointing to a decaying energy chain on the screen, Jemin continued to speculate: "According to the model, the other party's body should be constantly depleting its own life force in its daily state, which explains why he became that withered ghost. It seems that he probably needs to constantly absorb the life force of others to barely maintain his own existence."

Next, Jemin changed the subject and pointed out the most crucial and bizarre point of doubt.

“However, according to the energy traces I collected,” he pointed to a set of alarming data on the screen, “when that ‘wizard’ was casting the spell just now, he must have wasted most of the life force he had plundered—or more accurately, the vast majority of the life force dissipated into thin air during the conversion process. In the end, only a very small portion of the energy was successfully converted.”

"Otherwise, judging from the total amount of energy traces left on this guy, he has at least successfully absorbed the life force of hundreds of ordinary people. With such a huge amount of energy, even if the conversion efficiency is low, the black fireball he released should not have had such a weak power."

After delivering this information, Jemin lowered his head and fell into a brief moment of thought.

His brain, moving at a speed a thousand times faster than that of ordinary people, rapidly searched through all the knowledge systems in his knowledge base related to the use of energy.

After a moment, he shook his head and asserted, "It is certain that the mainstream system within Norren Workshop does not contain any energy utilization method for this series."

A hint of disdain crept onto his lips: "The main problem is that this way of using energy... is just too inefficient. So inefficient it's outrageous. Anyone who dares to fight this way would probably be laughed to death on the spot."

Jemin looked up and glanced at David, who was silent beside him.

David immediately understood what he meant.

His brow, hidden beneath his heavy armor, furrowed tightly. After a moment of contemplation, he shook his head and said with absolute certainty:

"I can also be certain that there was absolutely no such power in the old supernatural system of the Erosian plane."

"Although they also have similar 'necromantic power' involving life and death, the nature of their energy is completely different from this kind of energy."

After exchanging information, the two looked at each other in mid-air, and saw a strange glint in each other's eyes.

The opponent displayed a power that did not belong to the Norren Workshop or the original system of the Erosian plane, and this power was further enhanced by its specialized ability to absorb life...

Based on this intelligence, this is no longer a simple mission to capture defectors.

“If our deduction is correct… let’s request the academy to send more support,” Jemin suggested.

"Agreed, I'm afraid we'll have to expand the search area."

Neither of them said anything more after that, but silently increased their flying speed and continued flying towards the next marked city.

Silence spread between the two, but Jemin's thoughts were somewhat chaotic.

He couldn't help but recall everything he had seen in that city before.

Chuck, the child filled with fantasies and longings about "wizards," and the other children who used "wizards" as bedtime stories.

Clearly, neither Norren Academy nor the local wizards deliberately sought to amplify their presence, nor did they deliberately conceal it.

Even so, only a little over a hundred years have passed.

These descendants of the transformed survivors from the plane of Eloscia have almost completely forgotten the real and cruel things about "wizards".

That history of blood and fire has been diluted into a series of vague and distant legends.

Jemin couldn't help but recall the time when he had just transmigrated into this world.

At that time, he also believed that there were no supernatural powers in this world.

Looking back now, it seems that the lords who ruled that region at the time did not deliberately try to conceal the existence of "wizards".

In the legends of the territory, one can still find some records about the "mysterious guardian".

But considering the lord's long lifespan as a second-level wizard, what is time, which is almost eternal for mortals, in his eyes?

The other party probably just immersed themselves in a rather interesting research topic, and hundreds of years passed. Or perhaps they simply participated in a protracted interdimensional war.

And when he leaves the territory to carry out these "daily activities".

The mortals in his territory, whose lives were but a few decades long, gradually forgot about that mysterious and powerful lord as they multiplied and changed generation after generation. They also forgot that it was perfectly normal for extraordinary powers to exist in the world.

Memories fade, and reverence is diluted by time.

Ultimately, the truth became a legend.

"Is this... the insurmountable difference in perspective between higher and lower life forms?"

In his heart, Jemin couldn't help but sigh.

Suddenly, he had a deeper understanding of what his mentor Clark had said earlier.

Perhaps the so-called "maturity" that Clark's mentor talks about refers to more than just emotional detachment and rationality.

It should refer more to completely and thoroughly transforming one's "perspective" into that of a true higher life form—a mature wizard!

We no longer use ordinary people's concept of time to measure gains and losses.

No longer let the emotional ties of ordinary people bind me.

Acknowledge and accept that there is an insurmountable chasm between yourself and those ephemeral beings.

When he is able to truly think about problems and plan for the future in terms of "hundreds of years" and "millennia".

So, the deaths of Amy and Victor will, in the course of his long life, become like a mortal's recollection of a pet that was carelessly killed in his childhood—leaving only a faint memory mixed with regret.

Only then will he be considered a truly "mature" wizard.

Thinking of this, a complex and indescribable emotion welled up in Jemin's heart.

He knew that he still had a long way to go.

The so-called "maturity" is merely the first price that must be paid on this cruel path.

……

……

Two years later.

The sky was clear and blue, and the sea breeze carried a salty, damp scent.

In a temporary seaside outpost, Jemin and David had just finished exchanging the latest intelligence with another team of wizards who had come to provide support.

"The last suspicious energy fluctuation of the target appeared in the 'Storm' sea area. Thank you for your hard work." The enemy team leader, a level two wizard shrouded in lightning, said solemnly.

“It’s my duty,” David’s signature deep voice rang out.

Jemin simply nodded calmly, which was his way of greeting him.

Without another word, the two turned and transformed into two streaks of dark light, speeding towards the turbulent ocean.

Two years ago, after they tracked down the first fake wizard, they immediately sent back all the information they had gathered to the academy.

Norren Academy took this matter very seriously and immediately dispatched a large number of professional investigators, as well as mobilized the wizard lords of various regions of the Erosian plane to assist in a thorough search of their respective territories.

Even with such a massive amount of power gathered, the wizards still couldn't catch the real illegal wizard.

Each time they closed in, they could only catch one or two "pseudo-wizards" like before, who had become neither human nor ghost after being infected.

Of course, as time goes by and the entire dimensional reconnaissance network system is gradually improved, the areas where illegal wizards can operate become increasingly restricted.

He was like a cunning fox being constantly driven away, with his room to maneuver getting smaller and smaller.

It sounds like the wizards are just unlucky, always falling short by a single move.

However, Jemin and David had anticipated all of this.

They discovered this two years ago after they deciphered the first pseudo-wizard's energy sample.

These infected "pseudo-wizards" actually act as mobile "base stations," tools for the illegal wizard hiding behind the scenes to collect life force.

(End of this chapter)