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

Chapter 303, Phase One Completed (Two Chapters Combined)

Jemin and his team successfully landed on the surface of the steel city.

However, this does not mean the end of the battle; on the contrary, it is like stirring up a huge hornet's nest.

Before Jemin's wizard squad could even take in their surroundings, the ear-piercing sounds of metal scraping and the buzzing of energy weapons charging came from all directions.

All around, towering skyscrapers covered in metal suddenly had countless gaps of varying sizes appear on their surfaces.

The next moment, like a swarm of ants bursting its banks, creatures of all shapes and sizes and species swarmed out!

Some resemble upright lizards, clad in rudimentary metal armor; others are multi-eyed, multi-legged arthropods wielding weapons that combine biological and mechanical elements; still others are phantoms composed entirely of energy, emitting mind-altering shrieks…

Their only target is the wizard squad located in the center of this block!

"Firepower! Clear the surrounding area!" The level 5 wizard leading the team reacted extremely quickly.

With a wave of his hand, a blazing lava ray swept out, instantly vaporizing the first group of enemies who rushed up, and also cutting a large building in half in front of him.

Other wizards also displayed their unique abilities, using frost, lightning, corrosive acid, and mental attacks...

The brilliance of various forms of witchcraft erupted in the narrow streets, and swarms of bizarre creatures fell like harvested wheat.

The [Great Light Phase] behind Jemin lit up again, and dense energy barrages plowed through the surging enemy tide time and time again, leaving behind charred remains and debris all over the ground.

Upon first contact, sensing that the opponents generally only had energy fluctuations of level one or two, and their diverse characteristics clearly stemming from different life forms, Jemin immediately understood the origins of these enemies.

“They are auxiliary troops!” he said in a deep voice.

The so-called servant army is an army formed by integrating and driving the natives of the conquered planes.

Having conquered dozens of planes, it's only natural that the Giant Spirit Realm would have a servant army.

However, the wizarding civilization itself preferred to use fully controlled, performance-customized modified cannon fodder, which is why Jemin did not immediately think of this.

Compared to the wizards' meticulously designed "high-quality" cannon fodder, whose strength is often one or two levels higher than their masters, the individual strength of these servants in front of them is simply insignificant.

But... their numbers are absolutely terrifying!

The Giant Spirit Realm is vast; its land area may be comparable to the surface area of ​​Saturn, the gas giant known to Jemin in his previous life.

Although the wizards had broken up into smaller groups of hundreds or thousands to fight separately, and were only attacking a small part of the territory ruled by the Giant Spirit Realm.

However, the defense zone assigned to Jemin and his team of less than a hundred people was still as vast as a medium-sized province in their previous life!

Within this area, the enemies seemed endless.

ten minutes!
A fierce battle that lasted only ten minutes!
Jemin roughly estimated that the number of auxiliary soldiers who died at the hands of their squad had probably reached an astonishing tens of billions!

But as far as the eye can see, from those seemingly infinitely deep metal buildings, a continuous stream of enemies roared and charged out.

They trampled over the corpses of their companions and pounced wildly.

They built walls with corpses and soaked the metal ground with blood and energy, their offensive showing no signs of abating.

For a moment, this elite wizard squad found itself in a rather awkward situation.

Looking up at the sky, the wizards' floating fortresses and main cannon fodder legions were fiercely pursuing the regular army of the Giant Spirit Realm, gaining an absolute advantage.

On the ground, however, these wizards, who should have been the masters of the battlefield, were forced into an extremely sorry state by a massive number of low-level servants.

They could only hold onto one point, constantly expending their magical and mental energy to carry out an inefficient cleanup.

This does not mean that wizards are weak; on the contrary, it reflects the unique war philosophy of wizard civilization—the belief in leveraging knowledge to exert power.

They do not pursue the extreme evolution of their own bodies, but instead devote their energy to understanding and applying the laws of the world.

The cannon fodder army is a war tool derived from this philosophy of doing things.

For wizards, cannon fodder legions, like spells, are a condensation of knowledge and resources. They are a manifestation of leveraging power through knowledge, and it is common for their overall combat strength to exceed that of the wizard himself.

This is why the “bizarre” scene of the cannon fodder army suppressing the enemy’s main force, while the wizard himself is trapped by the enemy’s minions, occurs.

After clearing a brief vacuum in front of him with another wave of energy projectiles, and seeing even more enemies gushing out like a fountain from the gap in the building behind him, Jemin couldn't help but frown.

"This can't go on any longer," he knew in his heart.

The enemy's objective was all too clear: to use these cheap and nearly inexhaustible auxiliary troops to slowly wear down their strength.

The only way to break this deadlock is to find and destroy the enemy's troop transport bases or teleportation nodes!
Otherwise, they would be swallowed up by this quagmire of flesh and metal sooner or later.

He looked up and met the gazes of the team leader, a level-five wizard, and the two level-four wizards.

From the other person's eyes, Jemin saw the same judgment and decision.

"Clear the field of vision! Sweep up all these unsightly ruins and iron boxes!" The level 5 wizard decisively issued a new order, his voice clearly reaching the ears of every team member through the intense explosion.

Without hesitation, Jemin raised his hand and fired a highly concentrated energy blast at the sky diagonally above.

The energy blast rapidly ascended, and when it reached a height of several hundred meters, he precisely controlled it to detonate in mid-air!

boom! ! !
A massive explosion erupted in the air, and the violent shockwave, like an invisible giant hammer, slammed down on the ruins of the towering metal buildings and the crowded streets below!

However, the results were not as expected.

The metal used in the buildings of the Giant Spirit Realm is clearly extraordinary.

Jemin's energy blast, which was powerful enough to level a modern reinforced concrete city block, only cleared an area of ​​about 100 meters in diameter after landing.

For this vast war zone, it's simply a drop in the ocean.

Most of the metal fragments that were blown away were only twisted and deformed, rather than completely vaporized.

“Tough enough…” Jemin’s eyes turned cold. “Then bring more!”

With a thought, the massive [Great Light Phase] array behind him hummed once more.

This time, instead of precise shots at ground enemies, thousands upon thousands of energy bullets trailing dazzling contrails were unleashed into the sky, like fireworks launchers at a festival!

These light projectiles were not aimed directly at the target, but under Jemin's skillful control, they seemed to have a life of their own, scattering in all directions and at all angles of the sky!
They traced graceful parabolas, covering an extremely wide area of ​​airspace around the squad.

The level 5 wizard and two level 4 wizards also skillfully cast spells, erecting a barrier to cover the entire team.

When these light projectiles reach their designated detonation points...

"Explode." Jemin uttered a single word softly.

The next moment, heaven and earth fell silent!

Boom boom boom boom! ! !
The terrifying explosions, beyond description, continued in waves, eventually coalescing into a destructive symphony powerful enough to shatter internal organs!

Thousands upon thousands of blazing orbs of light exploded simultaneously in the sky, between buildings, and on the streets!

The shockwaves overlapped and collided with each other, forming a series of visible, distorted, ring-shaped waves that spread wildly in all directions!

The metal building was easily toppled and torn apart by the giant waves, like building blocks built by children.

The auxiliary troops on the ground and the remnants of previous battles were instantly vaporized or crushed into the finest dust in this indiscriminate storm of destruction.

The intense light illuminated the dim battlefield as if it were daytime, and even the battle taking place in the air not far away seemed to freeze for a moment due to the sudden destruction from the ground.

The aftershocks of the explosion lingered for several seconds before gradually subsiding. As the billowing smoke and dissipating energy fragments dissipated, the scene before them caused all the wizards to gasp slightly.

Centered on the team's location, within a radius of hundreds of kilometers, the cyberpunk-style steel jungle that was originally composed of countless metal skyscrapers... has disappeared!

Instead, there was a vast expanse of flat, scorched earth, filled with vitrified pits and twisted metal debris!
The view became clear.

Jemin hovered in the center of the scorched earth, the light of the [Great Light Phase] dimming slightly.

The first step to break the deadlock has been taken.

Next, we need to find those hidden "hives".

Then, destroy it completely!

……

……

In the vast scorched earth where the field of vision had been forcibly cleared, the process of finding enemy troop transport nodes became so simple that it was even somewhat tedious.

Under Jemin's overwhelming saturation bombardment, ordinary metal buildings had long since been reduced to ruins or molten slag.

At this moment, the high-rise buildings that still stand tall on the scorched earth and continue to pour out of the auxiliary army are as obvious as lice on a bald man's head.

Looking out, on the plains filled with the smoke of gunpowder and the vapor of metal, every kilometer or two there is one or several solitary high-rise buildings standing stubbornly.

Their metal shells may be charred and deformed, but their structure is largely intact, and their surfaces shimmer with an abnormal energy glow.

Massive numbers of enemies continue to emerge from there, like a beehive spewing poisonous bees.

"Target clear! Destroy these nodes first!" The level 5 wizard's voice carried a hint of ease as he locked onto the five nearest surviving high-rise buildings.

With a clear goal in mind, the wizards' efficiency increased instantly.

With a thought, Jemin took out three brand-new metal discs from his inner space, their surfaces shimmering with elemental light.

Three elemental storage rune artifacts flew to his back and quickly replaced the three old discs in the center of the [Great Light Image] that had dimmed due to excessive energy extraction.

Abundant energy filled the array once more, causing the Great Light Phase to shine brightly again... no! It should be said that it was even more dazzling than before.

Because the number of runes and magical artifacts embedded in its array has exceeded ten thousand due to the continuous production and replenishment by the automatic factory within its body.

Having made preparations, the wizards took action.

The fifth-level wizard leading the group clenched his fists, and five extremely concentrated rays of destruction, each a different color, danced at his fingertips.

After a brief period of charging up, the five rays, under his control, instantly traversed space and precisely struck five different high-rise buildings simultaneously!

The two level-four wizards worked in perfect harmony. One summoned a massive elemental magic circle to condense energy, while the other guided and compressed it into a giant thunder spear that stretched across the sky, which they hurled fiercely at another tall building with astonishing power.

The other wizards, depending on their own strength, formed teams of a dozen or so, or four or five, to unleash their strongest single-target or small-area offensive spells.

Deadly streaks of light ripped through the scorched earth, hurtling toward the most conspicuous targets.

After replenishing his energy, Jemin demonstrated an astonishing ability to overcome challenges.

He was highly focused, and the massive [Great Light Phase] array behind him slightly adjusted its angle, locking onto the ten tall buildings within the range of his mental power!
The next moment, a barrage of comments appeared.

Under Jemin's control, these barrages split into ten dazzling energy whips, tearing through the air and lashing the surfaces of the ten high-rise buildings with a piercing shriek!

hum! ! !
The moment they were attacked, translucent energy barriers with complex geometric patterns immediately appeared on the surfaces of these high-rise buildings, attempting to resist the external destruction.

However, under the continuous bombardment of Jemin's "energy torrent", these barriers only lasted for less than two seconds before shattering like fragile glass, emitting a series of mournful cries of despair!
With the barrier shattered, the energy whip, now unimpeded, struck the building itself directly!
boom! boom! boom!
Ten explosions, almost happening in quick succession, rang out!

Those ten towering buildings, along with any teleportation devices, energy cores, and surviving servants that might exist within them, were instantly vaporized by the extreme heat and destructive energy the moment they came into contact with the energy whip.

One attack, and ten nodes were wiped out!

All that remained were ten enormous, bottomless pits with glassy edges, from which wisps of smoke rose – Jemin had even cleaned up the depths of the foundation.

This terrifying efficiency in attacking the enemy's stronghold caused the other wizards who were casting spells to turn their heads in surprise, their eyes revealing undisguised admiration and astonishment.

The level-five wizard leading the group looked at Jemin and clicked his tongue in amazement.

With his sharp eye, he could naturally see the strengths and weaknesses of Jemin's attack pattern.

Although the energy whip was incredibly powerful, its speed and agility were major weaknesses.

Let alone a level four wizard, even an experienced level three wizard can easily dodge it if prepared.

However, when it comes to dealing with fixed targets and capturing strongholds, this kind of pure brute force and continuous energy outpouring is even more efficient than his level 5 wizard!

"The drawbacks... are probably the extremely high mental strain and the bottomless pit of consuming that special energy pool."

The level-five wizard watched as Jemin, without pausing, quickly downed two more vials of high-level magic potions to replenish his mental energy, and silently assessed the situation in his mind.

"However, such terrifying instantaneous destructive power is enough to make up for these shortcomings. What a... monstrous little guy."

He didn't say much, but the approval in his eyes deepened.

Seeing that the method of clearing the nodes was effective, he immediately ordered his squad members to continue to lock onto all remaining high-rise building nodes in their field of vision, in order to completely eradicate the enemy's troop transport capabilities in this area!
Under the efficient and deadly clearing by the wizard squad, the momentum of the surging minions, which had been like a tide, was visibly weakened, and the once densely packed ranks became sparse.

Without the continuous replenishment from rear nodes, the effectiveness of these low-level auxiliary troops is greatly reduced.

Faced with the merciless slaughter by Jemin and other wizards, these servants finally began to show signs of defeat, no longer charging fearlessly, but instead becoming chaotic and retreating.

At this moment, from high above, the battlefield across the entire Giant Spirit Realm continent was ablaze with dazzling explosions.

Clearly, the other wizard squads that landed on the ground quickly found ways to cope after initially being on the defensive.

Like Jemin and his team, they began a large-scale cleanup of these "soldier bee nests" hidden in the steel jungle.

The sharp decline in the number of ground auxiliary troops seemed to have eroded some of the confidence of the regular army of the Giant Spirit Realm.

The Giant Spirit Realm fleet and the mechanical legion, which were still locked in battle with the wizard cannon fodder legion in the high sky and in the distance, began to show a significant decrease in their resistance. Their formation also began to loosen, and they gradually retreated.

The clamor of war gradually shifted from fierce confrontation to sporadic exchanges of fire and pursuit.

"The enemy in this area has been cleared. Next... let's gather resources first, there'll be a lot to fight later."

Looking at the last batch of defeated servants before him, the level 5 wizard began to issue new orders.

Jemin didn't say much. Each wizard took action and captured the last batch of servants, keeping them as spoils of war.

Realizing that the most difficult battle of the first phase was nearing its end, the wizards began to systematically switch tasks.

Temporary resource collection arrays were set up on the battlefield, and whether it was the wreckage of the Giant Spirit Realm's regular army warships, fragments of mechanical giants, or the strange corpses of the auxiliary troops, they were all drawn, collected, and sorted by an invisible force.

These substances and energies from another dimension will become valuable resources for the wizards to create cannon fodder in their next attack.

Jemin also put away the [Great Light Image] and slowly landed on a patch of scorched earth, feeling the considerable mental energy consumed within him and the hum of the automated factory in operation.

He gazed at the devastated battlefield, now firmly under the control of the wizards, and let out a soft breath.

The brutal, chaotic, yet highly efficient first phase of the landing operation finally came to an end as the Giant Spirit Realm army retreated and the wizards began cleaning up the battlefield.

(That's all for today.)
(End of this chapter)