Having dealt with the second wave of assassins, the journey after entering the Strife Star Region was much more peaceful than Jie Ming had anticipated.
In just over a month, he passed through more than a dozen control zones maintained by small wizard factions.
These factions were extremely small, nowhere near the scale of the Noren Workshop.
Most were guarded by only a few sixth-level wizards, surviving precariously in the cracks between major powers through complex diplomatic relations. For that very reason, they understood better than anyone how to avoid trouble.
As long as a sixth-level wizard didn't actively stir up conflict, no faction would be willing to provoke him.
Quite the opposite—at every supply station, someone would come forward to receive him.
Inside a supply city built on a floating meteor, the vast trading hall was brightly lit.
Hundreds of alchemical materials from different civilizations floated in transparent display cases, and the air was filled with a peculiar scent mixing potions, ores, and high-energy crystals.
The wizard responsible for receiving Jie Ming was a sixth-level wizard with graying hair.
The old man smiled warmly. "Lord Jie Ming, you're in luck. We've recently acquired some fine materials."
As he spoke, he gently placed a spatial expansion pouch on the counter.
"These are materials we've collected over the past few years, including some rather special minerals rarely seen within the Federation. Perhaps you'll be interested."
Jie Ming took it and swept it with his mental energy, his eyes brightening slightly.
Inside, there was actually a complete piece of Phase Silver Crystal.
This material's greatest use was enhancing high-level rune arrays' adaptability to spatial fluctuations.
He couldn't even find this material in the Noren Workshop's inventory, and purchasing it through the Star Ring Federation's magic network required high-level military merits and a reservation years in advance.
"A good item. How much?"
The old man smiled and waved his hand. "Not expensive—just the Federation market price."
"Also, if you have any good potions, you can use them as payment."
Jie Ming nodded slightly. "Reasonable. Agreed."
With that, he took out a vial of purple-glowing potion. "What do you think of this?"
Jie Ming had recently collected a large amount of Purple Qi from the East in the Inferno Sulfur Plane, concentrated it as raw material, and refined it into a potion that could enhance the upper limit of the soul.
Its effect was the same as the potion he had made when he first met Viola, but with a greatly improved upper limit, effective even for sixth-level wizards.
"This… acceptable! I wonder how many such potions you have? We have quite a few other materials as well…"
After carefully listening to Jie Ming's explanation of the potion, the old man's face lit up with surprise.
"…Of course! We can discuss it thoroughly."
Understanding the old man's intention, Jie Ming was momentarily stunned.
He had originally intended to give more of these potions in exchange for the material, but it seemed the other party tacitly agreed that one vial would suffice for the entire piece.
Thus, both Jie Ming and the old man felt they had made a great deal—a "win-win" situation—and the transaction was quickly completed.
Watching the wizard who could barely suppress his delight, Jie Ming felt a twinge of curiosity.
Honestly, he hadn't expected potions to be so valuable in this lawless zone.
Perhaps because the Noren Workshop had too many logistics wizards, the value hadn't been apparent, but from the reactions of these small factions, the worth of these potions far exceeded his imagination!
Similar incidents occurred repeatedly at subsequent supply stations.
The vast harvest made Jie Ming slow his pace for once.
On one hand, he purchased alchemical materials; on the other, he observed the technical systems of different civilizations.
Though these systems were not particularly profound, the inspiration from the collision of different civilizations still benefited Jie Ming greatly.
However, the fruitful journey did not cloud Jie Ming's judgment. His mind constantly pondered the question of the mastermind behind the scenes.
One day.
A public transport ship slowly sailed through the void.
A hundred years ago, a spatial turbulence had teleported a battle squad of the Multiracial Alliance here, triggering a war. Although it ended with the local wizard factions victorious, the resulting energy turbulence combined with the uncalmed spatial turbulence, affecting spatial transmission in the area. Thus, only such ships could cross the Endless Chaotic Void.
On the deck.
Jie Ming leaned against the railing, gazing at the endless remnants of planes drifting by—traces left from that war. In the dark void, countless world fragments floated like islands, and occasionally abandoned war fortresses slowly drifted past from afar.
Taking this moment, Jie Ming's consciousness began to review the information he had gathered.
"The mastermind covered his tracks cleanly…" Jie Ming narrowed his eyes.
The person behind the scenes was quite cautious. All traces, including fate, had been deliberately severed.
None of the participants could be traced back to the instigator.
An ordinary person would think there were no clues at all.
But Jie Ming thought otherwise.
Because… being too clean was itself the biggest clue.
In his mental sea, countless deductions unfolded.
First clue: those Black Wizards' severed fates.
Thinking of this, Jie Ming slowly closed his eyes, and in his mind reappeared the threads of fate that had been cut.
Being able to cut fate meant, at the very least, the opponent had a Fate System wizard.
Or, to put it simply, their faction or ability could mobilize a seventh-level wizard proficient in the Law of Fate.
The reason he said seventh-level rather than sixth-level was because the possibility of a sixth-level succeeding was too low.
Directly severing fate threads indicated mastery of the Law of Fate, not just an introduction to fate knowledge.
The Law of Fate was not as common as the Law of Space or the Law of Flame.
Those who grasped the Law of Fate at the sixth level were all top geniuses of the Wizard Civilization.
Jie Ming's own attainment of the Law of Fate at the sixth level was due to a combination of fortunate coincidences.
First, he honed resistance to death through body-tempering methods, then evolved the Entropy Brain Talent, along with the special nature of his Dao Integration state, and the fate knowledge he barely started by cross-validating knowledge from two worlds.
In the end, his entire mind was nearly overloaded with infinite information, and he barely glimpsed a corner of the Law of Fate at the risk of his soul dissipating.
Such an experience was impossible to replicate.
Conversely, would a sixth-level wizard with such talent willingly clean up after others?
Almost impossible.
Thus, the mastermind was either a seventh-level Fate System wizard themselves.
Or… they could mobilize a seventh-level Fate System wizard to work for them.
Either way, this person's identity was far from ordinary.
With this thought, a hint of speculation flickered in Jie Ming's eyes.
"A faction that can mobilize a seventh-level Fate System wizard… but their intelligence gathering is severely lacking?"
Combining the first clue with the information revealed by the Black Wizards in the first two attacks, he derived the second clue: intelligence. The opponent seemed to have insufficient intelligence about him.
This was somewhat intriguing.
Jie Ming slowly raised his right hand, and a light screen appeared in his palm.
It automatically organized all the intelligence the enemies had displayed about him during the two attacks.
Newly advanced sixth-level.
Alchemy master.
Rune expert.
Technical personnel…
That was all. There was no knowledge of his actual combat strength or fighting style.
Jie Ming looked at this information, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Too little."
The opponent's understanding of him was laughably scant.
Because… all of the above intelligence was deliberately shown by him along the way!
As mentioned earlier, ever since Jie Ming learned of the Black Wizards, he subconsciously wanted to bait them.
Thus, at the border junctions, he always deliberately displayed the above information.
It was normal for Black Wizards to collect such information based on their standards, but for the mastermind's faction level, it was far too poor.
All along, Jie Ming hadn't hidden his strength; in fact, much information about his battles was quite widely circulated.
With a little investigation, a lot could be found.
Although this information wasn't accessible to everyone, with some time, traces could always be found.
Yet, from the actions of these people, it seemed the opponent hadn't found such intelligence.
Why?
Jie Ming tapped the railing with his fingertip.
An answer naturally emerged.
Given the mastermind's ability to mobilize a seventh-level Fate System wizard, it was impossible not to find it.
Then the only possibility was… there was no time.
The mastermind had decided to act against him suddenly for some reason.
Thus, they could only send the first wave of Black Wizards to probe, collect combat intelligence, and then arrange a second, more precise attack based on the gathered data.
"That simplifies things." Jie Ming let out a long breath.
Since the opponent didn't have time to investigate, it meant they hadn't paid attention to him before.
In other words, the idea of attacking him had arisen only recently.
And the only recent event that could draw attention to him… was that invitation letter.
Jie Ming gazed into the distance.
In the void, a huge artificial star serving as a lighthouse was slowly rising.
Pale golden light spilled onto the deck, but Jie Ming's gaze grew deeper.
"The opponent is not from within the Federation."
If the mastermind were from the Star Ring Federation, even with time constraints, they wouldn't have only investigated to this extent.
There was plenty of public information about him within the Federation; they could have found something.
But they didn't, indicating their ability to obtain internal Federation intelligence was weak.
Then… the answer was becoming clearer.
Jie Ming chuckled softly. "It was after the news that I could attend the academic exchange conference spread that they decided to kill me. That means the mastermind is most likely at this academic exchange conference."
"Heh… so this belated invitation actually helped me."
The ship slowly passed through a void storm, the deck vibrating slightly.
But Jie Ming stood there as if unaffected, still thinking about a third possible clue.
Purpose.
Every action required a purpose.
Especially for wizards.
And regarding this academic exchange conference, the most directly related was, of course, interests.
Acting for sufficiently large interests also fit a wizard's logic.
But thinking of this, Jie Ming frowned instead.
Interests… there were too many targets associated with them.
Not to mention the Blood Sacrifice Method, even just the Self-Stabilizing Field Regulation Protocol affected an enormous range of industries.
It propelled the entire field of stability, but also harmed the interests of many who relied on old technologies.
More troubling was that those who later developed derivative technologies based on this protocol also had reasons to kill him.
Because according to the Wizard Civilization's knowledge contract, as long as the original technology creator was alive, every use of a derivative technology would automatically allocate a portion of the revenue to the source.
If Jie Ming died, many interests would be redistributed.
At this thought, Jie Ming couldn't help but scratch his head. "Thinking like this, I seem to have too many enemies."
This was not good news.
Of course, this conclusion was based on the premise that the second clue held true.
Besides that, there was another possibility: the first wave of Black Wizards wasn't meant to gather intelligence but was deliberately released as a smokescreen to mislead his reasoning.
Unfortunately, in Jie Ming's view, this possibility was also high.
Wizards love layer upon layer of misdirection.
"So I can't rule out that possibility either." Jie Ming nodded slightly. "Since the existing clues are too few, I need to actively obtain new ones."
Then he raised his hand to unfold a star map, his gaze settling on his next destination.
It was a crimson area on the map—the Shattered Bone Corridor.
Next to it, a danger icon was marked: [Long-Term Infiltration Node of the Reflection Dimension]
Jie Ming unconsciously tapped the railing with his fingers, a cold smile forming on his face. "Now it's my turn to make a move."
For the vast majority of wizards, the Shattered Bone Corridor was a forbidden zone they would never approach.
But for Jie Ming, it was the opposite.
Because of the Reflection Dimension's infiltration, this region was naturally his home ground.
The field was set; now it was up to the opponent's choice.
Whichever choice they made, even if they chose not to act, it would reveal certain information.
Jie Ming closed the map and looked into the distance.
Ahead of the ship, a long, pitch-black narrow area gradually appeared at the horizon.
Countless broken continents floated within, dark spatial fissures crisscrossing, and occasionally pale purple energy lightning flashed from the depths.
The Shattered Bone Corridor.
Finally, he had arrived.
Jie Ming slowly straightened up, his robe gently fluttering in the void.
His gaze was calm as still water.
"Come on."
"Let me see… your choice."