Chapter 40: Truth Continent Sky Layer

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Truth Continent Sky Layer

Chen Shang looked at him, his lips twitching slightly. "That Protective Shield Device of yours... still isn’t fixed."

"We’ll talk about that later," Baal said, waving his hand. "Let’s divide the loot first."

He pulled a few items out of his Space Equipment: a small bottle of black liquid, a yellowish-brown stone, and a pile of miscellaneous odds and ends.

"Curse Liquid, left behind by that gray-robed guy last time," Baal explained. "It’s pretty wicked. I did a quick test—you need to learn the relevant Curse knowledge before you can extract and purify it."

"And this stone?"

"An Earth Element Crystal from some world. It automatically accumulates Energy every day and can release Earth Witchcraft. It should contain certain Runes for manipulating the Earth Element."

Chen Shang thought for a moment before pushing the stone back. "You keep this. I have no use for it."

Baal paused in surprise. This was arguably the most precious item in the pile. However, since Chen Shang had no use for it, Baal didn’t decline. "Alright! We’ll consider this the repair fee for the Protective Shield Device!"

As for the remaining miscellaneous trinkets, nothing caught Chen Shang’s eye, so he gave them all to Baal, finally paying off a bit of his foreign debt.

A week later.

Chen Shang had recorded several new Ben Bo’Erbas. He then turned on his Celestial Net Access Device and retrieved Number Three’s backup data. Number Three was stored within the Starfall Laboratory’s local area network, so there was no fear of anyone else downloading it.

The new Number Three soon stood up from the Recording Platform and blinked. "My lord, I’m alive again."

"Welcome back," Chen Shang said with a smile.

The Hallucinogenic Mushroom’s eyes flickered from the sidelines. "So this is how you get your troops... The Power that takes us hundreds of years of evolution to obtain, you can create in just a few days? Wizards are terrifying!"

Chen Shang shook his head. "First, what you do isn’t called evolution; it’s purely growing on instinct. Occasionally summarizing some so-called Cultivation Techniques doesn’t form a proper system, yet you guard them like they’re priceless treasures.

"Second, I didn’t just make this in a few days. This unit type has undergone several years of Rune carving and version revisions. It’s just that outsiders don’t see that hard work."

A few days later.

The Space Equipment was delivered. Chen Shang opened the teleported box. Inside lay a book the size of a walnut, attached to a chain that could be worn around the wrist or neck. With a thought, the book expanded to a normal size. It featured a dark brown cover, gold-stamped corners, and was completely covered in Runes.

Sending his Spiritual Power inside, he found the interior Space to be massive and compartmentalized. There were thirty-three pages in total, and each page could hold thousands of Ben Bo’Erbas.

This wasn’t unusual, as the size of the Space didn’t determine its value. It was just like opening a Teleportation Gate: the "distance" traveled to reach a distant Exotic Realm was the exact same as going downstairs for groceries. Its sheer value came purely from the fact that it required a High Level Wizard to craft.

Chen Shang tried storing a few Ben Bo’Erbas inside. A line of glowing text immediately appeared on the page:

[Ben Bo’Erba · Tier One Biological Armor]

[Quantity: 5]

[Condition: Intact]

[Note: Can be stored and deployed; details can be viewed.]

He closed the book, and it shrank back to the size of a walnut. When he opened it again, it expanded into a regular book. Scaling size, displaying information, and dividing Space—these were the few minor features that the Master Wizard had added.

Chen Shang was very satisfied. He hung the book around his neck, letting it rest against his chest like a warm stone.

Another few days passed.

Once his experimental Materials were completely exhausted, he prepared to set off!

The Spiritual Power development project team was located in the Sky Layer of the Truth Continent. Unlike a Half-Plane like Star Fall or the satellite he previously lived on, this was considered a relatively core location.

Chen Shang felt a sense of anticipation. Gathering all his equipment and the Hallucinogenic Mushroom—who was clamoring to tag along—he stepped into the Teleportation Gate. But before heading to the Truth Continent, he made a detour back to his own territory.

Having not seen him for four or five years, the old butler, Vickers, naturally sighed with emotion. Chen Shang helped condition the old man’s body and took out a pile of Gem Gold Coins. These alone were enough to cover the Black Crow Territory’s tax revenue for decades.

"Stop collecting taxes from now on," Chen Shang instructed. "Distribute the land as well. Encourage the subjects to develop and encourage everyone to have children."

The old butler looked astonished, but Chen Shang didn’t offer any further explanation. This money meant nothing. If the Black Crow Territory could produce a few Wizard Apprentices qualified for Cultivation, he would profit immensely. After all, legally speaking, he had the priority right to recruit them.

While doing all this, Chen Shang suddenly understood the Wizards’ approach to conquering a Plane. Long-term investments yielding rich returns—this was the absolute intellectual domination of rational long-lived species over short-lived ones. It was practically a dimensional strike.

A few days later.

Chen Shang arrived at the Sky Layer of the Truth Continent.

The moment the teleportation ended, Chen Shang thought he was standing in the sky. No, he *was* standing in the sky.

Beneath his feet was light resembling a layer of clouds, flowing sluggishly. Every step he took rippled outward in a halo. Below this layer of light, clouds and the earth were faintly visible.

Surrounding him was a ring of Floating Islands. They weren’t large and served solely as teleportation hubs. Their undersides hung in the void, completely unsupported, silently drifting in the sky.

Countless Floating Islands—big and small, high and low—resembled a scattered board of chess pieces. They were connected by bridges of light, with Wizards of all shapes and sizes rushing about and teleporting.

Further away lay something far more massive. Chen Shang gazed into the distance at enormous, silvery-white rings that were slowly rotating. The rings boasted diameters large enough to contain entire cities. Their surfaces were heavily etched with Runes that emitted low hums as they spun, sounding like the breathing of some giant beast.

Suspended in the center of each ring was a Black Tower. They were as black as the Abyss, absorbing all light, seemingly capable of swallowing a person whole. Countless fine Runes flowed across the surfaces of the towers. Their peaks pierced the dome of the Sky Layer, reaching into the dim, starry sky above.

The starry sky cracked open at the very tip of the tower, and light spilled from the fissure. It was a pure, intense Gold, resembling melted butter. Through this fissure, Chen Shang saw the source behind the golden light: countless Rune Arrays suspended upside down in the sky.

At the center of every Rune Array sat a massive orb of light, brighter than the sun yet not blinding. Ripples surged across the surfaces of the orbs as they continuously expanded and contracted like the Heart of a living creature. Endless light and heat were being channeled away, sent exactly where they were needed.

"That is... the Energy produced by the Vacuum Catastrophe! It’s providing power to countless Wizard Towers!"

Chen Shang exclaimed in awe. This was the third Concept Level Weapon he had encountered—the endless Energy source, the Vacuum Catastrophe! The first two were the Wizard Celestial Net and the Teleportation Gate, but those were merely sub-entities, nowhere near as breathtaking as the Vacuum Catastrophe.

"What is a Vacuum Catastrophe?" the Hallucinogenic Mushroom asked, shrinking behind Chen Shang. It could barely stand steady, maintaining a deep reverence for everything in the Wizard World.

***

*Author’s Note:*

*Friends, tomorrow is Tuesday and we have another PK (ranking competition). I’m begging for your read-throughs tomorrow. If you have tickets, that would be even better!*

*I promise the plot will be incredibly exciting. Concept Level Weapons aren’t just a sudden whim; I’ve been planning them for a long time. They are the result of my repeated polishing and wild imagination.*

*The Wizard’s system is also very interesting, but I don’t want to dump a huge stack of information like a product manual. Once the word count is higher, I’ll summarize it in the work’s related section.*