Chapter 753 - 747 Infiltrating the Wizard's Laboratory
Qin Feng wanted to get a handle on the other party’s capabilities, for simply returning to report dryly would indeed be a waste of time!
He was certain that neither of the two Sect Elders had expected that behind those mutated monsters, there lurked the figures of Wizards!
If he could glean some concrete news about the Wizards in this realm, clarify their objectives, or scout out their actual strength, it would count as a great achievement upon his return.
Although he no longer paid much attention to a few achievements, such matters would ultimately be credited to the Sect. When the time came to divide territorial benefits based on each faction’s achievements after the battle, the Sect could gain some extra advantages!
Ahead, the Wizard led a monster away.
The Wizard didn’t bother to cover up the traces left by the monster, seemingly indifferent to the Plant Spirits discovering their hideout.
Upon further thought, it made sense. Plant Spirits were scattered throughout the world. If the Divine truly sought to find them, there would be no way for those mutated monsters to hide their tracks. It was only because of various reasons, coupled with the apparently small number of mutated monsters, that they hadn’t attracted the Divine’s full attention, and no targeted efforts had been made.
These Plant Spirits were ultimately short-sighted and rarely interacted with other Life. Hence, not only were their experiences limited, but they were also wooden-headed, rarely thinking deeper. No Divine Spirit had deeply investigated the origin of the mutated monsters, still believing them to be natural mutations, completely unaware of the manipulation by powerful beings behind the scenes!
Perhaps, a few Divine Spirits had taken note of this point, but being alone, they couldn’t make a difference. Most of the Divine had grown accustomed to ruling their territories, not tolerating any other Divine Spirits to interfere. As long as the monsters didn’t disrupt their domains, they couldn’t be bothered with these matters.
It wasn’t until a powerful force from the Outer realm broke in, initiating inter-realm warfare, that the Wizards hidden behind the monsters seized the opportunity for their own twisted schemes, openly hunting various Plant Spirits and even Plant Gods—turning these beings into experimental subjects for their quest to uncover truths!
Considering that the Wizard was highly alert, Qin Feng kept his distance, trailing him from afar. Worried about a potential mishap, to prevent the Wizard from detecting something amiss or preparing an ambush in prudence, he always kept the Wizard within sight. This way, there was no fear of falling into hidden ambushes along the way.
Traveling for several hours, night had already fallen, and Time had reached the late hours of the night. Finally, the group of monsters stopped in response to the Wizard’s call.
By then, the monsters had arrived at a desolate valley.
The valley was barren all around, not a blade of grass to be seen—there was no need to worry about Plant Spirits lurking and investigating the place.
Amidst the creaking sound, a broad and tall Stone Gate on the cliff ahead slowly opened, revealing a deep Cave Mansion.
Several Wizards, wearing similar Magic Robes, emerged from the Cave Mansion. Upon seeing the Wizard on the monster’s back, they all bowed their heads in greeting.
Qin Feng narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing that these newly appeared Wizards were clearly not as powerful as the one who had sealed the Plant God earlier, with a vast difference between them—similar to the gap between ordinary Cultivators and Immortals in the Cultivation World.
It seemed that these Wizards had indeed already infiltrated this world; otherwise, this gathering point wouldn’t be filled with Wizards of such weak strength.
Thinking again about the various places in this Realm with mutated monster herds, if Wizards were causing trouble behind the scenes everywhere, one could imagine that the number of Wizards in this Realm must not be small.
His ears twitched slightly, catching a few snippets of conversation.
“Master Rolins, you’ve returned!”
The language used was that of this Star Domain, with a slight accent, but Qin Feng managed to understand it with some effort.
“Hm!”
The Wizard named Rolins nodded faintly and said to his students, “Take these Plant Spirits on the monsters’ backs to the laboratory. There will be many new experiments to do in the coming days. You all need to be attentive and not make mistakes!”
“Yes, Master!”
The Wizards’ eyes lit up upon hearing this. They nodded with excitement, gesturing for the monsters to enter the depths of the cave. When the monsters re-emerged, they were empty—every Plant Spirit had been left deep within the cave.
After leaving the cave, the monsters hurriedly quickened their pace, clearly spooked by the cave, with some of the weaker ones even trembling, their eyes filled with fear.
From a distance, Qin Feng watched in amazement.
These Wizards really had some tricks up their sleeves. The cave they used was extremely secretive. Had Rolins Wizard not actively opened the entrance, he wouldn’t have noticed anything unusual.
After all the monsters emerged and the large Stone Gate closed tightly without leaking a trace of aura, it was clear that the Wizards were quite proficient in Prohibition Arrays. Combined with the distraction provided by the monsters outside, it’s no wonder the Plant Gods had failed to detect any anomalies—after all, those wooden-headed beings wouldn’t think to break apart the front wall to check!
Qin Feng waited outside for a whole day, yet none of the Wizards inside appeared, thwarting his plans to capture a Little Wizard.
Seeing that darkness had fallen again, Qin Feng furrowed his brow, not wanting to continue wasting time, and decided to infiltrate directly.
Of course, he wouldn’t use the Stone Gate sealed by the Wizards’ witchcraft. Since he hadn’t noticed anything amiss when he first arrived, it clearly wasn’t a preferable entry point.
Qin Feng’s figure shifted, deploying his Earth Escape Divine Power to burrow into the ground, intending to see if he could infiltrate from below.
After all, the Divine Spirits of many worlds he had encountered had no proactive defense against what was beneath them, providing him a possible opportunity to make his move.
Alas, a wizard was still a wizard, and he did not give Qin Feng the chance to trick him.
As wizards seeking the origins of all truths in the world, even though the direction of their cultivation wasn’t the same, once their knowledge accumulated to a certain level, their understanding of various matters was incomparable to that of ordinary divine beings.
Even if many divine beings were not weaker than wizards in terms of strength, even those of higher realms, in terms of scholarship, they were far inferior to wizards.
Wizards were very similar to cultivators, not only in that they studied in diverse directions and learned miscellaneous things to cope with various situations, but also in that they thought about things more comprehensively.
Therefore, the level of protection they applied to their laboratories was as stringent as the protection cultivators applied to their own Cave Mansions.
This cavern was the laboratory for the wizards and also where they lived their lives.
A wizard’s life involved conducting various experiments for much of the time. Coupled with their near-obsessive pursuit of truth, they paid little attention to their living conditions, so much so that they arranged their living spaces right next to where they experimented.
Qin Feng tried probing several times, only to discover that witchcraft prohibitions blocked every path within the cavern, and he shook his head.
It seemed that these wizards were indeed cautious.
But what of that?
Since he had come here, he would not return empty-handed!
Otherwise, wouldn’t this trip be in vain?
Thinking this, Qin Feng’s eyes flashed with a glint of black and white, as he carefully observed the witchcraft prohibitions.
Although the paths of wizards’ cultivation were completely different from those of cultivators, the Dao ultimately led to the same destination. No matter how the wizards cultivated or sought the truth, that so-called truth was nothing but the Power of Laws within the universe, the different names and understandings lifeforms from different worlds had for the Dao!
Hence, after careful research, Qin Feng still discerned a few things.
The witchcraft prohibitions, though different from those in the Cultivation World, had similarities.
This was normal, as cultivators could improve themselves by borrowing foreign Cultivation Techniques, and wizards could dissect other races and divine beings to gain power and explore the Sea of Consciousness through various research.
Given that it was possible to draw from foreign techniques, it meant there were commonalities between them, presenting Qin Feng with an opportunity.
Qin Feng stretched out both hands, his ten fingers swiftly tracing illusions like blooming lotuses, while delicate golden glimmers wrapped cleverly around the runes of the witchcraft prohibitions, sealing them.
Then, using his immortal power, he mimicked the witchcraft runes. Although they somewhat differed from the originals, they were similar enough that they could pass for a brief moment without issue.
With these simulated runes in place, the witchcraft prohibitions wouldn’t go into disarray or disperse for a short time.
Next, Qin Feng slowly maneuvered the runes formed by his immortal power to create a small gap, and his body flickered, stretching like a slithering snake, squeezing through the gap!
The cave was dimly lit. Though wall lamps hung every few steps, their faint glow lent the passageway a somewhat somber air.
Qin Feng glanced around, unaware of the layout inside the cave. Therefore, he did not dare to recklessly release his Divine Sense for an overt search, as who knew how many wizards there were in this gathering place.
If there were even two or three more wizards like the one called Rolins he had encountered earlier, he would have to think of a way to flee.
Rolins’ strength could definitely rival that of Heavenly Immortals, and beings of the same realm born in the Great World were much stronger than the divine beings from a Medium World like the Canglan Realm. Qin Feng considered himself capable of fighting Rolins to a standstill, and his Spiritual Beasts could handle two, but against any more, whether he could retreat unscathed was uncertain.
After all, his understanding of wizards was very limited, and he did not know what peculiar means they might possess, which could be troublesome if he was caught off-guard.
So, he stepped back, blending into the shadows along the wall, concealing himself.
The dim lighting happened to be conducive to his Shadow Escaping Technique; otherwise, he would have had to resort to Space Divine Power in overly bright areas.
Slipping through the shadows, Qin Feng heard some faint noises ahead.
Following the sounds, he quickly arrived at a Stone Gate.
The sounds came from within, including the excited conversation of wizards, the frightened shrieks of Plant Spirits, and a variety of other strange noises that were somewhat chilling.
After a while, a wizard came out from inside.
This wizard was carrying a piece of a tree trunk, heading to another laboratory not far away.
Seeing that this wizard was not very strong, Qin Feng’s eyes lit up, and he quickly followed. As the other pushed open the door and stepped inside, Qin Feng’s shadow merged silently with the elongated shadow of the other.