Translator: AnubisTL
Without hesitation, Jieming pulled out his Wizard Terminal and checked his coordinates.
However, the moment the location information appeared, his brow furrowed even deeper.
The terminal indicated he was still within the Elosia Plane.
Moreover, the straight-line distance to his Golden Garden was relatively short—approximately three hundred kilometers.
When Jieming had applied to the Noren Workshop for land on the Elosia Prime Plane, he hadn't dared to request too much, knowing that land on the main plane was as precious as gold.
However, considering his potential and the influence of his mentor, Clark, the area granted to him was surprisingly vast.
Beyond the core Golden Garden region, where he had established his laboratory and resource park, a sprawling territory with a diameter of several hundred kilometers had also been placed under his jurisdiction.
The total area was nearly equivalent to a province in Jieming's previous life.
After glancing at the straight-line distance to the Golden Garden, Jieming noticed a chilling fact that made his eyes turn icy cold: his current location was precisely outside the outermost boundary of the territory under his control.
What did this mean?
It meant his space teleportation hadn't been randomly "interfered" with at all—it had been precisely "blocked" by an invisible shield!
He was being prevented from returning to his own "home"?!
"Interesting," Jieming's eyes widened.
There was no anger, only a profound sense of curiosity surging from the depths of his heart.
He was determined to uncover exactly what was happening on his territory!
He stowed his terminal, his mental power surging, and cast a flight spell, transforming into a streak of light as he shot toward the Golden Garden at expressway speed.
However, during his flight, Jieming soon encountered even more astonishing sights.
In his memory, this territory—his domain—should have been mostly uninhabited wilderness, with only a few servants he had stationed near the Golden Garden for maintenance.
Yet now, vast stretches of his land were dotted with villages, their chimneys puffing smoke into the sky!
Fields had been cultivated into neat rows, simple earth roads connected the settlements, and he could even see humans toiling in the fields!
Most importantly, ever since entering this precinct, Jieming had been continuously receiving faint yet inexhaustible streams of Mortal Dust Qi from the earth below.
Recalling the concepts required to collect Mortal Dust Qi, Jieming's eyes narrowed involuntarily.
He immediately realized that during his fifty-year absence, something earth-shattering must have occurred within his territory.
As he advanced toward the core region of the Golden Garden, Jieming observed that the population of each village was steadily increasing.
Eventually, these settlements could no longer be called villages; they had grown into towns or even cities with thousands or tens of thousands of inhabitants!
Finally, when Jieming was only a dozen kilometers from the Golden Garden, he encountered the largest city he had seen since entering his territory.
The city was built against a mountain, its rough but sturdy stone walls rising from the terrain.
There, Jieming was stopped.
"Halt! This is Dragon City territory. By order of His Majesty the King, no one is permitted to fly over the city!"
Jieming stared at the human squad circling him in mid-air, riding griffin-like demonic beasts, his face a mask of confusion.
At the head of the group was a male warrior clad in crude iron armor, wielding a longsword. His face was resolute, his eyes vigilant, and his aura radiated the fierce presence of a seasoned battlefield veteran.
Jieming's confusion deepened. He couldn't recall ever imposing such bizarre restrictions on his territory. Moreover, the squad's strength was surprisingly formidable. The members were all at the level of first-tier creatures, while the warrior leading them exuded a dense qi, nearly reaching the threshold of a second-tier being.
"Who issued this order?" Jieming asked calmly, suppressing his astonishment.
The warrior captain glanced at Jieming with a puzzled expression, seemingly surprised that he was unaware of "the King's Law." However, sensing a faint, abyss-like threat emanating from Jieming, he realized the man's power must be considerable. To avoid making a powerful enemy, he carefully explained, "This order was issued by His Majesty King Otto of the Kingdom of Dragong, 'the Lion King' himself."
He paused, then pointed further ahead, advising, "Moreover, beyond lies the combat zone between our human kingdoms and those damned elves and dwarves! Though your excellency possesses great power, it's best to avoid entering the battlefield carelessly to prevent misunderstandings."
Elves? Dwarves? Kingdoms? Battlefield?
By piecing together the captain's words and everything he had observed during his flight, Jieming arrived at an absurd yet undeniable conclusion:
During his long absence, a small-scale social ecosystem with its own national concept had spontaneously formed within his territory?!
This aligned perfectly with his earlier discovery that the area could gather Mortal Dust Qi.
But... in just over fifty years, have these people already forgotten who the true master of this land is? Have they forgotten the truth of their existence?
Jieming's gaze swept over the warrior captain before him. The man's life energy surged with vitality.
He couldn't help but shake his head.
He's probably only in his early thirties... a genius in terms of innate talent. But it seems he truly never experienced the era when I ruled this land.
Is this the difference in perspective between higher and lower civilizations?
Even their concepts of time were completely different.
To Jieming, fifty years was merely a slightly extended business trip.
But for these mortals, whose lifespans rarely exceeded a century even after breaking through to become first-tier creatures, fifty years represented the passage of two or even three generations!
Jieming's thoughts drifted back to the events on the Flamefrost Plane.
To low-rank wizards like himself, Wizard Augustine's seemingly inexplicable actions had appeared utterly baffling. Yet to Viola and the other high-level wizards who knew the truth, they were perfectly logical strategic maneuvers.
This was indeed a cognitive distortion born from the vast information gap between the two groups.
But on another level, the more advanced a creature's intelligence and the longer its lifespan, the greater the disparity in perspective between it and lower-tier beings.
As he now looked down upon these "indigenous" people, wasn't he mirroring Augustine's earlier condescension toward them?
Seeing Jieming suddenly fall into deep thought, the guards exchanged puzzled glances, unsure of what this mysterious powerhouse intended to do.
Just as the squad leader was about to speak again, Jieming suddenly snapped out of his reverie.
He turned to the captain and said calmly, "Take me to see your king."
Jieming had finally understood.
Even after all these years, many of the beings who had once served as his slaves had not died of old age.
This "king" of theirs was likely one of them.
The captain paused, then his face fell. "His Majesty the King is extremely busy... Excellency, I can relay your request, but please wait here for a moment."
Jieming had lost all patience.
Ignoring the captain's words, he flickered into motion, transforming into a streak of light that shot toward the most opulent and majestic "fort" at the heart of the city.
"Stop him!"
The guards erupted in fury at Jieming's audacity.
To them, this was a blatant challenge to the king's authority!
They unleashed a barrage of mana and arrows, weaving a dense net to trap him.
Jieming was about to casually wave his hand and obliterate these ignorant "ants" and their mounts when a thought struck him.
Strictly speaking, these guards were also his private property.
Immediately, the power that had been about to erupt instantly receded, transforming into a gentle yet irresistible force. This force sent the guards and their mounts flying far away, tumbling through the air before crashing into the forest outside the city walls. They wouldn't die, but they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon either.
However, the commotion in the sky had already drawn the attention of the city's residents.
As soon as the fighting broke out, a piercing alarm blared across the entire city!
Soon, waves of soldiers rushed from every corner of the city.
Jieming stared at this "army"—a motley crew lacking even complete sets of armor, their uniforms disheveled, and their weapons a mismatched assortment—with a peculiar expression.
He didn't even need to lift a finger. With a mere thought, he unleashed his formidable mental power, honed to the limit of a first-tier wizard.
Buzz—!
As his mental power manipulated the elemental forces, an invisible, mountain-like pressure instantly blanketed the entire city!
The charging soldiers, both infantry and cavalry, buckled under the immense pressure, collapsing in waves to their knees with a series of thuds. They trembled uncontrollably, unable to even lift their heads.
Jieming swiftly broke through the meager defenses of the crude fortress without encountering any resistance.
Inside the spartan great hall, he found the "king" seated on his throne—an aged figure whose power barely met the threshold of a second-tier being.
As Jieming had anticipated, he recognized this man. He was one of the more capable managers among the slaves from fifty years ago.
The so-called "king" clearly hadn't forgotten the terror of the wizards who had once captured even gods!
The moment Jieming's youthful face, unchanged after half a century, appeared at the hall's entrance, the color drained completely from the king's wrinkled face.
His eyes widened in terror, and he let out a strangled, guttural "heh-heh" sound, as if his throat were being squeezed.
His body shook violently. He wanted to scream, but extreme fear had robbed him of his voice.
He longed to flee, to resist, but ultimately dared not even attempt the slightest act of defiance.
Instead, he slumped helplessly on his throne, like a condemned prisoner awaiting judgment.
(End of the Chapter)
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