Chapter 142: This Is the Power of Numbers!

In Golden Harbor, Jie Ming’s former private mansion now awaited the preliminary completion of the “Golden Garden.”

Outside the city, tens of thousands of residents toiled under strict plans, their sweat shaping the flat land into the outline of a garden.

Meanwhile, Jie Ming had “exiled” himself to the profound depths of his mansion’s underground laboratory.

This was his true sanctuary—a world of cold metal surfaces, stacks of runic scrolls, and an array of intricate alchemical instruments.

David’s research notes lay quietly on his workbench, serving as a new cornerstone for Jie Ming’s deep dive into the divine faith network of the Elosia plane.

While David’s work didn’t match Jie Ming’s depth in analyzing the divine faith network, it offered a radically different perspective.

David focused on the underlying logic of mortal emotions, the essence of faith power, and how to efficiently incite and guide these forces.

This incisive analysis of the “source” opened Jie Ming’s eyes, as if a new door had been flung wide.

Previously, his research on the divine faith network centered on energy transmission.

But in truth, the official term for the divine faith network was the energy transmission and conversion system—encompassing not just transmission but also conversion.

This realization propelled Jie Ming’s research into the energy conversion system of the Elosia plane’s divine faith network, like dry tinder meeting a blazing fire, yielding astonishing results in no time.

“Here it is… this adjustment should do it…”

At the laboratory’s center, Jie Ming focused intently on tuning a floating metal disc.

This was his elemental storage runic artifact.

Compared to before, the disc now bore additional, obscure, and complex patterns in a slightly different hue.

These new patterns were the latest fruits of his recent studies into the divine faith network.

Interwoven with the original runic system, they coexisted like two distinct lifeforms in a single vessel, creating a marvelous harmony.

His improvements not only increased the storage capacity of the elemental storage runic artifact but, more crucially, dramatically enhanced its recovery effect and significantly reduced the difficulty of replenishing its elemental pool.

Previously, filling the artifact required a specialized charging device or Jie Ming’s prolonged guidance.

Now, with his newly developed technology, it could autonomously absorb elements from the environment to recharge!

This meant the artifact could operate independently, nearly self-sufficient.

Soon, Jie Ming finished calibrating the disc, confirming all runes were activated and the energy circuits stable.

He carefully brought it to the lab’s depths, into a testing ground enveloped by multiple protective sorcery arrays.

These arrays, set up by his own hand for high-risk experiments, isolated all internal energy fluctuations to prevent accidents.

“Self-charging mode, activate.”

At his command, the disc’s new patterns lit up, emitting a faint glow.

The artifact hummed lowly as it began to operate at high speed.

The next moment, the monitoring instruments clearly showed that the elemental forces within the testing ground were instantly drained, leaving the once element-rich space as empty as a vacuum.

This phenomenon didn’t surprise Jie Ming—other runic artifacts could achieve similar effects upon activation.

But then, something truly astonishing happened!

The protective sorcery arrays surrounding the disc began to tremble violently, their runic glow rapidly dimming.

The barriers visibly thinned, as if on the verge of collapse!

Jie Ming’s pupils contracted, but his face soon lit up with uncontainable excitement.

“This… this is…” His mind raced, countless thoughts flashing through his mental sea like lightning.

Rushing to the monitoring instruments, he studied the data, his face breaking into an irrepressible grin.

“After integrating the divine faith network technology, this elemental storage runic artifact, in self-charging mode, forcibly plunders elemental forces from pre-formed sorcery structures around it?!”

This wasn’t mere “absorption”—it was “plunder”!

Ordinary absorption drew free, unutilized elemental forces from the environment.

Plunder, however, tore elements directly from bound, utilized sorcery structures!

Though the artifact’s plundering effect wasn’t yet strong enough to destroy a powerful sorcery array, it hinted at a terrifying possibility.

When activated, this artifact could create a formidable anti-magic field, weakening any sorcery cast nearby by siphoning its elemental forces.

“This isn’t right…”

After the initial thrill, Jie Ming’s eyes flickered with doubt.

While core technologies were closely guarded, available knowledge suggested no wizard researching the divine faith network had achieved this “plundering” effect.

This made sense—the divine faith network was fundamentally an energy conversion and transmission system, not a plundering one. The two were inherently different.

After some thought, Jie Ming contacted Mentor Clark, ordering a standard-model small elemental pool.

Elemental pools were mass-produced, standardized products with modules for user modifications.

Jie Ming planned to use it as a control to test his hypothesis.

Days later, the elemental pool arrived via the camp’s teleportation array.

Jie Ming eagerly disassembled it, applying the same technology to it.

He cautiously activated the modified pool for a test run.

As expected, it boosted the efficiency of charging from the elemental plane, collecting energy several times faster than before.

This aligned with other wizard civilizations’ findings on faith networks.

Yet, it lacked the astonishing “plundering” effect of his runic artifact.

The protective arrays remained unshaken.

“There’s definitely something off.” Jie Ming’s heart sank.

This proved the issue wasn’t solely with the divine faith network technology.

The answer was clear—the elemental pool’s structure was purely wizard civilization runes, without any cultivation civilization seals.

His runic artifact, however, combined wizard runes with cultivation seals, sparking a unique chemical reaction.

“But… why this result?” Jie Ming disconnected from the magic network, frowning, and dove back into his runes and notes.

Retracing every research step, inspiration, and detail over sleepless days and nights, he finally found a plausible explanation.

The key lay in the differing approaches to power between wizard and cultivation civilizations.

Wizard civilization relied on mental strength to manipulate external elements.

They constructed precise sorcery models, combining mental strength with elements, amplifying energy through these models.

In terms of energy, wizards manipulated external elements at roughly a 1:1 ratio.

Their dominance in the multiverse stemmed from their precise control and efficient energy use.

Through understanding world rules and accumulated knowledge, they multiplied the effect of elemental forces manifold.

In simple terms, wizards turned one unit of force into ten, a thousand, or even millions.

Cultivation civilization was entirely different.

Cultivators used their own power to resonate with the world’s natural forces, harmonizing with external energies.

One unit of their force yielded only one unit of effect.

But that unit could resonate with hundreds or thousands of times the world’s power, achieving the same result!

Thus, cultivators excelled at resonating with and mobilizing external forces.

“This is my true edge!” Jie Ming slammed the table, his eyes blazing with unprecedented light.

The energy collection technology derived from the divine faith network enhanced transmission and conversion efficiency.

When paired with cultivation seals’ ability to mobilize external forces, it triggered an unexpected “chemical reaction”!

The cultivation seals amplified the artifact’s resonance with environmental energies, drawing them in more deeply.

The divine faith network’s conversion technology further boosted this, making the energy absorption not only efficient but “aggressive,” plundering even from occupied energy structures.

This wasn’t just a technical breakthrough—it was the most brilliant spark of two civilizations colliding within Jie Ming!

He finally understood why his runic artifact’s effect was so extraordinary.

If a first-level wizard could amplify one unit of elemental force tenfold, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could use one unit to draw ten units of external power.

Jie Ming’s runic artifact combined both strengths, drawing ten units of external power with one unit of force, then amplifying each unit tenfold!