"This is the inevitable phenomenon that occurs during an interdimensional expedition?"
Lynn murmured to himself, his gaze slightly focused as he opened his palm.
Suddenly, he clenched his hand tightly. The protective magic formation in his palm loosened slightly.
In an instant, a pain as intense as an exploding bomb surged through his body. The scorching agony made him involuntarily take a sharp breath.
Even with his current physique reaching a strength level of ten, he still couldn't fully withstand such excruciating pain.
"The world, the heavens, the air, all things… It's as if they harbor hostility toward me like they're trying to expel me..."
Lynn frowned, spreading his fingers. Tiny cracks appeared on his palm as if countless sharp blades had slashed across it. The wounds were so fine that blood barely had time to seep out.
Quickly, he activated his protective magic, once again wrapping his hand in a layer of defense.
Under the effects of his powerful physique, the small cracks healed rapidly, leaving almost no trace.
"This is just a simulated environment. A real interdimensional expedition… would likely be more than ten times stronger than this."
Lynn took a deep breath. In his mind, the energy factors of his two permanent magical imprints, Echo of Vitality and Void Tranquility, were slowly consuming his internal power.
He withdrew his hand and stepped forward toward the platform's interior.
It was a spacious plaza filled with various tables, instruments, and research materials piled around.
A thick academic atmosphere permeated the air.
Lynn walked to his designated workstation, took out a piece of metal material, and began studying it carefully.
The metal's surface was smooth and cold, seemingly unresponsive to the unique fluctuations of the world around it.
About ten minutes later, several figures entered the area.
Among them was a blonde witch wearing thick black-rimmed glasses, with faint freckles on her face.
She appeared to be in her early twenties, resembling an innocent university student.
However, for wizards, appearance was never an accurate measure of age. Depending on their chosen path of cultivation, wizards were affected differently by energy factors.
For instance, those who studied negative energy factors often ended up with grotesque and ugly appearances, resembling decayed corpses.
Conversely, wizards researching positive energy factors could use various techniques to alter their appearances, maintaining youthful looks even at an advanced age.
The witch before him might appear to be a youthful student, but in reality, she could very well be an old grandmother who had lived for over a hundred years…
Of course, for any female creature, age was an absolute secret.
Even witches were no exception.
Naturally, Lynn wasn't foolish enough to ask about such a private and sensitive topic.
"Lynn, you're here early today."
The witch greeted him warmly, her voice gentle and friendly.
Lynn looked up at her, offering a polite yet distant smile.
"Good morning, Tyra. Since I just got officially assigned, I figured I should get used to my new role as soon as possible."
As he spoke, he continued handling the metal material in his hand, his tone casual but maintaining a certain level of formality.
"Our research project only started a month ago, and everyone here was recruited from different places. We're all newcomers, so there's no need to put too much pressure on yourself."
Tyra smiled slightly, revealing two faint dimples as she spoke.
The two of them chatted idly while waiting for the project supervisor to arrive.
As time passed, more researchers gradually arrived, greeting Lynn and Tyra as they entered.
"Good morning, Lynn. Tyra."
"Good morning, Duke."
Lynn responded with a smile, watching Duke walk toward his workstation.
"Morning."
Lynn nodded as he exchanged greetings with another researcher.
The research team consisted of twenty members, plus the project leader Vidar and the deputy supervisor Kark, making a total of twenty-two people.
As the clock struck ten, both Vidar and Kark arrived together.
Kark had undergone full-body metallic modifications, making him as heavy and unyielding as the metal itself.
Vidar, on the other hand, was a white-haired old man who always wore a gentle smile, exuding the aura of a wise and kind elder.
Although he didn't seem like a powerful wizard, appearing more like an ordinary elderly man, Lynn wasn't deceived by his appearance.
He had seen Vidar in a fit of rage before.
At that time, the surrounding researchers were scolded as "useless fools," and Vidar's unleashed mental energy was truly terrifying.
The aura around him had taken on a thick, viscous liquid form, radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Gaseous, liquid, and solid states of mental energy corresponded to First-Level, Second-Level, and Third-Level Wizards, respectively.
Vidar had already reached the Second-Level Wizard stage and had advanced quite far along that path.
Though he appeared kind and amiable, he was, in truth, a formidable and terrifying figure.
Vidar first conducted a brief review of the project's progress, and then meticulously examined each individual's work reports.
Finally, he let out a long sigh and suddenly slammed his palm onto the table with a loud bang!
The explosive sound sent a jolt through everyone, instantly making them tense up.
"It's been a month, and the project hasn't made a single step forward! You are all a bunch of incompetents!"
Vidar was furious, his voice booming like thunder as he indiscriminately listed everyone as a target of his wrath.
"I don't understand how people with brains like yours managed to break through and become official wizards! I've explained this simple concept so many times, yet you're still so clueless!"
His words were laced with insults, and in his rage, thick waves of mental energy swirled around him, exuding an overwhelming pressure that made it hard to breathe.
Lynn, having just arrived, wasn't directly targeted by Vidar's anger, but the sheer oppressive force in the air still left him feeling helpless.
Memories of being scolded in class resurfaced in his mind, making his fists involuntarily clench. Hard. His fists were hard.
Vidar vented his frustration for a full thirty minutes, during which Deputy Director Kark remained silent, waiting patiently for him to finish.
Finally, Vidar took a deep breath, seeming to calm down slightly, though the anger in his eyes had yet to fade.
Waving his hand dismissively, he chose to face reality and explain the concept once again to these "foolish" researchers.
"Alright, I'll go over it from the beginning."
His voice was cold and stern. "You need to fully understand this simulated environment before you can propose any effective modifications."
As his words fell, Vidar seemed to adjust the surrounding pressure, and suddenly, the entire space was filled with an oppressive force.
In an instant, everyone felt as if they were submerged thousands of meters underwater, suffocating under an invisible weight, their breathing labored.
"I've now set the simulation to half-power. Watch carefully."
With a wave of his hand, three floating virtual panels appeared in the air, each displaying a different mirrored image.
"This is our wizarding world."
The leftmost panel showed a familiar wizarding world. Vidar glanced at it briefly, uninterested in wasting time on this section.
"This is what the target world originally looked like."
He pointed to the middle panel, his gaze sharpening slightly.
"The entire world is enclosed energy realms, the material realm, and external forces are all mixed in one chaotic sphere, impossible to distinguish or separate."
The image displayed a chaotic, tangled mess, resembling an intricate web of threads twisted into an inextricable knot.
"And this," Vidar pointed at the rightmost panel, "is what the target world looks like after being altered by foreign beings. This is the core issue we must address."
This image was divided into five distinct layers, each appearing independent yet intricately connected.
It was an orderly yet alien structure, filled with traces of otherworldly influences complex and suffocating, as if it were an unsolvable puzzle.
Lynn's gaze fixed on the image, realizing that this was the very subject his research group was working on.
"Based on our gathered knowledge of foreign beings, these five layers, from innermost to outermost, are: the Inner Plane, the Aether Plane, the Material Plane, the Outer Plane, and the Astral Plane."
Vidar's voice was steady and precise as he broke down these complex concepts for the researchers.
"The Inner Plane."
He paused, sweeping his gaze over the group.
"In the civilizations of these foreign beings, this is the source of power, where all elements converge.
Beyond the well-known 'Earth Element,' 'Water Element,' 'Fire Element,' and 'Air Element' (also called Wind Element), there exist even more varieties of elements, constantly colliding and intertwining, giving birth to the most potent energies."
Next, Vidar gestured toward the middle panel and continued:
"Then, we have the Aether Plane. This dimension is shrouded in an enigmatic mist.
Its 'shoreline' is known as the Aether Boundary, and certain regions overlap with both the Material Plane and the Inner Plane.
In other words, every space that exists in the Material Plane or Inner Plane has a corresponding existence within the Aether Plane. Put simply, it serves as a central hub connecting all planes and dimensions."
He went on:
"The Material Plane is the one most similar to our wizarding world's physical reality this is where wizards live and thrive. You can think of it as the 'middle layer' of existence."
"The Outer Plane,"
Vidar's tone became slightly graver as he paused for emphasis.
"This is where transcendent forces gather, ultimately manifesting as illusions and the final realm of mysteries.
This plane is also known as the 'Realm of the Gods,' a place foreign beings refer to as the domain of countless ancient deities."
Lastly, Vidar pointed to the rightmost panel:
"And the Astral Plane is a vast, boundless silver sea, with no clear distinction between up and down. Bands of grayish-white light flow within it, intertwining like the stars themselves.
The Astral Plane is considered the outermost layer in the wizarding world's understanding, an endless ocean of worlds filled with infinite possibilities."
However, the wizarding world's understanding of the multiverse vastly differs from these foreign civilizations, and their fundamental rules of existence are entirely distinct.
As a result, whenever beings from the wizarding world enter foreign realms, they inevitably suffer suppression from the world's inherent rules.
Under such conditions, achieving victory in an interdimensional expedition is nearly impossible survival alone is a blessing.
Vidar flicked his hand, causing the panel depicting the five planes to float above the other two, merging with them as two arrows extended downward.
Pointing to the three panels before him, he spoke calmly:
"Thus, our most urgent task is to modify the environment that has been altered by foreign civilizations.
We don't necessarily have to reconstruct it by our wizarding world's rules,
But at the very least, we must transform it into a neutral environment where neither side holds an inherent advantage.
Only then can we create a fair battlefield and reduce the threats posed by the environment itself."
"From our trials, conventional foreign purification devices have only half their usual effectiveness in that world or even less.
This means we must refine and enhance them. Our responsibility lies in the outer shell of these purification devices creating or discovering the most effective metal materials..."
At this moment, the research lab's atmosphere grew exceptionally heavy.
Each researcher lowered their head in deep thought, contemplating how to approach this intricate problem and find a breakthrough.
"Each research cycle lasts seven days. Progress must be made in every cycle no matter how small, any improvement is better than none.
I expect you all to meet this standard. Don't let me down..."
Vidar's voice was calm as he concluded, instructing them to proceed as planned.
Of course, he did not lift the oppressive atmosphere in the room the heavy, suffocating pressure remained.
After all, if the energy factor depleted, they could simply replenish it from the exposed massive rock beside them.
Perhaps this was Vidar's way of motivating them after their lack of progress…
For Lynn, his first day in the research group left him utterly bewildered. His mind was a tangled mess, with no clear understanding of the project's direction, let alone any viable solutions.
That was understandable his knowledge of the wizarding world, supernatural civilizations, interdimensional expeditions, and even mechanics was far from deep.
After all, he had only recently celebrated his seventeenth birthday, and it had been just over two years since he officially joined the wizarding world.
Even with his talent, it was impossible to absorb an ocean of knowledge in one go.
"Take it slow…"
Lynn ran his fingers over the unique metallic materials before him, feeling their texture as he began his first official research project as a wizard.
Though the Mechanical City was in a state of war, its internal affairs remained as stable as ever, especially for researchers like Lynn.
The only real difference was the heavy and serious atmosphere in the air.
But for wizards dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, such matters were trivial.
Lynn, safe within the most fortified part of the Mechanical City, had all the time he needed to study and innovate.
More importantly, he had all the time he needed to develop himself and continue his cultivation.
His rapid mental growth had finally stabilized after his birthday. Now, it was time to assess his current mental strength and formulate a new training plan…
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