Hours later, a silver rift spanning the void appeared ahead, and beyond it, a stable region of space slowly unfolded.
This was a public junction located in the Endless Chaotic Void. Compared to the dangerous supply station before the Shattered Bone Corridor, this place was noticeably more prosperous.
Floating islands drifted through the endless chaos, with transport ships from various civilizations constantly entering and leaving the spaceport. On those islands, creatures of all forms moved to and fro. At the very center of the junction stood a massive spatial teleportation hall. Silver-white teleportation beams kept flashing on and off as wizards from different routes stepped in and quickly departed, making the entire hall look busy yet orderly.
Jie Ming walked in with a calm expression.
The middle-aged wizard managing the teleportation arrays in the hall had short gray hair. He glanced up at Jie Ming, then tilted his head toward a map nearby. “Where to?”
Because this was a lawless public zone, anyone who actively asked about identities was simply asking for trouble. So steps like questioning identity or origin were skipped entirely—the “authorities” here only handled fees and teleportation.
Of course, they weren't worried about anyone causing trouble either, since many wizard organizations had formed small groups here, enough to handle most problems.
“Line Two, Junction Ten.” Jie Ming placed several standard energy crystals on the counter, prepared in advance.
Although this place was outside the rule of the three major powers, the official “points” of the Star Ring Federation, the Anti-Entropy Alliance, and the Void Architecture Academy were all still usable. But if one wanted to hide their identity, they would usually pay directly with energy crystals.
The middle-aged wizard swept his hand over them, confirmed the amount, operated a nearby instrument, then casually waved. “Alright, go on in.” “Next!”
Jie Ming pulled his hood down and turned toward the lit teleportation array. Just before stepping onto it, he glanced at the map.
On the pale blue light screen, a glowing dot marking this junction’s location sat on one side of the Shattered Bone Corridor, marked in red.
If the rendezvous coordinates of the academic exchange he was about to head to were the “front,” then this region was the right rear of the Shattered Bone Corridor. The place he was going to now was on a different, more “proper” route.
As the silver light of the teleportation array brightened, the corners of Jie Ming’s mouth curled upward.
This was his true purpose.
He had never intended to cross the Shattered Bone Corridor.
Or rather… he wanted those tracking him to know that he had not crossed it.
The reason Jie Ming had endured the pain of spatial storms tearing at his body and used the coordinate reset method to rush here was precisely to create an illusion: that his earlier foray into the Shattered Bone Corridor had been nothing but a decoy left for the people behind the scenes, and that his real route was to quietly slip away, circle around to Line Two, and then proceed all the way to the rendezvous area of the academic exchange.
As a wizard who had been assassinated before, adopting such a combination of feint and real routes was perfectly normal.
This way, when others investigated, they would reach a very reasonable conclusion: Jie Ming, in order to avoid being assassinated again, had entered the Shattered Bone Corridor at first merely to lay a false trail—his true objective had always been Line Two.
This method was simple to explain but very difficult to execute, the biggest difficulty being time. Ordinary wizards—let alone Level Six, even a Level Seven wizard—could not move quickly in a place like the Shattered Bone Corridor, and in the Endless Chaotic Void, spatial jumping was not casually allowed.
So under normal circumstances, it was simply impossible for anyone to loop all the way from deep within the Shattered Bone Corridor to another route in such a short time. Fortunately, thanks to the Mustard Seed Contains the Dao True Body Art, Jie Ming had been able to arrive in time.
As for revealing himself, that was even simpler. Jie Ming didn’t need to deliberately expose any flaws; he only needed to carefully pass through each public junction like any wizard hiding their identity. These public areas, in order to prevent trouble, recorded the passage of every wizard, and a Level Six wizard like Jie Ming would receive extra scrutiny.
Once Jie Ming arrived at the rendezvous point of the academic exchange, those behind the scenes would naturally check the routes. At that point, the records left at these junctions would automatically prove for him that he had come all the way from Line Two.
As for the Shattered Bone Corridor… it was merely an inconspicuous misdirection.
The silver light faded, and Jie Ming vanished from the spot.
Meanwhile, in a dim study.
Candlelight flickered softly. The special candles burned with a fragrance that helped wizards calm their minds. A wizard in a black robe sat quietly at the desk, flipping through a thick ancient book with interest.
Just then, the door was gently pushed open, and a female with a nearly dreamlike delicate appearance walked in slowly. Her skin was fair, with a strand of silver-green hair cascading down her back, and her long, pointed ears suggested she was a subspecies of elf. She came lightly to the wizard’s side and bowed slightly. “Master.”
The black-robed wizard did not look up, still concentrating on the book. “Any news?”
“Yes, at the third junction on Line Two, we found records of Wizard Jie Ming passing through.”
After the elf attendant finished, the room fell silent for a moment.
The black-robed wizard’s hand, turning the pages, stopped. He slowly raised his head, a hint of amusement appearing in his deep eyes. “Line Two? From what I recall, the intelligence we received earlier said he was preparing to cross the Shattered Bone Corridor, wasn’t it?”
The elf attendant nodded respectfully. “Yes. Our people at the forward supply station of the Shattered Bone Corridor had a sighting of Wizard Jie Ming and watched him enter the corridor.”
The black-robed wizard chuckled softly. He closed the book and tapped the table with his fingers. “It seems… we were all fooled. That Shattered Bone Corridor was just a smokescreen. His real route was Line Two.” He smiled and shook his head. “Interesting. He’s a bit clever.”
The elf attendant asked carefully, “Master, should we redeploy the people lying in wait at the exits of the Shattered Bone Corridor?”
The black-robed wizard was silent for a moment, then finally waved his hand. “No need. It’s already too late.”
He stood up and walked to the window. Through the huge floor-to-ceiling window, he could see a vast starry sky outside.
“Although it’s just a small clever trick, it did work. Our people in the public areas weren’t many to begin with. To block him, we concentrated most of our forces at the exits of the Shattered Bone Corridor. Now even if we redeploy, not only won’t we catch up, but we might also expose ourselves.”
As he spoke, the black-robed wizard picked up a stack of intelligence on the table. On the first page was a likeness of Jie Ming. Clearly, these were investigation materials about him.
“Besides…” He flipped through a few pages casually, a faint smile on his lips. “According to the latest intelligence, this Wizard Jie Ming is no ordinary Level Six wizard. Those Black Wizards, even in number, don’t have the qualifications to obstruct him.”
Putting down the intelligence, the black-robed wizard’s gaze fell on the location of Line Two on the map.
“Since he’s already near the third junction, it means he’s very close to the Void Architecture Academy’s control area. Who would dare to act near the four major powers? Making a scene in a public area can still be explained as a personal grudge. But if you attacked a wizard attending the academic exchange right at their doorstep during the conference…” As if imagining the scene, even the black-robed wizard couldn’t help but laugh.
“Those old fellows on the Academic Exchange Committee are just looking for a chance to establish their authority. If anyone dares to reach out, they’d chop off the whole hand—and the family!”
After this remark, the room fell quiet again. A moment later, the black-robed wizard spoke calmly. “Notify everyone. Pull them all back. This was just a casual move anyway. Since it’s failed, there’s no need to waste any more strength.”
“Yes.” The elf attendant bowed respectfully and slowly retreated from the room.
As the door closed, the study returned to silence. The black-robed wizard stood alone by the window, looking up at the endless stars, a smile never leaving his face. “Jie Ming… this trial of mine, you’ve passed.”
His voice was very soft, yet tinged with meaning. “However… the ones who are really dangerous were never me. Those old monsters who’ve lived for who knows how many thousands of years at the academic exchange—they’re the true players.”
The black-robed wizard glanced at the intelligence in his hand, then gave a casual wave. The paper bearing the information turned to ashes and scattered into nothing.
“I hope you can keep winning when the time comes.”
As Jie Ming passed through the last spatial teleportation array, he clearly felt his feet sink slightly. This indicated that this junction’s gravity was higher than others, meaning its scale was larger than those public junctions he had passed before. That was normal, since this was already a large junction at the border of the Void Architecture Academy’s territory.
With a single glance, Jie Ming sensed an atmosphere entirely different from the junctions along the way. The entire junction was quiet and clean, carrying an almost artistic sense of technological order.
The teleportation plaza was paved entirely with light gray crystal. Every slab was polished as smoothly as a mirror, with extremely fine patterns etched along the edges. These patterns shimmered with a faint silver glow in the sunlight, interlacing to form a giant spatial network covering the entire plaza.
Jie Ming activated his True Illusion Void-Breaking Eye, and after a moment, a flash of admiration passed through his eyes.
“A truly remarkable spatial stabilization array… and a multi-layered nested structure at that.”
Spatial stabilization arrays were considered a fairly basic type of spatial array. But even the most basic thing, if perfected, became art. Take this spatial stabilization array here: it maintained spatial stability at a subtle level that allowed spatial teleportation while preventing spatial turbulence, and it smoothed out all spatial fluctuations within a radius of millions of kilometers.
Wizards could teleport freely here, yet the spatial turbulence that frequently occurred in the surrounding Endless Chaotic Void was completely blocked out. This junction did not feel like a border fortress; it felt more like a sanctuary built in the void.
Glancing at the map on the invitation, Jie Ming headed toward the hall at the center of the junction.
Along the way, buildings lined both sides of the road in neat arrangement. Unlike what he had expected, these buildings bore no unnecessary ornamentation. However, the lines of each structure were exceptionally elegant and fluid, with every proportion perfectly balanced.
Even more, the colors and shapes of the buildings corresponded to the hues of the Endless Chaotic Void behind them, as if they were one with nature. One glance would naturally give rise to a pleasant, comfortable feeling.
“So this is the Void Architecture Academy? Even ordinary buildings achieve this level of craftsmanship. Truly… astonishing.”
Before he knew it, Jie Ming had arrived at the central hall. He withdrew his gaze and walked inside.
The hall was even more spacious than it appeared from outside. The dome, hundreds of meters high, was constructed entirely of translucent crystal. Sunlight poured through it, refracted into soft diffused light that filled the hall, making it warm and bright. Only after seeing the facilities inside the central hall did Jie Ming finally feel that he had returned to “modern civilization.”
Casually finding a free counter, Jie Ming placed his invitation on it and said to the alchemical puppet behind the counter, “I am here by invitation.”
The alchemical puppet took the invitation with both hands, and a scanning beam shot out from the depths of its pupils. It swept over the invitation from top to bottom, then over Jie Ming himself. “Esteemed Wizard Jie Ming, thank you very much for coming. Please wait a moment; we will arrange someone to receive you immediately.”
Only a few seconds later, hurried footsteps approached from the depths of the hall.
“Coming, coming…” A wizard in a robe appeared, almost jogging. He looked to be in his early forties, with neatly combed brown hair, gold-rimmed round glasses on his nose, and even two quill pens tucked into his chest for taking notes. Clearly, this wizard had just been doing research and rushed over upon hearing the alchemical puppet’s emergency notification.
His eyes lit up at the sight of Jie Ming.
“Wizard Jie Ming! Hello, hello!” He walked quickly to Jie Ming, extending both hands with an exceptionally warm smile. “I’ve long heard of your name. Welcome to the Void Architecture Academy. I’m Viren, the reception lead of the external liaison department for this academic exchange.”
Jie Ming nodded slightly and shook his hand. “Hello, Wizard Viren.”
Viren’s smile grew even brighter. “You’ve arrived much earlier than expected. I was a bit stunned when I first received the notice. No matter—your residence and laboratory were prepared long ago. Please, follow me.”
“Then I’ll trouble you.”
Jie Ming nodded and followed Viren.