Chapter 329 Aptitude Enhancement Technology

Decades of time slipped away unnoticed amid busy research and preparations for plane transformation.

Within the laboratory, lighting was dimmed slightly, only a massive cylindrical reinforced glass tank in the center emitting a faint red glow.

Jie Ming stood before the tank, brows lightly furrowed, fingers unconsciously raking through his somewhat disheveled hair, eyes tinged with the irritation unique to research hitting inertia and bottlenecks.

The tank brimmed with crystalline, viscous liquid like melted rubies, ethereal energy shadows—seemingly alive—swam leisurely within like fish.

These energy shadows exuded pure, active elemental fluctuations.

At the liquid’s center, a gaunt male wizard apprentice with eyes tightly shut floated silently.

His body acted like a black hole, greedily absorbing surrounding liquid energy and those cruising “fish.”

“How’s it going?” Light footsteps and spatial fluctuations accompanied Viola’s appearance via the laboratory corner’s teleportation array.

She strode to the tank, observing the interior with keen interest.

Jie Ming didn’t turn, glancing at several precision instruments connected to the tank, their screens dancing with complex data streams.

He nodded, tone flat. “Very good. The aptitude enhancement process is smooth—no rejection reactions, energy absorption efficiency as expected. Upon completion, his elemental affinity aptitude should directly rise ten levels.”

“Wow!” Viola clapped lightly, eyes sparkling with amazement and unabashed curiosity at the apprentice. “Little junior, your tech gets scarier by the day! How many years has it been? You’ve even developed alchemy for aptitude enhancement? And with such strong effects!”

Jie Ming finally turned, but his face showed no pride—only regret.

He shook his head expressionlessly. “Effects are acceptable, but at this stage, the technology holds little practical value.”

“How could it be meaningless?” Viola disagreed, arms crossed. “I’d bet, no matter the material costs, ancient wizard families would pay staggering prices at critical moments for core descendants! And those low-tier wizards trapped by aptitude, lifespan nearing end without breakthrough—they’d bankrupt themselves begging at your door!”

She paused, lowering her voice. “You don’t know—high-tier alchemists touching aptitude enhancement are rare as phoenix feathers, but each with similar tech, even less exaggerated effects, swims in wealth, courted as honored guests by major forces!”

Jie Ming shook his head again, ending the debate.

He knew the key wasn’t just costs as Viola said.

This aptitude enhancement technology’s core wasn’t wizard-system alchemy but adapted from a cultivation secret method in the Great Dao Book Pavilion using “spirits of nature” to cleanse bones and elevate aptitude.

Its core material: those peculiar “crystal fish” he discovered and captured in the Infernal Sulfur plane (Chapter 154).

Deeper research confirmed they weren’t ordinary elemental beings but extremely rare manifestations of “spirits of nature.”

He then adapted the cultivation method for wizard-world individuals.

Effects were heaven-defying—unconditionally boosting a being’s elemental affinity aptitude by a full ten levels!

“Boost by” ten levels, not “to” ten levels.

Meaning a five-level aptitude apprentice could leap to fifteen!

Yet limitations were equally vast.

Beyond pure technical issues, practical applications faced major restrictions.

First, it held little meaning for mid-to-high-tier wizards.

Wizard rank advancement not limited by aptitude wasn’t mere jest.

Each major wizard realm promotion brought life-tier leaps and spiritual force qualitative changes, naturally vastly elevating all aptitudes.

Quantified: apprentice to formal wizard added 10 levels to prior aptitude.

Second-level added 20, third-level 30… and so on.

Thus, even initial ten-level super geniuses maintained aptitude edges only to third or fourth level.

Beyond, innate aptitude advantages dwindled; effort, opportunities, and knowledge comprehension depth far outweighed starting aptitude.

Moreover, Jie Ming’s tech boosted only elemental affinity—one of over a dozen related aptitudes.

So for mid-to-high-tier wizards, it wasn’t as vital as imagined.

Second, most fundamentally—raw materials.

“Spirits of nature” were plane-nurtured treasures, near-nonrenewable.

Each plane birthed extremely limited numbers, mostly elusive.

Their value, in some aspects, exceeded plane origins.

Forces or individuals affording such for enhancement often possessed more mature, stable, lower-side-effect alternatives.

Though aptitude boosts less dramatic, they combined multiple techs for elevation.

Thus, to Jie Ming, his tech was somewhat “chicken ribs” for truly affluent clients.

Tasty but not filling, wasteful to discard.

“Enhancement complete.” Jie Ming refocused on the experiment.

Manipulating the control panel, the tank’s red liquid—seemingly alive—rapidly absorbed into wall and base recovery systems.

Losing buoyancy, the apprentice’s body softened, falling.

Jie Ming raised a virtual finger; invisible force caught the still-dazed apprentice, immersed in wondrous sensations, suspending him steadily.

Then, fingertip alchemy light flashed; residual red viscera on the apprentice restructured into a clean gray wizard robe enveloping him.

Ignoring the apprentice joyfully examining his hands, sensing surging elemental affinity, Jie Ming turned to Viola.

“For providing this qualified subject and key data, this ‘self-service’ enhancement costs you two hundred million military merits.”

Viola showed no distress, smiling broader.

She whipped out her magic network terminal. “No problem! Merits transferred! Thanks, little junior!”

Deftly grabbing the still-savoring apprentice like a new toy, she waved cheerfully at Jie Ming and vanished via teleportation array.

Jie Ming watched them disappear in the light pillar, especially the apprentice’s irrepressible joy, shaking his head with pity.

From Viola’s treasure-found expression, this lucky (or unlucky?) apprentice likely bore centuries-spanning colossal debt.

Provided, of course, he survived perilous plane battlefields to repay it.

Battlefields were merciless; high projected returns meant nothing if dead—everything zeroed.

But that concerned Jie Ming not.

He developed this tech not for public good or merits—though merits were nice byproducts.

His true goal: further strengthen his black giant legion!

Constructing Incense Fire Divine Dao required, beyond tech, energy, plane foundation—one indispensable element: believers, or sentient beings forming societal base.

His Infernal Sulfur plane—harsh, sulfur-toxic, rampant fire elements—fundamentally unsuited for ordinary carbon-based life.

He could transform it via massive environmental projects, but costs and timelines were prohibitive.

Jie Ming had a better idea—settle his “cannon fodder units,” the black giants, as servant race in the plane.

Becoming Incense Fire Divine Dao’s first, most vital “residents”!

Black giants’ traits suited perfectly as Incense Fire Divine Dao “believers.”

First, they adapted to the plane’s brutality while possessing high intelligence—fully meeting believer standards.

Second, as Jie Ming’s creations, he held innate divinity in their beliefs—no need for fabricated miracles.

In his plans, post-Incense Fire Divine Dao, black giants’ strength and racial quality could easily convert to dao soldiers.

Key to this: conceptually shift from pure “war weapons” and “consumables” to “sociality.”

Core societal foundation: natural reproduction—independent of creator intervention, self-perpetuating lineage.

Thus, Jie Ming targeted black giant cultivation core—the incubation pool.

This pool originated from lava giants’ reproduction system.

Despite Jie Ming’s multiple modifications—integrating snow monster talents, energy absorption, Five Viscera Divine Sacrifice Technique, even self-destruct modules—its deepest “life creation and continuation” base retained lava giant incubation pool framework.

Jie Ming now aimed to absorb this core tech, then create new incubation pool technology.