With Jie Ming’s current shield level, withstanding damage like “spatial cutting” was still too difficult.
However, in that earlier strike, the mysterious creature had likely focused most of its power on the attack to maximize its lethality, compromising its concealment.
For a fleeting moment during the attack, its vague outline became visible.
Its aura, too, inevitably leaked a trace.
“A mere second-rank creature capable of wielding ‘spatial’ power?! This is… too perfect!”
Far from feeling fear, Jie Ming couldn’t help but excitedly lick his lips.
Even in this wind-element-rich Void Plane, during his half-month of exploration, none of the various creatures Jie Ming encountered—not even third-rank ones—had shown the slightest mastery of “spatial” power!
Even among wizards, a unique race, most only began studying spatial knowledge after reaching third rank.
Yet this creature could control spatial power at just second rank…
Whether capturing it for research or selling it to wizards specializing in spatial studies, its value was immense!“This thing… is mine!”
Looking at his fully healed arm, the greedy glint of a wizard in Jie Ming’s eyes was nearly uncontainable.
His mind raced, strategizing how to capture this precious creature.
Since he knew it could manipulate spatial power, Jie Ming had ideas about its concealment method.
Normally, wizards below third rank, limited by their soul’s level, lacked the ability to effectively detect “spatial” abilities.
Even if they spent a fortune on artifacts inscribed with relevant witchcraft, their untransformed minds couldn’t process the complex feedback from such spells.
Fortunately, Jie Ming wasn’t a typical wizard in this regard.
“Thank you, Wizard Roland, for that ‘loan’…”
Jie Ming muttered silently to himself.
Without the decades spent studying “spatial rifts” to repay Master Roland’s loan, he might have capsized in this ditch today!
The next moment, Jie Ming activated the All-Purpose Eye.
As the All-Purpose Eye spell activated, countless intricate runes flashed across his eyes.
The dense white mist around him cleared instantly in his vision. With the All-Purpose Eye’s composite vision—encompassing “energy vision,” “elemental vision,” “soul vision,” and more—he clearly saw the flow of microscopic energies within a two-meter radius.
Thanks to the spatial observation ability he had “loaded” into the All-Purpose Eye after studying spatial knowledge upon his recent advancement, Jie Ming quickly detected residual energy traces rippling like waves around his body.
“Not enough… the range is too small…”
The current range of the All-Purpose Eye was insufficient to pinpoint the enemy’s location.
Gritting his teeth, Jie Ming made a bold decision.
He retrieved a potion capable of healing soul damage from his internal space and downed it without hesitation.
Then, he forcibly expanded the All-Purpose Eye’s detection range from a mere two meters to hundreds of meters!
Buzz—!
Though he only pushed it to the limit for an instant before deactivating the All-Purpose Eye, the flood of chaotic information surged into his mind like a breached dam, nearly burning out his brain!
Thankfully, his robust physique, honed by his body refinement technique, endured.
With the potion’s power rapidly restoring his damaged soul, Jie Ming frantically processed the information he had “seen” in that fleeting moment!
And then, he saw it.
He saw the enemy that had been lurking nearby.
The creature’s form resembled a fusion of a spider and a snake.
It had a sleek, serpentine body, but its head bulged grotesquely, like a spider with a snake’s tail.
The earlier attack had come from its two sharp, cone-like forelimbs, evolved for piercing.
The reason Jie Ming couldn’t detect it before was that the creature used its innate spatial ability to hide its body entirely within the surrounding “spatial folds.”
In essence, it hadn’t even been in the same spatial framework as Jie Ming.
Thus, his conventional detection methods naturally failed to sense it.
At that moment, the spider-snake-like creature, still hidden, keenly noticed Jie Ming’s brief lapse into a strange, weakened state.
Uncertain why this occurred, the creature’s hunting instincts, driven by Jie Ming’s potent life force, spurred it to attack again!
It “leisurely” slithered from the spatial fold’s interlayer, emerging behind Jie Ming’s defenseless back.
The creature aimed its two rigid forelimbs at the center of Jie Ming’s spine.
Then, it struck!
At the moment it was about to touch his body, the creature instinctively unleashed the “spatial fold” attached to its limbs!
In that instant, the unfolded “spatial fold” not only allowed its limbs to touch the material world’s enemy from another dimension but also created a terrifying “spatial cutting” effect on the physical plane!
Based on this “prey’s” sturdy shields from before, the creature subconsciously let a larger portion of its body temporarily exit the “spatial fold” to amplify the strike’s power.
As expected, it sliced through the outermost energy shields like tofu, its sharp limbs plunging deep into the prey’s back.
Success!
Next, it would withdraw as usual, fully re-entering the “spatial fold” to vanish without a trace.
Then, it would patiently wait for the prey’s death.
Instinctively, the creature tried to pull out its limbs but suddenly found them stuck, as if locked by an incredibly tough substance.
In that moment of confusion and unease, Jie Ming’s head twisted 180 degrees, staring directly behind him!
A pair of mocking eyes locked onto the creature mere inches away. Jie Ming grinned, revealing a row of stark white teeth:
“Got you!”
Having seized the creature’s physical form and understood its abilities, dealing with a mere second-rank creature was child’s play for Jie Ming.
After a fierce but predictable “suppression,” Jie Ming meticulously sealed it with dozens of different methods before tossing it into his internal space.
Only then did he glance down at his chest, as if just remembering.
At his heart’s position were two bowl-sized, transparent holes that revealed the scenery behind him.
On anyone else, such holes would be fatal.
Yet, astonishingly, not a drop of blood flowed from these wounds.
No organs or blood vessels were visible within the holes.
Instead, their inner walls were unnaturally smooth, lined with skin, as if Jie Ming’s body had naturally formed this way.
With a slight shift of his will, the holes in his chest began to close inward slowly.
It looked as if his entire body was made of a skin-colored, special liquid!
“The body refinement technique paired with extreme body activation is surprisingly effective…”
Jie Ming lightly shook his neck, which had just twisted 180 degrees, producing crisp pops from his bones, and couldn’t help but sigh in satisfaction.
At his current level, the body refinement technique allowed him to achieve feats unimaginable to ordinary people.
Like twisting his head 180 degrees…
Combined with his second-rank wizard’s extreme body and soul activation, he could control every inch of muscle and drop of blood with near-miraculous precision!
Normally, he could only manage simple shifts of organs and bones.
But now, with both techniques combined, Jie Ming could even mold parts of his body like clay.
In that earlier moment, he hadn’t been injured because, sensing the attack’s intent, he preemptively parted his body at the targeted spots, creating two holes.
Rather than the creature piercing his body, it had essentially handed its precious limbs into the “trap” Jie Ming had prepared!
Having reaped this unexpected “grand prize,” Jie Ming left contentedly, continuing his flight toward the Ship Plane.