Although Richard doesn’t have high requirements for his laboratory, the conditions of this cave are indeed somewhat poor.
Towering stalactites, constantly dripping water, mushrooms and moss growing in the corners, and the spores diffusing in the air—these things are a bit too dreadful for a laboratory.
Richard’s spiritual power surged out from within, instantly covering the entire cave. Under the probe of spiritual power, the intricate erosion paths and tiny cracks in the cave walls were all visible at a glance.
"It’s fine, the overall structure is quite stable."
Richard took the Balancing Hand from his pocket and inserted the staff’s end into the stone beneath his feet.
The next moment, lines of Magic Power spread like dodder, centering on the Balancing Hand and surging outward like a tide. On these "Magic Branches," runes slowly inscribed into the stone walls, like fruits.
Before long, the Magic Power lines covered the entire cave, and the runes covered the entire cave as well.
Richard flicked his finger slightly, and a fireball with an energy of a thousand shot from his fingertip, colliding with the cave wall like a meteor.
The flames scattered.
After the flames vanished, the spot where the fireball exploded remained intact, with only a few runes slightly dim.
"Not bad, my skills haven’t declined despite such a long break."
Richard smiled a bit self-contentedly, then lightly snapped his fingers.
In the next instant, invisible Wind Element was summoned by Magic Power. The gathered Wind Element danced in the air like a flock of birds, swiftly slicing the towering stalactite pillars into pieces. The moss and fungi growing in the corners were also swept into the air.
With a wave of Richard’s hand, the Wind Elements gathered together, forming a gust of hurricane, taking the shattered stalactite pieces out of the cave.
Seeing the leveled floor and ceiling, Richard nodded in satisfaction.
"This looks much better."
With the laboratory organized, Richard snapped his fingers again.
This time, a complex Magic Array unfolded in the air, forming a pitch-black hole. Richard reached into the hole, and shortly after, he pulled out a snake head.
Richard’s sealing space had no energy, and this space would continuously extract the energy from those sealed within to maintain its operation. The sealed disaster giant snake was already heavily injured, and the extraction from the sealing space almost killed it.
Even with Richard opening the seal now, it was difficult for the snake to crawl out, forcing Richard to pull it out himself.
But looking at the enormous snake head before him, Richard shook his head in dissatisfaction.
"No, it’s still too big."
The disaster giant snake’s head was as tall as a three-story building—such a massive thing would be somewhat inconvenient for research.
Richard patted the big snake’s head and used a Spiritual Message to say, "Material, shrink down. If you don’t shrink, I’ll have to chop you up."
The snake’s eyes half-opened, its gigantic tongue flicking gently.
"Food, you will eventually be devoured by us."
Richard furrowed his brows, and a terrifying energy wave brewed within the Balancing Hand he held.
"Research material, I’ll say it again. Shrink down, or I’ll chop you up. If you think death can resurrect you, so death doesn’t matter, you can try to see if you can truly die by my hands."
As he spoke, the icy menace emanating from Richard almost brought the cave’s temperature down to freezing point.
Richard was a gentle wizard, but this didn’t mean he was a weak wizard. On the contrary, after mastering Life Rules, Richard could easily render a flesh creature unable to live or die.
He didn’t do this simply because he found it uninteresting. But if reality required such methods, he wouldn’t mind doing it.
The snake flicked its tongue, a glint of disdain flashing in its golden eyes.
Richard expressionlessly waved his magic wand, and in the next moment, the snake’s Life Energy began to riot.
At this moment, already suffering from injuries and energy extraction, the snake was powerless against Richard’s Power. As its Life Energy rioted, every cell in the snake’s body throbbed incessantly. This extreme pain flooded the snake’s thinking organ like a deluge.
But strangely enough, the disaster giant snake showed no reaction.
Richard watched with furrowed brows almost knotting together. The snake’s muscles continuously twitching and convulsing proved its Life Energy was indeed rioting. But the snake’s tranquil response as if a breeze brushed its face surprised him.
"No pain perception? That’s not right."
Richard waved his magic wand again, this time launching a mental attack. The tidal spiritual power invaded the giant snake’s soul, but facing the soul-rending agony, the snake still had no reaction.
Its golden slit pupils gazed calmly at Richard.
As if saying, "Is that all? Is that all?"
"Alright, I indeed underestimated you."
Richard looked at the snake with a sullen face, then thrust his right hand into his abdomen, pulling out a crystal-like object.
In the center of the crystal, a golden flame was constantly burning.
"This was originally for jinxing people, but since you show no respect, using it on you is not a loss."
The crystal gradually dissipated, and the sealed golden flame began interacting with the world. The moment the flame met the air, the giant snake’s pupils constricted sharply, its entire body instinctively retreating.
The beast’s intuition told it that this thing could really kill it.
Richard’s face bore a sinister smile, "Why are you retreating? Weren’t you just unafraid of being scalded by boiling water like a dead pig?" he said, gripping tightly. A Magic Hand grabbed the snake’s head, forcefully pressing it towards the Miracle Fire.
The catastrophic big snake watched the flames of its body writhing madly, but even with the rule power unable to resist, how could it escape Richard’s full-strength release of the Magic Hand.
Finally, the snake transmitted a spiritual message.
"Stop! Stop! I’ll shrink, just don’t come any closer!"
"Oh, now you’re yielding?"
Richard glared at the snake, stopping the Magic Hand to reseal the flames. Although using the Miracle Fire requires burning the soul, maintaining the Miracle Fire just needs energy. From Richard’s tests, before the Miracle Fire reaches a certain size, a sealing plus energy supply is enough to keep the Miracle Fire in a balanced state.
The snake looked fearfully at the Miracle Fire, its body shrinking slowly like it was reducing in size, eventually turning into a snake only a few dozen meters long.
Compared to its previously hundreds-of-meters-long giant form, this size was much more convenient for study.
But before the research, Richard thought it would be better to ask some questions first.
"Subject, I have a few questions I need to ask you, you’d better answer truthfully."
The snake flicked its tongue, the fear gradually fading from its eyes.
"Fodder, everything you do is in vain. You are destined to be devoured by us."
"Is that so?" Richard said expressionlessly, "Then how about I destroy you first?"
The snake’s flicked tongue stiffened suddenly, and it replied, "Fodder, what do you want to ask?"
"You can resurrect, right."
"What preparations do you need for resurrection? Explain the principle behind your resurrection."
"...I don’t understand what you mean. Resurrection requires no preparation; any Beast King that dies outside the Beast Origin will resurrect within the Beast Origin."
"No preparation needed?" Richard was slightly stunned, a trace of amazement flashing across his face.
"So it’s truly a special rule! Then what’s the deal with your invasion of this world?"
Richard was again taken aback; he could tell that the snake in front of him was not lying.
"Is there no food in your world?"
"The Beast Origin has food, what does us coming to these places to hunt have to do with it?"
In the eyes of these Magic Beasts, swarms of Four-Eyed People were no different from swarms of beasts. Since they were in the world of the Four-Eyed People, it was quite normal to snack a bit and adjust their taste.
"Have you seen other Race’s World Masters? Like Undead Creatures or Elemental Creatures."
"I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen them."
"Heard of them?" Richard knew vital information was coming, he quickly asked, "What have you heard?"
"I once heard other Beast Kings say that sometimes strange creatures come into our world."
"Come into your world? Have you never had wars?"
"Wars? What a strange thing."
Though the spiritual message could convert words into meanings directly letting the other party understand, this understanding was merely knowing the meaning. Facing those never-heard concepts, creatures would still feel confused.
A race that never slept couldn’t understand sleep, and elementals without flesh could hardly understand what flesh really was.
"Alright, I get it now."
Richard rubbed his forehead, a vague hypothesis forming in his mind. A world capable of producing multiple World Lord Level Magic Beasts, often having creatures from other worlds entering, yet never having wars.
"Could it be that the world colliding with this one is a large world?"
From the current situation, a large world seemed to be the most plausible explanation. It was normal for regional elemental polarization to appear inside a large world, for example, the Extreme North of the Wizard World could be seen as a Water Element-biased region.
A normal large world spawning an Elemental Lord in such an elemental-biased region was not unusual.
In fact, during the Enlightenment period, the Wizard World once had a tribe of elemental creatures.
And a large world with a wide enough area could also give birth to World Lord Level undead. For a typical Miniature World or Small World, it might be challenging to satisfy the conditions. But for a large world, the conditions to give birth to World Lord Level undead were not stringent.
"The only question now is, where did these worlds with different rules converging come from? And why can’t I open the passage to the Secret Realm?"
According to the Control Bureau’s investigation, the regions where the world convergence occurred had indeed different rules. Could it be that within this "Beast Origin" world, the internal rules vary?
"This is getting more and more interesting."
Richard’s face carried an excited smile, the unsolvable problem hadn’t brought him frustration; on the contrary, he was full of fighting spirit.
As a Wizard, exploring the unknown was his instinct.
Suddenly, he looked at the catastrophic big snake beside him, the smile on his face made the snake shiver a little with cold.
"Kekeke, the questions are over, next is the decryption phase. Let me see what secrets are hidden inside your body."