Chapter 331 Commission

Blake gathered his thoughts and began to explain his situation.

As a member of an elite combat unit, his next mission was assigned to a second-line dimensional battlefield.

As everyone knows, none of the planes that require the use of these elites are easy to deal with.

Correspondingly, because it is "support", some basic information about these dimensions will also be leaked.

“According to the information I’ve received, the plane we’re going to this time… is very strange. It seems to be a world where the boundary between illusion and reality is extremely blurred.” Blake’s brows furrowed slightly.

"The information sent back by the first group of wizards who entered was vague, but the core message was that there, one could easily become immersed in illusion and find it difficult to distinguish between reality and falsehood."

"Fortunately, the initial assessment is that they did not suffer a large number of casualties, and it seems that they were trapped. So, our group is going to provide support and help them get out of trouble."

He looked up, his gaze focusing on Jemin through the light screen: "Therefore, I hope you can help me create a magical artifact, the core function of which is to resist illusions or mental interference. I don't know much about alchemical products, but I've heard that you're very good at making special magical artifacts."

After listening to Blake's account, Jemin subconsciously touched his chin.

However, Jemin wasn't thinking about weapons; he was thinking about something else entirely.

Blake's request illuminated a blind spot in his own defense system.

He quickly made a mental calculation.

He has a wide range of methods, from black giants to talismanic artifacts, from the Xuan Gang Red Dust Barrier to the inner cave heaven, which seem comprehensive. However, he does have shortcomings in resisting high-intensity illusions and mental interference.

The Mysterious Red Dust Barrier can prevent curses and reverse prophecies, but it is not very effective against forces that directly distort the mind.

Although the body tempering method has strong adaptive resistance, it is ultimately passive and takes time to take effect.

'I can't always rely on the Body Tempering Method to tough it out...' Jemin thought to himself.

Blake's request gave him a chance to put his skills to the test and see what kind of protective gear he could create.

Having understood this, Jemin nodded and replied calmly, "I understand. Creating a magical artifact that resists hallucinations and mental interference is no problem."

He then changed the subject and stated his conditions: "I can offer you a discount on the price. However, I have one requirement—you need to provide me with all the recordable data after the war regarding the specific effects of this magical artifact in that dimensional war, including its activation status, energy consumption, protection threshold, type and intensity of interference encountered, and so on."

Blake hesitated for a moment.

Revealing the specific effects and parameters of a magical artifact means leaking some of your combat information.

On the other hand, in order to obtain this valuable first-hand data, Jemin would inevitably have put in more effort during the production process, and the quality of the witch artifacts would likely have been more guaranteed.

For him, who is about to step into an unknown and dangerous dimension, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

“Okay.” Blake nodded in agreement after only a moment’s thought. “I will do my best with the data recording.”

Since this was also the first time that Jemin had made a magical artifact with this specific function, and Blake's requirements were quite broad, it was difficult to determine either the amount of the deposit or the specific delivery time.

Blake thought for a moment and gave a specific timeframe: "I have about a year to prepare. As long as I can finish making the artifact within a year, it will be fine."

“A year is enough.” Jemin nodded and accepted the commission. “Then, after I complete the preliminary design, estimate the cost and the specific plan, I will contact you to confirm the details.”

“Okay, thank you.” Blake said, and the two ended the communication.

The light screen went dark.

After the call ended, Blake sat in his laboratory, but he was not entirely at ease.

His sudden contact with this fellow genius with whom he had almost no connection actually stemmed from the suggestion of his mentor, Oswaldo.

Originally, Blake intended to find another alchemist he was more familiar with and who was more specialized in the field of mental protection.

But before he could make a decision, his mentor Oswaldo overheard his plans and casually remarked, "Perhaps you could ask that kid, Jemin?"

Although Blake was puzzled—Jeremy had not shown any particular expertise in mental protection during his time at the academy—he still tried to contact Jemiey out of trust in his mentor's judgment.

During the communication just now, Jemin was able to break through his unconscious "fading presence" and recognize him directly, which surprised him and gave him a new assessment of Jemin's true strength.

However, during their subsequent conversation, he could clearly sense that Jemin was not very familiar with making such magical artifacts, or at least did not seem to have a well-developed plan.

This conflicting feeling left Blake somewhat uncertain.

'After all, I'm going to a place like that... it's always good to be prepared.' He thought to himself.

After hesitating for a moment, Blake reopened his contact list and swiped his finger across several familiar names.

'Or... let's find someone else to help forge a similar magical artifact as insurance...'

With that in mind, he began to select the next potential partner.

...

...

After hanging up with Blake, Jemin did not immediately take action, but instead habitually began to deduce the situation first.

He returned to the lab bench, his fingertips unconsciously tracing patterns on the smooth surface, as two related pieces of knowledge began to rapidly integrate in his mind.

Regarding protection against hallucinations and mental interference, whether it's the "Mind Protection" of the wizarding system or the "Soul Suppression" and "Delusion Dispelling" methods recorded in the Great Dao Library, their core principles can ultimately be summarized into three main categories:

The first type is the blessing type, which is like putting a strong armor on one's own mind.

By continuously releasing states such as "mental barrier" and "mind-clearing mantra", the user's mental resistance is enhanced, passively resisting external disturbances.

Its advantages lie in the ability to prepare in advance and its stable performance in dealing with common interference.

The downside is that the duration is limited and the protection strength has an upper limit. Once it encounters an attack that exceeds the threshold, the protection may shatter instantly.

The second is the wake-up class, which is equivalent to setting up an emergency alarm system.

When the user's mind is clouded and they fall into hallucinations, they are forcibly awakened through strong spiritual stimulation—such as "soul-stabilizing and cleansing sounds" or "pain feedback arrays."

Its advantages are that it is highly targeted and can reverse interference that has already taken effect.

The disadvantages are that there is a delay in response, and the strength of the awakening depends on the intensity of the interference and the power of the device itself. If the hallucination is too deep, the awakening may fail.

Finally, there's the isolation category, which involves creating an absolutely safe "psychological sanctuary."

It directly establishes a barrier around the user's consciousness, fundamentally isolating the exchange of information between the inside and outside, so that hallucinations and mental interference cannot reach the core.

The advantage is that it's a one-time solution; as long as the barrier remains intact, it provides almost complete immunity to all similar types of influences.

The downside is that it consumes a lot of energy. Maintaining the barrier requires a continuous consumption of a large amount of energy. Long-term operation poses a severe test to the stability of the materials, runes, or arrays, and may also affect the user's normal perception of the outside world.

Of course, after a long period of development, neither wizarding artifacts nor protective treasures for the cultivation world are single types; most are composite designs.

However, due to the limited number of runes and energy flux that the materials can support, there will inevitably be a certain emphasis on a particular function among tools of the same level.

If all three functions are to be powerful, then higher-grade materials must be used, leading to a surge in costs.

The final product may appear mediocre compared to others in the same category, lacking prominence in any aspect.

Jemin analyzed the information provided by Blake:

"If the entire plane is problematic, then it's almost certain that the moment you step into that plane, illusion attacks could come crashing down like a tidal wave. There's an extremely high risk of being killed on first sight."

"At the same time, users will also have to face a dimensional war that may last for more than ten or even several decades. This means that the magical artifact needs to have an extremely long continuous combat capability. Moreover, the intensity of the interference is completely unknown; it may be gradual or it may suddenly increase in certain areas."

Based on these judgments, he quickly ruled out the blessing category.

The duration of empowerment spells is a major drawback, requiring frequent activation or maintenance, making them unreliable in unknown long-term missions.

Even more dangerous is that if its fixed protective strength is insufficient to resist the erosion of the plane itself, the user may be affected without even realizing it, which is more terrifying than having no protection at all.

Then, he also put the wake-up class aside.

Although it is more proactive than blessing-type effects, its effectiveness is contingent on the user already being infected, creating a dangerous "window period".

In a perilous alternate dimension, even a second of cognitive bias can be fatal.

Moreover, if the intensity of the awakening is insufficient to break through the powerful interference at the dimensional level, this magical artifact is essentially useless.

"Therefore, the safest solution is to address the problem at its root—to completely prevent the user's core consciousness from being exposed to external illusory forces."

With the thinking clear, isolation became the optimal choice.

Create a pure mental space to protect Blake's consciousness, and remain unmoved no matter how bizarre and chaotic the outside world may be.

This minimizes the risk of being destroyed upon entering the plane and provides stable long-term protection.

However, the well-known drawbacks of isolation methods also become apparent.

It can run in standby mode for a long time when not in operation, but once it is in operation, it will consume a lot of energy and experience wear and tear.

If the worst-case scenario is faced, where the entire plane is subject to powerful mental interference and illusions, then the duration of isolation-type effects may even be shorter than that of blessing-type effects.

At the same time, prolonged high-load operation puts extreme strain on the durability of the core materials of the magical artifact and the stability of the rune structure.

This means that creating such a magical artifact would be extremely expensive.

Thinking of this, Jemin not only didn't feel troubled, but his eyes actually lit up slightly.

"From a product perspective, higher wear and tear seems more suitable..."

After all, besides collecting data, it's also about making money. The more users spend, the more he earns!

Since Blake requires the highest level of security, paying a hefty price for it is part of the equivalent exchange.

“Very good, let’s do it that way.” A smile appeared on Jemin’s lips, and he no longer hesitated.

Let's get right to it.

He immediately stood up, and the laboratory lights were turned up, with multiple screens for auxiliary calculations and designs lighting up simultaneously.

(End of this chapter)