Richard did not know, he was being thanked by someone as he entered a gray space jump point, formed spontaneously by hundreds of crystals, and arrived at another plane.

Upon reaching the new plane, he appeared on a small island surrounded by the sea. The salty sea breeze blew in, refreshing and cool.

A tall coconut tree stood behind him, with ripe coconuts that fell straight down when the wind blew.

Of course, he would not be killed by a falling coconut. He reached out and caught the coconuts weighing several pounds, ready to toss them aside.

But just before tossing it, he heard the "splashing" sound of coconut water flowing inside the coconut - not sure if it was an illusion, he actually found it quite familiar.

He paused for a moment, grabbed the coconut and brought it to his eyes. He blinked, and with his other hand gently tapped the coconut, causing it to crack open instantly.

Inside, there was mildly fragrant coconut water, with a black sphere the size of a dragon eye bobbing up and down.

Using his fingers, he pinched the black sphere, and immediately the familiar call echoed in his ears again: "...find me...come find me...find the beacon I left behind, it will guide your way......"

So, the Summoner left guidance beacons in this plane, hidden inside coconuts?

Richard raised his eyebrows... So this time, is he meant to become a coconut farmer? But he wondered how many beacons it would take to generate a space jump point.

He pursed his lips and looked at the numerous coconut trees on the island.

There was a quiet moment, then "whoosh," a sudden gust whipped towards the coconut trees.

...

A brief moment.

Regardless of maturity, all the island’s coconuts were blown away from the palm trees, their shells shattered, and the black beads inside flew out, gathering in an open space at the island’s center.

Then, an orange space jump point appeared.

Richard stepped inside.

...

Time swiftly passed.

After that, Richard searched one plane after another for beacons, continuing his journey.

During this process, he discovered that many beacons were quite peculiar.

For instance, he generated a space jump point using a lizard’s tooth in a desert plane, spawned a space jump point with white bones in a marshland, created a space jump point with fish scales in a pond, and generated a space jump point using bird feathers in the sky...

However strange the beacons were, he could sense they were indeed functioning, allowing him to traverse from plane to plane, gradually approaching the Summoner’s location.

Until...

...

After a lengthy time.

Once again crossing a space jump point, waiting for the surrounding spatial fluctuations to stabilize, Richard looked around and found himself in a desolate wasteland.

The wasteland appeared forlorn, beyond the desolation was a sense of melancholy.

Indeed, melancholy.

Within his view, the wasteland surface was marked by ravines thousands to tens of thousands of meters long, like scars plowed into the earth. The ravine walls were crystallized from intense heat, showing no sign of recovery even after countless years.

Besides the ravines, there were countless giant pits with diameters of hundreds of meters and depths of tens of meters. The edges of the pits were charred, devoid of trees, not even a blade of grass, with no trace of life, like a complete dead zone.

The surroundings were quiet, but viewing the scene evoked a sense of sadness from the earth, and even the entire plane.

Clearly, these were the effects of powerful spells. A fierce battle should have occurred here, which led to all that could be seen.

What on earth happened?

As Richard was contemplating, a hoarse voice similar to the previous call drifted from afar, but more clear: "You’ve finally arrived, huh? Confused? Then come see me, I’m waiting for you here."

Richard followed the sound and saw a towering mountain at the wasteland’s edge.

Judging from the distance, he estimated the mountain’s height to be astonishing, rising to over twenty-five thousand meters.

What concept is this?

It’s essential to understand that due to gravity, composition, and other factors, a mountain’s height cannot increase indefinitely. It reaches a point where the mountain’s weight will crush it, like a massive Blue Whale leaving the water, losing buoyant support, and crushing itself.

Thus, Earth’s highest Mount Everest, though its altitude is nearly nine thousand meters, it rests on a plateau over four thousand five hundred meters elevation, so the actual mountain height is just over three thousand meters.

While including Earth, the highest mountain in the entire Solar System, Mars’s Mount Olympus, only rises over the Martian benchmark by more than twenty-one thousand meters.

The mountain in the distance surpasses Mars’s Mount Olympus in height.

Indeed, it’s a very conspicuous "landmark," making it easy to find... Richard stepped towards the mountain, speculating in his mind why the Summoner chose to dwell atop a mountain over twenty thousand meters... Surely it wasn’t for sending summon signals more conveniently was it... Like a signal tower, the higher it’s built, the further it broadcasts... But why not directly construct a Floating City, since the Ancient Wizard Civilization had the technology... And since the Summoner could find someone across multiple planes, they obviously possessed this capability...

...

Filling with curiosity, Richard increased his speed, advancing to the mountain’s base.

A winding path appeared, leading straight to the summit. Beside the path, a crooked stone tablet stood, inscribed with faint Ancient Wizard Civilization common script: Autai... The Third... Research Institute...

Upon seeing the tablet’s content, Richard felt a subtle shift within, realizing "Autai" referred to the native plane of the Ancient Wizard Civilization, the origin of the entire civilization.

He wasn’t too surprised about the Summoner being on the home plane, but the desolation and melancholy connected to it heightened his curiosity about what truly transpired.

He stepped onto the winding mountain path and ascended towards the summit.

During the ascent, Richard noticed the mountain’s composition was somewhat unique, lighter than ordinary rocks, possibly explaining its remarkable height.

Moreover, the entire mount seemed to vibrate subtly at regular intervals, as if placed on a tremor machine, with stone chips and debris continually falling, raising doubts about a possible landslide.

Ultimately, no landslide occurred, and Richard safely reached the summit.

The summit was a flatland on which an ordinary two-story stone building stood.

In front of the building was a stone platform, where a burly elder stood, appearing about sixty years old, sternly serious yet imposing. However, his attire of a wide red monk’s robe and a bald head brighter than Sharye’s added an element of surprise.

The one who called, was actually... a monk?

Richard was startled.

At this moment, the other sensed Richard’s arrival, slowly turned around, and nodded at Richard as a form of greeting. However, without engaging in conversation, he placed a finger against his lips in a shushing gesture, then turned back around, proceeding to open a purplish-red wooden box beneath him.

Richard found it odd but refrained from rash actions, opting to patiently watch.

After all, having traveled through so many planes to reach here, waiting a few more minutes was manageable.

Then Richard saw the elderly red-robed monk take out a scroll from the box.

...