Chapter 402 Spell Models and a Return to Tradition
The laboratory lights were adjusted to a soft, cool white, focusing on the suspended 3D model in the center of the workbench.
Standing on the stage, Jemin saw countless flowing runes and energy trajectories reflected in his eyes.
His fingertips traced patterns in the air, each touch causing subtle adjustments to the model's internal structure. It wasn't the geometric stacking commonly used by wizard runes, but rather a natural evolution closer to the "vein growth" of magic in the cultivation world.
With one year left before his departure for the Reincarnation Plane, he finally completed this research project that had taken nearly a century.
Strictly speaking, this dazzlingly complex three-dimensional structure cannot be simply called a "magic model".
Its core comes from a Nascent Soul stage killing technique recorded in the "Great Dao Book Pavilion"—the Divine Light of Extinction of Fire.
"Based on the essence of fire, and infused with the meaning of extinction, it transforms into light and travels, bringing everything to nothingness wherever it goes."
This is the original text from the jade slip.
In the world of cultivation, this spell is known for its concentrated power and extremely fast speed; when cultivated to a high level, it can even burn through spatial barriers.
However, it has a fatal limitation: it must be driven by pure fire-attribute spiritual power, and it has extremely high requirements for the cultivator's realm and spiritual power reserves.
The transformation process was more difficult than expected.
The first step is to replace the driver source.
The Divine Light of Extinction originally relied on the unique "endless life" attribute of spiritual power to maintain its flame, but the elemental energy in the wizarding world is more inclined to "burst release".
Jemin had to sacrifice the spell's "continuous burning" and "Daoist erosion" effects, retaining only the purest "high temperature" and "annihilation" attributes.
Then comes structural adaptation.
The magic of cultivators emphasizes "the mind moves the magic," and the model itself has extremely high flexibility.
The sorcery model strives for "stability and reproducibility," meaning that the position and connection angle of each rune must not deviate in the slightest.
It took Jemin a full ten years to find a solution that made the two systems compatible at the energy flow level.
Finally, and most importantly: boost the output multiplier.
The reason why wizards can overwhelm most extraordinary systems of the same level is that they enhance the "elemental multiplier".
The same ball of fire element can only ignite a flame in the hands of an apprentice, but can transform into a wall of fire in the hands of a formal wizard, and can even trigger a chain reaction in the hands of a high-level wizard, creating a fire storm that covers the entire city.
"...It's done."
He stopped pointing and let out a long sigh of relief.
The model in front of us has stabilized.
The overall structure is a spiraling light cone, with 3,600 main energy nodes and more than 100,000 secondary patterns inside. Two-thirds of these are wizard runes, and one-third are cultivation runes.
The patterns from two different systems intertwined, creating a strange sense of harmony.
Jemin nodded in satisfaction, but then shook his head regretfully.
"The elemental amplification rate... is still not high enough."
He advanced to the fourth level wizard too quickly.
The price he paid was that his knowledge was far from reaching the average level of a fourth-level wizard.
"At this current enhancement rate, we've probably only reached the lower limit of a level four wizard," Jemin estimated. "If I could spend a few hundred more years honing my skills and thoroughly understand the 'Elemental Multiplier Superposition Theory' and 'Higher-Order Energy Compression Geometry,' I could at least advance another level..."
However, even so, with the combined effects of "environmental energy utilization of the cultivator system" and "multiplier enhancement of the wizard system," the theoretical destructive power of this modified version of the Divine Light of Extinction has already surpassed the lower limit of a regular level six wizardry.
More importantly, monk magic has an advantage that wizard magic can hardly match: flexibility.
The base attack speed of the Blazing Annihilation Divine Light is the speed of light—this has been fully preserved in the modification.
Depending on the caster's intentions, it can be a "point-kill mode" that condenses all energy into the size of a needle tip to achieve ultimate penetration, or it can be a "flooding mode" that spreads evenly and covers tens of millions of square kilometers.
It can even dynamically adjust between the two modes.
"Give it a try."
Jemin waved to put away the model and turned to walk towards the testing ground deep inside the laboratory.
Jemin activated the control runes, and the space of the site began to unfold layer by layer—five thousand kilometers, ten thousand kilometers, and finally settled at fifty thousand kilometers.
He stood at the edge of the field and raised his right hand.
There was no chanting, no complicated spellcasting movements, just a thought.
The Ring of Truth within his body resonated instantly, and a massive amount of spiritual energy circulated rapidly along the modified spell model.
Half a second.
After only half a second of charging up, Jemin felt the surrounding environmental elements begin to surge violently.
Fire elements were forcibly drawn from the walls, from the depths of the earth, and even from the space itself, converging in front of his palm.
Then, light appeared.
It was a pure, breathtakingly white-gold beam of light, no more than the thickness of a thumb, yet it caused the temperature in the entire testing area to soar instantly.
The moment it left Jemin's palm, it reached its maximum speed—the true speed of light. Within the expanded 50,000-kilometer test range, it took less than 0.17 seconds to travel from one end to the other.
Jemin adjusted the target, and the beam suddenly spread out during flight, transforming into a fan-shaped light curtain that evenly covered all target areas within a diameter of three thousand kilometers in front of it.
high temperature.
Annihilation.
All matter is instantly broken down into elementary particles upon contact.
"Range and speed tests...passed." He recorded the data and switched modes.
This time, there were six pre-positioned Level 6 protective targets—simulating the standard defensive force field of a Level 6 wizard.
Each target's surface is covered with multiple layers of composite shields, enough to withstand continuous bombardment from a regular level six sorcery spell.
The divine light, which had been extinguished by the fire, re-condensed into a beam.
The first beam hit the bullseye, the shield flickered violently, and the outermost layer instantly overloaded and collapsed.
The second beam followed immediately, piercing through the second layer of shield and causing the third layer of shield to shake violently.
"It penetrates two layers of level six shields, and the third layer is severely damaged." Jemin calmly analyzed, "The destructive power is not top-notch among level six sorcery, but it excels in extreme concentration and can attack at a very high frequency."
"This tactic should be sufficient to deal with non-wizard indigenous civilizations."
In the final round of testing, Jemin adjusted the spell's coverage area to the maximum.
The beam of light spread rapidly after leaving the palm, eventually forming an ocean of light with a diameter of over 8,000 kilometers.
Although the destructive power per unit area had decreased, the sheer force that seemed capable of destroying the entire continent still secretly alarmed Jemin.
“It’s much stronger than using cultivator methods to enhance witchcraft before.” He looked at the various data flashing on the instrument next to him and kept comparing them in his mind. “Back then, it could at most destroy the ecosystem of a continent. Now… it can really sink a continent.”
After the test, Jemin returned to his workbench and retrieved all the data he had just recorded.
Overall, his modification of the spell was a great success.
The advantages of the modified spell model are obvious:
Attacks at the speed of light, almost impossible to dodge.
Flexible and adjustable, suitable for both targeted attacks and area cleanup.
The destructive power is also acceptable.
Moreover, it is powered by the environment, so its own energy consumption is relatively low.
However, its shortcomings are equally prominent.
After thinking for a moment, Jemin began recording on the instrument next to him:
First, the release mechanism cannot achieve "continuous firing".
The fundamental difference between monk magic and wizard magic lies in the "driving logic".
Sorcery operates on a "encapsulation-trigger" model. As long as the model is stable and there is enough energy, it can theoretically release more than a dozen spells per second.
However, spells rely more on the caster's "real-time control" of energy flow, and each release requires complete spiritual guidance and environmental resonance.
Even if Jemin optimizes the model to its limit, he still needs at least a 0.3-second interval between each use of the Divine Light of Annihilation—and this is based on the premise that he simultaneously possesses the Ring of Truth and the divine consciousness of the Nascent Soul Realm.
Second, the energy storage time is unavoidable.
The amount of external energy mobilized by spells at the Nascent Soul stage is too great.
Even with the support of a level-five large elemental pool within the inner cave, it would still take at least half a second to charge up in order to complete the series of processes of "extracting environmental elements → compressing and transforming → injecting into the model → maintaining stability".
This half-second might not seem like much in low-intensity combat, but in battles between equals or even higher-level opponents, it's enough for the enemy to come up with a dozen different responses.
“Moreover, this drawback cannot be solved even if the spell model is inscribed into a rune artifact.” Jemin frowned. “Rune artifacts only lower the threshold for casting, but the physical process of energy filling cannot be shortened…”
He fell into deep thought.
We need a way to pre-store "fully charged" spells, so that they can be instantly activated when needed, and ideally, they can be recharged and used repeatedly...
Sigh... wait a minute.
Jemin suddenly froze.
This requirement... why does it sound so familiar?
He slowly raised his head and looked at the display shelves on the other side of the laboratory.
There were several high-level magical artifacts he had purchased during his early days as a low-level wizard: a staff that could store "Fireblast", a ring that could trigger "Iceblast" three times, and a set of boots that could automatically release "Void Transfer".
They are all traditional witchcraft items.
The operating principle of traditional witchcraft artifacts is precisely to pre-store a complete witchcraft model inside the artifact and maintain its stable state with solidified runes, isn't it?
The user only needs to inject a small amount of mental energy to trigger the spell, which will then be released according to a preset trajectory. After the spell is released, the artifact will automatically absorb energy from the environment or the charging crystal to prepare for the next release.
“I…” Jemin opened his mouth, then suddenly laughed.
Laughter welled up from deep in his throat, initially tinged with self-deprecation, but later turning into genuine, hearty laughter.
He, Jemin, is a genius wizard who graduated from the Alchemy Department of Norren Academy, started his career with rune artifacts, and focuses his research on "dual-system fusion"...
After nearly a thousand years of research and countless efforts to create a cross-system spell, the solution to overcome its shortcomings was to return to the most basic traditional ideas of making magical artifacts.
"Haha...that's really interesting."
He wiped away the physiological tears that came from the corners of his eyes as he laughed, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Yes, why not?
The core advantages of talismanic artifacts are their "low barrier to entry" and "environmental power supply," making them suitable for protracted battles.
However, traditional magical artifacts still have irreplaceable value in terms of "instantaneous burst" and "specific functions".
If we were to encapsulate the model of the Fiery Annihilation Divine Light into a specially made magical artifact, just like encapsulating witchcraft...
No, not even "like".
Just make it into a "Fire Extinction Divine Light Emitter".
Each magical artifact contains a complete beam of light, powered by a level 5 elemental pool.
Normally, it is stored inside the body and automatically recharges. In times of war, when an instantaneous barrage of firepower is needed, it can be taken out and unleashed a light-speed strike with the power of a level six weapon.
If we were to go even further and use the high-purity "incense power" produced from incense and religious practices as a catalyst, we might even be able to recreate the "Taoist erosion" effect of the original spell...
The more Jemin thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
He turned back to his workbench, waved to clear the previous model projection, and brought up a brand new design interface.
This time, the left side of the interface displays the complete spell structure of the Divine Light of Extinction, while the right side shows the classic encapsulation array of traditional witchcraft artifacts.
What he had to do was to fit the things on the left side into the frame on the right side perfectly.
“There’s still a year left, enough time to make a prototype,” Jemin muttered to himself, his fingers already beginning a new round of sketching. “I’ll have to bring some new toys with me when I go to the Reincarnation Position.”
(End of this chapter)
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