Chapter 77: Spell Perfected

The next morning, the ninth-layer Awakening Platform.

【Ding! You have invested 10 Merit Points into the spell “Infernal Burn,” gaining +5 EXP (10 × 50%)】

Twenty points of Wuxing plus twenty points of Awakening Mist bonus…

The final 10% naturally comes from the Heaven-grade anomaly flame, 【True Ultimate Flame】.

This pushed Lin Mo’s Merit Point efficiency straight to 50%, a new high.

Of course, this applies only to fire-element spells.

He glanced at the spell experience bar on his panel: 【Infernal Burn: 6/5000】

At this rate, he could max out Infernal Burn’s proficiency in about eight days.

He fell into brief indecision.

After days of relentless grinding, he steadily accumulated around 1,200 Merit Points daily.

Now, 【Five-Spirit Dao Body】 was steadily advancing: 6,350/10,000.

He was getting closer to cultivating the 【Five-Spirit Dao Body】, nearly two-thirds complete.

Add today, and another seven or eight days would fill the bar—but…

“The arena battle timing still hasn’t been set.”

Lin Mo thought to himself.

According to spies he’d placed among the team leaders, the exact date would be set only after these enlightened prodigies awoke.

Estimating the timeline, it would likely be mid-July, plus preparation time…

July 20th—that was Lin Mo’s estimate.

Less than ten days remained until then; if he insisted on maxing out 【Five-Spirit Dao Body】, he’d have little Merit Points left for 【Infernal Burn】.

“At best, I’d only have enough to raise Infernal Burn to Minor Attainment.”

Lin Mo calculated the exact number, then shook his head.

With the mid-grade spell 【Heavenly Thunder Incantation】 as a benchmark, he had no doubt about the power of a Rank-1 Jipin spell.

But if proficiency was too low, it was uncertain whether the Jipin spell could unleash its full potential.

Each proficiency tier increased spell power in distinct steps.

【Heavenly Thunder Incantation】 proved this: the perfected version was twice as powerful as the beginner version, with marked improvements in casting speed and efficiency.

That’s why he’d scored a perfect score in the Immortal Exam Realm with just one mid-grade spell.

According to Long A, prodigies who reached the ninth-layer Awakening Platform all had at least one Great Attainment or Peak Attainment upper-grade spell.

Of course, figures like Chu Wange, who’d maxed out over a dozen perfected sword spells, were exceedingly rare.

After all, Chu Wange hit five hundred points because the Realm’s perfect score was only five hundred.

Back to the matter at hand—the appearance of this Jipin spell had disrupted Lin Mo’s original plan.

He’d initially prioritized 【Five-Spirit Dao Body】 to boost Merit Point efficiency.

But with the arena battle imminent, if he wanted to keep his meditation cushion’s 20-point Wuxing bonus, prioritizing cultivation was no longer viable…

Thinking this through, Lin Mo no longer hesitated and began investing Merit Points into 【Infernal Burn】:

【Ding! You have invested 1,000 Merit Points into the spell “Infernal Burn,” gaining +500 EXP (1,000 × 50%)】

【Ding! Infernal Burn’s proficiency has reached Beginner Level.】

Beginner level in one second.

Countless knowledge points about 【Infernal Burn】 flooded his mind; the five-colored aura around him flared brighter—red intensified, and a flame surged from his heart.

“So hot! So hot!”

Lin Mo felt searing heat in his chest.

As he took a deep breath and exhaled the heat, his understanding of 【Infernal Burn】 grew clearer.

The once obscure Dao incantations had been stripped down to their simplest, most brutal form—complex tools suddenly became easy.

He instinctively tried casting it, but remembered he was on the Awakening Platform and forcibly held back.

Several hours later…

In the cliff-top Dao hall.

“Pure Yang Guidance, guiding fire back to origin, true flame refining form… Activate!”

As Lin Mo formed the hand seal, a column of blazing fire erupted from the distant platform, engulfing the target entirely.

The surrounding temperature rose sharply; a wave of heat rushed toward him.

“Shhh-shhh-shhh!”

Flames burned fiercely through the air, consuming the target.

After one minute, the fire gradually subsided.

The target, forged from special material, was now heavily scorched across its entire surface.

“Not bad for damage!”

Lin Mo squinted at the heavily burned target.

Infernal Burn, barely at Beginner Level, already matched the damage of 【Heavenly Thunder Incantation】 at early Great Attainment.

The contrast was unmistakable.

Most crucially, 【Heavenly Thunder Incantation】 consumed a fixed 200 true qi per cast.

Even at Qi Refining Level 8, he could only unleash twenty thunderbolts at once.

But 【Infernal Burn】 was different—the range and damage of its Dao fire could be controlled by true qi output.

The more true qi invested, the wider the area and the greater the damage.

“If I’d mastered Infernal Burn back then, I wouldn’t have needed to go through all that trouble upgrading sword techniques and stance training to score perfect in the Realm.”

Lin Mo was highly satisfied with 【Infernal Burn】—not just its damage, but its exceptional controllability, which was rare.

Even if he only raised it to Minor Attainment, he might still score perfect in the Immortal Exam Realm.

Of course, Jipin spells were rare finds.

Neither Long A, nor past Immortal Exam runners-up like Zhuang Weinan, had ever trained any Jipin spell before the Immortal Exam.

This showed just how scarce Jipin spells were at Rank-1.

【Infernal Burn】 was comprehensive in every way—aside from requiring 5,000 proficiency points, it had almost no flaws.

With his current exaggerated fire-spell cultivation bonus, maxing it out would take only a few days.

“If I truly reach Perfection, how devastating would the damage be…”

A hint of anticipation glimmered in his eyes.

…

…

July 16th, clear weather.

【Ding! You have invested 1,000 Merit Points into the spell “Infernal Burn,” gaining +550 EXP (1,000 × 55%)】

【Ding! Infernal Burn has reached Perfection, bonus acquired: Speed of cultivating Rank-1 fire spells increased by 10%】

As the two prompts echoed in his ears, Lin Mo snapped open his eyes—done!

He exhaled deeply, finally smiling.

At that moment, he felt someone pat his shoulder.

“Bro, uh, Brother Lin!”

He turned to see Long A, having awakened from his enlightenment, raising an eyebrow at him.

“You’re awake?”

Lin Mo looked at him in surprise.

By now, many prodigies’ enlightenment periods were ending.

Earlier awakeners like Chen Xuanzhi and Feng Ji had already returned to consciousness.

Today, even Long A had finished—stretching his body as he spoke:

“Just woke up, my bones are stiff as dried wood. Let’s go stretch over there?”

Lin Mo didn’t refuse.

Even without Long A, he’d spent about three hours daily on 【Rising Sun Art】 stance training.

The proficiency gain was secondary; the real benefit was improved stamina and energy for working late nights for Zhuang Weinan.

Without 【Rising Sun Art】, he might not have survived Zhuang Weinan’s nightly “exploitation.”

Seeing him agree, Long A sprang up eagerly:

“Let’s go—I’m about to burst, and I’ve got to reply to my goddess. Haven’t been online for days; Xiao Li and the others must be frantic.”

Less part-time income? Yeah, they should be frantic… Lin Mo muttered inwardly, then rose—only to suddenly remember something.

He instinctively looked ahead: the figure in the blue robe still sat motionless at the cliff’s edge, unmoving as a mountain.

Chu Wange, the first new student to enter enlightenment, still hadn’t awakened.

This had even surprised the nine Dao Academy team leaders.

Last night, Zhuang Weinan had told Lin Mo that deep enlightenment usually lasted fourteen days—Chu Wange had clearly surpassed that limit.

Counting today, it was already fifteen days.

“Why hasn’t this guy woken up? Is something wrong?”

He muttered to himself, but had no way to help.

Enlightenment was profoundly mysterious—forcibly interrupting it could even cause qi deviation.

None of the senior disciples from the Nine Great Academies could handle it, let alone him.

Lin Mo shook his head and followed Long A down the nine-level Awakening Platform, heading toward the mountain path; just as they were about to descend the final steps, a powerful mountain wind suddenly struck from behind.

“Whoosh!”

Lin Mo and Long A turned around in shock, seeing a nearly transparent lotus blossom floating in midair atop the nine-level Awakening Cliff.

All of them—including every new disciple on the nine-level Awakening Platform—felt a sharp sword intent surging toward them, stinging their faces like fire.

“It’s Chu Wange!”

Long A immediately identified the source of that sword intent.

Who else but Chu Wange, who held the top position on the cliff?

Lin Mo’s pupils contracted slightly; if it had been the Lin Mo before coming to the Awakening Platform, he might have exclaimed, “Damn, awesome!”

But now, he had a clear enough understanding of the power behind magical arts and divine techniques.

The sword intent within this blade was Jizhi and pure.

Merely observing it from afar made one tremble from within.

“What is this?”

Lin Mo couldn’t help asking.

A cold, clear voice came from behind him—

“It’s a natal flying sword.”

He turned instinctively and saw He Feng standing behind him, his gaze burning as he stared at the translucent lotus in midair, repeating:

“This is a nurtured natal flying sword—Sister Chu is about to awaken!”