Chapter 454: New Spells

Inside the core laboratory of the Hellfire Sulfur Dimension.

After returning from the boundary point, Gao Jie Ming did not rush to celebrate the preliminary success of the interdimensional energy transmission system.

He sat before the control console, where several holographic screens floated before him, displaying real-time operational data of the Incense God Path, status reports of his inner dantian, and the training progress of the Black Giant Legion.

His fingers tapped unconsciously against the metal surface, his gaze calm, yet his mind racing with calculations.

The successful installation and preliminary validation of the Incense God Path's interdimensional energy transmission system brought one direct benefit: a deeper understanding of spiritual energy laws.

According to his most recent self-assessment and tests, his mastery of spiritual energy laws had steadily risen from around 14% to 20%.

This increase was significant, yet within expectations.

After all, designing and overseeing the construction of a complex system spanning the entire dimension—encompassing energy conversion, spatial transmission, and faith network interaction—was itself the most direct practice of spiritual energy laws.

Although modifications were needed to align the system with the wizards' elemental framework, conversely, every technical hurdle overcome and every energy circuit optimized gave him a more concrete understanding of spiritual energy's essence.

But Gao Jie Ming knew clearly that this 20% mastery was merely the dividend from the "prototype" version of this vast system.

The interdimensional energy transmission system still had considerable room for optimization, and many subordinate subsystems of the Incense God Path awaited research and installation.

But the problem was—time.

Each subsystem's research, design, testing, and construction was a project measured in centuries.

And the war among the three major wizard factions, as Master Clark had foretold, was barely seventy years away.

More importantly, many of the Incense God Path's subsequent subsystems were primarily geared toward "logistics" and "development," such as increasing spiritual energy output and optimizing the dimension's environment.

Even subsystems that enhanced combat power often did so indirectly—for example, the Deity System.

These were undoubtedly vital, capable of long-term boosts to his potential and foundation, but for the imminent frontal war, the immediate combat power gains… were negligible.

Even if a subsystem could raise his spiritual energy mastery by another 5% or even 10%, translated into actual combat power, it might merely grant him a few extra seconds in a wizard war brimming with diverse tactics, without producing a decisive qualitative change.

"I need a solution that can dramatically boost combat power in the short term." Gao Jie Ming lowered his gaze, scanning the data and plans representing long-term development on the holograms, then shifted his eyes away.

He naturally thought of two directions.

One was to continue using temporal afterimages for extreme physical training.

The sensation of rapid evolution under life-or-death pressure was captivating, and the massive gains in physical condition had directly translated into combat power.

But…

Gao Jie Ming turned his awareness inward and clearly perceived that his essence, qi, and spirit were still not fully balanced.

Forcing further physical evolution via temporal afterimages might exacerbate this imbalance and even bring risks.

"I probably need another decade or so… to slowly 'nourish' and 'adapt' my spiritual power and mental energy until they catch up to my physical level before attempting such intense training again." Gao Jie Ming estimated.

A decade or so was not long—it would be enough to complete a second round of training before the war—but it could not be wasted.

Since the wizard system currently offered no particularly efficient short-term enhancement path, his attention naturally turned to another system… cultivation.

"Soul Transformation…" Gao Jie Ming's eyes flickered with sharp light.

This realm, within the cultivation system, was inherently defined as the stage for boosting combat power.

Soul Transformation cultivators were freed from lifespan constraints, possessing near-infinite time to refine their spiritual arts and study lethal techniques, allowing combat power gaps to widen to unimaginable degrees.

Moreover, he held a proven technique for modifying spiritual arts!

The successful modification of the Flame of Annihilation was the best example.

The three dark-gold staffs had now become one of his most intimidating single-target killing tools.

"Continue modifying more, stronger cultivation arts… this is indeed a viable path to rapidly enhance combat power." Gao Jie Ming grew increasingly convinced.

Furthermore, the process of modifying arts was itself an in-depth study of spiritual energy mechanics and interactions between different energy systems, equally aiding his mastery of spiritual energy laws.

"That's settled."

After making his decision, Gao Jie Ming no longer hesitated.

He rose from the console and walked to a quiet chamber at the center of the laboratory.

He sat cross-legged, shutting out all external perception, his mind slowly sinking into the deepest recesses of his consciousness.

There, a white jade pavilion, seemingly formed from boundless knowledge and light, floated silently—the Grand Dao Library.

His "consciousness-body" stood before the pavilion's entrance; with a thought, countless scrolls, jade slips, and transmission light-forms began swirling around him.

Billions of spiritual art records flowed through his perception.

"This many… is excessive."

Gao Jie Ming couldn't help but twitch his lips—this was still after filtering out the vast majority based on his criteria.

After all, some Soul Transformation arts were devastating in power but came with impossibly strict cultivation requirements.

For instance, requiring specific spiritual bodies, profound mastery of rare techniques, or dependence on rare celestial treasures or specific spiritual locations.

Though he had long known Soul Transformation was a combat-focused realm, only now, seeing this terrifying volume of arts, did Gao Jie Ming truly grasp its scale.

He rapidly scanned summaries, principle overviews, power descriptions, and cultivation conditions…

He was not seeking the arts with the highest "paper power."

Gao Jie Ming's selection criteria prioritized "mechanisms."

Because deficiencies in an art's numerical output could be dramatically compensated and enhanced through the wizard system's "elemental output multiplier" property after conversion to elemental-driven forms.

A basic Flame Spell, optimized through a wizard model, might unleash power capable of burning mountains and boiling seas.

Thus, what he truly needed were arts possessing unique "mechanisms" or "effects."

Gao Jie Ming's goal was clear: he needed arts that provided critical battlefield functions—defense, reconnaissance, mobility, control, special strikes…

And these arts had to complement his existing, ultra-lethal "Flame of Annihilation," forming a comprehensive combat system.

Time passed swiftly in his consciousness as he rapidly sifted through data.

In reality, months passed; within the Grand Dao Library's torrent of information, Gao Jie Ming performed billions of comparisons, deductions, and simulations.

Finally, three art light-forms were precisely extracted from the vast ocean and floated silently before his consciousness.

【Return to Void Armor】

Type: Defense/Counterattack

Effect: Forms a layer of ever-consuming "Return to Void Field" on the body's surface. This field actively absorbs and disintegrates most energy-based attacks, temporarily storing their energy.

Feature: The absorbed and stored energy is not wasted—the cultivator may choose to release it all at once in a critical moment, generating a powerful directional spiritual energy surge, or channel it back to rapidly restore depleted energy.

Flaw: Weak against pure physical attacks (swords, axes, blunt force); energy storage has an upper limit—overload causes field collapse and backlash; disintegration and storage require reaction time, making it potentially overwhelmed by ultra-high-frequency or extreme-energy-density saturation bombardments.

【Causal Traceback Art】

Type: Reconnaissance/Tracking/Retrospection

Effect: Captures and interprets invisible "causal traces" and "information echoes" left by a target in the environment. Can "see" the target's past movement "trail," the "connections" left by contact with others or objects, and "echoes" of intense emotions (such as killing intent, ecstatic joy, fear).

Feature: Relies on the Dao of Numerical Tracking and Reconnaissance, unaffected by conventional stealth, illusions, or terrain obstructions. Provides fixed deduction formulas, allowing even non-specialists to master it.

Useful for pursuing fleeing enemies, investigating secret events, or determining whether powerful beings have recently been active or violent conflicts occurred in a location.

Flaw: Traces fade with time—beyond forty-nine days, they vanish entirely. If the target masters "Purify Trace" or "Sever Connection" arts, possesses corresponding magic treasures, or is in a location of chaotic fate and disrupted causality, the art becomes ineffective.

Interpreting strong emotional echoes risks contaminating the caster's own mind.

【Grand Void Step】

Type: Mobility/Stealth

Effect: Temporarily "etherealizes" the body, adjusting spiritual power fluctuations to perfectly resonate with surrounding heavenly spiritual energy.

In this state, movement becomes ultra-fast, far exceeding conventional teleportation techniques.

When stationary, one can further "merge" into the spiritual background of the current environment (e. g., the solidity of rock, the vitality of trees, the fluidity of water), achieving exceptional stealth.

Feature: Low energy cost during movement, ideal for long-range raids or battlefield mobility.

In stealth mode, nearly undetectable by conventional spiritual sense or spiritual vision—ideal for infiltration, espionage, and surprise attacks.

Flaw: Maintaining "etherealization" and "resonance" consumes significant spiritual sense, preventing prolonged duration.

Any attack or violent motion breaks resonance, producing detectable fluctuations and revealing one's position.

In environments with sparse, depleted, or violently chaotic spiritual energy (e. g., Spirit-Dead Zones, centers of large forbidden spells), effectiveness plummets or vanishes entirely.

Looking at the three selected art light-forms, Gao Jie Ming's eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

They were not the most brutal or famous Soul Transformation arts, but their "mechanisms" were uniquely distinctive.

In their respective domains, their effects were outstanding and difficult to replace.

More importantly, their core mechanisms largely depended on high-level understanding and manipulation of energy, information, and environment.

And these aspects were precisely the parts that could be analyzed, optimized, and even enhanced through wizard knowledge.

(End of Chapter)