Chapter 1149: Worst-Case Scenario, Spell Success

The so-called 【Root Modification】 is actually a Transmutation spell starting at the 9th Circle, aiming to utilize the laws of element transformation to adjust the element affinity of a Plane Root.

It can be used to adjust the proportions between various elements, or to derive new elements that were not previously present through transformation.

For example, in the 【Yellow Sand Semi-Plane】, the Water Element is missing from the Plane Root, making it impossible for water within the plane to exist stably for long.

If it were a plane with complete elements, even if all physical water were artificially extracted, it would eventually reappear through element transformation in a proportion not much different from before.

Although the time for this natural transformation might be a bit longer, it is still much better than the constant loss of physical water within the 【Yellow Sand Semi-Plane】!

Before formally carrying out the Root Modification on the Yellow Sand Semi-Plane, Xia Duo returned to the Tower of Time, rested for a while, and temporarily requisitioned more than ten Standard Arcane Crystals from the Tower of Time's strategic reserves.

Xia Duo has now reached the ninth layer of the Magic Net and can save up one Standard Arcane Crystal every four or five days on average; it was only because his level rose too quickly and his previous savings were meager that he had to requisition them from the Tower of Time first.

One Standard Arcane Crystal is roughly the real consumption of a Ten-Ring Spell, meaning that an Arcanist can consume one Standard Arcane Crystal to cast a Ten-Ring Spell in an environment without a Magic Net.

Xia Duo originally had four or five on him, and adding the dozen or so temporarily requisitioned from the Tower of Time, he had twenty Standard Arcane Crystals in hand; no matter what accidents occurred, he could handle them calmly!

……

After finishing the material preparations, Xia Duo also went to the Plane Exploration Array Core to record the signal patterns of the Guidance Beacon for the inter-plane layers.

In case he messed up and ended up stranded in an alien plane, he could at least have some hope.

Of course, such a situation would most likely not happen.

Generally, the alien planes one might end up stranded in would certainly not be too far from the Main Plane in terms of space-time; in such a case, one could simply teleport back, and there would be no need for stuff like ultra-long-distance navigation.

Only someone like Saville, who was banished by Divine Punishment, would need this thing.

It is similar to deep space navigation in the Earth universe; in an extremely distant, unfamiliar star region, if one cannot find some special markers (such as a pulsar array) and still wants to go home, that is almost a fantasy.

But out of caution, Xia Duo still made such preparations; of course, being even more cautious would mean not doing such experiments at all, but how can one live in this world without taking any risks?

People can even choke to death while eating; as long as one prepares sufficient countermeasures, it is fine!

……

Originally, while in the Preparation Teleportation Hall, Xia Duo was still a bit nervous, but when he stepped into the Yellow Sand Semi-Plane, his mood quickly calmed down.

This time, he did not go to the place furthest from the Portal to cast the spell, but instead chose a location near the Portal that was unaffected by it and had higher ground with no standing water.

After going through the spellcasting details in his consciousness one last time and confirming that the spell itself had no problems, Xia Duo slowly expanded his Arcane Fire into a Micro Magic Net.

Just as he was about to cast the spell, he seemed to think of something, took five Standard Arcane Crystals from his Personal Space, put four into the inner pocket of his Mage Robe, and converted one into Arcane Energy to merge back into the Micro Magic Net.

Only then did he begin casting the spell unhurriedly.

Arcane Fire and Arcane Energy spellcasting do not require adaptation to the local Magic Net, so Xia Duo did not need to specifically adjust the spell for it.

With the spellcasting ability he had honed in the Main Plane, although he could not yet compare to those veteran Senior Arcanists, he could be considered quite fluent, without any stumbling.

A typical academic style of spellcasting. (Strictly following the spellcasting steps stipulated by the Principles of the spell, emphasizing stability above all; lacking in flexibility, and the speed might not be as fast as specifically explored quick-casting.)

As the spell progressed, Xia Duo discovered that the surrounding Magic Net showed a stress reaction; although he did not directly Control the Magic Net within the semi-plane, the Magic Net was still affected by his spell.

The stress reaction was extremely intense, almost causing changes in the celestial phenomena.

Countless illusions of element transformation suddenly appeared within the semi-plane; of course, they were not just illusions—if Xia Duo had any spare energy at this moment, he could completely convert these illusions into reality.

But he had no spare energy to do this, nor was there any fundamental need to do so.

He simply let these stress-induced illusions grow more and more, almost filling the entire semi-plane.

These illusions surrounded Xia Duo's body, even making him feel as if he had traveled to a brand-new, extremely dangerous world on the verge of elemental riot.

This level of change, once it became real, would be something he might not be able to withstand even with layers of Protection on him at this moment.

But he also knew that as long as his spell did not go out of control, there was no possibility for these illusions to turn into reality.

With this thought, Xia Duo cast the spell even more cautiously; after squeezing all distracting thoughts out of his mind, the spell quickly reached the critical moment—

The massive Arcane Energy that had been quietly circulating within his own Micro Magic Net finally had an outlet for release: a complex structure woven from a large number of Magic Net Strings, a 9th Circle spell energy circuit with numerous elements!

As the spell was completed, Xia Duo finally breathed a sigh of relief; at this step, he only needed to maintain the existence of the Micro Magic Net to support the existence of the spell, and did not need to do anything more.

Next, it would depend on whether the transformation process was intense or not!

……

Beyond his vision.

The moment Xia Duo's spell was completed, a vast power was born out of thin air; as soon as it appeared, it reached deep into an unfathomable place, giving rise to incredible changes.

Before long, Xia Duo felt the ground tremble slightly, and the illusions produced by the stress of the surrounding Magic Net environment were gradually fading.

"Is that it—"

Xia Duo was clearly somewhat dissatisfied.

He had already prepared for the plane to collapse, and was just wanting to see whether the plane would disintegrate into elements or shatter into multiple smaller semi-planes upon collapse.

Yet he did not expect the final result to be so plain and so calm, which truly disappointed him.

However, to a certain extent, this also proved the feasibility of 【Root Modification】 in practical Application; as for the effect—

Xia Duo had already seen that the Magic Net environment in the semi-plane had undergone some subtle changes; upon a slight attempt, although elements related to "water" still could not be expressed, compared to the unchanging state after the previous 【Element Contamination】, having a change was the greatest harvest.

The 【Root Modification】 that Xia Duo performed could perhaps also be called 【Water Element Transformation】, aiming to convert other elements of the Plane Root into Water Element.

The impact of this spell on the material level, in the short term, is very small.

No more water surged onto the ground of the semi-plane; on the contrary, because of the element transformation caused by the lack of Water Element roots, there was even less water.

Casting a spell to probe the element affinity of the Plane Root, Water Element did indeed appear, but the proportion was extremely low, far from enough to support the proportion of existing physical water in the semi-plane.