Chapter 1253: One-Thought Casting, Core Completion

Just as the worsening of a tumor (the expansion of the glow's range) should not have its true source in the condition that leads to the worsening (the Master-Apprentice Ritual), but rather in the original condition that caused the tumor to appear (Faith Power).

Currently, Xia Duo has no way to isolate Faith Power at all, so he might as well tacitly assume that the glow effect is positive.

After all, with the help of the small space reflected by the glow, Xia Duo can freely travel to the Outer Planes, and even specific images within that small space can allow him to precisely locate specific areas of the Outer Planes.

From this perspective, it seems Xia Duo really has no need to doubt the positive nature of the glow.

This also means that the Master-Apprentice Ritual is highly likely to be positive, or at least has no negative effects.

……

After returning to reality, Xia Duo quickly adjusted his mental state and actively engaged with the Magic Net; ten minutes later, he began to cast a spell to link the Magic Net to the tubular Mithril Component of the Demon-Slaying Arrow core.

It is hard to tell if it was psychological, or if the Master-Apprentice Ritual—that is, the so-called "Enlightenment Ritual"—truly had an effect.

Xia Duo's spellcasting this time was incredibly smooth, with no accidents occurring throughout the entire process.

Four minutes later, as the final energy circuit was constrained and connected, the Mithril Component in front of Xia Duo erupted with a burst of intense Magic Aura.

Afterward, the aura stabilized and stopped changing, but it remained incredibly dazzling.

"This is a success?"

Xia Duo found it somewhat unbelievable; this success came too easily. He had originally thought that even with the "Enlightenment Ritual" increasing his Magic Web Compatibility, he might need to try repeatedly, and perhaps even use a Meditation Crystal, to truly succeed.

But now, let alone a Meditation Crystal, he succeeded after only one attempt following the "Enlightenment Ritual," which truly surprised him.

At the same time, this success swept away the frustration brought by the dozens of consecutive failures before, making Xia Duo feel very happy.

Xia Duo does not have a specific numerical value for Magic Web Compatibility, but through this spellcasting, compared to before, he also has a very intuitive feeling.

It seems it is not that he himself has changed, but that the Magic Net is actively cooperating with him!

The fluency of this spellcasting far exceeds the spellcasting process of Netheril Magic; Xia Duo suddenly likes Elf Magic a bit.

If one could use some determined, feasible method to increase this so-called "compatibility," then Elf Magic would be even more swift, fluent, and smooth to cast than Netheril Magic.

To some extent, "One-Thought Casting" is not just imagination, because by then, the concept of a spellcasting process will no longer exist; instead, once the thought arises, the Magic Net will automatically respond.

Just like Bloodline Spell, as one wishes, getting what one thinks of.

Of course, Xia Duo's current Magic Web Compatibility is far from enough to allow him to achieve "One-Thought Casting," and he hasn't even seen any high-level Elf Mage in the Projection Plane capable of doing so.

Because once one reaches that realm, what limits the Spellcaster is no longer Knowledge, but imagination.

Such a Spellcaster is undoubtedly terrifying; as long as they think of it, they can do almost anything, which can completely be called "invincible in the human world"!

Perhaps "Magic Web Compatibility" also has some kind of upper limit.

Xia Duo traced his memories, carefully searching for content related to Elf Magic, but unfortunately, he could not find any content related to an upper limit for Magic Web Compatibility.

Perhaps the Elves haven't thought of this part, or perhaps there is no upper limit at all, and there really are Elves who can achieve "One-Thought Casting."

Although Xia Duo came into contact with many high-level mages in 【Projection Plane: Cormanthor Birth】 and had in-depth exchanges with them, Xia Duo himself did not become a high-level mage.

Regarding where the true limits of a high-level mage's abilities lie, it is difficult to make an accurate judgment just through exchanges or the 【Sword of Ruling】.

Of course, if there is no upper limit to Magic Web Compatibility, then there is no such thing as reaching a limit, and it would be impossible for an "invincible human-world existence" to appear who could make the Magic Net automatically respond to any imagination.

As for what the reality is, Xia Duo actually doesn't care much, because "invincible in the human world" only means reaching the extreme in a certain aspect, not that it is impossible to contend with.

As long as their Magic Net is restricted, no matter how much they can "One-Thought Cast," they will have no way to act.

Additionally, the Arcane Fire of an Arcanist definitely possesses combat potential no less than "One-Thought Casting," and perhaps even exceeds it.

Regarding this, Xia Duo is full of confidence.

……

A small "Enlightenment Ritual" gave Xia Duo a deeper understanding of the Elf Magic System and even the Netheril Magic System.

Xia Duo believes that as long as he fully mines the high-level mage knowledge and experience within the 【Sword of Ruling】, it will definitely bring him earth-shaking changes.

It is just that those knowledge and experiences are "outside the light cone" of Netheril Magic; to fully utilize them, he needs to make them "communicate" with current Netheril Magic to collide and produce new Knowledge.

Of course, there is a shortcut, which is to trade with the Elven Nations of the Main Plane, but Xia Duo is not considering this for the time being; at least until the Floating City appears, he will not do that.

……

After the first success, Xia Duo succeeded four or five more times in a row.

Moreover, through these few successful spellcasting experiences, he grasped well the mental state necessary to actively fit the Magic Net during the spellcasting process of linking the Demon-Slaying Arrow Mithril Component to the Magic Net.

This is thanks to his Memory Retrospection ability, which can trace back all the details of his mental state at any moment during the spellcasting process; after that, it is just constant imitation, repetition, and even optimization and repetition.

Basically, for any complex Elf Magic (referring only to high spellcasting difficulty, not necessarily high power or difficulty to understand), as long as he succeeds once, the subsequent success rate can be increased to at least over ninety percent if he practices a few more times.

As for one hundred percent, if it were Netheril Magic constructed using mandatory feedback elements, that might be possible, but for Elf Magic based on the Synergistic Resonance between the Spellcaster and the Magic Net, it is almost impossible.

After all, mental state is very difficult to control quantitatively, and there will always be a certain deviation from the state necessary for success.

Even for Elf Mages, it is almost impossible to achieve a one hundred percent success rate; for human mages accustomed to Netheril Magic, it is even more impossible.

……

Soon, Xia Duo linked all ten Demon-Slaying Arrow core Mithril Components for the trade to the Magic Net; during this period, he only failed three times.

Compared to the dozens of consecutive failures before, these three can almost be ignored.

According to his agreement with the Halan Territory lord, he only needed to deliver at least one Demon-Slaying Arrow within three days; now that only one day has passed, Xia Duo has already completed the ten arrows roughly.

The subsequent arrow body encapsulation is really too simple compared to the previous steps; even finding a bow-making craftsman who knows nothing about Magic could do it well.

Of course, for Xia Duo, he still doesn't feel at ease handing such dangerous things as Demon-Slaying Arrows to others to do, especially those who know nothing about Magic.

If one were careless, it might not necessarily "explode," but the possibility of damaging the tubular Mithril Component that serves as the core is extremely high.

Xia Duo decided he would complete this batch of ten arrows himself, but for now—

It is almost dawn outside, and having pulled another all-nighter, he needs to go rest!