Chapter 503: Creating Arcane Fire

Although he had already become an Arcanist, it was only after experiencing multiple rehearsals and learning from Aipusi's several failed attempts that he finally succeeded in advancing.

He is already nearly 50 years old this year; if he had not received the Secret Flame Baptism, even with the use of Life Extension Magic, he would not have lived to see the day he became a Great Arcanist.

Therefore, Aiboke was filled with shock and envy at Xia Duo being about to advance at such a young age, while also feeling a little proud—after all, this was a genius he had witnessed growing up with his own eyes.

"You, you—"

For a moment, Aiboke was actually unable to speak.

Xia Duo watched silently as the expression on Aiboke's face gradually returned to calm from shock, then said, "I came over this time mainly to ask for Aiboke's help in keeping watch; I am preparing to rehearse the generation of Arcane Fire."

"Rehearse?" A look of confusion appeared on Aiboke's face.

"Yes, did you not rehearse before your advancement?"

Xia Duo's tone was so natural, as if rehearsing were a step that every Arcanist must have experienced, yet Aiboke revealed a bitter smile, "Xia Duo, oh Xia Duo, perhaps you heard of other Arcanists' rehearsals in Seventon, but the Tower of Time in the past was unable to conduct rehearsals, or rather, every rehearsal was a real-combat situation."

"Why?" Xia Duo was also somewhat curious.

"Seizing the essence of the Magic Net is actually tearing the Magic Net; as long as Arcane Fire is generated, it will cause permanent damage to the Magic Net. If not repaired by an Arcanist, the damage will persist, and the Tower of Time in the past had no Arcanists, so every opportunity for advancement was precious because the number of Advanced Laboratories was limited."

"This—" Xia Duo had not thought of this layer; if, as Aiboke said, a Mage Tower never produced an Arcanist, wouldn't it just become increasingly decadent?

Until it reached the point where even the Advanced Laboratories could not be maintained, and the possibility of any members advancing would be completely lost!

Thinking of it this way, the significance of Aiboke's successful advancement back then was not simple; perhaps that was the last available Advanced Laboratory, who knows.

However, by Xia Duo's time, he already had the conditions for advance rehearsal, and as there are more and more Arcanists in the Tower of Time, more people advancing will get the opportunity to rehearse, thereby producing more Arcanists and forming a positive cycle.

……

After some conversation, Aiboke brought Xia Duo to the hidden level located at the center of the Tower of Time's Energy Circulation; the four great Element Pools were located on this level, and the Advanced Laboratories were built around the Element Pools.

There were six in total; the one Aiboke used back then was indeed the last one, but in just over a year, two had already been repaired, which meant that including the rehearsal, Xia Duo only had two chances to attempt it in the short term.

Once used, he would have to wait for Aiboke to repair them again, and repair was not just fixing the Magic Net, but also fixing the damaged Magic Array inside, which was time-consuming, laborious, and expensive.

This was Xia Duo's first time coming to this hidden level, but he was no stranger to the Element Pools; before the Magic Net riot in the Mythallar Ruins had calmed to a certain degree, he had asked the Tower Spirit about the energy reserves of the Tower of Time almost every day.

After a long time, he had gained some understanding of the Element Pools.

The Element Pool was not a material container like a "water pool," but an energy container like a "battery," essentially a massive main energy Node linked to various parts of the Tower of Time.

The biggest difference from other energy Nodes was that it linked to the Inner Plane, capable of obtaining endless energy from the Inner Plane.

As long as the corresponding Magic Array was well maintained, this was actually similar to a perpetual motion machine and could be used indefinitely.

……

With Aiboke accompanying him, Xia Duo suppressed the thought of wandering around this level; anyway, he would have time to come back whenever he wanted in the future.

Choosing one from the two existing intact Advanced Laboratories, the two entered it together.

The furnishings inside the Advanced Laboratory were extremely simple, or rather, there were no furnishings at all, but thinking about it, tearing the Magic Net would certainly cause a Magic Net riot, and when that happened, everything inside would be in chaos, so what furnishings could remain? And what furnishings would even need to be placed?

"Xia Duo, shall we start now?"

"Let's start now." Xia Duo was a decisive person; since he had already decided, he certainly had to try it to avoid accidents during the official advancement.

Receiving Xia Duo's signal, Aiboke immediately activated the isolation Magic Array within the Advanced Laboratory and simultaneously disconnected his own Arcane Fire from the Magic Net, then watched Xia Duo with a solemn expression, his right hand pressed against the Holy Emblem on his chest, silently sending blessings to Xia Duo in his heart.

On the other side, in the center of the Advanced Laboratory, the moment the isolation Magic Array was activated, Xia Duo felt the Magic Net environment within the room change instantly, somewhat similar to the feeling of a Spell Laboratory.

But it was not as calm; the feeling it gave was as if the Magic Net were dying and its vitality were declining; of course, a more accurate description was that the Magic Net's resistance to the Spellcaster's control of the Magic Net String was gradually weakening.

Waiting quietly for a while and finding that the Magic Net environment had no further changes—it seemed the isolation Magic Array could only achieve this much—Xia Duo began to act—

Starting from the surface of the Magic Net, Xia Duo stripped out the Magic Net Strings one by one and recombined them; if the elements involved in a 0 Ring Spell were only a dozen or so.

Then, the elements Xia Duo was casting with now reached nearly hundreds or thousands; fortunately, all of this had traces to follow and logic to rely on, much like an Earthling doing math problems—one would not forget the back because the workbook was too thick after doing the front.

This was because there was a fundamental rule connecting everything; in math problems, that was the rules of operation.

And for Xia Duo at this moment, that was the essence of the Magic Net, the principles of the Spell, and the 【Arcane Fire Blueprint】 he had already studied thoroughly.

The so-called 【Arcane Fire Blueprint】 was actually Xia Duo's own term; in the parlance of a Netherese Mage, it was actually the spell that generated Arcane Fire which appeared at the end of the book "Arcane Principles."

The so-called advancement, described in one sentence, was actually casting a spell to create Arcane Fire, generating the Arcane Fire, and connecting it to the extension of the soul—the will.

As for why it was called a "Blueprint," perhaps it was a bit of Xia Duo's dark humor; this method of advancement looked a bit like the "External Elixir Method" that often appeared in cultivation novels.

If Arcane Fire was similar to an external elixir, then the spell to create Arcane Fire was not just like a design blueprint? Soon, the casting progress of this spell reached the third layer of the Magic Net; although it did not involve hundreds or thousands of elements like the surface of the Magic Net, it far exceeded a normal 3rd Circle Spell.

The energy required to cast such a creation spell was astonishing.

Before even reaching the fourth layer of the Magic Net, Xia Duo's forehead was already oozing with sweat, which flowed into his eyes, stinging them, but his Focus Training had not been in vain; setting aside the perception of the soul, focus was actually meant for resisting interference.

Xia Duo remained unmoved, still immersed in the spellcasting.

Time passed bit by bit; although the resistance of the Magic Net had been weakened to a very low level, it did not mean it was non-existent. The Magic Net had a natural tendency to return to its original state, and Xia Duo was struggling to resist this restorative tendency.

At the same time, he was still struggling to continue weaving this creation spell.

(End of chapter)