Chapter 506: Arcanist Xia Duo

However, the time and energy required for that are far less than advancing now; in the words of my hometown, the marginal returns have diminished to the point where it is necessary to give up.

In the hidden layer of the Tower of Time, inside this only intact Advanced Laboratory surrounding the Four Elements Pool.

Xia Duo was there all alone; this time he did not call for Aiboke, as his trust in Aiboke had not yet reached the level of entrusting everything to him during a formal advancement.

Having had the experience of a rehearsal for 【Creating Arcane Fire】, Xia Duo was not particularly worried about this part; the only thing to consider was the integration of Arcane Fire and his will.

This process cannot be rehearsed, or rather, a rehearsal is equivalent to actual combat; if successful, one becomes an Arcanist, and if it fails, while not necessarily fatal, the spirit and will will suffer heavy damage and require recuperation.

Basically, that would mean missing this year's Snow Melting Competition.

Academically, there is no major problem with studying behind closed doors, but regarding combat techniques and experience, one gains limited knowledge without actual combat; knowledge from books is always shallow, one must practice to truly understand!

With multiple Arcanists competing on the same stage, how could one miss such a scene!

Such opportunities are extremely rare; generally, Mages rarely cast spells in front of other Spellcasters of the same rank for fear of exposing their secrets, let alone Arcanists!

Besides combat experience, perhaps one might even learn some unique spellcasting techniques.

……

After adjusting his state for the last time, Xia Duo activated the isolation Magic Array of the Advanced Laboratory, and then proceeded methodically according to the instructions of the 【Arcane Fire Blueprint】 to create the Arcane Fire step by step.

The entire process was much smoother compared to the rehearsals of the previous days, which was of course because he had reviewed this process countless times in his mind over these days.

Although it is impossible to truly rehearse in the external normal Magic Net environment, thinking about it in one's head is still possible.

Especially when in a state of deep focus, reviewing also has significant rehearsal and practice value, as spellcasting itself is related to the soul and will.

Until the Arcane Fire was born, the entire process did not encounter any accidents, and the next step was the critical one.

At this moment, even though Xia Duo had made full preparations, a trace of nervousness still appeared, but when he entered a state of extreme focus, the nervousness seemed to disappear.

Perceiving his will, then using that extra sense to infiltrate his will into the Arcane Fire, and then combining them—in an instant, Xia Duo seemed to see the main body of the Magic Net, but this was different from what he saw when increasing his Spellcasting Level through spell Ascending Ring; it was magnificent and gorgeous.

The Magic Net he saw at this time felt like looking at flowers through a fog; no matter how he looked, he could not see it clearly.

As the Arcane Fire and his will infiltrated and combined with each other, the main body of the Magic Net that Xia Duo saw gradually became clear and distinct; this was clearly the Arcane Fire itself! The root of the Arcane Fire, woven from Magic Net Strings, manifested as an extremely tiny point, emitting blue Arcane Energy radiance, but at the same time, it was also a curled-up Micro Magic Net!

The Magic Net Strings open on its surface guided all the Elemental Energy leaking from the Magic Net damage within the Advanced Laboratory into this Micro Magic Net, and subsequently, blue Arcane Energy slowly flowed out from the root of the Arcane Fire.

Unlike the previous rehearsals, this time with the control of his will, the Arcane Energy no longer spread or proliferated, but was well constrained within the Micro Magic Net, circulating repeatedly, waiting for Xia Duo to use it at any time.

Soon, the Arcane Fire was completely combined with his will, as if a point had appeared out of thin air in his will, a source point that continuously gushed out Arcane Energy. This feeling was somewhat similar to the Personal Space existing in his consciousness—omnipresent, yet seemingly manifested before his eyes.

Having the experience of controlling his Personal Space, the process of Xia Duo controlling and becoming familiar with the Arcane Fire was very rapid; before long, he was already able to control the Arcane Fire as easily as moving his own arm.

With this, the advancement ended, and a newly promoted Arcanist was born! However, Xia Duo, this newly promoted Arcanist, could temporarily only exist within this Advanced Laboratory; the Arcane Fire needs Elemental Energy or Arcane Energy to maintain itself, and if there is none, it will "burn" itself, which is also the origin of the name "Fire".

Linking the Magic Net to obtain energy is the choice of all Arcanists before becoming a Great Arcanist. Of course, rich people can burn Arcane Energy all the time, but this is completely unnecessary.

Before leaving the Advanced Laboratory, Xia Duo sorted out the chaotic energy here as much as possible, while familiarizing himself with the Arcane Fire and accumulating Arcane Energy, so as not to be beaten back to his original state when he went out later.

In fact, according to the records in books and the experience of Niya and Aiboke, there is no difficulty in linking the Magic Net, but having reached this step, Xia Duo naturally would not let any accidents happen.

Furthermore, the mess in the Advanced Laboratory would have to be cleaned up sooner or later, and dealing with it a little now would not take much effort.

Sorting out the energy was automatically completed by the Arcane Fire; as for repairing the Magic Net, it required Xia Duo to actively unfold the curled-up Micro Magic Net structure of the Arcane Fire to link the damaged parts of the reality Magic Net, and only after it healed could it be retracted.

This process requires a lot of time and energy, and Xia Duo stopped after trying a little, but a small accident occurred during this process—he completed the link with the reality Magic Net.

It was simpler than imaginable!

In this Advanced Laboratory, although the isolation effect still existed and the flow of energy within the Magic Net was limited to the extreme, it was still enough to maintain the existence of the Arcane Fire.

……

Returning to the normal Magic Net environment, the flow of the Magic Net was instantly pulled to the upper limit of the Arcane Fire, and Xia Duo also knew where his current limit was, although this was only a qualitative summary.

To know the specific values, such as how many times he could cast spells with the existing Arcane Energy, quantitative testing was needed.

And before that, what Xia Duo needed to do was to learn Arcane Spellcasting; as an Arcanist, if he could not perform Arcane Spellcasting, wouldn't it be a waste of this Arcane Energy.

With a plan before advancement, there is naturally a plan after advancement.

In Xia Duo's planning, 【Arcane Spellcasting】 and 【Manufacturing Arcane Crystals】 could definitely be ranked at the very top.

【Arcane Spellcasting】 goes without saying; this is the signature skill of an Arcanist.

【Manufacturing Arcane Crystals】 allows an Arcanist to extract the Arcane Energy flowing in the Arcane Fire separately; otherwise, the Arcane Fire would just be a "faucet" that can be turned on and off, rather than an "energy factory" that can continuously produce.

However, it is already the end of the month, and the Snow Melting Competition is imminent, so Xia Duo does not intend to stay in the Tower of Time any longer; he plans to go to Seventon first, rendezvous with Niya, and then watch the competition while learning Arcane Spellcasting, which does not interfere.

Anyway, he has already put the relevant books in his Personal Space, and with Niya by his side, he can ask for advice at any time, which is very convenient.

(End of this chapter)