Chapter 429: Returning to Tradition

Translator: AnubisTL

“Pierced two sixth-tier shields, third layer heavily damaged,” Jieming analyzed calmly. “Its destructive power isn’t top-rank among sixth-tier spells, but it excels in extreme concentration and a high attack frequency.”

“Against non-wizard indigenous civilizations, this should be more than enough.”

For the final round of testing, Jieming adjusted the spell’s coverage area to its maximum.

The beam rapidly expanded after leaving his palm, ultimately forming an ocean of light over eight thousand kilometers in diameter.

Though the destructive power per unit area had decreased, the sheer majesty of the attack, which seemed poised to annihilate an entire continent, made even Jieming inwardly shudder.

“This is far more powerful than when I used cultivator methods to enhance wizardry,” Jieming thought, his mind constantly comparing the two as he watched the data stream across the nearby instrument. “Back then, it could only destroy a continent’s ecosystem at most. Now… it can actually sink a whole continent.”

With the test complete, Jieming returned to his workbench and brought up the recorded data.

Overall, his modifications to the spell were a resounding success.

The strengths of the revised spell model were obvious:

Light-speed attack, nearly impossible to dodge.

Versatile and adjustable, equally suited for Point-Kill Mode and Carpet-Bombing Mode.

Acceptable destructive power.

And since it drew energy from the environment, the drain on his own reserves was relatively low.

But its weaknesses were just as prominent.

Jieming thought for a moment, then began recording on the nearby instrument:

First, the casting mechanism could not achieve “rapid fire.”

The fundamental difference between a cultivator’s spell and a wizard’s wizardry lay in their “activation logic.”

Wizardry operated on an “encapsulate—trigger” model. As long as the spell model was stable and energy was sufficient, one could theoretically cast a dozen spells per second.

Spells, however, relied more heavily on the caster’s “real-time control” of energy flow. Each cast required a complete guiding of spiritual power and resonance with the environment.

Even if Jieming optimized the spell model to its absolute limit, he still needed at least a 0.3-second interval between casts of the Sunfire Extinction Ray—and that was only possible because he possessed both the Ring of Truth and a divine sense at the divine transformation realm.

Second, the energy accumulation time was unavoidable.

The amount of external energy a divine transformation realm spell needed to draw was simply too vast.

Even with his internal grotto-heaven’s fifth-tier large elemental pool as backup, completing the sequence of “extracting environmental elements → compressing and transforming → injecting into the model → maintaining stability” required at least half a second of charging.

Half a second might be negligible in low-intensity combat, but in a battle against an opponent of equal or higher level, it was enough time for the enemy to react in a dozen different ways.

“And this weakness can’t be solved by inscribing the spell model onto a rune-imbued magical artifact,” Jieming frowned. “Rune-imbued artifacts only lower the casting threshold, but they can’t shorten the physical process of energy filling…”

He sank into deep thought.

He needed a method to pre-store “fully charged” spells, ready to be triggered instantly when needed—and ideally, one that could be recharged for repeated use…

Wait…

Jieming suddenly froze.

This requirement… why does it sound so familiar?

He slowly raised his head, his gaze shifting to the display shelf on the other side of the laboratory.

There, on the display shelf, were several high-tier spell artifacts he had purchased during his days as a low-rank wizard: a staff capable of storing fire blast, a ring that could trigger ice blast three times, and a pair of boots that automatically cast Void Shift.

All of them were traditional spell artifacts.

The operating principle of traditional spell artifacts was to pre-store a complete wizardry model within the artifact itself, using solidified runes to maintain its stability, wasn’t it?

The user only needed to inject a trace amount of mental power to trigger it, and the wizardry would be released according to the preset trajectory. After the release was complete, the artifact would automatically absorb energy from the environment or a charging crystal to prepare for the next use.

“I…” Jieming’s mouth moved, and he suddenly burst out laughing.

The laughter bubbled up from deep in his throat, starting with a hint of self-mockery before turning into a truly hearty laugh.

He, Jieming, a genius wizard from Noren Academy’s Alchemy Department, who had built his career on rune-imbued magical artifacts and focused his research on “dual-system integration”…

After circling around for nearly a thousand years, spending countless efforts to modify a cross-system spell, the solution he finally came up with to overcome its flaws was to return to the most basic, traditional spell artifact design logic.

“Haha… How interesting.”

He wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes, his gaze growing brighter and brighter.

Yeah, why not?

The core advantage of rune-imbued magical artifacts lay in their “low barrier to entry” and “environmental energy supply,” making them ideal for wars of attrition.

But traditional spell artifacts still held irreplaceable value in terms of “instantaneous burst” and “specific functionality.”

If I could encapsulate the model of the Sunfire Extinction Ray into a specially made spell artifact, just like encapsulating wizardry…

No, I don’t even need to “act” like it.

I can just make it a “Sunfire Extinction Ray Launcher.”

Each spell artifact would pre-store a complete beam of light, powered by a fifth-tier elemental pool.

Normally, it would automatically charge within the internal grotto-heaven. In battle, when instantaneous firepower was needed, he could simply pull it out and unleash a light-speed strike with sixth-tier power.

If I get even more extravagant and use high-purity “incense power” produced from the Incense Divine Path as a catalytic medium, I might even be able to replicate the “Dao Rhyme Erosion” effect of the original spell…

The more Jieming thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

He turned back to the workbench, waved his hand to clear the previous model projection, and brought up a brand-new design interface.

This time, the left side of the interface displayed the complete spell structure of the Sunfire Extinction Ray, while the right side showed the classic encapsulation array of a traditional spell artifact.

What he needed to do was seamlessly stuff the thing on the left into the framework on the right.

“One year left. That’s enough time to build a prototype,” Jieming muttered to himself, his fingers already beginning a new round of sketching. “I can’t go to the Reincarnation Plane without bringing some new toys.”

(End of the Chapter)