Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Chapter 118 Accumulation

As a potion master, Ian's joy was naturally evident when he saw the unfamiliar high-level formula.

【Heart of Lava】Main Material: Lava Core Crystal (Taken from the depths of an active volcano, the essence of fire element that has been settled over hundreds of years).

Dragon Blood Vine Sap: A rare magical plant with a vine age of at least three hundred years, containing a violent life force.

Soul-Burning Grass Powder: A forbidden plant that grows in places of elemental disorder, capable of intensely stimulating mental burning.

Auxiliary materials: Blazing sulfur, Earth vein marrow, pure fire elemental dust —

The refining process details the precise timing of the seven additions of materials, the required frequency of mental resonance for each addition, and many tips for maintaining a constant temperature in the high-temperature furnace.

Ultimately, the raging fire energy and life essence must be forcibly fused together to condense into a dark golden, viscous potion, like magma.

"Burning life and spirit in exchange for a temporary surge in power —"

Ian recalled Sterling's sickly flush and swollen aura after taking the drug, as well as his originally pale face.

"The price was indeed enormous."

This medicine is a double-edged sword; it may be able to reverse life and death in critical moments, but it is no different from drinking poison to quench thirst.

Sterling's decision to take it was probably not just out of desperation to win, but also out of desperation due to unhealed old injuries and a weakened foundation.

He also put away the recipe and placed it together with the "Molten Thirteen Star Ring Secret Technique".

These are all Sterling's legacy, the culmination of many years of work by a full-fledged wizard.

They were priceless, but also carried an ominous aura; they came from someone he had just killed.

Ian stood up and walked to the corner of the stone house.

There were several leather bags piled up here, containing the abyss crystals he had accumulated from hunting recently, which he had not yet handed over, as well as some miscellaneous materials.

He picked up the bag and dumped its contents onto the floor.

Splash—

Various colored crystals and materials rolled down, shimmering faintly under the soft light of the purification barrier.

The most common type is zero-order crystal, while there are only a handful of first-order crystals.

He squatted down and began sorting.

He singled out and set aside miscellaneous items bearing the Shadowmoon Tower's mark, objects clearly reflecting Sterling's personal habits, and anything whose origins could be traced through witchcraft.

Then he extended his right hand.

With palms facing upwards, the atomized spiritual energy gathered at the fingertips, and the temperature began to rise rapidly.

call!

A condensed, thread-like, bright white [scorching ray] was activated, but instead of shooting into the distance, it was precisely controlled by him to be three inches above his palm.

The blazing white flames burned silently, radiating terrifying heat, distorting the air.

Ian threw the items that needed to be processed, one by one, into the extremely compressed flame.

laugh----

Skin flakes, scraps of cloth, metal badges, specially made medicine bottles —

All items that could potentially reveal Sterling's identity or be linked to his death were rapidly carbonized and vaporized under the intense heat of the [Burning Ray], leaving hardly any ashes.

The flames lasted for about fifteen minutes.

As the last bit of residue turned into smoke and dissipated, Ian dispersed the rays from his palm.

Inside the stone house, only the faint sound of magic being broken down by the purification barrier remained, along with the pile of "clean" crystals and materials on the floor.

After doing all this, he didn't feel relieved; instead, he frowned slightly.

Sterling is dead, but the story doesn't end there.

The disappearance of a formal wizard, especially a camp commander with a position, at Shadowmoon Tower would not have been silent.

An investigation was bound to happen sooner or later; it was just a matter of time.

And then there's the Crimson Court—Barton's squad's camp; the other side probably won't give up easily either.

Although he handled it very cleanly, there is no such thing as a perfectly concealed secret.

"My strength is still not enough." Ian looked at his palm.

Having just killed Sterling, it seemed like they had crossed an insurmountable barrier.

However, he knew very well that he had only narrowly defeated Sterling, who was not in perfect condition, by using a combination of various limit-breaking skills and taking him by surprise.

What if they were facing a first-tier wizard at their peak, with more experience and better preparation?

What if you're facing multiple enemies at the same time?

What if we encounter a second-order being?

In this cruel world, becoming a formal wizard is merely obtaining the ticket to gain basic control over one's voice.

The road behind the door was still covered with thorns, and even steeper.

He walked back to the center of the room and sat down cross-legged.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, an array of eighty-one will runes slowly rotated, and the silvery-white, misty spiritual energy flowed gently like a nebula.

The progress of the realm is currently at 92.6%, still some distance from perfection.

Previously, due to environmental limitations, cultivation had almost come to a standstill. Now that we have the [Origin Annihilation Array], it's time to seize the opportunity.

But Ian did not immediately enter into deep meditation; instead, he took out the book, "The Crimson Codex: The Forge".

The sense of crisis brought about by killing Sterling made him even more eager to improve his strength.

Physical strength is the guarantee of endurance and survival.

"Forge Tempering Technique —"

He flipped through the body-refining secret technique again, his gaze falling on the descriptions of "melting thousands of essences and blood" and the mountains of various blood essences piled up beside him.

The dark red of the Shadow Viper, the deep green of the Rotten Swamp Porcupine, and the earthy yellow of the Stone Skin Mountain Demon—a rich aura of life energy permeated the purification barrier.

"Gah!" Gah immediately jumped out of the shadows, its little paws pawing at a few of the roundest blood essences, watching Ian warily.

"It's settled then, you can practice your skills, but the rest is mine! Hah!"

"Don't worry." Ian chuckled, picking up a blood essence from a Stone-skinned Mandrill.

He did not swallow it immediately, but instead used his mental power to visualize and guide the nascent "furnace" structure within his body to slowly accelerate its operation.

An invisible suction force emanated from deep within the flesh and blood.

Then, he put the blood essence into his mouth.

boom!

The familiar scorching, heavy torrent exploded once again, and earth-elemental life energy washed over every part of the body.

A feeling of fullness and swelling came from the muscle fibers, and the tingling and itching deep in the bones became increasingly clear.

On the panel, the proficiency level of [Furnace Tempering Technique] fluctuated slightly.

He carefully experienced the process, and compared to before, the efficiency of absorbing blood essence energy had improved slightly.

Is it that the "furnace" structure becomes smoother after repeated use? Or is it a subtle change brought about by mental focus after defeating a powerful enemy?

Ian wasn't sure. But he liked the tangible feeling of gradually becoming stronger.

He didn't try to do too much; he only refined two blood essences before stopping and starting to process the materials at hand.

Common monster skeletons, carapaces, and special glands—under his mental power cutting and extraction—were sorted and processed, then placed into different containers.

These are all auxiliary materials for refining [Concentration Potion] and other commonly used potions. At the stronghold market, they can be exchanged for decent magic stones, or bartered for what he needs.

While doing these trivial tasks, his mind gradually calmed down.

The excitement of battle and the emptiness after the carnage, like murky water in a cup, slowly clear with the passage of time.

Outside the window, the hustle and bustle of the stronghold could be faintly heard.

The shouts of handing over tasks, the haggling and arguing, the energy bursts coming from the training ground in the distance—everything was as usual.

It was as if the life-or-death battle that had just taken place in the remote stone forest and determined the fate of the two wizards had never happened.

Ian put away the processed materials and his gaze fell on the Demon Hunter Jade Token.

He hadn't handed over his previous encirclement mission yet, so he was taking the opportunity to see if there were any suitable missions for him to do now.

He needs merit, lots of merit.

In order to exchange for higher-level purification array plates, to exchange for various advanced knowledge and certain rare auxiliary materials, and also to deal with possible troubles from Shadowmoon Tower or Crimson Court.

Strength and resources, whether above or below ground, are always the constant themes.

He stood up, straightened his gray robe, and activated the simple warning runes on the stone house.

Ian pushed open the door and stepped out, once again merging into the bustling crowd at the outpost.

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