Chapter 729: Chapter 707: Filled to the Brim

Beneath the deserted island, the steady soft light of the laboratory blurred the passage of time, yet could not smooth away the growing focus in Duke’s eyes.

Five months are but a blink of an eye for a crystalized wizard with a long lifespan.

But for Duke, he did not slack off merely because he was still relatively young.

In theory, the lifespan of a Level 1 Mage is five hundred years, with a long time for cultivation.

However, the sooner one reaches a higher realm, the greater the advantages for future development.

For though a wizard may live up to five hundred years, they will eventually age.

If one waits until old age, when spiritual power becomes unstable, and has not taken further steps, it becomes difficult to make substantial advancements.

In the central plains of the Divine Court, the seed of light floats at the center of the witch array that gathers the power of faith, resembling a restrained, miniature sun, its glow gentle yet containing heart-palpitating energy.

Not far away, in the shadow valley, the Moon Well’s water is deep like ink, beneath the tranquil surface lies highly compressed dark essence.

Both are slowly but steadily approaching saturation, as though preparing for a grand ritual.

Duke himself is the key performer and receiver of this ritual.

He set brutal parallel plans for himself, during the day focusing on profound advancement scheme rehearsals, and at night, between research intervals, dedicating himself entirely to refining his skills.

Within the Divine Court, lies a vast practice field deliberately opened.

"Hah!"

Duke shouted low, his form unmoving, yet the longsword in his hand, condensed purely from light elements, had already swung out.

No earth-shattering momentum, only an arc of light refined to the extreme, its edges emitting a bright white halo flashed by.

The air was silently cut open, leaving a long-lasting scorching trajectory, as if even space was scarred.

The practice of the Scorching Sun Slash lies in extreme compression and transformation.

Every swing of the sword, he strives to emulate the imagined core of a star, instantly pressing the radiant fighting spirit into the sword blade, bestowing it with the effect of tearing and incineration.

He tirelessly repeats, allowing muscle memory to grasp the angles of force, while spiritual power finely controls every bit of fighting spirit flow.

Before sweat could drop, it was evaporated by the high temperature of his body.

Day after day, the arc of light became steadier, and fiercer, until one day, with a casual swing, a slash solid as a crystal of light flew out, silently vaporizing most of the distant special alloy target pillar, the lingering heat distorting the surrounding scenery.

On the skill tree, the branch representing the Scorching Sun Slash bore fruit in full maturity.

A new sense of power insight was integrated into his body, the burning power accompanying the slash became more corrosive.

Almost simultaneously with the Scorching Sun Slash reaching perfection, his mastery of the Flowing Shadow Void Step also attained a new realm.

On the practice field, his figure was like a specter, fleeting in front, and instantaneously behind, the faint after-image left at the origin was not illusory, but composed of weak energy, enough to disrupt spiritual perception and create real misdirection.

The core of this movement combat technique lies in the instantaneous construction and eruption of the fighting spirit circuit under his feet, achieving a leap contrary to inertia. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He constantly adjusts the structure of the circuit, reducing the minimal yet life-critical startup delay, and increasing the randomness of leap angles.

From clumsy to smooth, from one leap to seven consecutive random direction changes, the after-images left almost simultaneously existed, forming a dizzying domain of shadows.

When the feedback of Skill Full Level arrived, he felt leaps became more free, and the interference of the after-image on spiritual perception significantly enhanced.

The cultivation of the Thousand Overlapping Waves Strike is a different experience, without dazzling light or shadow, only repeated plain and unadorned strikes.

Fist, palm, sword, falling on the specially designed energy-absorbing dolls, emitted dull sounds.

The key lies in stacking strength, each attack is not an end, but cleverly guiding part of the force like lurking undercurrent to the starting point of the next attack, layering and overlapping, ultimately erupting with power far exceeding that of a single attack.

Initially, a slight lack of control would cause self-rebound, or stacking strength not continuous enough.

He held his breath, attentively perceiving the tremors of muscle fibers and the subtle circulation of fighting spirit within his body, searching for the most fitting rhythm of force and energy retention points.

From stably stacking strength three layers, to five layers, finally, a punch gently pressed onto the doll’s chest, silent on the surface, internally followed by nine dull explosions like thunder, the internal structure of the doll completely reduced to powder.

The feedback from Skill Full Level brought a deeper understanding of force technique, as well as a subtle characteristic of triggering additional stack strength by chance.

[Scorching Sun Slash: LV9 (Characteristic: Burn)]

[Flowing Shadow Void Step: LV9 (Characteristic: Interference)]

[Thousand Overlapping Waves Strike: LV9 (Characteristic: Multiple Hits)]

In five months, three combat techniques were easily maxed out, gaining three free attribute points.

Then the cultivation regarding magic, with many spells to be conquered.

Besides those spells yet to achieve full level, there’s also curse magic collected from the Oracle Plane.

Among all the skills needing effort, the cultivation of the Moonlight Breathing Technique is the most ceremonial, and requires the most patience.

Every night, he would sit cross-legged beside the transplanted Moon Well.

The cold moonlight, guided by the rules of the Divine Court, gathered like flowing water enveloping his entire body, with a distinct breathing rhythm, he felt a graceful and feminine energy awakened within, wisps of refreshing breath infiltrating every corner of his body and soul, slowly and steadily altering certain of his traits.