Mission Complete and Reflection

A figure far larger than others of its kind emerged from the shadows of the enormous cave.

The Vulcan leader was nearly twice the size of an ordinary individual. Deep fissures covered its dark red, rocky skin, with a magma-like glow faintly flowing within them.

It did not roar and charge blindly like the other magical beasts. Flames of anger burned in its scarlet eyes, but more than that, they held a solemn wariness mixed with intelligence.

It had witnessed firsthand how the elites of its own kind had been torn apart as easily as scraps of paper before that seemingly frail human boy.

"Roar!"

The Vulcan leader let out a deep, muffled growl. Instead of engaging in close combat, it abruptly raised both arms and slammed them into the ground!

"Rumble!"

The earth shook violently. From where the leader's fists had struck, jagged fissures spread rapidly toward Jiang Bai like streaks of black lightning!

A wide-area ground-splitting attack!

The leader had clearly seen through Jiang Bai's bizarre close-range defense and intended to deal with him using an area attack that could not be dodged.

Yet Jiang Bai remained where he was, both hands in his pockets, without moving his feet so much as an inch.

When the jagged fissures reached a point half a meter from his feet, they seemed to strike an invisible wall of sighs. All their force was instantly smoothed away, and the fissures came to an abrupt halt, unable to advance another inch.

(A note here: Jiang Bai had, after all, constructed Limitless with magic, so in principle he could expand its range.)

The ground beneath Jiang Bai's feet remained completely intact, as though untouched by the upheaval.

The Vulcan leader's pupils contracted sharply, and the wariness in its eyes deepened.

It roared again and opened its enormous jaws. Its chest swelled visibly as a mass of magic power, far hotter and greater than that of the ordinary individuals before it, gathered in its throat.

The next second, an immensely thick pillar of molten lava erupted violently toward Jiang Bai like a volcanic eruption!

The air along its path ignited instantly with sizzling bursts, and even space seemed to warp from the heat.

Faced with the terrifying attack, which was hot enough to melt steel, Jiang Bai did not move a muscle. He simply stood there, letting the destructive torrent swallow his small figure whole.

"Boom!"

The searing lava struck Jiang Bai's position squarely, instantly turning it into a roiling sea of magma.

A flash of victorious delight passed through the Vulcan leader's eyes. It raised its head and let out a deafening roar, as though proclaiming its victory.

As far as it was concerned, no matter how powerful a human was, there was absolutely no chance of surviving a direct hit from lava that hot!

Then a bizarre sight unfolded.

The magma that should have been flowing freely across the ground did not spread. Instead, it formed an irregular mass around something, slowly flowing around a central point.

The scorching lava then began to slide down to either side, parting like a waterfall to reveal the intact ground within, along with the spotless boy.

Jiang Bai was yawning in utter boredom, a reflexive tear even welling up at the corner of his eye.

He lifted his eyelids and looked at the enormous magical beast, whose roar had stopped abruptly, its face full of shock and confusion. His lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Is that all? The old man was still too cautious."

The Vulcan leader was utterly bewildered and terrified.

Physical attacks were useless, area attacks were useless, and even a pure eruption of magic power was useless!

What exactly was this human before it?

Its limited intelligence was utterly incapable of comprehending an existence so far beyond the norm.

"All right, it's time to end this farce."

Jiang Bai found it rather dull. He could no longer be bothered to play with this giant monkey.

He raised his right hand toward the Vulcan leader and rapidly traced his fingers through the air dozens of times.

There was no light, no sound.

But around the Vulcan leader, faint ripples appeared in space, barely perceptible to the naked eye.

Like craftsmen weaving a cage, invisible slashes instantly constructed a space prison around the leader, enclosing it on every side without a gap.

The leader seemed to sense something and let out an uneasy roar. It tried to move, only to find itself immobilized as though trapped in solid amber.

Jiang Bai looked at it, his lips curving into an indifferent smile, and lightly snapped his fingers.

"Snap."

The crisp sound rang out across the silent mountaintop.

The next moment, the cage formed from dozens of spatial rifts abruptly contracted inward!

Before the Vulcan leader could even scream, its massive body was instantly cut into countless uniform blocks of equal size, their surfaces smooth as mirrors.

"Rumble—"

With a muffled rumble, the "mountain of blocks" made of flesh and rock collapsed, spreading across the ground in a thick layer.

Scalding blood dyed the charred earth an even deeper shade of dark red.

Mission complete.

The whole scene was visually striking, bloody yet bizarrely possessed of a geometric beauty.

But to Jiang Bai, who had caused it all, it had taken no more than a wave of his hand.

He walked slowly over to the pile of fragments, rummaged through it for the leader's still-intact horn, which shimmered with a magical halo, and casually tossed it into his personal storage space.

This was proof that the mission had been completed.

When he was done, Jiang Bai stood there and surveyed the devastated battlefield.

He had thought that completing the first true subjugation mission of his life would fill him with excitement and joy.

But now, he felt completely calm, even... a little empty.

It had been too easy.

Victory had come too easily, offering no challenge and bringing no sense of accomplishment.

It was like a max-level character in top-tier gear returning to the starter village to slaughter a bunch of slimes that did not even attack on their own.

His gaze fell on his fingertips.

"Space Cutting..."

Jiang Bai silently repeated the name to himself.

Against these magical beasts, which had strong bodies but no special abilities, the move truly was like a divine skill, capable of cutting through anything.

But in essence, it was nothing more than an incomparably sharp "line."

Jiang Bai's thoughts began to wander.

What if a future enemy possessed the nearly unlimited hyper-regeneration of certain legendary magical beasts?

If he cut it into ten thousand pieces and it could reassemble itself the next second, what was the point of Space Cutting?

What if the enemy was a fluid creature without a fixed form, like a slime, or simply a mass of pure energy?

The damage inflicted on them by the cutting "line" would probably be negligible.

Or, if he encountered an opponent who was also proficient in spatial magic and capable of spatial leaps, could Space Cutting, with its straight-line attack trajectory that required him to anticipate the target's movements, still hit its mark?

One question after another rang through Jiang Bai's mind like alarm bells.

This seemingly easy, effortless victory instead left him clearer-headed than ever before, and even gave him a strong sense of danger.

His means of attack were still too limited and one-dimensional.

It looks like I have to develop those two moves as soon as possible, Jiang Bai thought.

From the moment he had decided to recreate the path of the strongest sorcerer of the modern era in this world, Limitless had been only the foundation.

Built upon that foundation were its truly powerful core applications, capable of turning the tide of battle.

Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue—an art of attraction that brought "Infinity" into reality, creating a singularity with a powerful pull that forcibly drew in and crushed everything.

Cursed Technique Reversal: Red—an art that ran Limitless in reverse, producing a divergent, terrifyingly powerful repulsive blast.

Those two powers were what should truly form the core of his offense.

Not to mention Hollow Technique: Purple.

Space Cutting was ultimately just a minor trick for mowing down enemies in the early stages; against truly powerful opponents, it was a trick only marginally better than nothing.

Only by mastering Blue, which represented "attraction," and Red, which represented "repulsion," could he truly be said to have set foot on the path to becoming the strongest.

This dull victory became the perfect catalyst, prompting him to make developing those two abilities his highest priority.

He turned away from the bloody scene behind him and started down the mountain.

The ease and comfort he had felt on the way there were gone, replaced by the focus and urgency of someone who had found a new goal.