Lin Yu was now a little more confident that he could create the compound ritual magic he wanted.
Before studying magic, he decided to check the forum for new information. Lately, Lin Yu had developed the habit of spending some time each morning browsing the forum to learn what was happening in the game.
The players could be said to have seen new developments every day lately, and Lin Yu had learned quite a few interesting things.
For example, Lin Yu had come across many posts about companies forming top-tier teams to tackle Era, or famous top players from various forums joining companies.
Lin Yu had also seen someone making homemade explosives by hand, and an expert on the forum had already made a hand cannon. When Lin Yu saw that post, he marveled that hand cannons had already appeared and wondered whether cannons would come next, followed by the first industrial revolution in the game. Now, with his own knowledge of alchemy, Lin Yu could easily make modern firearms and ammunition by hand.
Of course, Lin Yu had also learned about the level progress of the current top players. The highest-level player Lin Yu knew of besides himself was someone called Sovereign Arrival, who was currently level seven. From Sovereign Arrival's posts, Lin Yu gathered that he was probably a rich heir or something of the sort. He had paid people to find magical beasts and cripple them so he could finish them off, leveling up quickly that way.
As for whether there were players at a higher level than Sovereign Arrival, Lin Yu thought there were. He had easily reached level ten thanks to his talent, and he felt certain that others had better talents than his. There was no reason for those whose talents were no worse than his to lag behind him in levels. So much time had passed that they must have caught up by now.
After checking today's forum posts and finding nothing useful, Lin Yu began studying magic.
"Was it that simple?" Lin Yu was a little surprised as he looked at the enormous compound magic circle he had constructed from mana.
Lin Yu had originally thought it would take at least three to five days to produce an initial version of the compound magic circle. Instead, he had made one that met his requirements in just one morning. Though this first version had all sorts of problems, such as high consumption, poor results, and slow activation, he had indeed made it. Now he only needed to optimize it.
Lin Yu had to marvel at how powerful that flow state was. In that state, inspiration had kept coming, and he had created the first generation of magic that met his requirements in just one morning.
Next, he only needed to take his time optimizing it based on this first generation of magic.
"Now that I've figured it out, it's time to give this magic a name. What should I call it?" Looking at the compound magic in his hand, formed from five nested magic circles condensed from mana and unified by one large circle, Lin Yu began to think.
"All-Purpose it is!" After thinking for a while, Lin Yu settled on a name for the magic. He hoped that one day it would truly become all-purpose, just like its name. For now, though, All-Purpose was merely its name; its actual effects were limited to what it could already do.
For the rest of the time, Lin Yu stayed in his inn room and continued optimizing Omnipotent Magic.
"I can add the talent rune for Analysis Eye."
"The effects conflict here. I'll change that."
"I think I can remove this."
Each time Lin Yu constructed the magic circle, he tried to optimize it. Sometimes these optimizations greatly improved the magic's effects; at other times, a small change caused the circle to collapse outright.
Through repeated trial and error, the effects of Omnipotent Magic steadily improved.
At seven that evening, Lin Yu tried casting Omnipotent Magic again. Feeling its effects, he was extremely satisfied. Over the course of the afternoon, Omnipotent Magic had gone through more than a hundred generations, and this latest one satisfied him the most.
This generation of Omnipotent Magic consumed nearly ninety percent less mana than the first, and it could now activate the instant mana was injected into the circle. As for its effects, they had improved nearly tenfold compared to those of the first-generation circle.
It could be said that this generation of Omnipotent Magic was already the best Lin Yu could achieve with his current knowledge.
What should he do next?
Lin Yu began to consider what to do next. Should I try constructing a magic formula inside my magic aperture? I've never tried it before, so I don't know what it feels like!
With that thought, Lin Yu decided to try constructing a magic formula right away.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and entered that flow state. Once he was in it, Lin Yu began the next step.
Constructing a magic formula was not complicated. Anyone with sufficiently precise mana control could do it easily, and with Lin Yu's precision, constructing one inside his magic aperture was a simple matter.
Under Lin Yu's control, mana began spontaneously forming the circle for Omnipotent Magic.
Lin Yu opened his eyes and rested his cheek on one hand, lost in thought. His attempt to construct the Omnipotent Magic formula inside his magic aperture had failed.
The reason for the failure was simple: Lin Yu's magic aperture was not strong enough to withstand the pressure from the magic circle.
Runes possessed power. Even without activating a magic circle, its mere existence would constantly affect the magical energy around it. The more powerful the circle, the greater its effect on its surroundings. Lin Yu had once read in a book that a magic circle laid down by a mage had permanently altered the climate of an entire region simply by existing.
A magic circle constructed inside a magic aperture would continuously affect the aperture itself. The more complex the magic and the more runes it contained, the greater the pressure it placed on the aperture. The Omnipotent Magic Lin Yu controlled was extremely complex and contained a great many runes.
Lin Yu had originally thought his magic aperture was strong enough to withstand the construction of Omnipotent Magic, but the result proved he had taken too much for granted.
When he was only fifteen runes away from completion, Lin Yu felt that his magic aperture had reached its limit. If he continued, the pressure from the circle could very well cause permanent damage to it.
After realizing that his magic aperture had reached its limit, Lin Yu stopped constructing Omnipotent Magic and dispersed the circle he had already built inside it.
It seemed he would have to strengthen his magic aperture further before he could construct Omnipotent Magic inside it.
Next, he would cultivate the Meditation Technique to increase his spirit attribute.
Having decided what to do next, Lin Yu replenished his hunger and water levels, then sat cross-legged on the bed and began cultivating.
He cultivated from a little after seven in the evening until ten the next morning. If he had not felt thirsty and hungry, Lin Yu could have continued.