Illusion

He recalled his battle with the necromancer. Those seemingly casual mental attacks, now that he thought about them, had all carried deeper meaning. Every attack had been like a hammer, constantly tempering his mental power.

Jialan closed his eyes and carefully sensed the changes brought by this Meditation Method. His mental power was no longer as scattered and intangible as before; it had become solid as steel. Even without deliberately controlling it, he could clearly perceive magical fluctuations within a hundred meters.

What delighted him even more was that his mental power recovered much faster. What had once taken several hours to restore now took nearly an hour less.

Jialan began attempting more advanced techniques for using mental power. To his surprise, he could cast Multiple Casting simultaneously, something that had been unimaginable before.

"No wonder that necromancer could control so many undead creatures at once," Jialan realized. This Meditation Method not only improved the quality and quantity of mental power, but also greatly strengthened control.

He tried using Mental Pierce, condensing his mental power into needle-like points. It was not only more concealed, but also astonishingly powerful. Jialan believed that if he encountered an Intermediate Mage again, he would never be as helpless as he had been last time.

"Perhaps I can try a deeper level of meditation..." Jialan pondered. But he also knew this was not the time to continue researching. The ruins still held many unknown dangers, and he needed to remain vigilant.

Jialan packed his things and prepared to move on. His boots stepped onto the soft moss, every step careful. The light at the tip of his staff illuminated the path ahead. The stone walls were covered in glowing vines, their phosphorescence flickering in the darkness like countless eyes watching him.

A gust of cold wind swept out from the depths of the cave, and Jialan's pupils suddenly contracted. It was not a natural wind. It carried a thick, bloody stench, along with... magical fluctuations.

"Roar..."

A deafening roar echoed through the cave, and the glowing vines on the stone walls shook violently. Jialan saw two scarlet points light up in the darkness. The glow drew closer and closer, accompanied by heavy footsteps. The ground trembled, and bits of gravel pattered down from above.

A colossal beast emerged from the darkness. It was a magical beast nearly three meters tall, shaped like a giant wolf but covered in dragon-like scales. Its fangs were as long as an arm, dripping corrosive saliva that burned pits into the ground. Most terrifying of all were its eyes. The scarlet glow within them seemed to contain endless savagery and bloodlust.

Jialan's throat tightened, and he could feel his heart pounding violently. The pressure radiating from the magical beast nearly left him unable to breathe, but he still forced himself to calm down. The greatest taboo for a caster was panic. Once he lost his composure, death would not be far away.

The magical beast gave a low growl and pounced. Jialan swiftly swung his staff, unleashing the Frost Shield he had prepared in advance. But the beast's claws easily tore the shield apart, sending shards of ice flying. Jialan rolled across the ground and barely avoided the strike. He could feel the beast's fangs graze his back, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

"Thorn Bind!" Jialan shouted. He threw three or four seeds onto the ground, and several barbed thorns lengthened in the wind, bursting from the earth to coil around the magical beast. But the moment they touched its scales, the thorns shattered one after another, unable to restrain it at all.

The magical beast turned and pounced again. Jialan threw a spider silk gland into the air, where it burst with a bang into a huge net that fell over the beast, only to be easily smashed apart once more.

Jialan's breathing grew ragged. This was his first time facing such a ferocious magical beast alone. At his level, he was completely helpless... This could not continue. He had to find a way.

Just then, Jialan noticed a detail. Every time the magical beast attacked, it stirred up a gust of cold wind, yet there was not the slightest change in temperature within that wind. Logically, a magical beast of such immense size should have generated heat when it moved.

Moreover, although the ground corroded by the beast's saliva looked pitted and uneven, Jialan noticed that every pit was exactly the same shape, as though they had been stamped out by a mold.

A bold idea surfaced in Jialan's mind. He stopped running and stood motionless in place. The magical beast opened its blood-filled maw and lunged at him, its fangs inches away. Jialan could even smell its foul stench, but he still did not move.

Just as the magical beast was about to bite him, Jialan suddenly raised his staff. A pure icy-blue beam shot forth. It was not attack magic, but the simplest True Sight, a basic spell used to dispel illusions.

Where the light passed, the magical beast's form began to twist and dissolve. Its savage fangs, violent red eyes, and massive body all shattered like a bubble. The cave returned to silence, with only Jialan's rapid breathing echoing within it.

"So it really was an illusion..." Jialan let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He walked to where the magical beast had appeared and found a complex magic circle carved into the ground. Those glowing vines happened to form the patterns of the array.

Ancient Elf illusions were actually this realistic. They could simulate temperature, scent, and oppressive pressure so perfectly. If he had not noticed those subtle flaws, he might truly have been scared to death here.

Jialan crouched down and carefully studied the magic circle. Faint magical power flowed through its patterns, while the vines' phosphorescence was actually a manifestation of magical power. This illusion mechanism had been operating for at least hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, yet it remained so exquisite. One could only marvel at the Ancient Elves' mastery of magic.

He reached out and touched the magic circle, feeling a gentle fluctuation of magical power. Though this illusion was powerful, it was not deadly. It was more like a test. Only those who remained calm and were skilled at observation could uncover its secret.

Jialan took parchment and specially made magical ink from his backpack, then carefully began copying the magic circle on the ground. He adjusted the light at the tip of his staff to its brightest, and an icy-blue glow enveloped the entire array.

As the pen tip moved across the parchment, Jialan increasingly sensed the ingenuity of this array. The seemingly chaotic patterns actually concealed a structure, and every curve perfectly matched the phosphorescence of the surrounding vines. Fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead, not only because of his intense concentration, but also because the immense magical power contained in the array oppressed him.

"Here..." Jialan's pen suddenly stopped. At the core of the array, he discovered a strange symbol. It consisted of three concentric circles, each ring covered in dense runes. These runes were completely unlike common Elven script and resembled some even more ancient form of writing.

He carefully copied the symbol, afraid of missing even the slightest detail. When he completed the final stroke, the array on the parchment suddenly glimmered faintly, but the light vanished in an instant. Jialan rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had imagined it.

Putting away the parchment, Jialan rose to his feet and found that his legs had gone somewhat numb. He checked the time and realized that an hour had already passed. The depths of the cave remained dark and profound, as if calling for him to continue onward.