Shadow Cave

Lu Cang did as he said... Last night, he had only kept casting spells and had never tried to control them precisely.

Now that Iz had pointed it out, Lu Cang felt as though he had suddenly grasped the method of spell control.

Whoosh!

As the Ice Spike formed and resonated with his mana this time, Lu Cang felt it become harder and more translucent, colder and deeper than before.

"Ice Cone Technique proficiency EXP +100,000"

"Ice Cone Technique additional effect—Harder Ice"

Holy shit?

One hundred thousand?

So practicing in a special way could grant extra improvement?

And there was even an additional effect.

It turned out additional effects could be gained not only by leveling up proficiency, but also through personal research.

He had truly discovered a whole new world...

Then...

Lu Cang controlled the Ice Spike, making it gradually spin under his command...

Hiss—

The spinning spike sliced through the air, spreading a biting chill through the surroundings.

Lu Cang felt that this method of control consumed more mana than casting a normal Ice Spike.

But his Magic Tide was already LV:100.

His mana recovery speed was extremely fast.

This level of mana consumption still could not compare to the rate at which Lu Cang recovered mana.

"Ice Cone Technique proficiency EXP +200,000"

Two hundred thousand?

He had not even fired it, yet it already counted as the equivalent of casting it twenty times.

"Ice Cone Technique (LV:85)—Additional effect: High-Speed Rotation"

"Then..."

Lu Cang aimed the five Ice Spikes at the distant trees.

Whoosh!

Almost instantly, one Ice Spike pierced through a large tree. Even after penetrating it, its momentum did not lessen as it struck the next tree directly.

The instant the Ice Spike exploded—

Lu Cang continued controlling it, sending the countless shards of ice from the explosion spraying farther away.

The moment those ice shards touched the trees and grass, they covered them in a thick layer of frost.

"Ice Cone Technique proficiency EXP +50,000"

"So strong."

Lu Cang could feel that this Ice Spike's penetrating power was more than twice what it had been before.

More importantly—

Whoosh!

Bang bang bang bang!

The remaining four Ice Spikes shot out in succession!

"Ice Cone Technique proficiency EXP +50,000"

"Ice Cone Technique proficiency EXP +50,000"

"Ice Cone Technique proficiency EXP +50,000"

"Ice Cone Technique proficiency EXP +50,000"

"Ice Cone Technique additional effect—Ice Splash"

Four Ice Spikes.

Each one granted 50,000 proficiency.

This single casting of Ice Cone Technique had actually provided Lu Cang with a full 550,000 proficiency.

Seeing Lu Cang's result, Iz could not help but smile. "Not bad. You succeeded on the first try. You learn quickly."

Lu Cang nodded excitedly.

He raised his hand again.

Imitating the feeling from before, he cast it once more.

This time, however, it did not grant any additional large boost in proficiency.

Whoosh!

As the sturdy spinning Ice Spike flew out and blasted a patch of icy ground into the forest—

It only increased his proficiency by 10,000.

So... it was a one-time thing?

No.

Proficiency... should lie in familiarity and mastery.

It was the process of becoming more proficient with a skill.

Lu Cang thought this to himself.

Then he tried controlling Ice Cone Technique again.

Five Ice Spikes formed ahead of him, but this time, Lu Cang did not fire them.

Instead, he drew the Ice Spikes together.

If they could split into a five-shot burst, then they should be able to merge into one shot too...

"Ice Cone Technique proficiency EXP +100,000"

It worked!

Sure enough, proficiency came from exploring and experimenting with a skill.

"Ice Cone Technique additional special effect—Giant Ice Spike"

Ding—

The five Ice Spikes merged into one.

They formed a Giant Ice Spike larger than Lu Cang himself!

Whoosh!

The Ice Spike shot out!

Boom!

Crack crack crack crack crack—

It smashed through a line of trees, only stopping after breaking through around seven or eight large ones.

"Not bad..."

Iz stroked his chin.

Without any prompting from him this time, the little fellow had begun trying to explore more derivatives of magic himself.

He truly was gifted.

What was even more impressive was that he could always find the trick in a single attempt and smoothly master these derivative forms.

Iz said, "Next, try splitting the Ice Spikes into even more fragments."

"The key lies in..."

Along the way, Lu Cang explored on his own and also followed Iz's guidance.

He had actually developed eight more variations of the Ice Cone Technique, which already possessed many effects to begin with.

Giant Ice Spike, Ice Spike Splitting, Ice Cone Double Pierce, Extreme Cold Diffusion, Complete Transparency, Rapid Casting, Remote Generation, Frost Melting.

Through all that practice, Ice Cone Technique's proficiency also rose to LV:90.

In terms of proficiency level, the number of consecutive Ice Spikes had increased from five to seven.

Iz praised him this way: "With your current mastery of Ice Cone Technique, there are probably only a few mages in the entire world who can compare to you."

Only a few mages in the world?

That was quite high praise.

"Oh, right, Iz..."

"Who is the strongest mage in the world?"

Since the conversation had reached this point, he could naturally ask the question.

What he got in return was Izpalut's immediate answer.

"Me."

All right... the classic self-praise.

Lu Cang was not discouraged by the failed question at all. Instead, he changed his wording and asked in a childish voice, "Then... what level is the strongest mage in the world?"

Iz answered seriously, "Level 5."

Fine...

I shouldn't have used the words 'strongest' when asking you.

"No, Iz."

"I'm asking what level the highest-level mage in this world is."

Iz propped up his chin and pondered.

"The highest level?"

"That should be Level 8 An Zheng."

Level 8?

In fact, from last night until now, Lu Cang had vaguely felt that Iz was not as weak as he appeared.

The townspeople's attitudes toward Iz and the others also indirectly reflected that.

But it was still surprising that the highest level was only Level 8.

It felt like he would receive far fewer God-Tier Talents than he had imagined...

Yet despite there clearly being a Level 8 mage, Iz claimed that he, a Level 5, was the strongest.

Iz, you really were arrogant.

"Oh, we're here."

The Dragon Rhino stopped. Before them was the entrance to a deep, dark cave.

When he looked inside, he could see nothing at all.

"This is the dungeon?"

Iz dismounted and nodded. "Yes. Judging from the map in the commission, this should be Shadow Cave."

As he spoke, Iz slightly raised his hand, and a silver magic circle faintly lit up before him.

"Mm, this is the place."

A magic circle.

Come to think of it, none of the spells he had cast so far had produced a magic circle.

Was it because his spells were too low-tier?

Still, Iz seemed to cast without chanting as well. That was something Lu Cang cared about.

"Let's go."

Lu Cang said, "Okay."

Knowing that a Level 5 mage was not as weak as he had imagined put Lu Cang somewhat at ease.

But Lu Cang still had no idea how strong a Level 5 mage actually was.

The only spell Iz had used in front of Lu Cang was that one Lightning Strike Technique.

Other than that, there was also the spell before him that could create a magic circle.

But Lu Cang did not know what exactly that spell with the magic circle was.

Whoosh—

A Fireball formed in his palm, and he tossed it into the cave.

It illuminated the dark path ahead.

The path was pitch-black and straight...