Sustaining Divine Skill, Little Ghost Fire!

The yellow sand rolled, and the army set off.

The bright surface could not hide the rotten interior. Bad news came one after another along the way.

First, the scout camp was discovered by the enemy, and a fierce battle ensued, with dozens of bodies left forever on the road ahead.

Then, the city where the army was originally supposed to camp fell into the hands of the enemy, resulting in burning, killing, looting, and widespread death.

The scorching sun could not block the chilling wind from the corpses.

Without food, there was no strength; without mental power, there was no meditation; and the river of Demonic Energy dried up to expose its riverbed.

Countless people fell, and some, driven by hunger, lost their minds and turned their blades on their own people, their eyes revealing a craving for flesh.

In just one night, more than a hundred people died.

To prevent a military mutiny, the Great General made a last-minute decision to change the strategic plan from an expedition to a siege, vowing to recapture the city at all costs.

This simple sentence cost countless lives.

In the magic plane, the difficulty of defending and attacking a city was infinitely magnified. The enemy Mages stood high on the city walls, unleashing torrents of Magic.

Meanwhile, their own side was exhausted and hungry, facing such fierce magical bombardment, with very few able to retaliate.

The siege was proving difficult, so the Great General personally took the field, intending to use his invincible Heavenly Flame Funeral to blast a large opening in the city walls.

But this played right into the enemy's ambush, and he was dragged into their Night Ruler. When the great formation disappeared, only a withered skeleton remained.

Continuous failures and the death of the commander meant the army, now a disorganized mob, had undoubtedly collapsed.

"Xu Fang" also became a fugitive, leading his personal guards and occupying a hilltop.

Looking down from the sky, Xu Fang was filled with emotion. Although this "Xu Fang" lacked his own flashy attack methods, his raw strength was definitely not inferior.

But even such a powerful individual was like a mantis trying to stop a charging chariot when faced with the relentless wheels of war.

Everything before him seemed to be on fast-forward, time flying by. In the blink of an eye, the area below the hill was surrounded by enemy forces.

The loyal personal guards fell one by one, until only "Xu Fang" remained.

His eyes split with rage, and extreme anger caused him to erupt.

"This is... a Golden Star Seed?"

At this moment, Xu Fang's perspective switched from high above to "Xu Fang." As he looked inward into his Spiritual World, the Golden Star Seed within the stardust became restless, even violent.

"This isn't right, are they sure the origin of the Light Element is Edison?"

But everything happening before him was undeniably real. The ancient "Xu Fang" had awakened the Light Element.

Reason told Xu Fang that this was merely a pure illusion. Yet, his intuition kept reminding him that everything unfolding seemed to be real.

Golden light surged, bursting forth from "Xu Fang's" body in streams. The wild, unparalleled energy impacted his mind.

"Roar—!!!"

Xu Fang's mind went blank. Before he lost consciousness, he vaguely saw that under a light as scorching as the sun, the tens of thousands of surrounding enemy soldiers were vaporized...

"Hoo!"

His consciousness suddenly returned. Xu Fang opened his eyes and found himself back on the battlefield by the city walls. The Military Mages around him looked at him as if he were a monster.

What the hell did this guy just do?

He had clearly fallen into a Yin Soldier's illusion, experiencing something usually only high-level Mages could endure.

But now he was acting as if nothing had happened?

"Are... are you okay?" The Military Mage closest to Xu Fang couldn't help but extend his right hand, holding up three fingers. "What is this?"

Xu Fang: "A finger."

"He's not stupid, that's incredible!"

It wasn't that no one had ever broken free from a Yin Soldier's illusion before, but every single one of them had collapsed on the spot and only woken up after being carried back.

According to those who had experienced it, those caught in the illusion felt as if they had eaten poisonous mushrooms, with distorted and chaotic visions, and a dizzying, nauseating sensation rushing to their brains.

But Xu Fang seemed to be doing surprisingly well?

Just how terrifying must his mental power be!

----However, they were so focused on Xu Fang that they failed to notice the battle-hardened Yin Soldier who had cast the spell on Xu Fang twitching and collapsing, dissolving into gray mist in the drizzling rain.

A Spirit Essence appeared where it had stood, as if guided by autopilot, and automatically sought out Xu Fang, merging into his Spiritual World.

Xu Fang diverted a portion of his attention to look inward at his Spiritual World.

Buzz buzz buzz!

The Spirit Essence integrated into the last Star Seed. Instantly, this Star Seed, which was smaller than its companions, rapidly expanded, becoming the most robust one.

The seven Star Seeds coiled together, and waves of strange yet powerful energy fluctuations spread out.

Intermediate Level 4, complete!

As all the Star Seeds were strengthened, Xu Fang's control over them also increased.

There was no need for testing; the information for the new Skills flooded into his mind.

"It exists as a form of flame, automatically locks on, and siphons Demonic Energy to nourish itself?" Xu Fang frowned slightly, feeling it overlapped with the special function of "Radiance: Purify."

He didn't believe that after all his trouble, he would end up with such a useless thing.

His gaze returned to the Yin Soldiers. Xu Fang's eyes shifted slightly, and the Star Track flashed almost imperceptibly.

A cluster of transparent "Ghost Fire" appeared in his palm, swaying gently from side to side, looking utterly unthreatening.

However, the moment Xu Fang released his hand, the flame shot out like a sword, exploding into countless small flames in mid-air.

Amidst the overwhelming magical light pollution, the transparent flames seemed so insignificant.

The Yin Soldiers continued their assault, unaware that they had already become a buffet for those tiny flames.

An endless stream of energy was siphoned, filling Xu Fang's stardust, yet the Yin Soldiers remained oblivious.

BOOM!

One by one, the Servant level Yin Soldiers couldn't withstand the flames' absorption and crashed heavily to the ground, inexplicably drained dry.

Meanwhile, Xu Fang, facing an overwhelming amount of Demonic Energy, had no choice but to convert it into Magic and release it.

More Yin Soldiers were killed, and their still-warm corpses were occupied by the Ghost Fire that had tracked them, squeezing out their last drop.

One side wanes, the other waxes. My Demonic Energy is my Demonic Energy, and your Demonic Energy is still my Demonic Energy.

I'll use your energy to beat you—and with full sustain, the greater the Demonic Energy deficit, the faster the absorption speed.

Unless the opponent can kill Xu Fang right from the start, the battle is bound to be unwinnable.

Situations like the previous time he was surrounded while saving He Ming were now a thing of the past. If it happened again, Xu Fang would definitely teach them how to be puppets.

"Awesome!"

This damn thing was way more useful than Radiance: Purify!

Come to think of it, since his awakening, he had acquired four combination skills.

The first was the Crimson Light Fire Array, a map-wide attack that siphoned Spirit Essence to temper Star Seeds. Within the array, all beings were equal, with no distinction between high and low, only between those who replenished and those who didn't.

The second was the High Temperature Core, for fighting opponents above one's level, a powerful charge-up. With just one minute of charging time, even a mouse could make a cat scream for its mother.

The third was the Solar Flame Light Bullet, a single-target powerhouse. Even if you were as hard as iron, it could pierce your heart. Seven steps away, the gun is fast; within seven steps, the gun is both accurate and fast.

And now, with the newly acquired Ghost Fire...

Xu Fang had a nagging feeling that his Skills were hurtling down an irreversible path toward making his opponents miserable.