"What element did you awaken?" Xu Fang had barely come out when Shi Zheng and Fei Jiao hurried over to ask.
Their eyes were so eager that anyone who didn't know Xu Fang was awakening a magic element might have thought he was giving birth!
"Ice Element."
Xu Fang stirred his magic energy, and a chill spread through the air.
"How did you get Ice Element?" Fei Jiao was bitterly disappointed. "Shi Zheng, what kind of defective product did you give him? You promised a Lightning Element Guiding Stone!"
"Fei Jiao, keep making trouble and I'll kick you out! A Guiding Stone only improves the odds. How could it guarantee a hundred percent success?"
Though he was scolding Fei Jiao, the corners of Shi Zheng's eyes crinkled with laughter.
Ice Element was good. Water Element would have been even better. Best of all, the military might withdraw on its own, letting him offer help in someone's hour of need and recruit Xu Fang into the Bell Tower Magic Association's Research and Planning Association!
If he hadn't been worried about upsetting Xu Fang, he would have laughed out loud already.
How well did Fei Jiao know him?
The moment Shi Zheng so much as twitched, Fei Jiao knew what he was up to, so he quickly added, "Ice Element's great! Xu Fang already has offensive skills. What he lacks are control skills!"
Xu Fang's mouth twitched.
Control skills... was he really that short on them?
"Here, young man. Take this; it's a little something from me." Shi Zheng took a thick stack of scrolls from his storage bracelet. "These are Books of Star Charts for several elements. Spend what you need to—don't hold back."
Xu Fang looked at the thick stack. There had to be dozens of them!
If he remembered correctly, in the original story Tang Yue had given Mo Fan four Books of Star Charts, which had made Mu Zhuoyun, that country-bumpkin nouveau riche, green with envy. He'd even exclaimed that the woman was no ordinary person.
Xu Fang tucked the scrolls against his chest, demurring, "Isn't this a bit much?"
"What's wrong with it?" Fei Jiao snorted, his voice dripping with envy. "Compared with the profits you've brought the Bell Tower Magic Association, this isn't even a fraction of the total."
"How vulgar! You're a Chief Instructor, yet you make the refined act of giving a gift sound so crass."
Shi Zheng shoved the scrolls into Xu Fang's hands and waggled his eyebrows. "Come to me when you've used these up. If you've got spares, give one to a friend as a little gift!"
Xu Fang stared at him, speechless.
He couldn't help feeling that this slightly sleazy middle-aged uncle was a completely different person from the cold, handsome man he'd met earlier!
······
After leaving the Bell Tower Magic Association, Xu Fang didn't go back to Lintong with Fei Jiao. Instead, he found a hotel and booked a suite.
Sitting cross-legged on the sofa, Xu Fang tried to control his Star Seeds.
Generally speaking, after awakening a new element, mages had to communicate with their new Star Seeds before they could connect them into a Star Track.
But Xu Fang didn't need to.
Those Golden Star Seeds surrounded by a blue Star Ring were still Golden Star Seeds!
The Star Ring lit up. One Thought Star Track!
Xu Fang extended his right hand. A vine of ice curled up from his palm like a snake, growing as waves of chill rolled off it.
He closed his right hand into a fist. The Ice Vine shattered, revealing a clear spring beneath it. Water gushed out, and Xu Fang held a water-blue shield in his hand.
These were all ordinary Elementary Magic: Ice Vine and Water Shield. Nothing difficult about them.
"Let's try a combination skill."
He'd save the two Intermediate-level Light-Fire Combination Skills for another day. Xu Fang didn't want to wreck the hotel.
With a thought, he first locked onto the Water Element's Stardust. The golden star and the water-blue Star Ring lit up together, and a Star Track flashed into being.
It was another shield, but this time its color had changed from deep blue to black. It appeared in Xu Fang's hand.
This shade of black was hard to describe. It wasn't the usual "black as ink"; putting it into words was difficult. If he had to describe it, it was like the lonely emptiness at the bottom of the Deep Sea, where sunlight could never reach.
"This is..."
Xu Fang let go. The dark shield floated in the air, and as he moved closer, even the hotel lights seemed to dim.
"Fire Spark!"
Xu Fang hurled a Fire Spark at it. The blazing flames struck the dark shield, then vanished without a trace, as if they'd plunged into an endless deep sea.
"Interesting... Fire Spark Burning!"
Xu Fang raised the stakes.
His Fire Spark Burning was no weaker than an ordinary mage's Fire Spark, yet it still disappeared without a trace.
The surface of the dark shield didn't even ripple. It was as if it hadn't been the one attacked.
"Fire Spark!"
"Crimson Fire Light Array!"
"Solar Flame Light Bullet!"
He kept raising the stakes until he'd roughly figured out the dark shield's limit: while detached from his body, it could withstand magic attacks below Intermediate Level Two.
When held in his hand, it grew stronger to match its opponent. The mechanism was unknown.
After dismissing the dark shield, Xu Fang connected once more with the Golden Star Seed in his Ice Element Stardust. The instant the Star Track swept across the air, a "sun" rose above his head.
The "sun" didn't shine fiercely. A distinct halo surrounded it, and everything within its reach froze.
That included the high-end sofa beneath Xu Fang, the coffee table opposite him, and the round bed behind the half-closed door. All of them turned to ice.
The speed and power of Ice Vine didn't even compare!
"I'll call the Light-Water Combination Skill Lightless Sea Shield, and the Light-Ice Combination Skill Sun Halo." Xu Fang was very pleased with the two skills.
He now had area attacks and single-target attacks, charging, buildup, locking on, and defense breaking. Add defense and slowing effects, and he was a perfect all-rounder!
After his successful awakening, Xu Fang couldn't bear to waste a single moment.
He had four elements in all, but having more didn't mean he was stronger. It only meant his potential ceiling was higher.
Xu Fang would have to spend more time and effort, and he'd need more magic energy and resources.
What he needed to do now was reinforce his foundation.
He'd leveled up too quickly lately. He hadn't been in the Ancient Capital for long, yet his cultivation had shot up from Elementary Level Two to Intermediate Level Two, leaping across an entire major level.
He hadn't fully developed the techniques for many of his skills before he'd rushed on to learn the next one.
If magic cultivation were like building a skyscraper, then his foundation clearly wasn't solid enough. The taller the building, the more likely it was to collapse.
Xu Fang simply shut himself in his room and used the Stardust Magic Tool to push himself to his limit. He spent ten hours a day in meditation, then practiced controlling his Star Seeds.
He settled down, but the guests in several nearby rooms had a terrible time, experiencing the proper meaning of being caught between fire and ice.
They stormed the front desk, demanding refunds. The hotel was at a loss. Its staff wanted to confront Xu Fang, but the moment they stood at his door and felt the violent surges of magic energy rolling from inside, the courage they'd just mustered vanished.
"Maybe we should let it go. It's not worth offending a mage over something this trivial."
"Right, right! That's what I thought too!"
"Mages are guests too. Our hotel's policy doesn't say we should kick guests out."
"Fair point. So, shall we... go?"
"Let's go, let's go!"
The hotel staff hurried off, leaving Xu Fang alone in his room, utterly absorbed in cultivation.
If Fei Jiao hadn't called him, he might have stayed there even longer.
"Hello, it's me."
"The Military Region Competition? I'm supposed to take part too? All right, I understand..."
He got up, showered, and changed his clothes.
Standing in front of the full-length mirror, Xu Fang looked at his reflection and grinned brightly.
Time to get to work!
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