Promotion to Level Four

!

The test tube spun ceaselessly through Xia Ming's hands, leaving behind blurry afterimages. With a turn of his slender fingers, he sent a ball of flame engulfing the Jade Blood Flower, extracting its essence.

Under the flickering flames, the Jade Blood Flower melted into liquid and flowed into the test tube that already contained Elemental Liquid. Xia Ming gave his hand a light shake, and the two ingredients fused together, releasing a burst of heat and bubbles.

"Sacred Spirit Tree Leaf!"

Xia Ming was intensely focused. At the same time, he placed the Sacred Spirit Tree Leaf into another beaker. The Sacred Spirit Tree Leaf was a silvery plant with an exceptionally strong affinity for the elements, and its medicinal properties were easy to control. Under Xia Ming's practiced command, it quickly turned into silvery juice...

Xia Ming's string of movements was honed to perfection, so fast it dazzled the eye. His slender fingers danced as they whirled without pause—fingers like a rushing wind, swift as lightning. Had any other potion master seen this, they would surely have marveled at such godly skill!

With the help of the [Book of Eternity], every step in brewing the Mana Source Potion appeared perfectly before him. Xia Ming seemed as though he had concocted this potion tens of thousands of times, completing it almost entirely by instinct.

"Elemental Crystal!" Xia Ming raised his brows. At last, he had reached the most difficult step. The instant his flame touched the Elemental Crystal, the magical elements around him grew dense as liquid, and elemental spirits gathered like mad within the not-so-large underground alchemy room.

The alchemy room was like a tornado, and Xia Ming stood at its eye. All the elemental spirits surged madly toward him, flooding in like a tide.

"The Elemental Crystal actually contains such terrifying magical energy!" Though Xia Ming had prepared himself mentally, he was still shaken.

Suddenly, Xia Ming entered a profoundly mysterious state. Endless elemental spirits poured into his body, and he felt as refreshed as though he had eaten a ginseng fruit. Every capillary in his body seemed to open, absorbing the elemental spirits dancing through the air.

While brewing the potion, Xia Ming's mind had remained taut with intense concentration. Yet as the elemental spirits flooded toward him, he was like a sponge drinking in water; his entire body loosened and relaxed, while his mind became clear and empty.

Xia Ming had already been at the peak of a third-level mage. Stimulated by these elemental spirits, he faintly felt himself breaking through that layer of shackles.

Crackling sounds erupted throughout his body like exploding firecrackers. Elemental spirits coursed endlessly within him, elemental energy flowing and weaving through every part of his body. That torrent of elemental spirits was like a raging flood, while his body was like a sluice gate—the flood smashed through it in one thunderous rush, and Xia Ming's mind went blissfully numb!

Boom!

Xia Ming's spiritual power surged wildly, and his whole body suddenly felt lighter. He had actually entered the realm of a fourth-level mage!

"A fourth-level mage!" Xia Ming clenched his fist, overjoyed beyond measure.

He had originally thought he would need to drink the Mana Source Potion before he could possibly break through to the fourth level. Who would have expected such an unexpected gain—that he would break through the bottleneck in the middle of brewing the potion?

To advance in rank just by brewing a potion—Xia Ming's talent was truly terrifying beyond all reason. Unfortunately, Xia Ming himself had yet to fully realize this.

The difference between the third and fourth levels was as vast as clouds and mud; in truth, it was the same between every rank, each gap like a heavenly chasm. Feeling the powerful strength filling his body, Xia Ming was ecstatic.

After advancing to the fourth level, Xia Ming's strength had increased, and he handled the Mana Source Potion with even greater ease. He placed the final herb, Thousand Gold Herb, into the test tube. The four ingredients and the Elemental Crystal melded together, the medicinal liquid, Elemental Liquid, and Elemental Crystal blending in a perfect ratio...

His fingers spun at high speed as flames tempered the ingredients. The dense, liquid-like energy within the Elemental Crystal was extracted, then Xia Ming poured everything into a large bottle.

A large bottle of crystalline ice-blue liquid, glimmering with a deep blue radiance, sat before Xia Ming.

It was done!

Dense magical spirits danced around Xia Ming. He took a deep breath and muttered, "The brewing of the Mana Source Potion went unexpectedly smoothly. I made enough for two bottles. Should I auction one of them off?"

This potion brewing had gone exceedingly smoothly, and with enough materials on hand, Xia Ming had produced enough for two bottles. For a potion like Mana Source, the first dose naturally had the strongest effect; taking it again afterward would greatly weaken its efficacy, making it far inferior to the first time. Thus, there was little point in using it repeatedly.

After dividing the potion into two crystal bottles, Xia Ming stared at them, seemingly deep in thought.

Then, Xia Ming suddenly reached out. Without the slightest hesitation, he picked up one bottle of Mana Source Potion and gulped it down.

Having only just advanced to the fourth level, Xia Ming still seemed unsatisfied. He actually committed another mad act, drinking an entire bottle of the precious Mana Source Potion!

The overflowing elemental spirits once more crashed into Xia Ming's body like a flood. He again felt his magic power and spiritual power skyrocketing!

Like rivers converging into one, the elemental torrent within Xia Ming's body grew ever fiercer. His senses, spiritual power, and magic power all soared again!

This explosive growth in strength lasted nearly half an hour. Xia Ming's clothes had long since been drenched through with sweat, so soaked that water could practically be wrung from them.

Yet after examining his body, Xia Ming revealed an even more excited smile.

"Though I'm still a fourth-level mage, I'm not far from the fifth level!"

This leap in strength was truly a meteoric rise. In the blink of an eye, he had gone from a third-level mage to one nearing the fifth level. If word got out, it would probably make people's eyes fall out of their heads.

Xia Ming still had no idea what an outrageous feat he had accomplished. He merely continued examining his physical condition.

"The seal on the remaining portion of the [Book of Eternity] seems to have loosened!" Xia Ming sent his awareness into his mental sea and made another delightful discovery. After his spiritual power had surged so greatly, he was astonished to find that the seal on the Book of Eternity showed signs of loosening. Xia Ming had previously discovered that only powerful spiritual power could possibly open the sections sealed shut within the Book of Eternity.

This was no easy matter. Xia Ming's spiritual power had already been extraordinary, terrifying would not be an exaggeration, yet he had still found it difficult to shake the seal on the Book of Eternity.

But now, with his spiritual power having soared, the seal on the Book of Eternity had clearly begun to loosen. Xia Ming believed that once he advanced to the fifth level, breaking that seal would be a sure thing!

Savoring his tremendous gains, Xia Ming took out the magic notebook Anthony had given him and began reading the knowledge meant for fourth-level mages within it. He also mastered all the fourth-level spells in the Book of Eternity.

After memorizing several fourth-level spells, Xia Ming found that aside from the absolute disparity in strength, there were no other special differences between third-level and fourth-level mages. And Xia Ming's magical talent was such that even Anthony had called him a little monster; he quickly absorbed and fully mastered the fourth-level spells he had just learned.

Only after mastering the spells did Xia Ming rise to his feet, pick up the remaining bottle of Mana Source Potion, and walk out of the alchemy room...