Chapter 168 - 115: Double Casting and 3 Elemental Multiplication

Chapter 168: Chapter 115: Double Casting and 3 Elemental Multiplication

Chen Shang waved his hands repeatedly, and the Samadhi True Flame erupted into a ring of fire around him, evaporating the nearest ice spikes. However, there were simply too many of them; as soon as one batch was vaporized, another took its place in a seemingly endless barrage.

The ring of fire was shrinking, and Chen Shang’s Magic Power was depleting rapidly. Yet, he wasn’t anxious in the slightest. Sustaining such Witchcraft would undoubtedly drain his opponent faster than him, not to mention his Magic Power reserves vastly exceeded Alicia’s.

Suddenly, someone in the audience gripped their armrest nervously and cried out in alarm.

Through the Eye of Truth, he looked up and saw the Ice Crystals within the Frost Domain gathering above Alicia’s head. The crystals shrieked as they rubbed against the air, and an Ice Dragon was born from the frost, its sudden roar echoing through the arena!

The Ice Dragon’s eyes were two deep blue Ice Crystals, glowing with dancing light. Every feather on its wings was a sharp Ice Blade. As its tail thrashed through the air, its body stretched over fifteen meters long, with a wingspan that cast a shadow over half the arena.

It opened its maw and unleashed a blast of frigid air. Wherever the breath passed, the very air froze into Ice Crystals, and the ground was coated in thick frost.

Under the impact of that chilling blast, Chen Shang’s Samadhi True Flame flickered precariously.

"With attacks like this, how much Magic Power do you have left?"

Chen Shang clasped his hands together, casting Water-Fire Heaven Extremes once more. This time, the gold-and-blue sphere was twice as large, and the golden electrical arcs sparking at the boundary were as dense as a net.

He thrust the sphere toward the Ice Dragon.

When the Water-Fire Heaven Extremes collided with the Ice Dragon’s head, time seemed to stand still for a fraction of a second. The frigid breath spewing from the dragon’s mouth clashed midair with the scorching steam of the Water-Fire Heaven Extremes, forming an Energy Ball two meters in diameter that continued to swell.

Inside the sphere, ice and fire tore at each other fiercely, causing a network of fine cracks to spiderweb across its surface. Once it reached a critical point—BOOM! It exploded.

A golden pillar of fire erupted from the core, burning a massive hole right through the Ice Dragon’s head. Deep blue torrents of water surged into the gap, tearing the dragon apart from the inside out until it shattered into countless fragments.

Chunks of the Ice Dragon crashed onto the arena floor, and the Water-Fire Heaven Extremes dissipated completely.

Deafening cheers erupted from the audience, but Chen Shang’s body suddenly swayed.

"What happened?"

"Wasn’t Chen on the offensive?"

"What hurt him? Why didn’t I see anything?"

Chen Shang furrowed his brow; without his realizing, a Blizzard Needle had pierced his left shoulder.

Using the imposing Ice Dragon as a distraction, his opponent had launched a stealthy sneak attack. The needle had bypassed the defenses of the Shield of Monatomic Heavy Water and nailed directly into his shoulder blade.

There was no blood, as the wound was instantly sealed by ice. However, the lingering Ice Element was already creeping from his shoulder toward his chest.

Alicia’s expression remained impassive, but with a slight twitch of her finger, the tip of the Blizzard Needle drove itself an inch deeper into his flesh.

Channeling the Samadhi True Flame, Chen Shang melted the Ice Needle and recalled the details he had captured through the Eye of Truth. The Blizzard Needle hadn’t been fired from Alicia’s fingertips; it had naturally condensed from the Ice Crystals within the Frost Domain.

Those Ice Crystals acted as a medium, absorbing the ambient, free-floating Ice Element to automatically generate Blizzard Needles without requiring Alicia to expend any additional Magic Power. Her insistence on altering the battlefield environment wasn’t to amplify the sheer power of her Witchcraft, but to set the stage for such imperceptible attacks.

The Eye of Truth had seen it coming, yet Chen Shang’s own reflexes had failed to respond in time. This laid bare the exact flaw Haimer Wizard had warned him about: the Level of the Eye of Truth was simply too high for him, far outpacing his physical evolution.

He silently opened his interface, and sure enough, a notification popped up.

[Extractable trait detected: Elemental Resonance: Ice (Blue)—Source: Alicia, Frost Domain. Completeness: 83%. Extract?]

He chose to extract it, and a pale blue mote of light materialized on the interface.

Alicia gave him no time to catch his breath. Sweeping her hands in an arc, she beckoned the Ice Crystals in the Frost Domain to gather once more. This time, however, it wasn’t just one Ice Dragon—there were four.

The four Ice Dragons lunged at Chen Shang from all directions, entirely cutting off his avenues of retreat.

In the stands, someone cried out in disbelief, "Four? How does she have that much Magic Power?"

"No, wait. The examiner Wizard hasn’t stopped the match, which means this is within the rules... But her total Magic Power Value is only one hundred and sixty! How could she possibly sustain four Ice Dragons at once?"

Chen Shang looked up. Through the vision of the Eye of Truth, Alicia’s Magic Power Circuit had split into two. They were two completely independent circuits operating in tandem without interfering with each other. One circuit drained her Magic Power, while the other—like a mirror copy—drained the surrounding Elemental Power.

The interface flashed again.

[Extractable trait detected: Double Casting (Blue)—Source: Alicia. Completeness: 85%. Extract?]

Chen Shang was stunned. Double Casting shared a striking similarity with his Second Magic Spring. For instance, Alicia’s Magic Power Value of one hundred and sixty was functionally doubled to three hundred and twenty under the effects of Double Casting. If this evolved into Multi-Casting, it would absolutely rival Multiple Magic Springs—perhaps even demanding a higher level of Manipulation Power.

It was a fantastic trait to acquire, but having to face an opponent wielding it right now was a massive headache.

He drew the Natural Fury from his Space Book. The Gemstone atop the Magic Staff flared with emerald light. Summon—Giant Wood Guard.

The arena floor cracked open, and a colossal ancient tree surged upward from the fissure. Its trunk was as thick as a tower, its branches like massive arms, and its canopy spread out like a vast umbrella. Thick roots churned out of the earth, lashing out like countless sturdy pythons to wrap around the first Ice Dragon’s neck and drag it out of the sky.