Chapter 445 – Another Way to Use Mana

When Shi Feng saw Unrestrained Lionheart contacting him, he set aside the Mana Stone in his hand and somewhat helplessly answered the call.

After researching the Holy Power Negation Barrier Magic Array for an entire night, he couldn’t help but have a newfound respect for the Great Grandmaster Magicians behind the barrier’s development. Even though it was only a Grandmaster Magic Array, it wasn’t something a Great Grandmaster Magician could replicate easily.

The Holy Power Negation Barrier was unlike any magic array Shi Feng had seen.

Traditional magic arrays didn’t place much emphasis on mana volume. Or, more specifically, they didn’t need fixed amounts of mana to activate. However, the Holy Power Negation Barrier did. Moreover, it had different volume requirements for gaseous, liquid, and solid mana.

!!

When the players during Shi Feng’s previous life constructed the Holy Power Negation Barrier, they wouldn’t need to make precise mana adjustments because they had its design. The system would automatically make all the necessary adjustments based on the design. So, even Grandmaster Magicians could easily construct the Holy Power Negation Barrier.

However, Shi Feng currently did not have the design to guide him. He only had memories of the design. As a result, finding the right amount of mana to inject into the Holy Power Negation Barrier’s mana nodes became a huge challenge. The magic array would stop functioning normally and possibly even crumble if the volume of mana it received was off by even a small margin.

Meanwhile, after numerous attempts at replicating the Holy Power Negation Barrier, Shi Feng realized just how astounding of an understanding the barrier’s creators had toward mana.

Just by relying on Mana, they managed to find a way to block out Holy Power completely.

It should be known that Mana and Holy Power were two different types of energy capable of permeating one another. Meanwhile, it was normally impossible for these two types of energy to isolate each other.

Yet, the Great Grandmaster Magicians in his previous life had found a way to manipulate Mana so that it would reject Holy Power. This was simply unbelievable.

“It looks like your side has reached a conclusion, Mr. Lionheart,” Shi Feng calmly said as he looked at Unrestrained Lionheart.

“Yes, we have,” Unrestrained Lionheart said, nodding. “The commander has agreed to your two conditions. However, the commander also has one condition for you.”

“What is it?” “Shi Feng asked, a little surprised by Unrestrained Lionheart’s answer. He didn’t think Unrestrained Lionheart’s commander would actually agree to both of his conditions.

It should be known that Unrestrained Lionheart was a veteran fifth-floor expert belonging to the Red Dragon Nation, so whoever could serve as his commander would naturally have extraordinary strength and influence. Logically, there should be no way such an individual would tolerate handing over command of their team to an outsider, much less the privilege of choosing any one item from the team’s harvest.

After all, Shi Feng was only one individual. It wouldn’t make a significant difference for a 100-man team to have an extra one or two experts or be missing one or two experts. At the end of the day, the raid’s success would still depend on the team’s overall strength.

Of course, if Unrestrained Lionheart’s commander was willing to accept his conditions, there was no reason for Shi Feng to be against their decision.

The Courtyard of Space was the only known ruin left behind by the Goddess of Space. Whether it was the Seven Luminaries Ring or the Divine Spatial Potion obtainable from the ruin, both were of extraordinary value. The Divine Spatial Potion was especially important for Shi Feng.

Tier 4 players could be regarded as the weakest existences in the current Eternal Realm. Hence, Shi Feng needed to advance to Tier 5 as soon as possible. However, because of his quest, he needed to create a Tier 5 Legendary Mana Body before he could do so.

Meanwhile, apart from improving his Concentration standard, the only other method that could allow him to create a Tier 5 Legendary Mana Body would be through improving his mana affinity. If he could improve his affinity with mana, it would increase his control over mana by a significant margin.

“Simple.” Smiling, Unrestrained Lionheart said, “Once the team’s casualty exceeds 20%, you will have to forfeit your command over the team and the privilege of choosing an item of your choice.”

“Okay, no problem,” Shi Feng answered without hesitation.

Ensuring the team’s casualty stayed below 20% was a big ask. For teams challenging the Courtyard of Space without prior knowledge, achieving such a low casualty rate would be impossible. However, Shi Feng knew plenty about the Courtyard of Space.

The various powers during his previous life had placed a lot of attention on the Courtyard of Space. Even after someone had secured the Courtyard of Space’s First Clear, the various powers did not stop exploring the ruin for clues pertaining to the Goddess of Space. Hence, plenty of information and strategies concerning the Courtyard of Space became publicly available.

“You sure are a straightforward person, Mr. Black Flame,” Unrestrained Lionheart said, feeling a little surprised by Shi Feng’s quick and decisive response. “The ruin will activate in the Corrosion Mountain Range in 25 hours. Please be there on time, Mr. Black Flame.”

“I will.” Shi Feng nodded.

After saying so, Shi Feng disconnected the call and resumed his research of the Holy Power Negation Barrier Magic Array.

Even though Shi Feng had already become a Great Grandmaster Magician, the more he studied the Holy Power Negation Barrier, the more he learned about magic arrays.

Magic arrays were a phenomenon formed through using mana to manipulate the various magic elements. Meanwhile, each magic element could produce varying effects depending on the volume of mana used to manipulate it.

Players might achieve powerful effects by manipulating the various magic elements using an excessive amount of mana, but if they could use the perfect amount of mana for each element, they could have the various magic elements achieve 100% of their effects.

In other words, if done right, players could use the same amount of mana to manipulate a greater amount of magic elements.

However, finding the right amount of mana to manipulate each element wasn’t a simple task. If players did not have a sufficiently high affinity with mana, they couldn’t even begin to explore this topic.

Fortunately, Shi Feng’s mana affinity had already reached Level 5 thanks to the Great Grandmaster Emblem. If it was still at Level 4, he would have been met with a dead end.

Subsequently, time went by quickly as Shi Feng experimented using varying volumes of mana to manipulate the various magic elements. Every experiment he did put him closer to grasping the perfect amount of mana to use to manipulate the various elements.

First, he mastered the element of fire in the first hour.

Afterward, he mastered the element of water in the third hour.

In the sixth hour, he mastered the element of wind.

In the ninth hour, he mastered the element of earth.

In the thirteenth hour, he mastered the element of illusion.

In the sixteenth hour, he mastered the element of time.

In the twentieth hour, he mastered the element of space.

Once Shi Feng found the appropriate amount of mana to use to manipulate the seven magic elements, he felt as if he had reached a new level in the manipulation of magic arrays.

I should be able to complete the Holy Power Negation Barrier now. After taking a deep breath, Shi Feng looked at the tattered magic scrolls on the ground and wryly smiled. Sure enough, learning anything in this game costs a significant amount of money and resources.

Magic scrolls that could be used to create Grandmaster Magic Arrays were typically sold for five Magic Crystals each. In addition, each attempt at creating the Holy Power Negation Barrier cost 30 Mana Stones. Now that he had made over 500 failed attempts, he had spent over 2,500 Magic Crystals at 15,000 Mana Stones. There was no way the average expert could afford such an expenditure.

Fortunately, Shi Feng had brought 30,000 Mana Stones with him when he left the Miniature Ancient World. Even after all those failed attempts, he still had enough Mana Stones to explore the various magic elements and continue producing magic scrolls for the Holy Power Negation Barrier.

Following this, Shi Feng started trying to produce the Holy Power Negation Barrier Magic Scrolls for real.

Unfold the magic scroll… Structure the mana nodes… Shape the mana circuits… Form the magic arrays…

Finally, inject the mana!

As soon as Shi Feng injected mana into the scroll covered with complex magic arrays, powerful ripples of mana began spreading from the scroll, these ripples causing the surrounding mana to become denser.

…

System: Congratulations! You have developed a new Grandmaster Magic Array. Rewarding two levels.

System: Please name your magic array.

…

TL Notes:

It would seem that I have misunderstood the concept of mana the author was trying to convey all this time…

Apparently, mana(魔力) and the various magic elements(魔法元素) are separate things, and mana is used to manipulate the various magic elements. I was always under the assumption that mana was a general term used to refer to different types of mana, but it seems that’s not the case.

But in Chapter 375, the author mentioned “elemental affinity(魔法元素親和度),” yet mentioned “mana affinity(魔力親和度)” in this chapter. So, I guess they are somewhat the same thing to a certain extent? I haven’t a clue.

Anyway, I will be using the correct interpretation going forward, but I don’t think I will ever go back to correct my misinterpretation. There are just too many chapters to go through. x.x

…

Fyi:

Three Supreme Elements = Space, Time, Illusion

Four Major Elements = Fire, Water, Earth, Wind