Chapter 59: The Five Elements of Imperial Arts, the Foundation of Conviction

[Countdown to teleportation channel opening: 10, 9... 3, 2, 1]

A spacetime vortex opened in the clearing. Lin Bo did not rush to leave, instead remaining inside the dungeon to scavenge for valuable supplies—an old habit of his. The mechanical factory dungeon had far too many good items, and every visit felt like a major wholesale haul, leaving him loaded with loot.

Unfortunately, this village was utterly destitute. Edible grain, herbs, and other supplies had long since rotted and been contaminated; gold, silver, copper, and iron were extremely scarce; and the weapons wielded by the minor monsters were utterly crude, consisting mostly of flintlocks.

After a thorough search yielded nothing, he had already mapped out the entire layout.

The Village of Demonic Invocation was nestled by the coast. Lin Bo could hear the restless whispers of the waves, warning the True Name Mage that once, a creature favored by the ocean had been forced to leave its homeland. Later, when it returned to the sea, it was no longer its former passionate and beautiful self.

Lin Bo had read the strategy guides and knew that the creature mentioned by the waves was the source of the village's anomaly. It still lurked deep within the billows, constantly spying on this place, and would only appear as a boss monster on Nightmare difficulty.

In the dead center of the village sat the sole temple structure.

Unlike the dilapidated, crude appearance of the residential houses, this temple was constructed from polished white giant stones. Though its volume and footprint were small, it still exuded a luxury that wasted immense human and material resources.

The final battle of the next difficulty tier would take place inside here.

On Easy difficulty, the temple doors were tightly shut and could not be opened from this side.

Lin Bo pressed his hand against the doors, chanting the True Name of Stone. The stone latch behind the doors clicked and unlocked, and the two heavy granite doors swung wide open before him with a booming echo.

The interior of the hall was dim; the brazier fires on the rows of pillars on either side remained unlit.

Although he had forcibly broken into an unopened area, the dungeon did not increase in difficulty on account of it, and hostile monsters did not spawn. Only the empty battle arena was left available for sightseeing.

Lin Bo glanced at the straightforward, unadorned temple that could be seen from end to end, abandoning any thoughts of scavenging for supplies. He turned around, headed back to the village, and left the dungeon through the teleportation channel.

Returning empty-handed to the lighthouse, the deep purple spacetime vortex quietly collapsed. At this moment, a notification popped up on the Metaverse Information Board.

[Metaverse Prompt: The "Normal" difficulty of the dungeon [Sea Spirit Altar of the Village of Demonic Invocation] has been unlocked. Please check the invitation letter information for details.]

Dungeon Name: Sea Spirit Altar of the Village of Demonic Invocation (Remaining challenges today: 1)
Level: 3-5
Difficulty: Normal
Clear Rewards: Metaverse Calamity Coins * 90, Universal Experience * 500, Gray-quality drop (High probability), White-quality drop (Medium probability), Universal Skill Book (Extremely low probability)

[Metaverse Prompt: Death within this dungeon will cause the player to fall into a state of soul weakness (1.5 natural days).]

[Please clear the dungeon to unlock more difficulty tiers.]

The Normal difficulty Sea Spirit Altar required no outside assistance for Lin Bo to consider.

He did not hesitate. After topping up the iron pellets in his ammunition pouch and performing feigned-death meditation for an hour to completely restore his energy, he consumed his final challenge quota for the day.

[Dungeon selected: Sea Spirit Altar of the Village of Demonic Invocation]
[Current difficulty: Normal]

It was still a wretched and gloomy dusk. The dampness in the air was heavier than on Easy difficulty, as if the sun had drawn closer to the horizon and visibility in the village was even poorer.

Night was falling, and rain was coming. This was the dungeon environment's first impression upon the player.

Lin Bo released his little seagull, instructing it to make a loud racket and liven up the village.

"Squawk!" The little king raised his right wing in a salute, playfully hopped twice on Lin Bo's shoulder, and then shot upward into the air, spreading his wings. A string of arrogant seagull cries resounded across the sky.

As the Demon-Throat Servants were startled, letting out roars as wretched as a slaughtered pig, the enthusiastic and hospitable locals in the houses instantly rushed out in a swarm, waving blades, spears, swords, and halberds, intent on beating down that reckless, obnoxious bird.

Lin Bo ascended into the air, utilizing the last lingering rays of the setting sun to observe the entire battlefield. Every time the dungeon reset, the enemies' positioning was randomized, and those four Demon-Throat Servants had changed their hiding spots.

However, the result remained the same.

A silver star pierced the void, running straight through the skull.

In low-level combat, players who mastered ranged methods enjoyed highly guaranteed kill efficiency and safety. Even melee classes like warriors and martial artists were best off carrying a bow or crossbow, and using a firearm if available. How could anyone become a grandmaster by clinging blindly to the old ways?

Slender, piercing thorns flew from Lin Bo's hands, tearing through the atmosphere and reflecting the warm red light of dusk. When they struck the ground, they inevitably punctured a skull, bringing forth a burst of shattered bone and brain matter.

To prevent his precision coefficient from dropping, he also had to employ some clever tactics.

Aiming at an enthusiastic villager chasing the little seagull, an iron pellet flickered out from his fingertips, turning into a sharp spike mid-air. After piercing the skull of the evil servant, the iron spike decelerated, transitioning in a split second from extreme motion to extreme stillness.

At the exact moment its speed hit zero, the elongated iron spike curled back into a spherical shape, and once more grew sharp points directed toward another enemy.

Under the control of the True Mantra Imperial Technique, the rigid metal flowed like invisible water, transforming freely.

The reshaped spike abruptly accelerated from extreme stillness back into extreme motion, piercing the skull of the next frenzied villager, and thus repeating the cycle over and over to pick off targets one by one.

Overlooking from the air, Lin Bo saw the crude houses resembling grapefruits, the minor monsters running through the streets looking like a pile of matchsticks, and the iron spike flashing and leaping among the enemy group like an orange-yellow spark darting back and forth. Wherever it passed, the heads of the matchsticks burst into brief flashes of blood and fire.

Corpses tumbled down one after another, making dull thudding sounds.

From the front of the village to the back, thirty-three seconds later, absolute silence reigned.

The little seagull flew back to Lin Bo's shoulder, squawking to claim credit for itself: "I was so great!"

"(Magical Language) Indeed, you were great." The mage did not stint on his praise, taking a small pouch of roasted and dried fruit mushrooms from his trench coat pocket to feed the little king.

He descended to the ground. The iron pellet flew back through the air, its smooth surface unstained by blood, though Lin Bo still used the Imperial Technique of Blazing to vibrate and scorch it once just to provide some psychological comfort.

[Skill judgment successful, [True Mantra Imperial Technique - Flow] Basic Proficiency + 1]
[Precision coefficient × 1.8 (Original)]
[Health status coefficient × 1.6 (Excellent)]
[Actual combat proficiency (Overcoming the Enemy + 0.5) (Terrifying Descent + 1.5) (Tyrannical Sweep + 2)]
[Final calculation result: [True Mantra Imperial Technique - Flow] Proficiency + 6.8]
[Final calculation result: [True Mantra Imperial Technique - Raw] Proficiency + 6.8]

Lin Bo had skewered sixteen evil servants on a single iron pellet like a string of candied fruit. Throughout the entire process, his mind had been intensely focused without a single flicker, consuming more spell power and mental energy, but his gains had also increased substantially.

Drinking a bottle of whale oil potion, he silently reviewed the battle in his mind while waiting for his spell power to recover.

The imperial techniques of Raw and Flow complemented each other. As his practice frequency increased, this sense of harmony grew clearer and clearer.

"When the Imperial Technique of Raw reshapes form, the growth of the spikes on the iron pellet is also a form of 'flow'—not an overall movement, but the flowing of internal structure."

He slowly savored the subtle lacing effect between the two imperial techniques.

"When executing different imperial techniques, the external form of expression is merely skin-deep; the crucial element is the inner conviction I hold when mobilizing each technique.

"The conviction of the Flow imperial technique is the tension of swift flight; the Raw imperial technique requires a liberated imagination that breaks the mold; and the Blazing imperial technique is a vast, uninhibited, and lucid state of mind.

"Right now, when I execute both imperial techniques simultaneously, there is still some stumbling and lack of fluency. The reason lies in the fact that my state of mind has not achieved a harmonious oneness, and the transition of conviction is not smooth and natural enough.

"If I can fuse the convictions corresponding to different imperial techniques into a single mind, the transitions between all imperial techniques will no longer be stiff and sluggish."

Lin Bo chewed on these thoughts and reflections. He did not experience a sudden surge in strength just from seeing the path ahead; rather, the direction for his future hard work had simply become clearer.

In fact, he had long had a premonition that there were more than three True Mantra Imperial Techniques. Following the division of the Five Elements, in addition to Water, Wood, and Fire, there should be two more imperial techniques corresponding to Earth and Metal.

However, considering that his current time and energy were extremely limited and it was difficult to balance so many skills—not to mention that comprehending an imperial technique could not be achieved overnight, and sometimes opportunities arrived naturally when the time was right—he did not force himself to comprehend the remaining two imperial techniques.