Chapter 182 – A Different Way to Use Mana

When Shi Feng looked at the five Abyssal Hounds surrounding him, he quickly understood why so many players in Slumber City still didn’t have the Civilian status.

The Abyssal Tower’s first-floor trial alone was already pitting players against five Great Lords with combat standards at the Refinement Realm. Not to mention, the trial also subjected players to a powerful Mana suppression. Even a Refinement Realm expert fully geared in top-tier Epic Weapons and Equipment would only meet with death in such a situation.

The only way a Refinement Realm expert could conquer the first-floor trial was using brute force.

Players could not leave the Abyssal Tower even after dying in the trial. Instead, they would be resurrected within the trial space without losing any EXP.

In contrast, monsters killed in the trial could not resurrect. Their HP wouldn’t even be reset when players died. Instead, they could only recover their HP by relying on their recovery. In other words, they could only recover 2% of their HP every five seconds.

Thus, if players were sufficiently tenacious and possessed sufficiently high Basic Attributes, it was theoretically possible for them to complete the first-floor trial.

“Since the monsters will grow stronger the further I progress, I’ll use you guys to adapt to this environment first.”

When Shi Feng saw the five Abyssal Hounds gradually closing in on him, he didn’t take the initiative to attack. Instead, he entered a defensive state and focused on adapting to his current environment.

There were only several dozen players who had managed to clear the Abyssal Tower’s third floor in Slumber City. Logically, one would assume that every one of these players was a top-ranking Temple Knight. However, that wasn’t the case at all. Many of these players weren’t even Temple Knights, let alone top-ranking Temple Knights.

The reason for this strange phenomenon was because most players in Slumber City had failed to adapt to the Abyssal Tower’s combat environment. Conversely, the non-Temple Knight players had learned to adapt to the environment in the Abyssal Tower and maximize the use of their combat power. Adding on the fact that there were no death restrictions, it wasn’t exactly impossible for these supposedly weak players to whittle the monsters in the trial to death.

Thus, what Shi Feng needed to do now was simple—learn to adapt to the trial’s environment. If he were to wait until he reached the third or fourth floors to do so, the difficulty would increase drastically.

Learning to adapt to the trial’s combat environment wasn’t a difficult task for Shi Feng, either.

As a Grandmaster Magician, the understanding and control he had over Mana were far superior to the average expert. Since the trial was interfering with the flow of his Mana, what he needed to do was figure out a way to make his Mana flow along with this powerful interference.

Of course, accomplishing this feat was easier said than done. It was especially so since he was currently in combat.

Meanwhile, with each subsequent attempt Shi Feng made to adapt to the interference, the flow of Mana in his body also became smoother and smoother.

After the trial went on for a little over an hour, Shi Feng suddenly swung his sword and sent the five Abyssal Hounds flying over a dozen meters away. He also left a bone-deep wound in each of the Great Lords and caused them to lose over a million HP.

Sure enough, I managed to recover a good portion of my strength after adapting the flow of my Mana to this Mana suppression. Although I can only use 60% of my usual strength, using Basic Combat Techniques from time to time shouldn’t be a problem anymore, Shi Feng thought as he looked at the damage he had caused to the Abyssal Hounds. Then, he turned his gaze to the Winter of Eternal Night in his hand and furrowed his brows, thinking, But why does this new flow pattern look like it’s trying to draw a magic array inside my body?

He wouldn’t have noticed this little detail if it were before he had become a Primal Human and gained the Eyes of Reality. However, thanks to his enhanced senses, he could clearly feel that the flow of the Dark Mana within him was being used to outline a very complicated magic array.

Moreover, this magic array was so ingeniously designed that its construction did not affect the flow of the Dark Mana within him in the slightest. It was essentially watching someone using the existing parts in a machine to perform an entirely different action without modifying the parts.

The complexity of this magic array is roughly at the Master standard. With the current control I have, I should be able to replicate it. After pondering for a moment, Shi Feng decided to try drawing the magic array.

Based on his observation, this magic array was designed to operate with Dark Mana specifically. It could not accommodate any of the other elements at all. This meant that players would need to draw the magic array using Dark Mana only. The level of control required to accomplish this task was so high that even experts with Mana Domains would find it incredibly challenging.

Fortunately, the Abyssal Tower’s environment had greatly suppressed the flow of the other elements. So, Shi Feng had a much easier time manipulating the Dark Mana within his body.

Subsequently, Shi Feng resumed evading the Abyssal Hounds’ attacks while drawing that special magic array using his Dark Mana.

His first attempt failed…

His second attempt also failed…

Although Shi Feng faced failure after failure, each failed attempt also increased his familiarity with the drawing process. Initially, he could only draw the magic array’s contour. However, gradually, he started producing magic arrays with great clarity.

After a little over a dozen hours and several hundred failed attempts later…

Success!

After evading the attack of an Abyssal Hound, Shi Feng suddenly opened his eyes and swung his sword.

This time, Shi Feng did not sense any suppression coming from his surrounding environment. On the contrary, his body felt much lighter than normal. He even had a feeling that his body had merged with the surrounding space.

When Shi Feng swung his sword, a dark light briefly enveloped the weapon before it connected with the Abyssal Hound. Immediately afterward, the Great Lord got sent flying over a hundred meters away like a ragdoll, its HP falling by 10%.

What a powerful amplification effect! Shi Feng was greatly surprised as he looked at the dissipating dark light surrounding the Winter of Eternal Night. This magic array can forcibly increase the strength of a player’s Mana?

The biggest difference that separated players of different tiers was the strength of their Mana.

The higher a player’s tier, the stronger the Mana within their body would become. Meanwhile, the stronger a player’s Mana, the greater the destructive power they could exhibit with their attacks. It was similar to how the Spells of magical class players would become more powerful when cast in an environment with dense Mana.

Yet, the trial space’s magic array could forcibly increase the strength of a player’s Mana. Although the magic array’s effect required an environment rich in Dark Mana to achieve peak performance, it was amazing nonetheless.

After all, apart from some rare weapons, equipment, and tools, the only other way players could increase the strength of their Mana was by increasing their tier.

Yet, this magic array allowed players to achieve a similar effect without having to rely on anything aside from their bodies. This magic array would shake even the Greater God’s Domain if its existence was made known.

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