Chapter 176 - 118: Eternal Night Cold Tide and Cyan Jade Gourd

Chapter 176: Chapter 118: Eternal Night Cold Tide and Cyan Jade Gourd

The next day, Alicia arrived as usual to discuss the Blizzard Project. Normally, today would mark the final stage of the project, so she brought along her complete set of blueprints.

However, Chen Shang also produced a new set of blueprints. "Alicia, the plan might need a few modifications."

Alicia looked puzzled. "Our Witchcraft research has already stabilized. Why change it now?"

Chen Shang shook his head without elaborating too much. He simply said, "I happened to make a few discoveries while researching the Witchcraft. There’s a lot more room for improvement."

After collecting the Fei Lian Eight Winds, his comprehension had deepened significantly, making the old version obsolete.

Therefore, his new structure was no longer an octagon, but an eight-pointed star. The eight points corresponded to the directions of the eight winds, with each point extending inward to form a wind channel. These eight channels converged at the center.

The Ice Element would condense in the center, be drawn in by the eight wind channels simultaneously, and then blast outward in eight directions.

The wind force at each of the eight points could be adjusted independently. When lethality was required, the output of the Gale and Changhe Wind would be increased. When crowd control was needed, the output of the Jing Feng and Mingshu Feng would be amplified.

Alicia sat down and carefully examined the new blueprints, her brows furrowing tightly. "Why change it like this?"

Chen Shang didn’t explain the Fei Lian Eight Winds to her—that was premium knowledge—but he pushed the blueprints to the center of the table and explained the principles.

"The original eight Runes merely corresponded to a specific wind direction, but I’ve now introduced attribute variations. If Energy is distributed evenly among the eight Runes, the shape of the Blizzard will be asymmetrical, and the density of the Ice Crystals will be completely lopsided."

Based on Chen Shang’s observations, the temperature of the Guangmo Wind was three times colder than that of the Mingshu Feng. If the output remained at a fixed ratio, the form of the Ice Crystals would fluctuate drastically as the wind directions shifted. This would severely compromise the Blizzard’s stability, making these modifications an absolute necessity.

Alicia looked down at the blueprints, her fingers tapping sequentially over the positions of the eight core Runes as if running a simulation. Finally, she grasped the concept. "So you need to control the Energy output ratio of each Rune, rather than distributing it evenly."

"Exactly. Furthermore, the Wind Element’s output isn’t linear." Chen Shang unrolled another sheet of paper next to the blueprints, revealing a complex Energy distribution diagram.

Below each of the eight core Runes was a percentage indicating its output power. However, this percentage wasn’t fixed; it fluctuated dynamically over time.

Alicia stared at the eight-pointed star for a long time. "With this structure, the utilization rate of the Ice Element is double what it was before. The wind speed will also increase as the channels narrow."

She fell silent for a moment before continuing, "How are you improving so quickly? I just finished modifying the new blueprints, yet you’ve already surpassed our original limits!"

"It’s not as exaggerated as you think. I just stumbled upon some inspiration," Chen Shang said modestly.

He then worked with Alicia to mark down the precise measurements on the blueprints: the inlet diameter, outlet diameter, and contraction length of each wind channel, as well as the exact coordinates of the central Ice Element condensation point.

Each point of the eight-pointed star was meticulously labeled with its corresponding wind direction and wind channel parameters.

After a few hourglasses of intense work, they finally completed the final touches. Alicia stretched lazily in satisfaction. "What are you planning to call this Witchcraft?"

"Eternal Night Cold Tide. What do you think?"

"Doesn’t matter."

The two perfectly embodied the pragmatic nature of Wizards. As long as a piece of Witchcraft was effective, its name was completely irrelevant.

Alicia attempted to simulate the Witchcraft’s execution. The eight winds were injected simultaneously as the Ice Element condensed in the center, followed by all eight wind channels opening at once.

However, a new problem quickly presented itself.

While using her Spiritual Power to coordinate the eight winds and the Ice Element simultaneously, a noticeable delay appeared by the fourth step. By the sixth step, the entire process completely unraveled.

It wasn’t that her Manipulation Power was lacking. The sheer demand of simultaneously controlling nine different types of Energy with varying characteristics simply exceeded the multi-tasking limits of a Second Level Apprentice’s Spiritual Power.

She tried a few more times. Finally, after seven and a half minutes of painstaking effort, she successfully executed the Witchcraft.

Chen Shang also gave it a try. Manipulating the Fei Lian Eight Winds was no issue for him; with the assistance of his trait, injecting all eight winds simultaneously was effortless.

But introducing the Ice Element was a different story. The moment his Spiritual Power made contact with the Ice Element, the icy cluster of Energy began to dart around uncontrollably. Swept up by the eight winds, it crashed wildly in every direction, completely failing to stabilize at the center.

It couldn’t be helped. He simply wasn’t proficient with the Ice Element. His Eye of Truth could perceive it clearly, but his execution couldn’t keep up.

The two exchanged a glance before Alicia spoke up. "The power is immense, but it demands far more precise control to be viable in actual combat."

Practicing it slowly in a controlled environment was fine, but in a life-or-death battle, a single second could determine the outcome. Seven and a half minutes? Their ashes would be scattered to the wind long before they finished casting.

Chen Shang remained silent. His Manipulation Power was even worse than Alicia’s, and improving it on short notice would be nearly impossible. Thus, he began pondering an alternative solution.

What if he recorded this Witchcraft in advance and deployed it directly in battle? Similar to how a Magic Staff stored Witchcraft, he wouldn’t need to manually condense it; he would only need to trigger it.

However, he didn’t know any Alchemy and couldn’t craft a precise, reusable sealing device like a Magic Staff. He needed a living vessel to harbor this Witchcraft... or perhaps, he could use Space to contain it.

That was it. Qiwa’s Purple Gourd possessed spatial storage and sealing capabilities. He could simply pack the entire Witchcraft into the gourd and unleash it whenever necessary.

Noticing Chen Shang’s silence, Alicia asked, "Do you have a solution?"

"I’ll give something a try," Chen Shang replied without elaborating. He still wasn’t sure if it would actually work.

After Alicia left, Chen Shang got to work at the Recording Platform.