Chapter 169: Explosion Radius Is Larger Than Attack Range

Chapter 169: Explosion Radius Greater Than Attack Range

【Fireball (First-tier Perfection)】0/10000

Li Wei gazed at the words floating before his eyes.

Deep in thought.

When a spell reached perfection, the experience bar would turn infinite—

a sign that the spell had hit its limit, incapable of further advancement.

But spell derivation was different.

Derivation knew no end.

To derive beyond first-tier perfection meant entering second-tier spells.

If one possessed cultivation experience in second-tier fire spells, this step could be crossed swiftly—

much like how, back then, he’d leapt from zero-tier to first-tier overnight.

By integrating his mastery of the first-tier Fireball, Li Wei had derived the once meager spark into a roaring flame within a single night.

With foundation, advancing to the next stage became vastly easier.

And Li Wei had long been prepared.

【Explosive Fireball (Second-tier Proficiency)】1687/2000

Recently, he’d spent time grinding through Explosive Fireball.

Once it reached minor mastery, he would gain insights into certain principles of spellcraft.

With those insights, he could rapidly push Fireball itself into the second tier.

To derive directly, without such aid, would take nearly as long as inventing an entirely new second-tier spell.

Li Wei stilled his mind and resumed his grind.

One night passed.

【Explosive Fireball (Second-tier Proficiency)】1945/2000

During the day, he devoted time to meditation and cultivating magical energy.

His cultivation never ceased—not even for a breath.

Even while refining mithril ore, he seized moments to complete his daily regimen.

After all, magical energy was the bedrock of a mage.

Without it, everything else was a castle in the air.

At noon, Explosive Fireball advanced.

【Explosive Fireball (Second-tier Minor Mastery)】0/4000

A flood of knowledge surged into Li Wei’s mind—the structural principles behind Explosive Fireball’s spell model.

Places that once baffled him now lay clear and open.

Yet clarity was not full understanding.

Only at major mastery would he truly digest the spell model.

At perfection, he might comprehend the spell better than even its creator.

Still, Explosive Fireball was not his focus.

Having reached minor mastery, he halted further cultivation.

Instead, he wove his insights into Fireball, accelerating the derivation of a second-tier spell model.

By late afternoon, he completed the foundational structure of Second-tier Fireball.

Compared to its first-tier predecessor, this new Fireball was several times more powerful.

Its explosion radius, flight speed, attack range, and stability had all surged dramatically.

When Li Wei had refined First-tier Fireball to perfection,

its magical circuitry comprised thirty-six channels.

Yet this newly derived Second-tier Fireball already contained fifty-four.

Though only eighteen more circuits, the casting difficulty had increased geometrically.

Thirty-six circuits was already extraordinary—

most first-tier spells barely exceeded twenty.

Even Explosive Fireball had only forty-two.

That night, within the dream realm, Li Wei tested the power of his new spell.

No charging.

The fireball conjured by ordinary incantation was already the size of a washbasin,

glowing a deep orange-red.

Previously, only compressed, pre-charged fireballs achieved such color.

Li Wei hurled it forward.

The orb soared into the sky, arcing through the air before striking over two hundred meters away.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion. Seconds later, a violent wind swept past, flapping his robes like storm-tossed sails.

When the dust settled, a crater twenty meters wide scarred the earth.

Li Wei smiled.

He recalled how, years ago, Mage El had cast a Flame Serpent spell that carved a mere few-meter-wide pit—

and he had stood there, awestruck.

Now, with a single casual Fireball, his destructive power far surpassed that of Flame Serpent.

In sheer force, Second-tier Fireball rivaled third-tier spells.

After all, his Pyro-Elemental Body granted a +1 bonus to fire spell potency.

A second-tier fire spell in his hands could unleash the might of a third-tier.

Even a basic third-tier fire spell vastly outclassed any second-tier.

The mana cost of Second-tier Fireball was triple that of the first-tier version.

With Li Wei’s current reserves, he could cast it at most four times.

But still, it was infinitely stronger than before.

Previously, he’d needed to drain every drop of his mana to produce a fireball of similar power.

And this—was an uncharged cast.

Now, Li Wei attempted to charge it.

The fireball swelled rapidly before him, its diameter exceeding three meters in an instant.

Flames roared fiercely, radiating waves of unbearable heat and blinding light.

Just gazing at the blazing sphere made Li Wei’s heart pound with unease.

Inside it surged a magical energy three times greater than his own reserves.

Li Wei attempted to compress the fireball, but could only shrink it down to one meter.

Its color shifted from orange to yellow—

a radiant, searing yellow.

At once, it brought to mind the sun hanging in the sky.

Li Wei hurled the golden fireball forward.

After flying over a hundred meters, it exploded midair with a thunderous boom.

Too much stored power had compromised control.

The effective range shortened slightly.

Upon detonation, a spherical wave of yellow flame expanded outward in a flash,

its diameter soon surpassing fifty meters.

Everything within that radius was consumed by fire.

From afar, it looked as though a small yellow sun had appeared upon the earth.

A moment later, the blaze faded.

An immense shockwave burst forth, roaring like wind through a canyon.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sand and soil were ripped from the ground, swirling into a violent sandstorm.

Even standing over a hundred meters away, Li Wei felt the tremendous force.

Caught off guard, he swallowed a mouthful of dust.

The shockwave raged for several seconds.

When the dust finally settled, Li Wei beheld a vast circular scar upon the earth.

The blast had spread beyond a hundred meters.

Soil within that radius had been flung upward.

The ground at the epicenter, across dozens of meters, was charred black.

Though the aerial explosion hadn’t carved a deep crater,

its elevated detonation greatly expanded the area of impact.

Under normal circumstances, a shockwave wouldn’t reach such distances.

“This… must rival a fourth-tier spell already!”

Li Wei murmured softly.

Alan’s fourth-tier Sandstorm Vortex covered a slightly wider area,

but that was because it was a sustained spell, not instantaneous.

In terms of raw single-target damage, it might not surpass this.

Li Wei furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

“The enormous blast radius means the power is dispersing—damage against a single foe may still be insufficient.”

He wished the Fireball’s force could be more concentrated.

Even if it meant sacrificing some range.

Truthfully, the current blast area of the charged fireball was simply too vast.

It made even the caster feel overwhelmed.

After all, the spell’s maximum range was barely over a hundred meters.

If the explosion grew any wider, he’d end up caught in it himself.

And that wasn’t impossible.

Right now, the second-tier Fireball had only just taken shape.

With further refinement, its power would grow—and so would its explosion.

[Fireball (Second Tier – Initial Mastery)] 12/10000

(End of Chapter)