Chapter 60: Fire Element Nurturing Manual

Chapter 60: A Manual for Cultivating Fire Elements

Memory fractured, Li Wei did not see whom he was meant to assassinate.

The only thing he knew was that the mission came from the orc tribe—the target, a human.

"Lilia holds a crucial secret!"

Li Wei quickly withdrew from the dream and knocked on Master Guze’s door.

"Master Guze, are you asleep?"

The urgent knocking startled Guze awake. He opened the door with bleary eyes.

"What's so urgent?"

Even as he spoke, Guze had already snapped fully alert.

Li Wei said, "Come with me—catch an assassin. It’s critical."

Guze’s expression shifted to surprise.

"An assassin? You’ve found one of the orcs’ agents? Then we should report this to Mage Alan immediately."

"No time. If we delay, he’ll escape."

Seeing Li Wei’s urgency, Guze grabbed his gear without another word and followed him out into the night.

Li Wei activated his cloak of invisibility and vanished into the darkness.

Guze cast Water Mirage—his body disappeared, leaving behind a shimmering watery silhouette.

"This way, Master Guze!"

Li Wei revealed his staff, pointing ahead before tucking it back beneath the cloak.

They arrived at the hiding place where Lilia had appeared in the dream.

"She’s inside," Li Wei whispered beside Guze at the threshold.

Guze nodded. "Leave it to me."

"Magic Servant!"

He summoned a spectral attendant to open the door, while the water mirage slipped through.

A moment later, Guze shook his head. "No one’s there."

Li Wei sighed. "Too late. She got away."

Guze eyed him curiously. "How did you know an assassin was hiding here?"

"A note," Li Wei replied. "It said an assassin was preparing to kill someone important."

Guze pondered. "Perhaps it was our spy sending a warning. Pity we missed the chance. But why would the spy send the message to *you*?"

"I don’t know. Maybe they had no one else to turn to," Li Wei answered casually.

Guze frowned. "Where’s the note?"

"I burned it."

Guze stared. "..."

"No proof, then. Forget it. Don’t speak of this again. In the future, if you receive messages of unknown origin, don’t act rashly. What if it’s a trap?"

Li Wei bowed his head humbly. "Yes, I understand."

They returned to the inn.

Back in his room, Li Wei lay still, eyes flickering in the dark.

"Little wildcat… sharper than I thought."

"So wary of humans? If you’re innocent, I’d be shocked."

He had intended to warn everyone about the orc assassin lurking in the city.

But after Guze’s caution, he abandoned the idea.

Better to stay vigilant himself. No need to make a spectacle.

The military already had units hunting the assassin and guarding key figures—it wasn’t his burden.

Survival first. Protection above all.

Let others bear their own fates.

Li Wei checked his invisible armor, activated his cloak of shadows, and lay down, slipping once more into the dream.

To the outside world, the room seemed empty.

Back in the dream cottage, he examined the Shadow Tendril spell.

"Shadow magic is rare. Why would an assassin wield shadow spells?"

He couldn’t fathom it.

Focusing, he reconstructed the spell model, channeling shadow elements.

From the darkness, a thick tendril emerged, silent and sinewy.

He lashed it across the room—chairs flew, the wooden bed shattered.

Then, the old friend appeared: Nightmare Snow Bear.

The shadow tendril coiled around it, pinning the beast in place.

"Weaker than Fireball, but excellent for control and restraint."

He hadn’t expected this to fill the gap in his arsenal—a missing piece of control magic.

The tendril held firm, immobilizing the peak-level Nightmare Snow Bear completely.

The bear thrashed wildly, and the spell’s duration dwindled rapidly.

After twenty seconds, the tendril dissolved.

With a roar, the Snow Bear lunged.

Li Wei waved a hand. The beast vanished. The room returned to silence.

"Dark currents stir beneath Frostsand City. Danger lurks in every shadow. I have no time to save others. All I can do is seize every moment to grow stronger—to protect myself."

He left the dream and resumed practicing Fireball in the waking world.

Yet he noticed something: within dreams, he could not feel the living pulse of fire elements.

Perhaps because the dream world was illusion—false, unreal.

True fire elements did not exist there.

Soon, his mana was spent.

"This is too slow. At most, I gain a dozen proficiency points a day. At this rate, I’ll need at least half a month to reach Mastery."

His fingers brushed the mana recovery potion in his pocket. Should he use it to accelerate his training?

He pulled out a vial and drank.

Coolness surged through his skull. Depleted mana refilled swiftly within.

Three minutes later, the effect of the mana recovery potion faded, and Li Wei's mana had mostly replenished.

"Not worth it! I'd be better off grinding slowly."

A small bottle of mana potion cost one gold coin—enough to cast a first-tier spell only two or three times.

Using mana potions for spell cultivation was simply too extravagant.

Li Wei stared at the fireball in his palm, pondering what exactly "earning elemental recognition" meant.

"When I cast a spell, what are the fire elements doing?"

"Why does casting more spells lead to elemental recognition? What’s the underlying principle?"

Driven by skepticism, he released his spiritual sense and carefully observed the fireball, perceiving the subtle shifts within the flame element.

"The fire element inside the fireball is more active, more intense than the drifting particles in the air."

"Hmm! Is it absorbing my mana?"

The mana sustaining the spell structure diminished at an almost imperceptible rate, while the fire element grew increasingly vibrant. Until now, Li Wei had assumed mana depletion was just a natural part of spellcasting. But with his enhanced spiritual perception, he could finally detect the minute exchange—the dissipated mana being absorbed by the fire element, elevating its energy level.

"Casting Fireball... feels like feeding the fire element with my mana."

"So the key to earning elemental recognition isn't merely casting spells—it's nourishing the element with mana!"

"It's just that during spellcasting, there's a brief moment when mana lingers, unconsciously feeding the element. Over time, this earns its recognition."

"Could this be the true secret behind elemental awakening?"

Li Wei deliberately channeled more mana into the fire element. The flame surged wildly, growing brighter and hotter.

Then—boom!

The fireball exploded, the climax of the fire element erupting in dazzling brilliance.

Li Wei was thrown backward, nearly killed in the blast.

Next door, Gu Ze, startled by the explosion, kicked the door open in panic, fearing an assassin’s attack.

Seeing the devastated room and Li Wei lying motionless on the floor, Gu Ze rushed over.

"Li Wei! What happened to you?"

He anxiously checked for injuries.

After a moment, he wore a look of bewilderment—Li Wei was unharmed.

Then how did this explosion occur?

Thud, thud, thud!

Footsteps echoed outside as many awakened residents came running to investigate.

Seeing the wreckage inside, they all stared in shock.

Li Wei stirred slightly, unable to get up—he felt as if he’d pulled a muscle in his back—and quickly called out to Gu Ze.

"Master, help me up. I can’t stand."

Gu Ze lifted him, finally exhaling in relief.

"Good, you're safe. But what on earth were you doing in here?"

(End of Chapter)