The night sky was starless, save for an ominous, bloody glow staining the air high above the deep canyon.

Ian rose and left his room, heading to the open area behind the Alchemy Room.

[Crystal Energy Barrier: Adept (795/800)]

’Only five points left. I’ll grind it out tonight, even if it means no sleep!’

He took a deep breath of the scorching air, casting aside all distracting thoughts.

"Kryst’thal!"

A translucent Crystal Shield unfolded before him, its hexagonal Energy Structure shimmering faintly in the darkness.

Following his previous train of thought, Ian wasn’t satisfied with merely maintaining the shield; he began to practice at the highest intensity.

He maintained the Shield’s stability while moving rapidly, simulating how it would endure energy impacts from different angles and of varying intensities.

The instant a section of the Shield took a hit, he would use his Spiritual Power to minutely adjust the energy of adjacent cells, redirecting it to distribute the pressure...

Each structural optimization and adaptation brought a slight quiver of progress to his Skill Level.

A number didn’t pop up every time, but Ian found the feeling of step-by-step progress intoxicating.

[Crystal Energy Barrier Skill Level +1]

...

Ian’s eyes sharpened. He replayed various battle scenes in his mind, simulating new models for the shield.

’When a crystal cell is damaged, what if instead of the entire structure sharing the burden, the cell itself actively disintegrates?’

’Then, its energy could be rapidly transferred to other cells, while simultaneously drawing energy *from* them to instantly regenerate a new crystal cell at the point of impact.’

The idea was extremely bold. It required an almost instinctual, profound understanding of the Shield’s structure, as well as exceptionally refined Spiritual Power for precise control.

’And I have both of those things!’

Ian’s eyes gleamed. After confirming the plan’s feasibility, he focused all his concentration and simulated a "focused piercing attack" on the Shield before him.

Under his deliberate guidance, the light of the targeted hexagonal cell suddenly dimmed.

Just an instant before it shattered completely, the energy from several surrounding cells began to resonate at a peculiar frequency.

Wisps of Energy Threads were drawn from the gaps between the cells, rapidly weaving together...

A brand-new, slightly smaller, but structurally complete hexagonal crystal had re-formed in less than a few hundredths of a second!

The reorganized cell’s strength was initially only about eighty percent of the original, and the drain on his Spiritual Power was negligible.

’I... succeeded!’

[Crystal Energy Barrier Skill Level +1]

[Crystal Energy Barrier: Limit-Broken (1) (0/1600) (Limit-Breaking Effect: 1. Reorganization)]

BOOM!

A familiar, violent tremor exploded in his mind, far more intense than any previous Limit-Breaking!

Countless insights about Energy Structure, crystal growth, damage, and regeneration flooded his mind like a torrent.

Ian "saw" the essential Witchcraft Model.

It wasn’t a simple two-dimensional assembly, but a dynamic, three-dimensional, nested honeycomb of an energy network!

Each hexagonal cell was a tiny Energy Node.

They were all interconnected, sharing an Energy Pool, allowing the entire network to rapidly redistribute energy and restructure itself when attacked! 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

At the same time, next to his Will Rune, a small new neighbor appeared beside the Blue Frost Rune and the Gray Palm Rune.

A brand-new, intricately complex, translucent Crystal Rune was faintly shimmering, seeming to pulse with joyful life.

The Crystal Rune was composed of countless tiny hexagonal crystals that were constantly forming, collapsing, and reorganizing...

It was like a miniature, ceaseless defensive system.

However, it wasn’t yet fully formed; its finer details remained slightly blurred.

Perhaps Ian would need to achieve another Limit-Break to complete it.

The moment the Witchcraft Rune formed, he activated it with a mere thought, without chanting a Spell.

A brand-new Energy Shield enveloped his entire body, connected to his Will, responding to his commands as easily as moving a limb.

’An Instant Shield!’

Ian suppressed his wild joy and carefully examined the new Shield’s properties.

The Shield’s absolute strength had doubled!

But that wasn’t the most important part. The crucial difference was... its "adaptability"!

He could clearly perceive every flow within the Shield’s energy network, as if it were an extension of his own body.

He could thicken a section of the Shield into a Tower Shield, or have it flow and change shape as he moved to reduce air resistance.

He could even expand the Shield’s range, forming a simple "Isolation Area" with himself at the center.

He tried actively dispelling the Shield, then summoned it again with a mere thought.

The Shield instantly reappeared. He dispelled it, then cast it again.

Only after doing this five times in a row did Ian feel a slight but noticeable drain on his Spiritual Power.

This meant that in actual combat, as long as he wasn’t defeated instantly, his Shield was practically "unbreakable."

His survivability had taken a quantum leap!

’Reorganization!’

Ian repeated the name silently, his eyes shining with a fervent light.

He looked up toward the depths of the canyon. He didn’t know when the Deep Red Royal Court’s next attack would come.

But Ian knew he now had another key ace up his sleeve.

As he turned to return to his room, a booming roar came from the temporary Workshop on the eastern side of the camp.

"Hahaha! I fixed one! Sterling, come take a look!"

The voice carried a barely suppressed excitement. Copperbeard was so loud he clearly didn’t care if he was disturbing anyone’s rest.

"Let those Deep Red bastards get a taste of the ’Thunder Roar’ Crossbow Cannon!"

Ian’s interest was piqued, and he looked in that direction.

’The Rune Crossbow Cannons just arrived today, and Copperbeard has already repaired one. He really knows his stuff.’

With Copperbeard’s arrival, the entire camp’s defenses were visibly strengthening.

In the center of the camp, Sterling’s figure shot into the air and flew toward the eastern temporary Workshop.

Repairing a Rune Crossbow Cannon was a major boon.

But Ian keenly sensed that Copperbeard, Hank, and Sterling Wizard all showed an undercurrent of worry they couldn’t conceal.

’I have to raise my own strength to its absolute peak before the great battle arrives and become a true Cannon Wizard!’

His defense had just taken a quantum leap, but Ian wasn’t satisfied.

Besides the Attack Witchcraft he practiced daily, the only other area he could currently improve was his physical constitution.

But his Rock Bear Potion was difficult to improve for the time being, and his Bloodline Purification Technique was still at Skilled (306/400).

’If I want to concoct stronger Bloodline Potions, I have to improve these two Skills as quickly as possible.’

He hadn’t been able to collect much Rock Armor Demon Bear Essence Blood recently. Whenever it became available, someone always bought it up first.

Rock Armor Demon Bear Essence Blood would occasionally appear on the Furnace Camp’s exchange list, but it cost 15 Contribution Points per portion.

Contribution Points were hard to come by, and since he used one [Concentration Potion] every day, he could barely break even.

Then there were the [Concentration Potion] and its recipe, new Witchcraft Models, and rare materials... There were too many things he needed to exchange for.

Ian planned to wait until his Star Moon Low Level Meditation Method achieved Limit-Breaking and generated an effect before he considered replacing it.

’What kind of changes will the Meditation Method undergo then? I can’t wait to find out!’

Finally, he looked at his two Attack Witchcrafts.

[Frost Freeze Ray: Limit-Broken (1) (389/800) (Limit-Breaking Effect: 1. Twin)]

[Scorching Beam: Adept (177/800)]

Scorching Beam was still a long way from Limit-Breaking, but his Light Attribute Affinity slightly boosted its Skill Level progression.

Its current attack power was already on par with Frost Freeze Ray.

’Once it achieves Limit-Breaking, what a sight it will be to instantly cast both ray Witchcrafts at the same time!’

Ian didn’t dare to imagine the look on his opponents’ faces.

’Without overwhelmingly powerful attacks, how could I call myself a Cannon Wizard?’