Chapter 999 - 482: 6th-Ring Spell Selection

Therefore, it only yielded extremely powerful effects when facing specific enemies, such as Fire Dragons, Fire Elemental Giants, or severely overspecialized Casters.

However, according to its description, there seemed to be empowerments of other elements as well.

Theoretically, if a Caster could finish learning all the empowerments, they could become immune to the vast majority of Spells in the world. They would become an overpowered anomaly, capable of standing completely still while remaining entirely unharmed by enemy attacks. Of course, reaching that level was likely extremely demanding. Not only would one need to obtain the corresponding empowerment Magic, but they would also have to master all of them. Ideally, they would also need to delve deeply into the path of ascending rings to raise their limits; otherwise, their defenses would still be broken when facing stronger means.

Tier-6 Illusion Technique Spell, [Spiritual Prison].

By targeting a specific creature, it created a Spiritual Prison that only the opponent could perceive to imprison them. The effectiveness of this Spell depended on the gap in Spiritual Power between the two parties. The stronger one’s own spirit and the weaker the enemy’s spirit, the harder it would be for the enemy to break free, and the greater the damage they would suffer within the Spiritual Prison.

Everything within the Spiritual Prison was under the absolute control of the Caster. The enemy would be strictly bound within the Spiritual Prison, while the Caster could use any severe punishment to harm them—raging flames, clashing weapons, the torture of being flayed alive, and all sorts of terrifying illusions.

A mere instant in the outside world equated to several days within the Spiritual Prison. Until the Spell’s effect ended, a multitude of spiritual damages would simultaneously stack upon the target’s spirit in an instant, inflicting a massive amount of mental trauma. This would result in terrifying consequences, such as spiritual death or severe spiritual lethargy.

Seeing this, Gauss’s eyes lit up a little.

The gap between his Spiritual Power, including his Intelligence Attribute, and that of his enemies was perhaps even larger than in other aspects. This seemed like a method researched specifically for him.

...

[Chain Lightning], [Petrification], [Spell Nullification Barrier], [True Sight], [Wind Walk], [Wall of Iron and Copper], [Mass Suggestion], [Wall of Ice]...

If possible, Gauss truly wanted to exchange for them all. Of course, he also knew very well that he couldn’t completely go all-in on Spells. Learning Spells required time, and the resources from his Green Dragon were not enough to exchange for all of them.

The more High Tier a Spell was, the more precious it became. Spells were not ordinary knowledge that anyone could master; they were more like a treasure trove left behind by predecessors. To open it, one had to possess the corresponding keys.

And the difficulty of inscribing these keys was greater than ordinary people could imagine. Up until now, Gauss had been reluctant to expend his Spell proficiency and foundation to inscribe his own Spells into Spellbooks, even though doing so would bring him considerable profit. Any Caster with prospects and the desire to progress further would either completely avoid or minimize doing such things that harmed their foundation, akin to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Paradoxically, the more exceptionally talented and highly driven Casters were, the greater their chances of reaching a high level. Low-level Spells could still be continuously produced thanks to the massive base of Casters, but the quantity of high-level Spellbooks had always been relatively limited. Some unique skills would even become lost in the annals of history because of this, only for the corresponding powerful ancient Magic to reappear in the world many years later when some lucky individuals chanced upon their inheritances through various coincidences. Naturally, contemporary Casters would also create their own powerful Magic.

Overall, Magic was still steadily and systematically developing forward.

Gauss fell into hesitation. He needed to figure out which Spells were most essential to him and which could yield the most optimal effects. Reaching the level of Tier-6 Spells, every single Spell was powerful; there were no mediocre Spells. However, on an individual level, everyone’s priorities for them differed.

[Blade Barrier] could be put on hold for now.

It wasn’t that it lacked power. In fact, it was one of the premier Spells of choice for many Extraordinary Casters to specialize in. Casters were very aware of their own weaknesses—namely, their frailer bodies compared to other Professions. Therefore, a rather counterintuitive phenomenon occurred: many Casters would start prioritizing the study of protective Spells from this point onward.

Physical frailty was the weakness of low-level Casters. After entering the Extraordinary stage, many Casters had already shored up their shortcomings through various resistance Magic and Protective Magic, gradually moving toward a path of integrated offense and defense. This prominent trend could actually be seen from this list of Tier-6 Spells.

Spells like [Blade Barrier], [Splendid Light Ball], [Blazing Empowerment], [Spell Nullification Barrier], and [Wall of Iron and Copper] all possessed impressive defensive effects. The reason they could circulate was precisely because there was a sufficient number of Casters studying and researching them. It was somewhat like the popular college majors during Gauss’s previous life; only majors with good "employment prospects" would be chosen by more students during the application phase.

Learning Magic followed a similar logic.

A Caster’s material resources, time, energy, and the limit of Spells their will could bear were all finite. They couldn’t learn a massive multitude of Magic like Gauss could. They could only select Magic suitable for themselves to delve into. This resulted in a positive cycle where popular research Domains accrued richer resources, leading successors to continue treading that path, and vice versa.

Gauss’s need for [Blade Barrier] was indeed not as intense as that of other Casters. He possessed many protective abilities, and the counterattack methods of [Blade Barrier] were too limited—it could only surround his body and couldn’t attack enemies from a distance.