Chapter Twenty-One: The Age of Magic

The God of Magma poured a vast amount of knowledge into Sun Licheng’s mind—varied, yet somewhat incomplete. Sun Licheng surmised this was likely due to the shattered divinity of the Magma God; to uncover more, he would have to collect the remaining fragments.

Among the magical knowledge, two principal domains stood out: an understanding of the essence of fire—Flame Force, and an understanding of the essence of earth—Elemental Guidance. Flame Force was, in essence, the incorporation of fire attributes into Sun Licheng’s body, the fundamental magical attribute of the Magma God. All things are interconnected, generating and restraining each other; thus, possessing the fire attribute meant Sun Licheng could no longer cultivate water-based magic.

With Flame Force, Sun Licheng’s body was innately capable of producing fierce flames. When needed, he simply extended a hand, silently intoned the word “flame,” and a ball of fire would ignite in his palm.

Many creatures of this world could use magic to create fire, but they often needed lengthy incantations or rare materials, making their reactions far less efficient and versatile compared to Sun Licheng, whose fire attribute was innate. This was the essential difference between gods and ordinary beings.

Flame Force was divided into ten levels according to Sun Licheng’s mastery, each marked by a different color: dark red, deep red, orange-red, pure orange, golden orange, golden yellow, golden white, pure white, white-blue, and sky blue. At present, he could only produce dark red flames—barely enough to light a fire. With every level gained, the flame’s color changed, its temperature rose, mana consumption decreased, and the casting duration extended. Moreover, Sun Licheng was immune to all fire magic and damage—a remarkable ability, considered a divine trait by the Magma God.

The clay cup in Sun Licheng’s hand was fired using his own Flame Force and a bonfire. With magical enhancement, the cup was exquisitely crafted, worthy of being called a work of art.

Flame Force should have been formidable, yet Sun Licheng was frustrated that the Magma God had only granted him three spells: Luminous Fireball, Scorching Arrow, and Flame Shield.

Luminous Fireball was a fire-based illumination spell; it manifested a small fireball above his head, lighting the surroundings like a headlamp. Sun Licheng hadn’t grasped its main purpose, so he merely used it as a lamp in the caves at night. He considered using it in the underground cavern, but feared that such a light would draw predators from all directions, so he refrained.

Scorching Arrow conjured an arrow of flame. The spell’s power was immense—a fiery arrow shot from his hand, traveling over twenty meters before dissipating. Sun Licheng estimated its effective range to be over ten meters, easily igniting a large tree. However, its accuracy was only reliable within five meters, making it a mediocre spell better suited for harassment; at least its mana cost was negligible.

Flame Shield created a wall of fire before him, blocking attacks, especially those of fire-based magic. Sun Licheng had used it once in combat in the caverns, facing a massive wild bull. In a moment of peril, he cast the spell, a wall of fire rose between him and the bull. Then...

The bull, ablaze, charged through, forcing Sun Licheng to flee in disarray.

“Damn it, all these spells are useless,” Sun Licheng cursed, covering his face in anguish.

Meanwhile, in Sun Licheng’s mind, the two gods were laughing gleefully. The Lord of Stars gave a thumbs-up to the Magma God’s fragment, saying, “You’re bold, handing him such worthless spells. Remember, he’s your chosen one.”

Thinking of Sun Licheng’s recent embarrassment, he burst into laughter again.

“No one expected his body to be like this. Normally, entering the chosen one’s body would enhance every aspect. The spells may be basic, but with divine power, they become divine arts. Now it’s all up to him—a low-level mage has limited combat prowess,” remarked the Magma God’s fragment, laughing once more.

...

Sun Licheng was unaware of the gods’ mockery. Counting his spells, including the instant-cast Fire Tongue, he realized he only knew four: two offensive, one defensive, one supportive—far too few.

Compared to Flame Force, Sun Licheng favored Elemental Guidance, which allowed him to sense underground elements. To express his appreciation, he named it Earth Sense.

According to the Magma God’s knowledge, Earth Sense was merely a byproduct of earth magic. Since any earth magic required awareness of subterranean conditions, casters would use magic to probe and even modify the underground, thus developing Elemental Guidance.

Yet in Sun Licheng’s mind, this ability was best suited for prospecting. If other mages in this world knew he used such a high-level spell for such a mundane purpose, they would be furious. Mages were rare and noble, while miners were among the lowest professions; no mage would ever waste their mana to help with prospecting, even at the cost of their life.

But Sun Licheng knew none of this. The Magma God’s imparted knowledge was outdated and from a divine perspective. Moreover, the Magma God had given Sun Licheng no earth magic, so he was unaware of any other uses for Elemental Guidance. Even if he knew, he would still use Earth Sense for the “grand pursuit” of prospecting—after all, it was a super metal detector.

Why is modern society wealthier and more comfortable than before? The key is large-scale industrialization, with steel and energy as its material foundation. Though Sun Licheng could find harder bones, metal tools were vastly superior in malleability and overall function. At the very least, wielding a metal knife was far more pleasant than a bone blade.

If the Magma God saw Sun Licheng’s thoughts, he would be utterly astonished. In ancient times, the powerful Goblin Empire once shone glorious, eventually challenging the gods. Their strength lay in the countless machines they crafted, and their tools were ingeniously exquisite. Though the Goblin Empire was destroyed and its capital became the Forsaken Land, goblins scattered across the world now lived in ignorance and chaos, yet their innate desire for tools and creativity remained.

As a goblin, Sun Licheng’s genetic drive, combined with his modern Earth mindset, sparked boundless creativity.

Earth Sense filled Sun Licheng’s geological gaps. Coupled with Flame Force’s fine control, he sprinted from the stone age to the metal age, bringing an even greater shock to the world.

Sun Licheng searched his mind for a long time, but could not figure out what Star Force was. All he found was that it was immensely powerful, able to harness the power of the stars, but no details on its use.

He ran his hand carefully over his back, feeling seven spots that seemed scorched. He grumbled inwardly, “Seven Dragon Balls, and now the Big Dipper—what a mess.”

Standing in the cave, hand pressed against the rock wall, he focused his mind. Instantly, the composition and content of the stone appeared in his thoughts. Delighted, he saw the iron content reached seventy percent—an unexpectedly rich deposit, a true bonanza! The cave was situated on an iron ore vein.

He pried off a chunk of stone, sensed its quality, then stepped outside.

Placing the stone in a dug pit, he unleashed Fire Tongue to scorch it. Yet, when his mana was depleted and his head ached, the stone remained unmelted. Clearly, the temperature of his dark red flame was insufficient for smelting high-melting-point metals like iron.

Mana exhaustion left Sun Licheng dazed; he quickly sat cross-legged.

Though the Magma God had gifted him Flame Force and Earth Sense, mana had to be cultivated by himself. According to the Magma God, the best way to train was through meditation and magic practice.

The Magma God had described the method for meditation, but Sun Licheng found it awkward, unable to reach the transcendent state. Finally, on a whim, he tried the meditation posture from TV and movies in his previous life; to his surprise, it worked remarkably well, allowing him to enter the state quickly and recover mana far faster than with the Magma God’s recommended posture.

“It seems combining Eastern and Western methods yields the best results,” Sun Licheng thought proudly, adopting the stance of a spiritual charlatan.

In Sun Licheng’s mind, the two gods were utterly stunned. They never expected Sun Licheng to achieve near-demigod mana recovery with such a strange technique. It had only been a couple of months since he arrived in this world, yet so many miraculous events had occurred. Once one becomes a demigod here, their mana recovery far surpasses ordinary creatures, able to exhaust any opponent even with the lowest spells. Put simply, logistics determine the outcome of war.

“Where did this guy come from? Have you seen any creature with such rapid magic recovery?” the Magma God’s fragment asked incredulously, turning to the Lord of Stars.

“How should I know? The fact he stole my body proves he’s extraordinary. But this is beyond extraordinary. Sometimes I think he was sent by the Creator to stir up this world,” replied the Lord of Stars, shrugging in resignation.

Sun Licheng’s mana pool was small, but his meditation recovery was swift. In no time, his mana was fully restored.

“Such high-purity iron ore appearing here is rather abnormal,” Sun Licheng mused, no longer excited by his discovery, but puzzled.

Indeed, it was abnormal. This area had once belonged to the Goblin Empire’s capital, filled with metal skyscrapers. After a devastating war, everything was reduced to molten iron, and over millennia, the ruins became mountains. Thus, the Forsaken Land was one of the world’s richest metal regions.

“How many secrets lie hidden here?” Sun Licheng wondered, gazing at the majestic mountains around him, filled with awe.