Shawn used rational thinking to simulate Aemon’s trial script, relying on the mystical knowledge reshaped in his brain to see through the entire script comprehensively.
"Sixth Ring Spiritual Spell—Time Acceleration!"
"This is my only chance to turn the tide. From the beginning, the script was arranged, and I only have a sliver of a chance of defeating the powerful Legendary Monster by further digesting the power of Su’en’s Brain, starting the Arcane Spirit Master path, and mastering Time Spells."
Time Acceleration.
Shawn was familiar with this Time Spell because it’s the low-end version of ’Time Stop’; the Night Watcher captain Benjamin has a Holy Relic, which when activated, allows him to enter the state of ’Time Acceleration’.
Shawn has an incredibly vivid memory of this because when Benjamin activated the Holy Relic, it was as if he and Shawn were not on the same time frame.
Benjamin seemed to be jumping within the time frame at the time, flickering abruptly like a slideshow.
"This satisfies my initial combat planning."
"Only under Time Acceleration can I seize the absolute initiative; otherwise, I would not even have the time to cast a spell when facing a Legendary enemy. To slay or severely wound the enemy in one strike, I must not be on the same time frequency as the enemy."
"So, next, I need to consider how I should further ascend to become an Arcane Spirit Master and digest the Extraordinary Essence that contains Time Spells."
"Aemon gave me no guidance on this."
Shawn stopped, falling into contemplation. Aemon’s trial was not that simple; although he left Shawn a sliver of a chance, he provided no hints, and everything needed to be discovered by Shawn himself.
Even if Shawn now knows how to break through Aemon’s trial, he still needs to meet all the ascension elements himself.
"Dual Arcane Cultivation."
"My Wizard profession is transitioning into an Arcanist profession; the first step now is to transform all wizard levels into Arcanist levels."
"This can further strengthen my cognition and rationality, amplifying my ability to analyze mystical knowledge."
"Chaotic and unordered knowledge must be transformed into ordered knowledge."
Shawn began formulating plans step by step, simulating the crucial elements to break the impasse, betting on that narrow chance of Nine Deaths and One Life.
"Su’en’s Brain is a very powerful Extraordinary relic, and since Aemon left a sliver of opportunity for me, that means I now have the conditions for further ascension."
"The ascension for an Arcane Spirit Master seems to require dual Extraordinary relics."
"After digesting Su’en’s Brain, I already have the Extraordinary Essence of the Mind Path within me, so next, I need to replenish the Extraordinary Essence of the Arcane Path."
"So, where should this Extraordinary Essence be stolen or snatched from?"
"Primitive Magic Power?"
"Or other monsters that have casting ability?"
Shawn assessed the risk of both acquisition methods and felt they were about equal; both are quite dangerous.
His first ascension was very easy because at that time he was too ’small’.
The immensely vast Primitive Magic Power wouldn’t care if a mite stole a tiny bit of oil from its skin, but now, stealing the Extraordinary Essence from the Primitive Magic Power would be like a mosquito sucking blood from a person’s skin.
Generally speaking, mosquito bites have a slight pain sensation, while mites stealing skin oil cause no feeling.
This outcome is hard to predict. If discovered, it’s highly likely to be slapped to death; if unnoticed, the mosquito would fly away after sucking blood, and nothing happens.
People don’t care about mites on their skin, but people find it hard to tolerate a mosquito sucking their blood.
The Primitive Magic Power is essentially in this situation.
As casters advance, it becomes increasingly difficult to steal Extraordinary Essence from the Primitive Magic Power.
Shawn picked up a pen.
"The first step must be to complete the ascension to Arcane Spirit Master, obtaining Sixth Ring Casting Ability at Extraordinary Level 11, digesting and mastering Time Acceleration. Only by relying on Time Spells do I have the chance to slay a Legendary enemy."
"The second step is to enhance my combat skills. Conduct extensive combat training without alerting the Lizardman Tribe, rapidly mastering Combat Spellcasting and Skilled Spellcasting abilities. There are enemies everywhere here, suitable for me to hone combat skills."
"Once these conditions are met, the third step is to reconnoiter the Lizardman Tribe’s situation and gather more intelligence, but before that, I must be careful not to startle the snake."
"If these factors are achieved, I probably have six seconds of absolute initiative."
"Within six seconds."
"I must tip the scales of victory, and with the ability of Death Retrospect, I still have one chance to make mistakes."
"Ultimately, I probably have a 60% chance to slay the target!"
This confidence is calculated considering the ability of Death Retrospect; if not counted, Shawn’s success rate is only about 30%. After all, the enemy won’t foolishly wait for him; the Lizardmen are a race of wisdom. Once Shawn’s whereabouts are exposed, it would alert the enemy, sparking an attack by a swarm of Lizardman Hunters.
Any unexpected factor could lead to unpredictable results. What Shawn needs to do now is to minimize all unexpected factors, even anticipating and predicting unexpected possibilities beforehand.
After devising the plan, the next step is execution.
Shawn replenished several Magic Alerts within the Eye Demon Territory, then began to reshape all the spells he had mastered. He is now essentially retraining these spells from scratch, relying solely on his own ability to master them rather than relying on Activated Knowledge.