**Chapter 37: Testing**

After years of incremental upgrades, the training field was no longer its original crude state.

Its internal space had been expanded, more than doubled in size.

The walls and floor were made of a special material that absorbed and dissipated energy, ensuring wizardry experiments wouldn’t affect the outside.

The central plain target had been replaced with various standard testing targets and simulated environment devices. The walls had energy emitters for testing defense, and three-dimensional obstacles for speed and mobility tests.

The room’s corners even had controllable elemental energy release points to simulate different environmental element concentrations.

Jie Ming first picked up the attack-type Talisman-Rune Artifact prototype.

“First… activation test!”

The attack artifact was a palm-sized metal disc, its surface etched with intricate, softly glowing seal patterns.

He held it in his palm, injecting a faint, almost imperceptible thread of mental power.

The attack seal activated instantly, the disc’s patterns glowing with a gentle red light.

Then, the light converged, and a fist-sized fireball coalesced in front of the disc.

“Activation successful. Now for the attack test…”

*Whoosh!*

The fireball shot out like an arrow, striking a heavy metal target in the training field’s center with pinpoint accuracy.

*Boom!*

A muffled explosion rang out as the fireball hit the target.

Though only an apprentice-level fireball, this one, instantly cast and fueled by environmental fire elements, surpassed the power and speed of a fireball cast by a same-level apprentice.

The metal target bore a deep dent, its surface scorched black and smoking.

A glint of satisfaction flashed in Jie Ming’s eyes.

Instant cast! Low consumption! High power!

“Control test…”

He activated the attack seal again, this time injecting a finer thread of mental power as the fireball formed, attempting to manipulate it.

The fireball trembled slightly, not flying straight but tracing an elegant arc in the air, bypassing an obstacle near the target before redirecting to precisely strike the target’s other side!

He continued experimenting, splitting the fireball into two smaller flames or making it swell just before impact to increase the explosion’s range…

Though each precise manipulation required extra mental power, the artifact’s flexibility far exceeded standard wizard artifacts.

Next was the defense-type Talisman-Rune Artifact.

It was a bracelet-style metal ring. Jie Ming wore it on his wrist and activated it with mental power.

A translucent energy shield instantly enveloped his body, glowing with faint milky-white light.

Jie Ming walked to an elemental energy release point in the training field’s corner, guiding a surge of earth elements toward him.

As the earth elements poured in, the shield’s glow thickened, resembling solid brown crystal, exceptionally sturdy.

With a wave of his hand, several energy projectiles of varying sizes appeared in the training field.

“Let’s start with a second-level apprentice wizardry attack!”

After a moment’s thought, the smallest projectile dissipated, and an egg-sized energy bolt shot toward Jie Ming’s shield.

*Pfft!*

The bolt dissipated upon contact with the shield, causing no ripple.

“Next, third-level apprentice.”

The second-largest bolt flew toward him.

*Thud!*

The shield emitted a low rumble, slightly denting but firmly blocking the attack.

The solid, reliable sensation filled Jie Ming with satisfaction.

Then, he guided wind elements, turning the shield cyan.

He had the training field fire more energy bolts. The cyan shield didn’t fully resist but, as its runes flowed, generated a faint repulsive force, deflecting some bolts along its edges.

Finally, fire elements…

Jie Ming tested each in turn, all performing flawlessly.

After some thought, he removed the bracelet, placed it on a target, and maintained its activation while directing the training field to fire a first-level formal wizard energy bolt.

*BOOM!*

A deafening explosion echoed, and the surrounding protective field lit up, absorbing stray energy.

Behind the protective field, Jie Ming watched the surging energy turbulence with awe.

The gap between a third-level apprentice and a first-level formal wizard was vast. If a third-level apprentice could destroy a small three- or four-story building with full effort, a first-level wizard could easily demolish a street—they were on entirely different levels.

As the explosion faded, the target, which should have been obliterated, was merely warped, its surface still flickering with unstable shield light.

Until, with a flicker like a bad signal, the shaky shield shattered.

*Zzt… Bang!*

With a sharp sound, the defense-type Talisman-Rune Artifact on the target smoked, signaling its destruction.

Seeing this, Jie Ming was exceptionally pleased.

Normally, a third-level apprentice’s shield couldn’t withstand a first-level wizard’s attack, even with Jie Ming’s modifications.

The bracelet’s ability to barely hold was due to the Talisman-Rune Artifact’s core feature, the main purpose of Jie Ming’s research—continuous casting.

Shields have limits; wizardry energies conflict, and stacking similar enhancement spells increases interference, reducing their effectiveness.

Low-level wizards typically stack two or three different protective spells, but their defense weakens due to energy interference.

Physical defense spells lack such restrictions.

This Talisman-Rune Artifact could stack three shields of different attributes, but due to energy conflicts, its actual defense was roughly equivalent to two shields.

The artifact blocked that attack by instantly recasting a new shield as the previous one broke. Theoretically, if shields were cast fast enough, even the lowest-grade shield could block a high-tier wizard’s attack.

Practically, almost no one could achieve this; most resorted to stacking more shields like a turtle’s shell.

Yet this artifact succeeded, at the cost of its own destruction—a result satisfying enough.

“This reminds me,” Jie Ming noted mentally, “to be safe, I should produce extra Talisman-Rune Artifacts of each type as backups for the trial.”