I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

"What are you still standing there for?"

Li Wu's cold voice snapped Hua Zitong out of her shock.

He drew his bow again and fired an arrow at the kobold that Hua Zitong had recently attacked, which was now only a sliver of health remaining.

-20!

The kobold let out a mournful howl, and its body turned into white light and vanished.

[You have killed a Level 5 Kobold Fate Thief, gaining 6 experience points!]

Your talent "Soul Devourer" has been triggered!

[You have successfully absorbed the life energy dissipated by the LV.5 Kobold Fate Thief. Luck +0.01! Intelligence +0.01!]

Hua Zitong snapped out of her daze and immediately reacted, rushing towards the other kobolds, her machete falling cleanly and swiftly.

Like the most coordinated hunters, the two of them finished off the remaining four low-health kobolds in just a few seconds.

A series of system notifications flashed before Li Wu's eyes.

His intelligence and luck attributes each increased by 0.05 points.

His luck stat, after being stolen and actively depleted, finally stopped at [43/100].

"call……"

Once all threats were confirmed to be eliminated, Li Wu finally let out a long breath, and his tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

He looked at Hua Zitong and found that she was also looking at him.

It was a look he had never seen before, a mixture of shock, relief, lingering fear, and a hint of... inquisitiveness that he couldn't understand.

"You..." Hua Zitong's lips moved, the question she wanted to ask went through eighteen turns in her mind, but in the end it only came down to the most perplexing question.

The purple damage numbers were particularly eye-catching.

101 points!

His intelligence attribute has now accumulated to 27 points after several absorptions of his talent.

With equipment bonuses, the total magic attack power reaches 51 points!

In other words, the magical damage he can currently inflict is quite considerable!

Unfortunately, "Chain Lightning" is only a temporary buff that lasts for 3 seconds.

He must firmly grasp this power, this pure destructive force, in his own hands!

Once the thought arises, it can no longer be suppressed.

He needs a consistent and powerful attack skill of his own!

Li Wu's gaze fell on the robes he was wearing:

【Flaming Robe (Common)】

[Special Effect: Heart of Flame (Passive) - Increases the damage of all fire spells by 5%.]

fire.

Flames that burn everything.

In Li Wu's mind, the image of flames rising and burning everything naturally came to mind.

However, when he examined the eight basic arcane texts he had mastered, he found that none of them were directly related to "fire".

Yu, Rong, Yuan, Shi, Liu, Pan, Zhi, Yan.

These runes represent healing, life, connection, devouring, flow, solidity, perception, words... They constitute his existing skill system, but they lack the most violent offensive element.

What should I do?

Li Wu was not discouraged at all; on the contrary, she felt that this was only natural.

He slowly closed his eyes, and the whole world fell silent.

He began to try to understand which inscription in the arcane tomes represented "fire".

What is fire?

It is high temperature, it is light, it is the violent and intense release of energy from matter.

His consciousness first fell on the cryptic text of the character "流" (flow), which represents "flow".

Flames are fluid, but their flow is quite different from that of water.

The flow of water is compliant.

The flow of flames represents invasion, expansion, and a surge of violent energy!

He tried to accelerate the concept of "flow" in his mind, imagining a rushing river being compressed and heated, trying to make it violent.

However, the image of the rushing water only became more turbulent, but it never produced the qualitative change of "burning".

This road is blocked.

Li Wu's thoughts didn't falter at all; they immediately shifted.

Fire is more than just heat.

There is still light.

A flash of inspiration struck him.

炽？

Yes, it's "炽" (chì)!

This character can represent both the heat of a flame and the intensity of light.

What it represents may not be the concrete form of "flame," but something more essential—a "violent, high-frequency release of energy"!

The moment this thought arose, Li Wu's entire mental world was jolted!

that's it!

As if in response to his realization, the [Blazing] scripture emitted a faint light.

Become!

Li Wu didn't open his eyes, but a suppressed excitement surged within him.

But he knew that one [Blazing] was not enough.

A fleeting spark has too limited power. What he needs is a "burning" effect that can adhere to the enemy and cause continuous damage.

His consciousness quickly scanned his skill list, finally settling on [Healing Arrow].

【Cure Arrow】: Heal + Glory.

【愈】 means healing, and 【荣】 means flourishing and growth. Combining the two, the effect of a one-time treatment is "enhanced" and "continued," transforming into continuous recovery.

What about the flames?

What is needed to sustain and enhance the "intense energy release" represented by "Blazing"?

Increase! Enhance!

【increase】!

This concept is much easier to understand than "炽" (chì). It's not about creating something from nothing, but rather about amplifying something that already exists.

It's leverage, it's a catalyst!

With almost no effort, another secret text lit up in Li Wu's consciousness starry sky.

The basic secret text—I've grasped it once more!

Now, everything is ready.

Only the final and most crucial step remains—to merge these two completely different ciphers together!

Li Wu's consciousness was immersed in pure darkness.

In this darkness, two distinct arcane runes are radiating their own light.

On the left is [Blazing], which is like an unstable miniature sun, constantly spewing out violent energy pulses, full of destruction and unbridled nature.

On the right is the character "增" (Zeng), which resembles a precise geometric array, radiating a stable and peaceful halo, representing order and amplification.

Combine them.

As soon as the thought arose, Li Wu mobilized his mental energy and began to carefully pull the two secret runes closer together.

However, just as they got close, the violent energy represented by [Blazing] seemed to find an outlet, and it crashed violently into the stable structure of [Increase]!

"Buzz!"

The stable rhythm representing "amplification" was instantly disrupted by this violent energy, causing the entire rune to flicker violently and nearly collapse!

Failed.

Forcibly combining them will only lead to an energy outburst, and the final result will not be a skill, but a self-destruction of the spiritual world.

Li Wu was not discouraged and quickly stopped this reckless attempt.

He calmed down and re-examined the two secret texts.

Fire needs oxidizers.

So, is 【增】the accelerant?

No.

wrong.

Li Wu quickly dismissed this simplistic idea.

The function of "increase" is not simply to increase quantity, nor to add fuel to the fire. Its essence is to amplify the core.

Use [Increase] to strengthen [Intense]...

The correct approach is to make the core essence of "intense energy release" more enduring and stable, rather than more violent!

It's not about making the fire burn brighter, but about making it burn longer!

Li Wu's mind suddenly cleared.

He no longer tries to use "increase" to envelop "fiery", nor does he use "increase" to nourish "fiery".

What he wants to do is to use the law of "increase" to establish a "positive feedback" energy cycle for "blazing"!

He brought the two cryptic texts closer together once more.

This time, he disassembled the rune structure of [Amplify], like a precise slot, accurately aligning it with the node of each energy pulse of [Blazing].

When [Blazing] spews out its first burst of energy, the Law of [Increase] immediately intervenes, not by suppressing, but by guiding, absorbing a portion of this energy, amplifying it, and then feeding it back to the core of [Blazing].

It's like installing an energy recovery and pressurization device on this unstable sun!

This process requires extremely precise calculations and control.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Fine beads of sweat had already appeared on Li Wu's forehead, and his mental energy was being rapidly depleted.

Finally, at a certain moment, when the last energy pulse of [Blazing] was perfectly absorbed, guided, and amplified by the law of [Amplification], the two runes trembled violently and instantly adhered to each other!

hum-

There was no violent explosion, only a distant hum.

A brand new, complex rune, several times more intricate in structure than the Healing Arrow, yet remarkably harmonious, took complete shape deep within his consciousness.

It is like a burning lotus flower slowly blooming. The outer petals are the continuous patterns of "increase", forming a stable energy cycle framework, while the core stamen is the core of "blaze", which is perfectly restrained and burns even brighter and more stably!

Become!

[System Notification: You have successfully fused the arcane runes [Fiery] and [Enhancement] to create a brand new skill!]

Please name this skill!

Li Wu suddenly opened her eyes and, without hesitation, uttered the name she had already chosen in her heart in a clear and firm voice:

"Burning Arrow!"