He had to make it a one-hit kill — no other forms of damage were allowed besides magic.
For an ordinary mission, this requirement would've been simple enough.
But to instantly kill an elite Dragonfang General under those conditions was anything but easy.
At least for now, his fireball definitely couldn't one-shot an elite-level Dragonfang General.
He had to come up with another solution!
As Bai Qiu traveled, he kept thinking, experimenting on Dragonfang Soldiers he encountered along the way, trying to find a way to unleash the staff's maximum power.
This was also one of the biggest weaknesses of Caster— a lack of burst potential.
Among all current classes, only Caster relied purely on mana.
His total mana capacity had already reached C-, and to further increase his power, he'd have to use skills.
However, a person could learn at most eight skills.
If he wanted to learn all six elemental skills from the six elemental staves, that would take up six slots.
Bai Qiu had already learned four skills — Berserk, Kill Looting, Mana Manipulation, and Fivefold Arcane Crystallization Eyes.
That left him with only four remaining slots, making his goal difficult to achieve.
Bai Qiu cast a fireball and killed a Dragonfang Soldier charging toward him.
The progress bar showed that his kill count for ordinary monsters had reached 100/100.
Time to switch weapons...
The Thunder Staff — fortunately, it came with a paralyzing effect and its burst power was no weaker than that of the Blazing Staff.
In fact, its efficiency at killing ordinary Dragonfang Soldiers was even higher.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through Bai Qiu's mind.
Right! He might not be able to buy enough skill books to learn new spells — but he could comprehend new skills on his own!
Just like Battle Continuation and High Sky Archery — both were powerful abilities he had self-created.
It had only been a little over four days since the start of the Cataclysm, and he had already comprehended three skills by himself!
There were still five days left — there was still hope!
He began studying the structure of the Thunder Staff once more, channeling mana into it while trying to control its energy.
His mana itself wasn't the problem — the real challenge was changing the form and quality of the lightning energy emitted through the staff.
No sooner thought than done — Bai Qiu began channeling his mana and used his mental power to control the dispersing chains of lightning, twisting them together like coiling dragons until they formed a ball of lightning about the size of a bowling ball, then hurled it forward.
The lightning orb expanded midair, reaching a radius of about thirty centimeters before striking a Dragonfang Soldier — still managing to instantly kill a level-nine Dragonfang Soldier.
Under the influence of his Fivefold Arcane Crystallization Eyes, Bai Qiu easily analyzed the data from the attempt:
Mana Consumption: 200%
Power: 400% → 150%
Maximum Range: 20m → 12m
Mana Conversion Efficiency: 200% → 82.5%
Summary: The Lightning Sphere was a high-damage, small-area attack.
The farther it traveled, the weaker the damage but the wider the area of effect — extremely unstable and slow to charge.
The Dragonfang Soldier he had just killed had been ten meters away, so the attack retained roughly three-eighths of its peak power, but he still lost about 25% of his total mana in the conversion.
The Thunder Staff, as its name suggested, normally fired continuous lightning strikes at enemies — a good effect for paralysis, range, and chaining, but weak in burst damage, taking 1.8 seconds to kill a Dragonfang Soldier if the target was continuously hit.
Bai Qiu kept experimenting.
As long as he could stabilize the mana conversion rate above 100%, the system would recognize it as a legitimate attack form and convert it into a skill.
He sprinted forward while trying all kinds of methods.
To be honest, creating something from nothing was an extravagant dream — to make a weapon with a base efficiency of 1 perform at 1.1 or higher was pure fantasy.
He had killed at least 300 Dragonfang Soldiers, yet only 82 kills were recognized by the system.
As dusk settled, Bai Qiu's Fivefold Arcane Crystallization Eyes never rested, continuously observing each newly created attack.
After hundreds of attempts, his best consistent result was the Lightning Trident, which stabilized at 98.5% efficiency — but despite its cool appearance, it was ultimately a failure.
Watching a distant group of Dragonfang Soldiers approaching, Bai Qiu suddenly had a stray, unrelated thought.
Between Dragonfang Soldiers and Earth's native flying creatures — which were stronger?
If compared to bats, the Dragonfang Soldiers definitely won in raw stats.
But bats used echolocation to sense prey and predators — in terms of sensory capability, Dragonfang Soldiers were far inferior.
What about albatrosses or vultures from the western regions?
Their overall stats might not be any weaker.
And in terms of speed, there was no comparison — Dragonfang Soldiers, barely faster than ordinary humans, couldn't even dream of matching frigatebirds or falcons.
So, putting aside population numbers, were these Dragonfang Soldiers really stronger than the Earth's diverse native species?
That thought sparked inspiration.
Bai Qiu stopped walking, closed his eyes, and raised the Thunder Staff.
At its tip, a blue lightning crystal glimmered — mana flowed through it, converting into arcs of electricity.
After injecting a set amount of mana, Bai Qiu stopped adding more.
If he left it as it was, this next strike's power would be standard — just enough to kill one Dragonfang Soldier.
However, under his precise mana manipulation and mental interference, the original lightning chains split apart into countless intertwined arcs of electricity, which gradually wove together — forming the shape of a miniature bird.
Fivefold Arcane Crystallization Eyes!
"Shoot!" Bai Qiu shouted.
The tiny lightning bird at the tip of his staff shot out like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, flapping its wings as it flew toward a Dragonfang Soldier seventy meters away.
"Zzzt—crack!"
In an instant, the bird reached its target.
Its beak pierced straight through the Dragonfang Soldier's chest, and the compressed energy within its body erupted all at once, blasting the creature apart into white light!
It worked!
Bai Qiu immediately opened his system interface.
System Notification: Skill successfully comprehended — Thunderbird (D+)
Thunderbird (D+)
Comprehended independently.
By condensing and concentrating the lightning energy emitted from the Thunder Staff into the form of a living bird, the spell greatly increases power and range, while significantly reducing long-range energy loss.
Power: 400% → 100%
Range: 20m → 100m
Chant Time: 10s → 2.2s
Cooldown: None
Mana Cost: Very low (same as a normal attack)
Having succeeded once, Bai Qiu began practicing the technique repeatedly.
He knew he had to keep refining it — to shorten the casting time of what was essentially a normal attack to the absolute limit.
Half an hour later, Bai Qiu arrived at the entrance of a large department store.
Without hesitation, he gripped his staff in one hand, leaped upward several times, and quickly climbed to the rooftop.
Perched on the roof was a level 15 elite Dragonfang General.
"Zzzzt…"
"Zzzt…"
"Zz…"
Three sharp, hair-raising arcs of electricity crackled through the air.
The Dragonfang General, upon spotting Bai Qiu — a silver-armored figure wielding a staff — saw three lightning-formed birds spiraling at the staff's tip.
Following the direction he pointed, the three Thunderbirds streaked through the air in graceful arcs, striking the Dragonfang General's wings and chest in succession.
"Crack!"
They exploded simultaneously, violent lightning surging across its body, paralyzing it completely.
Just as it struggled to regain control of its movements, the fourth Thunderbird dove straight for its face.
With one final thunderous blast, the Dragonfang General dissolved into white light, vanishing from the world.