The Frost Pond was frozen in an instant, and Merlin's movements also seemed to stop momentarily. Wizard Ernie and Wizard Watson gazed at the Frost Pond unblinkingly. As Merlin's slaves who had signed a slave contract with him, their instincts were most finely attuned to him.

Based on their instincts, Merlin's mind imprint had not disappeared from their slave contracts, which meant that he was not dead.

"Crack."

Suddenly, the ice crystals on the Frost Pond shattered into pieces, and Merlin's figure reappeared in the Frost Pond. His body was enveloped with a layer of icy aura, which continuously pervaded into his body. A look of agony appeared on his face.

Of course, it was impossible for the Frost Pond to freeze Merlin inside but once his body entered the pond, endless icy aura began to help Merlin transform his body.

With the icy aura pervading the body, an average Spell Caster would not have been able to withstand the extreme cold and would die. Merlin, however, had practiced the postures of the mysterious relief sculptures, so his body was extremely durable.

Therefore, despite the invasion of the icy aura destroying his body beyond recognition, the regenerating ability of Merlin's body kicked in and mended the destruction. Every time the icy aura destroyed a part, his body would quickly regenerate and subsequently be destroyed by the icy aura once again.

It was in this endless cycle of repeated destruction and regeneration that without realizing it, Merlin's physical transformation had been more than halfway completed. His body was now able to withstand the invasion of frigid blasts, and his affinity with Ice Elements achieved a formidable level only second to the snow sprites.

Snow sprites were, in essence, snow spirits. Where there was an extremely high concentration of Ice Elements that produced a spark of awareness, a sprite was formed. Naturally, they had unimaginable levels of affinity with the Ice Elements, whereas Merlin was merely a Spell Caster. At this moment, nonetheless, he possessed a level of affinity to Ice Elements that was only second to these snow sprites.

This also implied that Merlin's immersion in the Frost Pond to undergo a physical transformation was a huge success!

However, it was also a very painful process. The continuous cycle of destruction and regeneration was beyond anything that anyone could imagine. It was only through sheer determination that Merlin had managed to endure it.

"Splash."

Merlin abruptly opened his eyes and stood in the middle of the Frost Pond. His body was still swirling with dense icy aura but there was no trace of discomfort. Instead, there was a sense of fondness in him.

"The transformation is a success!"

A thought struck in Merlin's heart, and he extended a finger to cast an Ice-type spell. Despite it being only a Third-level spell, the entire Frost Pond was frozen solid in an instant. The power level was terrifying, clearly exceeding the level of an average Third-level spell.

For the first time, Merlin could also distinctly feel his level of affinity toward the Ice Elements. It was truly incredible, only second to the snow sprites.

"Whoosh."

Merlin rose from the Frost Pond and stood before the Frost Lord. Smiling, he said, "Thank you so much, Frost Lord. This Frost Pond is no longer of use to me. You can allow the other snow sprites to use it now."

"Oh? Wizard Merlin, you're apparently able to withstand the icy aura of the Frost Pond, and managed to undergo the physical transformation so quickly. The speed you took was even faster than the snow sprites…"

Deep inside, the Frost Lord was very astonished. The Frost Pond was created by its own two hands, so no one knew the Frost Pond better than the Frost Lord. Even some of the snow sprites could not withstand the process and had to stay in the Frost Pond forever, becoming a part of the Frost Pond.

However, Merlin as a weak-bodied Spell Caster was surprisingly able to undergo a physical transformation in the Frost Pond. It was truly incredible. Additionally, the Frost Lord could clearly sense that Merlin did not cast a single protective spell in the Frost Pond. He had endured the entire physical transformation with his own flesh and blood.

The Frost Lord was puzzled and full of unanswered questions because it would not have known that Merlin possessed the mysterious relief sculpture, and thus was able to possess extraordinary regenerative powers even as a mere Spell Caster.

It was for that reason that the transformation had gone so smoothly, and within such a short period, he managed to undergo a physical transformation with the help of the Frost Pond.

"Frost Lord, please arrange a quiet place for me."

Since Merlin had succeeded in his physical transformation, he could finally attempt to cultivate Glacier Country, hence he needed a quiet environment where he would not be disturbed by anyone.

Obviously, the Frost Lord's territory was not the best choice, but since Merlin had signed a contract with the Frost Lord to defeat the other snow sprite, it was understood that he could not leave.

The Frost Lord nodded. "Of course, no problem. I'll personally show you the way."

Thus, the Frost Lord led Merlin to an isolated courtyard where he would not be disturbed, which perfectly fitted Merlin's request.

"Wizard Merlin, you may meditate here. When the time comes, I'll come and look for you."

Merlin knew that the Frost Lord was talking about the matter of the contract, it appeared that the Frost Lord still needed to make some preparations. Therefore, he nodded. "Just inform me when the time comes!"

Merlin waited until the Frost Lord left before using his Mind Power to carefully examine his vicinity. After he had made sure there was no particular discovery, he said to Ernie and Watson, "You stand guard outside the door. Don't allow anyone to disturb me!"

Sensing the seriousness in Merlin's tone, Wizards Ernie and Watson both nodded. As Merlin's slaves, they could only obey his orders.

With two Seventh-level Spell Casters standing guard, Merlin felt a little relieved as he stepped into the house.

The furnishing in the house was very simple but it exuded a feeling of serenity. Merlin did not care one way or the other, and began to closely examine the condition of his body.

After the transformation in the Frost Pond, his body's regenerative ability was still as resilient as before. This was the benefit he derived from the mysterious relief sculpture. Although the posture did not provide much help to Merlin in terms of battle strength, it benefitted him greatly in many other aspects.

The physical transformation this time, for one, would not have been successful without those strong regenerative powers.

Merlin's body right now had indeed vastly improved its affinity to Ice Elements that even the Ice-type spells he released were more powerful than before. All the requirements to begin cultivating Glacier Country had been fulfilled.

However, Merlin did not immediately start cultivating Glacier Country. A special Pandora Demon Ability like this would consume an incredible amount of Magic Power, and the Magic Power contained in the few Spell Models in his Awareness was definitely not enough to support more than a few tries of Glacier Country.

Therefore, he had to first construct Fourth-level spells!

At present, Merlin was yet to construct Ice-type and Thunder-type Fourth-level spells. Once these two Fourth-level spells were successfully constructed, Merlin would become a Fourth-level Spell Caster.

The Ice-type and Thunder-type Fourth-level spells had already been derived by Merlin using the Matrix back when he forcibly seized the Ice Maxim. In order to diminish the power of the Ice Maxim, he used the Matrix to derive many new spells.

He even derived four types of Fifth-level spells, so Merlin was in no shortage of spells. What he lacked right now was Mind Power because although he had reached the Mind Power of the peak of the Fifth-level, it was still insufficient.

Fortunately, Merlin still had the ingredients for Mokra Potion, so he could brew a large amount of Mokra Potion here. Although the Frost Lord's area was not completely secure, Merlin was more reassured by the protection of Wizard Ernie and Wizard Watson.

Therefore, in the subsequent period, Merlin began to frantically prepare the Mokra Potion. During the process of brewing, he also took occasional doses of Mokra Potion.

Even though the effect of the Mokra Potion had weakened significantly as a result of Merlin's long-term use, it was ultimately unable to beat the large amount of Mokra Potions brewed by Merlin. Back in the Imperial City, the eighth prince had given Merlin a thousand servings of potion ingredients, so even with a one third success rate, he was able to brew more than three hundred servings of Mokra Potion. This was a huge number.

Naturally, with such a huge number of Mokra Potions, Merlin's Mind Power grew rapidly. Nevertheless, to advance from the Fifth- to the Sixth-level, he still needed to accumulate the requisite Mind Power. Therefore, despite consuming countless servings of Mokra Potion and rapidly growing his Mind Power, there were no signs of breaking through.

"Boom!"

Finally, after three months of consuming unknown portions of Mokra Potions, Merlin's Mind Power had broken through. Like boiling water, his Mind Power began to surge wildly.

"Sixth-level Mind Power!"

Merlin slowly opened his eyes and smiled. Since he held more spells than an average Spell Caster, and the level of complexity of his spells exceeded that of an average Spell Caster, the amount of Mind Power required was also beyond imaginable levels. Until now, the only obstacle keeping Merlin from becoming more powerful was his Mind Power.

It was fortunate that Merlin's Mind Power had finally broken through to the Sixth-level, so now he was able to easily construct Fourth-level Ice-type and Thunder-type spells.

The Fourth-level Ice-type spell, Arctic Realm, was also a new spell derived by the Matrix. It was still a Binding spell but it became a territorial binding and its binding powers were greatly enhanced.

The derivation of Ice-type spells continued in the same vein, in which all of them constituted Binding spells, so along the way, their binding powers would become stronger!

With Arctic Realm, Merlin became more confident to cultivate Glacier Country. Furthermore, the Spell Model of Arctic Realm was very stable and had accumulated a large amount of Magic Power, enough to power Glacier Country many times over. Therefore, it would be completely sufficient to be used in a battle.

Besides Arctic Realm, Merlin's Fourth-level Thunder-type spell, Thunder Realm, was also successfully constructed. This was a large-area Offensive spell. When a spell reached Fourth-level spell, its range of attack was key.

Even Incinerating Fire was a large-area Offensive spell as a result of the gradual evolution of spells. Spells that attacked a single target was becoming rarer and rarer.

During the Spell Casters' most glorious era, a single gesture from the Great Spell Casters was enough to destroy countless mountains and valleys. This was made possible because all the spells they constructed were large-area spells.

"Boom!"

When the final two Fourth-level spells were successfully constructed, all the Spell Models in Merlin's Awareness vibrated gently, followed by a subtle feeling flooding in his Awareness. All the Spell Models began to rotate frenziedly, and countless elements gathered chaotically on Merlin's body as if a black hole was engulfing all the elements.

From this moment on, Merlin had finally leveled up to a Fourth-level Spell Caster!