Glancing at the five-plus hours remaining on his borrowing time, Lin Yu decided he couldn't waste it. He began reading other books he hadn't read before. Whether they were about magic, Alchemy, or Forging, he studied anything he thought would be useful.
Before he knew it, five hours had quietly passed. He returned the book in his hands to the shelf and glanced at his borrowing time, which had only a few seconds left. Lin Yu gave up on getting another book.
Those five hours of study had taught Lin Yu more magic, allowed him to master more spells, and deepened his understanding of magic. At this point, all he lacked was practical experience.
During those five hours, Lin Yu had also made considerable progress in fields such as Alchemy, Potion Refining, and Forging.
After leaving the library, he checked the time. It was already past nine. Only then did Lin Yu feel thirsty and hungry.
Lin Yu took the bread and waterskin from his backpack and began to eat.
After he finished his last piece of bread, Lin Yu's hunger value recovered to 67%.
Seeing that he had no food left, Lin Yu decided to buy something at a tavern and restore his hunger value to 100%.
He flew into the sky and soon found the tavern closest to him.
There was never just one of each special building in a Newbie Village. In the one where Lin Yu was, there were at least ten taverns.
He looked up at the tavern's name.
[Burning Oak Barrel]
Lin Yu glanced inside the tavern. After confirming that there weren't many players and that there were enough seats, he went in.
When he reached the counter and looked at the NPC on the other side, a panel popped up.
He briefly flipped through the menu, which was filled with a dazzling array of dishes. After looking it over, Lin Yu determined that the food sold at the tavern fell roughly into two categories.
One was rations, which could be stored for a long time. They tasted fairly ordinary, but were relatively cheap.
The other was prepared food, which tasted better but would spoil if left too long. It was also much more expensive than rations.
For Lin Yu, rations were the obvious choice. He didn't have many demands when it came to taste; as long as the food wasn't bad, it was fine. His only requirement was that it filled him up.
He flipped through the menu and soon found the rations he wanted.
[Smoked jerky--20 copper coins Buy]
Smoked jerky cost twice as much as bread, but the advantage was that a single piece could restore his hunger value from 0% to 100%.
Lin Yu spent 20 silver coins to buy 100 pieces of smoked jerky, then left the tavern.
After eating a piece of smoked jerky to fill his hunger value, Lin Yu looked at the mended clothes he was wearing and decided to buy a few new outfits.
He looked around and soon spotted the general store closest to him, then went to the nearby shop.
After spending 5 silver coins on five robes and putting them all in the cloth bag at his waist, Lin Yu checked the time and prepared to return to the inn.
It took Lin Yu a little time to get back to the inn. After spending 15 silver coins to extend his stay to 30 days, he opened a room door and went inside.
Lin Yu took off his clothes and threw them away, then put on one of his newly purchased robes.
Next, it was time to put what he had learned that day to the test.
Recalling the contents of the Basic Meditation Method, Lin Yu followed its instructions to prepare for meditation. He sat cross-legged on the bed, relaxed his body, and tried to clear his mind of distracting thoughts and enter a tranquil state.
Lin Yu soon entered the tranquil state described in the Meditation Technique, though he didn't know whether it was because his character's spirit attribute was high enough. No, the feeling was also somewhat like the flow state he entered while reading. At that moment, Lin Yu's comprehension increased by dozens or even a hundred times.
According to the Meditation Technique, the next step was to sense his own spirit and gain an initial grasp of how to mobilize his Mental Power.
Lin Yu began imagining the inside of his body. At a certain moment, he felt his spirit jolt, and something reached out from within his mind. The next moment, Lin Yu "saw" his internal organs, his flowing blood, and his muscles and bones.
With a thought, Lin Yu began trying to mobilize the Mental Power that had surged from his mind.
Perhaps because of that flow state, Lin Yu gained control of the Mental Power surging from his mind just by trying. He went a step further and gained control of all the Mental Power in his mind.
Lin Yu opened his eyes and let out a breath. The initial meditation was complete. Now, he felt that he could control his Mental Power as easily as his own limbs.
At that moment, countless questions appeared in Lin Yu's mind.
According to the Meditation Technique, shouldn't an ordinary person trying it for the first time only see blurry outlines? Why can I see so clearly?
And according to the Meditation Technique, shouldn't a beginner be unable to gain control of their spiritual power so quickly? It says a beginner can only mobilize a small portion of their spiritual power on the first attempt and needs many more attempts to gain control of it. Why did I successfully mobilize my spiritual power on my first try, and gain control of it just by trying?
After thinking for a while, Lin Yu could only attribute it to his spirit attribute, which was as high as 165.
After gaining control of his Mental Power, it was time for the next step of the Meditation Technique: opening a Magic Aperture.
Following the Meditation Technique's instructions, Lin Yu closed his eyes and entered a meditative state again, directing his Mental Power outward from his body.
The moment his Mental Power emerged from his body, red, cyan, blue, and all kinds of radiance filled Lin Yu's spiritual vision. Lin Yu knew that this radiance was how the various elements appeared in spiritual vision.
He controlled his Mental Power, forming it into invisible tentacles that captured all the elements around him and drew them into his body.
Next, he had to infuse the captured elements with his own Mental Power, turn them into his own mana, and then construct his Magic Aperture in his Mental Sea.
Huh?
Sensing the Magic Aperture that already existed in his Mental Sea, Lin Yu wondered when he had opened it.
Could the system have helped open it? Then does the mana in this Magic Aperture belong to me or the system?
At that thought, Lin Yu hurriedly directed his spirit into the Magic Aperture and sensed the mana inside.
This...
Sensing the spiritual imprint within the mana that belonged solely to him, Lin Yu fell somewhat silent.
The good news was that the Magic Aperture had been opened by his own Mental Power, and the spiritual imprint on the mana inside was his. The bad news was that the imprint on the mana was his.
In other words, the system could manipulate his Mental Power at will. Lin Yu, who already had some understanding of magic in Era, knew what that meant.
Mental Power was essentially a projection of the soul's power, and it could indirectly affect the soul. The system's ability to manipulate Lin Yu's Mental Power meant that it could also manipulate his emotions, memories, and cognition.
The system could manipulate Lin Yu's spirit to open a Magic Aperture and refine mana, and it could also manipulate his cognition and memories at will.