Mage Hand

Lin Xiaowei's tone was very solemn.

The sudden pressure made Li Yao panic a little... He was just a laid-back college student who happened to be somewhat good-looking. What had he done to deserve taking on something like this?

But Lin Xiaowei ignored that and continued, "Please take good care of my family. I'm begging you."

Oh, that was all...

Li Yao breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course!"

Lin Xiaowei said, "No, you don't understand what I mean. I mean—look after them until I return. Once I become a Legend, I'll be able to break through the planes and travel the worlds... Right now, I have no way to take care of them, so I can only entrust them to you."

Li Yao: "..."

Lin Xiaowei had said that it would take her at least two hundred years to advance to Legend. That was the fastest possible timeline.

However, the path of a mage's advancement was inherently difficult. The further one went, the greater the obstacles became. Some peak high-rank mages could not advance even after an entire lifetime, and in the end could only transform themselves into other undead creatures.

Lin Xiaowei was entrusting him with caring for her parents until she returned...

That was one heavy obsession.

But the problem was, her parents were ordinary people. How could they possibly live that long?

So the task of extending their lifespans had fallen on him? What the hell was this!

How was that even possible!

Immortality had always been one of humanity's ultimate dreams. Qin Shi Huang sent Xu Fu across the seas in search of the Elixir of Immortality, leaving behind countless mysteries. Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang mobilized vast resources, nearly bringing their empires to ruin. The Jiajing Emperor believed in the Dao of immortals and spent his life refining pills in pursuit of eternal life, laying the foundations for the Ming Dynasty's downfall... Those were all living examples of what not to do.

Things that those emperors could not accomplish even with the power of an entire nation were now being dumped on him? Lin Xiaowei, didn't you think too highly of me?!

Li Yao said, "...How about I call Xu Fu and ask whether he has any immortality pills left?"

Lin Xiaowei said, "I already have the formula for a Longevity Potion."

Li Yao: "..."

You could've said so earlier! You scared the hell out of me for nothing.

That dropped the mission difficulty from abyss-level to merely difficult.

Lin Xiaowei continued, "The remaining issue is simply for you to raise your strength as quickly as possible. Once you advance to become a Formal Mage, you can try anchoring a plane and activating a linking array to begin exchanging materials. During that time, I'll study alchemy and share some knowledge with you."

Li Yao said, "OjbK."

Lin Xiaowei said, "Here, take this."

Then Li Yao received a document: "Structural Analysis of Mage Hand."

Lin Xiaowei said, "This is a spell, one of the more classic Zero-Ring Spells. It lets you telekinetically control a non-magical object weighing no more than five kilograms. It is also used to assess an apprentice's spiritual strength."

Li Yao immediately perked up. "Oh! That's awesome! You're only giving me one? What about Fireball Spell, Lightning Beam, and stuff like that?"

Lin Xiaowei said, "Don't bite off more than you can chew! Master this one first!"

Li Yao said, "...Yes, Teacher Lin."

Lin Xiaowei said, "That's it, then. I'm logging off."

Li Yao said, "Bye, Teacher Lin~"

Watching Teacher Lin's avatar turn gray, Li Yao guessed that even if she did not log in, keeping the signal active probably consumed soul energy. After all, a phone used different amounts of battery power depending on whether WiFi was on.

Li Yao scrolled up through the chat history and saw the "Mage Hand" document. He could not help licking his lips.

This document was basically an electric gate! But after poking at them so many times, he was starting to get used to it...

He had even,

gotten a little addicted!...

The three essential elements of a mage were spiritual power, magic power, and spells.

Spiritual power was the foundation of a mage. Thanks to Saint Mage Tara Yang's improvements, the path of spiritual advancement for mages had become traceable, allowing them to strengthen themselves step by step.

As for magic power, after advancing to Formal Mage, one would inscribe an array Spirit Mark within the soul. It could draw energy from the void, refine it into magic power, and store it within the soul. In that respect, it far surpassed ancient mages, who had relied on the Magic Net to cast spells and had daily spell-slot limitations.

Spells, meanwhile, were an exquisite and complicated field of study.

As mentioned before, the Meditation Technique was like a program operating within one's soul and mind, constantly refining the strength of the soul and spirit while expanding the soul's depth. Spells, on the other hand, required the caster to personally guide spiritual power to construct circuits. Once a circuit was completed, they would guide the "spiritual energy" in the void—magic power itself—to produce an effect and interfere with reality.

The duration of Mage Hand depended on the caster's period of concentration, so the spell's circuit was relatively complicated.

Even learning through direct transmission, Li Yao still failed to successfully construct the circuit on the first day...

It was like a child learning to write. Even when copying, they could not produce neat and accurate regular script.

It required not only intelligence, but also practice.

Whether it was construction time or effectiveness, he had to keep grinding "proficiency" to cast spells faster and make them more powerful.

For the next stretch of time, aside from school life, Li Yao meditated and practiced Mage Hand.

Every now and then, Lin Xiaowei would also give him pointers and teach him some basic magical knowledge.

Li Yao's college life became much less dull.

He even felt as if he had returned to high school, when he would stay up late holding his phone and having an online romance with some girl.

How novel.

Unfortunately, the girl he chatted with was someone he had known for more than a decade, and she was fucking in another world.

That was pretty surreal.

More than a month later, Li Yao had become highly proficient in the Meditation Technique. He could multitask even during class, and Mage Hand could basically be cast instantly.

Its killing power was just weak.

What could telekinetically controlling an ownerless, non-magical object weighing five kilograms even do?

Do jack shit!

Still, the Meditation Technique gave Li Yao an unexpected surprise. During the end-of-term exams, he effortlessly scored over ninety in every subject, leaving the animals in his dorm room dumbfounded.

"Li Yao meditates all day, and he's quietly reached the realm of top students! How hateful!"

"Longquan Temple must have already sent him a summons!"

"...Make him treat us. Let's bleed him dry!"

"Good idea!" x3!

So, after being fleeced by his roommates right before vacation, Li Yao felt deeply wronged.

Fuck.

Those three animals ate more than a thousand yuan's worth of food. Were they even human?! Didn't they say mages made a lot of money?

Why was he the one getting bled dry?

Feeling thoroughly unbalanced, he secretly began planning how to get even someday...

Summer vacation was a wonderful phrase.

It meant having two extra months of freely disposable time without having to shoulder any social responsibilities. How great was that? As for summer homework and all that miscellaneous crap...

He could just rush through it in the last few days and copy whatever he needed.

It was one of the rare things to look forward to during student life.

But Li Yao had been deprived of that right, and the one who had taken it from him was that online friend far away in another world, yet so familiar that she even knew what color underwear he wore as a child... He had to find a way to help the Lin family survive their crisis, and he also had to prepare for their immortality.

Fuck,

just thinking about it made his head hurt!

Look, here's a little sapling. Add it to your favorites, send some recommendations, and toss in a tip or two, and it'll grow strong and healthy~