Spirit Sea

"You have a very money-saving idea and want to sell it to me?"

Old Sam pushed up the gold-rimmed spectacles on the bridge of his nose. He had just shaved his beard, but wrinkles had already appeared on his blue-gray skin. He looked at Duke with an expression that was almost a smile.

Duke revealed just the right trace of nervousness and pride. "Yes, boss."

Old Sam was the owner of Little Sam's Card Shop. He had opened the Card Repair Shop back when people still called him Little Sam. After running it for several decades, he had finally become Old Sam.

"Let's hear it. What's your idea?"

"An idea that can save you a great deal of sealing paste." Duke introduced it in the tone of his predecessor. "I've calculated that a one-Silver Dragon sealing paste box can seal twenty spirit cards. The shop uses two or three sealing paste boxes every day, which adds up to dozens of Silver Dragons—or even one Gold Dragon—a month. My idea can save you at least half a Silver Dragon."

"Haha, save that many Silver Dragons? Then what exactly is your idea?" Old Sam said with amusement. He did not believe a fifteen-year-old apprentice could have any good ideas.

Duke laughed along. "This idea comes with a price, boss."

Old Sam was a good boss. After running Little Sam's Card Shop for decades, he was widely praised both for doing business and for conducting himself as a person. That was why Duke had chosen to sell it to him.

"How much do you think it's worth?" Old Sam asked casually.

"How about five Gold Dragons?" Duke named a figure.

"Five Gold Dragons!" Old Sam's eyes widened.

"That isn't expensive. Using my idea, you'll save fifty Silver Dragons in a month. In a year, you'll earn back the five Gold Dragons you paid for the knowledge." Duke analyzed it earnestly. "Besides, you can sell it to other Card Repair Shops, or even register a patent with the Tower of Erudition. That will bring you even more wealth!"

"Listen, Little Duke, I'm busy..."

"Are you sure you don't want to hear my idea before deciding? Merely listening won't cost you anything. Whether you're willing to pay five Gold Dragons is still entirely up to you."

Seeing that Duke's words made some sense, Old Sam stopped walking. "All right, let's hear it."

"Then promise me first that if you recognize the value of my idea after hearing it, you'll pay five Gold Dragons."

"Mm. If it's worth that much."

"Of course!"

Duke spoke with absolute certainty.

Old Sam nodded somewhat seriously. "Then, on Old Sam's reputation, I promise that if your idea is truly good, I'll give you five Gold Dragons to purchase it."

"This idea is a technique. I call it Continuous Sealing Paste Technology..." Duke launched into his explanation.

At first, Old Sam was somewhat dismissive. However, after Duke explained the principles of the technique, light quickly blossomed in Old Sam's eyes. After running through it in his mind, he was able to confirm that the technique was feasible.

Moreover, it was almost laughably simple.

All it required was connecting a disposable sealing paste box to a conduit, then connecting the other end to a larger sealing paste storage tank. That way, sealing paste could be continuously supplied without coming into contact with the air.

There would be no need to repeatedly replace the sealing paste boxes in the sealing machine.

"A genius idea!" Old Sam praised from the bottom of his heart. Then he cautiously glanced around and pulled Duke into the warehouse to continue speaking. "This idea is excellent, Little Duke. I haven't yet realized how great its prospects are. But without a doubt, it's absolutely worth five Gold Dragons... No, I'll give you ten Gold Dragons!"

Ten Gold Dragons?

That exceeded Duke's expectations.

He deliberately put on an excited look. After all, he was only a fifteen-year-old child. "Thank you, thank you, boss!"

"You deserve this. Also, Little Duke, if you're willing, I plan to make you a full-time worker. You can follow me and learn the trade." Old Sam suddenly reached out and patted Duke's head, sighing emotionally. "I know you're eager to make money because you want to open the Three Seas, but talent has always been impossible to predict."

Duke wore a puzzled expression.

Old Sam continued, "Even if you can't open the Three Seas, I still believe you're an extraordinary child. Perhaps you can use your own wisdom to walk the path of a Scholar as an ordinary person."

"Thank you for the encouragement, but I want to try opening the Spirit Sea first." Duke smiled.

"Then go and give it a try first."

"Uh... you haven't given me the ten Gold Dragons yet."

Old Sam was an honest and trustworthy boss. Ten Gold Dragons was no small sum, but he quickly scraped it together and handed it to Duke, officially purchasing the Continuous Sealing Paste Technology.

He even drew up a contract in duplicate.

Duke signed his name on it and then pressed his fingerprint beside it.

"You already look impatient, so go. I'll give you three days off. When you come back, I'll arrange full-time worker benefits for you." Old Sam put away the contract, beaming brightly.

This idea would be enough to make him a fortune.

"I'll be back soon."

With ten Gold Dragons tucked against his chest, Duke walked out of Little Sam's Card Shop.

Looking back at the shop's signboard, he felt many emotions as well. Just as Old Sam had said, even if he could not open the Three Seas, perhaps he could still walk the path of a Scholar.

The Continuous Sealing Paste Technology was the best proof of that.

"However, compared to becoming a Scholar, I still want to become an Arcane Mage!" Gathering his thoughts, Duke turned away and walked down the street without looking back, heading straight for the town's potion shop.

The 23-Silver Dragon Spirit Awakening Potion was successfully acquired.

After returning to the single-story house he rented and securing the doors and windows, he eagerly sat cross-legged on the bed. Only after taking several deep breaths did he calm his agitated emotions.

A sharp glint flashed through his eyes.

He tipped back his head and downed the potion in the glass tube in one gulp. Then he used the clean water he had prepared to fill the tube, swirled it around, and drank that as well, ensuring not a drop of residue remained.

While waiting for the potion's effects to take hold,

he opened a book by his bedside whose edges had been worn ragged from repeated reading: Opening the Spiritual Arcane. It was a popular science book mainly explaining the Spiritual Arcana system.

It recorded methods for opening the Qi Sea, Blood Sea, and Spirit Sea.

The Spirit Sea had the lowest probability of being opened. As for the methods, the book introduced two.

The first was the method used by geniuses. Through daily meditation, one emptied the mind and followed the guidance of spirituality, thereby opening the Spirit Sea on one's own. It was generally easiest to open between the ages of ten and fifteen.

After the age of fifteen, one had to rely on the second method: using a Spirit Awakening Potion to forcibly increase one's compatibility with spirituality, then using meditation to locate the Spirit Sea and break into it.

The success rate of this method was not high.

In fact, whether it was the Qi Sea, Blood Sea, or Spirit Sea, the success rate was extremely low for anyone who needed a potion to open it. Moreover, their future achievements were far inferior to those who opened them on their own.

"I have a cheat. I'll definitely be able to open the Spirit Sea!"

Clinging to the conviction that he would succeed, Duke sensed a cool aura rising in his abdomen. He decisively set down the book, adjusted his posture, and began to meditate.

Empty the mind and tame the heart.

Then one could accept the guidance of spirituality.

That was also why people had named transcendent power spirituality. This mysterious power possessed unparalleled spirituality. It was like a small beast, a Little Flower, or a little river. It could guide all things to grow, and it could also be tamed and nurtured by all things.

"Empty!"

"Empty!"

"Empty!"

The cool aura of the Spirit Awakening Potion made it easier for Duke to clear the distracting thoughts from his mind. Then, without any distractions, he emptied himself.

When every distracting thought had been cleared away, he could no longer sense his own thoughts. Time seemed to fade as well, and there was no longer any concept of up, down, east, or west.

At that moment,

a point of light bloomed in the void. Then, a sky full of stars followed close behind, as though he had fallen into an ocean composed of starlight.

Boom!

His thoughts returned to his body, and Duke "saw" his Spirit Sea.