Getting Started

Over the next while, their conversation became much more relaxed and casual.

Amy continued sharing all sorts of gossip she had heard in the cafeteria and the troubles faced by new apprentices, while Benjamin listened and quietly refined his map of the Academy and network of relationships.

They got along so well that they did not realize how late it had become until the cafeteria's crowds gradually thinned.

"All right! I'm going back to the dormitory to keep studying my Meditation Method. If I don't draw that first pattern, I won't sleep easy!" Amy stood up and stretched, her movements as loose and supple as a cat's.

"I'll call it a day too. I'll go back and try again." Benjamin rose as well.

"Okay! See you tomorrow! Hopefully, we'll both get started soon!" Amy waved brightly and headed toward the Alchemy Department dormitory building.

Benjamin watched her retreating figure until she vanished from sight. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a deep, unfathomable look.

"Interesting."

He recalled Amy's sly eyes, along with her seemingly casual "probing."

"Her coming to find me was definitely a form of probing too. She knows about my sixth-level talent and wants to assess my potential. More than that, she wants to see whether I've seen through the Academy's whole scheme... Smart, and practical."

Benjamin shook his head, a trace of emotion stirring within him.

"It seems there aren't many simple people who managed to enter the Logistics Department on their own merits. Amy, I hope she'll make a good partner."

After all, he truly needed an additional source of intelligence, and someone like Amy was well suited for the role.

At the same time, Amy's smile gradually faded as she walked back.

She murmured to herself, "Benjamin... sixth-level talent... he's much smarter than he looks. Every word is measured, every question strikes straight at the heart... And he seems to have seen through the Academy's tricks too. Hmm, this person... he's the type who likes to keep things hidden. But he's probably far more capable than that show-off. I need to stay on good terms with him."

Several days had passed since they entered Noren Academy for the talent assessment.

After a few days, Benjamin felt the timing was about right.

Based on the intelligence he had gathered these past few days, most apprentices with fifth-level talent were close to succeeding. As a "little genius" with sixth-level talent, he naturally had to succeed a little earlier than them.

Tonight, he decided to let his "hard work" reap its "reward."

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Benjamin sank into his Spirit Sea once more.

He skillfully began inscribing the final main pattern. His spiritual power became a pen, smoothly tracing each complex line within his Spirit Sea.

He felt his spiritual power flow and gather along its designated paths. The structure of this pattern was exceptionally exquisite, as though it conformed to some profound law of the cosmos.

This time, he created no flaws. With the final stroke, he landed it steadily, perfectly connecting it to the starting point!

Rumble—

It was as though a silent bolt of thunder had exploded in his Spirit Sea!

The entire space of his Spirit Sea shook violently, but this tremor was no longer the backlash of failure. It was a vibrant, reshaping force!

The newly completed Truth Rune instantly erupted with dazzling light. The radiance spread outward, as though opening up an entirely new region within his Spirit Sea.

Benjamin could clearly feel that this pattern seemed tightly connected to his soul and spiritual power, becoming a... anchor within his Spirit Sea!

As the entire pattern fully stabilized, an understanding naturally surged into his mind—he "saw" the deeper structure of this pattern.

He understood that the final pattern was completely different in concept from the other four.

The entire Truth Rune was composed of four outer patterns and a fifth pattern located at the very center, forming that abstract triangular pyramid shape.

The Truth Runes related to the Basic Meditation Method were actually only the four outermost patterns. Those four small runes formed the framework for most of its effects.

As for the fifth pattern at the center, Benjamin felt an inexplicable familiarity—those lines, that structure... He compared them against the descriptions of basic Alchemy runes in the Basic Alchemy Manual, and understanding immediately dawned on him.

That fifth pattern was, astonishingly, one of Alchemy's most fundamental core runes!

It represented the concept of "transformation," and it was also the key in the first Truth Rune that opened interaction with energy from a specific domain!

With that thought, Benjamin immediately took out the Basic Alchemy Manual and the Basic Meditation Method to compare them.

Sure enough, the core patterns of the second and third Truth Runes in the Basic Meditation Method were the "fusion" and "refinement" runes from Alchemy.

No wonder Mentor Clark had emphasized entering the Meditation Method as soon as possible. No wonder the Academy had forcibly divided so many schools for apprentices to choose from.

It was not merely because studying a single school consumed an enormous amount of a person's energy. The distinctions had already been drawn from the very first Meditation Method.

As the first Truth Rune stabilized within his Spirit Sea, Benjamin faintly sensed an entirely new connection—a weak connection to the external environment, one he had never perceived before.

Following the guidance in the later sections of the Meditation Method, Benjamin focused his consciousness on the pattern he had just completed and tried using his spiritual power to "draw" upon that vague connection.

The next moment, streams of weak yet exceptionally active energy particles were truly drawn in by that pattern. They slowly gathered from the external environment and surged into his Spirit Sea!

These energy particles were what wizards called "elemental power." They were active, diverse, and possessed different properties.

The moment the elemental power entered his Spirit Sea, it was drawn to the Truth Rune, slowly merging with his spiritual power and nourishing and strengthening his Spirit Sea.

A vast amount of elements gathered beside the Truth Rune, forming an energy shape resembling flames.

"So this is what it means to ignite the Spirit Fire. No wonder..."

He could feel his spiritual power becoming more active and resilient in a manner different from Cultivation's refinement of the spirit.

As Benjamin sensed the elemental energy slowly flowing into his body, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind.

He pushed the Inner Circulation Method to its limit, sealing his body's internal state to ensure no one could detect it.

Benjamin tentatively began circulating his cultivation technique. Using the mutual interference of the three treasures—essence, qi, and spirit—in the Refining Essence into Qi method, he guided a portion of the incoming elemental power into the True Essence system created within his body by the Inner Circulation.

Cultivation's Refining Essence into Qi and the Inner Circulation Method essentially transformed the body's "essence," "qi," and "spirit" into one another, forming a self-sustaining cycle within the body.

Thus, when elemental power from the outside entered his Inner Circulation system, his True Essence system was able to "digest" and "transform" it.

Benjamin could clearly feel that his True Essence had grown slightly without refining his blood and qi!

Under the filtering and refinement of the Inner Circulation system, those originally mixed elemental energies were actually being transformed bit by bit into pure True Essence!

Although the conversion efficiency did not seem particularly high, and it was far slower than directly absorbing Spirit Energy, it had truly succeeded.

The wild joy in Benjamin's heart was nearly impossible to suppress!

This meant that, in this world devoid of Spirit Energy, he had finally found the "fuel" needed to power his Cultivation methods!

The Wizard System's Meditation Method had unexpectedly opened a door for him to absorb external energy.

More importantly, this discovery completely solved another of his problems: he no longer needed to rack his brains trying to disguise the speed of his Meditation Method cultivation.

By adjusting the proportion of elemental power converted into True Essence, he could make his meditation progress slow enough to fit the persona of a "sixth-level talent apprentice."