Meditation Method

After letting his thoughts run wild for half the day, Benjamin finally sorted them out and sat at the table to inventory the things in the box.

"Although I've passed the first hurdle, I still can't let down my guard. There's no way to be sure the dormitory isn't under a wizard's surveillance. I need to act carefully. At least for the time being, I can't openly do anything related to Cultivation..."

Since he could not cultivate, he could only learn something else.

Considering that Clark had given him only ten days, his most urgent task was to master the Wizard System's most basic cultivation method—the Basic Meditation Method.

Only by igniting the Spirit Fire could one officially set foot upon the path of a wizard.

Benjamin found a comfortable position on the bed, lay down, and took out the heavy book that recorded the Meditation Method.

The pages looked as though they were made from some kind of metal. The text was concise, yet every word contained a strange energy.

After flipping through it roughly, Benjamin understood that the core of the Basic Meditation Method lay in "visualization" and "inscription."

It guided practitioners to empty their consciousness, draw their mental power inward, and then use that mental power to "draw" and "construct" certain geometric patterns within their Spirit Sea.

The book said that these patterns were not assembled at random. They were the results of countless years of research by ancient wizards, simplified forms of "Truth Runes" that were highly compatible with the energy system of the Wizard World.

By successfully inscribing these patterns in one's Spirit Sea, one could guide the free-floating energy particles of the outside world into it, nourish one's mental power, and construct one's own "mental circuits." This was the entry point to the Wizard System.

The first meditation pattern for beginners of the Basic Meditation Method consisted of five main components. Once combined, they roughly formed an abstract triangular pyramid.

The book recommended that beginners first inscribe the five main patterns one by one, then try combining them after becoming proficient.

Benjamin closed his eyes, placed the book beneath his head as a pillow, and emptied his awareness of the outside world.

If an ordinary newcomer wanted to enter a meditative state, they would need to use this book beneath their head as an aid for the first few attempts—the Basic Meditation Method was made so thick not merely because it contained abundant content, but because it had numerous auxiliary cultivation formations inscribed within it, allowing newcomers to quickly immerse themselves in their Spirit Sea.

Benjamin naturally did not need any assistance. He only did this as a precaution, putting on a show for appearances' sake.

His consciousness sank smoothly into his Spirit Sea. Here, he could feel the unusually condensed mental power that had been tempered through cultivation.

Following the Meditation Method's guidance, he attempted to use his mental power to "draw" the outline of the first main pattern.

It was a strange sensation. His mental power was like tentacles, carefully sketching lines within his Spirit Sea.

Unexpectedly, the process went exceptionally smoothly.

Perhaps due to his years of Cultivation experience, Benjamin's control over his mental power had reached an inconceivable level. Drawing patterns with mental power was as easy and natural to him as writing on paper with a pen was to an ordinary person.

The lines formed by his mental power were smooth, steady, and precise. The pattern rapidly took shape in his Spirit Sea, needing only one final stroke for perfect completion.

However, just as that final stroke was about to fall and the first main pattern was about to be successfully constructed, Benjamin's heart suddenly stirred.

"Wait!"

He abruptly stopped the stroke, then deliberately drew it crooked at the point where it was about to land.

Boom!

The perfect pattern was destroyed just before completion. The mental power gathered during its construction lost its guidance and instantly went out of control!

An invisible mental shockwave erupted from within his Spirit Sea, shaking his entire consciousness.

Benjamin let out a muffled groan, feeling dizzy and disoriented, as though a huge hand had viciously stirred his Spirit Sea.

Though it hurt, he immediately steadied his mind and quickly assessed the effects of this "failure."

This feeling of being struck by his own mental power... though unpleasant, was only a mild tremor to him. It had caused no substantial damage.

That was dangerous. I nearly forgot about the difference in control. Benjamin felt a wave of lingering fear.

After cultivating for so many years, although Benjamin's cultivation level was not high, his ability to control mental power was absolutely beyond comparison to those rookies who had not even entered the door.

His true inscription ability and control over mental power were absolutely not levels a sixth-grade talent apprentice who had only just encountered the Meditation Method should possess.

Conversely, unless one was exceptionally gifted, an ordinary apprentice should not be able to inscribe Truth Runes so easily.

Therefore, he had to disguise himself.

He had to disguise himself as a beginner who encountered difficulties, failed, and needed time to feel his way forward.

"It isn't just the difference in control. When a Truth Rune inscription fails, the mental power stored inside it is completely released, causing a mental shock to the Spirit Sea... In that case, I also need to pay attention to endurance and recovery."

Benjamin's current mental power and all related attributes were equivalent to those of an untrained apprentice with eighth-grade talent. This meant his sensations were the same as those of eighth-grade talent apprentices.

But... what if it were an apprentice with poorer talent?

The talent grade he was currently pretending to have was sixth-grade, so aside from control, he also had to be mindful of his other reactions after enduring a mental shock.

Fortunately, during the previous test, he had deliberately paid attention to the mental strength corresponding to each talent grade.

Benjamin quickly calculated.

The intensity of the mental backlash caused by failure was fixed. Thus, a mental shock that was insignificant to him would undoubtedly be painful, even dangerous, for low-talent apprentices with fragile Spirit Seas.

According to Benjamin's calculations, apprentices with talent below fifth-grade would suffer considerable turbulence in their Spirit Seas after such a mental shock and would need quite a long time to recover before attempting meditation again.

By a conservative estimate, even if they worked day and night without rest, managing six to eight attempts a day would already be their limit—and every failure would be an ordeal.

As for himself, whose outward talent appeared to be sixth-grade, although the backlash just now had been uncomfortable, his Spirit Sea would recover enough to attempt it again after about an hour of rest.

As for those eighth-grade and ninth-grade geniuses... their mental power and soul foundations were bound to be stronger, and their ability to withstand backlash would be greater as well.

As long as they did not fail repeatedly without pause, one or two instances of backlash might be little more than a scratch to them.

Talent was not merely reflected in cultivation speed and potential—it was also reflected in the cost of trial and error, and in one's margin for mistakes!

High-talent apprentices could endure more failures and make more attempts, so naturally they could enter the field and improve more quickly.

"The advantage of talent is still obvious in the early stages... Looking at it this way, entering the field within ten days won't be easy for apprentices without high talent."