Star Source Meditation Method

Just as Luo Lin was about to throw away the scroll tube, his fingers accidentally brushed the inside of its wall, and he felt an extremely faint uneven texture.

His heart stirred, and he examined it carefully.

The inner wall of the scroll tube seemed thicker than the outer wall, and its material was slightly different as well.

Luo Lin tried channeling a trace of mana into the scroll, but there was no response.

He then tried scanning it carefully with his mental power.

With the powerful perception granted by the Perfect Meditation Method, he finally discovered a clue.

Hidden within the inner wall was an exquisitely crafted, nearly invisible miniature sealing rune!

The seal was exceptionally well concealed. Had his mental power not been sharp enough, he would never have noticed it.

Recalling the records in the ancient scroll concerning various sealing techniques, he attempted several methods of breaking it, but none succeeded.

The seal's structure was ancient and complex.

At last, Luo Lin adjusted his mental power to its calmest, most accommodating state. Like warm water flowing gently, it slowly seeped into the tiny rune. Rather than forcefully striking it, he tried to understand its structure and locate the nodes through which its energy flowed.

The process was extremely taxing and required tremendous concentration and control.

Time passed bit by bit, and fine beads of sweat formed on Luo Lin's forehead.

Baha stood guard quietly at his side, watching the surroundings vigilantly.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Luo Lin felt his mental power had been greatly depleted and was nearly ready to give up, the tiny rune seemed to have touched upon a crucial point. It trembled slightly, then silently dissolved like melting ice and snow.

A thin compartment, no thicker than a cicada's wing, quietly opened within the scroll tube's inner wall, revealing another scroll inside.

This scroll was made of an even stranger material. It was neither hide nor paper, cold to the touch and a deep dark blue in color. Countless tiny silver specks of light, seemingly formed by nature, dotted its surface like a faint starry sky.

The scroll itself radiated an ancient, vast aura.

Luo Lin took a deep breath and carefully removed the hidden scroll before unfolding it.

Several large, ancient and profound characters met his eyes. Translated through [Literacy], their true meaning emerged.

Star Source Meditation Method

Holding his breath, Luo Lin continued reading.

The more he read, the more astonished he became.

This Star Source Meditation Method was not the inheritance of the Afterglow Grand Wizard. Its origins seemed even more ancient and mysterious.

Rather than directly guiding mental power to crystallize, it took a different path. It required one to use one's mental power as a guide within the Mental Sea, connect with the power of stars in the unseen depths, and construct a corresponding Natal Star!

At the beginning, one only needed to construct a main star. Using it as the core, one could gradually draw in and illuminate more auxiliary stars, eventually forming a faint star chart within the Mental Sea.

Every successfully constructed star represented a qualitative transformation and leap in mental power, and there was almost no limit to the improvement it could bring!

Mental power crystallization was merely a natural byproduct of successfully constructing the first Natal Star.

This completely overturned Luo Lin's understanding of meditation methods!

No matter their attributes, traditional meditation methods all ultimately aimed to guide mental power into condensing into relatively fixed crystals. The Star Source Meditation Method, however, built a starry sky that could continuously grow and evolve.

Naturally, the difficulty and danger of cultivating this meditation method were proportional to its potential.

The scroll issued a clear warning:

The process of constructing a Natal Star was extraordinarily perilous. It required drawing the radiance of real stars into the Mental Sea. A single mistake in control could cause the Mental Sea to collapse. At best, one would be crippled; at worst, one would die on the spot.

Furthermore, it placed extremely high demands on the cultivator's mental foundation, control, and soul resilience.

Those without great resolve and great fortune must not attempt it.

The scroll also mentioned that cultivating this meditation method would produce a byproduct called "Starforce." It was pure, vast, and highly adaptable. It would benefit the later study of spells from all schools, possessed innate starlight properties, and was remarkably effective at resisting mental corruption and purifying energy pollution.

Luo Lin looked at the Star Source Meditation Method, his heart surging with emotion.

This was undoubtedly a far more difficult path, but one with boundless potential.

It did not require a specific Crystallization Medium. Instead, it relied on drawing upon the power of stars to complete one's transformation.

Moreover, it pointed directly toward a higher realm. A mere First-Circle Wizard was certainly not its endpoint.

Risks and opportunities coexisted.

Should he choose the relatively safe but limited incomplete copy of the Fading Light Meditation Method, or risk embarking on the Star Source Meditation Method's path, filled with the unknown and danger?

Luo Lin's gaze hardened with barely any hesitation.

He had the panel, [Efficient Scholar], a perfect foundation, and Baha's feedback to assist him.

He believed in his own foundation and potential!

Rather than walk a road whose end he could see, he would rather gamble on a future of limitless possibilities.

Luo Lin carefully put away the Star Source Meditation Method scroll. Its value far surpassed that Elemental Essence.

This was the cornerstone of his future path!

After putting away the scroll, he turned his gaze once more toward the violent energy pit.

Now, his reason for seeking the Elemental Essence had gained another purpose.

It would not merely serve as a bargaining chip for exchanging for a meditation method. It would also prepare him for cultivating the Star Source Meditation Method in the future.

Such pure elemental energy would be greatly beneficial, whether used to strengthen himself or as support for certain crucial rituals.

Having made up his mind, Luo Lin did not immediately enter the energy pit.

Instead, he decided to improve his condition first and search for any additional means of assistance that might be available.

He left the pit area and continued exploring within relatively safe boundaries, while digesting the shock and inspiration brought by the Star Source Meditation Method.

Thanks to Baha's keen senses for energy and danger, Luo Lin avoided several hidden spatial rifts and energy traps.

While exploring a stone forest formed from twisted crystals, Baha issued a warning and pointed toward a strange plant growing in a gap between crystal clusters.

The plant was entirely translucent aqua blue, shaped like a curled fern. Natural silver patterns resembling simple stabilizing runes grew across its leaves.

It emitted a calm, stable energy fluctuation that was utterly out of place amid the chaotic surroundings.

"Is this... Mind-Calming Silverleaf?"

Luo Lin recalled the illustrated guide to magical plants he had read, though he was not entirely certain.

There were few records of this plant. They only mentioned that it was remarkably effective at stabilizing the mind and calming energy, and that it usually grew in strange places where extremely conflicting energies had achieved a certain balance.

The specimen before him matched the descriptions quite well, both in appearance and energy properties.

He carefully collected it together with a small piece of the crystal bedrock attached to it, then stored it in a specially made jade box.

It might help stabilize his mind and resist the mental impact of turbulent energy currents when he entered the energy pit.

Continuing onward, Luo Lin discovered a dried-up riverbed.

The bottom of the riverbed was not sand or mud, but was instead covered in smooth, rounded crystal pebbles of various colors, polished by energy.

These pebbles contained faint energies of varying attributes. Though chaotic, their total amount was considerable.

Luo Lin's thoughts stirred as he recalled an auxiliary cultivation method mentioned in the Star Source Meditation Method.

By using minerals or crystals containing pure energy to arrange a simple Star-Gathering Array, one could slightly increase the success rate of drawing in starlight for the first time.

He carefully sorted through them and collected a batch of crystal pebbles whose energy was relatively pure and whose attributes leaned toward neutrality or the starry sky.

Individually, these pebbles were not valuable, but there were many of them, making them ideal for setting up a basic spell array.

While exploring a half-collapsed ancient structure resembling an observation platform, Luo Lin made another discovery.

Most of the instruments inside had already been destroyed, but beneath a reinforced metal table, he found a locked drawer.

Drawing upon his experience breaking the seal on the scroll tube, he spent some effort before finally opening it with a gentle mental-power infiltration technique.

There were no scrolls or books in the drawer, only several palm-sized dark-gold metal plates as thin as cicada wings.

The metal plates were smooth on the surface, but at certain angles, one could see extremely fine and complex three-dimensional rune structures engraved upon them.

Luo Lin tried channeling mana into them, but the metal plates showed no reaction.

Yet when he sensed them with mental power, he discovered that these rune structures seemed to be slowly absorbing ambient energy on their own, maintaining an operation with extremely low consumption.

"Are these energy-storage rune plates?"

"Or components of some kind of triggered device?"