Zheng Qing gave an almost imperceptible nod at those words.
Unlike mainstream systems of Transfiguration, the Druidic Order's approach stood apart. Not only could it turn wizards into ordinary animals, but its advanced spells could also transform them into powerful magical creatures, or even beings from myth and legend.
However, mastering such advanced transformations required more than poring over books and racking one's brains. It also required sufficient "reference" to the creature one wished to become—or, more aptly, what ancient Eastern cultivators commonly called "visualization."
In short, if a novice druid wanted to master the spell for turning into a cat, the best way to practice was to spend long periods with cats, observing their forms, movements, and habits in meticulous detail, and even attempting to understand how they thought. Only by immersing oneself completely and "becoming" a cat could one gradually grasp its essence and master the corresponding spell.
By comparison, Zheng Qing's method of learning to turn into a cat had been much more crude and direct—a Transformation Potion combined with a natural affinity. Rather than saying he had mastered feline Transfiguration, it would be more accurate to say he had unearthed the animal image buried deep within himself.
Jiang Yu's "Directed Transformation Spell" had drawn on some of the druids' ideas.
And taking that a step further.
Once a druid reached the intermediate tier, or even became a High-Tier Registered Wizard, merely observing a creature's outward "form" was nowhere near enough to transform into more powerful, more complex magical creatures.
Dragons, for instance.
These were magical creatures with a very high floor but an extremely "narrow" ceiling. Thanks to their enormous size, adult dragons naturally developed the bodily vessel of a "true form," giving them the strength of a beginner-stage Grand Wizard. But advancing beyond that to