Gaode sat cross-legged on the bed, following his memories.
He kept his chin parallel to the floor, closed his eyes, straightened his back, and placed his hands on his knees with his palms facing upward and his fingers relaxed. In this meditative posture, one would feel extremely comfortable and relaxed, making it easier to enter a Meditation State. Of course, senior Mages could easily enter a Meditation State and begin their cultivation in almost any posture and any environment, without needing these "aids." However, Gaode was currently just an apprentice among apprentices, so naturally, he had to strictly follow the procedure.
After taking deep breaths for several minutes, Gaode finally entered the state. Within his consciousness, it felt as if he were suspended in a dark universe. Countless motes of Star Dust floated in this universe, drifting aimlessly. They were beautiful and enchanting, radiating faint starlight.
This was the Magic Power that existed in the world, the foundational cornerstone of the world's power. It was abundant, powerful, and endlessly inexhaustible.
The so-called Guiding Skill meant using one's Spiritual Power to guide this Magic Power, drawing it into the body and refining it into Mana. Gaode began attempting to use his Spiritual Power to guide this magical Star Dust.
Under the control of his Spirit and intent, the Magic Power followed the breath he inhaled into his mouth and entered his body. It descended all the way down to the position of his navel before it began to settle. This was not the end. Once he felt the magical Star Dust settle, Gaode still needed to manipulate his Spirit and intent, following the rhythm of his breathing, to continuously polish this Magic Power until it transformed into his own Mana.
To be honest, the efficiency of this entire process was not very high. Because the Guiding Technique and Meditation Technique Gaode practiced had unified names: the Apprentice Guidance Technique and the Apprentice Meditation Technique. As the names suggested, these were cultivation methods exclusively for Mage Apprentices. They were the most fundamental teachings. Their flaw was their basic nature, but their merit also lay in being foundational enough. For building a solid foundation, they were flawlessly perfect, but their efficiency naturally wouldn't be very high.
Gaode immersed himself in his first cultivation session until he began to feel fatigued. Only when the efficiency of guiding the magical Star Dust dropped by about thirty percent compared to the beginning did he finally stop. He knew that the consumption of his Spiritual Power had reached the critical point of forty percent. Next, he needed to switch to practicing the Meditation Technique.
Gaode readjusted his posture, regulated his breathing for a moment, closed his eyes in accordance with the requirements of the Apprentice Meditation Technique, and began his meditation practice.
The practice of the Meditation Technique was akin to the Observation Technique often spoken of in Buddhism from his past life. It involved outlining certain bizarre and profound objects in one's mind to enhance Spiritual Power. The Apprentice Meditation Technique manifested a sixteen-petaled lotus flower, and the number of manifested petals was directly proportional to one's progress in cultivation. Once all sixteen petals of the lotus flower could be manifested, this Apprentice Meditation Technique would be considered cultivated to Perfection.
However, Gaode's current cultivation progress was far from Perfection. If he remembered correctly, his predecessor's cultivation had only just managed to manifest five petals, and this was only because his predecessor possessed an exceptionally good talent for Spiritual Power. This progress was actually not bad. One had to know that the apprentices in the same batch as Gaode, or even those who had started cultivating earlier than him, were still only at the level of one or two petals.
As his Heart and Spirit immersed themselves, Gaode clearly perceived the existence of his Spiritual Power.
In the endless darkness of his consciousness, a lotus flower slowly rotated, existing within his mind. However, this flower did not possess a physical form; it was merely an outline drawn with dotted lines. The purpose of cultivating the Meditation Technique was to use Spiritual Power to fill in these dotted lines and completely manifest the true lotus flower.
Gaode was just about to begin manifesting the lotus flower as he recalled in his memories when he suddenly made a Detection. Deep within his consciousness, there seemed to be something extra, shining with a faint glow.
Subconsciously, his mind stirred, and his Spiritual Power and attention focused simultaneously on that glowing spot.
Deep within the Consciousness Space, it was still dark. But apart from that, there were countless irregularly wandering Stars, as well as two sets of Magic Models constructed from Stars, resembling galaxies but actually fixed in place. Those were the two Tricks Gaode had mastered. Overall, the depths of the Consciousness Space looked like a Star Sea. Hence, this place was also known as the Magic Star Sea.
However, today, aside from the Stars and Magic Models, there was something else in the Magic Star Sea. Something that shouldn't have been there.
It was a "Crescent" moon.
It hovered quietly and steadily at the very center of the Magic Star Sea, completely motionless, radiating a pure white and bright glow. To be more precise, it should be a Crescent-shaped gemstone. Its shape closely resembled a magatama—wide and round at the head, sharp and thin at the tail. The whole thing was white, but not a milky white; rather, it was the pure white of the moon.
The gemstone was crystal clear throughout, without a single trace of impurity. Its surface was overgrown with complex and beautiful patterns and designs, looking like strange symbols. Yes, overgrown, not engraved. Because there were absolutely no traces of artificial processing. These patterns and designs were integrated with the gemstone, entirely natural.
Gaode stared blankly at this Crescent gemstone existing in his mind, finding it hard to believe.
"Isn't this the pendant I used to wear around my neck all the time?"
This was the Gao Family heirloom, which his father had strung into a pendant and passed down to him. Gaode had worn this pendant for over a decade and had never noticed anything unusual about it. But now, this item that didn't belong to this world had actually crossed over into this world alongside him. Moreover, it had transformed from a physical existence into a phantom one, taking root within his Magic Star Sea.
Since even transmigration had occurred, having an extra gemstone in his head didn't seem like something impossible to accept. But why this gemstone in particular? This proved that it definitely had something special about it.
Gaode tried hard to remain calm as he recalled information related to this gemstone. He then realized that when his father passed this gemstone to him, he hadn't given much of an introduction regarding its origins. Gaode only knew that this gemstone was definitely of great value. He could be certain that it absolutely wasn't a handicraft processed from things like agate or talc, but a naturally formed gemstone.
Because it was simply too exquisite—so exquisite it didn't seem man-made. Only the uncanny workmanship of Nature could forge such a work of art.
Gaode observed it carefully for quite a while, but he truly couldn't find anything unusual.
"An extremely rare Extraordinary item," he provisionally judged the gemstone's origin based on his knowledge of this world. "And since it could follow me and cross over to this world, this point alone is enough to prove that its grade is absolutely not low."
Gaode carefully extended his Spiritual Power toward this Crescent gemstone. This was the most common way to activate an Extraordinary item in his memories. He attempted to stimulate this Extraordinary item to discover its function.
However, the moment his Spiritual Power touched the gemstone, it was like hitting a wall, and it was immediately repelled backward. Gaode pondered for a moment, no longer acting carefully. He mobilized all his Spiritual Power and tried to activate it again.
Once, twice, thrice...
It wasn't until Gaode felt slightly exhausted that he stopped. This "Crescent" moon still hovered there steadily, without undergoing any changes or moving in the slightest, completely impervious.
He was greatly shocked. At first, he thought he had failed to activate this magical object merely because he was being too careful. However, by the end, he had already gone all out, yet he still failed.
Gaode closely inspected the gemstone again, attempting to find some sort of mechanism. The result was still nothing.
Now Gaode was troubled. Having such a "foreign object" in his mind, yet not knowing what it was used for—who could be willing to accept that? But the problem was, this thing was like a stubborn squatter, taking root and settling down in his head. His Spiritual Power couldn't shake it in the slightest, nor could he drive it away. No matter how unwilling he was, he couldn't change anything.
"Nine times out of ten, it's because my current Spiritual Power is too weak, so I can't activate or move it," Gaode guessed.
"Never mind." Truly having no way to deal with it, Gaode ultimately chose to let things be.
At the very least, he could confirm that this gemstone that had inexplicably crossed over with him posed no harm to his body. That was enough.
Thus, Gaode withdrew the attention he had placed on this gemstone. After taking a moment to calm his emotions, he re-entered the cultivation state of the Meditation Technique.
Under Gaode's Meditation, the lotus flower composed of dotted lines within his consciousness gradually solidified. The lotus base turned into a solid entity, and the five petals on it were gradually manifested by Gaode as well...
Nearly two hours later.
Gaode opened his eyes. A heavy sense of exhaustion welled up in his heart.
The Spiritual Power previously consumed by cultivating the Guiding Technique had already recovered over the course of his Meditation Technique, but recovering Spiritual Power didn't mean eliminating physical fatigue. On the contrary, according to the memories left by his predecessor, getting a good night's sleep after practicing the Meditation Technique yielded the best results.
Amy had finished her cultivation earlier than him and was already fast asleep, letting out soft snores.
Gaode quietly took off his outer clothes and lay down on the bed. He recalled what he had seen and heard since arriving in this world, pondering how he should extract himself from this situation and much more...