Translator: AnubisTL
After a long period of wandering thoughts, Jieming finally cleared his mind and sat down at the table to inventory the contents of the box.
"Even though I've passed the first hurdle, I can't let my guard down. There's no guarantee the dormitory isn't under surveillance by wizards, so I need to proceed cautiously. At least for the immediate future, I can't openly engage in anything related to immortal cultivation..."
Since he couldn't cultivate immortality, he would have to focus on learning something else.
Considering Clark had only given him ten days, his immediate priority was to master the most fundamental cultivation method in the wizarding system: the Basic Meditation Technique.
Only by igniting his spiritual fire could he officially embark on the path of a wizard.
Jieming settled into a comfortable position on his bed and retrieved the thick, heavy book containing the meditation technique.
The pages appeared to be made of some kind of metal, and the text was concise, yet each word seemed to pulse with a strange energy.
After skimming through it, Jieming understood that the core of the Basic Meditation Technique lay in "visualization" and "engraving."
It instructed practitioners to empty their minds, focus their mental power inward, and then, within their mental sea, use their mental power to "draw" and "construct" specific geometric patterns.
The book explained that these patterns were not arbitrary combinations but the culmination of countless years of research by ancient wizard sages. They were simplified forms of "truth runes" that resonated deeply with the energy system of the Wizard World.
By successfully inscribing these patterns within one's mental sea, one could guide wandering energy particles from the outside world into the mental sea, nourishing mental power and constructing one's own "mental circuit." This was the gateway to the wizarding system.
The first meditation pattern in the Basic Meditation Technique consisted of five primary components, which, when combined, roughly formed an abstract triangular pyramid shape.
The book advised beginners to first practice inscribing each of the five components individually until they were proficient, before attempting to combine them.
Jieming closed his eyes, placed the book under his head as a pillow, and emptied his mind of external sensations.
For ordinary newcomers attempting to enter a meditative state, the first few attempts required using the book as a pillow for assistance. The Basic Meditation Technique wasn't just thick due to its comprehensive content; it also contained numerous auxiliary magic arrays inscribed within its pages, designed to help novices quickly immerse themselves in their mental seas.
Jieming certainly didn't need assistance, but he went through the motions just in case.
He skillfully sank his consciousness into his mental sea, where he could sense his exceptionally refined mental power, honed through years of cultivation.
Following the guidance of the meditation technique, he attempted to "draw" the initial outline of the first primary pattern using his mental power.
It was a peculiar sensation. His mental power felt like tendrils, carefully tracing lines within the mental sea.
To his surprise, the process went remarkably smoothly.
Perhaps due to his years of immortal cultivation, Jieming's control over his mental power had reached an inconceivable level. Using mental power to draw patterns felt as natural to him as writing with a pen on paper was to ordinary people.
The lines etched by his mental power were smooth, stable, and precise. The pattern rapidly took shape within his mental sea, needing only the final stroke to be perfectly complete.
However, just as the final stroke was about to fall, and the first primary pattern was on the verge of completion, Jieming suddenly felt a flicker of insight.
"Wait!"
He abruptly stopped the stroke, then deliberately skewed it just before it landed.
Boom!
The nearly perfect pattern was shattered at the brink of completion. The mental power that had been converging during the construction process lost its guidance and instantly spiraled out of control.
An invisible mental shockwave erupted from within his mental sea, violently shaking his entire consciousness.
Jieming groaned, feeling dizzy and disoriented as if a giant hand had violently stirred his mental sea.
Despite the pain, he immediately steadied his mind and swiftly assessed the impact of this "failure."
The sensation of being struck by his own mental power... though unpleasant, was merely a mild tremor for him, causing no real damage.
That was close. I almost forgot about the gap in control, Jieming thought, a wave of lingering fear washing over him.
After years of cultivation, Jieming's cultivation level might not be high, but his control over mental power far surpassed that of novice apprentices who hadn't even grasped the basics.
His actual carving skill and mental power mastery were far beyond what a sixth-tier talented apprentice who had just begun practicing meditation techniques should possess.
Conversely, unless one possessed extraordinary innate talent, a normal apprentice shouldn't be able to carve the truth rune so easily.
Therefore, he had to feign ignorance.
He had to pretend to be a beginner, struggling with difficulties, experiencing failures, and needing time to fumble his way through.
"It's not just the difference in control. When the truth rune carving fails, it actually releases all the stored mental power, causing a mental shock to the mental sea... This means I also need to pay attention to my tolerance and recovery abilities."
Jieming's current mental power and related attributes were equivalent to an eighth-tier talented apprentice who hadn't yet begun cultivation. This meant his sensations would match those of such apprentices.
But... what about apprentices with even lower innate talent?
He was currently pretending to be a sixth-tier talented apprentice, so in addition to controlling his mental power, he also needed to carefully manage his reactions to the mental shock.
Fortunately, during the earlier tests, he had deliberately observed the mental power levels corresponding to each tier of innate talent.
Jieming quickly began calculating.
The mental backlash from failure was fixed in intensity. While it posed no significant threat to him, for apprentices with weak mental seas due to low innate talent, such a backlash would undoubtedly be painful, even dangerous.
According to Jieming's calculations, apprentices with innate talent below the fifth tier would experience considerable turbulence in their mental seas after such a mental shock, requiring a prolonged recovery period before attempting meditation again.
Conservatively estimating, even if they practiced day and night without rest, they could attempt meditation only six to eight times per day at most, with each failure bringing fresh torment.
For himself, outwardly displaying sixth-tier talent, the recent backlash, though uncomfortable, would allow his mental sea to recover within about an hour, ready for another attempt.
As for those eighth-tier and ninth-tier geniuses... their mental power and soul foundations were undoubtedly far stronger, granting them greater resistance to backlash.
Unless they suffered consecutive failures, one or two backlashes might feel like nothing more than a tickle.
Innate talent isn't just about cultivation speed and potential; it's also about the cost of trial and error and the margin for error!
Apprentices with high innate talent can withstand more failures and make more attempts, naturally allowing them to master the basics and advance more quickly.
"The advantages of innate talent are still quite evident in the early stages... It seems that mastering the basics within ten days won't be easy for apprentices with lower talent."
(End of the Chapter)
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🔓 𝐰𝐰𝐰.𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦 — 13 Series (7 Ongoing) | 14+ New Chapters Daily | 6,100+ FREE