Chapter 192

As soon as he left the committee, Gao De headed straight for the academy library.

The academy library is not open all day; the opening hours are only from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

Especially the old mage guarding the second floor; he was already of a great age, so it was good enough that he didn't arrive late or leave early; "working overtime" was impossible.

Ascending to the second floor of the library, he met the old mage for the fourth time.

As soon as he saw Gao De enter, the old mage put down the teacup in his hand and asked curiously, "What is it this time?"

It couldn't be that he was here to buy spell formulas again.

Gao De smiled shyly, "I successfully advanced to a first-circle mage today, so I've come to take a look at the cultivation methods for formal mages."

Apprentice guidance methods and apprentice meditation techniques are only applicable to the mage apprentice stage; once one becomes a formal mage, one must change their cultivation method.

The old mage looked at Gao De in surprise, "I didn't expect you kid to have such good talent."

"It's okay, it's okay," Gao De was too embarrassed to deny it directly; that would be too "bitchy."

"Take a look for yourself first."

The old mage casually pulled one out from the stack of books on the table and threw it to Gao De.

Then he leisurely picked up the teacup again and tasted it in small sips: "All the introductions related to the cultivation methods recorded by the academy are in there, including specific ranks, effects, as well as cultivation conditions and the credits required for exchange."

"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me directly; I should be able to answer most questions for you."

Gao De hurriedly took the book and opened it to check.

Cultivation methods also have ranks, but they are not as detailed as what he saw in novels in his previous life, where they were divided into four major ranks of "Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow," and each major rank was divided into four minor ranks of low, medium, high, and top quality.

The cultivation methods here, just like spells, are only divided into two ranks: "Ordinary Cultivation Method" and "Rare Cultivation Method."

Gao De opened the book.

The ones recorded at the very front were all ordinary cultivation methods.

【Primal Secret Art】 (Ordinary Cultivation Method): Practicing this art can improve the mage's performance in spells in the directions of beast taming, movement, intimidation, and nature; in addition, depending on one's mage rank, one can gradually acquire abilities such as "Danger Perception," "Extra Spellcasting," "Rapid Movement," "Wild Intuition," "Mental Toughness," etc.;

Practicing this art requires consuming beast blood, and the credits required for exchange are 25.

【Sound Weaving Secret Art】 (Ordinary Cultivation Method): Practicing this art can improve the mage's performance in spells in the directions of sound, hypnosis, and charm; in addition, depending on one's mage rank, one can gradually acquire abilities such as "Rapid Recovery," "Combat Motivation," "Broad Learning," etc.;

Practicing this art requires the mage to have sufficient understanding of musical temperament. Credits required for exchange: 25. 【Elemental Spirit Contract】 (Ordinary Cultivation Method): Improve performance in elemental spells. Credits required for exchange: 25. 【New Moon Meditation】 (Ordinary Cultivation Method): Improve spell performance and cultivation speed in dark and nighttime environments. Credits required for exchange: 25. 【Life Breathing】 (Ordinary Cultivation Method): Significantly improve the mage's magic power. Credits required for exchange: 25. After casually flipping through the introductions of a few cultivation methods, a bunch of questions had already emerged in Gao De's mind.

This is the sorrow of being from a commoner background; many things are only discovered to be misunderstood when they are encountered.

"When I was an apprentice, I needed to practice the guidance method and meditation technique separately. Why is there only one single cultivation method left after becoming a first-circle mage?"

This was his first question.

"Because after becoming a formal mage, the meditation technique can no longer improve mental power."

Gao De's question was a very common one, and the old mage explained unhurriedly: "It's like training soldiers in the army. Initially, you can improve strength through some basic training, but once strength reaches a certain level, those basic trainings will no longer have any effect."

"Starting from a first-circle mage, most of our mental power improvement comes from the soul sublimation brought about by mage rank breakthroughs, as well as some special specialties or the incidental abilities of cultivation methods."

"Therefore, formal mages no longer distinguish between meditation techniques and guidance methods; there is only one cultivation method."

So that's how it is. Gao De suddenly realized.

"Is there no distinction between strong and weak among ordinary cultivation methods?"

"Also, are rare cultivation methods necessarily stronger than ordinary cultivation methods?" Gao De asked again.

These two questions were still the ones most frequently asked by commoner mages who were coming into contact with cultivation methods for the first time, and the old mage was not surprised at all.

"First is the first question. Ordinary cultivation methods themselves do not have obvious distinctions of strong or weak, but for individual mages, there are differences."

"Different cultivation methods are essentially moving toward different directions of development."

"For example, a mage who has awakened a beast-taming specialty, practicing the 【Primal Secret Art】, with the combination of strengths, is certainly stronger than practicing the 【Sound Weaving Secret Art】."

"For him, the 【Primal Secret Art】 is stronger than the 【Sound Weaving Secret Art】."

"But that's only for him, because if there were another mage who was good at hypnotic spells, then for him, the 【Sound Weaving Secret Art】 would certainly be stronger."

"That's all there is to it. What suits you is the best."

"As for the second question," the old mage thought for a while before giving the answer: "Yes and no."

"How so?" Gao De frowned slightly. In the usual sense, "rare" should certainly be stronger than "ordinary." This "yes and no" made Gao De confused.

"Rare cultivation methods are not necessarily always more powerful than ordinary cultivation methods, but rare cultivation methods must have unique characteristics and abilities, and these abilities are hard to find in ordinary cultivation methods."

"From this perspective, rare cultivation methods are indeed more powerful than ordinary cultivation methods."

"But at the same time, the cultivation conditions required for rare cultivation methods are often relatively harsh."

"If you cannot meet these conditions and insist on choosing a rare cultivation method, it might not even be as powerful as an ordinary cultivation method."

"And ordinary cultivation methods, in most cases, are applicable to any mage and will not have too many thresholds and adaptation requirements."

It's like choosing a major. Finance has a high ceiling, right? But if you don't have a bit of background at home, it's hard to even find a job after graduating in four years; it's better to go to a vocational school to learn a skill. Choosing a cultivation method is the same principle.

Gao De instantly understood the difference between ordinary cultivation methods and rare cultivation methods.

While flipping to the end of the book, preparing to see if there were any rare cultivation methods suitable for him, he asked:

"If I choose a cultivation method now, and in the future, I encounter a more powerful cultivation method that suits me, can I only give up the abilities of the original cultivation method and re-practice the new cultivation method? Or can I only continue to stick to the original cultivation method?"

This was a question Gao De had just thought of.

In novels, what is often seen is that the protagonist always obtains the most powerful cultivation technique at the beginning for various reasons, so they never have to worry about these problems.

And his current situation is that he can only choose from the cultivation methods collected by Sairisi Academy.

Although Sairisi Academy is already the best mage academy in the Duchy of Saint Xi En, Gao De, after learning geography, understands very well that the Duchy of Saint Xi En is actually just a very inconspicuous small duchy on the Nolan Continent.

It is conceivable that Sairisi Academy certainly cannot contain very powerful cultivation techniques. And he considers himself unable to stay in the Duchy of Saint Xi En for his whole life.

When his mage rank is higher in the future and he walks out of the Duchy of Saint Xi En, he will certainly have better opportunities and encounter higher-level cultivation methods. Does that mean he can only give up then? "What are you thinking about?" Unexpectedly, upon hearing this question, the old mage looked at Gao De with a strange gaze as if looking at a "savage."

"The so-called cultivation method, in the final analysis, is equivalent to a special exercise method."

"It's just that the exercise method in the general sense exercises physical fitness, while the cultivation method exercises magic power."

"Then let me ask you, you originally used a relatively simple exercise method to exercise, and later you received guidance from others and learned a more efficient exercise method."

"And you immediately switched to this advanced exercise method. Will the physical fitness you originally practiced through the simple exercise method be wasted because you abandoned the old exercise method?"

"It won't," Gao De said embarrassedly.

The old mage used a very vivid metaphor, allowing Gao De to instantly understand the principle of changing cultivation methods.

"Of course, changing the cultivation method will not cause the magic power you have cultivated to dissipate, but the abilities obtained through the old cultivation method will disappear."

"However, if you are reluctant to part with the abilities of the original cultivation method and are greedy enough, you can choose to practice two cultivation methods at the same time."

"Still using the analogy of exercise methods, one exercise method focuses on improving strength, and one exercise method focuses on improving agility. The abilities improved by these two methods belong to different fields."

"You practice with two exercise methods at the same time, and you can improve strength while improving agility."

"Cultivation methods are also like this."

"Wouldn't that mean the more cultivation methods a person practices at the same time, the more powerful they are?" Gao De asked doubtfully.

"Not so," the old mage said flatly: "Practicing multiple cultivation methods at the same time can indeed allow a mage to obtain different abilities and improve spell performance in multiple directions, and can even combine powerful synergistic effects through different abilities."

"But the drawbacks are also obvious."

"Not to mention the extra resources required for practicing each cultivation method, just talking about cultivation progress..."

"Due to the limitation of mental power, your daily cultivation time is limited, and in order to take into account the cultivation of multiple cultivation methods, it will lead to a significant reduction in the time allocated to each cultivation method."

"This will lead to the mage's cultivation progress in each cultivation method being slower than other mages who only practice one cultivation method."

"And often, the abilities of cultivation methods are stronger the further you go."

"A mage who is distracted by practicing two cultivation methods will indeed have a high probability of having stronger combat power than a mage of the same rank."

"But it is also highly probable that they will not be able to beat a mage who started practicing at the same time but only chose one cultivation method."

"The reason is also very simple. You practice two cultivation methods, and both cultivation methods have reached the late first-circle realm, which is naturally stronger than a late first-circle mage who only practices one cultivation method."

"But I, who started practicing at the same time as you, because I only chose one cultivation method, my cultivation progress is far faster than yours, and I have already advanced to a second-circle mage, and I can easily crush you by relying on my mage rank."

"Moreover, increasing mage rank is a very time-consuming thing."

"Choosing multiple cultivation methods, although you have obtained more abilities, you have also wasted double the time, and it is very likely that you will not be able to ascend rings before your lifespan is exhausted."

"Therefore, first choose a cultivation method that is most suitable for you at the moment. In the future, if you encounter a higher-level cultivation method that is more suitable for you, directly discard the old cultivation method as the nourishment for the new cultivation method and exchange it for the rank of the new cultivation method. This is the conventional route suitable for the vast majority of mages."

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" The old mage was dry-mouthed from talking, and he leisurely picked up the teacup and took a small sip of good tea to moisten his throat.

"I understand," Gao De said with a serious face.

While speaking, he had already flipped to the last few pages of the book, where rare cultivation methods were introduced.

The number was not large, with a total of six rare cultivation methods.

【Golden Dawn Holy Light Art】 (Rare Cultivation Method): Practicing this art can improve the mage's performance in spells in the directions of radiance, healing, fire, persuasion, and intimidation; can improve the mage's resistance to necromancy-related spells; can allow the spells cast by the mage to cause extra damage to evil spirit creatures and undead creatures; can improve the mage's resistance to mental spells such as charm and hypnosis;

In addition, depending on one's mage rank, one can gradually acquire abilities such as "Holy Perception," "Guardian Spirit Light," etc.; practicing this art is limited to males and requires maintaining one's own purity; practicing this art must be carried out under sunlight conditions.

Credits required for exchange: 50.

******* After browsing through the first rare cultivation method that entered his eyes, Gao De discovered the strength of rare cultivation methods compared to ordinary cultivation methods.

—Rare cultivation methods can bring far more amplification to mages than ordinary cultivation methods.

Continue reading:

【Dragon Breath Breathing】 (Rare Cultivation Method): Practicing this art can improve the mage's total magic power and recovery speed...

Practicing this art must possess dragon-born bloodline.

【Shadow Meditation】 (Rare Cultivation Method): 【Star Glow Secret Pattern】 (Rare Cultivation Method): Gao De flipped through several pages and found that he either didn't meet the requirements of these rare cultivation methods or they didn't meet his wishes.

For example, 【Golden Dawn Holy Light Art】, he was indeed still a "pure body," meeting the cultivation conditions, and the abilities it could bring were indeed more powerful than ordinary cultivation methods.

The problem was, what about the future? Who dares to guarantee future things?

Putting a shackle on himself in advance, this was something he didn't dare to do.

Thinking this way, Gao De had already flipped to the last page of the book.

An exceptionally conspicuous name, with a painting style completely different from the previous ones, instantly attracted Gao De's attention.

【Green Wood Longevity Scripture】! What kind of intrusion is this?! This was Gao De's first reaction.

This classical name, which usually only appears in immortal cultivation novels, made him instantly messy.

With curiosity and complaining, Gao De continued to read.

【Green Wood Longevity Scripture】 (Rare Cultivation Method): Practicing this method can improve the mage's performance in spells in the directions of beast taming, healing, nature, perception, and plants; can improve the mage's lifespan; can improve the mage's cultivation speed; can additionally improve the mage's mental power.

In addition, depending on one's mage rank, one can gradually acquire abilities such as "Immortal Body," "Earth Walker," "Natural Recovery," "Language of Nature," "Protection of Nature," etc.

Practicing this method requires choosing a specific plant as a holy object to improve one's lifespan through that plant. Once the holy object dies, the improved lifespan will dissipate completely;

Practicing this method requires absorbing the essence of grass and wood. The more vigorous the essence of grass and wood, and the higher the quality, the faster the mage's cultivation speed.

Credits required for exchange: 25.

(End of chapter)