Chapter 335

"Although I really feel this is not a good choice, since this is your decision, then proceed according to your own ideas."

Master Naxi looked at Gao De and said seriously: "If you have other thoughts during this process, don't push yourself; knowing when to retreat is not a shameful thing."

"Master Leomund was powerful, but he was also special; his path is not suitable for others."

"I understand," Gao De replied. "Thank you, Master Naxi."

"Is this Master Leomund very famous?" Afterwards, he suddenly realized the hidden meaning in Master Naxi's words and asked in surprise.

According to his understanding, these mages who could create mana pathway networks and name them after themselves should all be big figures.

But listening to Master Naxi's tone, it seemed this Leomund was the most special.

"You don't know Master Leomund?" Compared to Gao De's surprise, Master Naxi was even more surprised.

Gao De nodded.

Master Naxi was silent for a moment. "After all, you were not born in this dynasty and have not learned about this dynasty's mage culture..."

He took a deep breath and then said slowly: "Master Leomund was the most powerful mage in the history of the Jin Jin Quehua Dynasty, and even in the history of the entire Nolan Continent. He was once infinitely close to the legendary 9th-circle mage level, and he is also the only person to date to have touched this level."

"It's just that, in that era, Master Leomund, who was at his peak, left the Jin Jin Quehua Dynasty for some mysterious mission, and never returned after that..."

After briefly covering a few points about Master Leomund, Master Naxi skipped the topic and said to Gao De: "You go back to the Collingwood Academy and wait for me first. I'm going to register you. Building any mana pathway network requires registration and reporting so that the higher-ups can review it."

Gao De agreed, naturally having no objections.

Captain Merik's office.

Master Naxi walked straight in and handed over a filled-out form: "He has already chosen his mana pathway network."

Captain Merik took the form nonchalantly and then asked: "What did he choose? Is it the 【Agana mana pathway network】?"

"No."

"Oh? Then what is it?"

"See for yourself."

Upon hearing this, Captain Merik lowered his head, but soon jerked it back up, asking in an astonished tone: "He chose this himself?"

"He chose it himself. I also reminded him of the flaws of the 【Leomund mana pathway network】, but he insisted on choosing this one," Master Naxi said in a deep voice.

"How could he choose this? It wouldn't be because of Master Leomund's reputation, would it?"

"In the past, there were many mages who, aiming for Master Leomund's name, mindlessly rushed for the 【Leomund mana pathway network】, wasting a lot of time and energy for nothing. Because of this, the high-level mages at the time had someone put the 【Leomund mana pathway network】 away."

"It's not that," Master Naxi shook his head slightly and confirmed: "Before choosing the 【Leomund mana pathway network】, he hadn't even heard the name of Master Leomund."

"So, Gao De definitely didn't make the choice for that reputation."

"Ah?! Since he doesn't know Master Leomund, why did he choose the Leomund mana pathway network?"

"The requirement he put forward was that he wanted a comprehensive mana pathway network that could accommodate various types of spells. In terms of comprehensiveness, what mana pathway network can compare to the 【Leomund mana pathway network】?"

"After all, Master Leomund is the only universally recognized all-around mage in the mage community."

"Alright, I'll leave the form with you. I'm going back to the Collingwood Academy; Gao De is still waiting for me." Master Naxi turned around and left the office directly.

Collingwood Academy.

Gao De was flipping through the construction process of the 【Leomund mana pathway network】. Actually, it wasn't complicated; the main issue was that the workload was too large.

On the premise of being able to take at most twenty bottles of Meridian-Opening Tincture a month, the time required to build the Leomund mana pathway network, which is constructed from 365 mana pathways, would be counted in years.

After realizing this, Gao De felt even more relaxed and at ease.

Because he was a natural "drug-popping holy body"; the amount of Meridian-Opening Tincture he could take in a month was definitely more than twenty bottles, and as his body adapted, this number would continue to increase day by day.

While Gao De was pondering, Master Naxi had already returned.

He was carrying a heavy cloth bag in his hand.

"Inside here are one hundred bottles of Meridian-Opening Tincture, which is logically the quota for May. I mentioned your special situation of having a relatively strong tolerance to the higher-ups, and they were very generous and doubled your quota of Meridian-Opening Tincture; it should be enough for you to use."

"However, the negative effects of the Meridian-Opening Tincture always exist. Don't rely on your good body to drink the magic potion in excess. It's possible that you're fine now and it hasn't manifested, but problems will arise later."

However, before handing these one hundred bottles of Meridian-Opening Tincture to Gao De, Master Naxi still gave a few words of caution.

Gao De naturally agreed repeatedly, but he knew that with 【Adaptation】, even a doubled quota of Meridian-Opening Tincture would sooner or later be insufficient for him.

As for the problem of his body not being able to withstand it, that was even more non-existent.

"First take the Meridian-Opening Tincture, then wait for the medicinal effect to take hold."

Gao De nodded, took out a bottle of Meridian-Opening Tincture, pulled out the stopper, sniffed the pungent and unique scent, and drank it in one gulp.

"Building mana pathways is actually not complicated. The essence is that after sensing the dense and tiny mana pathways in the body, you sort out and select your targets from them, and then use the breathing technique to expand them."

"Subsequently, you then circulate mana into these mana pathways to stimulate their growth and hardening, until they transform..."

"You try it yourself according to the principles first. With your talent, there shouldn't be any major problems."

Master Naxi gave Gao De a few more points of attention, and seeing that the time was about right, he let Gao De start the next step of the Boundless Breathing Technique practice.

Gao De did not hesitate and immediately started circulating the Boundless Breathing Technique.

Soon, under the stimulation of the Meridian-Opening Tincture, he entered the familiar breathing rhythm, feeling the dense mana pathways everywhere in his body, like a mysterious network hidden deep within.

Just now, he had initially memorized the main mana pathways required to build the 【Leomund mana pathway network】.

At this moment, according to the requirements, he quickly found a suitable target pathway among these dense mana pathways and began to attempt construction.

Following his breathing rhythm, this selected mana pathway opened and closed rhythmically, just like a blood vessel.

Gao De was fully focused, carefully controlling his mana to coordinate with his breathing rhythm.

The moment the mana pathway opened, he precisely diverted the liquid mana, letting it enter this dense mana pathway.

As soon as the liquid mana entered, Gao De clearly felt a strong stinging sensation coming from the mana pathway.

This mana pathway was too tiny, and the liquid mana was too massive for it.

When it was opened through the breathing technique, he could barely squeeze the liquid mana in, but now that it contracted, it produced intense pressure, bringing a strong stinging pain.

Gao De could perceive that as the mana pathway and mana squeezed and rubbed against each other, this tiny mana pathway itself began to show some damage.

But it was also at this time that the medicinal power of the Meridian-Opening Tincture played its role again; a scorching hot current instantly wrapped around the damaged part of the mana pathway, starting to repair these damages.

Repair, destroy, repair, destroy; repeating like this, every repair and destruction would make that part of the mana pathway a bit tougher.

This was somewhat like the process of muscle tearing and restructuring, then becoming stronger and stronger.

Gao De was completely focused on the Boundless Breathing Technique, earnestly building this first main mana pathway.

Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.

Gao De only had a high tolerance for pain, which did not mean he was immune to it, so he would still have physiological reactions to pain.

And whenever the medicinal power of the Meridian-Opening Tincture dissipated, he would open another bottle and continue.

Master Naxi just watched silently from the side.

He knew the pain brought by the Meridian-Opening Tincture and its stimulation to the body, and even more so, he understood the torture of the "meridian-opening" process.

So, watching Gao De drink several bottles of Meridian-Opening Tincture in succession without changing his expression, he secretly admired him in his heart.

And when Gao De was about to open the fifth bottle of Meridian-Opening Tincture, Naxi finally spoke to stop him: "That's enough. Let's stop today's breathing technique practice here."

Gao De's hand opening the bottle stopper paused, and he obediently put down the Meridian-Opening Tincture in his hand, looking at Master Naxi.

"From now on, you can practice the Boundless Breathing Technique on your own when you have time. If you encounter problems, you can come find me. It won't be arranged as a special training session."

"Next, I will mainly be responsible for guiding you in combat mage training," Master Naxi explained his meaning.

"Understood." Gao De's eyes flashed with anticipation.

"The first stage is visual reaction training, which is also a training that every combat mage must persist in for a long time." Master Naxi said, leading Gao De to an alchemical machine.

"This is the Star-Glow Instrument, an alchemical machine specially used for visual reaction training."

"You noticed the training method yesterday: activate the Star-Glow Instrument, let it release star-glow at different speeds and angles, and then your task is to stare closely at the movement trajectory of the star-glow."

"At first, its firing speed and movement speed will be relatively slow, and you should be able to keep up easily, but as time passes, it will get faster and faster. Once it leaves your sight, the star-glow will disappear."

"The focus of this training is to exercise your eyes' ability to accurately track targets and improve your visual capture ability for long-range attack objects, especially long-range spells with spell trajectories."

Master Naxi paused slightly and continued: "In mage combat, the stronger your visual capture ability, the more you can gain the upper hand in ever-changing battles."

"Moreover, there are many scenarios in mage combat, some of which are even sneak attacks where silent battles suddenly occur."

"If your visual capture ability is strong enough, you can discover its appearance at the first moment, see its flight trajectory clearly, and react quickly, whether by casting defensive spells or dodging."

"Never underestimate this visual reaction training; in many cases, it will become the key to your survival in battle."

"I will take it seriously," Gao De promised with a nod.

"Then let's begin." Master Naxi was quite satisfied with Gao De's humility and politeness.

He activated the Star-Glow Instrument.

A small ball of light shot out instantly.

Gao De's gaze immediately locked onto this ball of light, following it as it circled the field once before the star-glow disappeared.

The next moment, a new ball of light shot out from the Star-Glow Instrument at a faster speed. It wasn't until the tenth ball of light that Gao De lost its trail.

"When you can reach the thirtieth ball of light, you will enter the next stage of training." Master Naxi watched for a long time from the side, and after confirming that Gao De was already familiar with the training, he set a target for Gao De and left.

For the time that followed, besides his cultivation practice, spell model construction, and rune manufacturing technology practice, Gao De devoted all his remaining thoughts to the 【Leomund mana pathway network】 and visual reaction training.

The number of bottles of Meridian-Opening Tincture he drank every day also gradually increased.

Building one main mana pathway initially took nearly a day and a half, but after ten days, it had already been shortened to within one day:

【Your immunity to toxins has increased by 35.2%, and your body organs' ability to digest, metabolize, and excrete various toxins has increased by 41.4%】.

Gao De's 【Adaptation】, under the intense stimulation of the Meridian-Opening Tincture's medicinal toxins, had seen a huge improvement in just ten days.

It was just that at this stage, the improvement had gradually entered a bottleneck period, and progress had become slow.

Out of 365 mana pathways, he had already built 7.

In addition, he had also mastered three new 1st-circle spells.

【Grease+】 (Conjuration, 1st Circle):

Specify a point within casting range (40 meters); slippery grease covers a 10-foot square area centered on that point. During the spell's duration (one minute), the area becomes difficult terrain and becomes easy to slip on.

Extra: The grease in the area will stain objects entering the area and last for one hour.

【Longstrider+】 (Transmutation, 1st Circle):

Touch a creature or cast it on yourself, causing the target's movement speed to increase by 10 feet (3 meters)/second for the spell's duration (one hour).

Extra: During the spell's duration, the path the target treads will also leave a layer of mana shimmer traces that only the caster can see.

【Jump+】 (Transmutation, 1st Circle):

Touch a creature or cast it on yourself, causing the creature's jump distance to increase to three times for the spell's duration (one minute).

Extra: During the spell's duration, the creature's jump height will also increase to 1.5 times.

As for the visual reaction training, he finally persisted past the threshold of the thirtieth ball of light.

But the visual reaction training did not end there.

On the basis of "target tracking practice," Master Naxi added three more Star-Glow Instruments for Gao De, placing them on both sides and behind his body.

When Gao De was performing visual tracking training from the front, he also had to use his peripheral vision to pay attention to whether the other three Star-Glow Instruments were firing star-glow.

This was called "peripheral perception training," which was also part of visual reaction training.

It aimed to broaden the mage's peripheral field of vision, enabling the mage to better perceive dangers and threats from all directions.

(End of chapter)