Chapter 1252: Meditation Crystal, Shaking the Soul

"When the Eaerlann Elves taught us magic back in the day, they brought along a type of Meditation Crystal that could assist beginners in quickly attuning to the Magic Net.

"But that kind of crystal would affect a person's temperament, making them extreme, so we soon abandoned it.

"Of course, if you only use it temporarily, it won't cause any serious consequences. If you have a need for it, I have one right here!

"As for the legendary Enlightenment Ritual, I'm afraid I can't help you with that. Even in the Elf Kingdom, this spell has long been lost."

Iolum's reply provided two methods, one of which was the "Enlightenment Ritual" mentioned by President Zhenna. Of course, Xia Duo knew this most likely referred to the "Master-Apprentice Ritual" used when Elf Mages were admitted to school.

As for the Meditation Crystal, Xia Duo also had an impression of it, but among Elf Mages, it was mostly used as an accessory to aid in calming the mind and sleeping.

Due to natural differences in their races, Elves do not need to sleep like humans, but they do rest, which is called "meditation," "contemplation," or "trance."

It is just that in this state, as long as an Elf has undergone certain training and is familiar with it, they can maintain a clear self-consciousness and perform all activities except for physical movement.

Studying magic or researching poetry and literature are both very common.

The Meditation Crystal is a precious gemstone created by Elf Mages that can emit a special radiation field, allowing Elves within it to rest more fully, similar to what Xia Duo understands as a "sleeping pill."

This was the first time he had heard that a Meditation Crystal—this "Elf sleeping pill"—could make human temperament extreme, but he did not think Iolum was fooling him.

Perhaps it was due to the differences in the physical structures of the two races that they produced different reactions to the Meditation Crystal.

The vast majority of the knowledge in Xia Duo's memory regarding Elves and Elf Magic came from the Projection Plane, especially from the 【Sword of Ruling】 in 【Projection Plane: Cormanthor Birth】.

But the time line of the Projection Plane lagged too far behind the Main Plane; at that time, the Elves had almost no interaction with humans.

Aside from the 【Arcane Empire】, 【Cormanthor Birth】 could be considered the Projection Plane closest to the current Main Plane time line, but it was still at least nearly a thousand years apart.

It was more than a hundred years before the founding of Netheril. Although the knowledge Xia Duo obtained from that time was not necessarily outdated, it certainly did not contain any content related to the current Netherese or Netheril Magic.

Just like the different effects of the Meditation Crystal on Elves and humans, and how a ritualistic spell became a so-called "Enlightenment Ritual" with miraculous effects on the human side.

Xia Duo suddenly felt that perhaps he could use 【True Ancient Elf Advanced Knowledge】 to exchange with the Elven Nations for their current-era understanding and research data on the Netherese and Netheril Magic, which was based on 【Post-Loss Modern Elf Backward Knowledge】.

Of course, doing so carried a suspicion of aiding the enemy, and Xia Duo still needed to seriously consider whether it was worth doing.

……

Communication with the Elves on the current time line of the Main Plane was still a bit distant for Xia Duo; what he most wanted to complete right now was the trial production of the Demon-Slaying Arrow.

Since his teacher could provide help, Xia Duo certainly would not refuse. He went to Iolum's place in person and obtained a Meditation Crystal glowing with a pale yellow light.

After returning to the Laboratory, he did not directly use the Meditation Crystal to adjust his mental state to actively attune to the Magic Net, but instead kept it as a backup option.

The Master-Apprentice Ritual was not a very complex spell; after all, it was only a ritualistic spell, and more emphasis was placed on the Elven cultural significance it represented rather than the spell itself.

In fact, the spell itself had almost no special effect for Elves, at least in the eyes of the high-level Mages who injected knowledge and experience into the 【Sword of Ruling】.

And for Xia Duo, even if he discarded the ritual process of joint casting between master and apprentice and cast the spell alone, its complexity was not even one-tenth of the spellcasting process for manufacturing the Demon-Slaying Arrow.

That is to say, the actual spellcasting time only took about 30 seconds.

For a spell of this duration, the success rate for Xia Duo was nearly one hundred percent. As long as the spellcasting process was correct, there was no need to rely on luck at all. (The Demon-Slaying Arrow required over four minutes.)

……

Recalling all the details of this spell from his memory, Xia Duo practiced a little in the Laboratory and soon cast it successfully.

At the very moment the spell took effect, Xia Duo felt an inexplicable tremor in his soul. This feeling was hard to describe in words, as if he had climbed to a high peak and his heart and mind had suddenly opened up.

It was also like falling into the deep sea, with endless loneliness surging into his heart, or the incomparably warm feeling of being with family.

All these things intertwined, making Xia Duo feel deeply shaken. Even after the spell's effect had completely vanished, he was still ruminating on it in his memory.

When he finally came to his senses, Xia Duo realized he had been dazed for nearly a minute!

Consequently, he immediately entered a state of extreme focus to perceive his soul, and soon, he discovered changes around his soul.

The Mysterious Glow originally excited by the Faith Power striking the surface of his soul now had a larger range!

But this was not because there was more Faith Power; the Faith Power had not changed significantly. It was more like the efficiency of some feedback mechanism had become higher.

For a moment, Xia Duo could not figure out why; he knew far, far too little about the soul.

"Is this thing good or bad?"

Xia Duo felt he had been a bit too reckless, caring too much about the spell's help for the trial production of the Demon-Slaying Arrow. The same spell could have vastly different effects on Elves and humans.

As the saying goes, "One man's meat is another man's poison," one must be cautious.

Of course, this was also because both Zhenna and Iolum had mentioned the "Enlightenment Ritual," causing Xia Duo to subconsciously ignore the risks that might exist within it.

……

Following this, Xia Duo carefully perceived the state of his soul itself, but he did not find any significant changes compared to the last time he perceived it.

However, the glow around the soul, which should be a product generated by some feedback mechanism of the soul acting upon the Faith Power, had changed. Excluding the factor of Faith Power, the soul must have undergone some subtle change.

As far as the present is concerned, such a change is still positive.

But in the long run, that is not necessarily the case.

Of course, if this change were negative, then the Faith Power would also be entirely negative.