Chapter 209

After tidying up the experimental equipment, Luo En walked to the other corner of the laboratory.

There was a special meditation mat there, usually used for daily cultivation.

This meditation mat was woven from a special material capable of isolating external interference while enhancing the concentration of spiritual power.

Sitting cross-legged on the mat, Luo En closed his eyes, released his spiritual power, and carefully felt his spiritual state.

His spiritual sea had expanded several times compared to a few months ago.

The meditation method of "The Star Eater's Babble" began to operate efficiently; even with a short period of meditation, he could feel the growth of his spiritual power.

That growth was not a slow accumulation but a continuous and obvious improvement.

It was like an endless stream, continuously pouring into his spiritual ocean.

Especially since he had mastered the technique of using the "Erosion Movement" to isolate the babble, the efficiency of his meditation had increased by at least several tens of percent.

Those interference sound waves that once troubled him had now become his assistance, just like seizing the enemy's weapon to counterattack.

"Developing at this speed, reaching the critical point of 4.9 within three months should be no problem."

Luo En calculated silently:

"Recently, I'll find a way to stack the charging progress of the 'substitute puppet' to 50%; transferring to a Demon Hunter should also provide a certain increase in spiritual attributes, and the threshold for a formal wizard is already close at hand."

But immediately, he frowned, his expression becoming solemn.

Although progress was smooth, the school's control over the "Key Potion" remained a significant obstacle.

This rare potion, essential for the promotion to a formal wizard, had always been strictly controlled by various schools, becoming an important means of binding geniuses.

As far as he knew, unlike ordinary potions, the formula for the "Key Potion" was the highest secret of various schools.

Even many senior potion masters could not know its full content.

After all, this only path that allowed apprentices to advance to formal wizards belonged to absolute strategic-level supplies and was an important means for major wizard forces to maintain their governance foundation.

And the allocation of "Key" potions was decided once every ten years; now, there were still more than two years until the next assessment.

"Two years... too long." Luo En shook his head, a trace of impatience flashing in his eyes:

"I cannot waste two years of time here, waiting for that potion that might or might not be obtained."

Moreover, although "The Star Eater's Babble" brought astonishing cultivation speed, it also produced extremely high spiritual pollution.

Luo En had already begun to gradually feel the influence of this pollution: occasional auditory hallucinations, short-term cognitive confusion, and even certain strange dreams were all warning signals.

Although he had already begun to use the "Grace" provided by Li Liya to purify this pollution, this method treated the symptoms but not the root cause and could not fundamentally solve the problem.

Li Liya's talent "Diligence Makes Up for Clumsiness" made the "Grace" she produced particularly pure and abundant, which was also one of the reasons why Luo En was willing to teach her patiently.

But even so, this method was only a stopgap measure and could not support long-term high-intensity cultivation.

Luo En checked the status of the Time Guardian pocket watch and found that the energy quota had reached a full state of 50/50. This discovery made him slightly stunned.

"Increased the energy quota again?" He began to carefully check the energy flow of the pocket watch.

Since obtaining the pocket watch, he had been carefully using its energy and had never seen the energy recover to a full state.

"The experience of crossing the bloodline altar space gate might have given the pocket watch some kind of charging."

Luo En pondered, a trace of realization flashing in his eyes: "Space distortion and time flow differences... this seems to be related to the essential characteristics of the pocket watch."

As a semi-independent space, the bloodline altar's internal time flow was different from the outside world; this time difference might have triggered the pocket watch's self-recovery mechanism.

"But even so, it is not enough to support a two-year wait."

Luo En shook his head and carefully put away the pocket watch, "The pocket watch's energy is limited, and the charging path is unknown; there is no guarantee when the quota can be increased again."

After Valun leaves, I will immediately visit Lady Ailan to understand the "method of advancing to a formal wizard without relying on the school's universal 'Key Potion'."

This might be a freer but also more dangerous path; however, for Luo En, risk often meant greater gains.

Regardless of success or failure, he intended to head to the Central Land.

There were broader resources, deeper knowledge, and more opportunities there.

Schools in remote areas like the Black Mist School, while a good starting point for beginners, were ultimately too limited for those truly pursuing the peak.

As for the workshop...

Luo En thought about how to arrange it.

Daier and Ailan naturally had to be kept by his side.

After undergoing their respective exclusive bloodline modulations, they had formed a special connection with him, almost as an extension of his existence, and there was absolutely no need to worry about betrayal.

As an ancient tree fairy, Ailan could not only communicate with plants but also sense surrounding energy fluctuations, making her a natural early warning system.

In addition, her vine defense, which was like a living barrier, could provide extra protection in dangerous moments.

Daier also possessed similar characteristics.

Now advanced to a pure-blooded sea siren with a golden ring, she not only possessed powerful water element control ability, but her siren song ability could also become a turning point at critical moments.

And their non-human special constitutions also made them easier to... well, carry.

Ailan had mentioned before that in extreme situations, she could roll herself into a vine ball half a meter in size and enter a low-energy sleep, which was very convenient to stuff into a space bag.

But Li Liya...

Luo En sighed softly, his brows locked.

This diligent student, despite her outstanding performance, was difficult to follow him to the Central Land.

First, she had a personal binding relationship with the Black Mist School, which needed to be formally dissolved;

Second, the journey to the Central Land was full of unknowns, and he himself might not be able to fully cope, let alone protect an ordinary apprentice.

Moreover, although Li Liya's "Diligence Makes Up for Clumsiness" talent was precious.

But in real combat, the other party's combat power was still limited.

After all, she was a pure human and did not have the non-human traits like Daier and Ailan.

"I'll ask Lady Ailan when I have the chance." Luo En made up his mind:

"With Li Liya's 'Diligence Makes Up for Clumsiness' talent and learning attitude, perhaps in a few years she could become the school's new sequence chief; Lady Ailan doesn't seem to dislike her very much..."

Ending his meditation, he prepared to get up and leave the laboratory.

He walked out of the laboratory quickly and locked the door to ensure that the dangerous materials inside would not leak out.

The night was deep, and the workshop was quiet.

Luo En returned to his room and gradually entered dreamland amidst thousands of thoughts.

However, even in his dreams, those thoughts about future plans still lingered in his mind.

The next morning, Luo En completed his routine meditation and bloodline excitation exercises as usual.

Then he spent another hour practicing the two spells "Flowing Barrier" and "Ring of Radiance."

The Black Mist Jungle in the early morning was still shrouded in faint mist; Luo En arrived at the workshop's training ground early and began his daily spell practice.

This was his unwavering habit; no matter what kind of hardships or surprises he had experienced the day before, he would persist in this, as natural as breathing.

He extended his right hand, palm upward, and a ball of golden light gradually condensed within it.

At first, it was only the size of a match head, then it expanded rapidly, forming a ring of light with a diameter of about thirty centimeters.

Fine energy patterns flowed on the surface of the ring of light, each pattern flickering with a faint yet stable light, like a flowing golden river.

"Ring of Radiance, form transformation—Light Sphere."

Following Luo En's whisper, the ring of light suspended in the air suddenly contracted, instantly condensing into a radiant golden light sphere.

The surface of the sphere was no longer simply smooth but covered with textures like the surface of the sun.

Those textures constantly changed with the flow of energy, as if they were alive.

Beads of sweat seeped from Luo En's forehead, his spiritual power concentrated to the extreme; every form transformation required precise control of magic power.

"Form transformation—Light Spear."

The light sphere stretched and deformed according to his will, rapidly turning into a light spear about one meter long.

The spear tip was extremely sharp, flickering with a chilling light that made one's heart tremble, as if it could pierce through any defense.

Luo En's breathing maintained an even rhythm, but his heartbeat accelerated quietly.

Every transformation consumed spiritual power, but compared to the exhausted state when he was a beginner, he was now much more relaxed.

"Form transformation—Light Whip."

Under his spiritual guidance, the light spear rapidly turned into a flexible light whip about three meters long, dancing flexibly in the air and emitting a faint humming sound.

Luo En controlled the light whip to draw a graceful arc in the air and then lashed out at the wooden stake in front.

"Snap!"

The moment the light whip made contact with the wooden stake, a bright spark splashed out.

A deep burn mark was left on the wooden stake, and the charred wound emitted the scent of burnt wood.

Luo En was expressionless, but a flash of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

Subsequently, he tried various different forms—light shield, light arrow, light net, and even a complete light sword.

Every form transformation was smoother than before, and energy consumption was becoming less and less.

He felt that the bond between himself and the Ring of Radiance spell had become tighter, as tacit as old friends.

This feeling was something beginners could not understand; only when a spell approached the mastery level could one experience this wonderful state of being one with the spell.

"Control of the Ring of Radiance is approaching mastery."

Luo En nodded with satisfaction, feeling the light in his hand change as he wished, the corners of his mouth rising slightly, but soon returning to calm:

"However, I still need to continue to increase the transformation speed; in actual combat, a one-second delay could be fatal."

【Ring of Radiance experience +1】

【Current progress: Ring of Radiance (Proficient 87/100)】

"Next, 'Flowing Barrier'."

Luo En put away the light element and instead summoned a translucent energy barrier.

This barrier was light blue, swimming around his body like flowing water, ready to meet attacks at any time.

"Increase intensity."

He activated the pre-set attack golem.

The golem began to throw various items at him—from small stones to metal darts, and the force and speed were gradually increasing.

The characteristic of "Flowing Barrier" lay in its plasticity and adaptability.

Ordinary shields were often fixed in form, and their effects varied when facing different types of attacks.

While "Flowing Barrier" could automatically adjust its density and form according to the nature of the attack, maximizing the defense effect.

"The memory function is becoming more and more perfect..." Luo En nodded with satisfaction.

This self-adaptability was the core value of "Flowing Barrier."

It could not only adapt to different attack methods but also "remember" attack patterns it had encountered before.

Making faster and more effective reactions when facing similar attacks in the future.

But Luo En's ambition did not stop there.

He began to try to add an active counterattack function to the barrier, allowing it not only to defend passively but also to actively rebound attack energy.

"Energy transformation and feedback," he adjusted the energy structure of the barrier, trying to add an energy reflection layer without destroying its stability.

This was an extremely challenging improvement, requiring delicate energy balance.

If the reflection layer was too strong, it would weaken the basic defense ability of the barrier;

if it was too weak, the counterattack effect would not be obvious.

Finding this balance point was the key to this attempt.

After trying various structures, Luo En finally found a relatively ideal balance—adding an extremely thin "elastic membrane" to the outermost layer of the barrier.

Only when the external force exceeded a certain threshold would the rebound function be activated.

This would neither affect the basic defense ability of the barrier nor give a counterattack when suffering a powerful attack.

【Flowing Barrier experience +1】

Luo En controlled the barrier to resist attacks while thinking about how to further improve this spell.

"If I could increase the energy density while maintaining fluidity, perhaps I could form the effect of 'liquid armor'."

Thinking of this, he tried to change the energy structure of the barrier, making it fit the body contour more closely while increasing the local energy density.

The barrier then became thicker, but the fluidity was weakened.

"The balance point still needs to be adjusted." Luo En frowned and pondered:

"Perhaps I could borrow the 'Life Burst' technique of bloodline knights to establish a resonance circuit between energy and the body; this could also be considered a fusion of spell and bloodline power."

Luo En silently noted this creative idea, preparing to study it in detail later.

【Flowing Barrier experience +1】

【Current progress: Flowing Barrier (Proficient 55/100)】

The training was halfway through, and he felt his spirit was a bit tired, so he took out a small bottle of self-made spiritual stabilizer and took a sip.

The cool feeling immediately spread from his throat to his whole body, and the operation of his spiritual power became smoother.

"Continue, 'Sonic Vibration'."

Luo En took a deep breath, his spiritual power flowing along a specific path, forming subtle vibrations in the air.

Because it was just basic practice, he did not add erosion ability, and adding erosion to sonic vibration actually consumed a lot of his energy.

With the injection of spiritual power, ripples visible to the naked eye began to appear in the air, spreading outward from Luo En's palm.

The ripples carried vibrations of a specific frequency, and wherever they passed, the air was distorted, forming an invisible but extremely destructive shockwave.

"Bang!"

The wooden stake opposite was hit by the sound wave, and spider-web-like cracks immediately appeared on the surface, with tiny wood chips splashing everywhere.

【Sonic Vibration experience +1】

【Current progress: Sonic Vibration (Proficient 92/100)】

Resting for a short while, he remembered the "Abyss Echo" that Oliver and Cynthia could only use when they were in an awakened state.

Abyss Echo could not only damage physical forms but also directly affect the target's spiritual state, bringing fear, confusion, and even temporary cognitive disorder.

"If I could combine the characteristics of 'Erosion Movement' and 'Abyss Echo', the double destruction and erosion effect..."

A flash of excitement appeared in Luo En's eyes; this was a bold assumption.

But if successful, it would make his already highly penetrating erosion sound waves leap forward in destructive power once again.

But reality quickly pulled him back—

"However, this requires deeper research into the abyss and more precise control over the babble..."

He frowned and pondered, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing his chin:

"With my current spiritual power intensity, I'm afraid it's difficult to support such a complex fusion spell, and I don't have any means to reproduce that kind of Abyss Echo right now."

It itself possessed extremely strong erosive and unstable characteristics; without sufficient spiritual power as a buffer and control, attempting to manipulate it would be no different from playing with fire.

Moreover, whether the fusion between Abyss Echo and Starry Sky Babble could exist stably was itself a theoretical problem.

"Perhaps it would be safer to attempt this fusion after becoming a formal wizard and perfecting my own unique spells."

Luo En decided to shelve this idea for the time being, but still kept it in his heart as one of the directions for future efforts:

"Hehe, sound waves that are invisible and intangible but make people bleed black blood and go mad to death; perhaps I could have the title of 'Death Singer' in the future?"

As the sun gradually climbed up, Luo En ended his practice and took a short rest.

Every wisp of magic power in his body was protesting slightly, but this sense of fatigue made him feel inexplicably satisfied; this was proof of progress.

Every breakthrough in spells, every refinement of techniques, was laying a more solid foundation for the future wizard path.

A truly powerful wizard does not lie in how many spells they have learned, but in their deep understanding and creative application of each spell.

Just as recorded in "Apprentice Ladder": "Mastering one spell is better than being familiar with a hundred; a true master only needs three or five spells to deal with ten thousand changes."

Mastery of each spell would form specific "thought circuits" in the caster's spiritual world.

The stronger and more perfect these circuits are, the more powerful the spells will be after becoming a formal wizard, the faster the casting speed, and the higher the energy utilization efficiency.

Apprentices who only care about the quantity of spells but not the quality often find themselves in trouble at critical moments.

When they need to cast spells quickly, disorganized thought circuits will severely slow down the response speed and even lead to spell collapse.

Putting away the spellcasting medium, Luo En checked his spell progress one last time.

"Ring of Radiance" and "Sonic Vibration" were both approaching the mastery level, while "Flowing Barrier" was in the middle of proficiency.

As for his old friend "Slime Splash," it had reached the maximum experience value, but he had hardly used it recently.

His goal was very clear—after all core spells reached the mastery level, he could start attempting to move toward a formal wizard.

Just then, Ailan walked into the training ground lightly.

Her pace was extremely light, almost soundless, but through the special spiritual link, Luo En immediately sensed her presence.

That body that was once curled up like vines now presented a form almost indistinguishable from a human female.

Her tall figure was wrapped in "clothing" cleverly woven from vines and petals, swaying slightly as she walked, fully displaying her graceful posture.

"Master, there is a guest visiting."

The tree spirit's voice was soft and clear, like the light sound of wind blowing through leaves: "It is Miss Trish."

Luo En raised his eyebrows slightly and put down the spellcasting medium he was using for attempts.

Trish's visit was somewhat unexpected, especially so soon after the bloodline altar trial had just ended.

"Invite her to the reception room; I'll be there immediately."

He nodded, simultaneously using magic power to gently brush away the sweat and dust from his body, drawing a period to the long practice.

As a high-level apprentice, this little technique was already his basic ability, and it could also be considered a rehearsal for more refined magic power control after becoming a formal wizard.

Simply tidying up his attire, Luo En put on a robe; this was his standard attire when receiving guests.

The robe was embroidered with some purple patterns, without too much decoration, highlighting the owner's introverted personality.

Walking quickly through the corridor, he arrived at the reception room.

Trish was already sitting there, tasting the herbal tea brought by the vines.

Her gaze followed the direction of the vines, and she was visibly stunned when she saw the tree spirit not far away.

Those brown eyes widened, unable to hide her surprise:

"Th-this is Ailan?"

(End of chapter)