「December 3rd. Night.」
Li Wei sat cross-legged on his bed, cultivating through meditation with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, his perception underwent a complete transformation.
Originally, he could only sense the scattered Fire Elements drifting in the air.
In that instant, the empty world suddenly became a kaleidoscope of colors.
Fire Elements, Wind Elements, Water Elements, Earth Elements, Light Elements, Ice Elements...
The radiance of all sorts of elements emerged.
Only then did Li Wei realize there were so many invisible, free-floating elements in the world!
The radiance of most elements was blurry; he could barely perceive them, let alone absorb them.
Only a few types of Magic Elements—Fire, Light, Thunder, and Ice—were slightly clearer. He could just barely use his Spiritual Power to capture and absorb them, converting them into Mana.
Among them, Fire Elements were the most abundant, followed by Ice Elements. Light and Thunder Elements were sparse.
With several more options, Li Wei's speed of absorbing free-floating Magic Elements increased considerably.
Only when his Spiritual Power was depleted and his meditation ended did he open his eyes.
Two lines of text appeared before his eyes.
[Basic Meditation Method (Small Success)] 8/2000
[Small Fireball Technique (Tier Zero Entry Level)] 508/1000
"Whew!" Li Wei let out a long breath and sighed, "The Basic Meditation Method has finally leveled up."
The benefits of upgrading the Basic Meditation Method were numerous.
First, his cultivation speed had increased, with the Magic Element retention rate rising from twenty percent to forty percent.
Second was multi-elemental perception.
Multi-elemental perception was crucial, as it could greatly mitigate the effects of the external environment.
In winter, the concentration of Ice Elements rose while other elements diminished.
Mages who cultivated Mana by absorbing Ice Elements would see an increase in their cultivation efficiency.
In addition to the elemental tides brought by the seasons, regional elemental concentrations also affected cultivation.
The Snowfield Plateau had an extremely high concentration of Ice Elements and an extremely low concentration of Fire Elements.
If a Mage who could only absorb Fire Elements to recover Mana went to a Snowfield, they would find themselves unable to recover their Mana.
In short, the more types of elements one could perceive and absorb, the better.
Li Wei could understand having a relatively high Elemental Affinity for Light and Thunder Elements.
After all, both were variations of the Fire Element.
'The Ice Element is the complete opposite of the Fire Element, so why is my affinity for it so high?'
Li Wei looked down at the Ice Crystal in his hand. 'Could this be the reason?'
He felt it was highly likely.
'Can Elemental Crystals increase a Mage's Elemental Affinity?'
Recalling how much the many Apprentice Mages in the Mage Tower valued Ice Crystal Stones, he felt his guess was very plausible.
Li Wei recalled how Gu Ze could release three Ice Arrows at once.
A normal Tier Zero Ice Arrow Skill could only release one Ice Arrow at a time.
Gu Ze's Ice Arrow Skill was more powerful; perhaps the reason lay in his Elemental Affinity for ice.
The higher the Elemental Affinity, the more powerful the corresponding Elemental Magic would be when cast.
Thinking of this, Li Wei smiled.
"This isn't bad at all!"
'Looks like I'll have to find a way to collect some Elemental Crystals in the future to expand my range of elemental perception.'
The next morning, Li Wei was in the courtyard drawing water to wash up.
He was suddenly struck by the whim to cast a spell.
He hadn't practiced his Small Fireball Technique for a few days and was getting an itch to try it.
Li Wei focused his mind to construct the Magic Model.
In less than a minute, the Magic Model was complete, a speed so fast it even surprised him.
Before this, his fastest record had been nearly two minutes.
He felt that his Mana was exceptionally docile and obedient today.
'Could this be another benefit from upgrading the Basic Meditation Method?'
The free-floating Fire Elements in the air automatically filled the Magic Model.
Five seconds later, a small fireball appeared in front of Li Wei.
He was shocked once again.
Previously, waiting for the Fire Elements to fill the Magic Model had always taken around ten seconds.
Today, it had taken only half the time.
Li Wei became even more certain that this was a benefit of his upgraded Basic Meditation Method.
'The quality of my Mana has improved, making my casting faster and more stable.'
He raised his hand and shot the small fireball into the air.
WHOOSH!
The fireball flew thirty to forty meters high before exploding with a BANG!
'The range has increased too.'
Li Wei sensed the remaining Mana in his body; he could cast the spell at least five more times.
A happy smile spread across his face.
"This is great!"
For the next few days, Li Wei returned his focus to practicing magic.
He meditated to cultivate Mana in the morning and painstakingly practiced his spells at night.
His cultivation progressed steadily and in an orderly fashion.
「In the blink of an eye, it was the end of December.」
After class, just as Li Wei was about to leave, a boy dressed in noble attire called out to him.
"Li Wei, wait a moment."
Hearing this, Li Wei stopped and turned to look at the boy, a little puzzled.
"What is it?"
Although they were both Apprentices in the same class, they weren't familiar with each other.
Nobles had their own circles, and the noble disciples in the class only associated and spent time with other nobles.
In the past two-plus years, the two of them had barely interacted.
He looked at Li Wei expectantly and said, "My family is holding a banquet tomorrow night. Can you come?"
Li Wei was a bit surprised and hesitant; he didn't particularly like attending noisy gatherings.
Seeing his hesitation, the boy quickly added, "Teacher Gu Ze and the other teachers will be there, and so will the other students."
When Li Wei heard that Teacher Gu Ze would also be going, he paused for a moment before nodding. "Alright, I'll be there."
The boy said, delighted, "That's great!"
Li Wei asked, a bit embarrassed, "By the way, what's your name?"
The boy's joyful expression faltered for a second before he replied, "Little John Bieber."
After saying goodbye to Little John, Li Wei ran into Teacher Gu Ze on his way back to the dormitory.
The two chatted as they walked, and when the topic of the banquet invitation came up, Li Wei finally learned the full story from Teacher Gu Ze.
It turned out that Little John felt his own aptitude was too poor and his cultivation progress too slow, so he had given up on continuing his studies at the Mage Tower and was planning to switch to another Extraordinary Profession.
Gu Ze smiled and said, "Actually, this has a lot to do with you."
Li Wei was puzzled. "What does it have to do with me?"
Gu Ze explained, "Little John decided to give up on learning magic after hearing about your accomplishments."
"His aptitude isn't bad. He has already cultivated Mana, and in another three to five years, he could hope to become an Apprentice Mage. Within ten years, he might even have a chance to become a true Mage."
Hearing this, Li Wei instantly understood why Little John had chosen to give up.
Ten years of cultivation just for a chance to become a Mage.
With any other Extraordinary Profession, ten years of cultivation would have been enough to make a name for oneself.
Yet on the path of a Mage, ten years was just the beginning.
Apprentice Mages in their thirties and forties were not uncommon.
It was too grueling!
Not to mention having a genius like Li Wei right there for comparison, which made those ten years seem even more grueling to Little John.
Comparisons are odious!
Little John's morale shattered, and he gave up.
He changed his path.
「Night.」
WHOOSH!
A small fireball shot toward a rock in an open area.
BANG!
Flames scattered as the rock shattered, sending fragments flying.
Gu Ze laughed. "The power of your Small Fireball Technique already rivals that of an Apprentice Mage. Your rate of progress is simply astounding."
Li Wei smiled humbly. "Teacher Gu Ze's Ice Arrow Skill is still far more impressive."
After a month of practice, his Small Fireball Technique was not far from leveling up.