Chapter 135 Success and Changes

The spiritual energy within the spiritual space appeared much thinner. After considerable expenditure, Shaoke finally gathered enough spiritual energy to condense into threads and outline the magic array.

The high-tier third rank promotion array was not as simple as ordinary promotion arrays; its lines were at least several times more complex. In the end, he still chose to outline the promotion array for tempering within the space, rather than the array for increasing spiritual energy and mana used by most mages.

After two failures, and relying on continuous simulation practice and the experience provided by Mage Roman, he finally succeeded in outlining the arrays in both the spiritual space and the meditation space. Maintaining the operation of these two arrays consumed a large amount of spiritual energy and mana. After a brief observation, he began to focus on connecting the different arrays within the two spaces.

The oral incantations, complex hand seals, and the special fluctuations different from the second rank promotion, all proceeded quickly and meticulously as he devoted himself wholeheartedly.

As the incantations, hand seals, and fluctuations progressed, the two three-pointed star magic arrays began to operate even faster, with spiritual energy and mana being consumed frantically. After a period, as the incantations and hand seals concluded, the two arrays, gradually turning into vortices, suddenly absorbed all the spiritual energy and mana within the two spaces. This was different from the second rank promotion.

Fortunately, Mage Roman had informed him of this situation, which was one of the distinctions between high-tier promotion arrays and ordinary ones. It was said that this could, to some extent, enhance the power of the array after it truly formed. However, the specific effects were not recorded in any books, and no mage had ever succeeded in dispersing a high-tier array after promotion and then condensing a low-tier one.

After absorbing all the spiritual energy and mana within their respective spaces, the two arrays, now in vortex form, simultaneously contracted rapidly, shrinking at their original positions until they disappeared completely.

Seeing this change, Shaoke finally felt truly at ease. He knew that the promotion could now be considered successful, and what followed was beyond his control.

After a short wait, the two depleted spaces began to recover autonomously. When scattered points of light representing spiritual energy and mana appeared in their respective spaces, crystalline three-pointed star magic arrays emerged at the positions where the arrays had vanished.

Under Shaoke’s tense gaze, these arrays finally began to slowly rotate, absorbing the newly recovered spiritual energy and mana. With each bit absorbed, the crystalline three-pointed star magic arrays grew slightly brighter and larger.

Success. Seeing this, Shaoke excitedly observed and felt the fluctuations emitted by the two array crystals as they first appeared. These fluctuations were exactly what Mage Roman had told him about; otherwise, after such a massive expenditure, he would not have focused on sensing them. During his second rank promotion, Shaoke had inadvertently missed the opportunity to feel these fluctuations, which had hindered his practice of second-level spells to some extent.

When the faint, almost imperceptible fluctuations disappeared, Shaoke smiled with satisfaction. He felt a new understanding in his manipulation of spiritual energy and mana, and he also knew that these fluctuations were connected to some extent with all third-level spell fluctuations. This would allow him to speed up his learning and practice of third-level spells in the future.

After sensing the two crystalline three-pointed star magic arrays once more, Shaoke hurriedly withdrew from the meditation space, as his heavily depleted energy could no longer support further observation.

Immediately, he took the medicine issued by the military to maintain his physique, then consumed other medicines to begin meditating and recovering. He did not hesitate to use several precious drops of empty stone liquid, even though he knew the effect would not be significant, it could still enhance the recovery somewhat. Why wouldn’t he do this under such circumstances? Fortunately, the third rank medicines provided by the Blizzard Legion could be used together with empty stone liquid; otherwise, Shaoke’s recovery would have been much slower.

Although the promotion was truly successful, there were still some follow-up tasks, different from the second rank promotion, that he needed to handle. That was to continuously use spiritual energy and mana to strengthen the connection between the two three-pointed star magic arrays, which was also one of the main differences between a third tier mage and a second tier mage.

Following Mage Roman's advice, after recovering a certain amount, Shaoke re-entered the meditation space. He began to gather a small amount of spiritual energy, condensing it into fine threads, then, using a special meditation method, allowed these threads to appear in the mana space and penetrate the purple three-pointed star magic array. After the spiritual energy threads completely disappeared, he did the same in the mana space, allowing the condensed mana threads to reach and penetrate the silver three-pointed star magic array in the spiritual space.

After one cycle, his newly recovered energy was almost depleted again, and his spiritual energy and mana were also exhausted due to the frantic absorption by the two arrays.

After completing this, he finally felt truly relieved, because according to Mage Roman's experience, connecting these two arrays in the shortest possible time would greatly assist in future spellcasting. Of course, if one waited until the two three-pointed star magic arrays had fully matured before attempting such a connection, although it could still strengthen the relationship between them, the effect would not be as good as doing it now.

From now on, as long as Shaoke continued to use the same method to strengthen the mutual connection between the two three-pointed stars, over time and with repeated efforts, his consumption when casting spells would gradually decrease. It was said that after reaching a certain level, casting a second-level spell would only consume as much as an ordinary second tier mage casting a first-level spell. This effect would also apply to third-level spells. Of course, none of this was recorded in any books.

Once again immersed in deep meditation, Shaoke still used the advanced meditation method previously gifted by the military. As for the meditation methods for third tier mages, he would need to prove his identity at the military headquarters to receive them for free.

Recovered spiritual energy and mana were quickly absorbed by the three-pointed star magic arrays. Over time, and with the emergence of more refined spiritual energy and mana after extensive tempering, the growth of the two three-pointed stars began to accelerate. However, it would still take some time for them to completely stop growing.

When the spiritual energy and mana in the meditation space were sufficient to support the arrays’ growth for a period, Shaoke stopped meditating. What he needed to do now was to record his insights from this promotion into his ‘spellbook’ and ‘spell record’.

His spiritually tempered perception easily detected a guest outside the door. Puzzled, Shaoke invited the guest in and discovered it was his companion. “Mage Roland? Is something the matter?”

“You succeeded?” Seeing the dual-colored three-pointed star magic arrays occasionally flickering in Shaoke’s eyes, a visibly anxious Mage Roland exclaimed in surprise, then performed a mage etiquette toward Shaoke. “Respected Mage Xueye…”

“If you still consider me your companion, please don’t do this.” Shaoke quickly stopped him. He did not want a gap to form between him and his former companion due to his increased strength and status, even though he knew it was inevitable.

Mage Roland smiled awkwardly and, under Shaoke’s inquiry, explained the reason for his visit. “Just this afternoon, a mage attempting to advance to the third rank failed.” Under Shaoke’s puzzled gaze, he repeated with certainty, “Yes, that mage, like you, received generous rewards, but he failed. I was a bit worried, so I came to check on you.” After speaking, he slightly turned his head away, avoiding Shaoke’s eyes, which he still could not fully control.

Shaoke silently pondered for a moment, then thanked Mage Roland again for his concern. He now realized that it was already late; it seemed the other had waited outside his door for a long time, refraining from disturbing him.

After chatting briefly, Mage Roland tactfully took his leave. He knew that the other had just successfully promoted and still had many things to attend to. He did not want to cause displeasure by overstaying his welcome, especially since the other was now a third tier mage, no longer a second tier mage.

After hastily eating some food, Shaoke began to meticulously record his insights from the promotion. However, the records in the ‘spellbook’ were more detailed, while those in the ‘spell record’ were relatively simpler.

After completing this, Shaoke resumed meditation. He needed to quickly familiarize himself with all the changes after the promotion. Of course, he did not conduct any spellcasting experiments here.

Meditating repeatedly, after recovering the extra consumption absorbed by the arrays, he continued to connect the three-pointed star magic arrays in the two spaces to strengthen their relationship, thereby fundamentally reducing his spellcasting consumption.

After several consecutive connections, the meditation space finally began to show signs of turbulence. Seeing this, Shaoke hurriedly stopped. He had not expected that such side effects would arise after just these few cross-space connections.

Sighing, he once again missed the vanished silver light. He believed that if those silver lights still existed, these minor spatial turbulences would not affect him at all.

Abandoning the connection between the two three-pointed star magic arrays, Shaoke began to follow the female mage’s guidance, focusing his energy on meditation. He then manipulated large amounts of spiritual energy and mana to actively integrate into the spatial walls, thereby increasing their sturdiness.

The tedious, repetitive work was only temporarily halted by Shaoke when dinner arrived the next day. After hastily eating dinner, Shaoke decided, according to the agreement with the female mage from the previous day, to go to the tavern and share the good news with her.

After hesitating for a moment, Shaoke finally pulled up the hood of his cloak and lowered the brim as much as possible to avoid drawing attention with the dual-colored three-pointed star magic arrays occasionally flickering in his eyes. After doing this, he found Mage Roland, who was still in his room. Under the other’s excitement and gratitude, they slowly made their way to the tavern, with Shaoke sharing his insights and experiences from the promotion along the way.

Of course, Shaoke gave Mage Roland a promise that greatly surprised him: he would definitely copy his promotion experiences and insights and give them to him in the shortest possible time. His purpose in doing this was to repay Mage Roland for his care and help, even though the two could not be compared.