Alchemist or Cultivator?

Chapter 9

After clearing his mind, Rayn sat at the table and examined everything in the box. He had passed the first hurdle, but that did not mean he could afford to become careless.

“Although I’ve passed the first hurdle, I still can’t relax my vigilance. I can’t ensure there’s no wizard surveillance in the dormitory, so I must act cautiously. At least for now, I shouldn’t openly engage in anything related to cultivation immortality…”

Since cultivation immortality was not an option, he needed another path. Clark had given him only ten days, so his first goal was obvious. He had to master the most basic method of the wizard system, the “Basic Meditation Method.”

There was another reason he could not waste those ten days. He still knew too little about this world, and revealing abilities that did not belong to a normal wizard apprentice would only attract unwanted attention. For now, learning enough to pass the test while keeping his true strength hidden was the safest choice.

Only after kindling the spiritual flame could someone truly step onto the wizard’s path.

Rayn settled onto the bed and opened the thick book containing the meditation method. Its pages appeared to be made from metal. The writing was concise, but every word seemed to carry a strange energy.

After reading through the instructions, Rayn understood that the method centered on two things: “visualization” and “depiction.” A cultivator first had to clear the mind and draw their spiritual power inward. Then, within the sea of spirit, they had to use that power to “sketch” and “construct” a specific geometric pattern.

These patterns were not random designs. According to the book, they were the product of countless years of research by wizard sages. Each was a simplified form of a “Truth Rune,” designed to match the energy system of the Wizard World.

Once a pattern was successfully formed inside the sea of spirit, it could draw wandering energy particles from the outside world into it. Those particles would nourish the spiritual power and gradually form the cultivator’s own “spiritual circuits.” That was the true beginning of the wizard system.

The first meditation pattern for beginners had five main components. When placed together, they formed something resembling an abstract trihedral shape. The book recommended that beginners practice each part separately before trying to combine them.

Rayn closed his eyes and placed the book beneath his head as a pillow. Then he shut out his external senses.

For ordinary newcomers, using the book this way was helpful during the first few attempts. The book was unusually thick not only because it contained a great deal of information, but also because it held numerous arrays designed to help beginners enter the sea of spirit more easily.

Rayn did not need any of that.

He only kept up the appearance of needing assistance. It was better for him to look like an ordinary beginner than to reveal how familiar he already was with spiritual cultivation. Even a small difference in performance could become suspicious if someone paid close attention. He had no intention of giving anyone a reason to question him before he understood the rules of this place.

His consciousness soon descended into his sea of spirit. His spiritual power was already remarkably concentrated because of his previous cultivation experience.

Following the method, he guided that power toward the first main pattern and began to “sketch” its outline.

The sensation was strange but manageable. His spiritual power moved like a thin extension of his consciousness, drawing one line after another through the sea of spirit.

To his surprise, the process was almost effortless.

Years of cultivation had given Rayn an extraordinary level of control over his spiritual power. For him, forming the pattern was as natural as writing with a pen. The lines were smooth, stable, and accurate. In a short time, the first pattern was almost complete.

Only one final stroke remained.

Rayn was about to finish it when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

“Wait!”

He stopped before completing the final line and purposely altered its direction at the last moment.

Boom!

The nearly perfect pattern collapsed. The spiritual power gathered within it instantly lost its guidance and surged out of control.

An invisible psychic shock erupted inside his sea of spirit and struck his consciousness.

Rayn groaned as dizziness swept through him. It felt as though his entire sea of spirit had been stirred violently from within.

The pain was unpleasant, but he quickly regained control and examined the result of his “failure.”

The backlash from his own spiritual power was not serious. For someone at his level, it amounted to little more than a brief shock.

“That was close; I almost forgot the difference in control power.” Rayn felt a surge of fear.

His control over spiritual power was far beyond what a novice should possess. Even though he had not yet formally cultivated the wizard system, his years of experience made his ability to depict patterns exceptionally strong.

A Sixth Level Talent Apprentice who had only just encountered the meditation method should not be able to construct a Truth Rune so easily.

That meant he had to hide his real ability.

He needed to appear like a beginner who struggled with the patterns, suffered failures, and required time to improve.

“It’s not just the control power difference; when the depiction of the Truth Rune fails, does it actually allow the stored spiritual power to be completely released, causing a psychic shock to the sea of spirit? With this, the endurance and recovery ability issues also need attention.”

Rayn began considering the problem more carefully.

His present spiritual power and related attributes were comparable to those of an Eighth Level Talent Apprentice who had not yet begun cultivation. Naturally, his own experience with the backlash was very different from what a weaker apprentice would endure.

But what if his supposed talent were lower?

He was currently presenting himself as a Sixth Level Talent. That meant he could not simply imitate a beginner’s control. His reaction to failure had to match his assumed level as well.

Fortunately, Rayn had already tested the spiritual strength associated with different talent levels during his earlier experiments. He knew roughly how much psychic backlash each level could endure.

He quickly ran through the calculations.

The strength of the backlash caused by a failed depiction was relatively fixed. For someone like him, it was almost insignificant. For an apprentice with a fragile sea of spirit, however, the same impact could cause considerable pain and make further meditation difficult.

Based on his calculations, apprentices below the Fifth Level would suffer a serious disturbance after experiencing such a shock. Their sea of spirit would need a long period of recovery before they could attempt the meditation method again.

Even if they managed six or eight attempts in a day, repeated failures would be exhausting. Every failed attempt would cost them time and leave them struggling to recover.

For Rayn, who was pretending to be a Sixth Level Talent, the situation was much better. The backlash was unpleasant, but after about an hour of rest, his sea of spirit would be ready for another attempt.

Those with Eighth or Ninth Level talent were in an even better position. Their spiritual power and soul foundations were stronger, giving them greater resistance to psychic backlash.

As long as they did not fail repeatedly, one or two failed attempts would probably cause little trouble.

Rayn finally understood that talent offered more than faster cultivation and greater potential. It also determined how much failure an apprentice could afford.

A talented apprentice could endure more mistakes, attempt the meditation method more often, and recover faster when things went wrong. That gave them far more opportunities to improve. In the early stages, those extra attempts could make a huge difference. Someone who could practice ten times while another person could manage only five would naturally have more chances to understand the pattern, correct mistakes, and eventually succeed.

“The advantages of talent are still quite obvious in the early stages… In this light, entering the entry level within ten days isn’t an easy task for apprentices without high talent.”

Rayn opened his eyes and looked at the meditation book beneath his head. He had already learned something important from his first attempt. If he wanted to remain unnoticed, simply copying the struggles of an ordinary beginner would not be enough. He also had to make sure his failures, recovery speed, and progress all matched the talent level he had chosen to reveal.

Only then could he safely continue down the wizard’s path without exposing the strength he had gained from his previous cultivation experience.