The woman casually held the cloth bag in her hand and handed it to Dago.
Dago took it with effort, hoisted it onto his shoulder, his face showing no ripple of emotion.
Under the woman's faint smile, Dago walked out of the bakery.
“This strength of mine is embarrassing. Forget it, next I’ll go to the Wizard Hall in Town to report that damned unscrupulous merchant.”
On the street, Dago mumbled to himself.
Then he trudged along, carrying the bag of flour towards the most luxurious building on the main road.
Upon entering, he headed straight for the counter that handled matters for first-rank Wizard Apprentices.
He had been here before, when he bought his Meditation.
Under the surprised gaze of the young woman at the counter, he unloaded the flour from his shoulder and placed it on the marble floor.
He then explained the situation to her: there was a black-hearted vendor in the residential area of Town selling fake potions and harming people for profit.
Watching the young woman at the front desk finish recording on paper, the rest could only be handled by the people in the Wizard Hall.
For him, he was like a passerby in the long river of history; he might marvel at this world, but he wouldn't have too much impact on it.
After buying some other seasonings and daily necessities, he was already laden with many items.
The return journey was much slower than the trip there, mainly because the bag of flour was too heavy.
As the sun set, Dago finally rushed back to the Shelter.
After checking the 'mark' he had left on the door before leaving, confirming that no one had broken in while he was away, he moved his things into the small house.
After putting them in their proper places, Dago, exhausted, collapsed onto the bed to rest for a moment.
After a quick dinner, he hastily washed himself.
The sky had completely darkened, and Dago lit a candle.
He brought up the system panel; it was still the same, no progress. Dago couldn't stand it; he was about to begin his cultivation again.
“Meditation is the only way I can improve my strength at this stage. The book says that only after activating his spiritual vision can he capture energy particles in reality…”
Dago sat at the wooden table, pondering.
And activating spiritual vision was also very simple: it was about refining and accumulating spiritual power in the Spiritual Space, then feeding it back to the soul body, giving the soul body a pair of “eyes.”
From beginning to end, the goal of all Wizards was only one: to complete the soul and achieve the immortality of the soul.
And spiritual vision was the beginning of the soul touching reality.
Only by seeing can you grasp it.
“Practice!!!”
Dago entered 'liver emperor' mode and began his Meditation practice.
Progress values constantly flashed across Dago’s vision; he was already unfazed by it.
During the period of expelling soul entropy, he would read books, including unofficial histories and biographies left by his predecessor.
After burning one and a half candles, Dago finally couldn't bear it anymore.
He calculated that in about an hour, he could gain three points of progress.
Tonight, he gained thirteen points of progress.
Currently, the system panel displayed: 【"Wizard Universal Meditation Method" (Novice 33/100)】
Dago looked at this value with satisfaction; he would probably be out of the novice stage in about two more days of intense grinding.
Late at night, Dago, dragging his tired body, lay directly on the small bed.
He looked at the dark ceiling, feeling sleepiness surge like a tide, and unknowingly drifted into a dream.
.......
For the next two days, Dago completely became disciplined.
Every day, he woke up early for morning exercise, jogged to the lake, and then practiced Meditation to earn progress points.
In the afternoon, he returned to the Shelter to exercise for four hours, continuing this until late at night.
Unbeknownst to him, two days passed in the blink of an eye.
At dawn on the third day, Dago, still groggy, walked out of the Shelter.
After a simple wash, he mixed some flour to make dough lumps, added wild vegetables, and a pinch of fine salt.
He set up a small iron pot and started cooking in the open space outside the Shelter.
Another simple meal.
He slurped the noodle soup from his wooden bowl while mentally calling up the system panel.
【"Wizard Universal Meditation Method" (Beginner 1/1000)】
This was the result of his two days of intense grinding.
As his "Wizard Universal Meditation Method" progressed, it now showed 'Beginner'.
It's just that this 'door' was a bit grand, requiring a thousand points of progress to reach the next stage.
This was truly a bit exaggerated.
“Might as well rename it the 'Workhorse System',” Dago grumbled inwardly.
However, with the entry into Meditation, the spiritual power he refined in the Spiritual Space grew more and more.
The expulsion rate of soul entropy also accelerated.
Although this was a system that wouldn't “speak,” it had given him great motivation to move forward these past few days.
It was indeed an efficient workhorse motivator.
Full and satisfied, Dago began to practice Meditation, calming his mind and entering the Spiritual Space, all in one go.
Waves surged, and mist permeated.
The light sphere had grown much larger, from its original diameter of one person's height to three people's height.
Dago's soul body at the core of the light sphere was still a blurry human form, but upon closer inspection, one would notice that his eyes were a bit different.
A pair of eyes emitting a faint blue glow.
Why condense the eyes first? Because the Wizarding World believes that eyes are a reflection of the soul.
Vision is an important way for humans to interact with the world, and the perception of the eyes forms the basis of the “real world.”
As Dago's thoughts flowed, he successfully completed the soul body's eyes using the refined spiritual power.
At the same time, in reality, Dago's body, sitting blankly, had a faint blue light emanating from his pupils.
Dago exited the Spiritual Space; in his originally light blue eyes, a circulating halo of faint blue light appeared at the junction of his pupils and whites.
Dago could “see” scattered specks of light floating within a half-meter radius around him.
This had nothing to do with the light and darkness of the real world; their existence was more like another layer of space, and he knew these light specks were there.
Those were the legendary energy particles.
They were the medium through which Wizards interfered with the material world.
He tremblingly raised his hand, gently stroking the invisible air in front of him.
Was this the spiritual vision that his predecessor had always pursued?
That is to say, he could now advance to a second-rank Wizard Apprentice.
The heavy stone in Dago’s heart finally fell.
“Hoo—”
Exhaling a turbid breath, Dago’s heart unexpectedly became very calm.
He did not choose to wallow in the joy of success.
Having spiritual vision also meant that he could learn the second spell of a first-rank Wizard Apprentice, Air Bullet.
This spell was a complementary spell to the "Wizard Universal Meditation Method," essentially given for free.
It was used to assist in completing the final step of Meditation practice.
To achieve spiritual power's interference with the material world.
Dago closed his spiritual vision; this was a skill that constantly drained his 'mana', so it couldn't be kept on all the time.
He quickly entered the Shelter to look through the last part of the "Wizard Universal Meditation Method," carefully reading the steps for casting Air Bullet.
Before, he had only skimmed this part; now, he had finally reached this step.
“It really wasn’t easy!” Dago exclaimed as he read.
By noon, hunger struck, and he finally finished reading, the steps for casting the spell clear in his mind.
He made himself some noodles with flour, slurped them down, and quickly finished lunch.
A gentle breeze blew, and the great sun began to set.
Dago, dressed in his linen robe, once again came to the open space outside the Shelter.
The first step to casting Air Bullet was to activate spiritual vision and manipulate energy particles.
Dago's gaze sharpened, a faint blue halo appeared and circulated in his eyes, and invisible spiritual power diffused from his pupils.
More and more energy particles appeared within half a meter around him, as if they had quantum-leaped there, appearing suddenly.
The second step was manipulation; what you see is what you get, the energy particles you can “see” are your most loyal “soldiers.”
They have received your spiritual sustenance, so you are their king.
Spiritual power must not stop being released, otherwise, they will not obey your control.
Dago raised his right hand, slowly spreading his five fingers.
As if hearing a summons, the energy particles slowly gathered into a light film as thin as a cicada's wing, forming a constantly wriggling and deforming ball of air above his five fingers.
The third step was compression and release; continuously output spiritual power to compress the air mass.
Dago quietly gazed at the basin-sized air mass floating in his hand.
The faint blue halo in his eyes accelerated its circulation, and the wriggling air ball continuously contracted, its internal temperature steadily rising.
The basin-sized air mass gradually shrunk to the size of a human head.
The force of compression depended on the intensity of spiritual power output.
As time passed, his spiritual power gradually decreased.
He had no choice but to throw this air mass out.
The next second, the air mass shot out with a “whoosh.”
It landed on a hapless tree in front, exploding with a “bang” on the tree trunk.
Dago excitedly rushed over, looking at the impact point of the air mass.
A shallow dent remained on the tree, which was as thick as a man.
“This power… at least it’s stronger than a flying kick from me.”
Just as he was looking again and again, marveling at it.
Suddenly, a prompt flashed on the system panel in his vision.
【Detectable skill for progress: "Air Bullet," do you wish to progress?】
Dago immediately clicked yes.
The light screen flickered and changed: 【"Wizard Universal Meditation Method" (Beginner 11/1000); "Air Bullet" (Novice 1/100)】
His Air Bullet could also progress, although currently he could only shoot a 'mass'.
However, he believed that with the help of the progress system, his air mass turning into a bullet would be just around the corner.
At this moment, he could truly be considered to have stepped into the Wizarding World.
He had mastered extraordinary power unattainable by mortals.
His heart also gained something called confidence.
Dago’s spirits soared; he now only wanted to grind until the end of time.
Originally, during the time he waited for soul entropy to be expelled, he could only read books to pass the time.
Now, he had an additional progress project, which was training Air Bullet.
From now on, the trees around the Shelter would suffer.
At this rate, his spiritual power would be exhausted, then he would practice Meditation to refine spiritual mist, gain spiritual power, and Meditation would progress.
With spiritual power to train Air Bullet, his Air Bullet progress speed would become faster and faster.
Like stepping on his own right foot with his left, he would directly take off…
Only the 'liver emperor' Dago would have to suffer.
With the twin moons hanging in the sky, Dago, who had trained all day, lay on his small bed, his eyes unfocused, staring blankly at the ceiling.
【"Wizard Universal Meditation Method" (Beginner 55/1000); "Air Bullet" (Novice 20/100)】
Actually, he was looking at the system panel.
At this moment, he was content and peacefully fell asleep.