Chapter 827: The Elemental Breath Cultivation Method and Timed Reading

In the dormitory of Golden Crown Mountain's Origin Academy, Locke looked at the information materials Witch Yekaterina had transmitted through the water hyacinth Network. There were two documents in total.

Both were encrypted magical books.

Locke looked at the first document, which was the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method.

Locke sat at his desk and gave a casual wave, and a magical lamp lit up. At the same time, he said to the wood elf servant in the room, "Prepare me a cold-brewed green fish tea."

Green fish tea could help maintain a high level of mental concentration, better enabling him to absorb certain information.

Especially for this kind of Elemental Breath Cultivation Method, which placed pressure on the soul simply from being read.

If a wizard apprentice were to read this magical book, it could easily damage their soul.

The wooden elf maid showed a look of difficulty.

"I am sorry, my master. It is not that I am unwilling to serve you, but rather that I am unable to cold-brew green fish tea for you."

Locke frowned, then immediately recalled that this wooden elf maid was only a mundane servant provided to him for free by the academy. She was capable of steeping pre-made tea bags following a fixed procedure, which worked well enough for apprentice-level teas, but asking her to brew First Circle-level green fish tea was asking too much of her.

Locke said to her, "I understand. Go clean the rooms."

No wonder so many formal wizards enjoyed having apprentices handle miscellaneous tasks.

It was true that some mundane servants could not do things that only wizard apprentices were capable of doing.

He went to the kitchen himself, found where the green fish tea was kept.

Second Circle wizards in the Origin Academy had a range of benefits, primarily lifestyle benefits. For instance, magical rice could be collected monthly, and a certain allocation of magical tea was distributed to the dormitory each month.

He received a certain quantity of green fish tea leaves each month.

Of course, it was only five packets total. This was a very clever approach, because after using wizard tea for thinking regularly, one would develop the habit of reaching for wizard tea when working through difficult problems, and this would in turn cultivate a consumption habit.

This was probably what Senior Wizard Chad had described as cultivating the consumption habits of wizards.

Locke extracted the tea packet in cold water, brewed himself a cup, then took a sip of this green fish tea, which was fragrant and refreshing. His mind also cleared considerably.

Locke returned to his study and began reading the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method.

He had already previously learned what elemental breath was, with its alternate names of primordial earth and virtual soil.

If plant roots taking hold in rock produced soil, then virtual roots taking hold in the virtual sea produced elemental breath in all its meanings.

Through reading the literature, Locke learned that high-circle breeders had already proven something, which was that the four great elemental realms of the various planes were essentially formed through the accumulation of elemental breath.

"Elemental breath is an evolved product of spirituality, but not simple spirituality. Just as soil is separated from fragmented rock, but is also not simply soil. Soil also contains a large number of microorganisms and humus. And elemental breath also contains various natural magical structural components that can only be secreted from the surface of virtual roots."

Locke knew that virtual roots were a biological tissue, so they were not a magical artifact. Unlike the characteristics of magical artifacts, virtual roots had countless pores and could interact with both the internal and external environment.

Virtual roots took hold in the virtual sea and did not only fish for spiritual energy from the virtual sea but also actively secreted various natural magical structural components, even making certain modifications to the virtual sea.

Locke rubbed his temple. Acquiring this portion of knowledge placed considerable pressure on his soul.

Because this was not in essence a simple Second Circle-level document. For some reason, when Witch Yekaterina was writing materials specifically for him, her unique insights had been woven in, which made acquiring this portion of knowledge even more pressure-laden than reading Spiritual Resonance studies materials.

"The Gulardo Great World is a special large-scale world containing many panda people who have developed life energy to a certain extreme. They call themselves the Chi Sect. In their world, high-grade magical plants exist in extremely large numbers, and a vast number of Second Circle magical plants simultaneously fish the virtual sea, causing large quantities of high-grade elemental breath to be produced. Elemental breath has a mutual superposition property, meaning elemental breaths attract and superimpose upon each other, so the stacked elemental breath produces a dharmic realm unique to the Gulardo Great World: the Panda People Celestial Realm."

"In the Dragon Lance Great World, there is a powerful magical plant called the Genesis Mushroom. It possesses the largest known virtual root system in the world. That mushroom fishes the virtual sea and produces vast quantities of elemental breath, which over countless tens of thousands of years of accumulation produces a unique dharmic realm: the Dragon Lance Divine Realm."

"In the Atlantis World, the underwater magical plants fish the virtual sea spirituality over more than a hundred thousand years, producing a unique dharmic realm: the Caspian Dharmic Realm."

Locke immediately realized that elemental breath had the ability to elevate the level of things.

But it was probably not a small amount of elemental breath that sufficed. It required large quantities of elemental breath stacked together, deepening this ability to strengthen the level of living beings, and only then could magical plants growing within it have their level elevated.

"So the magical plants of a world are so critically important. The number and grade of magical plants in a world will directly affect that world's evolution."

"But it seems that level is not the right word."

Locke noticed a special annotation Witch Yekaterina had specifically included.

"The dharmic realm produced by elemental breath, also called by some the spirit realm, does not elevate the level of power but rather the capacity of life."

"Most breeders believe that the dharmic realm formed by elemental breath can elevate the capacity of life of magical plants, and so the essence of the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method is to use the special properties of elemental breath to strengthen and cultivate magical plants."

"The entire Second Circle stage of breeding methods: most Second Circle breeders believe there are two core elements, spirituality and elemental breath."

"At this stage of breeding, because breeders can directly see planar force and spiritual flow with the naked eye, all of the previous five major cultivation methods can now be used with direct vision of spirituality. This leads to enhancements of the five major cultivation methods. For example, with the grafting cultivation method, breeders can use more in-depth grafting because they can see spiritual flow."

"When using the hybridization cultivation method, multiple types of pollen can be applied to a single pistil."

"When using the cutting cultivation method, tissue culture seedlings of pure, uncontaminated spirituality can be produced..."

"The magical force co-frequency cultivation method and the finite element single-component analysis cultivation method have also received corresponding enhancements. And using the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method allows the use of specific elemental breath to specifically strengthen magical plants being cultivated with the five major cultivation methods, or it can be used as a standalone cultivation method."

A scene appeared before Locke's eyes. A Second Circle breeder, using large quantities of elemental breath and multiple magical plants, created a small world. The small world was filled with selected elemental breath.

Then a magical plant grew within this small world. Because of the elemental breath, it could directly influence the characteristics of magical plants growing within the small world.

It could become more powerful, growing best among its peers.

It could also have some plant factors altered, producing a new combination of plant essence core.

The key point was that virtual roots and elemental breath were mutually reinforcing. Elemental breath arose because of virtual roots, and virtual roots evolved because of elemental breath.

Therefore, a skilled Second Circle breeder could use the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method to cause virtual roots to evolve, or to give the magical plant's virtual roots special characteristics, becoming the kind of special virtual roots Locke had previously encountered.

"Hmm? Only the first half?" Locke was reading with complete absorption when he suddenly found it had abruptly stopped. He could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.

He noticed that the second half seemed to be about deeper uses of the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method, while the first half was introducing the method's history and background, as well as its basic uses.

Clearly Witch Yekaterina felt Locke was not yet ready to learn the second half.

Locke rubbed his temple and said, "Teacher's teaching materials are too good. Though these must be private teaching materials written for the teacher lineage. They could not have been written just for me. I need to save these materials. Reading them when I have free time in the future will give me many insights, and perhaps they will be useful when I teach others one day."

Locke first skimmed through the entire magical book, then began to go back and read it in detail.

Locke returned to the beginning.

One day later, Locke noticed that Witch Yekaterina had two major differences in her understanding of the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method compared to ordinary outside Second Circle breeders.

Locke read, "Ordinary Second Circle breeders believe the core of Second Circle-stage breeding is spirituality and elemental breath, but I believe there is only one core at the Second Circle stage, and that is spirituality. Mastering precise understanding of spirituality is the key to learning cultivation methods well."

"Far too many breeders waste large quantities of time on the identification of elemental breath, which has absolutely no meaning. The types of elemental breath cannot possibly be exhausted, because every day new magical plants are being born in this world, and the elemental breath converted by each magical plant's virtual roots is slightly different."

"Elemental breath cannot be exhausted, because new subtle forms of elemental breath are produced every day."

"The current approach to learning elemental breath studies is a complete mess, turned upside down. It does nothing but waste people's time and yields nothing of value. Breeders should devote their primary energy to the understanding of spirituality."

Locke saw a special set of eye-training exercises that Witch Yekaterina had shared with him.

It appeared to require quite a bit of money to purchase a full set of tools.

Essentially it involved purchasing a large number of spirituality samples, and then identifying and practicing with reference to an illustrated catalogue each day.

At first one could use the catalogue to help identify samples. By the end, one should look at a sample and immediately state its approximate characteristics and specific range.

Without relying on the catalogue.

Witch Yekaterina introduced this as how she had trained herself at the Second Circle stage.

This section was a personal technique for learning the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method that she personally used. It might not suit everyone, so it was only recommended and not required.

The traditional requirements for learning the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method were also provided, calling for first using five basic types of elemental breath to create a small world, then beginning to practice.

This was essentially grinding proficiency, learning by doing, using practice to acquire knowledge.

There was also learning the foundational theoretical knowledge of elemental breath studies.

But following that traditional approach would consume a large amount of time and cost, and one might not even learn it properly in the end.

Locke looked at the second unique perspective Witch Yekaterina had in the magical book.

"What the dharmic realm formed by elemental breath elevates is not life level. I believe that on this point, most Third Circle wizards are wrong."

"I call it elevating capacity."

"What is capacity? The more water a cup can hold, the greater its capacity can be said to be. A dharmic realm in essence does not change a magical plant's standing in any way, only altering its total magic pressure and certain magical plant traits."

"The life level of a magical plant does not change much either. Only an ecological niche shift may occur."

"As for elevating life level, the idea seems to be that entering a dharmic realm allows one's life to be sublimated, and that magical plants within a dharmic realm undergo a fundamental change in life level compared to those outside. This description is incorrect. I believe describing it as elevating capacity is more accurate."

"A small difference in framing can lead to enormous divergence in results."

Witch Yekaterina wrote as a warning in the book, "In my view, the reason many breeders find it difficult to enter the field of Second Circle breeding studies may very well be that they have misunderstood the function of elemental breath. Elemental breath can only increase a magical plant's capacity and cannot elevate its life level."

"Once this point is mistaken, serious errors will appear in the architecture of spell models. And it completely misunderstands the true function of the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method."

Locke sensed that what teacher called elevating capacity must refer to some special effect that the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method had on cultivated magical plants.

It was just that simply reading this magical book, he still could not fully understand this portion of the content.

Locke drained his green fish tea in one gulp. His mind raced but still could not sort out this portion.

"It seems only through practice can the relationship between the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method and capacity be truly understood."

"The learning focus of Second Circle cultivation methods is on spirituality, while elemental breath elevates the magical plant's capacity. These both seem to be teacher's unique understanding and not the common understanding of Second Circle breeders. But I will follow teacher's lead."

Locke thought for a moment and said, "Teacher's understanding should be better."

After all, teacher was a being on the verge of advancing to Fourth Circle.

Her understanding as a breeder of this level clearly exceeded the general knowledge of ordinary Second Circle breeders outside.

It was only because he had joined her under her tutelage that he had the good fortune to know these things.

Locke looked at the magical mechanical clock in the study and found he had already been reading this document through the water hyacinth system for thirty hours.

Locke stood up, stretched his body, and suddenly a notification popped up on the water hyacinth system. "Remaining readable time: 270."

Locke froze momentarily, then quickly closed the virtual magical book with swift reflexes.

"Teacher actually set a timed reading restriction on me. This means I can only read the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method magical book she has written for three hundred hours."

Locke's expression shifted slightly, because the content of the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method was simply too vast.

For a breeder who had just been introduced to it, it was like a new world opening up.

Creating a small world solely to cultivate a single magical plant.

This approach was truly extraordinary.

And Witch Yekaterina had given him only three hundred hours to read a magical book of this level.

Why?

Locke sat down and calmly began to reflect. First he immediately recalled everything he had just memorized and found that quite a bit of the content had become blurry due to soul pressure.

He immediately sat in place, entered the thought-free state using the advanced meditation method, effortfully recalled it, and wrote it down on magical paper with a magical quill.

Locke wiped his forehead and wrote down the most important traditional Elemental Breath Cultivation Method exercises and Witch Yekaterina's own approach to the exercises.

He also wrote down Witch Yekaterina's two unique perspectives on the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method.

"If this is the case, then I need to make good use of every session of reading the magical book teacher has given me. And every reading session must be followed by memorization."

"Ideally I should find a way to memorize the entire magical book, that way I would have gotten a hold of a very good textbook of hers for free, one I can read myself and share with others."

"But this magical book's content is too deep and profound. Without understanding it, even forcing it to be memorized will cause it to be forgotten due to soul pressure. Even entering a deep meditation state using the advanced meditation method may not allow it to be fished back up."

"So I need to understand first, then memorize, and then be able to write it from memory. The level of difficulty is unimaginable."

Locke frowned. Teacher had far too much confidence in his talent.

He sensed that this was a unique educational approach for geniuses, an approach possibly crafted specifically for him based on his past performance.

Never mind.

Since things had come to this, all he could do was find a way to pass teacher's test.

"In other words, if I do not understand roughly seven or eight tenths of this magical book, I will struggle to memorize it directly."

Locke said, "No wonder she only gave me the first half. Even this foundational first half is this difficult for me. If she had given me the second half, I would simply be left staring in helpless despair."

Locke thought it through.

"I have already read through it once just now. Before I start the second read-through, I can perfectly well go to the library first, read large quantities of related literature, and improve my understanding. I can also do exercises and some practical hands-on work."

"To deepen my understanding of the Elemental Breath Cultivation Method."

"At the same time..."

Locke's mind was active. "I can drink some wizard tea to improve my mental state before going back to read this magical book. Right, and if I use botanical magic while reading this magical book, I could use the rhizosphere to elevate my standing."

"That might reduce some of the soul pressure."

Locke looked at the second book, the Light Element Inverted Mutation Cultivation Method, and tentatively clicked on it. Sure enough, the water hyacinth system indicated he only had two opportunities to read it, with each session limited to twenty-four hours.

Locke smiled ruefully.

"Inheriting teacher's breeding studies legacy is certainly no easy thing."

Locke thought, "In that case, Wizard Zeno must also have passed these tests to inherit the Light Element Inverted Mutation Cultivation Method. No wonder none of the other Second Circle researchers have inherited teacher's cultivation method legacy."

"If he could pass it, I can certainly pass it too."

Confidence flickered in Locke's eyes.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

As long as he worked hard and actively sought solutions, he could certainly inherit Witch Yekaterina's Second Circle cultivation method legacy.

Locke gathered his things and stood up. He needed to contact Hussein and the old pirate, because the planar exploration also needed to depart soon.

...

The Twilight Border, the Golden Dynasty.

This was a remarkable land. The soil of the Twilight Border contained abundant gold deposits, and even the dust kicked up by walking was thick with gold particles.

Even the bricks used to build houses here had quite a few gold bricks among them.

Alaric, as a golden noble here, was draped all over in gleaming golden ornaments. In this place, golden ornaments were as common as ordinary clothing.

At this moment, after reading the letter Locke had written to him, Alaric was completely stunned.

Alaric smiled ruefully.

"Brother Augustine, though I said you could come to the Twilight Border to find me and I would host you for a meal, what is my standing, and what is the Golden Spike Throne's standing?"

"I cannot even get a word in with my teacher myself."

Alaric was quite at a loss. He normally only caught a distant glimpse of his nominal teacher during group meetings, and the rest of the time could not get a word in at all.

Yet Locke was asking him to put in a good word and deliver a letter to that Throne Wizard.

At this moment, a first-class wizard apprentice cat girl serving Alaric, with gold rings all around her neck, seductively ran her tongue across Alaric's chest.

"Lord Alaric, since the matter is difficult, let us simply not bother with him."

"What a rude person."

"You already have far too many such useless friends."

Alaric's gaze turned faintly cold. At this moment the cat girl witch had not yet noticed his disdain for her.

"This is a letter written to me by a Second Circle wizard."

The cat girl witch's body immediately stiffened. She automatically distanced herself from Alaric and said in disbelief, "A letter from a Second Circle wizard?"

She realized she had misspoken.

In the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, Second Circle wizards were nothing remarkable, but in the Twilight Border, a Second Circle wizard was an exceedingly prestigious figure, someone whose name carried weight everywhere.

Alaric was only a crystallization wizard, and his standing in the Golden Dynasty was already very high.

Alaric let out a cold snort, but did not much trouble himself with this witch from the Jade Splendor Flying Land.

She was nothing more than a companion in his dissolute life.

The Jade Splendor Flying Land had been providing witches to the Twilight Border since ancient times, a tradition unbroken for a thousand years. And even now, the wayward wizard nobles of the Golden Dynasty still indulged themselves in the warmth of witches. Alaric was no exception.

Although the Golden Dynasty had no wizard monarch, it did have a regent and wizard nobles.

It was precisely because there was no wizard monarch that the White Wizard Association tolerated the Golden Dynasty's existence, treating it as having already undergone modern reform and requiring no further change.

Alaric thought, "Since I have managed to get to know this Second Circle wizard friend, I cannot ignore his request. After all, that is my teacher. Perhaps tomorrow during the group meeting I can find an opportunity to speak with teacher."

"Hmm, perhaps offering a witch to my senior could create an opportunity."