Chapter 765: Chapter 461 Disappointment_2
Don’t think that just because he had obtained Divine Blood twice before, one was a reward for saving Tilamei’s farmland and indirectly, Neustadt City. The second time was from his own abilities to discover the Divine Blood.
For ordinary councilmen to exchange for Divine Blood is nearly impossible, unless they have a Great Councilman as a powerful elder like Nois.
Divine Blood is generally first divided among the wizards who kill the true avatars of the divine, and only when they no longer need it, will the slots for exchange be released.
These slots are also prioritized for the stronger Great Councilman, unless the Great Councilman does not need it and has spare slots, then it would be further passed down to ordinary councilmen.
"After the recent victories being reported from the frontlines continuously, the intense atmosphere of war participation in the city, or the generous subsidies provided by the Council and the School, not only didn’t relax his heart but added to his worries."
Colin let out a long sigh of turbid air, then shook his head and continued to move forward.
"Upon reflection, these worries stem from my own weakness... I’m still not strong enough."
He arrived at the Council’s library.
With his councilman identity, Colin easily exchanged for the Fourth Rank part of the Tin Saint Meditation Method.
For reference purposes, he also exchanged for all the Meditation Methods that could reach the Fourth Rank, then he set off on his return journey.
Perhaps it was his eager desire to return, but on the way back, Colin felt as if the journey was even longer.
Fortunately, he sped along and managed to return to Golden Barley before noon.
"I need to go into seclusion for a while, a few days short or a month long. I’m leaving Tilamei under your care for now," Colin told Atbolde and others, then plunged into the Meditation Room.
...
In the Meditation Room.
The Bright Crystal wall lamps on the gray walls cast a faint white light, and Colin sat cross-legged in the center, eager to pull out the copied Meditation Method he had obtained this time.
First was the Fourth Rank section of the Tin Saint Meditation Method.
He pressed the crystal to his forehead, carefully examining its contents.
"The essence of a wizard’s cultivation lies in the continuous sublimation of the spirit... At the First Rank, a Talent Seed is planted, which gives birth not only to a Talent but also opens up the Spirit Sea, at the Second Rank, on the foundation of the First Rank, a new Talent is developed, further strengthening the Spirit Sea, and the soul also begins to take shape."
"These two steps are also known as the basic parts of soul sublimation, for, by this stage, the Spirit Sea has been successfully opened, and the soul also begins to form a profile."
"The subsequent transition from Second to Third Rank is when one truly steps into the realm of High Rank Wizards, and the soul will truly undergo its first sublimation. Starting from the Third Rank, the soul becomes more tangible, not only can it freely leave the body, but it also becomes indistinguishable to the naked eye from the body. By the peak of the Third Rank, a complex structure will naturally form inside, and the usual Detection Magic would be unable to distinguish them due to the influence of the external Spiritual Light on the soul."
"As for the Fourth Rank..." Colin exhaled softly, his mood mixed with some anticipation as he continued to read.
"This is when the soul undergoes its second sublimation!"
"At this time, the wizard will refine the essence of the body, then merge it into the soul. From then on, the soul will be completely liberated from the body’s constraints!
"Or should it be said, the body will forever become... the past?"
Colin slightly stunned, his expression slowly turning grim.
He continued to read on, and ten minutes later, by perusing through various Fourth Rank parts of the Meditation Methods, he finally got a rough idea of what refining the essence of the body was about.
It was a highly ingenious concept, the refining of the body’s essence could turn the tangible body into the intangible, perfectly merging it with the soul.
Originally, the soul always needed a physical body as a vessel to exist for long, but after such a sublimation, it no longer needed one. Moreover, the human nature and knowledge light produced by the interaction of the soul and the body on the surface of the body would also be perfectly retained in the soul after its sublimation.
However, this ingenious concept posed an issue for Colin—it meant giving up his Knight Cultivation.
Refining the body’s essence in other words meant destroying the body, regardless how it’s done, the Blood Energy of the Knight would always be carried by the body, and without the body, the Blood Energy would cease to exist.
Magic Power could still exist clinging to the soul, and being a Fourth Rank Wizard he could manipulate the magic energy of the surrounding environment effortlessly. Lack of Magic Power wasn’t a concern for him.
But for a Knight, powerful abilities all relied on the physical body...
Colin furrowed his brows deeply and continued poring over the crystal.
...
Two days later.
"Did you come out so early?"
Lillian looked at Colin emerging from the Meditation Room with surprise on her face.
"Yeah," Colin nodded lightly, a hint of imperceptible fatigue in his eyes.
For the past two days, he had been tirelessly studying all the Meditation Methods, fully grasping the process required to refine his physical essence necessary for advancing to the Fourth Rank.
However, the deeper his understanding grew, the greater his disappointment became.
Two days without sleep was hardly an issue for Colin at this point, but the disappointment was the true source of his fatigue.
The path of a wizard, advancing to the Fourth Rank, was proving completely incompatible with his concurrent path as a knight—at least that was the apparent conclusion from the Meditation Methods.
"What’s wrong, was your meditation unsuccessful?" Lillian noticed the fatigue in Colin’s eyes and asked with concern.
"It’s nothing serious," Colin shook his head lightly, shifting to a smile.
Lillian nodded, took a careful look at him, decided not to inquire further, but then smiled and said, "Since you have finished, I actually have some good news for you."
"Oh, what good news?"
"Shelley has successfully set up the first flour production line, and after some training, thirty percent of the idle serfs passed the assessment to become the factory’s first batch of workers."
"I must say, that production line is really handy; I can’t imagine how you thought of it."
"And the looms—The Truth Society has reportedly also developed a prototype and it shouldn’t be long before it goes into production."
Lillian went on incessantly, while the changes that Colin’s Earth-based knowledge had brought to the plains of Tilaimei were enormous.
Colin smiled, a momentary sense of joy arising in his heart.
’The industrialization of Tilaimei Plain has officially begun.’
However, the joy was short-lived, disappearing almost as soon as it had come.
’Whether it is the wheat harvesting machines or the production lines, these industrial ideas are still just tiny seeds. They indeed might grow into towering trees in the future, but that is still a long way off...’
’The immediate priority is still to resolve the constraints posed by my own strength.’
Colin sighed silently in his heart, chatted with Lillian for a while, and then said, "I need to go to Neustadt for a few days... well, I should be back in a week at most. I’ll need you and our mentor to keep a close eye on things here during this time."
"Going again?" Lillian was slightly startled, looked at Colin without asking the reason, and simply said, "Take care."
"I will."
Colin nodded his head and then immediately left the Wizard Tower, heading towards Neustadt.
His trip back to Neustadt had a simple purpose: to visit the Supreme Council to see whether he could find a solution to his current predicament.
Unfortunately, after a week, Colin returned disappointed.
The foundation of wizard training was based on the sublimation of the spirit; it had always been so since ancient times.
The first wizard was like this, and so was every wizard until now; ultimately, all needed to abandon their physical forms.
The body was merely a temporary refuge for the soul while it was not yet powerful enough.
Even advancing to the Second Rank by strengthening the body was merely to provide a better dwelling for the soul to foster its growth.
But by the Fourth Rank, the soul had completed two sublimations and no longer needed the body, the outdated refuge...
Sitting cross-legged in the Meditation Room of the Golden Barley, Colin’s eyes were lowered as he slipped into contemplation.
’For an ordinary Third Rank Wizard, the body already increasingly fails to keep up with the strength of the spirit and becomes a binding restraint, merging it with the spirit is an inevitable choice.’
’But for me, the path ahead... seems not utterly severed...’