Ron gazed at the parchment spread out on the workbench, its complex rune arrangement and intricate ceremonial procedure stirring his emotions.
"Soul Seal..."
This was a ritual recorded in the ancient texts he purchased from Thompson, specifically used to strengthen the bond between the user and Soul Steel.
The ritual patterns seemed simple but actually contained countless subtle balance points.
Every rune’s position, angle, and stroke order were precisely calculated to form a perfect energy recycling system.
"Such a delicate structure..."
Ron studied every detail with an almost obsessive focus, letting time slip away unnoticed.
He suddenly realized that with the long-term accumulation of knowledge in various fields, his comprehension seemed to have undergone a qualitative change.
Especially after breaking through to Mastery in Magic Potion Making a few months ago, the advanced Trait of "Extensive Knowledge and Records" allowed him to show astonishing performance in integrating knowledge across disciplines.
Combined with the newly acquired "Insight" trait, this boost in creative thinking was truly a powerful addition.
"The combined effects of the two traits are unexpectedly strong."
Ron keenly perceived:
"I’m able to understand this ancient ritual to a certain extent even at the apprentice stage, and can even foresee the principles behind it. This is not ordinary at all. It seems my snowball is starting to roll forward with each additional boost."
Complex theories that used to require repeated reading to grasp, he could now discern the core essence at a glance;
Skills that once needed dozens of experiments to master were now often grasped intuitively in the first few attempts.
This gradual improvement in comprehension, like a snowball, grew bigger and bigger, granting him creativity and understanding far beyond what was expected at the apprentice stage.
Ron turned to the other side of the workbench, where the silvery-gray Soul Steel lay quietly in a specially-made tray, its surface glinting with a cold sheen.
After nearly a month of "dialogue" and adaptation, the Soul Steel had initially adapted to his spiritual power fluctuations, becoming more compliant and sensitive.
But to achieve a perfect alignment, he still needed this ancient "Soul Seal" ceremony.
"According to ancient texts, the standard ritual requires a large expenditure of spiritual power and might even cause some life energy depletion to the caster..."
Ron frowned in thought, his gaze shifting between the Soul Steel and the ritual diagram.
At this moment, a bold idea formed in his mind—
"If I integrate the energy conversion array from modern alchemy into the ancient ritual, could it significantly reduce the cost?"
Once this idea emerged, it spread like wildfire.
He picked up a pen and began drawing an improved version of the ritual diagram on another piece of parchment.
The core part of the traditional Soul Seal ceremony was retained, with none of the ancient runes directly interacting with the Soul Steel missing.
But on the periphery, Ron added a circle of modern alchemy runes, specifically responsible for efficient energy collection and conversion.
These runes formed a precise closed-loop system, capable of reclaiming and utilizing the dissipating spiritual power, greatly enhancing overall efficiency.
Several hours later, the design of the improved Soul Seal ceremony was initially completed.
Ron carefully checked every detail to ensure there were no logical errors or energy incompatibility points.
"Theoretically, this improved ritual should reduce the cost by nearly half, while keeping the core effect unchanged."
He looked at his work with satisfaction and then began to prepare the materials needed for actual operation.
According to ancient texts, the Soul Seal ceremony is best performed under specific astrological conditions, usually chosen on nights when the moon is relatively full.
And tonight was an ideal moment.
Ron looked out the window, the night was deep, and a bright crescent moon was slowly rising in the sky.
"Everything is ready."
He carefully placed the Soul Steel in the center of the ritual, then used special silver powder to draw the complete improved ritual diagram on the ground.
The runes shimmered with a soft silver glow under moonlight, making the entire ritual array seem like a living artwork, breathtakingly beautiful.
Ron took a deep breath and stood outside the ritual circle, beginning to activate the array.
His spiritual power, like a precise scalpel, was injected along the pre-set path of the ritual array.
The silver powder runes immediately lit up with a faint glow, which was initially a light bluish-white, gradually turning bright silver, and finally achieving a dazzling platinum glow.
Energy flowed along the complex paths, generating specific resonances and transformations at each node.
Ron could clearly sense that the energy that should have dissipated was successfully intercepted by the peripheral modern alchemy runes and redirected back into the main loop.
"The effect is even better than expected."
He smiled slightly, continuing to maintain a stable output of spiritual power.
As the ceremony progressed, the central Soul Steel began to undergo visible changes.
Its color became deeper, as if it could absorb surrounding light;
The surface began to ripple slightly, like a pool of living water;
More marvelously, it seemed to start generating some kind of rhythm, as if it had its own "heartbeat".
When the ceremony reached the critical stage, Ron did not hesitate to cut his finger, letting three drops of fresh blood fall onto the surface of the Soul Steel as a catalyst.
As soon as the blood touched the metal, it was immediately absorbed without a trace.
Immediately, countless tiny runes appeared on the surface of the Soul Steel, manifested from Ron’s spiritual imprint.
These runes arranged into a unique pattern, forming a "code" only Ron could interpret.
As the last thread of energy was injected, the light of the entire ritual array gradually dimmed, eventually reverting to ordinary silver powder lines.