"The critical point is 4.9 on the spiritual scale, the same as the traditional method."
Lady Allen lightly tapped her fingertips on the table, with a deep gaze:
"Once the spiritual power reaches this critical point, it’s like a door has been knocked on, waiting for the final key to open it."
Ron nodded silently.
He had long anticipated this, as the essence of advancement, whether by the traditional path or the path of truth, is the same — a qualitative transformation of spiritual power and a leap to a higher level.
"As for specific meditation techniques and other methods to improve the success rate of breakthroughs..."
Lady Allen pondered for a moment, seemingly considering how to articulate this ancient and complex knowledge.
She stood up and walked to the window, her lavender hair gently swaying in the breeze.
Sunlight shone through the window, casting a hazy silhouette of her, as if she were a ghost from ancient times.
"Among all the wizards I’ve seen who tried the path of truth."
Her voice was light yet steady:
"There is one key factor that greatly influences the success rate — special talent."
Ron’s heart skipped a beat.
He recalled his "dual soul" and "Sun’s protection," a hint of anticipation crossing his mind.
These unique talents might just be his greatest assets in daring to attempt the path of truth.
"More special talents, or stronger ones, lead to a higher success rate."
Lady Allen turned around, her emerald eyes staring straight at Ron:
"It’s not just the abilities these talents bring, but the mysterious resonance between talents and the characteristics of the meditation technique."
She picked up the teacup and took a sip of the slightly cool tea, continuing to explain:
"It’s like a peculiar harmony when the special talents resonate with the meditation’s visualization object, making the advancement process smoother, like water finding the best river channel."
Ron pondered for a moment, his eyebrows slightly furrowed:
"This also explains why some who seem to have average spiritual talent achieve astonishing success during breakthroughs."
He quickly processed this crucial information, comparing it with all the theories he knew, seeking logical connections.
"Exactly so," Lady Allen nodded affirmatively:
"And more crucially, special talents not only increase the breakthrough success rate but also significantly reduce the post-breakthrough contamination and spiritual chaos."
Her fingers traced a complex symbol in the air.
This gesture felt somewhat familiar to Ron, it was a core rune from the "Star Eater’s Ravings," symbolizing "accommodation."
"Those without special talents forcing a breakthrough, even if lucky enough to succeed, will inevitably suffer severe spiritual contamination and madness.
But those with strong special talents can often smoothly get through this process, reducing contamination by at least fifty percent."
A flash of contemplation appeared in Ron’s eyes:
"So that’s why Victor Reinhardt periodically fell into madness? Because he lacked sufficiently powerful special talents?"
He deliberately asked this question, seeking to further verify his hypothesis.
"You’re very smart," Lady Allen gave him an approving look:
"Victor’s success can almost be called a miracle because he actually possesses no confirmed special talents."
"His success relied entirely on an exceptionally strong willpower and unparalleled courage.
But the price is the kind of periodic madness you know of.
Research shows that the ’Star Convergence’ shard of will Victor received during his advancement was actually always in an unstable state within his spiritual world, like a foreign object implanted inside, never fully assimilated."
Ron secretly noted this down.
Using the pocket watch before had already proven he could completely clear spiritual contamination.
"Let me give you a few more examples. These are wizards with extremely strong or even multiple talents, who suffered almost no side effects after breaking through via the path of truth, but instead were empowered greatly."
Lady Allen sat back down and turned to a page in the ancient tome, pointing to a spine-chilling illustration.
A woman wrapped in countless tendrils, their ends linked to various twisted and deformed organs, looked both terrifying and fascinating.
"The Great Witch Selena, ’Lady of Blood,’ born at the beginning of the Third Era, possessed ’formless transformation’ and ’organ adaptation’ as two special talents.
The latter allows her to transplant any creature’s organs into her body without rejection, while the former lets her change the shape and function of these organs at will."
Lady Allen’s voice became deep and solemn, as if recounting a forbidden history:
"At twenty-two, she chose to visualize ’Thousand Transformations,’ an ancient entity existing in the dimensional crevice, able to change its form and attributes at will, seen as a symbol of chaos and mutation."
"Most wizards attempting to visualize such an entity are often assimilated into its chaotic essence instantly, turning into a constantly writhing, shapeless mass of meat.
But Selena not only succeeded in establishing a connection but also acquired the trait of ’form transformation’ in the meditation technique, allowing her to freely alter her biological structure, even transforming into non-carbon-based life forms."
Ron imagined the terrifying yet powerful scene, a peculiar sense of fear mingled with yearning surged within him.
The ability to change form at will implies almost infinite adaptability and survival capability.