Chapter 145: Tempering the Heart in the Mortal World (Two in One)
After thinking for a moment, Jie Ming made a decision.
"Teacher, I've made up my mind." Jemin's voice was firm and clear. "I choose the demonic plane."
Mentor Clark nodded silently, seemingly not surprised by this choice.
"It's a great choice. I will immediately contact the person in charge of the Elosia plane to handle the relevant procedures for you. The detailed plane coordinates and information will be sent to you later. Remember, no matter which plane you choose, you need to explore and control it yourself. This is the true path of a wizard."
"Yes, mentor." There was excitement in Benjamin's eyes.
Then he thought about the information Amy and Victor had just brought him: "Teacher, is the person in charge you are referring to the future dean of the Elosia plane?"
"It seems you already know this news." Clark nodded calmly. "Yes, the other party is a newly promoted seventh-level wizard who has just retired from the battlefield and has a mandatory rotation period of one hundred years. It is basically confirmed that he will be the future head of the Elosia plane."
But Benjamin thought of another question: "Then... after the break, what are we going to do next? Go to the Star Ring Federation?"
Jemin remembered clearly that the reason why the Nolen Workshop held this trial was said to be because there was some major movement on the Star Ring Federation side.
But after the trial, everyone seemed to have forgotten about it. Instead, the trial seemed to have become a recruitment for faculty and staff of the new college?
"Well... you don't have to rush for now. Given the Federation's tendency to plan ahead, they've probably already been spreading the news hundreds of years in advance. You won't be needed anytime soon."
"The reason the workshop plans to open a new Norn College on the Elosia plane is probably to make use of you."
Jieming looked helpless: "We shouldn't be reduced to the ranks of waste."
“Just understand the spiritual meaning.”
Clark looked at Benjamin on the communication screen and couldn't help but smile. "And even if there is really a need, you are not qualified to participate with your current strength. Instead of thinking about these things, you might as well find a way to improve your own strength."
Jermyn scratched his hair and knew that what Clark said was true.
Given the size of the Star Ring Federation, if there really were any needs, a first-level rookie wizard like him would not be qualified to participate.
Clark didn't care, as he had also gone through the same stage as Benjamin.
Young people who are full of vigor and vitality always feel that they are unmatched in the world and are eager to achieve something.
Compared with some newcomers who have become arrogant after the trials, Benjamin, who has been concentrating on research, is completely the "other people's child".
"Also, judging from the workshop's decision, even if the rest period is over, you don't have to rush to the front lines."
"Huh?" Benjamin was stunned. "That contract..."
"The contract at the workshop isn't that strict," Clark said nonchalantly. "Your participation in the Elosia Plane War can offset some of your military service."
"According to the workshop's regulations, wizards who participate in a war have a rest period of at least six months and up to five years. So after this six months, you can choose another six months to five years of rest."
"Is it possible?" Benjamin was a little dumbfounded.
Clark curled his lips. "The workshop trains you to become stronger wizards. The so-called military service is just to put some pressure on you and make you progress faster. Just make sure you can apply what you learn and not be stupid researchers. And..."
"and?"
"Besides, a little wizard of your level doesn't even have the qualifications to be exploited."
Benjamin was speechless. Although the words were hurtful, they seemed to be true.
After all, apart from those roughnecks in the combat department, serious wizards are very good at making various products, and high-level wizards are even human production lines.
In addition, wizard civilization is in a period of rapid expansion, and various resources are continuously imported from the outside world.
If we really talk about production, the output of thousands of low-level wizards combined is not as high as that of a high-level wizard.
After Clark hung up the phone, Jermyn thought about it and put all these messy things behind him for the time being.
Not to mention the new academy that has no sign of existence yet, even if he wants to come down from the plane he applied for, he won’t be able to do so in a short time.
"First... continue your research."
…
…
A bronze mirror emitting a faint rainbow light was quietly suspended in front of Jieming.
It has a simple shape, but the mirror surface has a strange sense of chaos, as if covered with a layer of mist, and the reflected image always has a hazy meaning.
This is Jieming’s natal magic weapon, the Five Elements Rainbow Mirror.
With Jie Ming's years of refining, the various decorations and patterns on the back of the Five Elements Rainbow Mirror have become more and more complex, which means that this magic weapon is becoming more and more powerful.
"The Eloshia plane is a good place. We've almost collected all the new 'Five Lights', and the first 're-refining' is not far away."
The magic weapons in the Dao Book Pavilion can be roughly divided into two types. One type has a fixed shape and quality. This type of magic weapon is relatively simple to refine, and the material requirements are not that troublesome (for the world of immortal cultivation).
The disadvantage is that it is difficult to improve after refining, and occasionally in special circumstances, the improvement is extremely slow.
The second type is a magic weapon similar to the Five Elements Transformation into a Rainbow Mirror. It has no solid form in essence. The disadvantage is that the materials are difficult to obtain and difficult to refine.
The advantage is that as long as you continue to replenish materials and refine them, theoretically you can improve it almost unlimitedly.
However, with each round of re-refining of this kind of magic weapon, the quantity and quality of materials required will be upgraded to a higher level, so it is actually quite difficult to really improve it.
Fortunately, for Benjamin, it’s just a matter of spending more time.
"However, now we can try another method of ritual refining."
Benjamin's expression turned serious.
He stretched out his finger, and a wisp of imperceptible mist was drawn out from the space inside his body, gently brushing across the mirror surface of the "Five Elements Transforming into Rainbow Mirror".
The spirit of the world is the essence of complex emotions condensed from the joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness, loves, hates, and vengeance of countless living beings.
It carries the strongest worldly smell and has a profound tempering effect on "spirituality".
Benjamin used the breath control method he had practiced for a long time, and with extremely delicate control, he slowly let the purest and gentlest part of it permeate the mirror surface.
At first, the mirror surface only showed a deeper layer of chaos, as if covered by invisible silt.
That kind of chaos is not a flaw, but a kind of "ignorance" that comes with the magic weapon when it is first created, and it is an "incomprehension" of the mortal world.
The spirit of the mortal world uses its essence to "cleanse" this ignorance, allowing the magic weapon to truly understand and reflect the mortal world.
But as the earthly energy continued to penetrate, that sense of chaos began to slowly and steadily subside.
The mist gradually dissipated, the mirror surface became clearer and clearer, and the reflected light became purer.
This change is extremely slow and requires Benjamin to control it patiently.
He could feel that as the earthly aura was absorbed bit by bit by the mirror, the faint spirituality deep within the magic weapon was being activated.
It is no longer just a tool, but more like a life with primary "thinking", beginning to understand everything it reflects.
When that wisp of worldly energy was completely absorbed, the entire "Five Elements Transforming into Rainbow Mirror" was completely renewed.
The mirror was as clear as water, and it could clearly reflect Benjamin's slightly tired but surprised face.
Its rainbow light becomes more restrained and profound, as if it can embrace everything in the world.
The obscure runes on the surface of the mirror also became more vivid, as if they were breathing.
More importantly, Jieming felt that the spiritual power of the magic weapon had become stronger.
Because the magic weapon was deeply connected to himself, Jieming also felt that his consciousness became clearer.
"The effect is excellent." Benjamin praised softly and took back the magic weapon.
But then, his brows furrowed slightly.
In the feedback from the magic weapon, he clearly sensed a slight sense of "fatigue".
This kind of training seems to be a "radical improvement" to the spiritual power of the magic weapon. It is not advisable to do it many times in a short period of time, otherwise it will damage the spiritual power of the magic weapon and even risk collapse.
"It seems that the principle of everything turning into its opposite when it reaches its extreme also applies to the path of cultivation." Benjamin thoughtfully took the "Five Elements Transformation into Rainbow Mirror" into his body and let it recover slowly.
After a short rest, Benjamin did not waste time. He prepared for a second attempt, which was also a bolder attempt - to directly permeate his soul with a trace of worldly energy.
He sat cross-legged, restraining his mental strength and guiding the vast earthly energy in the space within his body.
This time, he only extracted a tiny trace, even thinner than last time, as thin as a hair, and then carefully guided it into the depths of his soul.
The moment that wisp of worldly air touched his soul, it was as if a bomb was thrown into Jieming's spiritual world!
It’s not pain, nor shock, but an almost all-encompassing experience!
His consciousness was instantly torn apart and then reassembled.
He was no longer a Jermyn, but just one of the millions of ordinary people.
He saw a poor farmer working under the scorching sun, his clothes soaked with sweat, just for a mouthful of hot soup for his family.
His heart was filled with desire for a good harvest and fear of natural disasters. That simple persistence in survival turned into a warm current flowing into Jieming's heart.
He felt the young lovers, sharing their feelings with each other under the moon, their two hearts closely connected. The pure love and the sweetness of first love made Benjamin's heart tremble.
He turned into a soldier on the battlefield, with swords flashing and blood flying everywhere. The screams of his companions and the hideous laughter of his enemies echoed in his ears.
The despair before death, the attachment to his hometown, and the crazy desire to survive that broke out at the last moment made Benjamin breathe rapidly and almost suffocate.
He experienced the feeling of a mother who had lost her child, crying bitterly in the cold rainy night. The heart-wrenching grief and helplessness made Benjamin's tears burst out uncontrollably.
He transformed himself into a nobleman of the royal capital, drinking and chatting at luxurious banquets. Behind his hypocritical smile were endless calculations and greed. His desire for power, pursuit of enjoyment, and the unsatisfied emptiness in the depths of his soul made Benjamin feel extremely depressed.
Scenes of all kinds of life, joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, greed, hatred, love, hate, and vengeance, are played out in the depths of his soul like a revolving lantern in an extremely real and personal way.
He was not a bystander, but an eyewitness. He could personally understand every emotion and every feeling they were going through at that time.
It is a collection of the most authentic life experiences of hundreds of thousands or even millions of ordinary people.
The huge flow of information and the complex torrent of emotions impacted Benjamin's soul like a volcanic eruption.
His mental strength was almost drained in an instant, and his entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.
His clothes were soaked with sweat and his face was as pale as a piece of paper.
Benjamin gritted his teeth and held on to the last bit of clarity in the depths of his soul, so that he did not get completely lost in this endless fantasy world of the mortal world.
An unknown amount of time had passed, but when that trace of worldly energy completely merged into the depths of his soul and transformed into a barely perceptible red light, Benjamin suddenly broke free from that horrible experience.
He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently, as if he had just been to the gates of hell.
He opened his eyes, with a hint of confusion and relief at surviving the disaster in his eyes.
It took several minutes for his consciousness to fully return to his body.
Benjamin let out a long sigh, his body slumped to the ground, his expression revealing an unconcealable fatigue.
This fatigue is not due to physical exhaustion, but rather the weakness of the mind and soul after being squeezed to the limit.
However, after the exhaustion, there comes an indescribable clarity and sublimation.
The speed of thinking seems to be a little faster, and the perception of surrounding elements is more acute.
It was as if his originally turbid mind was cleansed by the worldly energy and became crystal clear.
If the "Purple Air from the East" he absorbed every day improved the aptitude of his soul, then the air from the mortal world improved the "purity" of his mental power!
It seems to peel off and purify the impurities, stagnation and redundancy in the soul bit by bit.
This improvement in "purity" allowed Benjamin to reach a whole new level of control over his own mental power.
Converted into the specific performance of the wizard, Benjamin could clearly feel that his threshold for the activity level required to manipulate elements had dropped again.
This meant that when he cast spells now, he needed to expend less mental energy than before, and it was easier, as if the elements were more obedient to his will.
Even if he encounters some planes with lower elemental activity, Benjamin will not be greatly affected.
At the same time, the accuracy of his mental manipulation has also been greatly improved, enabling him to perform more microscopic and precise energy control.
This subtle manipulation of energy and spirit directly led to a rapid increase in his alchemy level.
Many of the sophisticated alchemical operations that he could only perform theoretically or required repeated attempts have now become easy in his hands, with a greatly improved success rate.
Unfortunately, just like the polishing magic weapon, this thing cannot be used multiple times in a short period of time.
Benjamin could feel the faint red light deep in his soul. It was in a saturated state at the moment and needed time to settle and digest.
Once you force yourself to be infected again, it will cause irreversible damage to your soul.
"Refining the mind in the mortal world... It is worthy of being a method of cultivation recommended by even the Dao Book Pavilion." Jieming's eyes were filled with the joy of harvest.
(End of this chapter)
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