12: Chapter 12 Perception

"What exactly is the difference between the two?"

Mo Bai fell into deep thought. Though extremely curious, he didn't dare to commit suicide now to deduct all his experience points.

Doing so would trigger a weakened state. With his spirit attribute dropping back to ten, he wouldn't even be able to sense mana.

Without that, there would be no foundation for training at all.

He pondered slightly.

"Unless I kill another transcendent magical beast. Then I could use its blood and hide to draw magic scrolls, massively consuming my Spiritual Power."

In short, he lacked resources—resources imbued with mana.

This prompted Mo Bai to take out the transcendent crystal core and examine it closely.

Apart from magic scrolls, this was the only thing he had left that contained mana.

The mana within it had not dissipated over time; it was relatively stable.

"If I grind the transcendent crystal core into powder and mix it with water, could that also be used to draw magic scrolls?"

Mo Bai thought to himself, but then shook his head.

"Without a proper medium, it's impossible to complete the entire process of drawing a Magic Spell Model."

Putting the transcendent crystal core away, Mo Bai focused his attention within his mind.

At the center of his consciousness, the ink box slowly rotated. The Magic Spell Model upon it was exquisitely intricate, as if containing the profound mysteries of heaven and earth.

His Spiritual Power followed the Magic Spell Model, rehearsing it over and over again.

If his Spiritual Power could interact with mana, he would only need to directly control the mana to construct the Magic Spell Model, thereby independently casting spells.

However, he had tried many times.

He simply couldn't control it.

Shaking his head, Mo Bai picked up his Spear and iron saber and walked a full circle around the lake.

From time to time, he could see some animals coming to drink, but there were no magical beasts. Mo Bai didn't hunt a single one.

A few animals couldn't fill the 10,000 experience points required by the ink box, and he himself no longer wanted the experience from killing monsters.

Daily life passed slowly like this. His level stagnated because he didn't fight monsters.

His daily routine was felling trees, repairing the cave, studying the Magic Spell Model, and searching for a way to interact with mana.

In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.

During this time, Mo Bai discovered that the Wolf King Bone would replenish some mana when in contact with the crystal core. The mana within the crystal core would also slowly recover by absorbing mana from the environment.

Based on this principle, Mo Bai ground the Wolf King Bone into a pen, then embedded the crystal core into it. Thus, a bone pen for drawing magic scrolls was directly formed.

"Theoretically, using this pen, as long as the mana in the crystal core isn't exhausted, drawing magic scrolls would only require magical beast hide, no ink."

Mo Bai looked at the bone pen in his hand, then began practicing drawing Spell Nodes and spell pathways on the ground.

Although this method couldn't form a complete Magic Spell Model, it at least allowed him to familiarize himself with Spell Nodes and Spell Structures, committing them to memory until they became instinct.

Simultaneously, each time the mana in the crystal core was completely depleted, Mo Bai's Spiritual Power was also basically exhausted. The next day, he would always gain nine or ten experience points.

After several days, he had already accumulated seventy experience points through this method, and his Spiritual Power was steadily increasing.

During this process, Mo Bai's perception of mana became clearer and clearer.

This made him deeply feel that the Mage was getting closer and closer to him.

"Theoretically, as long as I can capture mana and use my Spiritual Power to control it into forming a Magic Spell Model, I can cast spells from thin air."

Mo Bai practiced more diligently than ever. It was just that the amount of mana contained within the crystal core and the recovery speed of his own Spiritual Power limited his progress.

But there was no other way. He was a person who could endure solitude.

"Currently, I gain ten experience points per day. Based on the 300 experience points required to level up, I will need twenty-three more days to increase my spirit attribute through self-training.

However... will I still receive free attribute points by leveling up this way?"

A thought stirred within Mo Bai. He opened the forum and began searching.

After a moment, a post caught his eye.

"How come I'm maxed out at level 5? Does anyone know how to continue leveling up? So annoying."

"Wow, there's already a big shot at level 5?"

"Flexing big shot."

"After level 5, you probably need a class change? Maybe you can't break through levels without a profession?"

Mo Bai stared intently at this post and took a deep breath.

At that moment, the last trace of restlessness in his heart vanished completely.

Days passed, and Mo Bai's existence felt less like playing a game and more like entering the mountains for ascetic cultivation.

Every day, aside from engraving Magic Spell Models for training, he would take walks and hunt nearby.

And before his spirit attribute improved, his strength and constitution attributes had each increased by one point.

Strength reached eight points, constitution reached nine points.

The free attribute points gained from leveling up are limited, but the attributes obtainable through training are limitless.

As for the experience points gained during hunting, they were all transferred to the ink box, not a single one left behind.

A gentle breeze blew, and another ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Mo Bai looked at the calm lake surface, and his heart gradually settled into tranquility.

The ink box, for the first time in a long while, hovered in his mind without the slightest rotation, without a single distracting thought.

Twenty days of pure life, though physically somewhat fatigued, left his spirit unprecedentedly relaxed.

His Spiritual Power naturally unfurled, as serene as the lake's surface.

Suddenly... "Whoosh~"

A breeze brushed past, and the ripples on the lake reflected the shape of the wind.

His Spiritual Power, as calm as the lake, also began to undulate, flowing along with the all-too-familiar wind. Mo Bai immersed himself in it, oblivious to the passage of time.

He didn't know how long it had been when the wind gradually dissipated. Comfortable and relaxed, Mo Bai slowly opened his eyes.

"Just now... was that wind mana?"

At this moment, he distinctly felt his body and spirit were incredibly relaxed, and his previously exhausted Spiritual Power was now remarkably full.

"experience points +20."

"Huh? Was I in a daze for a whole day? And why is it twenty experience points?"

Mo Bai was startled, but a glance at the time showed only an hour had passed!

"An hour restored all my Spiritual Power, doubled the experience points gained, and it seems my Spiritual Power growth doubled too!"

He immediately realized what had happened and murmured inwardly.

"So... that's it!"

"Did I just truly make contact with mana?"

"Wind-attribute mana, or perhaps calling it... wind element is more appropriate."

Mo Bai took a deep breath and immediately took out the bone pen to continue practicing.

However, the wind element accumulated within the crystal core was not much and was soon completely depleted. At this point, his mental state was still very full, so it couldn't serve as effective training.

Thus, Mo Bai turned his gaze back to the lake.

But now the lake was no longer calm. He tried for a long time but couldn't re-enter the previous state.

After many attempts, Mo Bai set it aside for now.

"The more deliberate you are, the harder it becomes."

"The lake is not calm, and my heart is unsettled."

Understanding this, Mo Bai instead began to exercise, his training figure visible throughout the entire area.