Chapter 393: Advancing to Crystallization

Each time Helag refined his gel-like mental power, its shape changed slightly.

It was as if he was using a hammer to continuously forge the gel-like mental power.

Over the past year, Helag had lost count of how many times he had refined it, a process of countless repetitions.

With a calm mind, Helag repeated the refining process over and over, patient and unhurried.

This time, like always, he continued refining.

But this time, something changed.

After one refinement, a cooling sensation from his bloodline imprint spread to his mind, causing the gel-like mental power to transform.

The gel-like mental power began to change on its own, its surface rippling like water.

The previously amorphous gel slowly developed edges, forming into a more structured shape.

During this process, each transformation of the gel-like mental power was accompanied by energy from the Divine Core in his bloodline imprint, refining it further.

Helag observed the changes without interfering, allowing the transformation to continue.

Though the process seemed long, it was actually brief, though it felt prolonged in Helag’s perception.

Half an hour later, the gel-like mental power transformed into a crystalline form.

As the mental power crystal formed, Helag opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

He examined the mental power crystal in his mind, sensing its solidity, a product of highly condensed mental power.

From now on, both his meditation and spellcasting speeds would significantly increase.

Compared to before, Helag now had a much more powerful engine.

“Deep Blue, show me my current body data.”

“Helag Merlin: Strength 31.6, Agility 31.6, Constitution 33.2, Mental Power 75, Magic 30%.”

His strength, agility, and constitution hadn’t increased much, but his mental power had risen by ten points, a notable improvement.

However, the key aspect of advancing to a crystallized wizard wasn’t just the increase in mental power, but the enhanced growth potential.

Helag’s magic showed only 30% because his capacity had expanded, but the amount hadn’t changed, reducing the percentage.

As a crystallized wizard, he could now continue to grow his mental power through meditation.

At this stage, mental power growth was theoretically limitless.

In practice, growth slowed significantly over time.

After reaching a certain point, growth became extremely slow, potentially taking centuries for a slight increase.

This phase was known as the bottleneck period for crystallized wizards, where further mental power growth was inefficient.

At this point, the focus should shift to opportunities for advancing to a second-level wizard.

Advancing to a second-level wizard would not only eliminate the bottleneck but also greatly enhance power, elevating one’s life tier.

Helag contemplated the changes from his advancement, then resumed meditation, restoring magic and planning his next steps.

His magic quickly replenished, now several times greater than before, with two reserve sources ensuring he wouldn’t run out.

Helag continued meditating, aiming to reach the crystallized wizard bottleneck.

Next, he needed to accumulate contribution points to acquire items containing rule power.

These items, known as Rule Keys, helped crystallized wizards unlock the door to rule power.

Simultaneously, Helag needed to prepare a second-level spell, ensuring its rule power matched the Rule Key for successful spell model construction.

The mental power crystal in a crystallized wizard’s mind served as the vessel for a second-level spell during advancement.

To advance, a crystallized wizard must place the second-level spell model in the mental power crystal, unlike first or zero-level spells placed directly in the mind.

Without the ability to control rule power, placing a second-level spell model directly in the mind would result in catastrophic failure.

However, the mental power crystal’s stable structure could safely house the spell model.

Successfully constructing the model within the crystal opened the path to rule power, completing the advancement.

After advancing, the wizard could place the spell model in the mind.

At that point, the wizard would have ascended a life tier, able to perceive and use rule power, unlike ordinary people.

For wizards, the ability to use rule power marked a qualitative leap.

Helag understood this well, recalling his entrapment by the Eye of the Storm’s second-level wizard.

Even with the World Tree Bow, escaping was nearly impossible without external intervention.

Rule power distinguished first and second-level wizards, creating a vast power gap.

Helag’s next task was finding a suitable second-level spell and its corresponding Rule Key.

The spell and Rule Key had to match; a mismatch, like using a fire Rule Key for an earth spell, was useless.

In the Land of Dawn, Helag, supported by Seranthiel, had a chance to find both.

In the Barren Lands, this step was nearly impossible, leaving crystallized wizards in despair.

Even if they found a second-level spell, matching it with a Rule Key was exceedingly difficult.