Above the mage

Chapter 192 The Secret of Cultivation Methods (Two Chapters Combined)

As soon as he left the committee, Gao De went straight to the college's library.

The college library is not open all day; it is only open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Especially the old mage guarding the second floor, he's quite old, it's good enough if he's not late or leaves early, "working overtime" is out of the question.

Upon reaching the second floor of the library, I met the old master for the fourth time.

Upon seeing Gao De enter, the old monk put down his teacup and asked with a puzzled expression, "What brings you here this time?"

They can't possibly be here to buy spell recipes again.

Gao De smiled shyly, "Today I have successfully advanced to the first-ring mage level. Let's take a look at the cultivation method of a formal mage."

The apprenticeship guidance method and apprenticeship meditation technique are only applicable to the apprenticeship stage of a Dharma master. Once one becomes a formal Dharma master, the method of practice must be changed.

The old mage looked at Gao De with surprise, "I didn't expect you to have such good talent."

"It's alright, it's alright." Gaode was too embarrassed to deny it directly, that would be too "bitchy".

"Take a look for yourself first."

The old monk casually pulled a book from the pile of books on the table and tossed it to Gaode.

Then he leisurely picked up his teacup and began to sip it: "All the information about cultivation methods recorded in the academy is in there, including the specific levels, effects, cultivation conditions, and the credits required for exchange."

"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. I should be able to answer most of your questions."

Gao De hurriedly took the book and opened it to take a look.

Cultivation methods are also divided into levels, but not as detailed as those he had read in novels in his previous life, such as being divided into four major levels: "Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow," with each major level further divided into four minor levels: low-grade, medium-grade, high-grade, and top-grade.

The cultivation methods here, just like spells, are divided into only two levels: "ordinary cultivation methods" and "rare cultivation methods".

Gao De opened the book.

The first few records are all ordinary practice methods.

【Primal Secret Technique】(Ordinary Cultivation Method): Practicing this technique can enhance a mage's performance in animal taming, sports, intimidation, and natural spells;

In addition, depending on their own mage level, they can gradually acquire abilities such as "Peril Awareness", "Extra Casting", "Fast Movement", "Wild Intuition", and "Mental Fortitude";

This technique requires the consumption of animal blood during its practice.

25 credits are required to redeem.

【Sound Weaving Secret Technique】(Ordinary Cultivation Method): Practicing this technique can enhance a mage's performance in spells related to sound, hypnosis, and charm;

In addition, depending on their own mage level, players can gradually acquire abilities such as "Rapid Recovery", "Combat Inspiration", and "Learn from All".

The practice of this art requires the practitioner to have a sufficient understanding of music.

25 credits are required to redeem the credits.

【Elemental Pact】(Normal Cultivation Method): Enhances performance in elemental spells.

25 credits are required to redeem the credits.

【New Moon Meditation】(Normal Practice Method): Enhances spell performance and practice speed in dark and nighttime environments.

25 credits are required to redeem the credits.

【Breathing Technique】(Ordinary Practice): Greatly enhances the mage's magical power.

25 credits required for redemption

After casually flipping through the introductions to a few cultivation methods, Gao De already had a whole host of questions popping into his mind.

This is the tragedy of those born into humble circumstances; many things you only realize you don't understand when you encounter them.

"Apprentices are required to practice guided meditation and other techniques separately, but after reaching the first level of mastery, there's only one single practice left?"

This was his first question.

"Because once you become a full-fledged mage, meditation can no longer enhance your mental strength."

The question from Gaode is a very common one. The old master explained calmly, "It's like training soldiers in the army. In the early stages, they can improve their strength through some basic training, but once their strength reaches a certain level, those basic training will no longer be of any use."

"From the first-ring mage onwards, most of our spiritual power increases come from the soul sublimation brought about by breaking through the mage level, as well as certain special expertise or the side abilities of cultivation methods."

"Therefore, a fully ordained monk no longer distinguishes between meditation and guided practices; there is only one method of practice."

"Oh, I see!" Gao De suddenly realized.

"Are there no differences in strength among ordinary methods of spiritual practice?"

"Also, are rare cultivation methods always stronger than ordinary cultivation methods?" Gao De asked again.

These two questions remain the most frequently asked by ordinary monks who are new to spiritual practice, which is not surprising to the old monk at all.

"Firstly, regarding the first question, ordinary cultivation methods themselves do not have obvious differences in strength, but for individual masters, there are differences."

"Different methods of spiritual practice are essentially developing in different directions."

"For example, a mage who has awakened the Beast Taming specialty and practices the [Primal Arcane Arts] will definitely be stronger than one who practices the [Sound Weaving Arcane Arts]."

"For him, the [Primal Secret Technique] is stronger than the [Sound Weaving Secret Technique]."

"But that's only true for him. If there were another mage skilled in hypnosis, then the [Sound Weaving Technique] would definitely be stronger for him."

That's all; what suits you best is the best.

"As for the second question," the old monk thought for a while before answering, "It is and it is not."

"How so?" Gao De frowned slightly. In the usual sense, "rare" should be better than "common," so this "yes and no" puzzled Gao De.

"Rare cultivation methods are not necessarily more powerful than ordinary cultivation methods, but rare cultivation methods must have unique characteristics and abilities that are hard to find in ordinary cultivation methods."

"From this perspective, rare cultivation methods are indeed more powerful than ordinary cultivation methods."

"However, the conditions required for practicing rare cultivation methods are often quite demanding."

"If these conditions cannot be met, and one insists on choosing a rare cultivation method, it may not be as powerful as an ordinary cultivation method."

"Ordinary practice methods are applicable to any Dharma master in most cases, without too many thresholds or requirements for suitability."

Just like choosing a major, finance has a high ceiling, right? But if you don't have any connections at home, it's hard to even find a job after four years of study. It's better to go to a vocational school to learn a skill. Choosing a spiritual path is the same principle.

Gao De instantly understood the difference between ordinary cultivation methods and rare cultivation methods.

As he flipped to the back of the book, intending to see if there were any rare cultivation methods suitable for him, he asked again:

"If I choose a cultivation method now, and later encounter a more powerful one that suits me, am I forced to abandon the abilities of my original method and start practicing the new one? Or am I forced to continue with my original method?"

This is a question that Gaode just thought of.

In novels, it's common to see protagonists who, for various reasons, acquire the most powerful cultivation techniques from the very beginning, so they never have to worry about these issues.

His current situation is that he can only choose from the cultivation methods collected by the Seres Academy.

Although Seres Academy was the best mage academy in the Duchy of Sean, Gao De, who had studied geography, knew very well that the Duchy of Sean was actually just a very insignificant little duchy on the continent of Nolan.

It's conceivable that the Seres Academy could not possibly possess any extremely powerful cultivation techniques.

He also believed that he couldn't stay in the Duchy of Sien forever.

When the mage reaches a higher level and leaves the Duchy of Xinen, there will surely be better opportunities and encounter more advanced cultivation methods. At that time, will the only option be to give up?

"What are you thinking about?" Unexpectedly, upon hearing this question, the old master looked at Gao De with a strange gaze, as if he were looking at a "savage."

"The so-called spiritual practice is essentially a special kind of training method."

"However, conventional training methods train physical fitness, while cultivation methods train magical power."

"Then let me ask you, you originally used a rather rudimentary training method, but later you received guidance from others and learned about a more efficient training method."

And if you immediately switch to this advanced training method, will the physical fitness you originally developed through the rudimentary training methods be completely wasted just because you abandoned the old methods?

"No, not at all," Gao De said apologetically.

The old master used a very vivid analogy to help Gao De instantly understand the principle behind changing one's practice method.

"Of course, changing your cultivation method will not cause your magical power to dissipate, but the abilities gained through the old cultivation method will disappear."

"However, if you are reluctant to give up the power of your original cultivation method and are greedy enough, you can choose to cultivate two cultivation methods at the same time."

"To use the analogy of training methods, one training method focuses on improving strength, while another focuses on improving agility. The abilities improved by these two methods belong to different areas."

"By training using two methods simultaneously, you can increase both your strength and agility."

"The same applies to spiritual practice."

"Doesn't that mean the more cultivation methods a person practices at the same time, the more powerful they become?" Gao De asked doubtfully.

"No," the old mage said calmly, "Practicing multiple cultivation methods at the same time can indeed grant a mage different abilities and enhance the performance of spells in multiple directions. It can even create powerful synergistic effects by combining different abilities."

"But the drawbacks are also obvious."

"Leaving aside the additional resources required for each cultivation method, let's just talk about the progress of cultivation."

"Due to the limitations of your mental strength, your daily cultivation time is limited. In order to balance the cultivation of multiple cultivation methods, the time allocated to each cultivation method will be greatly reduced."

"This will cause a monk's progress in each practice to be slower than that of other monks who only practice one practice."

"And often, the ability to cultivate a method becomes stronger as you progress."

"A mage who can cultivate two cultivation methods simultaneously is indeed likely to be stronger in combat than a mage of the same level."

However, they are likely to be inferior to mages who start cultivating at the same time and choose only one cultivation method.

"The reason is simple: you cultivate two cultivation methods and have reached the late stage of the first ring in both methods, so you are naturally stronger than a late stage first ring mage who only cultivates one cultivation method."

"But I started cultivating at the same time as you, and because I only chose one cultivation method, my cultivation progress is much faster than yours. I have already advanced to the second-ring mage level, and with my mage level, I can easily crush you."

"Moreover, leveling up a mage is a very time-consuming process."

"Choosing multiple cultivation methods may grant you more abilities, but you also waste twice the time, and you may not be able to advance to the next level before your lifespan ends."

"Therefore, the most suitable practice for most monks is to first choose the practice that is most suitable for them at the moment. If they encounter a more suitable advanced practice in the future, they can directly abandon the old practice and use it as resources for the new practice to obtain the new practice level. This is the conventional route for most monks."

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" The old monk, his mouth dry from talking, leisurely picked up his teacup, took a sip of fine tea to moisten his throat.

"I understand," Gao De said earnestly.

As he spoke, he had already turned to the last few pages of the book, where the rare cultivation methods were introduced.

There are not many; there are only six rare cultivation methods in total.

【Golden Dawn Holy Light】(Rare Cultivation Method): Cultivating this technique can enhance a mage's performance in spells related to light, healing, fire, persuasion, and intimidation. It can also increase a mage's resistance to necromancy-related spells, allow spells cast by the mage to deal extra damage to evil spirits and undead creatures, and increase a mage's resistance to mind spells such as charm and hypnosis.

In addition, depending on their own mage level, players can gradually acquire abilities such as "Divine Perception" and "Guardian Aura".

This technique can only be practiced by men, and one must maintain purity; the practice must be carried out under sunlight.

50 credits are required to redeem.

*******

After browsing through the first rare cultivation method that caught his eye, Gao De immediately realized the power of rare cultivation methods compared to ordinary cultivation methods.

Rare cultivation methods can provide a far greater boost to a mage than ordinary cultivation methods.

Continue to look down:

[Dragon Breath Breathing] (Rare Cultivation Technique): Practicing this technique can increase a mage's total mana output and regeneration speed...

To practice this technique, one must possess the bloodline of a dragon.

[Shadow Meditation] (Rare Practice):

【Starlight Secret Pattern】(Rare Cultivation Method):

Gao De flipped through several pages and found that he either did not meet the requirements of these rare cultivation methods, or they did not conform to his wishes.

For example, with the [Golden Dawn Holy Light Technique], one is indeed still "pure," meeting the requirements for cultivation, and the abilities it brings are indeed more powerful than ordinary cultivation methods.

The question is, what about the future?

Who can guarantee what will happen in the future?

He wouldn't dare to put himself in a shackle beforehand.

Thinking this, Gao De had already turned to the last page of the book.

A particularly eye-catching name, with a style completely different from the previous ones, instantly caught Gaode's attention.

【The Longevity Sutra of Green Wood】!

What kind of random intrusion is this?! That was Gaode's first reaction.

This classical name, which usually only appears in cultivation novels, left him instantly bewildered.

Driven by curiosity and a willingness to complain, Gaode continued reading.

【Azure Wood Longevity Scripture】(Rare Cultivation Method): Practicing this method can improve a mage's performance in beast taming, healing, nature, perception, and plant-related spells, increase a mage's lifespan, increase a mage's cultivation speed, and additionally increase a mage's mental strength.

In addition, depending on their own mage level, they can gradually acquire abilities such as "Immortal Body", "Earthwalker", "Natural Regeneration", "Nature's Word", and "Nature's Protection".

This method of practice requires selecting a specific plant as a sacred object to extend one's lifespan. Once the sacred object dies, the extended lifespan will be completely dissipated.

This method of practice requires absorbing the essence of plants and trees. The more abundant and of higher quality the essence of plants and trees, the faster the practitioner's progress in cultivation.

25 credits are required to redeem.

(End of this chapter)