Above the mage

Chapter 431 Success Rate of Ring Upgrade

The additional effects of [Long Range Shot] and [Know Your Enemy] are quite straightforward, while the changes to the Panacea are more elaborate, with two new elixirs and two additional effects.

However, this makes sense, because the [Miracle Elixir] itself is already quite fancy.

Compared to the additional effects, Gaode actually values ​​the [Super Memory] secret medicine more.

Isn't this just like a youth version of Doraemon's memory bread?

This is a prop that countless people have dreamed of.

Although there are no monthly or final exams now, learning is still necessary no matter which world you go to. And in terms of learning efficiency, in addition to comprehension, memory is also a very important factor.

After allocating points to three rare first-level spells, three source points remain.

After pondering for a short while, Gao De selected three ordinary first-level spells that he considered to be of the highest priority from among the ones he had not yet upgraded.

【Craftsman's Blessing+】(Change Series, First Ring):

The recipient will be more fortunate in the next stage of the procedure when luck is required.

Additional benefit: In your next process, you will be more in sync with the tools you use, achieving higher precision and longer operational stability.

[Disease Diagnosis+] (Prophecy System, First Ring):

You can determine whether a living organism, an object, or an area carries a certain disease or infection.

Additional information: Once a disease or infection is confirmed, you can determine the transmission route by observing the target's living environment (such as water sources and food storage).

[Disassemble Body+] (Necromantic, First Ring):

Through this spell, the caster can rapidly decompose the flesh of a corpse, whether it is large or small. In addition, during the decomposition process, the caster can also use the spell to quickly extract the blood from the corpse.

Yes, the three spells he ultimately chose were all utility spells.

Because the additional effects of "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow" are mostly focused on enhancing functionality, complementing functional spells.

Another point is that the combat spells commonly used by Gaode have already been upgraded.

Those combat spells that haven't been upgraded yet are those used less frequently, belonging to the category of "optional but necessary backup spells".

Compared to functional spells, their priority for stat allocation is naturally lower.

City Hall, Gaode's office.

The morning sunlight, carrying the unique chill of the North, slanted through the window, casting long, narrow shadows on the floor.

A thin layer of frost had formed on the windowsill.

Gao De was engrossed in writing at the long table, his quill pen moving swiftly across the paper.

He is drafting a proposal that is extremely important for Phoenix.

This refers to the development plan for the second city in the North.

Phoenix is ​​currently the only city in the North.

But now its population has exceeded one million, and it is expected to expand to more than two million within the next year.

This is still a rough estimate.

Although the establishment of Golden Farm has made food production relatively abundant and Phoenix is ​​developing rapidly, it is impossible to keep up with the rate of population growth.

The resource and management pressures created by this massive influx of people will eventually overwhelm Phoenix.

Therefore, it is necessary to plan the construction of a second city as soon as possible and then relocate a portion of the population there.

As for the location, there's no need to think twice; Gaode Maps had already decided on it long ago.

Vallar Bay.

It is not only a port connecting it to the outside world and a commercial hub in the North, possessing unparalleled economic value, but also a sacred tree domain that is of immense importance to the North.

Establishing a city in Vallar Bay would serve two purposes: firstly, it would act as a transportation hub in the North, facilitating better cross-border trade.

Furthermore, based on this newly built city, a deep-water port will be established in Vallar Bay to develop shipbuilding, warehousing and logistics, and port-related commerce, making it the core engine for revitalizing the commercial lifeline of the North.

On the other hand, the sufficient manpower and resources brought about by the construction of the city can take advantage of the situation to establish an integrated system of "protection-scientific research-utilization" around the sacred tree, so as to ensure more adequate protection of the sacred tree, better afforestation, and better utilization of tree resources.

After writing for a long time, Gao De raised his head, stretched heavily, and glanced at the Phoenix landscape outside the office window.

With everything on track, Phoenix's potential is being unleashed step by step.

It's like a huge train, constantly accelerating forward along this flat track.

This is even after Gaode intentionally slowed down its development pace to prioritize stability.

One must eat one bite at a time, and the same applies to his personal path of cultivation and the development of the Northern Territory; neither can be rushed.

That's just what they say; in reality, both of them are already incredibly fast.

Let alone a month and a half, it's no exaggeration to say that Phoenix is ​​changing every day.

Thanks to tribal integration and the immigration program spearheaded by Chief Guardian Quentin, new Northerners are joining Phoenix almost every day.

With the continuous increase in population, residential buildings and living facilities have sprung up in accordance with Gaode's Phoenix urban planning design, and road construction is also a top priority.

Who would have thought that just a year ago, Phoenix was a dilapidated city that resembled a primitive tribe, where people died of hunger every year?

Who would have thought that Gao De, who is now preparing to be promoted to the second ring, has only been a little over nineteen months since he became a first-ring mage, less than two years ago?

This is the seventh day since Gaode returned to the North.

After so many days of rest and adaptation, his condition has been adjusted to its best, and he is almost ready to start trying to upgrade his ring.

Gao De had already consulted and learned about the key points regarding the advancement to the second-circle mage in the library of the Sea Sentinel Mage Tower.

The key to promotion is expensive knowledge outside, but in this area, the Sea Sentinels are exceptionally generous, offering it to Sea Sentinel Mages for free.

However, his current access level is limited to viewing the key points for advancing to the second-level mage level.

Therefore, Gaode Maps is unsure whether the Sea Sentinel will continue to provide free upgrade tips for higher ring levels.

After all, a second-ring mage is still considered a low-ring mage, and is nothing special to a mage organization like the Sea Sentinels.

Just like in my previous life, primary and junior high school were part of compulsory education and were free, but this benefit was lost from high school onwards.

The process of advancing from a mage apprentice to a first-level mage involves four stages: cleansing the blood to increase vitality, liquefying magical power, removing impurities from spiritual power, and expanding the magical galaxy.

These correspond to lifespan increase, pure mana, improved mental strength, and the final upgrade.

Although the process of advancing from a first-ring mage to a second-ring mage differs, the essence is the same.

Advancing to the second ring will also increase lifespan, with the theoretical upper limit of lifespan increasing from 150 to 225 years.

This time, however, it is not the first challenge, but the last one, after expanding the magical star sea.

Moreover, it's no longer about cleansing the blood, but rather about [elementalizing the physical body].

[Elementalized Body] is the signature ability of a second-ring mage, comparable to the [Precise Perception] possessed by a first-ring mage.

At this time, the magic power within the mage's body will radiate to the body, allowing them to choose an element to strengthen their physical body, which is called elementalization, thereby gaining resistance to the corresponding element and... an increase in lifespan.

The mana liquid then transformed into crystallization, serving as the first hurdle to advance to the second ring.

Crystallization is actually quite easy to understand; it's a further upgrade of the form of magic power, solidifying from liquid magic power into a magic power crystal.

The second challenge is to break through the limit of mental strength, that is, to break through the threshold of 200.

In terms of mental strength, there is no fundamental difference between a second-ring mage and a first-ring mage; it's simply a matter of increased strength and high virtue. They had already broken through the limits long ago, which means they completed the second stage of advancing to the second-ring mage ahead of time.

The third challenge is still to expand the magic star sea, from the first ring star sea to the second ring star sea, so as to capture second ring magic stars and establish a second ring magic model.

While leveling up a mage isn't easy in the early stages, there aren't any significant bottlenecks.

The key is to cultivate diligently and patiently. As long as you follow the steps in your practice, your magical power will always increase. The only difference is the speed.

The reason for distinguishing between the three stages of junior high, middle, and senior high is simply because the difficulty of improving magic power increases with each new stage.

Just like the first stage of a ring, a mage with outstanding talent can advance from the initial stage of the first ring to the perfect stage in a very short time.

Even those with mediocre talent can, in a short time, advance from the early stage of the first ring to the late stage by using magical potions, high-level training rooms, or rare and precious materials like dragon-bird blood fungus, by simply piling on resources.

However, in the world of Dharma Masters, the majority of Dharma Masters are those who cannot reach the perfection of a certain stage of cultivation and attempt to advance to the next stage.

The reason is simple: mages with "outstanding talent" or "outstanding background" are ultimately a minority, with the latter being even rarer than the former.

Most mages can only cultivate with ordinary talent and resources, struggling day after day.

One hundred and fifty years of lifespan may seem like a lot, but it's really not enough for a monk's spiritual practice.

For example, Gao De's mage talent is already considered to be at a mid-level.

However, without the support of a high-level spiritual land and spiritual power beyond one's own realm, it would take about a year to condense a drop of liquid mana in the early stage of the first ring.

By the middle stage of the first ring, the difficulty of condensing mana increases by one level, which means it takes about a year and a half to condense a single drop of liquid mana.

In the later stages of the first ring, the difficulty increases to another level, requiring two years to condense a single drop of liquid mana.

Based on this calculation, even a mage with average talent would need 90 years to progress from the initial stage of the first ring to the complete stage.

Generally speaking, it is quite remarkable for a mage with average talent to become a first-ring mage by the age of twenty; most of them achieve this after the age of twenty-five.

In other words, a mage with average talent would normally need to be over 115 years old to reach the first level of cultivation and begin attempting to advance to the second level.

This is an ideal time calculated under the assumption that he will not encounter any accidents during this period and will adhere to his daily practice.

Mages with below-average talent will have no chance of reaching the first stage of mastery before their lifespan ends, unless they encounter a special opportunity.

For a mage with such talent to advance to the first-ring mage level is already incredibly lucky; becoming a second-ring mage is something they shouldn't even dream of.

The difficulty of cultivation is already cruel enough, but before reaching the next level, one is nothing at all.

Because there are no bottlenecks or dangers in improving one's magical power.

The process of ascending to the next level is different; it is a very dangerous thing with a very high probability of failure, and it is a cruel trial.

According to the Sea Sentinel's general advancement guidelines, without any external factors, the success rate of low-level (first to third ring) mages advancing to the next ring is less than 20%.

In other words, out of ten mages at the late stage of the first ring, only two will be able to advance to the second ring.

Behind these cold numbers lie the blood and tears of countless mages.

Some people might think that if the ring upgrade fails, just try a few more times.

A 20% success rate is low, but if it doesn't work the first time, try five times; if it doesn't work the fifth time, try ten times. Surely you'll be able to upgrade your ring successfully eventually.

That really won't work.

It is indeed possible to try ring raising multiple times.

However, each failed attempt to upgrade the ring results in a backlash of magical energy, leaving the body with injuries that are difficult to heal. Not only does it require a lot of time to recover, but it also significantly reduces the success rate of the next attempt to upgrade the ring.

If the success rate of the first attempt at ring replacement is 20%, then the success rate of the second attempt may only be 10%.

The success rate of the third ring upgrade is already negligible, almost zero.

Moreover, the injuries caused by the backlash from failed ring upgrades accumulate continuously.

After failing to upgrade the ring multiple times, they were still not convinced and tried again by sheer luck. If they failed again, they might even lose their lives on the spot.

According to statistics, over 90% of those who successfully advance passed the test on their first attempt.

Only 10% of lucky people succeed on their second attempt.

As for cases where breakthroughs are achieved more than three times, they are extremely rare and are not even included in the statistics.

In this context, the Ring-Up Potion came into being.

It serves two purposes: one is to increase the success rate of ring lifting.

For example, the [Green Vine Dew] that Gaode can exchange for from the Sea Sentinel can increase the success rate of upgrading rings by as much as 40%.

After drinking it, Gaode's success rate in circulatory enhancement skyrocketed to 60%.

Secondly, it protects mages who fail to ascend from backlash and resists the magical backlash caused by the failure.

This is equivalent to giving the mage an extra life.

Because of the protection of the Ring-Up potion, the body was not injured, so the mage's success rate for the next Ring-Up attempt remains at 20%.

Of course, each level of the Ring-Up potion will only have an effect on the first use.

Therefore, there is no bug where having enough upgrade potions allows you to attempt upgrades an unlimited number of times.

In fact, most of the mages who successfully advanced to the next level during their second advancement had consumed an advancement potion during their first advancement. They used the potion to protect their foundation and preserve the spark for advancement.

With a bit of sheer luck, he managed to defy fate—his first attempt at advancement, which had a boosted success rate from the enhancement potion, failed, but his second attempt, relying entirely on his own efforts, succeeded. This was definitely a stroke of luck.

Gao De silently calculated his success rate for upgrading his ring.

Two-tenths plus four-tenths of the [Green Vine Dew] equals six-tenths....

My mental strength has already broken through its limits, meaning I've passed one of the three stages of the Ring Ascension Trial ahead of schedule. This will increase my success rate by at least 10%, making it 70%...

In addition, my ascension site will be the core spiritual land where the Ice Jade Wutong is located, which is a fifth-order spiritual land.

With the magic concentration of a fifth-tier spiritual land, it is also very helpful for the crystallization of magic power in the first stage of the ascension ring, and can at least increase the success rate by half a percent.

75%.

Gao De, having received the final answer, breathed a sigh of relief.

This success rate is already very, very high.

Reality is not probability theory; variables cannot be strictly controlled, and various influencing factors exist. Therefore, an event with a 75% probability, when taken as a sample of 100, will often occur more than 90 times, rather than the theoretical 75 times.

"Tomorrow, let's do it tomorrow." He set the date for his ring upgrade.

As for now, let's get back to work.

Gaode once again buried itself in perfecting the draft construction plan it had on hand.