Full-Time Magister: The Ruler of Wind and Rain

Ling Yufeng was naturally familiar with Wang Yu, after all, Dean Xiao had personally entrusted Wang Yu to him. However, objectively speaking, Wang Yu had hardly given him any reason to worry, except that he would sometimes come to Ling Yufeng to ask questions when he had problems with his books.

"Director Ling, I'd like to consult you about advancing to the intermediate level," Wang Yu said directly.

"Hmm, let's talk in my office." Ling Yufeng was a little surprised. "I thought it would be one of the older students in the preparatory class who would come to me about this first, but I didn't expect you to be the first."

Upon arriving at the Wind Department's head office, Wang Yu sat down opposite Ling Yufeng without any ceremony: "Director Ling, about a week or two ago, I experienced a bottleneck in my cultivation during meditation. After checking some materials, I believe this should be a sign that I have reached the initial stage of full cultivation, so I would like to ask you for some advice on some things to keep in mind when advancing to the intermediate stage."

"Let me use my spiritual power to probe your cultivation level. Don't resist." Ling Yufeng skillfully extended his spiritual power, a common method for mages to sense the cultivation level of other mages, but it required the cooperation of the person being probed. If one didn't want to be probed, one could simply close off their spiritual world. Right now, Wang Yu simply cooperated by opening up his wind-elemental stardust for the probe.

"Yes, you have indeed reached the initial stage of mastery and can prepare for advancement." After a magical "diagnosis," Director Ling came to this conclusion. "Since you are not from one of those magical families, you probably have limited knowledge about advancement. Let me give you a systematic overview."

"The most common and widespread method for advancing from the initial to the intermediate level is through natural cultivation. When you find that your cultivation has hit a bottleneck, don't hesitate. Continue to push forward in your spiritual world and break through the barrier of the intermediate level in one go. Of course, the probability of failure for this method is not small, and each failure will cause a backlash, resulting in slight soul damage and a regression in cultivation. The vast majority of mages, including myself, use this method to break through."

"The second method is to use Stardust Liquid, a liquid that has a great nourishing effect on a mage's stardust, enough to protect a mage who has reached the initial stage and has maxed out their skills, and safely advance to the intermediate stage. However, Stardust Liquid is very expensive, costing around five million per bottle, so most mages do not choose to use this method."

"There is a third method, similar to the second, which is to use various magical artifacts, essences, or environments that are helpful for cultivation to assist in advancing and increase the probability of a successful breakthrough." After saying that, he gave Wang Yu a meaningful look: "Your preparatory class all have the qualification to use the Three-Step Tower for one day. If you want to increase your success rate in advancing, you might as well try to break through after entering the Three-Step Tower."

"However," Ling Yufeng paused, then said very seriously, "the Three-Step Tower is only a place to gather elemental power and accelerate cultivation. It only has an auxiliary function and cannot guarantee that you will advance 100%. You need to be mentally prepared that even if you advance in the Three-Step Tower, you may still fail."

Seeing Wang Yu nod, Ling Yufeng continued, "The Three-Step Tower is divided into several levels, but I've never reached the top. The elemental concentration on the first level is 20 times that outside, and on the second level it's 40 times. However, the higher the elemental concentration, the greater the gravity inside the tower will forcefully accelerate the consumption of more magic energy. I suggest you proceed according to your ability, otherwise, if you run out of magic energy and faint inside, your precious day will be wasted."

After receiving Director Ling's earnest advice, Wang Yu thanked him and left, leisurely returning to the Azure Sky Hunting Grounds. He had made up his mind to use his precious one-day cultivation opportunity at the Three-Step Tower right now. Before that, Wang Yu needed to eat well, drink well, and rest well, adjusting his mindset to its best state.

He bought a few grilled rice sausages on the way, ate one himself, and used the rest to appease the little girl Lingling. Although the little girl was very mature in mind, she had the same hobbies as her peers and couldn't resist these snacks.

Pushing open the shop door, Wang Yu found that Senior Brother Xiao Ding wasn't there today; Lingling was minding the shop. Wang Yu handed her a grilled sausage, and Lingling beamed with delight. Wang Yu then went around to the back of the bar to prepare a simple martini for himself.

He took out dry gin, vodka, and vermouth from the back cabinet, poured them into a mixing glass in a 6:2:1 ratio, added two clear ice cubes, shook it well, poured it into a chilled glass, and then added a slice of lemon peel, thus making himself a dry martini. Just as he was preparing to enjoy a slight buzz from the alcohol, Old Man Bao pushed open the shop door and returned from outside.

"Lingling, Grandpa's not here, have you been watching the shop obediently?" Old Man Bao's first thought was definitely Lingling.

"No fat lamb, no commission." Lingling was still chewing on a grilled sausage, her words a little unclear.

"Hmm, it's good that you're alright." Old Bao turned to Wang Yu behind the bar, "Wang Yu, make me a drink too, let me try your cooking."

"OK."

Wang Yu briefly recalled the recipe in his mind. He was very grateful that the magical world hadn't changed the taste and names of those famous wines, so he didn't have to draw cards from various unknown flavors when he wanted a sip. In his previous life, he had worked in a bar during his university years to earn a living. Although he mainly mixed sweet drinks that ladies liked with a little alcohol, he still learned a few tricks.

He took out a whiskey glass, then flipped out a cinnamon bark, placed it on the fire stone, inverted the glass on top, and smoked it with the cinnamon. After that, he added a large block of ice, then Scotch whisky and amaretto in a 3:1 ratio, added a drop of bitters, pinched orange peel a few times at the rim to release its aroma, and then stirred it well with a long bar spoon. He then gently added a lemon slice and a cherry as garnish. A classic, but slightly modified, Godfather cocktail was complete.

Old Bao took the cup, lightly clinked glasses with Wang Yu, and then the two sipped their drinks slowly. After finishing, Wang Yu spoke frankly to Old Bao: "Old Bao, I'm preparing to advance to the intermediate level in the Three-Step Tower of Pearl Academy. Do you have anything that can assist my cultivation? Could I borrow it?"

"You've got some nerve, kid. You need some kind of auxiliary item to advance to the mid-level?" Old Man Bao sounded like he was refusing, but he actually pulled out a faintly glowing magical artifact from his spatial ring and placed it on the bar counter. "You can borrow it for a week. You have to return it afterward. If you break it, you can expect to work for me for free for thirty years!"

Hey, Wang Yu now knew where Lingling's arrogant words came from—she learned them from Old Man Bao! What a bad influence on the child! The magical artifact was a ring; Wang Yu slipped it on his finger and went upstairs to sleep. He needed to be well-rested for tomorrow's Three-Step Tower raid!