Full-Time Magister: The Ruler of Wind and Rain

Back at the unassuming Qingtian Hunting Lodge in the alleys of Shanghai, Wang Yu immediately presented Old Man Bao with a gift: a fine stone he had found by Xima Pool. He had a stonemason carve it into a leaping horse figurine and gave it to Old Man Bao as encouragement for him to continue galloping at his age.

Old Bao wanted to say something, but seeing the faint smile still on his granddaughter's face, he held back and went to the kitchen to welcome the two of them. After the meal, Wang Yu and Lingling began to take out their spoils from Cangshan Mountain one by one for Old Bao to appraise.

Given their current level of discernment, it was highly unlikely they would find anything of value randomly on the street. After a quick glance at the pile of trinkets they had bought for Lingling, Old Man Bao's gaze shifted to the jade talisman of faith that Wang Yu had found at the bottom of Xima Pool. After listening to Lingling's description and examining it himself, the old man gently shook his head and began to describe the item's function to Wang Yu:

"This jade pendant has two main functions. It has a spontaneous absorption effect on water elemental magic energy," Old Man Bao continued after taking a sip of tea. "In daily cultivation, it does have some use for water-type mages. It constantly absorbs water elemental magic energy from the environment, providing a flowing elemental environment, which is very beneficial for mages to become familiar with the elements. However, this jade pendant not only absorbs water elemental magic energy from the environment, but it also absorbs your own water elemental magic energy, so never wear this thing when you break through."

I understand. It's a water-specific cultivation enhancement buff. My water cultivation level is still lagging behind my wind cultivation level, but now that I have this great item, I'm sure the two elements will be on par in the future.

Wang Yu poured Old Man Bao a cup of tea and listened as he continued his explanation: "The second function may benefit you greatly. The water elemental magic energy stored in this jade pendant can help you enhance your shaping ability with water magic."

"Shaping?" Wang Yu didn't quite understand its importance, so he conjured a water blade: "Is this what you mean?"

"Hmm, not exactly the same, is it?" Old Man Bao hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Your water blade is essentially a classless magic. Its prototype was optimized after the Holy Tribunal publicly promoted the star trail magic system, but it still retains the characteristic of being classless. For example, you must have noticed that although your wind blade and water blade only need to draw star trails to be released, the upper limit of the magic energy released is not completely fixed. The more magic energy you provide, the greater the power of the magic."

Oh? Rankless magic? There's such a concept? Wang Yu decided to take some time to reread the notebook that Zhan Kong from the Bo City Military Intelligence Bureau had given him, since he had learned many of his magic casting techniques and the methods for using wind and water blades from it.

Seeing that Wang Yu understood the Water Blade, Old Man Bao continued, "Shaping isn't about releasing different magic through different ways of drawing star trails, but rather about changing the effect of the magic after you draw the star trails and before you release it. For example, you can try it now." As he spoke, Old Man Bao handed the jade pendant to Wang Yu. "Draw a Water Blade. After you finish drawing the star trails, don't release it. Try to communicate with this jade pendant with your mind and conceive a Water Blade with a different shape in your mind."

Wang Yu followed the order, holding onto a water shield without releasing it. He then tried to communicate with the jade pendant, and a strange feeling suddenly surged up. He quickly drew a pattern in his mind and obtained a... square water shield.

While maintaining the square shield, Wang Yu carefully sensed the loss and consumption of magical energy, and then said, "The magic released through shaping via the jade pendant consumes 30% more magical energy, and maintaining this shaping state also requires the consumption of magical energy."

"This is just simple shaping. If you want to shape it in a way that deviates more from the original magical form, then the magical energy required will increase significantly," Old Man Bao explained.

Wang Yu then conjured a water shield in the shape of a fence. Sure enough, the magic energy consumed increased to almost three times that of a beginner-level spell. In that case, would this shaping function be of little use? After all, the magic after shaping does not increase in power.

Old Man Bao seemed to sense Wang Yu's confusion: "Are you wondering what use this Shaping technique is to you?" Seeing Wang Yu nod, he continued, "Objectively speaking, Shaping doesn't significantly boost your combat power. But since you were able to master rankless magic through self-study, your mental strength must be quite high. Increasing your Shaping control practice during cultivation will help you further strengthen your mental power. Furthermore, Shaping itself is a type of transcendental power; most mages need to advance to the Super Rank long before they can master this power, so practicing it beforehand can't be a bad thing."

"Is it like dangling a carrot in front of me to entice me to quickly advance to the Super Rank?" Wang Yu grinned. "Isn't that a bit too early for me?"

At this moment, Lingling interjected, "Hmph, 'beyond the level' as you say? Some people should catch up with Senior Brother Xiaoding's cultivation first, lest they dare not take me with them on missions in the future."

"I'm not much worse than Senior Brother Xiaoding, okay..." Wang Yu tried to argue, but his tone became weaker and weaker. "Senior Brother Xiaoding is at the third level of the middle stage of two elements, while I am at the second level of the middle stage of the wind element and the first level of the middle stage of the water element. We both have dual spirit seeds, so the difference between us is really not that big, only three levels."

After a brief, lighthearted exchange, Wang Yu pulled out his other two finds: a claw-like bone from a Qingfeng Leopard and a sharp wind claw from a Wind-Eroding Demon. He placed the two claws on the table for Old Man Bao to appraise. The claw was quickly dismissed as "worth no more than 500,000; don't bother me with such a small amount of money." As for the sharp wind claw, Old Man Bao suggested finding a weapon refiner to forge a demon-slaying tool, which could fetch a higher price even if not used.

A weapon refiner? Wang Yu hadn't yet made any connections with such people, but he figured that this profession, similar to an NPC in a game's main city, should be found near the Pearl Magic Tower. He was just about to call Zhao Manyan to ask if the Zhao family knew any weapon refiners when Old Man Bao opened a drawer and tossed him a slightly yellowed business card.

"Huo Tuo?" Wang Yu stared at the business card, searching his memory for the name.

Old Bao trimmed the end of his cigar, lit another, and the smoke swirled in the dim light of the Qingtian Hunter's Lodge. He pointed to the sharp wind claw that Wang Yu had placed on the table, his tone quite confident: "In Shanghai, when it comes to the craftsmanship of forging magical artifacts, Huo Tuo is second to none. That old guy may have a bad temper, but he's truly skilled. Your wind claw is of good quality, and the elemental demon's physical organs contain a considerable amount of elemental energy. If you just go to any random workshop, that would be a waste."

"Since it was recommended by you, it must be good." Wang Yu rewrapped the wind claw and stuffed it into his backpack. "I'll go now."

"Don't rush," Old Bao exhaled a smoke ring, "The address on the business card is his reception room at the Pearl Tower. If you want to find him, go directly to his studio; you're more likely to run into him there." With that, he tossed over a handwritten address. "Young Wang, Huo Tuo is a very busy man in Shanghai. Whether you can persuade him to forge magical tools for you depends on your luck."

"Thanks, Old Man Bao."

Without further ado, Wang Yu slung his bag over his shoulder and headed out. With the Spirit Seeds Chongxiao and Jingbo, he was currently in a period of explosive growth in strength. If he could acquire a suitable demon-slaying tool, his combat power would definitely rise to another level.