I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

The next morning, Ji Tian was woken up by knocking on the door.

When he opened his eyes, it was just dawn. The training ground outside the window was deserted, and traces of last night's dew remained on the sand.

He didn't sleep well last night—the bed was too soft, the blankets too warm, and it was nothing like the straw mats in the village.

But the real reason he couldn't sleep soundly was that the fireball was constantly on his mind.

It was an orange-red, quietly burning fireball that defied all the laws of physics, yet resembled a basic skill used by cultivators.

It needs no fuel, no oxygen, and simply floats on the top of the short staff, like a tamed star.

He sat up and was about to put on his shoes when the door was pushed open.

Elena stood at the door, holding a book so thick it could kill someone.

Today she changed into a light purple dress, the pattern on the neckline was more intricate than yesterday's, her two braids were meticulously braided, and the bows at the ends of her hair were now light purple.

She looked like she had stepped out of a painting—if the people in the painting were looking down at you with that condescending gaze.

She walked in and threw the book onto Ji Tian's bed.

The bed board vibrated and made a "bang".

Ji Tian looked down at the book: it was a leather-bound hardcover with gold lettering and the edges of the pages were brushed with gold powder, which shimmered in the morning light.

There were a few words on the cover that he didn't recognize, but judging from the thickness, the book must have been at least five hundred pages long.

He looked up at Elena, as if to say, "You mean you want to go out with me? What's this all about?"

Elena stood with her hands on her hips and her chin slightly raised. This posture made her look younger than her actual age, but a sly glint shone in her grey-blue eyes.

She let out a cool snort, "Hmph~ You were practically staring at me when I used magic last night."

Ji Tian didn't say anything.

Elena's lips curled up with a hint of smugness. "You think I didn't notice? I've seen that look in my eyes countless times—envious and longing, like a puppy that's been starving for three days seeing a bone."

"……I don't."

"You have—" Elena looked into Ji Tian's eyes and said decisively, "Your eyes are practically glued to my staff."

Ji Tian was silent for a second.

He was indeed very interested in the fireball, but he felt that his expression at the time was probably not that exaggerated.

However, seeing Elena's confident expression, he couldn't be bothered to argue.

"You want to learn magic too, right? Since you're free anyway, why not train a magician for fun?"

She didn't look at Ji Tian when she spoke, but turned her head to look out the window, pretending to admire the empty sandy field on the training ground, but her eyes were clearly glancing in this direction out of the corner of her eye.

Ji Tian understood instantly.

She wanted to teach him magic.

It wasn't "by chance" or "when I had nothing better to do".

She specifically chose to come to his room very early in the morning, carrying this thick book—just to teach him magic.

But she didn't want him to feel like she was there specifically to teach him.

So he adopts an attitude of "I'm just killing time anyway" and "I'll train a magician for fun," as if it's just a passing fancy and it doesn't matter whether he learns or not.

Ji Tian found it somewhat amusing.

But he didn't laugh. He could tell that this young lady was actually very thin-skinned.

Elena pulled another, much thinner booklet from the bookshelf and stacked it next to the thick book on the side of the bed.

She reverted to her commanding tone, hands on her hips, looking down at Ji Tian sitting on the edge of the bed. "Basic Theory of Magic, Chapters One through Three. Finish reading it within three days, then I'll test you. If you don't understand—"

She paused, seemingly considering a sufficiently threatening punishment.

"If you don't understand, go to the kitchen and peel potatoes for a month."

Ji Tian looked down at the book "Basic Theory of Magic".

He turned to the first page.

Then he froze.

He couldn't understand it at all.

When Ji Tian came into this world, he was actually illiterate.

The words twisted and turned, some with small circles, some with a dot on top, and some like earthworms that had been stepped on and were writhing.

These symbols were unlike any writing system he had ever known in his previous life—neither Chinese nor English, nor anything he had ever seen before.

He then flipped through the later chapters.

The same scribbles.

The entire book was written in a language he didn't recognize at all.

Elena noticed that he had stopped turning the pages and raised an eyebrow.

"What? You can't read?"

"...I don't know him."

When Ji Tian said this word, his tone was as calm as usual.

But only he himself knew how difficult it was to say those words.

In his previous life, he had at least received nine years of compulsory education, so reading books, newspapers, and writing papers were no problem for him.

Now, at 112 years old, he can't even read.

Elena's eyes widened.

Her gray-blue eyes were wide open, her mouth slightly agape, and her expression was as if she had heard someone tell her, "Beautiful girls don't know how to use the toilet."

"How old are you?"

"112".

"A 112-year-old who can't read?!"

Her voice rose several octaves, sounding exceptionally loud in the quiet room that early morning.

Ji Tian looked at her expressionlessly.

He wanted to say: I grew up in a godforsaken village, and all I thought about every day was how to train, fight, and dig out enough food from the ground. Who would teach me to read? Nine out of ten tenant farmers in the village couldn't even write their own names, and I was the tenth one.

But he didn't say anything.

He just looked at Elena with a calm, still gaze.

Elena seemed to realize something as well.

"He seems to be the son of a tenant farmer on his father's fiefdom."

Her expression began to change: from shock to disbelief, from disbelief to embarrassment, and from embarrassment to an indescribable complexity.

The layer of feigned maturity and indifference that she usually wore on her face cracked, revealing a hint of helplessness beneath.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. She turned her head away, and after a moment spoke.

"……All right."

She had Ji Tian carry the books, and led him out of the dormitory to the study.

Walking up to the bookshelf, I ran my fingers along the spines of a row of books and finally pulled out a much thinner booklet.

She didn't look at Ji Tian when she handed him the book; her eyes were fixed on the wall beside her.

Her voice was a little lower than before, and there was an unnatural stiffness in her words. "This is a literacy textbook. You should learn to recognize the characters first."

Ji Tian took the literacy textbook.

The cover was made of soft leather, with some wear on the corners, clearly indicating it had been flipped through many times. He turned to the first page.

There was a circle drawn on it, and a line of text written next to it.

Elena leaned closer and pointed to the circle. "This is the character for 'sun,' meaning the sun. Look at this shape, doesn't it look like the sun?"

Ji Tian looked at the symbol.

It's different from the Chinese character for "sun" and also different from the English word "sun." But Elena is right; the symbol does indeed resemble a sun—a circle with short lines representing rays around it.

He silently remembered it.

Elena turned to the second page, where a crescent moon was drawn. "That's the character for 'moon,' meaning the moon."

"This is the character '山' (mountain)."

"This is the character for 'water'."

After teaching five words, Elena stopped and looked at Ji Tian.

"How many of the five words I just taught you did you remember?" Ji Tian picked up the charcoal pencil next to him and wrote down the five words one by one on the paper.

The handwriting isn't very nice, but every stroke is correct.

Elena blinked.

"Okay, at least he's not completely clueless." She turned to the next page. "Continue."

I taught five more.

Ji Tian then wrote it all down from memory.

Teach five more.

All correct.

Elena's expression turned suspicious. She closed her textbook and looked at Ji Tian.

"You really never learned to read before?"

"no."

"Then how did you remember it so quickly?"

Ji Tian thought to himself, "Isn't this just a pictograph? If someone teaches me once, I'll get the gist of it." After thinking for a moment, he said, "Maybe it's because I listened carefully."

Elena stared at him for three seconds, seemingly trying to find any hint of lying on his face.

Ji Tian's expression remained indifferent, neither showing off nor being humble.

She reopened her textbook. "Okay, then I'll speed things up."

She began to accelerate her teaching pace.

I taught him twenty characters in one go.

Ji Tian remembered everything.

I taught another thirty.

Remember it all.

Elena's fingers turned the pages faster and faster, and her voice grew louder and louder.

She seemed to be testing Ji Tian's limits—ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred. After teaching each batch, she had Ji Tian recite them from memory.

Ji Tian got it right every time.

Later on, she simply stopped teaching in batches and instead turned directly to the last page of the textbook, which contained a list of commonly used characters.

"There are 300 commonly used characters in total. Take a look and memorize as many as you can."

Ji Tian took the textbook and began to turn the pages one by one.

The way he reads words is not quite what Elena imagined.

Instead of staring at a single character repeatedly and reading it aloud, quickly scan the character's shape, glance at its meaning, and then turn to the next page.

He could read through the dozen or so words on a page in just a few seconds.

Elena couldn't help but ask, "How can you remember that?"

"Give it a try."

Ji Tian flipped through the entire literacy textbook and went over it in his mind with his eyes closed.

Those characters seemed to be engraved in my mind; each one was crystal clear.

In his past life, he discovered that his memory was better than that of ordinary people when he was memorizing texts. It wasn't that he could remember everything he read, but he could remember it after reading it a few times.

The "foundation" of this body seems to be even better than in the previous life.

He opened his eyes, picked up his charcoal pencil, and wrote down three hundred commonly used characters from memory.

There's one mistake—the stroke order of a character is reversed, but the shape of the character is correct.

Elena stood to the side, staring at the densely written paper, unable to utter a single word.

Ji Tian asked, "Didn't you say it takes a normal person six months to learn commonly used characters?"

Elena took a deep breath and said:

"Are you... mentally unstable?"

"No, I'm just a little smarter than the average person."

Elena looked at him and thought: This is what you call a little bit? She studied for two months back then.

After recognizing most of the common characters, Ji Tian was finally able to read the book "Basic Theory of Magic".

He opened the first chapter and began to read.

"Magic is an invisible energy that exists between heaven and earth, permeating every corner of the air and seeping into mountains, rivers, grass, trees, and stones. Magicians perceive and guide magic through their mental power, incorporating it into their own magical energy circuits, and then releasing it through specific methods..."

Ji Tian closed the book, shut his eyes, and mentally translated what he had just read into a "cultivation version":

"Magic power = spiritual energy".

"Magic Circulation = Meridians".

"Magic Model = Spell Construction".

"Mental strength = Divine consciousness".

He opened his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"As expected, it's just the same old thing in a different guise."

"The magicians in this world are actually practicing Qi cultivation. It's just that they don't have the concept of 'dantian' and store spiritual power in 'magic circuits'—it's like putting water in a pipe instead of a pool. It's inefficient, has a small capacity, and is prone to 'bursting'."

"If I could channel spiritual energy into my dantian... no, it's debatable whether the body in this world even has a lower dantian, but the principle is the same."

He continued reading.

Chapter Two discusses the classification of magical attributes—fire, water, wind, earth, light, darkness, and lightning, the seven major attributes.

The book says that most magicians are born with an affinity for only one or two attributes, which is determined by their talent and cannot be changed.

Mages with an affinity for fire find it difficult to learn water magic, and vice versa.

This is an ironclad rule in the magical world, which has never been broken in thousands of years.

When Ji Tian saw the section on the "Seven Major Attributes," his brows furrowed even more.

The seven elements? Fire, water, wind, earth, light, darkness, and lightning?

"This categorization is too crude."

"In the cultivation world of my past life, the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—generated and restrained each other, plus the mutated attributes ice, wind, lightning, light, and darkness—there was a logic to their transformation."

"The seven attributes of this world are said to be innately compatible and unchangeable... isn't that just the difference between 'single spiritual root' and 'multiple spiritual roots'?"

"A affinity for one type is a Heavenly Spiritual Root, an affinity for two types is a Dual Spiritual Root... but here it seems the more attributes the better."

"The book says 'it can't be changed'? Ha. In my previous life, there were plenty of methods for cleansing one's spiritual roots in online novels."

He kept this question in mind and continued reading.

He continued flipping through the pages.

Chapter Three discusses the methods for constructing magical models, which is the most crucial and also the most difficult part of the entire magical system.

Casting a spell requires constructing a three-dimensional magical model within one's mental energy.

For example, the simplest fireball spell requires you to construct a spherical three-dimensional structure in your mind, with each magical line precise to the millimeter level and the angular deviation not exceeding one degree.

Then fill the model with magic, with strict requirements on the filling order of each layer.

Finally, use mental power to trigger the model's release; the entire process must be completed within three seconds.

The speed and accuracy of model building determine the strength of a magician.

The book says that a qualified magic apprentice needs at least three months to stably build a fireball spell model. A talented one needs a month, and a genius needs a week.

The youngest legendary mage in history, Merlin the Great Sage, is said to have mastered his first spell in just three days.

Ji Tian almost burst out laughing after reading the third chapter.

'3D model? Millimeter-level precision? Angular deviation not exceeding one degree?'

"Isn't this just complicating 'visualization'?"

"In my previous life, cultivating immortality required visualization for forming the Golden Core and the Nascent Soul, but that involved building a 'Seed of Dao' within the body, not using spiritual power to construct building blocks."

"The magicians of this world are essentially drawing CAD blueprints in their minds with their divine sense—if they draw it correctly, they can cast a spell; if they draw it incorrectly, they fail. No wonder apprentices need three months to learn; this method is too inefficient."

"True skill should be 'where the mind goes, the energy follows.' The moment a thought arises, the spiritual energy responds naturally; what need is there for a three-dimensional model?"

He paused, then thought:

"However... assuming the people of this world don't have the concept of a dantian or meridians, and can only rely on 'magic circuits' to tough it out, then they can't achieve 'intention leading to qi.' Their 'intention' and 'qi' are separated by a 'circuit,' so a model is needed to guide them."

This is most likely a systemic flaw.

"If I could first modify my body and develop a structure similar to the dantian..."

"What are you doing?" Elena's voice came from the side.

Ji Tian opened his eyes and realized that he had closed them without realizing it, probably for a minute or two.

"I'm wondering if there's an easier way."

Elena reacted as if she'd heard something utterly outrageous. "An even simpler method? The method for constructing magical models was passed down from the Great Sage Merlin, and all magicians have learned it this way for thousands of years. Who do you think you are? Smarter than the Great Sage?"

"I'm not saying his method is wrong; I'm saying there might be another way."

Elena rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright, stop thinking about all that nonsense." She pulled an even thicker book from the shelf, the title of which seemed to be "A General History of the Elven Court," and hugged it to her chest. "Finish the basic theory first. Finish Chapter Three within three days. I'll test you then. If you can't answer—"

"Peel potatoes."

"Good to know."

Elena, carrying the books, walked to the door, stopped, and said without turning around, "A servant will bring breakfast to your room later. Eat it while it's hot. Don't blame me if it gets cold."

Then she slammed the door shut.

The sound of footsteps gradually faded away in the corridor.

Ji Tian picked up the book, returned to his dormitory, sat on the edge of his bed, and looked at the bowl of steaming porridge and sliced ​​bread on the table.

He read a lot of online novels in his previous life.

Which of those protagonists who transmigrate to another world doesn't have a full set of cheat codes, extraordinary talents, learn magic in a day, and become a genius in three days?

He's still too inexperienced; he needs more practice.

Ji Tian picked up the bread and took a bite.

It tastes great, a hundred times better than the black bread in the village.

As he chewed his bread, he thought: If magic in this world is really as complicated as the books say, then why can't it be simplified?

In his previous life, when he was working out, he saw too many people complicate simple things.

All those "golden exercises," "supersets," and "training to exhaustion" methods—in the end, there's only one truly useful thing: progressive overload.

I can do ten today, and I'll try to do eleven tomorrow.

It's that simple.

What is the essence of magic?

The book says it is about perceiving magic, guiding magic, and releasing magic.

Three steps.

If these three steps can be simplified to the extreme, then what need is there for a 3D model?

He put down the bread and closed his eyes.

Try sensing magic first.

The book says that magic exists as an invisible energy in the world, and it is everywhere.

Ji Tian cleared his mind and tried to sense what was "invisible" around him.

A minute passed.

I didn't feel anything.

Two minutes.

I still didn't feel anything.

five minutes.

He felt like a fool.

ten minutes.

I still didn't feel anything.

Ji Tian opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

Perhaps his method was wrong, or perhaps he simply lacked the talent to sense magic.

Perhaps he really should just learn according to the methods in the book.

But he was not willing to give up.

He recalled his past life when he first walked into the gym and couldn't even do an air bar. The coach was kind enough not to try to trick him into buying classes by saying, "You've come to the right place." He simply told him, "You're not suited for this."

He didn't believe it.

A year later, he was able to lift 60 kilograms.

Three years later, 100 kilograms.

Ten years later, he stood on the podium at the National Powerlifting Championships, holding his third-place medal.

If that coach were there, he would probably realize he misjudged the situation.

Ji Tian closed his eyes again.

This time, he didn't rush to "perceive" anything; instead, he directly adjusted his breathing according to the "meditation" method described in the online novels from his previous life.

"Take a deep breath and visualize true energy entering from the top of your head."

"Slowly exhale, visualize the turbid air coming out from the soles of your feet."

Three breaths later, his heartbeat slowed down. The sounds around him—the wind, the birdsong, the occasional footsteps in the corridor—seemed to be separated by an invisible membrane, becoming distant and indistinct.

He began to "introspect".

It was a shift in consciousness; he withdrew his attention from the outside world and sank into his own body.

He could vaguely "feel" blood vessels, muscles, bones... but that wasn't what he was looking for.

He was searching for the tentacles of "divine consciousness".

In a previous online novel, it was said that everyone has a divine consciousness, but the strength varies: the divine consciousness of an ordinary person is like a lamp covered by a thick cloth, and the light cannot pass through. One of the purposes of cultivation is to uncover that cloth.

Ji Tian imagined his consciousness spreading outwards slowly from between his eyebrows, like water.

very slow.

It's very light.

Like a drop of ink falling into clear water, slowly spreading.

Then, in that extreme silence, he sensed something.

Very faint.

Like a spider's thread in the darkness, it brushed against his consciousness almost imperceptibly.

"That's it."

"Spiritual energy—no, the 'magic' of this world."

Ji Tian didn't rush to grab it. He simply quietly sensed its presence.

The feeling was strange, unlike touch or hearing, more like the first time one's consciousness opened its eyes and saw a blurry light.

"Spiritual Root".

"I have spiritual roots."

"Although it is easily overlooked, it does exist."

He slowly opened his eyes.

The porridge on the table was still steaming.

He looked down at his hands, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"The way has been found."

He looked down at his hands.

Nothing has changed.

He couldn't unleash a fireball, couldn't control the water flow, and couldn't even make anything move.

"I know where the path is now. So this is how the spiritual energy of this world works..."

Ji Tian grinned crookedly, "That's right. 'Seven elemental affinities' is equivalent to 'seven spiritual roots.' This is still the cultivation world; it's just a change of name without any real substance."

He took a sip of porridge, put down the bowl, opened "Basic Theory of Magic," and started reading again from the first chapter.

This time, he no longer thought those words were just scribbles.

He recognizes every single word.

He could understand every single sentence.

He began to take careful notes, using charcoal to draw the knowledge structure of each chapter on paper, listing the key points one by one, and structuring them with the concept of cultivation.

He reads quickly and carefully.

Thanks to the cultivation novels Ji Tian read in his previous life, he understood these things very quickly.

Three hours later, he finished reading half of it, and then gradually increased his speed.

If there are any obscure characters that interfere with your studies, look them up in the dictionary.

By evening, he had finished reading it all.

The food the servant brought to the table was already cold, but he didn't touch it.

He's still watching.

Like a drowning person grabbing onto a piece of driftwood, or like a person who has been starving for a long time finally finding food.

There are so many things in this world that he doesn't yet understand.

But he has plenty of time.

And now, he has a book.

He found someone willing to teach him.

Although that person said it was "to train a magician for fun".

But Ji Tian knew in his heart that no one who was just "playing around" would run into someone else's room early in the morning with a 500-page book.

He smiled slightly and muttered to himself.

"Although she said it was just 'playing around,' she came over early in the morning with a 500-page book... How could this be just playing around?"

"Even the elders who pass on their skills aren't this attentive."

"As the saying goes, 'A thousand-mile horse is easy to find, but a Shang Yang is rare.' Elena's kindness to me is no less than that of Shang Yang in ancient times."

"This kindness must be remembered."