Initial Breakthrough

In the quiet of the night, only the candlelight flickered in the inn room.

Matthew sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing long and steady.

Following the path of the 《Elemental Meditation Method》, his Spirit slowly circulated and gathered in his sea of consciousness like a stream flowing into a deep pool, attempting to build up the strength to break through that invisible barrier.

However, unlike some time ago, his progress was negligible.

The growth of his Spirit seemed to have sunk into a mire. With every circulation, he could only feel that tough, blurry barrier—it lay across the depths of his mind like a transparent glass wall; he could see the scenery behind it, but could never touch it.

Even though he could perceive that his total amount of Spirit was already quite substantial, to the point where its movement could cause slight ripples in the air, he was still firmly locked within the range of a First-Grade Apprentice by this bottleneck, unable to take a single step forward.

“Sutton was right... This bottleneck is becoming more and more obvious.” Matthew murmured in his heart, a trace of helpless clarity rising in the depths of his consciousness.

“If I remain stuck before this bottleneck, I'm afraid my Spirit realm won't progress even an inch!”

Matthew knew in his heart that this was no alarmist talk.

Ever since he had learned about the division of apprentice grades from Sutton that night, he had faintly realized that a mortal's Spirit naturally had its limits.

Just as physical strength was constrained by the strength of bones and muscles, the growth of Spirit was also limited by the innate capacity of the sea of consciousness and the resilience of the soul itself.

Ordinary people might not even touch the threshold of a First-Grade Apprentice in their entire lives.

And for someone like him to reach this point by relying on the 《Elemental Meditation Method》 and unknown encounters was already a rare feat.

However, a bottleneck was a bottleneck precisely because it was like an invisible dome, firmly sealing off the path upward.

Lately, every time he meditated, he could clearly perceive that tough barrier—his Spirit was like a stream filling a pool, and once the pool was full, it would overflow, yet he could find no outlet for the flood. If he did not break through this shackle, no matter how he absorbed energy and ran his techniques, his Spirit could only circulate and refine within its original realm, making it difficult to achieve qualitative change and expansion.

“Could it be... that I really have to wait for the day it happens naturally, just as Sutton said?”

Matthew pondered, but an unyielding light flashed in his eyes.

He thought of the mysterious panel within his body—it was precisely this panel that had allowed his otherwise ordinary self to walk a path in a few months that took others years.

Since the panel could break conventions and help him improve rapidly, could the bottleneck before him also be broken with its help?

A hypothesis gradually took shape in his mind.

Perhaps the panel's feedback itself was a type of breakthrough opportunity that transcended the ordinary.

Every time the prompt 【Fireball Spell +1】 appeared after practicing a spell, it was not just an increase in proficiency, but also invisibly tempered his spiritual control and energy perception accuracy.

Although this accumulation was subtle, it was very real. If he could continue to accumulate and let quantitative change trigger a qualitative leap, the panel might, at a certain critical point, push open the door to a Second-Grade Apprentice for him.

Only—this would inevitably be a long road.

According to his current progress in practicing spells, every tiny improvement was accumulated in units of days.

If he wanted to rely on the panel's feedback to wash away the bottleneck, the time required would probably have to be calculated in months or even longer.

After all, going from a First-Grade to a Second-Grade Apprentice was an initial leap in life level, which was by no means the work of a single day. A Third-Grade Apprentice like Sutton had likely groped in the dark for countless years.

“I don't want to wait so long...”

That night, Sutton's calm words echoed again: “Look at you... Your Spirit is condensed and not scattered, and your perception of energy is already at the Novice level. I suppose you aren't far from a Second-Grade Apprentice, are you?”

At the time, it had sounded like encouragement, but experiencing it firsthand now, he realized that the words “not far” actually represented a deep chasm stretching before him that required a strenuous leap to cross.

He slowly withdrew his Spirit, allowing his consciousness to gradually drift out of deep meditation.

The candlelight penetrated his eyelids, leaving a hazy halo in his field of vision.

Matthew did not open his eyes immediately, but sat quietly in deep thought.

Go to Sutton?

This thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly suppressed it. Sutton's goodwill had come too abruptly and too generously; there might be deeper calculations hidden behind it.

Moreover, relying on another's guidance to break through was, in the end, an inferior path.

The wizard's path ultimately had to be walked step by step on one's own.

So, how could he break this deadlock?

His thoughts suddenly drifted to another path—the promotion of Class holders.

The scene of Aidan breaking through with the help of a potion was still fresh in his memory, and he himself had personally experienced the process of absorbing the life energy of a goat demon crystal core to stabilize his Silver Rank physique.

That abundant and pure external energy acted like a key, piercing through the shackles of his physical potential.

“Since a body of flesh and blood can use external things to break through, then Spirit... can it also do the same?”

Matthew's gaze fell upon the hidden compartment beside the bed.

In addition to the three bottles of “Blood-Burning Potion” and the laboratory notes given by Sutton, there was something else inside—magic stones.

These were the eight magic stones he had slowly accumulated since the beginning of his rebirth.

These crystals containing pure elemental energy had always been carefully kept by him, originally intended for future trading or emergencies.

At this moment, a bold guess took shape in his heart.

“What is contained within magic stones is the most direct and refined free energy elements, and the essence of Spirit cultivation is precisely the absorption, refining, and control of this energy...”

Matthew's gaze deepened.

“Perhaps it can become the external force that breaks through the bottleneck.”

This idea did not come out of nowhere.

Although Sutton had not said so explicitly, when chatting with Matthew about the cultivation resources of wizard apprentices, magic stones were often mentioned as the absolute foundation.

They were equivalent to currency.

However, as for how to safely and effectively use the energy within magic stones to blast through a bottleneck, there was no previous experience to follow—at least, it was not recorded in the limited knowledge Matthew currently had access to.

Risks naturally existed. The energy of magic stones was violent and direct. If controlled improperly, it could easily cause spiritual damage and perceptual disorder at best.

At worst, it could shake his sea of consciousness, leaving behind dark wounds that would be difficult to heal.

But Matthew had never been a hesitant or timid person.

Opportunities often coexisted with risks, especially at this moment when resources were limited and the road ahead was unclear; a cautious gamble was sometimes the only way out.

Besides, based on his experience, these magic stones were quite mild and fell under safe materials.

He took a deep breath, a decision already made in his heart.

No longer hesitating, Matthew leaned down to open the hidden compartment under the bed and took out an unremarkable linen bag from the corner of a wooden box. Untying the drawstring, he poured out several thumb-sized, irregularly shaped crystals that emitted a soft glow—these were magic stones.

They were of various colors, mostly light blue and pale white. Warm to the touch, liquid light seemed to flow slowly within them.

Matthew picked up one of the light blue magic stones and held it in his palm. Under the candlelight, a subtle luster flowed across its surface, like a condensed fragment of the night sky.

He closed his eyes again, adjusted his breathing, and sank his mind into a state of utmost focus. The 《Elemental Meditation Method》 circulated once more, and his Spirit, like an awakened tide, formed a stable cycle within his sea of consciousness.

This time, instead of merely absorbing thin, free energy from the air as usual, he separated an extremely fine and condensed strand of Spirit and slowly reached toward the magic stone in his palm.

The moment his Spirit came into contact with the surface of the magic stone—

“Buzz...”

A clear and intense resonance suddenly surged! As if a sleeping volcano had been lightly tapped, the energy that had been gently flowing inside the magic stone instantly became active and restless.

A stream of pure, cool, yet distinctly heavy energy flowed backward along the strand of Spirit, forcefully pouring into Matthew's sea of consciousness!

This feeling was completely different from the slow absorption of free particles in the air during his usual meditation. The energy in the air was like a drizzle, thread by thread, gently soaking in.

The energy of the magic stone, however, was like a torrent that had been blocked by a dam for a long time; once it found an opening, it surged in with an irresistible, majestic force.

Matthew's heart shuddered, and he immediately circulated his meditation method with all his might, trying to guide and tame this external energy.

His Spirit spun at high speed like a whirlpool in his sea of consciousness, wrapping, cutting, and assimilating the incoming magic stone energy. The initial impact brought a slight swelling pain and dizziness, as if a foreign object had been forced into his mind. But soon, under the orderly refining of the meditation method, this pure energy began to slowly merge with his own Spirit.

It was working!

Under the washing of the Spirit that had merged with the magic stone energy, that tough barrier of the bottleneck actually loosened slightly! Although it was only an extremely tiny bit, it was like chiseling the first crack on an airtight iron wall.

Matthew's spirits rose, but he did not act rashly. He carefully controlled the speed of absorption, allowing the magic stone energy to continue injecting at a relatively gentle pace. However, as time passed, he keenly sensed that the energy of a single magic stone was not enough.

The toughness of that bottleneck far exceeded his expectations. The energy of a single magic stone was like a stream washing over a boulder; though it could carry away some sand, it was far from enough to shake its foundation. The crack still existed, but the speed of its expansion was slowing down, and with the fading of the initial impact effect, it even showed signs of closing up again.

Matthew frowned slightly, weighing his options in his heart.

Stop? Then all his efforts would be in vain, wasting a magic stone while the bottleneck remained.

Continue?

He opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the remaining magic stones in the bag. The light blue luster shimmered faintly under the candlelight, like a silent invitation.

“...Two!”

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