With fifty Silver Coins in hand, Li Wei didn't hesitate to spend it all on five sticks of Calming Incense.
Five sticks of Calming Incense would be enough for him to practice his Cultivation 25 times.
Back in his dorm in the Mage Tower, Li Wei eagerly lit a stick of Calming Incense and began to meditate.
Breathing in the faint scent of the Calming Incense, Li Wei entered a state of Meditation within just two or three minutes.
Nearly half a month had passed since he first cultivated Mana. His Spiritual Power had grown significantly, extending each of his Cultivation sessions to fifty minutes.
In less than an hour, his Meditation session was over.
Li Wei opened his eyes and saw two lines of text appear on the floor before him.
[Basic Meditation Method (Proficient)] 198/1000
[Small Fireball Technique (Tier Zero Entry Level)] 0/1000
Feeling the ever-growing Mana within him, he couldn't contain his curiosity and wanted to try practicing Magic.
He recalled the Magic Model in his mind and began to construct it with his Mana, just as his teacher had instructed.
Once the Magic Model was constructed, the Magic Elements from the world around him would automatically fill it, thereby releasing Magic.
Construct, fill, and cast.
Not one of these three steps could be skipped.
On his first attempt to control his Mana and construct the Magic Model, Li Wei found it incredibly difficult.
His Mana was like a scattering of loose sand. He had to guide it along a specific trajectory to form the Magic Model while simultaneously restraining it to prevent it from dispersing and losing its shape.
He felt like a craftsman trying to build a house out of loose sand—he didn't even know where to begin.
After a brief attempt, Li Wei gave up.
The next morning, feeling refreshed and full of spirit, Li Wei was about to begin his meditation and Cultivation.
Remembering his failed attempt to practice the Small Fireball Technique the night before, he felt unwilling to accept defeat and decided to try again.
His teacher had taught in class that while Mana was the foundation for Casting Magic, Spiritual Power was also crucial.
One couldn't cast Magic if their Spiritual Power was depleted either.
Right now, his Spiritual Power was at its peak.
If he couldn't even manage it now, it would mean his Mana was simply too weak, and he needed to continue his Cultivation with more effort.
The moment he began to manipulate the Mana in his body, Li Wei felt a distinct difference.
Yesterday, his Mana had been like unruly, loose sand.
Today, it was like sand mixed with water. Though his control was still clumsy, he was now able to form a specific structure and construct a crude Magic Model.
After more than ten minutes, the Magic Model for the Small Fireball Technique was complete.
Li Wei's Mana was also completely drained.
The Fire Elements from the world surged into the Magic Model, and a tiny spark of light began to glow.
Just as Li Wei thought the spark would grow into a Fireball, the Magic Model collapsed with a soft POP. The spell had failed.
The Magic Model had been too crude to withstand the rapid influx of the Fire Element, causing it to collapse.
Despite the failure, Li Wei was thrilled.
[Small Fireball Technique (Tier Zero Entry Level)] 1/1000
This was a breakthrough from zero to one!
After the failure, he reflected on what had happened.
'Mana is like uncontrollable loose sand, and Spiritual Power is the water mixed in with it. The water helps the sand cohere, making it easier to shape. Is that why you can't cast Magic when your Spiritual Power is depleted?'
'Let me think about this some more!'
Li Wei tapped his forehead, deep in thought.
'Magic Model, Mana, Spiritual Power...?'
'The essence of casting Magic is no different from building a house. The Magic Model is the design of the house, Mana is the bricks and stones, and Spiritual Power is the mortar.'
'Meditating to improve Mana is really about changing the nature of the Mana itself, making it easier to construct Magic Models.'
'You can only build sandcastles with sand, but you need bricks and stone to build a real house—which represents a powerful Magic Model.'
'Meditation and Cultivation are absolutely essential!'
'If your Spiritual Power is strong enough, you can construct a complete Magic Model even with weak Mana.'
'It's like mixing mortar with sand. You can still build a house, but there will be a huge difference in quality.'
Li Wei now had a much clearer understanding of the path forward.
He needed to use meditation and Cultivation to improve his Mana, turning his "sand" into "stone," then "bricks," and eventually even "steel rebar."
He also needed to strengthen his Spiritual Power, turning the "water" that bound the sand into "glue" or "mortar."
This would allow his Mana to construct more powerful and complex Magic Models.
'Oh no! I'm late again!'
Li Wei snapped back to reality, hastily grabbed his textbook, and ran toward the classroom.
After being reprimanded by the teacher for his tardiness, Li Wei returned to his seat.
The teacher resumed the lecture.
"As a Mage, the most important thing is to remain calm and composed. Only with mental stability can you reliably construct a Magic Model and cast Magic..."
"During your usual Cultivation, you can try practicing your Magic while using Calming Incense, as it has a mood-stabilizing effect..."
"A true Mage must possess immense mental fortitude, able to remain calm in any crisis and achieve Stable Spellcasting..."
"For a Mage, nothing is more important than Stable Spellcasting!"
"A Tier One Magic that only works some of the time will never be as good as a Tier Zero Magic that can be cast reliably!"
'Stable Spellcasting?' Li Wei pondered this.
After having practiced the Small Fireball Technique, Li Wei's biggest takeaway was that the Casting was just too slow!
In a real battle, you wouldn't have ten-plus minutes to cast a spell.
Forget ten minutes—even a few minutes would be too long. A battle could be decided in a matter of seconds.
Stable Spellcasting didn't just mean a one-hundred-percent success rate, but a one-hundred-percent success rate within a specified time limit.
The requirement for an Apprentice Mage was to cast a Tier Zero Magic within ten seconds.
For the next few days, Li Wei followed a new routine: meditation and Cultivation in the morning, and practicing Magic at night until his Mana was depleted, after which he would meditate and cultivate again.
He discovered that the effects of his meditation and Cultivation were better after he had exhausted his Mana.
Meditation and Cultivation increased his Mana capacity.
When his Mana was depleted, meditation would first prioritize its recovery.
In a meditative state, his Mana recovered very quickly. Even after reaching its maximum, this rapid recovery would persist for a short time. This meant that his overall Mana growth wasn't slowed by the need to first replenish his reserves; on the contrary, it accelerated.
This was a pleasant surprise.
The only downside was that his Cultivation was becoming more expensive.
Before, one stick of Calming Incense would last for five sessions, but now it would burn out after only four.
[Basic Meditation Method (Proficient)] 218/1000
[Small Fireball Technique (Tier Zero Entry Level)] 2/1000
Looking at his progress with the Small Fireball Technique, Li Wei felt troubled.
Each practice session for the Small Fireball Technique drained all his Mana. Even if he meditated to recover it right away, he could only manage three or four sessions a day at most.
At this rate, it would take forever to level up.
'A whole year just to learn a single Tier Zero Magic?'
Li Wei scratched his head.
He had originally thought that once he could cultivate Mana, becoming a Mage wouldn't be far off.
He never expected that learning Magic itself would be the real hurdle.
A spark of inspiration hit Li Wei as he remembered his teacher mentioning "Magic Potions."
Magic Potions could accelerate Mana recovery.
They would allow him to increase his number of practice sessions and save time.
The only price was—money!
In the blink of an eye, four days passed, bringing the second week of October.
The Xinghuo Literature Society made an announcement: starting today, the novel *Dragon Knight*, which had been updated weekly, would be released in a collected volume.
As soon as the news broke, readers who had been eagerly waiting for it rushed to buy the book.
On its very first day of release, the novel's collected volume sold more copies than the Xinghuo Literature Society's entire monthly publication did last month.
Gus was ecstatic.
When Li Wei saw his classmates secretly passing around copies of *Dragon Knight* in class, he too felt a surge of anticipation for next month's royalty payment.