Each enlightenment tome is actually a meditation method.
The Star Ring Meditation Method is the meditation method attached to the enlightenment tome that activated Su Nan's spiritual power.
Its core is to construct star rings in the mind.
Each star ring constructed significantly increases spiritual power.
According to the enlightenment tome, successfully constructing three star rings and reaching 12 points of spiritual power allows one to advance to a second-level wizard apprentice.
As Su Nan closed his eyes, his vision instantly plunged into darkness, his consciousness sinking like a stone into a lake, gradually reaching the silent bottom.
A dazzling starlight slowly emerged from the darkness, gradually growing to form a ring.
However, this ring was mostly illusory, with only about one-tenth of it being solid.
During the meditation, points of light flashed around Su Nan, entering his body and continuously filling the illusory part of the star ring.
He didn't know how much time had passed when Su Nan suddenly opened his eyes and woke up.
He took out his pocket watch and saw that nearly two hours had passed.
On the panel, the Star Ring Meditation Technique had increased by 5 points of proficiency, and mental strength had also increased by 0.01.
"The same two hours of meditation time yielded about two and a half times the usual results."
"That's the benefit of increased mental activity."
A smile appeared on Su Nan's face.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by a knock.
"Young Master Su Nan, Lord Ke Yi has returned and requests your presence at the training ground."
Su Nan snapped out of his reverie and said calmly, "I understand."
Black Rock City was built against a mountain.
To defend against the incursions of the Blackscale Lizardmen, the city walls were exceptionally high, with numerous towers surrounding the perimeter.
From a distance, it resembled a ferocious beast coiled in the mountains.
At the very center of the city stood a spacious inner fortress.
Unlike the crucial city walls, the inner fortress hadn't been repaired for many years and looked somewhat dilapidated.
Only the training ground was flat and open, clearly recently expanded, revealing the martial spirit of its owner.
Su Nan entered the training ground and was immediately greeted by his elder brother, Ke Yi, standing at the edge of the arena, surrounded by seven or eight well-built men in armor.
These men were the only remaining knightly force in Blackrock City, the last remaining loyal fighting force left by their father, Baron Anast, to the Shining Family.
"Formal knights all have a physique of 8 or higher, and high-ranking knights like my brother can even reach 14 or higher."
"Compared to these inhuman beings, my body is pitifully weak."
Looking at his own physique of only 0.7, even worse than that of an average person, Su Nan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
His predecessor was born with deficiencies and a weak physique from childhood. Although he had practiced breathing techniques, he had made almost no progress and was completely unsuitable to be a knight.
From childhood to adulthood, he had always lived in the shadow of his elder brother, Ke Yi, outwardly not saying it, but inwardly he was extremely resentful.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have placed his hopes on the ethereal legends of wizards, only to lose his life instead.
Although many wizarding texts have survived on this continent, ordinary people cannot understand the writing on them. Therefore, people mostly regard these books as antiques worth collecting.
Wizards have become legendary figures, appearing mostly only in ancient tales.
"Big brother," Su Nan called out.
Ke Yi turned around, looked at his younger brother, and a smile appeared on his sculpted, rugged face.
"You've come at the right time. I've brought you what you wanted."
The surrounding knights bowed to Su Nan.
Su Nan's gaze fell on the cart beside him.
On it lay more than a dozen corpses.
These corpses were covered in black scales, with eagle-claw-like hands, protruding mouths, and mouths full of sharp fangs.
Even in death, they still exuded a fierce and ruthless aura.
They were the Blackscale Lizardmen, the mortal enemies of Blackrock City!
These demi-human creatures lived in the wild lands dozens of kilometers away.
They do not produce anything, only plunder. Every year, they invade the villages surrounding Blackrock City, looting and killing, making them deeply hated.
The Blackrock City Guard is mostly deployed to deal with these bandits.
"Brother, could you please send someone to carry the things to my laboratory?"
"No problem."
Kee summoned a soldier and gave the order, then turned to Su Nan, hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help but ask,
"With just these Blackscale Lizardmen corpses, can we really find a way to improve the army's combat power?"
Su Nan smiled slightly and said, "Even if I told you now, you wouldn't believe me. Let me show you the results so you won't doubt it."
Kee sighed: "I'm not doubting you; it's just that the legends of wizards are so vague and uncertain; whether they're true or false is still undetermined. I'm not sure."
Su Nan laughed. "Anyway, it's just a dozen or so Blackscale Lizardmen corpses; the loss won't hurt."
Kee nodded and said nothing more.
Six months ago, their father died unexpectedly on the battlefield, the cause of death shrouded in mystery. Their uncle, Owen Arnest, with the support of the Marquis of Golden Rock, seized the title of Baron of the Shining Light and took control of most of the Shining Light Territory.
If it weren't for the fear of his actions being too blatant and the ambiguous attitude of the other three lords of the Shining Light Territory, Owen would likely have already killed the two brothers instead of finding a pretext to exile them to Blackrock City.
Even so, the threat from Owen remained a Damocles' sword hanging over their heads.
ready to fall at any moment and take their lives.
Therefore, Kee trained desperately, trying every possible way to strengthen Blackrock City. He
even harbored a sliver of hope for so-called wizarding methods
—though deep down he didn't believe it would succeed.
Listening to the brothers' conversation, many knights around them showed disapproving expressions.
They didn't believe the Blackscale Lizardmen possessed anything that could make them stronger. It
wasn't like no one hadn't tried Lizardman flesh before, and no one had become stronger after eating it; the meat was also quite unpalatable.
Seeing the changes in everyone's expressions, Su Nan sighed inwardly.
The people of this world simply didn't understand how powerful wizards were.
Knights and wizards were like martial arts and immortal cultivation—completely incomparable.
Even the most powerful legendary knights of the Starry Kingdom were nothing more than slightly larger ants before a formal wizard, easily crushed.
Shaking his head, Su Nan didn't intend to explain. After exchanging a few words with Ke Yi, he turned and left the training ground.
Returning to his residence, Su Nan went straight to the basement.
This was the laboratory he had cleared out specifically for biological modification research.
The large pile of books left by his predecessor, aside from introductory texts and a few spell model books, consisted entirely of books related to biological modification and potion making.
These included *biology, *mutology, *bloodline extraction, *anatomy, *neurology, *basic pharmacology, and *plant cultivation.
It was through these books, coupled with some practical experience, that Su Nan successfully completed his potion-making learning progress and mastered this skill.
In addition, his learning progress in another skill, 'Biological Modification,' had already exceeded 50%.
I estimate I'll be able to max out my skills in another month or two.
""However, to master other skills or spells, I'll need to collect more wizarding tomes."
This was one of the reasons Su Nan boasted to his elder brother.
Only by making others realize the power of wizarding methods would they be more motivated to help collect various resources.
Otherwise, even if his elder brother continued to spend a lot of manpower and resources to help collect resources out of brotherly affection, his knights would be full of complaints and wouldn't put in the effort.
For the past two months, Su Nan had been busy with this matter.
He painstakingly mastered potion-making, also to prepare for the upcoming operation.
Glancing at the dozen or so lizardman corpses piled in the corner, he took out a copy of "The Complete Book of Zero-Tier Potions" from the cabinet and turned to page 284.
The pages were filled with dense text and complex patterns.
The first line at the top was in bold black text:
Dragon Blood Potion!