Chapter 54 - 53: Minor Progress

Chapter 54: Chapter 53: Minor Progress

Inside Gaode’s workshop in the Medicinal Garden.

Gaode carefully opened the box, took out a small vial of Basic Magic Potion, and held it in his hand.

"What a luxury!" he couldn’t help but exclaim again.

The price of this single small vial of potion was enough to cover the expenses of eight people in the Medicinal Garden for nearly ten days. Yet, cultivating his Guiding Technique would consume one vial every two days.

Since the money was already spent, Gaode stopped agonizing over it and gently pulled the stopper out.

A strange but not unpleasant scent wafted from the liquid.

GLUG.

Gaode tilted his head back and downed the bottle of Basic Magic Potion in one go. After making sure not a single drop was left, he placed the empty vial back into the box. He could rinse it out and reuse it later for brewing potions. It absolutely couldn’t go to waste.

"For such an expensive price, you’d better not disappoint me," Gaode muttered to himself. He quickly entered Meditation, sinking into the Meditation State required for cultivating the Guiding Technique.

As soon as he entered the Meditation State, Gaode noticed the difference.

A continuous stream of heat surged from his abdomen—an endless supply of Magic Power. Under normal circumstances, Magic Power floated in the outside world, and he needed to use the Guiding Technique to guide it into his body before converting it into his own Mana. But now, the Magic Power was gathering right in his abdomen. There was no need to draw it from the outside world at all!

Gaode had never experienced such a luxury. He eagerly circulated the Guiding Technique, hungrily absorbing the Magic Power pooled in his lower abdomen and converting it into his own Mana.

Feeling his Mana grow increasingly abundant, an unconscious smile spread across his face even while in Meditation. He didn’t awaken from Meditation or stop cultivating his Guiding Technique until the depletion of his Spiritual Power reached its critical limit.

"You really get what you pay for. The progress from this single session is equal to five or six of my usual ones," Gaode marveled sincerely after carefully sensing the growth of his Mana. "If I keep drinking the Basic Magic Potion to assist my Guiding Technique, my Mana will reach the next level in just three days..."

It had taken his predecessor two whole years to cultivate the Guiding Technique and Meditation Technique to the levels of five Tricks and a five-petaled lotus, respectively. And that was already considering his exceptional talent compared to the other apprentices in the Medicinal Garden.

In fact, it wasn’t just the apprentices; even Mage Seda’s talent as a Mage was far inferior to "Gaode’s". Even with the occasional use of a Basic Magic Potion, it had taken Mage Seda until the age of thirty-five to finally become a Third-class Apprentice.

Actually, even when expanding the scope to all Mages, his predecessor’s talent would likely rank somewhere in the lower-middle tier. Yet, despite that, it still took him an average of 144 days—almost five months—to break through a single minor level.

Based on this cultivation efficiency, if his predecessor wanted to cultivate the Guiding Technique from a beginner to a Third-class Apprentice (twenty Tricks) without slacking off for a single day, it would theoretically take 2,880 days, or about eight years.

Of course, cultivation couldn’t be calculated with such simple addition.

The reason Mage Apprentices were divided from First-class to Third-class was that with each class increase, the time required to grow a minor level of Mana also jumped a tier. To put it simply, improving from sixty to seventy points was entirely different from going from seventy to eighty. Although both were ten-point increases, the effort and Energy required were vastly different.

Usually, the time it took a person to increase their Mana by one level as a Second-class Apprentice was 1.5 times what it took them as a First-class Apprentice.

"To go from a Second-class Apprentice to a Third-class Apprentice requires a Mana increase of fifteen minor levels. One minor level takes 144 days multiplied by 1.5, which is 216 days," Gaode calculated inwardly. "If I want to reach Third-class Apprentice, then it will take..."

Gaode did some quick mental math and arrived at the answer. "3,240 days."

That was exactly nine years.

Adding the previous two years, it would be a total of eleven years. For those with more average talent, reaching Third-class Apprentice could take over twenty years at that rate.

"No, I can’t calculate it like that either. As the Meditation Technique breaks through and Spiritual Power grows, the amount of time I can spend cultivating the Guiding Technique each day will also increase. Plus, the efficiency of absorbing Magic Power will improve..."This means the cultivation speed of the Guiding Technique will constantly rise with every breakthrough in the Meditation Technique."

Factoring in this variable, Gaode could no longer make an exact calculation. But it was enough to know that the total time required would be far less than nine years.

Assuming it took roughly seven years... he would only be twenty by then.

At twenty years old, he would become a Third-class Apprentice.

"Besides, I can drink Basic Magic Potions to speed up my progress. Right now, drinking a Basic Magic Potion makes one day of cultivation better than five..."One set—three small vials—of Basic Magic Potion can last me six days. But that’s only because I’m still a First-class Apprentice. Once I reach Second-class Apprentice, I’ll need to consume one vial of Magic Potion every day."If I use Basic Magic Potions the entire way..."

Doing the math in his head again, Gaode came up with another answer. "43.2 days to raise one minor level. I’ll break through the next level soon, so if I exclude that, there are fourteen minor levels left."

He calculated for another moment.

"604.8 days. 1.68 years."

That was right. If he continuously relied on potions, it would take him at most two years to reach Third-class Apprentice, placing him on the same level as Mage Seda.

This was the charm of chugging potions.

"A set of Basic Magic Potion costs 6 gold and 10 silver coins. Based on the consumption rate of a Second-class Apprentice, I’d need about 201 sets, which equals 1,306 gold..."

Gaode threw his hands up in defeat. He stopped calculating.

He simply couldn’t afford it.

"Better to keep my feet on the ground. I can only use these potions occasionally." He humbled himself, abandoning his wishful thinking.

However...

Gaode frowned again, realizing a critical issue.

He had only been in this world for two months, yet his Meditation Technique had already broken through from a five-petaled lotus to a seven-petaled lotus!

"If I don’t have Magic Potions to assist me, the progress of my Meditation Technique will soon leave my Guiding Technique in the dust..."But there’s no way I can afford the expenses of drinking Basic Magic Potions long-term."

The contradiction between the two was irreconcilable.

A single penny could stump a hero, but it absolutely couldn’t stump Gaode. However, 1,306 gold coins would easily stump two Gaodes.

"If only I could get the formula for the Basic Magic Potion," Gaode muttered.

For the Basic Spider Venom Potion, if all the raw materials were purchased, the material cost for one set was 30 silver. But if one owned a Medicinal Garden and cultivated the necessary raw materials themselves, that cost could be cut by more than half.

The purchase price Phil’s Magic Pharmacy offered to Alchemists was 2 gold per set. Yet once the Basic Spider Venom Potion passed from the Alchemists to the pharmacy, the retail price would naturally jump to 2 gold and 10 silver.

Based on this rough estimate, if Gaode could brew the Basic Magic Potion himself, the cost of a single set would drop from the current 6 gold and 10 silver to around 3 gold, or perhaps even lower.

Unfortunately, that was practically impossible.

The formula for the Basic Magic Potion would never appear on the open market.

To any Alchemist, it was strictly not for sale!

...

After drinking the Basic Magic Potion, the cultivation speed of Gaode’s Guiding Technique finally caught up to his Meditation Technique for the time being, advancing by leaps and bounds.

Just as he had predicted, three days later, on the thirteenth day of the Green Bud Moon, the Guiding Technique—which had been progressing at a snail’s pace, much to his anxiety—finally achieved a breakthrough.

As he absorbed the potion’s Magic Power from his lower abdomen and converted it into his own Mana, it gradually harmonized smoothly with his existing Mana, growing ever larger.

Suddenly, his body gave a slight jolt as his Mana flow abruptly expanded by twenty percent.

Gaode knew exactly what had happened and let out a long sigh of relief.

"It finally broke through. Now my Mana is enough to let me cast six Tricks."

If the Guiding Technique was cultivated to Perfection, the resulting Mana would be enough for him to cast twenty Tricks in a single breath.

Although the Guiding Technique didn’t have explicit stage divisions—only roughly categorized from First-class to Third-class Apprentice—Gaode could still deduce his own progress step by step based on how much Magic he could currently cast in one go.

...