From Wizard Apprentice to Conqueror of Myriad Worlds

A mere hour later, Mo Ning awoke, feeling as invigorated as a fist drawn back to build power.

From the moment he closed his eyes to when he opened them, exactly one hour had passed—not a second more, not a second less.

Gazing at the rough stone ceiling, he immediately noticed something different about his mental state—his Spiritual Power was exceptionally active, and he felt an indescribable sense of lightness.

It was as if his entire body was being held aloft by something invisible, making even breathing feel a little easier than usual.

With a flicker of thought, a translucent panel only he could see swiftly materialized before his eyes:

[Name: Mo Ning.]

[Spiritual Strength: 0.70.]

[Physical Strength: 0.23.]

[Spiritual Resilience: 0.26.]

[Gao Lei Factor (Divination Calculator computational factor): 1.69.]

A flash of joy crossed Mo Ning’s eyes. ’It increased again, as expected!’

His Spiritual Strength had increased by 0.02, finally reaching what the newcomers called the "Black Tower Line."

To put it simply, the "Black Tower Line" meant that a newcomer with Spiritual Strength at this level had a greater than ninety percent chance of successfully forming their first Spirit Ring within two years, allowing them to remain at the Black Tower Academy.

Below this line, however, for every 0.01-point decrease, the probability of forming a Spirit Ring dropped drastically.

Even the academy acknowledged this line.

Newcomers with a Spiritual Strength of 0.7 received an initial grant of 100 Black Tower Points upon entering the academy, whereas for those with 0.69, the grant was sharply reduced to 95.

After working so hard for so long, his Spiritual Strength had finally crossed this threshold, giving Mo Ning a reassuring feeling of having reached a milestone.

In addition, two other important stats had also seen a slight bump: Spiritual Resilience went up by 0.02, and the Gao Lei Factor had risen by 0.01.

Mo Ning pondered for a moment, attributing the sudden increase in his stats to his earlier "overleveled" casting of a Witchcraft that was infinitesimally close to Level Zero.

The books and manuscripts he had read in the Royal Library had mentioned more than once that the very act of casting Witchcraft was a way to constantly hone one’s Spiritual Power.

Many Wizards who practiced Witchcraft for years on end saw their Spiritual Strength grow much faster than their peers who spent all their time researching in labs, even if both groups spent the exact same amount of time in Meditation.

And casting a Level Zero Witchcraft while "overleveled" had likely done more than just exercise his Spiritual Power; it had also deeply tapped into his potential.

The increase in his Spiritual Resilience also supported this conclusion.

Normally, the growth ratio was about a 0.01-point increase in Spiritual Resilience for every 0.04-point increase in Spiritual Strength.

But his Spiritual Strength had only risen by 0.02, while his Spiritual Resilience had increased by the same amount. This was clearly not a normal rate of growth.

The only explanation was that his Spiritual Potential had been unlocked.

Mo Ning silently thought, ’Thank you, Sir Rent!’

If Sir Rent hadn’t placed the Phantom Carved Statue on his desk, he never would have started down the path of the Divine Statue Technique.

If not for the Divine Statue Technique, he wouldn’t have accidentally formed the Original Soul Seal in his Spiritual World, much less miraculously gained control of Thunder Power.

Suppressing his joy, he unzipped his sleeping bag and sat up.

The two girls immediately noticed the movement, and their gazes instantly converged on him.

Reina had woken up after only half an hour of sleep. Just like Anya, she was holding a small, portable Divination booklet and studying it intently.

Both had been significantly influenced by Mo Ning and had become quite diligent in their studies.

"Did you sleep well?"

Anya’s voice was as gentle as ever.

Mo Ning hummed.

For some reason, he noticed a faint blush on the Noble Lady’s beautiful cheeks. Her expression was a little shy, carrying the hint of a young girl’s budding crush.

But he just assumed the two girls had been secretly discussing some private girly topics, so he didn’t give it much thought.

Reina’s playful voice drifted over, dispelling the odd feeling in his heart. "Commander Mo Ning, Private Reina awaits your brilliant orders!"

The Dazed Girl was smart. Guessing that Mo Ning was about to make a move, she probed him with a joking tone.

Mo Ning didn’t answer right away. First, he used his Spiritual Power to activate the sleeping bag’s "retract" function.

With a hiss of escaping air, the Spiritual Materials rapidly contracted, expelling the air from within. In the span of a single breath, it had shrunk to the thickness of a piece of cloth.

He deftly folded the sleeping bag and glanced out the window at the thick fog.

An hour had passed. The dense fog outside now blotted out the sky, churning up from the ground to an unseen height and swallowing the world in a chaotic, milky-white haze.

The rain hadn’t stopped. Fine threads of drizzle cut through the fog, carried by the wind to strike the stone walls with a soft, rustling sound.

A smile touched Mo Ning’s lips. "It’s time to hunt."

The two girls were dumbfounded.

’The fog is so thick we can’t even see the terrain. How are we supposed to hunt in these conditions?’

’He has to be joking, right?’

Mo Ning put the sleeping bag back in its place, picked up the Multi-functional Staff beside him, and then said leisurely:

"The fog is certainly a problem, but it’s not just our trouble. It’s trouble for every creature in Mist Valley."

He paused, the amusement in his voice deepening. "But I’m more inclined to believe the fog is an even bigger problem for the monsters."

The two girls could only look at each other in confusion.

It wasn’t that they were unwilling to believe Mo Ning; his words just flew in the face of common sense.

The monsters of Mist Valley had survived in the valley for so long; surely they had adapted, to some extent, to the regular, dense fog.

The newcomers, however, had only just arrived. How could they possibly be better adapted to the environment than the monsters?