Chapter 112: Chapter 86: Substitute Spirit and the Selection Trial
For a moment, the potion room fell silent.
Mo Weng and Yin Xue both stared intently at Pei Ze, waiting for his answer.
Pei Ze didn’t hide anything, admitting frankly, "Yes, Teacher. Just yesterday, I reached the standard for forming a Spirit Crystal."
As soon as he said this, Yin Xue couldn’t help but gasp, her eyes widening in disbelief.
It was no wonder she had such a strong reaction; the news was simply too shocking.
After all, it had been just over two months, at the very most, since Pei Ze obtained the Moon Ring Meditation Technique.
In such a short time, Pei Ze had actually managed to construct the remaining twelve Will Runes?
What kind of speed was that?
Yin Xue once again gained a profound understanding of her junior brother’s terrifying aptitude.
Mo Weng was silent for a long moment before letting out a long breath and nodding heavily.
"Very good."
His tone was filled with unconcealable relief and joy.
At that moment, Mo Weng looked at Pei Ze as if he were gazing upon a finely cut Gemstone that radiated a magnificent light. His expression was exceptionally gentle.
When he first took Pei Ze as his disciple, he had only valued Pei Ze’s talent for potions. He hadn’t held much hope for his aptitude on the path of a Wizard.
This was true even though Pei Ze had already begun to show promise.
After all, he had seen many commoner geniuses rise as quickly as shooting stars, only to fall just as fast and fade into obscurity.
Furthermore, with a genius like Yin Xue—who came from a Wizard Clan with a deep heritage and possessed outstanding aptitude herself—right beside him for comparison, it was only natural that he didn’t have high expectations for Pei Ze in this area.
Who would have thought that in the time that followed, Pei Ze would again and again reveal talent and strength that left him utterly astonished?
First, he had shone brilliantly during the operation to encircle the Hand of Deep Resentment, killing Huo Nan and Li Ke in succession.
And now, he had already reached the standard for forming a Spirit Crystal so early.
This talent already surpassed even Yin Xue’s!
Even among the many geniuses he had seen, Pei Ze’s talent could only be described as brilliant.
At this moment, Mo Weng re-evaluated Pei Ze’s position in his heart.
"Since you’ve already reached the standard for forming a Spirit Crystal, it’s time you learned about the process."
Mo Weng pondered for a moment before beginning his explanation.
"The difficulty in forming a Spirit Crystal lies mainly in two points."
"First, the process of forming a Spirit Crystal rapidly consumes a person’s life force. If this loss of life force becomes too great to sustain, the formation will fail. In severe cases, one’s life force can be completely drained, resulting in death."
"Among Wizard Apprentices who die while trying to form a Spirit Crystal, over ninety percent die for this very reason."
"Auxiliary potions like Li Xin Water serve to replenish life force, protect the body, and prevent death from excessive life force loss."
Pei Ze nodded slightly. He had already read about this in the books at the library.
But Mo Weng’s next words startled him.
"Second, the process of compressing Spiritual Power produces excruciating pain. This pain, originating from the soul level, is enough to make someone with a weak will collapse. Many Wizard Apprentices fail because they cannot endure the pain and interrupt the compression process, which leads to final failure and damage to their Spirit."
This was something Pei Ze hadn’t seen in the books.
Apparently, the library’s information on this topic wasn’t very comprehensive.
Hearing Mo Weng’s explanation, he couldn’t help but fall into thought.
’Five standard doses of Li Xin Water solve the first problem, raising the success rate to over fifty percent.’
’So, if I solve the second problem, can I raise the success rate to eighty or ninety percent?’
At this thought, Pei Ze’s eyes lit up, and he quickly asked:
"Teacher, then how does one solve the problem of the pain?"
Pei Ze didn’t believe that the pain from compressing Spiritual Power could be overcome by willpower alone.
If it were that simple, so many Wizard Apprentices wouldn’t have failed their advancement over the past ten thousand years.
Mo Weng smiled faintly and said, "There are quite a few solutions, but the best method is to find a Substitute Spirit to bear the pain for you."
’A Substitute Spirit?’
Pei Ze searched his memory but unfortunately couldn’t find any related knowledge.
It was Yin Xue who thoughtfully answered his unspoken question.
"A Substitute Spirit is an artificially cultivated Ghostly Creature. It’s a technology that falls under the category of puppet creation."
"The general principle is to take a sliver of your soul’s aura and, through special means, cultivate it into a Ghostly Creature whose soul fluctuations are identical to yours. This creature can then bear any and all soul-level damage on your behalf."
’There’s such a puppet?’
Pei Ze was amazed.
’Puppet creation truly is vast and profound, to think it can even create this kind of Ghost Puppet.’
’But on second thought, if they can create terrifying war machines like the Divine Body Golem, then a mere Substitute Spirit doesn’t seem so strange after all.’
Coming back to his senses, Pei Ze immediately recited inwardly, ’Omniscience, calculate my success rate for forming a Spirit Crystal with five standard doses of Li Xin Water and one Substitute Spirit.’
[86.31%]
’Just as I thought!’ Pei Ze was overjoyed.
’Although I haven’t actually encountered a Substitute Spirit, so the calculated success rate might have some margin of error, the error shouldn’t be too large.’
As long as he could get his hands on a Substitute Spirit, his confidence in forming a Spirit Crystal would be much greater.
Pei Ze suppressed his joy and quickly asked, "Then how do I obtain a Substitute Spirit?"
Mo Weng shook his head. "The principle behind a Substitute Spirit sounds simple, but it involves the soul level. Only a master with consummate skill, one who has been immersed in the art of soul puppets for many years, can create one."
"And as for such master-level figures, you can count them on one hand in all of Chenxi City. At the very least, High Tower Academy has no one of that caliber."
