Early the next morning.
Kee led his army out of the city in a flurry of activity, heading off to hunt down the Blackscale Lizardmen with overwhelming momentum.
Su Nan, as usual, remained in his room, doing his own thing.
In the study, with its doors and windows tightly closed, the bright yellow candlelight flickered.
Su Nan sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed.
After about two hours, he ended his meditation and opened his eyes.
On the panel, the proficiency of the Star Ring Meditation spell had increased by 5 points.
His mental strength had also increased by 0.01.
"At this rate, it will probably take about half a year to construct the first Star Ring."
Su Nan's eyes flickered slightly.
According to the description in that introductory book, without external assistance, most wizard apprentices would need two to three years to construct their first Star Ring.
Highly talented wizard apprentices could shorten this time to about a year.
From this perspective, even without the benefits of the Silver Moon Flower essence, his 'aptitude' was quite outstanding.
After all, in most games, players with stat panels are unparalleled geniuses compared to natives.
However, Su Nan was still not satisfied.
Constructing the first star ring would take more than half a year, and the second and third star rings would take even longer.
Calculated, it would probably take three or four years to advance to the second-level wizard apprentice level.
Wouldn't advancing to the third-level wizard apprentice level take ten or twenty years? And
advancing to a full wizard level?
Over a hundred years?
You must know that the lifespan of a wizard apprentice is not much longer than that of an ordinary person.
Without physical modification, it will not exceed two hundred years at most.
Only by advancing to a wizard level and breaking through the shackles and sublimating the essence of life will lifespan be greatly increased.
Su Nan's goal is to advance to a wizard level before his lifespan ends so that he can live until the elemental revival a thousand years later.
"I still need to further improve my meditation efficiency."
Su Nan got up and went to the bookshelf, taking out "The Complete Book of Zero-Tier Potions."
This book records the recipes for eighteen zero-tier potions.
In addition to dragon blood potions, there are brute force potions, healing potions, swiftness potions, light-sensing potions, and so on.
What interested Su Nan the most was a zero-tier potion called Lesser Activation Potion.
This potion's effect was similar to Silver Moonflower Essence, both boosting mental activity, but the effect was much stronger, making it an upgraded version of Silver Moonflower Essence.
"If I had a Lesser Activation Potion to aid meditation, I could advance to a second-level wizard apprentice in a year or two at most."
Su Nan thought excitedly.
However, his excitement cooled when he saw the materials needed to make the Lesser Activation Potion.
While materials like Pure Heart Grass, Dragon Eye Mint, and Black-spotted Python Bone Powder were precious, they could be found with time.
But the sap of the Bright Heart Tree was a headache.
In Su Nan's limited game memories, the Bright Heart Tree seemed to only grow within the Cangjin Empire in the south.
Separated by thousands of kilometers, obtaining the Bright Heart Tree sap was impossible.
"I can only try using Silver Moonflower Essence as a substitute."
The main effect of Bright Heart Tree sap was to boost mental activity, similar to Silver Moonflower Essence.
Using Silver Moonflower Essence as a substitute was quite feasible.
The key point is that Silver Moonflowers aren't particularly rare.
One silver coin can buy one.
However, whether this is feasible or not will depend on collecting the other materials before further experimentation.
Besides, Lesser Active Potions, placed among the zero-tier potions, are among the most difficult to craft.
Su Nan estimated that at least level 2 potion crafting was required to master them.
Otherwise, the success rate would be absurdly low.
"For now, I'll use Lesser Dragon Blood Potions to increase my proficiency. Once I've collected all the materials, my potion crafting should be around level 2. Then I'll experiment."
Su Nan put down "The Complete Guide to Zero-Tier Potions" and took several spell model books from the cabinet.
The previous owner only
had four spell models: Mage's Hand, Acid Splash, Sleep Spell, and Flash Spell.
Without exception, they were all the lowest-level zero-ring spells.
However, this suited Su Nan's current situation perfectly.
With his current mental strength, it would be virtually impossible for him to master first-ring spells.
Su Nan opened the book; it was filled with dense text and various complex and intricate models.
Spell models are the foundation for mastering spells.
The casting of a spell requires first using mental energy to create a corresponding spell model and then using the model to trigger energy particles, releasing them in a special way—this is what we call a spell.
Simply put, a spell model is like a CPU processor that converts energy particles into various spells.
However, this processor is exceptionally precise and complex; the densely packed spell circuits and nodes are enough to make one's scalp tingle.
Even the simplest zero-ring spell model is far more complex than most people can imagine.
Furthermore, each spell model involves several disciplines.
Take the Mage's Hand as an example; it involves energy circulation and force field energy conversion. To master the Mage's Hand, one must find books related to these two disciplines, study them, and integrate them.
Therefore, the time required for a wizard apprentice to learn a spell is often measured in years.
However, Su Nan, this cheat-like character, is an exception.
With his built-in player panel, he doesn't need to understand the knowledge in books or master prerequisites; simply reading spell books increases his spell learning progress—
even if he doesn't understand them at all!
Similarly, there's no need to painstakingly construct complex spell models in one's mind.
As long as the learning progress is maxed out, he can instantly master the spell, and the related knowledge can be instantly integrated as well.
This is the advantage of being a player.
Opening the spell model book of "Hand of the Mage," Su Nan focused on reading.
About half an hour later, a line of text slowly appeared in front of him.
[Reading "Hand of the Mage Spell Models," 'Hand of the Mage' learning progress +0.08%]
In the following days, Su Nan spent his days meditating and reading spell books.
Occasionally, he would take some time to process the Blackscale Lizardman corpses sent by Kei's men, extracting blood to make Lesser Dragon Blood Potions.
As his skill proficiency increased, his potion-making skills also became more proficient, and the success rate gradually improved.
Later, on average, three parts of dragon blood could make one bottle of Lesser Dragon Blood Potion.
After half a month, he had accumulated eleven bottles of Lesser Dragon Blood Potions.
When Kei returned to the Blackrock City inner fortress council hall, travel-worn, he was met by Su Nan and a row of potions neatly arranged on the table.
"These are the potions you mentioned that can enhance physical strength?"
Kei picked up a bottle, his face showing amazement as he looked at the bright red liquid swaying in the clear glass bottle.
The knights around him also craned their necks to look at the potions on the table, their eyes burning with desire.
After all, according to Su Nan, these potions were also effective for formal knights.
Who wouldn't want to become stronger?