"Cumulative 10,000 times of meditation has been completed. The magic skills automatic cultivation system is activated!"
After hearing the long-awaited prompt, Bai Ze slowly opened his eyes and breathed out deeply. He looked at the mottled wall in front of him and muttered to himself, "After eleven years, the system has finally been unlocked."
He slowly stretched out his legs, which were numb from meditating for a long time, and initiated the system interface unhurriedly.
A light blue, transparent interface appeared in front of him, and there were only strings of text that resembled dark technology on it.
[The automatic cultivation system is binding ...!]
[Binding successful. Next, we will enter the explanation phase: This system can automatically help the host cultivate magic skills 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without rest.]
[The system has detected basic meditation skill. Strength level: F-class, Proficiency level: Beginner. Currently in automatic cultivation, cultivation progress increased to 1%... Increased to 2%... Increased to 3%...]
[The system has detected that the host's magic power is low. Please condense a sea of magic power as soon as possible.]
[The system has detected that the host currently does not possess any rules. Please learn the rules as soon as possible.]
In this world, technology was as thriving as the earth, but magic was mainstream in this world. Students went to school, studied magic, and companies had mages backing them… The entire world's operation was closely related to magic.
Magic might seem profound, but after hundreds of years of the magic resurgence and development, the profoundness of magic had been thoroughly studied. Its fundamental principle was very similar to combustion.
The three elements of combustion were combustion oxidants, combustible items, and fire sources.
And the three elements to produce magic were spiritual power, magic power, and rules.
Comparing the two, the spiritual power in magic was equivalent to air, and the medium was the combustion oxidant.
So magic power was fuel, alcohol, and firewood, which were flammable. The last item, a rule, was equivalent to a source of fire. Only when all three requisites were met could a spell be successfully cast.
The main way to cultivate one's spiritual power was through meditation, and most of the meditation skills required tools to complement them. All kinds of rare items could improve the effect of meditation.
The cultivation of rules mainly relied on inheritances. For example, in order to inherit rules, the use of a quill pen and hand-copying various magical spell books was required to learn them. This method required a certain amount of resources.
Potions were the most effective way to increase one's magic power. Taking potions could expand one's sea of magic power. Next were all kinds of food and medicine. Although they weren't as effective as potions, they were still helpful in increasing one's magic power.
The magic resurgence had a 100-year history by now. Although the government had tried to popularize magic in the commoners' realm as much as possible so that magic did not become exclusive to the nobles, one still had to have a certain social and economic status to learn magic.
After all, every mage was created from the use of resources.
Whether it was the rare items that meditation skills relied on, the right to inherit the rules, or the potions needed to increase magic power, to obtain these things, one either needed money or connections. No ordinary family could afford any of them.
Bai Ze was just an orphan. He had no parents and was only able to survive because of the support from the orphanage. It was already a big struggle for him to stay alive, let alone get hold of any resources.
If it wasn't for the school providing every student with the required F-class basic meditation skill for free, he might not even be qualified to come into contact with magic.
In terms of cultural studies, Bai Ze was diligent, hardworking and scored full marks in all subjects. His position of being first in the school was well-deserved. However, in the field of magic, the gap between him and the other students could not be closed by hard work alone.
No matter how hard he tried, he was still just a magic apprentice. He couldn't even successfully condense one magic ring, and he was the last in the school in this aspect.
Even though the system had awakened, there wasn't enough time.
Bai Ze was now a Senior High School student, and the college entrance examination was approaching.
Could he really condense three magic rings by relying on the automatic cultivation system and catch up to the elite students of the Numero Uno High School?
Just as Bai Ze was thinking about how to solve the current predicament, the system's voice rang out in his mind again.
[Your F-class basic meditation skill's cultivation progress has slowed down due to the lack of supporting treasures. Current proficiency level: Beginner, cultivation progress: 50%.]
50%!
This system was really something! This cultivation speed was more than ten times faster than before!
The high efficiency of the automatic cultivation system was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Bai Ze.
In the realm of magic powers, F-class was the lowest strength, then in ascending order E, D, C, B… The strongest was the SSS-class. So there were a total of nine levels.
However, simply having strength alone was useless.
It was just like how an SSS-class forbidden spell was very powerful, but without the proficiency level, it could never be used by you.
The realm of proficiency was divided into six levels ranging from unfamiliar to proficient:
In ascending order, they were Beginner, Fluent, Familiar, Refinement, Mastery, and Perfection.
As long as the proficiency level was at Perfection, even F-class meditation skills would have powerful effects.
Now, as long as he could get his hands on a suitable supporting treasure, he would be able to continue his automatic cultivation.
Thinking of this, Bai Ze suddenly stood up from the chair and went downstairs.
The system was his last hope. No matter what, he had to try again!
After leaving the apartment and going downstairs, in the chaotic sea of passers-by, Bai Ze walked towards the black market in his memory.
There were many shops selling second-hand magic items near the apartment. Those shops were concentrated on one street, so many people knew about them.
Even though second-hand magic items were not as good as new ones, they were very suitable for poor people like him.
Bai Ze quickly walked into a second-hand shop.
Tinkle!
When the bell chime at the door rang, a slightly fat middle-aged man with sparse hair stood up with a smile.
However, after seeing Bai Ze's clothes, the smile on the fat man's face suddenly disappeared.
Bai Ze didn't care, and his eyes immediately moved to the magic supplies of various shapes.
Many items here showed signs of being used before, and some of the magic power stored inside them had been lost. However, second-hand items were less than half the price of brand-new items, so buying such items was an act of last resort.
Bai Ze strolled around and found many things he wanted to buy, such as a spiritual candle that could improve the speed of meditation. Although it showed signs of burning, it still had a long way to go, and the effect was good. However, the price of one would cost him half a month of relief funds.
There were all kinds of glowing magice staves, potions that could stimulate magic power, and a dizzying array of items that bedazzled Bai Ze.
Finally, the three-digit bank balance made Bai Ze calm down completely.
After looking for a long time, he could only turn around and leave.
The biggest problem in front of him now was that he had no money.
Bai Ze had to work long hours every day to earn enough for his living expenses, tuition, and miscellaneous fees. If he got another job, he was afraid he would not even have time to cultivate in the future.
Bai Ze walked out of the black market and looked down at the cracks in the bricks on the sidewalk. He was a little depressed.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
At this moment, the phone in his pocket rang.