100,000 bucks might not mean much to Jiang Qingyue, but he simply could not afford it.
Although the butler had given him a check for 100,000 bucks, Bai Ze could not simply spend all 100,000 bucks just to buy a bottle of potion.
Bai Ze could not help but sigh in his heart. He could only look away and make payment absent-mindedly.
After leaving the store, Bai Ze walked back to his apartment building.
Along the way, he was still thinking about the Ether Essence.
He imagined that if he could take a bottle of Ether Essence potion before the start of the qualification competition, he might be able to qualify to compete for the championship.
Sighing in his heart again, Bai Ze felt that although there were many difficulties in front of him, the most important thing was still money.
When he got home, Bai Ze opened the windows.
He lived on the seventh floor of the apartment building. Looking out of the window, the people were like ants, slowly flowing into the road.
At this moment, a light breeze blew past the curtains and gently caressed Bai Ze's face. Finally, after circling the small room, it disappeared without a trace.
"Better start cultivating. I have to be in the top ten at the very least tomorrow to get the school's scholarship."
Bai Ze clenched his fists and returned to his bedside.
He placed the potion he had just bought on the table, then gently opened the bottle.
The moment he opened it, Bai Ze detected a robust medicinal fragrance, accompanied by a cool sensation that rushed into his nose, making him feel refreshed.
"Expensive things are truly of good quality."
Sensing the magic power in his body stirring, Bai Ze couldn't resist swallowing his saliva. He then picked up the glass bottle and drank it all in one go.
The taste of the magic potion was a little like herbal tea. The liquid immediately turned into a torrent and flowed down his throat after coming into contact with his mouth.
The pure medicinal power flowed into his limbs and bones, and the sea of magic power in his dantian started to become restless.
Sensing the effect, Bai Ze immediately sat cross-legged and began to absorb the energy from within.
The effect of this tiny blue bottle that was worth a few thousand was not bad. It quickly replenished the spiritual power that he had expended to form the earlier magic ring.
He was still quite some distance from breaking through to the next realm though.
[System message: C-class rule Ice Crystal Armor has received energy nourishment, and its level has increased slightly. It is currently at Refinement level 2.]
The system prompt sounded in his mind, but Bai Ze was not surprised at all. In fact, he was a little disappointed.
He had already absorbed more than half of the potion's energy, but it was only enough to upgrade his C-class Ice Crystal Armor by one tier. It seemed that it would be very tough to increase his proficiency after the Refinement level.
Although only one rule had improved a little, the magic power in Bai Ze's body was much richer.
His ability had advanced further compared to his earlier state.
However, it did not achieve Bai Ze's expected goal. He was a little regretful. If he had taken the Ether Essence, he would definitely have been able to condense a second magic ring.
Sensing that the magic power in his body was stabilizing, Bai Ze slowly opened his eyes.
Initially, he wanted to activate the Ice Crystal Armor rule to see if there were any changes after his proficiency had increased, but the Ethereal Magic Staff that he had casually placed on the table earlier was now radiating with rays of milky white light.
The meter-long Ethereal Magic Staff laid quietly on the table. There were purple motifs inscribed on it, and its surface was rough and badly weathered.
That milky white light was currently seeping out from the weathered cracks, looking very magical!
[System message: Dense ethereal elements have been detected in the surroundings. System suggests host to meditate immediately and absorb the energy!]
Just as Bai Ze was staring in surprise, a system prompt suddenly appeared.
Bai Ze was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted and quickly activated his meditation skill.
The Refinement level meditation skill was extremely powerful, and it quickly absorbed all the ethereal elements in the surroundings.
Sensing the special energy appearing in his body, with a grave expression, Bai Ze controlled his magic power to wrap around it.
Much to his surprise, he found that his magic power couldn't penetrate the milky-white ethereal energy, and it was slowly seeping through the magic power envelope.
Finally, under Bai Ze's keen sense, it disappeared without a trace.
In the next instant, Bai Ze discovered through his spiritual power that the sea of magic power in his body had turned light blue without him realizing it.
In the tumultous sea of magic power, wisps of magic power were slowly swirling. Everything seemed normal, but the color had changed from its original translucent to light blue!
Just as Bai Ze was panicking, he was pleasantly surprised to sense that the magic power in his body had actually become a lot more compact!
The amount of magic power in the sea of magic power didn't change significantly, but the magic power that was originally like mist was now so dense that light couldn't pass through!
Bai Ze controlled his spiritual power and searched every inch of space within his body, but he couldn't detect anything unusual.
The ethereal elements that had seeped out from the magic staff had disappeared without a trace.
It only made his magic power denser.
At this point, Bai Ze was surprised to discover that the magic power in his body was comparable to that of a second ring mage!
Furthermore, he had boundless energy sufficient to form a second magic ring.
After realizing this change, Bai Ze immediately suppressed the joy in his heart and began preparing to condense the magic ring.
He didn't want to lose such a precious opportunity.
After all, condensing a magic ring was like breaking through a realm. It was not something that could be done at any time.
If he forcefully suppressed the desire to condense it, he might never be able to find this current state again.
As he had already experienced it once, Bai Ze was a lot more skillful in condensing the magic ring the second time.
He first controlled the magic power in his body to gather in his palm, and then he gathered his spiritual power to merge with it.
As the two energies fused, his body began to tremble slightly.
Not long after that, a burst of pale blue light suddenly appeared, spreading from the inside out and quickly condensed under his feet.
At this moment, the magic power in his palm immediately merged with the pale blue light uncontrollably. In the blink of an eye, it condensed into a pale blue magic ring!
The magic ring wrapped around Bai Ze's body and slowly rotated around him.
The pale blue light was warm and dense. At a glance, one could tell that it encompassed a mighty magic power!
At this point, the magic power in Bai Ze's body was almost completely depleted. With a flash of mental thought, he immediately unleashed the first divine ring.
As the two magic rings, one gold and one blue reflected their light off each other, Bai Ze sat in the center of the two magic rings.
With the successful formation of the second magic ring, Bai Ze's aura was constantly rising at this moment.
Soon, he reached a new height. Now, he had truly become a second ring mage!
In just a few days, Bai Ze had advanced from the title of magic apprentice to a powerful expert who could easily defeat Zhang Xian.
Even so, this level of strength was nothing compared to the rest of Maplewood City's Numero Uno High School.
However, Bai Ze had completed the transition in just a few days. As long as he was given more time, it would not be difficult for him to become an intermediate mage.