**Chapter 11: Entry**
The conversation flowed more easily and casually after that.
Amy shared cafeteria gossip and newbie struggles, while Jie Ming listened, subtly building his mental map of the academy and its relationships.
They hit it off, only noticing the late hour when the cafeteria crowd thinned.
“Alright! I’m heading back to tackle my meditation again. I won’t sleep easy until I get that first pattern down!” Amy stood, stretching like a cat.
“I’m done for today too. I’ll give it another shot.” Jie Ming rose.
“Cool! See you tomorrow! Hope we both get the hang of it soon!” Amy waved energetically and headed toward the Alchemy dorms.
Jie Ming watched her go, his smile fading into a deep gaze as she vanished from sight.
“She came to me for a reason. She knew my level-six aptitude, wanted to gauge my potential, and see if I’d seen through the academy’s game… Smart and pragmatic.”
He shook his head, a trace of admiration rising.
“Looks like no one who makes it to Logistics on their own is simple. Amy, hopefully a good partner.”
He needed an extra intel source, and Amy fit the bill.
Meanwhile, as Amy walked back, her smile faded.
She muttered, “Jie Ming… level-six aptitude… sharper than he looks, every word measured, questions on point… and he’s seen through the academy’s tricks. Hmm, this guy’s the type to keep things hidden. But he’s probably stronger than that show-off. Gotta stay on good terms.”
Several days had passed since the Noren Academy aptitude tests.
Jie Ming felt the timing was right.
From his gathered intel, most level-five aptitude apprentices were nearing success. As a level-six “small genius,” he needed to succeed slightly earlier.
Tonight, he’d let his “efforts” pay off.
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he sank into his mental sea.
He deftly began inscribing the final component pattern, his mental strength flowing like a brush, smoothly tracing each complex line.
He felt his mental strength move and condense along specific paths, the pattern’s structure exquisitely aligned with some deep cosmic law.
This time, he made no mistakes. The final stroke landed perfectly, connecting with the starting point.
A silent thunderclap erupted in his mental sea!
The space trembled violently, but this wasn’t the backlash of failure—it was a vibrant, transformative force!
The completed truth rune blazed with radiant light, spreading outward, as if carving a new region in his mental sea.
Jie Ming clearly felt the pattern link tightly with his soul and mental strength, becoming an… anchor in his mental sea!
As the pattern fully stabilized, an insight naturally arose—he “saw” its deeper structure.
He realized the final pattern was fundamentally different from the other four.
The truth rune consisted of four outer patterns and a fifth at the center, forming the abstract triangular pyramid.
The *Basic Meditation Method*’s truth rune relied mainly on the four outer patterns for most of its effect.
But the fifth, central pattern felt strangely familiar. Comparing it to the *Basic Alchemy Manual*’s description of basic alchemy runes, he understood instantly.
That fifth pattern was one of alchemy’s core runes!
It represented “transformation,” the key to interacting with specific energy fields in the first truth rune!
He pulled out the *Basic Alchemy Manual* and *Basic Meditation Method* for comparison.
As expected, the second and third truth runes’ core patterns were alchemy’s “fusion” and “refinement” runes.
No wonder Clark stressed mastering the meditation method quickly, and no wonder the academy forced apprentices to choose disciplines.
It wasn’t just that mastering a discipline required immense effort—the meditation method itself was tailored to each path from the start.
As the first truth rune stabilized in his mental sea, Jie Ming sensed a new, faint connection to the external environment, unlike anything he’d felt before.
Following the method’s later instructions, he focused on the completed pattern, using his mental strength to “draw” that vague connection.
The next moment, faint but vibrant energy particles were pulled by the pattern, slowly gathering from the environment into his mental sea!
These were the “elemental forces” wizards spoke of—active, diverse, and varied in nature.
As they entered his mental sea, the truth rune absorbed them, gradually merging with his mental strength, nourishing and strengthening his mental sea.
The mass of elements gathered around the rune, forming a flame-like energy shape.
“So this is igniting the spiritual flame. No wonder…”
He felt his mental strength grow more active and resilient, distinct from cultivation’s spirit-refining methods.
Sensing the elemental energy flowing in, a sudden inspiration hit.
Maximizing Internal Circulation to seal his internal state from detection, Jie Ming tentatively used the Refining Essence into Qi method, leveraging the interplay of essence, qi, and spirit to guide some elemental energy into his true essence system built by Internal Circulation.
The cultivation system’s Refining Essence into Qi and Internal Circulation methods converted essence, qi, and spirit into each other, forming a self-sustaining cycle.
So when external elemental forces entered his Internal Circulation system, his true essence could “digest” and “convert” them.
Jie Ming clearly felt his true essence grow slightly without refining vitality!
The chaotic elemental energy, filtered and refined by his Internal Circulation, was slowly converted into pure true essence!
Though the conversion rate was low compared to absorbing spiritual qi, it worked.
Jie Ming’s heart surged with barely containable joy!
This meant he’d finally found “fuel” for his cultivation in this spiritless world!
The wizard system’s meditation method had unexpectedly opened a door to absorbing external energy.
More importantly, this solved another problem: he no longer needed to fake his meditation progress.
By adjusting the proportion of elements converted to true essence, he could slow his meditation progress to match a “level-six aptitude apprentice” persona.