Night fell.
Xia Ci wore the Akasha Terminal and connected directly to Nahida.
"Big sis."
"You've had full access to the Akasha for a day now—you must've seen many buried truths.
How do you feel?"
There was a moment of silence on Nahida's end.
She had indeed seen a great deal of top-secret data in the Akasha today.
Some of it was so confidential that only the Grand Sage could access it.
She had been deeply shaken by some of the darker revelations.
Nahida responded slowly but with determination:
"Sister, I want to become the Dendro Archon of Sumeru."
"Found your resolve?"
"Yes!"
"Good. Then go do what you believe in. I'll always be watching over you."
"Mm!"
"Well, I'll hang up now. Long-distance calls like this drain divine energy—your sister needs to conserve it."
"Ah?"
"If you need anything, just leave a message in the Akasha.
I log in every night.
Good luck. Bye-bye~"
"?… Hello? …Sister?"
Nahida stared blankly.
--
In the bedroom next door.
Xia Zhi opened the [Shop] and found the [First Meditation Technique].
He had finally earned 10,000 points—enough to purchase it.
[First Meditation Technique]
Quality: Diamond
Type: Skill Book
Trait: Passive- With Thought, Without Thought
Effect: Grants passive skill "First Meditation Technique." Permanently increases max Mana by 1 per second.
Hidden Effect: Reduces Mana consumption by 50%.
Cost: 10,000 Points
Xia Zhi clicked purchase.
A diamond-hued mystical light orb appeared in his inventory.
This was the highest-tier skill book he'd obtained to date.
Diamond seemed to be the capstone of meditation techniques.
Above that, no higher-tier versions appeared in the shop.
The gold-tier [Third Meditation Technique], the platinum-tier [Second Meditation Technique], and now the diamond-tier [First Meditation Technique]—
Their names and effects were similar, all increasing Mana regeneration, but scaled with rarity.
They all also shared a hidden effect: reduced Mana usage, with reductions improving at higher tiers.
With all three effects stacked together, Xia Zhi's Mana consumption was now reduced by 90%.
Combined with [Embrace of the Vampire]'s lifesteal, most of his non-divine spells could now be cast freely.
Oddly, though they seemed to belong together, the three techniques weren't marked as part of a set—no set bonuses triggered.
Probably because they were different rarities.
After all, his existing sets—[Eternal Spirit Knife] cooking utensils, [Spirit Bamboo Brush] writing tools, [Mermaid's Voice] alchemy kit—were all matched in quality.
Xia Zhi removed the diamond orb from his inventory.
"Use skill book [First Meditation Technique]?"
"Yes."
The orb vanished, and Xia Zhi closed his eyes.
A massive influx of knowledge flooded his mind—far greater than any skill he'd learned before.
It took him quite a while to fully digest it.
Opening his system panel, he saw a new passive skill:
[First Meditation Technique]: Passive, +1.3 Mana per second.
The boost from his [Scholar's Ring] was evident—even divine-tier skills could be enhanced by it.
Just a 30% bonus, but already stronger than the [Second Meditation Technique].
Once again, Xia Zhi witnessed how "1 + 1 >2" when it came to item synergy.
Like how [Shadow Hand] and [Temporary Occupation Badge] had unexpected effects together.
This confirmed that item rarity wasn't everything—some gold-tier items were better than platinum ones.
He thought of his other golden items:
[Blazing Incense Burner], [Hat of Secrecy], [Dream Pillow], [Master Key], [Revival Coin], [Heart Badge].
Now that he had the [First Meditation Technique], his next plans were twofold:
First, complete the cooking, writing, and alchemy sets to see what set bonus they unlocked.
Second, use [Evolution] on his frequently used items and see what surprises emerged.
He turned his attention to the [First Meditation Technique]'s traits.
Like the others, it had a passive effect.
But unlike [Second Meditation Technique]'s "Visualization," this one had two seemingly opposing traits:
[With Thought]: Countless illusions, infinite spiritual insights.
[Without Thought]: No thoughts, unity with the cosmos.
Xia Zhi tried [With Thought] first.
Immediately, his thoughts surged like a storm.
His mind entered a hyper-speed state.
He "looked" at the cup on the table, and countless potential futures involving the cup flashed in his mind—
Lifting it.
Throwing it.
Staring at it.
Looking away.
Filling it.
Turning it upside down…
Each scene depicted a possible future state.
It felt like an enhanced version of [Silver Dew]'s powerful [Simulation].
Xia Zhi ended the [With Thought] state.
Then activated [Without Thought].
The storm of thought vanished.
His mind became still.
He felt a serene connection with the world.
He could clearly sense multiple elemental and law energies around him and felt he could easily communicate with or borrow them.
So... this was "unity with heaven and man?"
Xia Zhi opened his system panel and noticed a new green buff:
[Without Thought]: While active, your next attack or skill gains +1000% damage, then the buff ends.
Huh?
A tenfold damage boost?
Xia Zhi calmly "looked" at the panel.
His strongest attack was a spear move—enhanced by [Innate Super Strength].
A [Without Thought] spear thrust would probably be too much even for Morax to handle.
As for skills… one [Planet Befall] under [Without Thought], and Osial might really turn into calamari snacks.
He lifted his teacup and tapped it gently on the table.
A deep crack instantly formed.
He glanced at the panel—[Without Thought] was gone.
His peaceful state vanished.
He tried to reactivate it—
Failed.
"[Without Thought] is on cooldown. Available again in 10 minutes."
As expected.
Xia Zhi ran his fingers over the crack on the table.
Time Rewind.
The table returned to normal.
Looks like he'd gained another trump card.
---
Join my Patreon for early access to 100+ chapters and to support my work: Patreon.com/rivyura