Time flew by.

  In the blink of an eye, it was late February.

  In the living room of the apartment, the afternoon sun spilled lazily onto the solid wood floor.

  Mist Raven stood quietly on the perch by the window as usual, basking in the sun, its black feathers shimmering in the light.

  Little Yi lay on the soft sofa, sound asleep without a care for her image. Her slender limbs were sprawled outside the blanket, her sleeping posture extremely unladylike.

  Her small mouth smacked from time to time, mumbling sleep-talk like "Another cup," "I can still drink," clearly dreaming of some delicious nectar.

  To the side, Pierce sat upright, focusing inward, checking his status data.

  [Spirit: 160.00] [Constitution: 84.72]

  Pierce let out a long breath, his tense nerves finally relaxing.

  It had been nearly two months since the Omniscient Meditation Technique was created, and he had finally completed the construction of the last Will Rune.

  The further he went, the more time required for the analysis and construction of Will Runes increased geometrically.

  Especially for the Will Runes after No. 24, any random one required at least a hundred days of analysis time.

  And the analysis time for the 32nd rune was a staggering five hundred-plus days.

  If not for the cheat-like assistance of the Omniscient Eye, it would have taken Pierce at least ten years of grinding to construct all 32 Will Runes.

  Fortunately, now that the Will Runes were all completed, his Spirit attribute had reached the limit of 160 points, finally meeting the standard for condensing a Spirit Crystal.

  Unfortunately, after the Spirit attribute rose to 160 points, it seemed to hit an invisible ceiling. No matter how much he meditated, it could not increase by even 0.01.

  Pierce touched his forehead, his eyes flickering.

  It seems this is the limit for a Wizard Apprentice. Unless I condense a Spirit Crystal, break through to become an Official Wizard, and sublimate my life essence, my mental power will not be able to improve any further in this life.

  Pierce closed his eyes and quickly browsed the memory library in his mind.

  He had been running to the library frequently during this period. Apart from investigating information on rare metals, he spent almost all the remaining time consulting knowledge about condensing Spirit Crystals.

  In fact, the methods for Wizards to condense Spirit Crystals were largely the same. To put it bluntly, it was using the force field constructed by Will Runes to continuously compress liquefied mental power until a qualitative change occurred—crystallization.

  It sounded simple, but doing it was incredibly difficult.

  It was like trying to compress a lake of water into a diamond; the pressure and risk involved could be imagined.

  Once the condensation of the Spirit Crystal failed, in the best case, the spiritual sea would be severely damaged, and mental power would permanently drop significantly, requiring years or even decades of re-meditation to recover.

  In the worst case, consciousness would collapse on the spot, leading to death.

  Every year, many talented Wizard Apprentices died because of this.

  Since the establishment of the Astral Alliance tens of thousands of years ago, countless Wizard Apprentices had been stuck before this hurdle, unable to advance to Wizard for their entire lives, eventually turning into a pile of dust.

  Opening his eyes, Pierce exhaled and chanted silently in his heart: "Omniscience, based on the materials consulted these days, organize the method of condensing Spirit Crystals most suitable for me."

  [Task created. Starting to organize data. Estimated time: 3 days]

  Pierce didn't hesitate to use Spirit Acceleration.

  In an instant, a large amount of refined and optimized knowledge appeared in his mind.

  After spending some time digesting it, Pierce issued another command.

  "Omniscience, predict my current success rate for condensing a Spirit Crystal."

  [13.51%]

  "That low?"

  Pierce frowned tightly and shook his head helplessly.

  It made sense. The more Will Runes there were, the more complex the constructed spiritual force field, and naturally, the higher the difficulty of condensing a Spirit Crystal.

  And he had constructed 32 Will Runes—something likely unprecedented in Aurora City, and perhaps even the entire Wizard World! The difficulty of condensing a Spirit Crystal was probably far beyond ordinary imagination.

  Coupled with his own aptitude not being outstanding, his rapid improvement in strength so far was entirely due to the Omniscient Eye's assistance.

  A real success rate of over ten percent was actually considered quite good.

  According to official statistics from Aurora City, without any external factors, the success rate for ordinary Wizard Apprentices to condense a Spirit Crystal was only about twenty percent.

  "What about adding Glazed Heart Water?" Pierce issued a new command.

  To increase the success rate of condensing Spirit Crystals, Wizards had created many rare auxiliary potions.

  Using auxiliary potions when condensing a Spirit Crystal could not only increase the success rate but also protect the spiritual sea. Even if it failed in the end, it would at most reduce some mental power, not lead to death on the spot.

  And Glazed Heart Water was the one with the best effect and smallest side effects among many auxiliary potions.

  [Please set the quantity of Glazed Heart Water]

  "One standard portion," Pierce chanted silently.

  [28.61%]

  "Only an increase of 15%?"

  Pierce frowned.

  The average increase in success rate from Glazed Heart Water was 25%!

  For him, the effect had shrunk by nearly 40%. It seemed the difficulty coefficient brought by the 32 Will Runes was too great.

  "Two standard portions?"

  [41.16%]

  "Three standard portions."

  [50.23%]

  "Four standard portions."

  [54.19%]

  "Five standard portions."

  [54.34%]

  Pierce shook his head. It seemed that five standard portions of Glazed Heart Water were the limit of marginal utility.

  Any more would not significantly increase the success rate.

  "A success rate of less than sixty percent is still too low. Moreover, Glazed Heart Water is incomparably precious. It's difficult for an ordinary Wizard Apprentice to get even one portion, let alone five."

  "I wonder if Teacher Morven has any Glazed Heart Water?"

  Pierce quickly made a plan to find time to ask Morven about condensing Spirit Crystals.

  A success rate of just over fifty percent was too low. He couldn't risk his life on a nearly fifty-fifty chance.

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  Even with the protection of Glazed Heart Water, where failure wouldn't mean death, the time cost of mental power dropping and re-cultivating was unacceptable.

  It was only worth trying if there was a success rate of at least eighty or ninety percent.

  This was one of Pierce's huge advantages over other Wizard Apprentices.

  With the Omniscient Eye, he could know exactly what his success rate was.

  If the success rate was too low, he naturally wouldn't rashly charge forward. Instead, he could choose to continue accumulating resources and find other ways to continuously improve the success rate.

  This was much safer than other apprentices gambling with their lives without any assurance.

  This was also the main reason Pierce was confident he could definitely advance to Wizard.

  Even if he couldn't get an effective solution from Morven, he could wait to collect more data and then use the Omniscient Eye to calculate a promotion plan unique to him.

  There was always a solution.

  Putting this matter aside for the moment, Pierce moved his mind.

  Instantly, the silver bracelet on his left hand melted like butter meeting high heat, turning into a ball of silver liquid metal that flowed to his right palm, rapidly elongating and transforming into a sharp silver longsword.

  It was the Silver Star.

  Over these days, Pierce had practiced manipulating the Silver Star frequently in the spell lab, and he was now quite proficient.

  He had to admit, the Silver Star's ability to shape-shift at will was extremely useful in actual combat.

  For example, in battle, Pierce could first use it as a longsword to parry or attack. Once the enemy adapted to the rhythm and treated the Silver Star as an ordinary weapon, he could instantly change its form into a whip or spike, catching the enemy off guard.

  This ability was a killer move in close combat!

  Caught unprepared, 99% of enemies would fall for it.

  Pierce had done rigorous testing. When gathering all the Silver Star's liquid metal to transform it into a giant spike for a full-power ranged thrust, its power reached as high as 65 degrees!

  An attack of this magnitude was enough to instantly kill a Legendary Knight who didn't specialize in defense.

  It was estimated that only a Legendary Knight who mastered Earth Elemental Power and excelled in defense could withstand a hit head-on.

  But only one hit.

  The power of a Tier 1 Artifact was evident.

  In addition, the shield transformed from the Silver Star was also extremely sturdy, its defensive power stronger than both the Animated Shield and Magic Heavy Armor.

  Pierce guessed that the refining materials of the Silver Star likely included top-tier metals like Silver Dragon Tungsten.

  He had tried using spells for defensive testing.

  After withstanding the bombardment of more than ten improved Fireballs head-on, the Silver Star only had a slight amount of liquid metal evaporate, with no other damage.

  Its defensive power was no less inferior to its offensive power.

  "This is under the circumstance that I am just a Wizard Apprentice and cannot bring out the full capabilities of the Silver Star. If an Official Wizard were to manipulate it, how powerful would the Silver Star's attack and defense be?"

  Pierce sighed secretly, having a deeper, intuitive feeling of the power of a Tier 1 Artifact.

  If one had to point out a flaw in the Silver Star, it was that the consumption of mental power was terrifying.

  Pierce had tested it; manipulating the Silver Star for just one minute consumed more than thirty points of mental power.

  With his current vast mental power of 160 points, he could only use the Silver Star at high intensity for four or five minutes at most before facing the risk of overdrafting his mental power.

  Thinking more realistically, he also had to consume mental power to cast spells and maintain shields during battle; he couldn't use all his mental power on manipulating the Silver Star.

  So in a fierce battle, the time he could use the Silver Star was at most about two minutes.

  Even a mental power freak like Pierce was like this; other Rank 3 Wizard Apprentices probably wouldn't even be able to use a Tier 1 Artifact for half a minute in a battle, using it only as a burst skill.

  Under these circumstances, a Tier 1 Artifact could indeed only be used as a trump card for a Wizard Apprentice.

  Don't expect to use it as a conventional weapon.

  "The data collection is almost complete. I should be able to start calculating the metal combination."

  Pierce muttered to himself.

  These days, he had memorized all the metal combination formulas from the book Morven gave him and had also consulted a large amount of information on metal properties in the library.

  It just so happened that a slot in the Omniscient Eye's task bar had opened up, which could be used to calculate the evolution formula for the Silver Star.

  "Omniscience, calculate the optimal metal combination formula required to enhance the Silver Star."

  [Please set specific enhancement requirements]

  Pierce had a draft in mind and unhesitatingly gave a series of extremely harsh requirements.

  "Enhance the Silver Star's ductility, toughness, and hardness after solidification; improve Magic Resistance and Elemental Resistance; strengthen Armor Penetration and Shield Breaking characteristics; and most importantly, significantly reduce mental power consumption during use."

  [Task created. Starting to calculate the optimal metal combination formula for Silver Star enhancement. Estimated time: 342 days]

  Pierce smiled slightly. Not bad, the time required isn't too long.

  If he accelerated fully, he could get it done in just over five days.

  "Once the metal combination formula is calculated, I should fully focus on analyzing the Lightning Rune and Blink Tattoo."

  Pierce looked at the remaining two tasks.

  [Task 2: Analyzing Lightning Rune, estimated time: 108 days] [Task 3: Analyzing Blink Tattoo, estimated time: 334 days]

  "After that, I still have to learn new spells, improve spells, and upgrade the Azure Breath Technique."

  After sorting it out, Pierce found that he still had a lot to do, and his schedule was full.

  "A heavy load and a long road."

  ...

  The next day.

  Pierce arrived at the Academy early.

  Since the sweeping operation, he had rarely come to the academy for classes.

  The few times he came, it was either to the library to check materials, or to the spell lab to test data, or to Garden No. 8 to find his teacher. He hadn't attended any teacher's public classes at all.

  Over more than half a month, the topic heat that skyrocketed because Pierce killed two Legendary Knight-level powerhouses consecutively had gradually subsided because the person involved was nowhere to be seen and kept a low profile.

  But what puzzled Pierce was that as soon as he stepped into the academy gate today, he suddenly found many people pointing at him, whispering, their eyes burning, seemingly discussing some explosive topic.

  "The heat is back?"

  Just as he was wondering, he suddenly saw two familiar figures and greeted them aloud.

  "Shaun, Glenda."

  Shaun and Glenda, who were walking in front, turned around. Seeing it was Pierce, they were stunned, as if seeing a rare guest.

  "How come you're at the academy?" Glenda asked in surprise.

  "...I am also a student of The Spire Academy," Pierce spread his hands helplessly.

  Glenda realized this and smiled awkwardly. "You're often nowhere to be seen, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. I subconsciously forgot about that."

  Pierce waved his hand, not dwelling on this topic. He pointed to the whispering crowd around them and asked in a low voice, "What happened recently? Why do I feel like a lot of people are discussing me in secret?"

  Shaun and Glenda looked at each other, and then said, "Haven't you heard about the competition between us and Red Lotus City?"

  "I have heard about it..."

  Pierce stopped halfway, realized quickly, and raised his eyebrows.

  "The Dawn Council officially announced it?"

  "Correct." It was Glenda who answered. "The announcement was made just yesterday. The matter has spread throughout the entire Aurora City."

  Glenda recounted excitedly, with Shaun adding details from time to time.

  After listening to their account, Pierce suddenly understood.

  As Gwen had revealed before, Aurora City and Red Lotus City intended to determine the final distribution ratio of the new plane's development proceeds through three rounds of competition.

  Two of the rounds would have Official Wizards as participants.

  If it were just that, the Wizard Apprentices wouldn't pay too much attention.

  After all, Official Wizards were too far away from them. It was a game for the big shots, at most a topic for gossip after the competition ended.

  But the problem was, the participants for one round of the competition were actually Rank 3 Wizard Apprentices!

  This hit the G-spot of the Wizard Apprentices!

  They never imagined that one day, Wizard Apprentices like them could participate in such a major event determining the distribution of planar proceeds and become the protagonists.

  The moment the news came out, all the Wizard Apprentices in Aurora City became incredibly excited, gearing up for action.

  The students of The Spire Academy were naturally no exception.

  Thus, discussions about the candidates quickly swept through the entire academy, becoming the hottest topic.

  "There are a total of three quotas for Wizard Apprentices participating in the competition."

  Glenda looked at Pierce with shining eyes, unable to hide the excitement in her expression.

  "Many people think you are completely qualified to compete for a quota! You are the most promising one!"

  "That's right." Shaun nodded in agreement with a serious look.

  Both were speaking from their hearts.

  Pierce was a genius Wizard Apprentice who had killed two Legendary Knight-level powerhouses in one night! If even he wasn't qualified to compete for a quota, who else in The Spire Academy was qualified?

  Originally, there was Yuna in the third year, but now she had advanced to Wizard and didn't meet the participation conditions, so she had to be excluded.

  As for other third-year students, let alone killing a Legendary Knight, it was hard enough to find one who could fight a Legendary Knight head-on without losing, so they naturally didn't need to be considered.

  Thinking about it, the most competitive one left was Pierce.

  Because of this, people everywhere in the academy had been discussing Pierce participating in the competition for the past two days.

  "So, Pierce, are you going to participate?" Glenda asked with anticipation.

  Shaun also looked at Pierce expectantly.

  Pierce was a member of the Star Spirit Society after all. If he really got the competition quota and won on behalf of Aurora City, he would definitely become famous.

  At that time, their Star Spirit Society would also become famous, rising with the tide.

  In this way, after the new students enrolled next year, they would definitely attract more excellent Wizard Apprentices to join their society.

  "The competition..."

  Pierce's eyes moved slightly, but he quickly shook his head, maintaining his usual caution.

  "We'll see."

  It was still unclear what the specific format of the competition was and what the rewards would be, so he couldn't make a decision easily.

  Anyway, he was going to find Teacher Morven, so he might as well ask him then.

  Hearing Pierce's ambiguous words, Shaun and Glenda were a bit disappointed.

  But the two couldn't persuade him much; after all, this was Pierce's own business involving major interests.

  After chatting for a few more sentences, Pierce tactfully separated from the two, not staying to be a third wheel and disturb them.

  Garden No. 8.

  Pierce walked through the planting area with familiarity and arrived at the potion room Morven used.

  Pushing the door open, Yuna was also inside.

  Seeing Pierce enter, Yuna said with a smile, "Junior Brother, you came just in time. We were just talking about you."

  Pierce greeted Morven respectfully first, then responded with a smile, "Let me guess, it's about the competition."

  Yuna laughed. "Seems you've already heard. So, are you interested?"

  Pierce smiled noncommittally and didn't answer the question directly. He turned around, bowed slightly to Morven, his expression becoming serious. "Teacher, I want to ask you something."

  Morven put down the test tube in his hand and said calmly, "What is it?"

  "Besides auxiliary potions like Glazed Heart Water, is there any other way to increase the success rate of condensing a Spirit Crystal?"

  As soon as these words came out, Yuna's smile froze, and she stood there stunned.

  Morven was also obviously stunned.

  Then, an astonishing light burst out from his cloudy old eyes. He looked Pierce up and down with a gaze as sharp as a knife and asked in a deep voice:

  "Have you reached the standard for condensing a Spirit Crystal?"