Nascent Soul Rebirth: Starting as a Wizard

This idea originated from the most practical consideration of efficiency.

Alone, navigating a ship, relying on limited rumors, rough nautical charts, and his keen but ultimately limited spiritual awareness.

Searching for those deeply hidden miniature spiritual caves in the vast archipelago and sea is simply too inefficient, like "taking a chance."

Five months, eighteen locations—this number seems impressive, but a significant portion of it was spent on ineffective voyages, misjudgments, and dealing with unforeseen circumstances (such as storms and pirates).

Many times, he needed to personally venture into dangerous places to investigate and confirm whether it was a spiritual cave, which was risky in itself and extremely time-consuming.

"What if there were a more intricate 'net'?" Solo stared at the unfolded nautical chart under the solitary lamp in the captain's cabin, which he had marked with dense symbols and routes.

"An intelligence network consisting of many eyes and many ears, spreading throughout ports, taverns, fishing villages, and trade routes."

The force he envisioned did not have to be a powerful fighting organization, at least not initially.

It is more like an efficient intelligence gathering and preliminary screening agency.

Those old sailors who have spent years at sea, merchants traveling between islands, informants mingling at the docks, and even some down-on-their-luck adventurers and scholars...

The strange tales they recounted, their unintentional mentions of special terrains, the vague records in ancient books, and even folk legends and tales of the supernatural.

These may all contain clues about "abnormal locations".

This network can work for him:

Collect all clues that may be related to "spiritual energy convergence," which in this world might manifest as "magical anomalies," "elemental enrichment," or "bizarre phenomena."

Conduct preliminary classification and credibility assessment, and summarize regularly.

He, on the other hand, can quickly identify the most valuable targets from this massive and chaotic information by relying on his experience and spiritual insight, and then strike with precision.

This will save him countless hours of aimless searching, allowing him to focus his energy on the most crucial "confirmation" and "plunder" stages.

This idea seems even more necessary, especially given that he is about to attend the Emerald Isle Wizarding Academy.

College life inevitably has its own rules and constraints; he can no longer go out to sea as freely as he has for the past five months.

A "tentacle" that can continue to operate outside the hospital and collect resources for him becomes crucial.

Their gazes naturally fell upon the "Wanderer" and Captain Button and the sailors on board.

These five months of living together day and night, although he spent most of his time alone, were enough for him to make a basic observation and assessment of these people.

Captain Patton was experienced, shrewd, and knew how to assess situations. He was respected by his crew and had an intimate knowledge of the area.

And they are clearly not averse to, and are even adept at, handling some gray-area commissions.

He is a good, preliminary "piece", or more precisely, a candidate who can be developed into a "node".

Although most of the sailors were crude and had limited vision, they were good at being obedient, had a certain degree of loyalty to Patton, and their long life at sea gave them a unique understanding of the ocean, islands and climate.

Perhaps one or two of them are clever and discreet, and can be trained a little.

"Perhaps... we can start here." Solo thought to himself, "Barton needs a stable source of funding and a powerful backer, and I need reliable informants and executors."

Five months of cooperation can be considered an initial 'trial'. After arriving at Emerald Island, you can try to establish a deeper bond with him.

With him at the core, a rudimentary maritime intelligence and supplies gathering network was established.

The initial goals don't need to be too ambitious; simply covering the main shipping routes and common trading islands around Emerald Isle is sufficient.

He carefully buried this thought in his heart, like planting a seed waiting to sprout.

This was not an impulsive decision, but a calm choice based on practical needs and long-term planning.

Before reaching a certain level, an individual's strength has its limits, but the strength of a collective, even a rudimentary one, can unlock more possibilities.

Before stepping onto the more complex and treacherous Emerald Isle stage.

Even the smallest move you make in advance might yield unexpected results in the future.

As the stars shifted and the waves rose and fell, five months slipped by quietly amidst the chimes of the ship's clock and the creaking of the sails.

The "Wanderer's" sailing path on the map becomes as complex as a spider web, covering a large area of ​​archipelago waters that were previously rarely visited by merchant ships.

When Captain Button knocked on the door of the captain's cabin, he respectfully reminded Solo that the agreed five-month charter period was about to expire and the ship urgently needed a full overhaul and resupply.

As the iconic silhouette of Emerald Isle, seemingly forever shrouded in a light industrial haze, appeared on the distant horizon for several days in a row, Solo slowly awoke from his deep meditation.

He walked to the porthole, gazing at the approaching behemoth of steel and rock that seemed to stretch across the sea and sky, quietly feeling the surging power within him.

Eighth level of Qi Refining!

In just five months, he broke through from the late stage of the second level of Qi Refining to the eighth level. Such speed would be astonishing even to many so-called geniuses in the Xuanhuang Realm when spiritual energy was abundant.

This was certainly due to his valuable cultivation experience from his previous life, the top-notch "Taihao Yangyuan Jing", and his ruthless determination to achieve his goals even at the cost of exhausting resources.

But the price was equally heavy—

Eighteen naturally formed, tiny spiritual caves, brimming with faint life and potential, faded and withered away after his death, returning to ordinariness and even barrenness.

Like fruits whose juices have been drained, their remaining shells silently sink into the dust of time.

His gains went far beyond his cultivation level.

More than ten low-level spiritual herbs and fruits with different attributes and ages, three of which are over fifty years old.

The most precious item is a herb that is extremely similar to "Earth Fire Lotus Heart Mushroom" and was found near a hot spring cave on an active volcanic island. It is nearly a hundred years old and has a rich spiritual energy.

If it is indeed a spiritual medicine with similar pharmacological properties to the Earth Fire Lotus Heart Mushroom, then the "Ice and Fire Powder" for breaking through to the peak of Qi Refining would have one of its main ingredients.

Nearly a hundred low-level spirit stones of various elements have been accumulated, along with more than ten magic cores of low-level magical beasts.

These are all real resources.

Several monster materials, special minerals, and a few incomplete notebooks and rudimentary breathing and meditation manuals that he found at an abandoned pirate treasure site on a deserted island. These were useless to him but might have some reference value.

All spiritual materials are categorized and stored in jade boxes or specially made sealed bags close to the body.

His luggage may look ordinary, but its contents are far more valuable than those of ordinary nobles.

"Change course and head directly to Emerald Isle's main port," Solo instructed Captain Barton, his tone calm and even.

"Yes, sir!" The "Wanderer" sailed with full sails, riding the wind and waves, heading firmly towards the direction from which the roar and light came, which was also the starting point of Solo's new journey.

Behind the stern, there was endless blue sky and eighteen silent, forgotten places.