Full-Time Magister: The Ruler of Wind and Rain

Back in Shanghai, Wang Yu first asked Lingling to keep an eye on news about the wind-type spirit seed, then plunged into his room to begin cultivating. The Star River Magic Artifact that Old Man Bao had "lent" him was still with Wang Yu, and the buff that doubled his cultivation time theoretically meant he could meditate 24 hours a day without suffering a qi deviation. However, for long-term considerations, Wang Yu chose to limit his daily cultivation time to no more than 16 hours; he needed to leave some time for eating and sleeping, otherwise his body wouldn't be able to handle it in the long run.

Furthermore, while inside the Three-Step Tower, Wang Yu had assumed that this Star River Magic Artifact doubled his cultivation speed. After leaving the tower, he hadn't been able to focus on cultivation. Only now did he realize that the artifact hanging around his neck didn't actually amplify cultivation speed. Instead, it possessed the ability to absorb magical energy, gathering a denser concentration of magical energy around the user compared to the surrounding environment. The reason for the increased cultivation speed inside the Three-Step Tower was simply because the tower itself was already an environment extremely rich in magical energy. This artifact further concentrated the energy, causing the magical energy around Wang Yu to surge into his body, thus making him feel that his cultivation speed had doubled.

In short, he can no longer enter the Three-Step Tower. Apart from increasing the cultivation time, the Star River Magic Artifact only has the effect of enriching magic energy to slightly assist cultivation and speed up magic energy recovery. This makes Wang Yu curious whether he would have a similar effect to that in the Three-Step Tower if he were in a naturally formed area rich in magic energy.

Daydreaming can wait; the most urgent task is cultivation. Wang Yu spent about a week stabilizing his wind and fire elemental cultivation, then went to the Pearl Academy's massive magic training ground and reserved a training room for two weeks. Fortunately, it was summer vacation, and many students were not on campus, making it relatively easy to reserve such a long period of time. For the next two weeks, Wang Yu practically lived like a virgin in the training room, never venturing out. When he had magical energy, he practiced controlling and releasing it; when his magical energy dried up, he meditated to replenish it; when he was hungry, he ate dry rations; when he was tired… he just endured it.

Magic is a game of mind and will. If you don't hone your skills now, will you have to cram at the last minute on the battlefield? Wang Yu wasn't that naive.

In short, although he didn't have the rapid cultivation speed of the Three-Step Tower, Wang Yu had practiced the three elements of wind, water, and fire magic extensively in the past two weeks. Although the fire element, which he was least familiar with, was still at the first level of the initial stage, he could now cast fire spells with ease. As for the wind disc and storm waves, which he wasn't as proficient with before, he had also practiced them to the point of being able to use them with ease during this period. He could draw star trails by manipulating stars and finally form a star map in less than three seconds. He was still a bit short of the level of a mid-level mage who could draw star trails with a single thought, but that was understandable, since Wang Yu had only advanced two or three months ago.

"Alright, time to leave the training room!" When the training session was over, Wang Yu patted his empty stomach. He had been craving dry rations every day for the past few days, so after taking a shower at the hunting lodge, he called Zhao Manyan and they went out together to a restaurant to enjoy a hearty meal.

Zhao Manyan appeared with his blond hair looking rather disgruntled, and said in a rather rude tone: "You damn virgin Lao Wang, I was planning to take some girls to a party, so just spit it out."

Seeing his eagerness, Wang Yu didn't waste any words: "Secret scroll."

"Oh, let's get down to business," Zhao Manyan said seriously. "Wait a minute, let me ask my family." After saying that, he made a phone call and then took Wang Yu to the basement of the China World Trade Center.

After descending to the basement level, Wang Yu looked around and noticed that the shops all had a fairly uniform decorating style. He couldn't help but wonder, "Does the China World Trade Center even regulate shop decorating styles?"

"I don't care," Zhao Manyan said, pursing his lips. "But this whole floor is my family's shop, and the decor suits the old man's tastes better."

"Holy crap, I knew you were rich, but I didn't realize your family was this rich."

"Rich my ass. My family may be rich, but I am. They only give me 10,000 yuan a month for pocket money, and I have to be careful with my spending when I treat girls to meals."

"Damn it, you're the one who knows how to flaunt your wealth." Wang Yu punched Lao Zhao.

As they spoke, the two entered a shop filled with scrolls. To their surprise, there was a long queue, with many hunters waiting to buy scrolls. At another window, information provided by a mage was being entered into new scrolls. However, since it was Zhao Manyan's business, they still enjoyed some privileged services. After the hostess led them into a private room, she left a price list and then withdrew, giving the two room to discuss their options.

"Damn, your secret scrolls are so high-end? The most expensive ones cost tens of millions each. I couldn't afford one even if I sold myself." Wang Yu glanced at the price list and was slightly surprised.

"Alright, alright, there's no point in looking at those expensive ones. I suggest you buy the cheaper ones, a few thousand or ten thousand each, and I'll have them give you the cost price," Zhao Manyan said.

"Okay, let's get ten of them, each worth about ten thousand yuan." Wang Yu's real idea was to use all the money he had to buy Zhimi scrolls and take a big gamble, but making money is not easy, so he decided to test the waters first.

"No problem." Zhao Manyan called over a waiter, and soon ten light blue secret scrolls were brought over on a tray, giving the impression of a restaurant serving dishes.

But you know what, this little reel is quite well made, which soothed Wang Yu's heart that he was willing to spend 100,000 yuan to buy this.

"Take a look." Zhao Manyan pretended to be trying to avoid suspicion, but his restless curiosity was written all over his face.

Wang Yu naturally wouldn't mess with the future God of Wealth, so he opened the first scroll and pulled Zhao Manyan to read it together: "The purifying aura by the Silver Moon Spring is stronger than before."

"Sigh, this one's useless. Silver Moon Spring is the Western Army's headquarters. Even if there were any resources, the Western Army would have already taken them. Besides, you're not a light-type, so it's useless to you." Zhao Manyan was quite knowledgeable. Wang Yu thought he would have to go back and ask Lingling to determine the scroll's value.

"Alright, ten thousand yuan for a small purchase, let's continue." Wang Yu didn't have a gambling mentality and reached out to open the next reel.

"There is an abundance of water elements in the northeast of Tianlanze, and there are signs of black water frogs gathering there." After reading this, Zhao Manyan shook his head: "I'm not very familiar with it. Why don't you go back and look up what black water frogs are?" Wang Yu nodded and put the scroll away. He had just said that Zhao Manyan was very knowledgeable, but it seems that he is far inferior to Lingling.

"Thirdly, more than ten kilometers northwest of the ancient capital Huacun, there is a cloud of gray mist nourishing the corpse puppets."

The two shook their heads. This news might actually be useful to Zhao Manyan; light magic was incredibly effective against these undead. However, Zhao Manyan was currently just a novice third wheel mage, and his family couldn't possibly let him become a hunter mage to earn money.

………………

"We opened six reels and there wasn't anything of value. Old Wang, are you going to open more? If not, I'll tell them and give you a refund for the rest." Zhao Manyan was a little embarrassed. He hadn't expected that the Zhimi reels he recommended would be so expensive and leave Wang Yu with nothing.

"Open it up, what's there to be afraid of? If this batch is empty, we might have to open another one," Wang Yu said.

Continue opening the seventh scroll: "A group of wind-eroded demons has recently appeared in Xima Pool of Cangshan Mountain, and they are suspected to be of the same origin as the wind-eroded demons of Qinling."

"Wind-eroding demon?" Upon hearing something related to wind, Wang Yu became more cautious and continued rolling the next scroll.

………………

The tenth scroll reads, "In the areas of Eastern and Southern Xinjiang, the number of Ash Feather Sparrows near Burning Wind Slope, Crimson Flame Ravine, and Melting Crystal Cave has decreased significantly."

"This isn't very valuable," Wang Yu said, feigning a hint of regret. "Fortunately, we did get some useful information. I'll check the data when I get back, and I might need your help again tomorrow."

Seeing that Wang Yu didn't complain about the unsuccessful card draw, Zhao Manyan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's okay, Brother Wang. Call me anytime if you need anything. Even if I'm having close contact with a girl, I'll still come to help you when you call."

"Get lost."