After the internet was disconnected, I connected to the magic world.

The idea was made up, but Lin Ze had no idea which path to take.

You can't just conjure up magic out of thin air, can you? That would be too far-fetched.

He sat in front of the computer, his fingertips tapping the desktop, his eyes fixed on the forum interface.

Since we're going to be pioneering, the first step is definitely to find a breakthrough from existing knowledge.

If traditional methods don't work, surely unconventional methods will?

Such a large public forum of magical civilization cannot be entirely composed of mainstream content that relies on the magic network; there must be some unconventional and unorthodox methods.

He acted immediately. He opened the search box and searched for every keyword he could think of.

Cultivation without magic, starting with zero magic power, converting matter into magic power, converting mental power into magic power, lost ancient methods, unorthodox arcane arts...

The search took up most of the night.

The rain outside had stopped long ago, and it was just getting light. The breakfast carts downstairs were already set up, and the aroma of soy milk and fried dough sticks wafted in through the window.

Lin Ze's eyes were bloodshot from staying up all night. In front of him was a half-eaten bowl of braised beef noodles, the soup had gone cold, and the noodles had swelled up into a clump.

There were quite a few posts that came up, but they all required at least one level of magic power to practice.

Some say it requires the pull of free-floating magic between heaven and earth, while others, even more outrageous, say it requires finding a demigod to be a teacher and bestow initiation.

None of them are usable right now; they're all just nonsense.

"So they're all just talking without understanding the situation."

He cursed and irritably clicked on the "Classical Arcane History" section at the bottom.

This place is usually the quietest, and posts sink quickly. Many of them are old posts from several years ago, which makes it easy to find some obscure things here.

He flipped through the pages one by one, and when he got to the seventeenth page, a drab title caught his eye.

Lost Ancient Arcane Arts: Divine Transformation into Magic, the Path to Heaven for the Magicless?

The poster was an account called "Collector of Remnants," and the last reply was from five years ago.

There were only a dozen or so replies below, all saying, "The original poster is making up a story again."

Questions like, "This spell sounds fake," were raised.

Lin Ze's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly clicked on it.

The post is short, and it begins by explaining the background: This is an unorthodox spell that existed before the creation of the ancient magic network and has long been lost.

The original poster copied this from a fragment of an ancient mage's tomb. Its authenticity is not guaranteed and it is for reference only.

The core principle is very simple, it can be summarized in one sentence.

Without needing to possess magic power of their own or external magical energy, they rely solely on their mental power to construct a seventy-two-layered rune array, directly extracting the spiritual essence of living beings and refining it into their own magic power on the spot.

"Holy shit..."

The instant noodle fork in Lin Ze's hand clattered onto the table, rolled twice, and fell to the ground.

Starting with no magic! Drain your spirit and convert it into magic!

Isn't this tailor-made for him?!

This world lacks everything, except people and the spiritual energy of living beings!

Let alone people, even rats, cockroaches, and stray cats, as long as they are living beings, have a spiritual origin.

Once he masters this spell, he won't need to wait for the revival of the world's magical power, nor will he need to slowly accumulate it himself. He can directly build up his first bucket of magical power from scratch!

With that first wisp of magic, wouldn't the rest of the path be clear?

His heart pounded, and his hands trembled as he quickly flipped down the cultivation threshold. He knew that such a powerful spell couldn't have a low threshold.

The second half of the post clearly states: This technique has no requirements for magic power, but it has extremely high requirements for mental strength.

The caster must be able to precisely control seventy-two rune nodes simultaneously, and have a mental strength threshold of at least 1.2, in order to stably support the magic circle.

Forcing a spell below this standard will, at best, cause mental exhaustion and turn one into an idiot; at worst, result in a backlash from the runes, causing one's soul to be scattered on the spot, beyond saving.

The text also includes a simple self-test method: if you can condense your mental energy into a line and steadily pull it out for one zhang (about 3.3 meters) without breaking, then you can be considered to have barely touched the threshold.

"1.2..."

Lin Ze swallowed hard, quickly sat up straight, and closed his eyes.

Following the method in the post, he extracted a wisp of the milky-white spiritual energy from his consciousness and carefully pulled it outward, like pulling a spider silk thread.

The thin thread slowly grew longer, and when it floated to about half a meter, it began to sway, becoming flickering, like a candle that was about to burn out.

Pull it forward a little further, to about a meter, and it suddenly burst apart with a "pop," turning into specks of white light that slowly drifted back into my consciousness.

He opened his eyes, his face looking rather pale.

According to the standards in the post, his mental strength is at most 0.9.

It is significantly stronger than the average person by 0.3 to 0.5, and even slightly higher than a first-level mage apprentice. It is definitely a genius among ordinary people.

But it's still a long way from the passing grade of 1.2.

Almost.

It was so close.

He clearly saw a magnificent, golden road leading to heaven, but he was too short to even climb the steps.

This feeling of being stuck at the threshold is even more unbearable than being told there's no way out.

It was so close, I could almost touch it, but I just couldn't reach it.

Lin Ze leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

The difference between 0.9 and 1.2 may not seem like much, but mental strength is something that is 90% determined by one's innate abilities.

As mentioned on the forum, mental strength increases extremely slowly. An ordinary mage might meditate for three to five years and still not increase by 0.1. Many people remain stuck in the same place for their entire lives.

If you rely on conventional meditation methods to slowly grind him down, by the time he reaches the threshold, it will be too late, and he might even be old and dead.

"Isn't there any other way?"

He rubbed his throbbing temples, clicking aimlessly across the forum sections, his mind racing with frustration. His finger slipped, and he accidentally clicked into a section he would never normally even glance at.

"Warrior Class".

Lin Ze's first reaction was to click back and exit.

Having spent so much time on the forum, even without specifically looking into it, he knew that mages and warriors were notoriously at odds.

In the mage section, people constantly mock warriors, calling them "barbarians in enchanted gear."

"A rough man who can't even throw a fireball without the magic net."

The warriors also retorted by calling mages "fragile and easily defeated" and "mages who can be taken down with a single hit." The two sides have been arguing every day for thousands of years without stopping.

In the common perception, the path of a warrior is for those who lack mental strength and cannot become a mage. They are second-class citizens in the extraordinary realm, and only those without talent would choose to train as warriors.

He intended to click "back," but his finger hovered over the left mouse button and then paused.

Insufficient mental strength...

Isn't his problem simply a lack of mental strength?!