My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Xia Zuo looked around in disbelief. He found himself in a sea of ​​colorful clouds with flowing light, and multicolored gas clouds floated slowly around him.

He looked down at the ground.

The soft, springy wooden flooring that used to be there is gone; now it's replaced by gray stone flooring.

He raised his head and looked up at the sky.

Many ribbon-like clouds, connected end to end, slowly swirled in the air. Higher up, gray stones formed the ceiling.

Looking into the distance at the end of the sea of ​​clouds, one can vaguely see a gray wall.

Beatrice looked at the students' surprised expressions and chuckled:

"The ocean of the mind is the most private part of everyone. No one can see what another person's ocean of the mind looks like. What you see now is a rough image that I have simulated with magic based on my own ocean of the mind."

She pointed to the gas cloud and the banded cloud above it:

"I'll introduce these cloud-like things to you gradually later. Today, let's start with some basics."

Beatrice moved lightly and gracefully toward the students, saying as she did so:

"When teaching meditation, there is a common analogy used by various schools of thought."

"The ocean of the mind is like a neglected garden. Reading books is like bringing fertilizer and tools to the garden. And the gardener of this garden is the soul of each of us."

Xia Zuo pondered the word "soul," lost in deep thought.

Summary of Volume Two

First of all, thank you all for your company.

Writing requires reader feedback. Without your recommendations, monthly tickets, and donations, my enthusiasm for writing might be greatly diminished.

Thank you all so much for reading.

Next, I'll outline the main storyline that has been presented so far. To avoid spoilers, I can only write about what's shown in Volume 2.

The main macro theme:

The Mage Temple storyline.

The Mage Temple of the Eastern Continent is composed of the Alchemy School, the Tower Scholars, the Demon Hunter School, and the Warrior Guild.

Hundreds of years ago, a group of people from the Eastern Continent discovered the Western Continent.

The Temple of Mages sealed off news of the Western Continent and began investigating the reasons for the differences in the ecological environments of the Eastern and Western Continents.

The main theme is left ample room for interpretation. Because planets are round…

Macroeconomic Theme:

Experimental project line.

In order to study the Western Continent, the Temple of Mages initiated many experimental projects.

Of the many experimental projects, the largest was the establishment of the Starry Night Kingdom. By the end of Volume Two, the project was contracted to the Alchemy School and the Warriors' Guild.

(There's a pun here: "Starry Night" and "Experiment" are homophones, but it's just a joke; the two have no actual connection.)

The expansion plan of the Starry Night Kingdom marks the beginning of the second phase of this experimental project.

Every experimental project has an experimental purpose, so there is some blank space here.

The main theme of the macro-level analysis:

Starry Night Kingdom route.

The Starry Night Academy has expanded its enrollment from only accepting students with innate affinity to accepting students with acquired affinity. This is driven by the main storyline of the previous level. Expanding its territory requires a reserve of alchemists.

Meanwhile, the alchemy school also had the idea of ​​researching how to mass-produce acquired affinity mages. This research was being conducted simultaneously in the Eastern Continent and at the Starry Night Academy.

Microscopic main theme:

1. The protagonist's strength development. This volume primarily focuses on improving his expertise in poison alchemy. He didn't use a single free attribute point. This entire volume is setting the stage for the third volume.

2. Romance. This book features a single female lead; the male lead won't cheat, and the female lead won't fall for someone else. Regarding the romance, my writing skills aren't great, so the female lead's characterization isn't very well done. I'll improve it gradually; there's no rush.

3. The female lead's strength level. Since it's a single female lead, her strength must be developed accordingly. This is presented in the third volume.

The main storyline has been outlined.

Regarding character development, I've realized this is my weak point. I'll try to improve it. It's unlikely this book will see any improvement because my initial goal was to build my own world-building framework, and my creative focus was entirely on refining the settings. I can only promise to try my best to make the characters more well-rounded, at least to portray the male and female leads well.

Furthermore, as many readers have probably noticed, my writing style is very concise and avoids typical online tropes. All characters' actions are described as they should be under normal circumstances. There won't be a random passerby suddenly appearing and starting a strange side story with the protagonist, used to pad out many chapters.

This will continue to be the case. All storylines will follow the main plot, without any unnecessary side quests.

Finally, thank you all again for your company.

Chapter 1 Starry Night Academy Meditation Method (Part 1)

The interior of a spherical dome made of silver sand.

Beatrice stood beside Xia Zuo and said:

"If the brain is the master of the body, then the soul is the manager of the ocean of the mind."

"Unfortunately, even when we enter a meditative state and manage our spiritual ocean from the perspective of the soul, we still cannot see what the soul is like."

Xia Zuo frowned:

"Professor, is the ocean of the mind located in the brain? If the ocean of the mind is in the brain, does that mean we can find the soul?"

Beatrice put on a stern face and said solemnly:

“Xia Zuo, don’t mention these things to anyone else. The two questions you raised triggered a bloody experiment that lasted for a century thousands of years ago.”

"Bloody Experiments"

Xia Zuo immediately realized what the other person was referring to.

This event was mentioned in a history book from the Eastern Continent, but it did not go into detail about the cause and process of the event. It only briefly described the harm and consequences of the event in a few sentences.

"In that era known as the 'Year of Bloodshed and Turmoil'."

"There was once a group of scoundrels among the monks who called themselves flesh and blood artists."

"Under the pretext of studying the location of the spiritual ocean, they carried out a large number of inhumane experiments. They dissected the brains of the test subjects piece by piece, and then forced the victims to meditate in order to search for the specific part that contained the spiritual ocean."

Beatrice crossed her arms, her brows furrowed, and spoke solemnly:

"Remember. Although the ocean of the spirit is closely connected to our bodies, it does not exist within any organ."

"Don't try to find its exact location. That's dangerous. Even mere curiosity can lead you astray. Never, ever delve into the two questions you just raised."

Seeing the other person's extremely serious expression, Xia Zuo replied in a deep voice:

"Yes, Your Excellency. Rest assured, I will absolutely not investigate those two issues."

Actually, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If you can't find the specific location of the spiritual ocean on the body, you can't find the location of a person's soul.

The head of the academy's words undoubtedly indicated that no one could discover his identity as a time traveler.

Beatrice smiled contentedly, regaining her friendly demeanor.

She stood side by side with Xia Zuo, raised her hand and waved, and the colorful, floating scene disappeared.

Layers of gray fog, seemingly tangible, emerged around them.

The mist surged toward the two of them, stopped close to their sides, and then solidified into a hard wall.

The space became cramped, and the two of them felt a little awkward standing together. Xia Zuo turned to the side and stood with his back against the wall.

Beatrice pointed to the gray wall, her fingertips tracing the texture of the surface, and said:

"When you first practice meditation, you will find that your mental ocean looks like this."

"The gray walls tightly envelop your soul. Between your soul and the walls, there is only a very narrow space. This space is the embryonic form of the ocean of the spirit."

"The patterns on the wall symbolize the elemental qualities you've conceived. These patterns are a language in themselves, called the Language of Elemental Patterns. In a normal teaching process, this course is a required course after you've reached the proficiency level in all four alchemy disciplines. You are an exception. I will teach you in detail after you become a mage apprentice."

Xia Zuo frowned deeply.

He wasn't very interested in the language of elemental patterns, as it was just another course that required rote memorization, but he was puzzled by the first half of his instructor's statement.

"Professor, are you saying that when I enter a meditative state, a gray wall covered in patterns appears before my eyes? This wall has no exits, doors, windows, or even gaps? Where does this wall come from?"

She looked at the student whose eyebrows were furrowed:

"That's right, it is indeed a gray wall, a complete wall, without the slightest gap."

"Do you feel like your soul is locked away?"

"Do you feel that the other side is the real world, and that the place we are in now is actually an illusion?"

Xia Zuo looked troubled and nodded silently. The "Ten Paradoxes of the World" he had read in his previous life immediately reminded him of what his mentor had said.

Beatrice snapped her fingers lightly in front of the students, the crisp sound bringing them back to their senses.

Her voice was incredibly gentle:

"Don't have unrealistic ideas."

"The cognitive problem you are facing now troubled countless people 20,000 years ago when meditation first appeared."

"Now, the correct answer has been found in the Temple of Mages. Due to the Temple's laws, I cannot tell you what that answer is."

"But if you pass the inspection team's test, you can go to the Mage Temple to study for a period of time after becoming a formal mage. At that time, you will know what this gray wall is and what is outside of it."

"Yes, Professor."

Xia Zuo breathed a sigh of relief after hearing his mentor's words.

Once the line between illusion and reality becomes blurred, it can plunge people into endless despair and hopelessness. Thankfully, I don't have to go through this agonizing process of reflection.

Xia Zuo couldn't help but feel admiration for the Dharma masters and sages of the past.

Beatrice nodded slightly, tapped her finger lightly on the gray wall, and instructed: