The floor of the great hall had already been inscribed with a complex magic circle using silvery-gray liquid.
The circle consisted of thirteen rings, each painted with different eerie patterns—twelve smaller rings arranged around a giant central circle bearing the symbol of "Earth" and six hexagram symbols.
Multiple silvery-gray lines connected the twelve rings to each other and to the central giant circle, forming an arcane star chart of mysterious trajectories. Within each ring were symbols representing different constellations blended with different elements.
There was more than one ritual for advancing to high-rank mage, since many mages specialized in different schools and their worlds of perception had different primary compositions. Using a ritual oriented toward necromancy, force fields, or illusions to advance a mage specializing in matter, elements, or electromagnetism was clearly problematic.
As a result, there were several dozen similar rituals, each designed for mid-rank mages excelling in different domains. Lucian naturally chose the path of stars and elements.
After carefully inspecting the magic circle and confirming there were no errors, Lucian rested for a few minutes, waiting for his spiritual power to recover naturally, so he could face the ritual's baptism in his most optimal state.
Storm Sovereign Fernando stood calmly nearby with his hands clasped behind his back, having no intention of helping Lucian set up the magic circle. Mastering one's own advancement ritual was something every fifth-rank mage was expected to accomplish. If Lucian made a mistake, Fernando would be far more likely to unleash a storm of fury than to lend a hand.
Tangpu, a member of the Affairs Committee, had come to observe Lucian's advancement with intense shock. He knew full well that Lucian had been a fifth-rank mage for less than half a year. The spiritual power and soul requirements could be supplemented with potions and rituals, so those weren't major issues—but there was no shortcut to the initial materialization of one's world of perception. Either one's understanding of the real world had to reach a certain height and draw closer to its essence, or one had to push spiritual power and soul to "insane" levels, like the ancient mages, and rely on ritual assistance to achieve the initial materialization.
But in that case, even with unlimited funds for potions and rituals, it would take Lucian no less than forty or fifty years to become a high-rank mage.
Current Archanists typically combined both approaches when advancing: first, through exploring the world and studying Arcane, they brought their world of perception close to reality with signs of initial materialization, while raising spiritual power and soul to two or three times the normal standard. Then, through the ritual, they would more easily achieve the initial materialization and take that critical step. This way, advancement to high-rank was possible in roughly twenty years.
Those who advanced to high-rank before the age of thirty had, without exception, achieved the initial materialization of their world of perception through their own exploration without any external aids.
"Could the microscopic world really be that important? Could it truly be a manifestation of the world's essence? Did Lucian's discovery of a single new particle really yield such enormous gains?" Tangpu couldn't help but shake his head, brushing aside the trace of jealousy in his heart. It had taken him a full twenty-six years to advance from fifth-rank to sixth-rank, and he had been nearly fifty at the time.
However, his attitude differed from the Storm Sovereign's—he strongly approved of Lucian's push to advance. With all the trouble this classmate had stirred up, it was best to advance as soon as he had the ability, rather than wait until he'd accumulated enough confidence after many years only to meet an untimely end. At that point, regret would be useless.
In his view, even without the trouble, once there was an opportunity to advance to high-rank, one should seize it as long as the consequences weren't too severe. After all, a high-rank mage's survival capabilities and self-preservation far exceeded those of a mid-rank mage, making future explorations much safer. An Archanist's talent that wasn't converted into actual magical strength always left people on edge—and the number of prodigies who had fallen was far more than one or two.
Afris, on the other hand, had no such concerns. It had always been hazy about the passage of time. Its own advancement to high-rank hadn't even required a ritual—it had advanced naturally through the interaction between soul and body brought on by learning Arcane and magic, just like its adult and prime-age kin. So, as always, it played with the magic items Lucian had removed, proudly sliding the Holm Crown Ring onto its thick claws.
The Immortal Throne robes lacked any glittering radiance, but Afris gripped them tightly. It knew perfectly well that even if the thing wasn't pretty, it could be traded for countless crystals and gems.
After recovering to his best state, Lucian took twelve refined crystal orbs from his storage pouch.
They had been crafted from different types of crystal combined with sunstone, sea-blue stone, crimson magic tree sap, and other materials, each glowing with a different hue—some brilliant as the sun, some dazzling as the stars, others reminiscent of the azure ocean. The twelve crystals symbolized twelve different constellations and twelve different elements.
Lucian placed the twelve crystals at the centers of the twelve outer rings and activated them one by one. Instantly, they merged with the magic circle, radiating dazzling light as they slowly floated upward, borne by invisible forces.
Having completed this, Lucian quickly stepped into the central giant circle, standing upon the Earth symbol. He then took out six dim crystal orbs and placed them in the centers of the six hexagram symbols.
He tossed the storage pouch out of the magic circle and began activating the central circular formation.
The six hexagrams blazed with silvery-gray light, rising at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if forming six illusory altars. At the center of each altar sat a crystal orb representing one of six additional elements.
Scarlet, deep blue, jet black, pale cyan, emerald green, pure white—six colors radiated from the crystals, slowly floating upward like six miniature suns of different hues.
Lucian murmured the incantation in a low voice, gradually raising it into a resonant hymn to the starry sky—mysterious and arcane, emanating from the vast depths of the cosmos.
As the incantation rang out, the silvery-gray lines lit up one by one, and illusory rays of light appeared between the crystal orbs.
Gradually, the crystals began to orbit, circling around Lucian at the center. Six in the inner ring, twelve in the outer, each following a different trajectory, yet none colliding.
The magic circle suddenly blazed with a hazy layer of light, casting everything around it in a dreamlike glow. The orbiting crystals, set against this backdrop, resembled stars in the night sky—their trajectories simple yet imbued with profound mystery.
Under the magic circle's influence, Lucian was drawn into the half-illusory, half-vivid realm of his world of perception. The starry sky with its countless points of light still shone overhead, casting down invisible gravitational pulls. The main destiny star held its place at the center, its reflection within his soul swaying in resonance, proclaiming the capricious nature of fate.
Violent and restless, light and ethereal, gentle and flowing—fire, wind, and water formed the foundation of the world. The flow of energy was no longer continuous but came in discrete quanta.
Countless elemental motes, like the matter of the real world, formed the basis of his perceptual environment. Electrons orbited ceaselessly, occasionally emitting rays of radiation.
Drops of liquid conjured an icy world that sparkled with crystalline light.
One crystal orb after another crossed from the real into the inconceivable, stirring violent turbulence in his world of perception, before departing on their own path—returning from the illusory to the real, back into the magic circle, like brilliant, beautiful meteors.
This interplay of reality and illusion left Lucian struggling to distinguish whether he was standing at the center of the magic circle or had entered his world of perception entirely. For a moment, it was as if he were in a dream.
Lucian forcibly gathered his composure and, adopting the stance of an observer, made the reflection of the main destiny star within his soul tremble slightly. Brilliant star-lines blazed to life, stretching far to connect with the main star in the night sky.
The star-line then vibrated like the string of an instrument, affecting both ends simultaneously.
The reflection sent ripples through his spiritual power, which in turn transformed his soul. Meanwhile, the main destiny star made his world of perception rotate in sync. Each end underwent different changes while energy flowed ceaselessly between them!
This was something that could only be accomplished after the initial materialization of one's world of perception. In the past, when Lucian meditated, he could only control his own soul and had no way of directly influencing his perceptual environment.