Chapter 8: One-Star Spiritual Apprentice

The West Station was located in the outer city, while the Magic Tower was in the inner city.

The tram shuttled through every street, carrying passengers of all kinds. Duke, however, remained seated by the window, absorbing the sights around him.

"It's like the European cities described in textbooks during the first industrial revolution..."

"And it's also like a cyberpunk-style new world..."

Chen Jiao City, besides the rolling black smoke and flowing sewage, displayed a mix of technological prosperity and the squalor of life, both estranged and fitting together.

However, as he reached the inner city, the dirty scenery gradually became scarce.

Tall tower-shaped buildings stood in rows, surrounded by villas with gardens distributed around low hills. Patrol knights on majestic mounts maintained order, flying shuttles glided close to the ground, and carriages moved slowly.

Compared to the chaotic outer city, though still crowded, the inner city was well-ordered.

"Magic Tower Station is here!" The ticket seller shouted loudly before the tram even stopped.

Duke quickly stood up, moved to the door, and got off when the tram came to a halt. Several others also disembarked, and one middle-aged man, like Duke, had the Magic Tower as his destination.

"Are you from out of town?" the middle-aged man asked as he noticed Duke looking around.

"Yes."

"What are you here for?"

"To register as a spiritual apprentice."

"Hmm, did you take the Awakening Elixir?"

"How did you guess?" Duke walked with the middle-aged man.

"No one trusts a genius to go to the Magic Tower for registration alone because they'd be robbed long ago." The middle-aged man walked up to the gate of the Magic Tower and told the two security guards, "He's with me."

"Alright, Mr. Wilgan," the security guard didn't question Duke's identity.

Duke entered the gate and curiously asked, "Mr. Wilgan, may I know who you are?"

"I'm a meditation law recorder, just an ordinary employee." Wilgan waved his hand, "Go straight to the hall. There will be a dedicated officer to guide you through the registration process. After you're done, come over to get the meditation law. We might see each other again."

After Wilgan finished speaking, he hurriedly left with his briefcase.

"Thank you."

Duke expressed his gratitude and decisively headed towards the hall.

Many people had gathered at the front desk, handling various tasks. Duke stood in line, listening to what each task was about. He found people renewing qualification certificates, exchanging arcane templates, assessing apprentice levels, and applying for private tutoring. In short, the scope of services at the Magic Tower was quite extensive.

"Next."

"Hello, I'm here to register as a spiritual apprentice."

"Do you have a recommendation letter?"

"Here it is."

"Tom, someone is here to register as a spiritual apprentice, take him there." The receptionist at the front desk immediately called out.

Soon, a young man with pockmarks on his face took the recommendation letter from the Snakehead Town Spiritual Society, glanced at its contents, and then cast a quick glance at Duke. "Follow me."

Perhaps it was noted on the recommendation form that Duke opened his spiritual sea by taking drugs.

Or maybe Tom is just a man of few words.

They walked in silence, climbing a flight of stairs and turning through a corridor until they reached a room labeled "Spiritual Sea Sensing Center."

Inside, many staff members were busy.

Tom led Duke and waited for a moment. When an opportunity arose, he quickly handed over the recommendation form. "Spiritual sea opening test, please."

Soon, someone approached and led Duke to a machine. The machine was surrounded by non-metallic materials and had a crystal ball in the center.

"Place your hands on it and meditate on your spiritual sea," an elderly man operating the machine said.

Duke followed the instructions.

As soon as he entered, he received a message from Little Art: "Master, there seems to be a force imprinting on the master's spiritual sea."

Duke had already researched the matter: "This is reflecting my spiritual sea to test my spiritual and magical talents. Little Art, can you and Sandhawk hide?"

"Of course."

"That's good; you guys hide, and I want to know how high my spiritual and magical talent is." Duke decided.

When he heard someone say, "Okay, you can let go now," Duke opened his eyes and found many lights reflecting on the non-metallic plates around the machine, somewhat similar to the distribution of stars in his spiritual sea.

"Element Affinity: Low... Energy Stability: Medium... Spiritual Absorption Efficiency: Low... Overall, talent is slightly low," the elderly man announced the test results and stamped the form.

"Uh..."

Duke was a bit regretful, but he wasn't too disappointed.

Most spiritual seas opened through drugs had low talents. In fact, even naturally opened spiritual seas had a high probability of low talent. However, talent was just a parameter. According to the book "Opening Spiritual and Magical Arts," talent could not determine the height of spiritual and magical arts. There were many examples of low-talented spiritual apprentices becoming powerful magical artisans.

"And I have Little Art of the Ninth Ring. It's only a matter of time before she advances to the Ninth Ring!"

Duke was not discouraged.

However, from Tom's eyes, he saw a hint of undisguised contempt.

"Let's go, Duke. The spiritual sea test is done; it's time to register officially," Tom called out, no longer speaking. He simply helped Duke go through all the procedures step by step.

Finally, Duke paid a silver dragon for the fees and processing costs.

Duke received his spiritual apprentice ID, a thin, silver card. It had a light green background and did not display Duke's information directly. Instead, it showed a tall and magnificent tower-like structure—the headquarters of the Spiritual Tower in the capital of the Seven Towers Federation.

"When you advance to the First Ring, you can replace it with a blue spiritual card. I guess you won't need it... Keep this spiritual card safe. If you lose it, it will cost ten silver dragons to reissue."

Tom casually said, "Spiritual apprentices are divided into five levels, from one star to five stars. You are now a one-star spiritual apprentice. Each time you advance, you can come to swipe your card to adjust your level. Okay, now let me take you to choose a meditation method."

Duke put away his spiritual card and hurried to catch up.

When it came time to choose a meditation method, he indeed saw Willgang, who had brought him in. However, the latter showed no special expression. In a businesslike tone, he said, "Your talent is slightly low. The three basic attributes—element affinity, spiritual absorption—are not good, only energy stability is passable. Here, I recommend you choose the 'Rock Meditation Method' for practice."

Duke thought for a moment and replied, "Mr. Willgang, can I understand other meditation methods before making a choice?"

"You can. Rixi, introduce him to the meditation methods for apprentices."

Rixi was Willgang's female assistant, with a well-endowed chest and slightly rough facial features. Her voice was also robust. "Throughout the generations, the Spiritual Tower has derived five meditation methods most suitable for spiritual apprentices. They are the 'Color Meditation Method,' 'Rock Meditation Method,' 'Vortex Meditation Method,' 'Blank Paper Meditation Method,' and 'Field Meditation Method'..."