Matthew hesitated no longer. He reached out and took another milky-white magic stone, placing it side by side with the pale blue magic stone in his palm, which still contained a trace of residual energy. He closed his eyes and concentrated once more. This time, the strands of Spirit he split off connected to both magic stones simultaneously!
“Boom!”
A dual stream of energy surged in like a bursting dam! A massive wave instantly rose within his sea of consciousness! Two energies, slightly different in nature yet equally pure and surging, collided and intertwined within his conscious space, bringing a swelling pain and tearing sensation far more intense than before. Matthew's forehead instantly broke out in fine beads of sweat, and his temples throbbed violently. However, he gritted his teeth, firmly anchoring his mind onto the core path of the meditation method's circulation.
Refine! Fuse! Guide!
The Spirit vortex spun even faster, like a high-speed millstone, forcibly crushing and reorganizing the two external energies to merge them into his own torrent of Spirit. Under such a violent energy impact, the barrier of the bottleneck began to make a faint “crackling” sound—not a real sound, but an intuitive feedback from the depths of his consciousness, symbolizing the loosening of his shackles.
But it was still not enough!
Although the energy of the two magic stones was fierce, shaking the bottleneck to its foundations, it was still missing the final push, that last crucial step!
Matthew's consciousness was already somewhat blurred under the impact of the energy and the burden of refinement, but a fierce determination welled up from the bottom of his heart. Since he had already come this far, how could he allow all his efforts to go to waste?
He practically used his mind to “grab” a third magic stone—a dark blue crystal with a deeper color and more obscure energy fluctuations—and placed it alongside the first two.
Three torrents of energy flooded in simultaneously!
At that moment, Matthew seemed to hear an overburdened buzzing sound from his sea of consciousness. Bizarre, kaleidoscopic colors flashed wildly in his vision, and a non-existent sharp ringing echoed in his ears. Three energies of different natures surged and clashed within the cramped space of his consciousness, nearly tearing his Spirit structure to pieces.
Steady... Steady!
The meditation method was pushed to its absolute limit. The Spirit vortex had almost turned into a physical storm, wildly devouring and harmonizing all the incoming external energy. The cracks on the bottleneck barrier spread rapidly like a spiderweb, yet the core point still stubbornly held on, refusing to collapse completely.
Just a little more... Just one last push!
Under the intense burden, Matthew's consciousness began to drift, but relying on an unyielding will, he reached his hand toward the cloth bag almost purely out of instinct—
A fourth magic stone was in his hand.
This was a translucent, nearly transparent crystal, inside of which faint starlight-like nebulae seemed to spin. He no longer had the strength to control it precisely; he could only pour all of his remaining Spirit into it. Like a drowning man grabbing onto a final straw, he brutally dragged the energy of this magic stone into his sea of consciousness!
“Break for me!!!”
It was as if a silent roar exploded in the deepest depths of his consciousness.
The four energies finally converged into an unstoppable torrent, like a tsunami that had accumulated to its peak, slamming fiercely and thoroughly against the crack-ridden barrier!
“Crack!”
A clear sensation of shattering washed over him.
It was not a sound, but a sense of liberation as some invisible shackle was completely broken.
The long-standing, incredibly resilient transparent barrier shattered and dissipated at this very moment! It was as if a veil that had always covered his eyes was suddenly stripped away, or like being in a sealed room when the doors and windows were suddenly thrown open—fresh air and a vast world instantly flooded in!
He had broken through!
Second-Grade Apprentice!
...
Rate on N.U.
