Starting with Proficiency Panel

"Morning!"

Luo Rui showed a sweet smile and quickly raised her hand, saying, "I bought two buns, do you want one?"

"Thanks, I've already eaten."

Luo Rui looked at Li Qing's face in surprise, "Brother Qing, when did you become so trendy, even did yourself smoky eye makeup?"

Smoky eye makeup?

Li Qing instinctively touched his eye sockets, "Is it that bad? I didn't sleep well last night..."

"Stayed up late last night?"

Luo Rui had a slight ambiguous smile on her face, "Was it..."

Li Qing chuckled, "What's going on in that little brain of yours? Last night... hmm, I got so engrossed in studying that by the time I came to, it was already dawn."

Li Qing checked his phone, it was nine fifteen, still fifteen minutes left.

Luo Rui frowned, "Oh, come on."

She thought there might be some gossip to hear. It's been half a year since she joined the company, and although Li Qing likes to joke with colleagues, he hasn't gotten a girlfriend yet.

Listening to Luo Rui chatter on about problems at work that led to her working overtime until seven, and then asking Li Qing to check her workstation's computer, he replied absent-mindedly while recalling last night's first step practice of the 'Basic Meditation Technique.'

After getting into the elevator and clocking in, Li Qing went straight to his office cubicle in the server room and slumped in his seat.

That's right, thanks to the company setting up a local server room, his workspace moved to a small partition within it, a private space. Although the server's humming was constant, the soundproofing was quite good, so it wasn't too noisy.

After doing the daily system maintenance, checking that there were no server issues, and fixing a few colleagues' computer problems, he lay on his desk, staring at himself in the mirror.

Seeing his reflection surprised him a bit.

There he was, wearing glasses, looking terribly pale, with black eyes that looked like he had smoky eye makeup, giving the impression of being excessively depleted.

Even when he went out to fix problems earlier, many colleagues were laughing at him.

"Does it really drain the Spirit this much?"

Li Qing blinked, then set aside the mirror. After resting for a few hours post-lunch, he replenished his Spirit.

He spread out the paper again, opened 'Magic Origin,' and began reading carefully.

This book describes the basic structure of magic very clearly, and Li Qing judged it was tailor-made for beginners.

Magic supposedly originates from the so-called God, like those Western myths and legends. God observed all things in the world and turned the insights gained into a book, thus creating the mysterious Magic Book of 'Primordial Magic.' Then humans, like Adam and Eve, stolen the book out of greed, and magic began spreading throughout human society.

However, according to the old scholar mages of archaeology, although this legend remains unreliable, it can serve as one of the evidences.

There are many Magic Holy Artifacts in the current world within this legend.

Another legend is like Prometheus, who, seeing humans living harshly on the Barbaric Land, was moved by compassion to steal and spread fire. Humans, after gaining Extraordinary Power, began to research and subsequently created a thriving magic era, which is passed down to today...

Li Qing read with great enthusiasm, and before he knew it, it was six o'clock, the end of the workday.

After snapping back to reality, Li Qing quickly packed up and clocked out.

He casually found a fast-food restaurant to dine in after leaving the company, then excitedly returned to his residence, set the alarm, and went straight to bed.

The 'Basic Meditation Technique' clearly stated that if Spirit is overused, sleeping is the best method for Recovery.

Exhausted, Li Qing fell asleep the moment he touched the bed.

"Beep beep beep... beep beep beep..."

Li Qing instinctively pressed the phone volume button, turned off the alarm, then rolled over and immediately fell back asleep.

This went on repeatedly until nine thirty when Li Qing groggily got up, went to the bathroom, washed his face to wake himself up, then lay back in bed to meditate, sketching lines.

Three minutes later, Li Qing opened his eyes, looking somewhat strange. Though the intrusive thoughts today were much less than yesterday, distractions still poured in, making it difficult to concentrate.

No wonder Taoism emphasizes calming the Monkey Mind; meditation and Taoist sitting meditation have much in common.

Li Qing instinctively touched his lower back, feeling he could still hold on for a few more rounds, then opened a hidden folder on his computer.

Nineteen minutes later...

Li Qing lay flat on the bed, looking calm and content, in a state of sage-like tranquility, entering a semi-empty semiconscious meditation state, slowly sketching the lines of the Meditation Image.

As long as a line is completely sketched out, it seems to settle thoroughly, becoming solidified.

If uninterrupted, Li Qing expected he could only complete about thirty percent before the Gray Magic Academy started term.

But if the sketched meditation lines can effectively enhance Spirit, he would have surplus Spirit to speed up the sketching.

The 'Basic Meditation Technique,' as the name implies, should be the simplest and easiest-to-understand magic entry-level meditation method at the Gray Magic Academy.

The second line set off again from the origin point, slowly sketched outward, emerging from nothingness with extreme precision step by step...

Once the second line was completed and firmly visualized, Li Qing slowly opened his eyes, rested a while to confirm there was no splitting headache, merely a sense of muddled heaviness, making his expression shift slightly.

It seemed his guess was correct; as more lines were sketched, his Spirit grew increasingly resilient, a rather evident process.

On the third day, Li Qing still couldn't meditate well and had no choice but to use his last resort.

Seventeen minutes later...

Li Qing sketched out two complete lines, making substantial progress.

On the fourth day, Li Qing again used his last resort.

Sixteen minutes later...

Quickly entered a meditative state, then sketched three lines.

On the fifth day, Li Qing skillfully used his last resort.

Fifteen minutes later...

On the sixth day, fourteen minutes later...

Up until three days before the start of school, true man Li Qing had fully sketched all three hundred and sixty-five white lines of the 'Basic Meditation Technique,' forming a well-rounded sphere, identical to the pattern in the Meditation Image.

His sunken cheeks, hollow eyes, and emaciated frame made him look almost about to collapse.