Chapter 158: Obtaining Rewards, Strength Greatly Increased

Chapter 158 Receiving the Reward, Power Greatly Increased

After everyone had emerged, the Mage Association declared the Twenty-Eighth Youth Mage Exchange Competition officially concluded.

"The champion of this competition is Kǎi!"

"Second place goes to Savis!"

"Third place to Lilith!"

"Now, please welcome our three winners to the stage to receive their awards."

The Mage Association wasted no words and proceeded directly to distribute the prizes.

The grand hall of the Magic Hall reverted to its appearance on the first day.

Everyone sat below, watching the award ceremony unfold.

Li Wei, Savis, and Lilith ascended the elevated platform.

Li Wei remained clad in his armor as always.

Savis glanced at Li Wei and whispered, "What kind of armor is that? Its defense is incredible."

Li Wei looked back, silent.

Seeing this, Savis said nothing more.

The head of the Mage Association stepped forward to present the awards.

"Young and promising—keep striving, and aim to become a Grand Mage soon."

After a few words of praise, the elder handed Li Wei a box containing the Spring of Elves and a golden commemorative plaque.

Li Wei accepted it with both hands. "Thank you, Headmaster."

Next, the headmaster awarded Savis and Lilith each their prize—one received a mithril staff, the other a mithril robe.

Though both items were priceless, they paled in allure compared to the Spring of Elves.

All eyes turned toward Li Wei, eager for even a glimpse of the legendary spring.

But Li Wei showed no intention of opening the box.

After a brief speech, the headmaster announced the competition’s successful conclusion and departed.

Yet the crowd lingered.

Someone shouted, "Is the Flame Pearl for sale?"

"I’ll pay five thousand gold for the Flame Pearl!"

"Kǎi, will you take off your helmet so we can see who you really are?"

"Where are you from?"

Seeing the chaos unfold, Li Wei quickly slipped away.

"Wait, wait, don’t go!"

"Leave the Flame Pearl behind!"

No one dared act rashly within the sanctity of the Magic Hall. As Li Wei vanished, they could only sigh in regret.

"What a shame!"

Li Wei found a secluded corner, switched places with his illusionary double, then parted ways.

He returned to Guze and Rota.

Meanwhile, the illusion took on Kǎi’s form and exited the Magic Hall.

The entrance stood wide open.

The moment Kǎi stepped out, he was spotted.

Seeing him leave, many rushed out after him.

Li Wei glanced toward the gate. "Do you think he’ll be in danger?"

Guze replied, "Within Feihua City, no one would dare touch him. But beyond the city walls, danger might await."

"Still, someone of his talent likely has protectors. He wouldn’t travel alone."

"There’s no need to worry."

"Come on, the exchange is over. It’s time we left too," Guze said.

"When will we depart, Teacher?" Li Wei asked.

"Depends. If nothing urgent comes up, we’ll leave in a couple of days."

"The event continues until month’s end, but we won’t stay till the end of July."

Li Wei nodded. "Alright. Just let me know before we go—I may want to buy some things for the journey back."

"No problem."

Vexx saw the armored figure leave the Magic Hall and followed closely behind.

But as he walked, suddenly the armored man vanished.

He reached out with his senses, seeking the Wind Spirit.

No trace.

Vexx frowned. "What’s going on?"

Beyond the barrier of the Magic Hall, he could no longer sense the Wind Spirit upon Li Wei.

He assumed the armored man had discovered him.

"What a pity. Lucky escape—you’ve dodged disaster this time."

Li Wei, along with Guze and Rota, left the Magic Hall and returned to their inn.

Back in the room, Li Wei could hardly contain himself—he immediately opened the treasure box.

Inside a crystal vial shimmered a small amount of azure liquid, glowing like stardust.

This was the Spring of Elves.

The legendary fount of magic.

He glanced around, then released his spiritual force, enveloping the entire chamber.

To suppress any fluctuations from the Spring, lest they draw unwanted attention.

The golden plaque he didn’t even glance at—tossed carelessly back into his spatial ring.

With trembling hands and a pounding heart, Li Wei uncorked the crystal vial.

Instantly, a surge of pure magical energy welled up within him.

His eyes widened in astonishment.

The Spring of Elves—contained actual mana within.

He carefully absorbed the magic power from the bottle.

To his astonishment, it was naturally born mana.

The formula for generating mana: magical elements plus spiritual energy.

Natural spiritual energy?

After absorbing a sip of the Sprite Spring, Li Wei suddenly understood.

It wasn’t spiritual energy—it was elemental spirits.

When elements awaken sentience and consciousness, they become elemental sprites.

The true value of the Sprite Spring lay in this: its waters contained pure, natural elemental spirits, yet without the accompanying consciousness that usually emerged alongside them.

Any living being could perfectly absorb the springwater infused with these elemental spirits.

Because the spirits would automatically reshape the absorber’s constitution,

adapting it to magical elements.

This was precisely why the Sprite Spring enhanced a mage’s aptitude.

Li Wei drank deeply from the spring, then closed his eyes to meditate.

His shadow guardian stood watch beside him.

Thus he cultivated through one full day and night.

Not until the evening of the next day did he emerge from meditation.

A full twenty-four hours had passed before he fully digested just a small vial of Sprite Spring.

Yet the gains were immense.

His mana surged directly to the peak of the first tier.

[Crystal Meditation Technique (First Tier)] 10000/10000

Moments later, it transformed:

[Crystal Meditation Technique (First Tier Awakening)] 0/10000

Li Wei’s mana had reached the pinnacle of the first stage.

He was now a first-tier apex mage.

All that remained was to awaken the second-tier supernatural trait, and he would ascend to become a second-tier mage.

Moreover, after absorbing the Sprite Spring, his sensitivity to all kinds of magical elements had greatly increased.

During meditation, he could clearly sense the warmth and familiarity of surrounding magical energies.

Especially fire—passionate, fervent, clinging like honey.

Now, even without entering a meditative state, merely by extending his spiritual sense, he could perceive the vibrant fire elements dancing in the air.

Fire answered his call as if an old friend.

Consequently, the power of his fire-based spells had also grown significantly.

With heightened perception across all elements, Li Wei could now properly unleash the potential of other elemental spells.

Yet without supernatural traits enhancing them, their might paled in comparison to his fire spells.

"Training speed roughly doubled, mana recovery rate tripled."

A smile spread across Li Wei’s face—this harvest was extraordinary.

His journey had not been in vain.

After calming the excitement of his sudden strength, Li Wei turned his thoughts toward awakening.

At first, he had devised a crude advancement ritual of his own—

feeding mana and spiritual energy to the fire element.

Now, however, he possessed a more orthodox and potent method: the Fire Spirit Rite.

Li Wei decided to first test the ritual he had discovered on his own.

He used spiritual energy to nurture the fire element.

After a while, he opened his eyes.

[Crystal Meditation Technique (First Tier Awakening)] 3/10000

"Tch! Progress so slow?"

"At this rate, I’d need a year and a half just to awaken!"

"Looks like I’ll have to rely on the Fire Spirit Rite after all. I wonder how effective it truly is—let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint."

(End of Chapter)