Chapter 70: Grandmaster Mastery Level Invisible Armor

Chapter 70: Grandmaster-Level Invisibility Armor

Li Wei ate his meal slowly, deep in thought.

After awakening supernatural traits and becoming a first-rank mage, the upper limit of mana his body could hold had increased.

Mana was the foundation of mages—cultivating it was paramount, even more crucial than grinding spells through sheer effort.

But there were only twenty-four hours in a day, and between mana cultivation and sleep, most of it was already claimed.

As a mage’s spiritual power gradually strengthened, the daily need for sleep diminished.

Occasionally pulling all-nighters, sustained by formidable willpower, one could remain alert.

Yet rest remained indispensable—sleep was a vital way to restore spiritual energy.

“The meaning of sleep isn’t merely restoring spiritual power… dreams are equally important.”

“Dreams?”

A spark flickered in Li Wei’s mind—he sensed a solution emerging.

After finishing his meal, he practiced the Stone-Breathing Technique for a while, strengthening his body.

The breathing exercise also aided digestion.

Half an hour later, having taken a shower, he lay down on his bed.

“Great Dream Soaring Art!”

His consciousness sank deeper and deeper, descending into the dream world.

He appeared within his safe room.

With a mere thought, a list of skill proficiencies materialized before him.

He checked the value for the Invisibility Armor spell.

Then, within the dream, he began practicing the spell.

After several repetitions, he glanced again at the proficiency list—and smiled.

“Indeed, even practicing magic in dreams increases skill level.”

“There are no magical elements here, so I can’t cultivate mana.”

“But this dream realm is entirely under my control. I can recklessly expend mana to practice spells—making it faster and easier to grind spell proficiency than in reality.”

“So this… is the true purpose of dreams!”

Absorbing memory fragments to boost spell proficiency only worked for broad, general spells.

As mastery advanced, suitable sources became increasingly rare.

That method wasn’t sustainable.

Only relentless grinding offered lasting progress!

Li Wei threw himself into mastering Invisibility Armor. When his mana ran dry, with a mere thought, he revived—fully restored.

Late into the night, after hours of exhausting effort, weary in both body and soul, he decided to step out for a walk.

Taking Shadow Servitor with him, he left the safe room.

Hansha City in the dream remained as ruined as ever.

Fire meteors and flaming arrows rained ceaselessly from the sky. Collapsed houses littered the streets, and fleeing crowds scrambled in panic.

Walking invisibly down the road, Li Wei noticed that the house previously leveled by an explosion had somehow been restored.

Boom!

A fire meteor crashed down, shattering the roof, igniting a roaring blaze.

“…”

“Perhaps… this is fate.”

This house was simply fated never to remain intact.

Li Wei bypassed the burning wreckage and approached several first-rank nightmares.

The creatures had just slain a dreamer and were now fighting over the nightmare energy born from the terror.

Shadow Servitor stirred slightly, emanating a faint aura of desire.

Sensing it, Li Wei’s heart stirred—he decided to nurture the being deliberately.

He raised his hand and cast Chain Fireball.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several fireballs shot forth, blasting the nightmares into disarray.

After a series of explosions, only three nightmare cores floated in midair.

“Go.”

Shadow Servitor lunged forward eagerly.

Whoosh!

In one breath, it swallowed all three cores. Li Wei froze in place, stunned.

He extinguished the fireball in his palm and stared at Shadow Servitor in astonishment.

He’d assumed it wanted only the lingering nightmare energy—but it had actually coveted the nightmare cores themselves.

Inside Shadow Servitor, the three cores thrashed violently, its form flickering chaotically.

Li Wei grew concerned—it might burst.

“Can you handle it? If not, spit them out now.”

After a pause, Shadow Servitor reluctantly expelled one core.

A moment later, another followed. Only one core remained, slowly being digested.

Li Wei looked at it, speechless. Struggling to digest even one, yet daring to swallow three at once?

Still, he wasn’t surprised. The nightmare core used to create Shadow Servitor had been freshly born—weak to begin with.

Thus, Shadow Servitor’s strength was pitifully low.

An hour later, Shadow Servitor finished absorbing a first-rank minor nightmare core.

Li Wei hunted more first-rank nightmares, collected their cores, and fed them to Shadow Servitor to strengthen it.

Half an hour after that, another minor core was absorbed.

Its digestion speed had quickened. Li Wei continued hunting suitable nightmares to feed his growing companion.

After absorbing three first-rank minor nightmare cores, Shadow Servitor ascended to first-rank intermediate.

Its form grew denser, more substantial.

“What rapid growth!”

Li Wei gazed at his shadow servant, now grown stronger, and sighed softly.

He took out a mid-tier first-rank nightmare core and fed it to the shadow.

"Let's go. Time to head back."

Tonight, they had found no suitable memory fragments.

Back in the safehouse, the shadow servant retreated to a corner, slowly digesting the mid-tier nightmare core.

Li Wei resumed grinding on the Invisibility Armor spell.

After several hours, sensing dawn approaching, he withdrew from the dream.

Before leaving, he glanced at his cultivation progress.

[Invisibility Armor (Minor Mastery, Zero-Rank)] 1854/4000

A smile spread across Li Wei’s face—nearly a thousand points of proficiency gained in one night was astonishing.

In the past, such progress would have taken ten full days of relentless effort.

Grinding spells within dreams truly held immense advantages.

"Keep pushing forward!"

The next morning, Li Wei took on missions outside the city to earn merits.

He usually returned to Hansha City before noon.

With the shadow servant growing stronger, its utility increased significantly.

It could now directly control ordinary beast soldiers without Li Wei’s assistance.

In the afternoons, Li Wei stayed in his room, meditating to cultivate magical energy.

For now, he relied on the Perfect-level Basic Meditation Method—he had nothing better.

Obtaining the Crystal Meditation Method anytime soon seemed unlikely; his only hope was to grind it out from dreams.

The quartermaster did offer meditation methods for exchange, but the prices were exorbitant.

Advanced Meditation Method: Starlight Meditation! Purchase price—eight thousand merits.

Starlight Meditation was an advanced technique within the military mage system, emphasizing stability and resonance of magical energy.

Higher resonance meant greater compatibility between mages’ energies, reducing interference during joint casting and amplifying spell power.

Simply put, it was a meditation method tailored for battlefield cooperation.

Li Wei couldn’t afford it—and didn’t want it.

The Crystal Meditation Method suited him far better.

Besides, the basic method still allowed gradual growth in magical energy. He wasn’t in a hurry.

Even if he were, it wouldn’t matter.

Three days later, deep within the dream realm, Li Wei cultivated his spellwork when suddenly his spirit trembled—he felt a profound awakening.

"Did I break through?"

[Invisibility Armor (Major Mastery, Zero-Rank)] 0/8000

Li Wei quietly savored the insight blooming in his heart.

Though the Invisibility Armor spell had reached Major Mastery, its defensive power hadn’t increased.

Its defense had long ago hit the upper limit of zero-rank spells—further gains were nearly impossible.

But…

"Incredible! So that’s how it works! The creator of Invisibility Armor was a genius! Who would’ve thought it could be done this way!"

Li Wei marveled in awe.

Zero-rank spells were inherently limited—without adding new spell circuits, breaking their limits was impossible.

The armor’s defense had already reached the peak possible for its rank.

Only with the blessing of supernatural traits had it briefly surpassed that boundary.

Yet, in the eyes of the spell’s original creator, even that peak wasn’t the true end.

He had shattered the defensive ceiling of zero-rank magic through a method that defied all conventional magical thinking.

(End of Chapter)