Chapter 38 – The Building Under the Lake
Suo Jia stood dumbfounded after hearing Big Sister’s speech. However… even if he did not understand the meaning behind Big Sister’s words, he could confirm one point; everything was for his own good.
With this in mind, Suo Jia smiled wryly, and interrupted Big Sister’s advice, “Alright alright… you don’t need to continue elaborating further. Regarding this matter, I leave everything in your hands. You will be responsible for everything; just do whatever you want to do. You know the limit of my abilities, so you decide how everything will be done!”
After hearing Suo Jia give all of the responsibilities for this matter to her, Eldest Sister got so excited that she almost jumped up. As a maid, she had no right to speak up. A maid’s privileges were all granted by the master. Now however, Young Master had given her such important responsibilities; this was already the best thing she could ever get as a maid. She finally had the opportunity to use her talents to the fullest.
After assigning all of the responsibilities to Eldest Sister, Suo Jia went to eat breakfast as if nothing had happened, and then rushed to school. Although he was currently unable to perform the Meditation Technique, Suo Jia knew it was about time for him to start learning and grasping how to use the Meditation Technique. However, before he could use the Meditation Technique, he had to first understand how to perform it.
It took Suo Jia only one hour to understand how to perform the Meditation Technique. In actuality, meditation was not a magic spell, nor was it a way to cultivate the mind. Instead, it was a type of practice that resided in between two different realms. The effects of the meditation depended on the spiritual power and mental state. Simply having either high spirit power or an advanced mental state was useless; achieving the desired effect, required mastery of both these realms.
Upon fulfilling both of the prerequisites and entering the meditative state, a mage with strong spiritual power will rapidly gather tremendous amounts of magic power. The stronger the mage’s spirit power and the more profound his/her mental state are, the better the results will be.
Meditation is divided into ten levels. The first level of support is Rank 1 Magic, the second level support is Rank 2 Magic, and so on. For example, one can only cast the mysterious ice arrows magic if they have reached the first level of meditation. Suo Jia could only cast the Moisture and Swamp Techniques because these are considered rankless. One can still cast these spells as long as he/she knows the method.
If this is categorized based on the water magic system, then there are 12 different ranks of water magic. But the third rank of water magic, the mysterious attack-type arrows, are in fact only equivalent to a first rank ice magic. It is precisely for this reason that legends claim there are two versions of the ranking system; one version has up to twelve ranks, and the other has only up to ten ranks. Actually these ranks refer to the same category of magic, the only difference being that they have different starting ranks.
Novice Mage Trainee, Elementary Mage, Intermediate Mage, Advanced Mage, Great Mage, Magic Scholar, Great Magic Scholar, Magister, Great Magister and Mage Saint. There are a total of 10 mage titles, with each title corresponding to a certain mage rank. Each mage rank corresponds to his/her rank in meditation as well, but legends claim that there exist mages who exceed the Saint rank — the Mage Deity. However, a legend is only a legend after all, and so this has never been confirmed.
Previously, Suo Jia had never thought that he could learn the Meditation Technique by himself. However after yesterday’s Exhaustion Training Method, he discovered to his surprise that he was already able to cultivate in the early phases of the Meditation Technique!
As stated earlier, the Meditation Technique has two requirements: spirit power and mental state. In terms of spirit power, Suo Jia still had not developed much, but since he practiced the Exhaustion Training Method, spirit power definitely would not be a problem. He could reach the required amount in a short period of time.
Besides spirit power, mental state was another factor. If you cannot bring yourself to calm your mind and enter the ancient calm yet rippling realm, how could you possible sense the vast magical elements within?
There are two main parts to the meditation technique. The first half involves clearing the mind to reach a state of nothingness, because only by allowing the mind to reach an unworldly and selfless realm of nothingness can one enter the meditative state. The second half involves thoughts. Since thoughts influence spirit power, this also determines the effects of the Meditation Technique. An extraordinary heart combined with both of these halves allows a mage to better understand the magical elements. What Suo Jia needed to do now was to enter the meditative state.
In order to reach a selfless and empty state, [the surroundings] must be tranquil, and the lighting must be dark. The less disturbances there are, the easier it is to enter the meditative state. This is why it is crucial to have a special place to cultivate meditation.
After enduring through an entire day, as soon as classes had ended, Suo Jia leapt out of the school grounds and raced home. In order to use the Meditation Technique, he needed a basement. There were no other places besides a basement that would be dark and quiet enough for meditation. This concept was not something Suo Jia had thought of, but something that all mages had practiced since ancient times.
Once Suo Jia had rushed to the wood cabin, the few construction workers had already finished the building’s foundation. Seeing this, Suo Jia could not help but smile bitterly. Unless they pushed over the foundation, the basement would probably be impossible to build.
Just as Suo Jia was despairing over this, Eldest Sister walked over from a distance. Seeing Suo Jia’s face of despair, Eldest Sister asked in confusion, “Young Master, what is wrong? Is there something you are unsatisfied with? If there is, then please say it now. Since construction has just started, making any changes now is easy.”
Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia’s heart jumped, and said hurriedly, “It’s like this Eldest Sister: I need a dark, undisturbed place where nobody can interrupt my training. Therefore, I wanted to dig a basement under the wooden cabin, you see…”
Knitting her brows, Eldest Sister asked hesitantly, “Young Master, do you want to build a basement underneath the wood cabin, or do you simply want a dark and secluded area to train?”
Suo Jia replied to Eldest Sister’s question with little hesitation, “I originally wanted a training area, but I recall that the White Villa doesn’t have a basement, right?”
“Oh, you!” Charmingly rolling her eyes at Suo Jia, Eldest Sister rebuked, “If Young Master needs anything, please just give me the command. In reality, it is entirely unnecessary to construct a basement. I can recommend a better place; I know this whole area like the back of my hand.”
While saying this, she turned and headed towards the direction of the man-made lake. Upon arriving at the opening, she said, “Follow me; see if this location will satisfy your needs.”
Suo Jia followed behind Eldest Sister in doubt, and the two of them eventually arrived at the forest next to the man-made lake. Even after living in this mansion for so long, Sou Jia had not ever known that there was actually a tower in such an isolated location!
The tower had no windows, only two sliding doors for the entrance. Eldest Sister withdrew some keys from her person and opened the doors. Everything within the tower immediately appeared in Sou Jia’s line of sight.
The tower was about 4-5 meters high, and the inside of it was very large, occupying a space of over a hundred square feet. From the looks of it, it appeared to be similar to a training area. It was only empty space; there was absolutely nothing there.
Wordlessly, Eldest Sister carried the set of keys, then walked to the opposite wall, and knocked it lightly. At that moment… the scenic picture on the wall rose with a creaking sound, revealing a passage leading downwards. The passage had magic lamps lining both sides, lighting the passage with a faint red glow, and giving it an exceptional sense of warmth.
Leading in front, Eldest Sister said warmly, “Young Master, did you ever think it strange that there would be such a large man-made lake built in this area? In terms of bathing, there is already a swimming pool!”
“Eh! That…” Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia thought about it for a bit, then guessed, “Was it not created for the sake of a scenic view?”
Hearing Suo Jia’s reply, Eldest Sister laughed. “What you have said is only one aspect. However, if the man-made lake was meant to be a scenic view, it would count as a type of water scenery, and would then be redundant with the swimming pool. In reality, the man-made lake’s existence has a very deep reasoning behind it.”
Speaking up to this point, Eldest Sister stopped in her tracks, and waited for Suo Jia to catch up before once again striding forwards. As she walked, she said, “About 20 years ago, the western aristocrats presented a few bottles of fine liquor that had very unique flavors to Duke Wen Sha as gifts. However, these bottles could not be stored at room temperature, because if the temperature was too high, the liquor would turn sour. The bottles could only be stored for long periods of time in an environment below 20°C!”
“However, because of Holy Light’s geographical position, although it is never blazing hot, there are still four distinct seasons. The temperatures during the summer can easily reach 40°C, so for the sake of storing these fine liquors, the Duke had built a man-made lake. The purpose of this lake was precisely to control the temperature of the storehouse below it.”
