In her explanation to Ning Shuyu, Mu Qinglan's words were not false.
At least not completely false.
Although the threats from the Crown Prince and the demons were imminent, due to her advantage of foreknowledge, Mu Qinglan was not completely without breathing room.
Her decision to awaken as a magician was partly due to her fragile body, and partly due to her understanding of this profession from her previous life.
As a hardcore player, Mu Qinglan had grinded all the professions in the game "Destiny" to the maximum level achievable in that version.
She was truly a dedicated grinder.
After comprehensive consideration, Mu Qinglan selected magician as the profession most suitable for her current situation and for keeping a low profile.
A magician manipulates yin and yang, disrupts the five elements, and uses spiritual power to derive all the methods in the world.
Their strength is closely related to their magic spells.
As a player, Mu Qinglan knew how to obtain many rare spells. At the same time, as a princess, she had the help of the Imperial Spirit Sect, the world's premier magician sect. Combined, these factors were enough to pile her strength to a very high level.
Most importantly, she didn't have just one choice.
In the game, after defeating the final boss of version 2.0, the heavily wounded Prince Qi, players could obtain a crucial game item from his treasury—
A dual-profession transfer book.
Through this item, players could possess two professions simultaneously without having to dismantle their cultivation and start anew.
A save file could only get this once.
After transmigrating, Mu Qinglan had also taken time to confirm that the item was currently quietly lying in the mansion's treasury, waiting for the destined person to arrive.
She felt she was quite destined for it.
It was precisely because of this that Mu Qinglan chose "Magician" as her surface profession and outward disguise, rather than the profession she was most skilled at in her previous life.
She had a backup plan.
The elegantly dressed woman spoke solemnly: "Within everyone's body, there is an affinity for magic, more or less. The path to awakening as a magician is to bring out this innate affinity through learning magic. Which type of magic do you want to learn? Or would you like me to choose one suitable for you?"
"Light Wisp spell."
Mu Qinglan said softly.
"Light Wisp spell?" Ning Shuyu hesitated for a moment. "For a beginner, this spell might be a bit difficult for you, as it involves manipulating light on a small scale. But it's not a big problem; if you can't learn it in the short term, you can switch to something else. I'll first teach you the Light Wisp spell, and then teach you how to sense spiritual power."
After speaking, Ning Shuyu began to slowly break down the Light Wisp spell and explain to Mu Qinglan the precautions needed for learning.
She explained in great detail, so even Mu Qinglan, who had never been exposed to the supernatural before, listened with great interest.
A cup of tea's worth of time passed.
Finally, she placed her hand on Mu Qinglan's arm:
"I'll circulate spiritual power, and you try to feel it. See if you can find the spiritual power within your own body."
Mu Qinglan nodded slightly.
The moment her arm was touched—
Two system prompts appeared before her eyes:
[You are learning "Light Wisp spell." Do you want to spend 15 experience to master this basic spell? After mastering it, your transcendent profession will be changed to magician (ninth rank)]
[Due to Ning Shuyu's guidance and your comprehension, the experience required to master "Light Wisp spell" is reduced to 1]
Mu Qinglan was momentarily stunned.
1 point of experience?
Truly worthy of being a super expert that only someone with her current status could have access to.
She remembered that in the game, even learning the "Light Wisp spell" skill through a magician career mentor would cost 12 experience points, and learning by reading skill books would cost as many as 15 experience points.
If she weren't a princess now, she probably wouldn't even have the qualification to meet Ning Shuyu.
Let alone being personally guided by her to awaken.
It's a benefit, Mu Qinglan inwardly smiled, and without hesitation, used her mind to press the "Confirm" button on the system interface.
Opposite her, watching Mu Qinglan's focused learning figure, Ning Shuyu couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
She didn't have high expectations.
After all, although the "Light Wisp spell" was a basic spell, it contained many variations and was one of the more difficult ones to learn, not to mention using it as the awakening spell for a ninth-rank magician.
She was willing to teach Mu Qinglan this only to let her understand that the path had to be walked step by step.
There was no way to become fat in one bite.
Learning complex spells early on often made apprentices develop feelings of complacency, and such feelings were quite fatal for walking the supernatural path.
True masters often maintained an apprentice's mindset.
Ning Shuyu believed in this.
So she would rather waste a bit of time breaking down such a relatively difficult spell than not let Mu Qinglan understand that learning magic wasn't something that could be done overnight. It required long-term effort and sweat.
"It's normal not to have a clue."
Seeing the white-haired girl not moving for a long time, Ning Shuyu had no intention of dampening her confidence:
"To be honest, the Light Wisp spell is a bit difficult as an entry-level spell. Many geniuses probably couldn't do it. Your body is weak, making it more difficult for you to sense spiritual power than others. Choosing the Light Wisp spell isn't a good choice. I would recommend awakening with the 'Healing Spirit spell,' which is easy to learn and can slightly compensate for your physical condition."
"—Generally speaking, it takes an apprentice three days to master the 'Healing Spirit spell,' while the 'Light Wisp spell' might take more than half a month. Even if you have good talent, it would probably take about seven days. So, I plan to first..."
"—?"
Ning Shuyu was still thinking about how to console the girl when suddenly her smile froze, and her words abruptly stopped.
The steward behind her couldn't help but widen his eyes.
Sunlight poured into the room like flowing water, splashing on the table. In the dim light, dust particles floated, weaving an ambiguous, misty shallow sea around the white-haired girl.
But there shouldn't have been light here.
Light leaked through the window lattice, curving around the girl in a subtle arc, dancing freely.
In Ning Shuyu's vision, the girl sitting in the wheelchair slightly bent her right hand, raising it gently. On her right index finger, there was a faint but very noticeable light, playfully manipulating the surrounding light.
—Is this the "Light Wisp spell"?
But how could it be possible?
Ning Shuyu felt a bit dazed. She herself was already quite a remarkable genius, but when she first learned the 'Light Wisp spell,' it took her several hours.
And by then, she had already been on the path of a magician for a long time.
But to learn it upon first contact?
'Could she be even more of a genius than me?'
Ning Shuyu murmured softly, her expression showing gravity and a hint of excitement.
The gravity was because if Mu Qinglan's magic talent was exposed, it would undoubtedly invite frenzied assassination attempts from political enemies. The excitement was because she seemed to see a new star of the magician world rising.
And she had a good relationship with her.
—It seems I need to pay more attention.
Ning Shuyu silently resolved, looking at the girl sitting opposite her.
'I wonder what she saw during her awakening. I saw traces left by a second-rank magician. Could she be even stronger than me? Could it be first rank?'
While Ning Shuyu was pondering.
In the dark world that only Mu Qinglan could see, a light suddenly flashed.
The light was blue, giving a mysterious yet elegant feeling. In the next instant, like water seeping through fine pores, more and more light appeared, until it filled the entire world, combining into countless complex yet beautiful runes.
At the moment she saw this scene, a piece of information flashed through Mu Qinglan's mind.
'Traces left by a great being.'
This seemed to have no problem, but as a high-level player who had almost completed version 5.0 of "Destiny," she knew far more than this information.
'Transcender…'
Mu Qinglan narrowed her eyes and whispered in her heart.
'So the CG of Transcendent Awakening in the game is presented like this in the real world? It's quite different from the game…'
Could it be that everyone sees something different?
'I'll ask Ning Shuyu after we're done, to avoid exposing myself in this aspect.'
Thinking this, Mu Qinglan gazed at the horizon until the strange runes in the sky gradually faded, and Ning Shuyu's slightly worried eyes slowly appeared.
"Are you alright? What did you see? You've been looking for so long?"
The elegantly dressed woman asked with concern.
"What was that?"
Mu Qinglan looked bewildered.
"When we magicians awaken, we have one opportunity to refine and purify spiritual power. During the refinement, we inevitably see some strange things."
Ning Shuyu sighed with relief and explained:
"Generally, they're some spells, and sometimes traces of certain battles. What did you see? If you're not comfortable sharing, you don't have to."
"It's fine."
Mu Qinglan shook her head lightly, having made up her mind.
She definitely couldn't mention seeing traces left by the [Transcender]. Such a thing was best kept to herself, and she also couldn't fully trust this woman who had shown considerable goodwill toward her at the moment.
And speaking of battle traces and the Imperial Spirit Sect, Mu Qinglan thought of a piece of information, one that was known to everyone only in version 4.0.
Perhaps she could make use of it.
Having decided in her heart, the white-haired girl hesitated for a moment, lowered her eyes, and pretending to be timid, softly said:
"I saw...
A dragon.
An injured dragon."