Chapter 393 – The Sky Meditation Diagram

Only mages with relatively high initial psychic power possessed the ability to take on additional meditation techniques.

Many mages simply lacked the capacity to cultivate a second meditation technique, making the choice of one’s first technique critically important.

Those mages who truly had high starting psychic power and strong affinity for multiple elemental forces would study multiple elemental meditation techniques. This way, they could reap the benefits of elemental meditation without worrying about being restricted to certain schools of magic. Rather than learning only 《Sky Meditation》.

But the more Mo Lan read, the more she felt that 《Sky Meditation》 was suitable as her first meditation technique.

Her limitless All-Element Magic aptitude meant that her affinity for any type of magical energy had no upper bound.

With no affinity issues to worry about, she didn’t need to fret like other mages about insufficient affinity, being unable to channel elemental energy, or failing to cast spells.

If her psychic power potential turned out to be decent, she could always add other meditation techniques on top of 《Sky Meditation》 later, based on her needs.

Mo Lan also showed this section to Lilith and the others:

“Let’s all learn 《Sky Meditation》! Even though you’re not interested in mage magic right now, what if you suddenly want to learn it someday? Besides, learning this won’t affect your ability to disguise yourselves as any particular type of mage.

You wouldn’t want to have your personalities subtly altered by an elemental meditation technique, would you? If we all learn the same meditation technique, we can share our experiences and learn from each other!”

“Elemental meditation techniques have that kind of side effect?” Vasida quickly put 《Earth Meditation》 back. She certainly didn’t want to be influenced by earth elemental force into becoming increasingly honest and stolid.

Lilith felt the same way: “I only like the passion of fire elemental force — not its impulsiveness and hot-headedness.”

“I do like the characteristics of wood elemental force, but I equally like other elemental forces too,” said Sylph.

In the end, they all came over to study this copy of 《Sky Meditation》.

They each used the Transcription Spell directly, copying a version into their own Grimoires, then studied the contents together.

《Sky Meditation》 was divided into two steps.

Step one: find a comfortable position and relax the body.

Mo Lan, Vasida, Sylph, and Lilith all lay down simultaneously, as if by unspoken agreement.

They all agreed that lying down was the most relaxing position.

Step two: carefully study “Sky Meditation Diagram 1,” memorize it, then close your eyes and visualize it in your mind, tracing its details through mental imagery.

Four Grimoires floated above their heads as they studied the “Sky Meditation Diagram 1” depicted within.

In a blue sky, a single white cloud drifted. On the ground below sat a rock, with a torch thrust into it.

That was the entirety of “Sky Meditation Diagram 1.”

Mo Lan gave it a casual glance and had it memorized.

She then closed her eyes and began visualizing “Sky Meditation Diagram 1” in her mind.

But with her perfect memory, why would she need to painstakingly recreate it? The moment Mo Lan closed her eyes, the image appeared in her mind like a photocopy — every detail perfectly intact.

According to the book, the process of visualization and mental recreation was itself the process of mobilizing and training psychic power.

The mental image was rendered through psychic power.

The more complex the visualized image, the more thoroughly it trained one’s psychic power, and the faster one gained control over it.

Once every detail of a meditation diagram could be fully visualized in a single attempt without being forgotten, one could move on to the next diagram.

Mo Lan was somewhat puzzled. Complex patterns, rich details, visualized all at once, never forgotten — which of these characteristics differed from the memories stored in her mind?

They were practically identical!

The only difference was that one was an illustration drawn in a book, and the other was her memory.

If this was what meditation was, didn’t that mean she was meditating all the time — every moment of every day, without cease?

But she didn’t feel as though she had ever sensed the existence of psychic power!

Mo Lan opened her eyes and continued reading, wanting to understand what was really going on.

She discovered that the entire remainder of the meditation manual was nothing but “Sky Meditation Diagrams.” With each incremental number, the diagram built upon the previous one with additional elements and greater complexity.

She could memorize each one at a glance, with absolutely no need to memorize and visualize them one by one as the book described.

She simply skipped straight to the end. The final meditation diagram was a large foldout illustration.

It depicted the sun, moon, and stars. There were meadows and forests, streams and rivers, rocks and volcanoes, glaciers and oceans. It even captured the traces of wind. One half showed a blazing sun in clear skies, while the other half showed the moon hidden behind clouds with thunder and lightning flickering.

It was certainly far more intricate and complex than the first diagram, but for Mo Lan, it was merely a matter of looking at it a bit longer.

On the back of this diagram was an additional passage of text, which read:

“This meditation diagram is the final Sky Meditation Diagram, but it is not the end of 《Sky Meditation》.

Once a mage can visualize this diagram, they will have gained the ability to mentally envision any natural element beneath the sky. Using the real world as a reference, they can independently expand their meditation imagery, making the mental picture ever more realistic and detailed.”

Memories of Earth flashed through Mo Lan’s mind.

Among them were not only memories of civilization, but also memories of Earth’s natural landscapes.

According to 《Sky Meditation》, the closer a meditation image was to true nature, the more effective the meditation.

But by the same token, the more psychic power it required.

What could understand the world better than the world itself?

Didn’t that mean the natural memories of Earth stored in her mind were the ultimate “Sky Meditation Diagram”?

Granted, Earth was not Valen. But then again, the crude, sketch-like illustrations in 《Sky Meditation》 couldn’t exactly claim to represent Valen either!

Matter itself was the manifestation of natural energy.

Mo Lan could now unfurl a world-scale “Sky Meditation Diagram” in her mind at any time — one that included shifts between day and night, changes in weather, and variations in terrain and geography.

By all logic, this should already represent the highest level of meditation.

But where, then, was her psychic power?

She mentally reviewed 《Sky Meditation》 again, word by word, focusing her attention on the phrase “use psychic power to render the meditation image.”

If the meditation images were rendered by psychic power, then wasn’t psychic power essentially the very foundation upon which her memories were built?

Mo Lan went searching through the books that Grandma Dayla had sent and found a theoretical text on psychic power: 《The Origin of Psychic Power》.

It stated: “Psychic power is the wisdom-force originating from the soul, the wellspring of spiritual awareness.

Every intelligent being possesses psychic power, but only humans can gradually master their own psychic power through meditation.

This is because humans are the most spiritually gifted of all intelligent beings. Only humans, from the moment of birth, possess active, freely controllable psychic power — what is known as initial psychic power.

It is by virtue of this initial psychic power that humans can, step by step through meditation, come to master the greater psychic energy contained within their own souls.”