After Christmas, Luke was preparing to craft Spirit Beast Tokens when he suddenly discovered a major problem.
The crafting instructions didn’t mention what tools were required.
They only listed the materials and the order in which they had to be added.
…
He checked the description of the Shennong Cauldron again.
Could this cauldron be used not only for alchemy but also for artifact forging?
He decided to give it a try.
After all, it was a legendary treasure.
It shouldn’t break, right?
Luke went to the storage shed in the backyard.
James had decided that the attic was no longer safe enough for Luke to use, so he cleaned out the shed and converted it into Luke’s personal workshop.
Taking out the Shennong Cauldron, Luke followed the forging method recorded for the Spirit Beast Token.
The cauldron gradually glowed with a crimson light.
Before long, a white jade token flew out of the cauldron, after which the Shennong Cauldron returned to its normal appearance.
Spirit Beast Token: Can store one spirit beast.
Luke couldn’t help but marvel at the Shennong Cauldron’s power.
The forging process had succeeded so effortlessly.
He immediately forged two more Spirit Beast Tokens, one for Anna’s Bella and the other for Hermione’s Artie.
Using a Spirit Beast Token was simple.
Once a spirit beast had recognized its master, a drop of its blood only needed to be placed on the blank token.
After the blood was absorbed, the token would be bound successfully.
From then on, the owner could summon or recall the spirit beast with a single thought.
Luke even pricked Garfield for a drop of blood as an experiment, but the token refused to absorb it.
Although Garfield didn’t go berserk, the little fellow avoided Luke for several days afterward.
Only after receiving several Spirit Nourishing Pills did Garfield finally forgive him.
After living together for so long, Luke no longer doubted Garfield.
What puzzled him was that Garfield clearly possessed unusually high intelligence, yet Luke still couldn’t communicate with him directly.
Luke had already refined a large supply of Spirit Nourishing Pills and had given Hermione several bottles during their last trip to Diagon Alley, so he wouldn’t need to make any more for quite some time.
It was now 2005, and Luke was eleven years old.
In the second half of the year, he would finally receive his Hogwarts letter and begin another chapter of his school life.
Thinking back to the scenes from the Harry Potter films in his previous life, he couldn’t help looking forward to it.
Just like the previous year, Kevin arrived with news of Luke’s Grammy and Oscar nominations.
“Luke, you’re not planning to attend the awards ceremonies again this year?” Kevin asked in confusion.
“No, Uncle Kevin. Mom will be taking Anna this time. We’ve already discussed it.”
“May I ask why? They’re such prestigious awards. Last year you skipped them because you were busy with your new project, but this year you don’t have any special plans. Besides, Zootopia is scheduled for release this summer, and The Polar Express will be released at Christmas,” Kevin asked.
“Actually, I don’t enjoy living in the spotlight,” Luke replied seriously.
“My previous works were mainly meant to give Anna a wonderful childhood. Even the Garfield comic strip has already been handed over to the studio. In the future, even if I come up with good ideas, the studio can handle the production.”
“What a pity.” Kevin sighed.
“You’re only eleven years old and already a rising star. With your talent, your future is limitless. I heard that the Head Master of Eton College has personally contacted you, and even the Royal Academy of Music has sent you a formal invitation. You could have an extraordinary future.”
“I suppose everyone has their own ambitions.” Luke smiled.
“But Uncle Kevin, don’t worry. Our studio will always give Huadi Films priority whenever we have projects to collaborate on.”
“Yes, Kevin, Helen and I both support Luke’s decision,” James added.
“Very well. Since you’ve made up your minds, I’ll head back now. Just like last time, I’ll send you the itinerary once everything has been finalized.”
“Thanks for everything, Kevin. I’ll walk you out.”
James escorted Kevin to the door.
Not long afterward, he returned.
“Dad, can you take me to Nepal during the summer holiday?” Luke asked.
“Me too! Me too!” Anna immediately shouted.
“Anna, stop making trouble. This isn’t a vacation. I’m going to visit my teacher. I never seem to run into him whenever I visit London.”
“Alright. Let’s schedule it for the end of July. If nothing unexpected comes up, I’ll take you. Since it’s not a sightseeing trip, your mother and Anna don’t need to come,” James agreed.
“Oh, there’s one more thing,” James continued.
“The Children’s Foundation has recently received several large donations from domestic companies.”
“Is there a problem?” Luke asked.
“The donations themselves aren’t the issue. The actual controllers behind those companies are our neighbors.”
“Our neighbors?” Luke paused before suddenly understanding.
“Dad… you mean the royal family?”
“That’s right.” James nodded.
“The royal family has always been active in charity work. However, these donations weren’t made under the royal family’s name but through their companies instead. You may not know this, but quite a few organizations have been trying to gain influence over the Children’s Foundation. The royal family’s actions are essentially a show of support while making it clear they have no intention of interfering.”
Luke thought for a moment but couldn’t figure out their exact intentions.
“Well, it’s not a bad thing for now. If the royal family really has another purpose, they’ll contact us sooner or later. There’s no point speculating.”
“That’s true.” James nodded before turning to Helen.
“Honey, you and Anna should also start preparing. You’ll be leaving for America a little earlier.”
“Already taken care of,” Helen replied.
“I’ve spoken with Anna’s school, and they’ve agreed to approve her leave in advance.”
Luke, who no longer needed to attend the awards ceremonies, continued enjoying the final carefree days of his elementary school life.
His daily routine consisted of cultivation and taking Qi Harmony Pills, steadily improving his Vermilion Bird Burning Technique.
Mental strength training, Flame Spell practice, Sword Control Technique practice, and studying Wizarding World magic occupied most of his time.
By now, he could cast nearly every spell found in the Hogwarts textbooks.
Whether it was due to his exceptional magical talent, the Holy Spirit Root, or the Vermilion Bird Bloodline, all of which existed on a higher level than the magic of this world, he wasn’t entirely sure.
What he lacked now was only proficiency and power.
He discovered that casting spells silently or without a wand reduced their power, lowered their accuracy, and increased the chance of failure.
This became Luke’s newest research topic.
“How can the loss of power, reduced accuracy, and higher error rate caused by wandless or silent casting be compensated for?”
He suspected the answer lay somewhere within the Mental Strength Training Method or the Sword Control Technique.
In the cultivation system, aside from a few specialized techniques, spells were rarely cast through external tools.
Magical artifacts and weapons were generally used to amplify a cultivator’s own strength rather than replace or compensate for it.
He also made another interesting discovery.
A year earlier, when he had first cast the Fire-Making Spell silently and without a wand, there had been no noticeable loss of power.
Now, however, the very same spell had become slightly weaker.
His theory was that as he grew older, his magical power naturally increased, making it more difficult to control with mental strength alone.
As a result, he now relied more heavily on a wand to stabilize and direct his magic.
The Mental Strength Training Method, however, could compensate for this weakness.
If his theory was correct, it meant that wizarding education over the past thousand years had overlooked a fundamental aspect of magic—the systematic cultivation of one’s own mental strength.
That would explain why some young witches and wizards could occasionally perform wandless or silent magic instinctively, while only exceptionally gifted adult wizards were capable of casting wandless, silent spells reliably.
Most adult wizards had become so accustomed to relying on their wands that they never truly developed that ability.
As the thought formed, Luke muttered to himself,
“Hmm… this is a bit like Thor and Mjolnir. He’s too dependent on his weapon and neglects his own growth.”
“Luke, I know you already understand today’s lesson, but please don’t disturb the rest of the class,” the English teacher said from the front of the room.
“Sorry, ma’am.”
Luke had become so absorbed in his thoughts that he had forgotten he was still in class.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, he apologized.
The other students found it rather amusing.
It wasn’t often that Luke was the one being called out by a teacher.
After class resumed, Luke quietly continued thinking.
Although the wizarding world possessed highly precise branches of magic such as Transfiguration and many advanced spells, they all relied on the use of a wand.
None of them involved systematically training the caster’s own mental strength.
“Mental strength can improve a spell’s power, precision, and stability. So true magic should be the combination of mental strength and magical power.”
“That has to be it.”
“When I get to Hogwarts, I’ll ask Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Dumbledore about it. Snape is… difficult to communicate with.”
“Maybe I’ll discover something unexpected.” Luke smiled to himself.