Herag hurriedly placed the Stone Giant's heart into the cauldron, and the flames beneath it maintained a steady burn without extinguishing.

Once the Stone Giant's heart entered the cauldron, it quickly absorbed the solution within.

In just a few seconds, the solution in the cauldron visibly diminished.

The previously blood-red Stone Giant's heart now had some patches of green on its surface.

The solution continued to decrease, while the Stone Giant's heart kept beating. With each beat, the solution in the cauldron would diminish further.

However, the Stone Giant's heart did not swell and increase in size; instead, it shrank with each beat.

As time went by, the solution in the cauldron was gradually absorbed entirely by the Stone Giant's heart.

The Stone Giant's heart, initially the size of a basketball, gradually shrank to the size of an egg.

Now the Stone Giant's heart completely lost its heart-like appearance, transforming into a green lump of flesh, still pulsating continuously.

The brewing of the Dawn and Dusk Potion was not yet finished. Herag took out a dagger, sliced open his finger, and let fresh blood drip onto the pulsating Stone Giant's heart.

The blood dripped onto the surface of the Stone Giant's heart, quickly emitting sizzling sounds and billowing blood-colored smoke.

Soon, the green Stone Giant's heart transformed into a blood-red lump of flesh, lying at the bottom of the cauldron, pulsating continuously.

Herag took a deep breath and, using his bleeding hand, grabbed the flesh lump, then swallowed it whole.

This flesh lump was the Dawn and Dusk Potion, distinct in form from other magic potions.

As the lump entered Herag's mouth, he bit down hard, causing its internal solution to burst forth, mixed with blood and various other liquids.

A strong stench lingered in his mouth and throat, and if not for Herag's strong control ability, the smell alone could have made him nauseated and vomit.

Herag held firm, gritting his teeth as he swallowed everything in his mouth.

After the lump entered his body, a burning sensation soon spread from his stomach and esophagus.

This wasn't an illusion; his stomach and esophagus were genuinely burning.

"Detected body damage at 5%, immediate treatment recommended!"

"Detected body damage at 8%, immediate treatment recommended!"

...

Shenlan continuously issued warnings, which Herag outright ignored. This was the necessary consequence of consuming the Dawn and Dusk Potion.

Once the lump reached his stomach, the potion's effect began to take hold, transmitted to every corner of his body via blood flow.

Herag felt a burning sensation all over his body, indicating the Dawn and Dusk Potion was truly taking effect.

"Detected body damage at 15%!"

"Detected body damage at 21%!"

In Herag's vision, Shenlan issued severe warnings, flashing red repeatedly.

"Shenlan, continue checking my overall condition."

Herag remained calm, his mind unaffected by the pervasive aching pain.

The surrounding free energy particles, especially the dark energy particles, began to gather toward him, forming a storm of energy particles.

These energy particles adhered to the surface of his body, crazily burrowing into his flesh, making Herag feel as if thousands of needles were pricking him, both itchy and painful.

"Beep beep! Are you insane!"

Suddenly, Herag found himself standing on a crosswalk, beside a traffic light showing red, while the driver behind him furiously honked, scolding him from the car window.

He ignored the driver's angry rant, glanced around, and saw tall buildings everywhere.

"Isn't that the place where I used to work?" Herag recognized his former workplace.

"No, this isn't reality!"

With his strong spiritual power, Herag quickly cleared his mind, and the surrounding scene instantly vanished, returning him to the cold laboratory.

"Too bad I couldn't borrow a cigarette from someone." Herag chuckled, feeling a bit regretful.

"Huh? Have I ascended successfully?"

He suddenly realized that as the hallucination faded, his ascension was already complete.

"Shenlan, check my current physical data."

"Herag Merlin: Power 7.2, Agility 6.5, Constitution 8.1, Spirit 17.5, Magic 8%."

Herag examined the data panel and found his magic power had dwindled to only 8%, though there were still reserves of magic power in the Star Sky Array that were unused.

"Is this the force field?"

Herag sensed that his entire body was enveloped by a layer of magic force field, the hallmark of a Third Class Wizard Apprentice.

Upon ascension to a Third Class Wizard Apprentice, one's entire body becomes covered with a force field.

This force field serves as a natural protective barrier, comparable to a Level 0 Magic Shield, without consuming magic power, ever-present like breathing.

This significantly enhanced the defensive capabilities of Third Class Wizard Apprentices, giving them a natural advantage when facing First and Second Class Wizard Apprentices.

The force field also emitted certain radiation, affecting ordinary people over prolonged exposure.

This radiation was beyond the wizard's control, growing stronger with increased power.

This is why cities densely populated by ordinary people seldom housed any wizards; Third Class Wizard Apprentices and Official Wizards would not live in places filled with ordinary people.

Wizard Organizations were similarly built away from the populous areas, inaccessible to ordinary people.

After becoming a Third Class Wizard Apprentice, it becomes even harder to produce offspring with ordinary people, drastically increasing the difficulty of conception.

Wizards like Dino, who stayed at sea for long periods, would seldom linger when visiting offspring like Erza.

The stronger the power, the stronger the radiation; he wouldn't want to affect these descendants.

Herag estimated the strength of his body's force field and found it slightly weaker than the Dark Energy Shield but still quite impressive.

After ascending, Herag took out a bottle of Starry Sky Potion, mixed it with water, and drank it.

After consuming the Starry Sky Potion, he commenced meditation, and a second array map appeared in his mind, with fifteen points.

"It seems the number of points on subsequent array maps should gradually increase."

Herag thought so too, as each array map could store 50% of his magic power, accumulating more storage over time.

If the point number remained constant, it would be quite unreasonable.

Following this, he began meditation practice on the eleventh star.

A few hours later, Herag slowly opened his eyes.

"The Starry Sky Potion's effect has decreased significantly; it's still usable, but once I ascend to an official wizard, it might lose effectiveness entirely."

After meditation, Herag discovered the Starry Sky Potion's effect on meditation practice had reduced to roughly half its previous strength.

It still accelerated his meditation speed, but the effectiveness had considerably diminished.

He was uncertain if this was due to his ascension to a Third Class Wizard Apprentice or his frequent consumption of Starry Sky Potions making his body resistant, thus diminishing the potion's effect.

Herag shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it for now. He'd resolve the issue after ascending to an official wizard. For now, he'd make do with what he had.

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