Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer

Alka spoke, "Let’s stop talking about this and seize the opportunity to meditate now." With that, he sat directly by the flower bed and closed his eyes, the Meditation Rune within his body becoming visible.

Everyone immediately sat down where they were; Pororo and Jason sat directly on the deck. However, all of them were positioned within the circle.

As they began meditating, transparent spirals appeared around each of them. The Magic Power within the circular array quickly surged into their bodies. This Magic Power, formed by the central Magic Gathering Stone, was dispersed as liquid Magic Power. It entered their bodies with exceptional smoothness, encountering no resistance at all.

Apart from the three Puppet Girls—Ling, Ling, and Ling—who had enhanced their power through the treasure, everyone else was meditating. The three Puppet Girls stood outside the array, keeping watch for everyone.

However, with so many people meditating simultaneously, and at such an inexplicably high speed, the amount of Magic Power entering their bodies was quite substantial. This caused the Magic Power in the entire space to become somewhat insufficient. The rate at which the central, rotating sphere of liquid Magic Power dispersed it could not keep up with the group’s absorption speed. However, it at least maintained a certain equilibrium.

After half an hour, the Magic Gathering Stone began to tremble, and the circular array at their feet started to flicker erratically. It seemed the Magic Gathering Stone had reached its limit. Then, it suddenly extinguished and vanished.

The liquid Magic Power then lost control, rapidly merging into the surrounding air. This massive influx instantly increased the ambient Magic Power concentration, momentarily displacing the air. The sudden surge and impact sent everyone sprawling.

Fortunately, it was merely a simple shockwave and didn’t significantly affect them. After a short while, the ambient Magic Power concentration decreased, and air began to fill the space again.

Only then did Alka begin to take deep breaths, his head and body already drenched in sweat. Aside from him, everyone else was in the same state. Their collective sweat formed puddles on the deck beneath them.

"This is the first time... the first time I’ve ever gotten this exhausted from meditation..." Simon gasped, lying flat on the deck. I never imagined meditation could be so tiring. It’s even tougher than digging pits all day.

Just as he finished speaking, the surrounding Magic Power suddenly began to roil again. He forced himself to sit up and looked towards the source of the disturbance. Chadite, Jason, and Lucilia were all advancing to the Second Stage simultaneously. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Fortunately, the ambient Magic Power concentration was very high, so their advancement to the Second Stage didn’t cause any significant disruption.

Watching the three advance, Alka turned to look at the still-panting Juanlu. Understanding Jason’s gaze, Juanlu waved his hand. "Almost there, just a little bit more."

He was now the only one on the ship still at the Three Spirals stage. It couldn’t be helped; they had only arrived in the Endless Sea a few days ago.

A short while later, the three of them completed their advancement.

"Advancing simultaneously... that was quite a spectacular sight," Julia said with a smile. She lifted the exhausted Lucilia from the deck, placed her over her shoulder, and then helped Chadite sit down beside them.

Jason lay on the deck, looking up at the others. "Help me up."

Hearing this, Alka glanced at him. "What? Are you worried the Sound of Dawn’s deck is dirty? She’s a good girl who likes to stay clean."

Hearing this, Jason looked at the ropes swinging above his head and silently closed his mouth. Fine, don’t help me if you don’t want to. Such high-sounding excuses, he grumbled internally.

Then, he felt himself being lifted bodily; Pororo had grabbed him by the collar and hauled him to his feet.

Alka had already retrieved the Magic Gathering Stone that had fallen to the floor. It had now reverted to its unusually dim state. Though supposedly a Crystal Stone, it now looked more like an ordinary piece of rock.

"Is this thing broken?" Simon asked from nearby.

Alka shook his head. "Don’t worry, it’s not broken, just overloaded. It’s our first time using it, after all, so we’re inexperienced with it." He continued, "We just consumed too much Magic Power during meditation, causing its conversion process to overload. The range I set for the array was also too large, and many parameters still need to be fine-tuned." This device was only recently completed, after all. I wonder if its creator even calibrated it properly, he mused. Still, being new, it’s not likely to break so easily.

Having recovered somewhat, Chadite looked at the Magic Gathering Stone in Alka’s hand and asked, "What was that Magic Power just now? It felt like my own, blending right in with just a slight pull."

The others were also very curious, as the Magic Power produced by the Magic Gathering Stone moments ago was clearly distinct from the ambient Magic Power in the air. It was as if it were tailor-made for them—an extremely absorbable form of Magic Power.

"Oh, that. This Magic Gathering Stone is specifically designed to produce Magic Power that people can easily absorb. So, besides gathering Magic Power, it also converts external Magic Power into a form easily absorbed by living beings."

Simply put, it’s a meditation accelerator—providing an all-around boost to meditation. Their meditation speed had been at full throttle, absorbing frantically, which also placed a considerable strain on their bodies. This caused a significant depletion of their physical strength, which is why they appeared so exhausted. Fortunately, with meditation speed, one can only reach their natural limit and cannot surpass it; it still ultimately depends on one’s physical constitution.