Chapter 181: Occlumency, Shortcut, and Mastering Flow State!

In Snape's office, Snape looked at Ciel with a strange expression. "You want to start learning Occlumency now?" This truly surprised Snape. Ciel nodded firmly. During this period, he had encountered Voldemort's Legilimency power emanating through the parchment. He could resist that with the Patronus Tree's effects. But two days ago on Drear Island, without the Patronus Tree nearby, encountering the bewitching magic from the temple had been quite dangerous. If not for his firm will and clear planning, he might have entered the temple, and who knows what he would have encountered. If the same thing happened twice without finding a way to deal with it, that would undoubtedly be entrusting his life safety to luck. Ciel never did such things. Since mental defenses needed strengthening, Occlumency naturally had to be learned. Otherwise, if he unknowingly became influenced and turned into a puppet, no matter how excellent other aspects were, it would be useless. Like in the original story, Harry's greatest regret was not properly practicing Occlumency. This led to Voldemort transmitting false intelligence, indirectly causing Sirius's death. Ciel didn't want to repeat such mistakes. Seeing his firm attitude about learning Occlumency, Snape's eyes showed relief and appreciation. "A wise choice." Snape began, "Occlumency is not magic in the ordinary sense. Therefore, many wizards don't value it. They'd rather spend time learning various pointless magic that doesn't actually help them much than guard the secrets and hidden thoughts in their minds. Often these wizards will take an irreversible fall because of this." Ciel strongly agreed with Snape's statement. Wizards in the magical world indeed didn't value Occlumency enough. For instance, Slughorn. Former Slytherin Head, Potions master, also proficient in countless obscure Dark Magic. Even such a powerful, learned wizard, because he didn't value Occlumency, was exploited by student-era Voldemort using his innate Legilimency ability to extract methods for creating multiple Horcruxes. If Slughorn's Occlumency had been half as good as Snape's, Voldemort couldn't have learned how to create multiple Horcruxes. The difficulty of destroying him would have greatly decreased. No wonder Slughorn afterwards felt he'd committed an unforgivable error, sealing and falsifying this memory, guarding this secret tightly in his mind. Ciel also didn't want his greatest secret inadvertently extracted. If the cultivation system were discovered, it could be fatal. But next, Snape's further discussion about Occlumency gave Ciel new understanding of this peculiar art. "Besides helping guard secrets in the mind from being easily probed, Occlumency also provides enormous benefits for magic. Perhaps it can't directly help you master powerful spells, but the process of learning Occlumency gradually increases control over your brain and consciousness. In other words, your will becomes more focused and firm. Such benefits are indescribable... only a few truly insightful wizards know this art's excellence." At this point, Snape added, "However, practising Occlumency is very painful. Not everyone can persist... you'd better prepare..." Before finishing, Snape's expression became strange, as if remembering Ciel's various self-torturing practices here before. He muttered, "Well. I suppose you little badgers fear pain least of all." The next moment, Snape got straight to the point. "Regarding Occlumency, its core is controlling emotions and mental focus. You must first put your mind into a state without distracting thoughts. Close your eyes first, concentrate on your mental world." Following Snape's guidance, Ciel took a deep breath. Sitting in the chair, he slowly closed his eyes. Seeing this scene, Snape's eyes showed a strange light. This little badger closed his eyes when told. Hmph, no vigilance. Did he trust him so much? He was a former Death Eater! But moments later, Snape felt strange emotions. His face showed some pain, but he still silently took incense from his cabinet. Lightly touching it with his wand, the incense lit. A special scent began spreading slowly. At this time, Ciel was concentrating, trying to clear his distracting thoughts as Snape instructed. But his disadvantage compared to young wizards also emerged. Young wizards had simpler minds and thoughts, being innocent with pure intentions. But he'd lived two lives... his mind had far more distracting thoughts than ordinary young wizards. Whenever he wanted to eliminate one thought, another would silently occupy his mind. Distracting thoughts seemed endless. The more unable he was to sweep away distractions, even if he kept telling himself to calm his mind, the more distractions arose. Until now, the incense scent reached him, making his mind suddenly feel cool currents flowing. Some distractions instantly vanished. Focus immediately improved. His furrowed brow relaxed silently. A peaceful feeling emerged in his body and mind. Time seemed meaningless at this moment. Until the next moment, he was awakened by Snape. "Today's Occlumency practice ends here." Snape frowned. "You little badger have too many distracting thoughts. Only when you can make your mind blank can you continue to the next step. Come practice again tomorrow." Ciel snapped out of his daze, discovering that what he thought was just a moment had actually been nearly two hours?! He also noticed Snape was regretfully extinguishing a piece of special incense, even carefully collecting the fallen ash. He immediately understood. The scent that cleared his mind should have come from this incense. Seeing even Snape, this Potions master, treasure it so much showed its precious value. He thought and said, "Professor, sorry for the expense. I've grown some peculiar variant plants in my greenhouse... when they mature, I'll send some over." Snape glared at him, snorting coldly with sarcasm. "What? I didn't know I was so poor and destitute. Need your charity now. Seems our young Master Sprout is quite generous. Think growing some variant plants means you can spend lavishly?" Ciel scratched his head sincerely. "I've received your guidance, Professor, but have nothing to repay you with. My island was just cleared... planning to grow premium Chizpurfle grass. Don't know if you smoke, Professor. When it matures, I'll send some over. Besides this, I don't have much else. That island's still uninhabited, otherwise I'd build you a vacation villa..." Snape raised an eyebrow and waved his hand. "Alright. Got it. Hurry and leave. Are you so idle? Don't you have many things to do?" As Ciel turned around, Snape added, "Uninhabited doesn't matter. I don't like crowds. Seaside villa... that's acceptable too." Ciel smiled. "Arranged! I'll definitely build you a luxury villa, Professor!" After he left, Snape's face also showed some smile. Then, looking at the remaining incense, he shook his head slightly. "At his progress rate. This amount might not be enough. Better put out a bounty on the black market for some." After leaving Snape's office, Ciel's gaze fell on the system panel. There, very faint text appeared. [Occlumency]. Not even rated, the text was so faint it was barely visible. Obviously, his Occlumency was still far from entry level. He frowned slightly. He realised something. His experiences made him much more mature than other young wizards in handling affairs. But this brought higher difficulty in Occlumency. In the original story, Harry could carelessly waste Snape's time. But he couldn't. He clearly knew how precious Snape's time was. Spending three hours daily accompanying his Occlumency practice was too wasteful. Not to mention the resources consumed in the process. Moreover, he hoped to quickly master Occlumency. After all, Quirrell only took a month's leave. Who knows what troubles might await after his return. But how to eliminate mental distractions without Snape's incense? Was there a better method? He fell into thought. "Is there a way to have fewer distracting thoughts? Or thinking from another angle. When do people have the fewest distractions? This might contain methods to help me." Moments later, light flashed in his eyes. In his previous life, there were sayings about hanging one's head from a beam or pricking one's thigh with an awl. Using pain to maintain mental clarity, preventing oneself from slacking. Indeed, when in pain, where was the energy to think about other messy things? Pain... Perhaps worth trying. Then he returned to the greenhouse, determination in his eyes. With his current physique, even severe injuries were nothing... he'd recover quickly. Mere pain... he'd endured plenty wrestling with the Kraken. Using it to practise Occlumency, why not? Immediately, he said, "Shadow Thorns. Attack me with full force." Under his command, shadows on the ground instantly became blades, piercing his flesh. Bringing stabbing pain. He bit his teeth slightly but closed his eyes to practise Occlumency. This time, he indeed found that under pain's stimulation, distracting thoughts in his mind were much fewer than before. This almost equalled the effect of using incense assistance earlier. He suddenly opened his eyes. Eyes bright, he commanded Shadow Thorns. "Continue. When I close my eyes, don't stop without my command." Shadow Thorns paused. Then sharp shadow blades continued piercing his body as instructed. He groaned but again closed his eyes amid continuous suffering. When he opened them again, six hours had passed compared to before. Around him were bloodstains everywhere, showing what damage he'd endured these six hours. Anyone else would have died from blood loss several times. But his gaze fixed on the system panel. The Occlumency text was clearer than before. His eyes brightened. It worked! Looking at the sky, since it was already dark with nothing else to do, why not continue practising Occlumency? Since pain was indeed effective, why not increase the intensity? So he gestured, pointing to his abdomen. "Shadow Thorns. Here, use more force. Oh right, after piercing, you can stir a bit... better effect, understand?" The next moment, Shadow Thorns' main body violently penetrated his abdomen. Sharp spikes tore flesh. Bone-piercing pain instantly pervaded his mind. He gritted his teeth while his eyes lit up. "Just like this. Just like this! I can feel it... besides pain, no other thoughts!" He closed his eyes again. Fighting pain was much simpler for him than suppressing distractions. Intense pain, for him, was like a shortcut to practising Occlumency. On the system panel, the Occlumency text gradually became clearer. During this process, he gradually experienced changes. Every minute, every second of focusing thoughts amid pain, his mind seemed to become more concentrated. Like a blade being forged, becoming increasingly sharp. All the messy experiences from his previous life, countless chaotic emotions buried in his heart were being polished away bit by bit. A sharp feeling arose in his heart. Will became more condensed. He could feel that even though his magical mastery hadn't actually improved, increasingly focused will could make his magic demonstrate more powerful effects. Magic was inherently idealistic. The firmer the will, the more powerful magic became, to a certain extent! Grindelwald, Dumbledore, Voldemort... each was a master of Occlumency and Legilimency! In a sense, mental magic was also a necessary puzzle piece for true wizards. Time flew by rapidly. Gradually, the Occlumency text became increasingly clear. Finally, when morning light shone into the greenhouse, [Occlumency (Black Iron Tier)] text completely formed on the system panel! At this instant, he felt unprecedented freedom. Mind unrestrained. Incredibly free, refreshing, and relaxed. As if cutting chains that bound him, he was able to completely focus on things requiring focus. This made him suddenly open his eyes, light exploding in them. He'd experienced this state several times before. Each time brought tremendous progress in spell practice. "Initially mastering Occlumency, cutting distracting thoughts, controlling one's mind. Can make me enter a flow-like state?!"