Hearing Ash's explanation, Leo finally thought of something.

Magic Integration can only be done 9 times in the entire Star level, so all of the Magic Integration he would have is very, very very useful, and it's really important to not waste any if he doesn't want to become the same as how Chief Lago had done a Magic Integration to a Green Terrain spell, an almost useless Support Magic spell.

His defense was indeed so lacking, and he also can't always rely on Earth Elemental, since it can still be destroyed. So, to improve his defense capability, he either needed to learn some movement technique, Magic spells related to maneuvering, or to learn Defensive Magic spells, which in the end he would still eventually realized the need to Magic Integration the Magic spell to himself because casting a Magic spell would, in most cases due to its chanting, become a major flaw in him not to successfully defend himself.

However, what if he improves the Earth Elemental to the point that it can hardly be destroyed by anyone? Or maybe not anyone, but just people who are two or three levels above him?

Surely, in such a case, he would be able to focus more on Assault Magic spells rather than Defensive Magic spells, right?

And if he can indeed focus on that, his opponent would definitely have a hard time attacking him. No, it's not just attacking, but almost in every aspect, because a good defense is also a good offense.

"You're definitely right!" Leo nodded his head.

Without any hesitation, Leo threw the Fire Lotus to the pile of Magical resources in the cart at the back of his horse before finally closing his eyes to begin absorbing the Earth Crystal.

Closing his eyes, Leo, in a spirit form, immediately saw the already familiar scene in front of him. A swirling brown-colored Mana was dancing in front of him.

Unlike the Pure Mana found in Mana stones, the Earth Element Mana in front of him wasn't something similar to an air, but instead solid base, or rather calling it sand is more of an appropriate way to call it.

After only focusing on cultivating these past few days, he discovered that each different Element Mana has its own uniqueness, with each having its different features.

He can't stay long in both the Magical resources with Fire Element Mana and the Water Element Mana, as the both of them would eventually burn him or would drown his spirit, hence causing him to lose a bit of his cultivation rather than increase it.

He needs to be cautious and careful in Magical resources with Wind Element Mana since the wind alone can shred his spirit to pieces, hence also causing him to lose a bit of his cultivation rather than increase it.

The Magical resources with Nature Element Mana would need him to do a lot of work due to the fact that consuming the Nature Element was almost the same as eating actual food.

Lastly, the Magical resources with Earth Elemental Mana, the safest amongst all of them. He just simply needs to gather the sand and form it into something seemingly like a rock and then absorb the rock in the same way as to how he usually absorbs a Mana stone. Really simple, the only hard part is gathering the Earth Elemental Mana, since gathering small pieces of sand using his hand in a spirit form is not an easy thing to do, not to mention it's flying sand.

Fortunately, the Earth Element Mana is a lot bigger compared to normal sands, so it is easy to spot them. Only gathering them would be hard, as it requires him to scoop them batch by batch.

Although he can actually absorb pieces by pieces of Earth's Element Mana, it would be really stupid of him if he indeed does so. Imagine just how many pieces of Earth Elemental Mana was in one Magical resource. Obviously, it would be too many to count. So, if he indeed decides to absorb them one by one, it would take him weeks or months to successfully finish one Magical resource.

Therefore, gathering them together before absorbing them is the best choice.

Quickly, Leo began gathering, and soon after absorbing them the moment he finishes.

At the side though, Ash was left dumbfounded as she doesn't know whether to laugh or not at Leo's way of absorbing the Magical resources. Rather than calling it cultivation, it was more appropriate to call it physical labor. To be honest, she was actually observing Leo absorbing the Earth Crystal right now, in hopes of seeing whether he has a Cultivation technique or not. If he has any, she would quickly ask him to impart it to others, since that would be a really huge help, not only for them but also for him, the moment one of them becomes compatible with it.

Actually, Cultivation techniques can be replaced the moment it becomes incompatible with the user, so imparting it to others is possible. As a matter of fact, a lot of Mages would rather ask another Mage to impart them their Cultivation technique the moment they found it compatible with them instead of buying it since it would decrease the cost. Simply put, it's almost the same as buying second-hand products.

Considering their case right now, specifically employer and employee relationships, Leo would definitely consider such a proposal, especially since this concerns his so-called need for power, strength, and support.

Also, the Cultivation techniques are really important to not only the Mages but also anyone that desires to become much more powerful.

If using Magical resources compatible with the Mage would increase the effects they would get by twice or more. The Cultivation techniques, on the other hand, would further increase that effect. Like for example, if a Mage has an affinity to Fire Mana Element, then absorbing Magical resources with Fire Element would say increase the effect they would get twice. And with a Cultivation technique, the total effect would again be multiplied by twice or more, depending on the level of the Cultivation technique, specifically Common, Uncommon, Rare, Holy, Legendary, Mythical, God.

Unfortunately, Leo doesn't have any, and instead, what Ash had unexpectedly discovered was a stupid way of cultivating. To be honest, this was really her first time seeing someone cultivate in such an extremely hard way. Scoping the Earth Element Mana batch by batch and forming it into a rock? Such a technique is almost the same as how backward civilization does things.

"Leo, don't you feel like you're putting too much effort just to absorb one single Earth Crystal?" Ash finally decided to ask the question. Leo was going to become their official Master soon, so as one of his soldiers, she has the responsibility to correct his mistakes. Moreover, the more powerful Leo becomes, the more benefits they would get, so helping him is a must.

"Huh?" Leo stopped as he turned to look at Ash with a doubtful look on his face, "What do you mean that I'm putting too much effort? Is there something wrong with my way of cultivating? Or is it because I don't have any Cultivation technique?"

Naturally, teacher Marvin had already taught them the importance of the Cultivation techniques, and sadly, in his case right now, he doesn't have any.

The Red Cube could actually help him, but he already discovered that it is unfortunately not in the same case as Element Mana.

In the case of Pure Mana, he can easily absorb the Pure Mana by just simply closing his eyes and holding the Magical resources in his hand, the numerous stacks of Magic circle created by the Red Cube would then activate automatically to absorb all the Pure Mana before quickly converting it to his compatibility.

Unfortunately, such a thing doesn't apply to Element Mana at all. He can actually feel it that the Red Cube can in fact do the same thing as the case of Pure Mana, but he still doesn't know yet how exactly he can make it work. Obviously, this means he still needs to further learn such a new aspect of the Red Cube.

"Even if you have a Cultivation technique or not, you are clearly aware already that you can still cultivate, right?" Ash first asked the most common question.

Hearing Ash's words, Leo simply nodded his head.

"So, there is nothing wrong whether you have a Cultivation technique or not. What's the problem though, is that your way of absorbing of the Earth Element Mana is almost the same as physical labor. Gathering the Earth Element Mana together by scooping them before turning them into seemingly something like a stone is really not the right thing to do." Ash shook her head in disapproval.

"Then what should I do?" Leo immediately became interested. After cultivating in such a way for more than a week now, he had already long been hoping of changing it, since it really was wasting so much of his time. As a matter of fact, he already decided that he will start looking for Cultivation techniques as soon as possible the moment he finally returns back to Silver Kingdom.

Unexpectedly though, basing on Ash's concern words, it was really easy to understand that she knows of a better way in absorbing the Element Mana even without any Cultivation techniques.