After the New Year, Tang San and Xiao Wu stayed in Holy Spirit Village for seven or eight more days before bidding farewell to Old Jack and preparing to return to Nuoding City.
Old Jack personally escorted them to the village entrance. The children of the village followed as well, reluctant to part. They hoped Tang San and Xiao Wu would come back again to play and tell them stories in the future.
Upon returning to Nuoding City, Tang San and Xiao Wu went to the academy to report in, then headed to the Spirit Hall and resumed their usual training routines.
However, Wang Sheng submitted an application to Nuoding Academy for early graduation. He planned to join the Spirit Hall and start at the bottom as a patrolman, working his way up.
The graduation requirements for the primary academy were very simple: once a student obtained a soul ring and became a Spirit Master, they could apply to graduate. The teachers would not insist on keeping them.
"Wang Sheng, don't forget to come find me when you're free to check your martial soul and body condition, and to train your first soul skill. If I truly manage to develop a blood and qi cultivation method, it'll benefit you as well," Tang San said to Wang Sheng, who was preparing to leave on his first patrol mission.
"San Ge's orders are my command," Wang Sheng replied playfully, cupping his hands in greeting. "Even if I have to take time off, I'll come by."
"There's no need for that. Just come when you have time." Tang San smiled and patted his shoulder. "Go on. Don't be late for your first patrol mission."
"Yes!"
Wang Sheng nodded and followed Su Yuntao to the Spirit Hall's patrol team.
Meanwhile, Tang San informed Matthew Nuo that he had reached level twenty and was preparing to hunt soul beasts.
"Level twenty?" Matthew Nuo was stunned. "Seven years old and already level twenty. Xiao Tang, you're a true genius. There's never been anyone like you, and maybe there never will be."
"Grandpa Matthew Nuo, I just cultivated faster in the early stages. As a Spirit Master's level increases, the soul power needed to level up increases exponentially. Progress will be slower in the future," Tang San replied modestly.
"Do you need Grandpa to accompany you this time?" Matthew Nuo, used to Tang San's humility, asked about the upcoming soul beast hunt.
"No need, Grandpa Matthew Nuo. You know I usually spar with Brother Tao and Sisi. My strength is decent, and I can easily deal with century-old soul beasts." Tang San smiled. "Besides, this time I want to test a new theory. If it proves successful, I can write another paper."
"Speaking of theories, I already sent your previous one to Spirit City. It's estimated to be published in the Spirit Hall's newspaper this February." Matthew Nuo referred to Tang San's paper that analyzed and categorized Spirit Masters. "You might think it's late, but Spirit City receives a flood of theory submissions from Spirit Masters every year—most from those who can't improve their soul power anymore and want to make a name for themselves. It takes the sorting staff a long time to sift through them."
"I understand, Grandpa Matthew Nuo."
Tang San was confident his paper would be recognized and published.
Afterward, Tang San spent three days preparing for his soul beast hunt. Carrying a large bag, he headed for Balak Forest to search for a soul beast that suited him.
Balak Forest, located in the Balak Kingdom, was also a soul beast hunting zone. Unlike most forests, it had very few animal-type soul beasts. Most of its soul beasts were plant-based.
In the Balak Kingdom, many people possessed plant-type martial souls. There was also a senior Spirit Master Academy known as Botonic Academy.
In addition, the kingdom was home to the more famous Balak Academy.
However, Tang San wasn't interested in either Botonic or Balak Academy. At most, he considered them potential backup teams for the future Continental Advanced Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.
When Xiao Wu learned that Tang San was going to hunt soul beasts, she eagerly insisted on joining him.
During the vacation, aside from playing, Xiao Wu had worked hard on cultivating her soul power and had already reached level eighteen. She was confident she could reach level twenty before the end of the first year.
"It seems you've been cultivating diligently. Your soul power has improved quickly. As expected of someone with innate full soul power," Tang San praised.
"Even so, I'm still two levels behind you," Xiao Wu pouted as she followed Tang San onto the carriage to the Balak Kingdom. "Are you planning to hunt plant-type soul beasts?"
"Yes. Mainly to improve the life attribute of my martial soul. Second, to make my Blue Silver Grass more resilient. And third, to acquire an enhancement-type soul skill that can comprehensively boost a Spirit Master's attack, defense, speed, and attributes," Tang San explained his requirements for his second soul ring.
"An enhancement skill? You want one skill to rival the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's third or fourth soul rings?" Xiao Wu was surprised. After spending so much time with Tang San, she had learned about many types of soul skills.
Among them, there was a very rare class of enhancement-type soul skills that scaled in percentage form. Their effects increased with the user's cultivation, but their soul power cost remained the same.
This was precisely what made such skills terrifying. It was also the reason why, even though the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul could only be cultivated to the Soul Saint level, Spirit Masters with that martial soul could still establish sects and become one of the Three Upper Sects.
In contrast, most offensive and defensive soul skills had to rely on increasing soul power input to raise their effectiveness.
"There's nothing wrong with that." Tang San said. "My Blue Silver Grass martial soul can't release energy directly. But as a plant, how do you think I should utilize an enhancement-type soul skill?"
Tang San was clearly testing her. Xiao Wu thought for a moment, then raised a finger and said, "I know. You can eat them!"
It was a very rabbit-like answer.
Tang San hadn't expected her to be completely correct, but her response was close enough.
"Not entirely right."
Tang San smiled. "Blue Silver Grass can indeed be eaten, but it doesn't taste great. It's more suited for making tea... Think again. What parts of a plant are edible?"
"Edible parts?" Xiao Wu thought for a while. "I've eaten carrots and sweet potatoes in the cafeteria—you said they're roots. So roots are edible. Leaves are edible too, but judging from your expression, you're not planning on eating Blue Silver Grass leaves. That only leaves one option: fruits."
"It's fruits, right?"
Tang San nodded. "That's right. Fruits. Blue Silver Grass can flower and bear fruit, but the flowers and fruits are extremely small—smaller than sesame seeds. If you don't pay close attention, you won't even notice them. It's because of their tiny size that they can take root and grow almost anywhere with just water, the right temperature, and soil."
"My goal for the second soul ring, aside from reinforcing its original features, is to give Blue Silver Grass the ability to produce seeds. The idea is that Spirit Masters can inhale these nearly invisible seeds for enhancement."
"This form of enhancement is far more concealed than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's."
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, like most enhancement-type skills, uses light as its medium. In other words, the martial soul emits a beam that visibly shines on the Spirit Master. It's obvious to any observer. If the enemy isn't blind, they'll immediately realize the target has been enhanced."
"But if I can enhance my companions using invisible seeds, then the enemy won't understand why we suddenly became stronger."
To serve the plot: Botonic Academy is set in the Balak Kingdom.Of course, it can also be said that there's more than one Botonic Academy.After all, there are more than a hundred senior academies in the original novel. Only a few are named, so adding more as needed is entirely reasonable.