Test

He could not make out any of the other words clearly, but these four words had already given Fang Ling some ideas.

Special Talent?

He already had one Special Talent, Battle Berserker Lvmax, whose effect was to make skill training twice as effective with half the effort.

Where had this one come from?

It seemed to have appeared after he absorbed the Soul Ring. Could it be that he had some special talent that had yet to awaken?

Or had it been brought by this Soul Ring?

Fang Ling could not figure it out, nor could he interfere with the Stats Panel's changes, so he simply stopped dwelling on it.

As before, once he leveled up later, he would naturally find out.

Everyone was resting, and Fang Ling felt a hint of fatigue as well.

Conditions in the Spirit Beast Forest were primitive, so there was no hope of sleeping well.

Notting Academy's carriage was quite luxurious, with excellent shock absorption and soundproofing, while the seats were padded with cushions. Naturally, sleepiness washed over him.

He soon slipped into a light sleep.

By the time they returned to the academy, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

When Fang Ling returned to Dormitory Seven again, it felt distinctly different.

Perhaps because he was about to graduate, he even felt a faint sense of nostalgia.

The three years he had spent at Notting Academy had been the most fulfilling years since he came to this world.

Studying, slaughtering pigs for points, training Scythe Technique and Body Technique.

And cooking for Xiao Wu and the others.

He had never had a moment to spare, busy from morning to night every day, and had finally obtained an important cornerstone for his future.

How could Fang Ling not be moved?

It was early winter now. The weather was not bitterly cold, but it was already time to add more layers.

Young Soul Masters were still unlike powerful Soul Masters, who could wear summer clothes all year round and expose two long, fair legs even in the depths of winter.

They were stronger than ordinary people who could not cultivate, but only to a limited extent.

Tang San was not in Dormitory Seven, while Xiao Wu was sleeping as usual.

She lay beneath the covers, wearing a peaceful smile as she slept soundly.

She was getting lazier and lazier.

Rather than a hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit taking human form, she seemed more like a hundred-thousand-year pig taking human form.

She ate, then slept, and slept, then ate all day long.

Rabbits clearly did not hibernate, so he had no idea where she had learned it.

"Xiao Wu," Fang Ling softly called beside her ear.

But without that familiar scent of blood, the rabbit was somewhat unaccustomed to it and subconsciously twitched her nose.

Naturally, she smelled nothing.

"Food's ready!" Fang Ling shouted.

"Where? Where?"

Xiao Wu jolted awake in a panic, still looking drowsy.

When she saw who it was, she immediately rubbed her eyes.

"Fang Ling, you're back from hunting for a Soul Ring. What delicious food are we having today?"

Xiao Wu suddenly froze and asked, "Oh, did you graduate? Are you leaving soon?"

"Mm." Fang Ling nodded lightly.

"It'll still be a while. Once I find out about Intermediate Spirit Master Academy, it'll be time to leave."

Xiao Wu recalled what Tang San had said to Fang Ling a few days ago and opened her mouth.

Yet she found that her limited words could not produce any suitable farewell.

"Then... congratulations on graduating?"

Fang Ling chuckled. "Thank you."

"Xiao Wu, what do you want to eat today?"

"Um... braised pig trotters?"

"Sure!"

Ten days quietly slipped by.

As the school year approached its end, the flow of people through the academy had already thinned considerably.

Only the teachers were still diligently working, while Tang San continued forging iron every day as usual.

Fang Ling no longer attended classes.

After ten days of constant training in the small grove, he had finally adapted to his greatly enhanced Nerve Reflex.

He had also sounded Tang San out and learned from Yu Xiaogang the extent of the enhancement ordinary people received from absorbing a Star-nosed Mole.

Fang Ling's earlier guess had been right. The minimum was only ten percent, while the maximum was twenty percent.

Naturally, he told Tang San it was twenty percent.

Claiming ten percent would have been far too insulting to Tang San's intelligence.

He would be exposed at a glance later on.

But in reality, his was an unprecedented thirty percent. Including his talent, it could even be doubled, reaching a full sixty percent!

Three times the amount he showed on the surface!

His combat strength had already risen tremendously. Compared to before, how could it have improved by merely a little?

It was a world of difference.

If he encountered another one-ring Fallen Spirit Master like the one from over a year ago, he could now behead them head-on.

He would not need to flee first, use the environment, and finally resort to a disgraceful sneak attack on the crotch to win.

The specific effects of his other Body Talent, Digestion Lv2, had also been tested.

Normally, a single meal could keep him from getting hungry for an entire day.

His efficiency in absorbing energy from food had doubled.

Besides making one meal equal three, Digestion Lv2 also allowed him to gain more energy by eating more food.

He could even eat some strange things, such as tree bark or soil full of humus.

Uh... do not ask how he had tested that.

He had not tried anything even more disgusting.

Digestion Lv2 was an excellent Body Talent.

Theoretically, as long as he ate well and had abundant energy in his body, his injuries would heal faster as well.

However, Fang Ling was not a masochist. He had no hobby of cutting himself just to see how long it took to recover.

Such a good talent naturally had its shortcomings.

If he did not train in time to consume that energy, excess energy would accumulate and be stored as fat.

In other words, he would gain weight more easily than others.

That was why the Star-nosed Mole looked so plump.

Eating a lot and moving little—wouldn't that make it fat?

But that was no problem. Only by eating more could he grow properly and train more efficiently.

Easy to gain weight?

Then train!

Fang Ling had been extremely busy these past few days, constantly running from place to place.

Besides preparing ingredients for the final farewell, he had also been searching for an Intermediate Spirit Master Academy that suited him.

His requirements for an Intermediate Spirit Master Academy were not high.

First, it needed to offer systematic training in close combat or weapon use.

His skill talents' training had already hit a bottleneck, though he trained without interruption every day.

Yet even with the Battle Berserker talent, he had not made the slightest progress.

His Scythe Technique and Body Technique talents remained at level 1, as if his daily training had all been in vain.

When effort brought no visible progress, it would usually leave people with an indescribable sense of frustration.

Fang Ling, however, did not care. He continued training every day without being affected.

But this could not go on. Something had to change.

The opportunity surely lay in an intermediate academy!

His second requirement was that the city or a nearby city had to have at least one Great Soul Arena.

Only with a Great Soul Arena could there be legal Life and Death Battles, allowing him to level up quickly and reasonably, and letting his Martial Soul level up quickly too.

That was right, his Martial Soul.

He had four points saved up.

Over these past days, he had spent two points to gain a level and become a level-twelve Soul Master. He had also tentatively tapped the plus sign behind his Martial Soul.

He had not forgotten the description on the Stats Panel.

The Scythe Martial Soul was only an Agricultural Scythe; its Sharpness and Endurance were not particularly high!

He could still use it now, but if he encountered powerful Martial Souls in the future, such as the Soul Breaking Spear, Seven Kill Sword, or Clear Sky Hammer, it might be easily destroyed.

Therefore, his Martial Soul had to grow stronger.

It was crucial to determine how many points Martial Soul growth required.

After allocating a point, the Stats Panel did not undergo any major changes. Only one figure appeared: (10%).

Its meaning was obvious. Something would change once it reached one hundred percent.

However, points were currently difficult to obtain, so cultivation naturally took priority.

He saved this final point. Even though the plus signs beside his Soul Ring and Martial Soul both looked tempting, he did not try them.