One Year Later

After mastering the Jade Hand, there was no longer any need to fear ordinary poisons. As long as the poison was not too potent, it could be absorbed using the Jade Hand.

The Jade Hand was also divided into levels. Mo Bai's Jade Hand was still at the lowest level.

As for the highest level, it seemed that no one had ever succeeded in cultivating it since the Jade Hand came into being.

Because in the later stages, the Jade Hand's toxicity became too powerful, and its users were often poisoned to death by their own poison.

In his previous life, Mo Bai had not dared to cultivate it too deeply.

In this life, Mo Bai had not planned to train it too deeply either, but ever since learning of the existence of Spirit Bones, he had begun to entertain some ideas.

The Jade Hand's poison was usually concentrated in the fingernails, so those who cultivated the Jade Hand normally had nails as black as ink.

Mo Bai's level was still low, so his nails had only darkened slightly and were not very noticeable yet.

The existence of Spirit Bones made Mo Bai wonder whether he could gather the poison inside a Spirit Bone. That way, he could cultivate the Jade Hand to a higher level.

But it was still far too early for all that. Mo Bai had not even seen what a Spirit Bone looked like yet!

A year passed quickly.

Over that year, Mo Bai's Soul Power Level rose from Level 12 to Level 15.

Xiao Wu was also Level 15, while Tang San had already reached Level 16.

In terms of advancement speed, the three of them were almost the same.

However, Mo Bai knew that Tang San's talent should be slightly better than his own. He believed his Startling Feather Art was stronger than Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill, yet he had still been unable to pull ahead.

That could only prove that Tang San's talent was stronger.

Thinking of Tang San's Twin Martial Souls, Mo Bai accepted it.

So what if he was a little weaker? His Startling Feather Art was stronger, and that was enough!

Over that year, aside from cultivating, Mo Bai had also devoted himself to absorbing all the knowledge Nuoding Academy had to offer.

Only after seriously studying did Mo Bai realize that there was a great deal to learn if one wanted to become a powerful Spirit Master.

The counters between martial souls, the characteristics and development paths of various systems, as well as extensive knowledge about spirit beasts—what kind of soul skills could be gained by hunting certain spirit beasts, what changes a martial soul could undergo, and so on.

But they only skimmed the surface. Everything was extremely basic.

The spirit beast records kept by Nuoding Academy were also very limited. Most covered only the spirit beasts found in several nearby Spirit Beast Forests, and even those had not been fully documented.

Tang San, on the other hand, studied under Master, so he had mastered more knowledge, and his understanding was more comprehensive.

The teachers in class also often liked asking Tang San questions and having him answer them.

In order to prove how impressive Master was, Tang San did not hold anything back. Whenever a teacher asked him something, he shared everything he knew.

As a result, everyone in the class came to recognize Tang San's capability and Master's vast knowledge.

Occasionally, even upperclassmen came to ask Tang San for advice.

Tang San had practically become the representative of the first-year students!

Mo Bai was not the slightest bit envious of Tang San's treatment.

All he wanted to say was, "Give me more. Say a little more. Free knowledge is the best!"

But when it came to popularity, Xiao Wu was still the most popular.

Not only was she adorable, she was also the leader of all the students at Nuoding Academy. How could her popularity not be high?

What frustrated Mo Bai was that he never saw Xiao Wu cultivate much, yet her soul power never fell behind in its growth.

This led Mo Bai to a conclusion: among the three of them, Xiao Wu might actually have the greatest talent!

And after a year, Nuoding Academy also welcomed its holiday break.

"Mo Bai, where are you planning to go during the two-month break?"

For some reason, Xiao Wu sought out Mo Bai while he was packing his things and asked where he planned to go for the holiday.

In truth, she simply did not know where to go during the two-month break.

Her strength was still too weak. She did not dare return to the Star Dou Forest at all. The spirit beasts in the outer regions did not recognize her, and if she went in, they would only think she was human.

She felt that she would have to wait until she reached Level 40 before she could return alone. By then, even if she was in the outer regions, Da Ming and Er Ming should be able to sense her aura and come out to meet her!

In any case, it was impossible for her to return to the Star Dou Forest now.

And in Nuoding Academy, the only people she thought highly of were Mo Bai and Tang San!

Comparatively speaking, she felt closer to Tang San.

Before coming to ask Mo Bai, she had already asked Tang San outside Seventh Room. Tang San's answer had been that he was going back to Holy Spirit Village for the holiday.

That did not sound very fun, so she turned to ask Mo Bai instead.

If Mo Bai was also returning to his own village, then she planned to ask Tang San whether he would be willing to let her accompany him to Holy Spirit Village for some fun.

"I'll head back to my village first, then visit some other cities and broaden my horizons!"

Mo Bai did not know why Xiao Wu was asking him this, so he casually told her his plans.

"Going to another city?"

At Mo Bai's words, Sister Xiao Wu's big eyes immediately lit up.

Going to another city sounded much more fun than going back to some countryside village. It wasn't like she didn't know what villages were like—there was nothing fun there at all.

"Then I'm going too. Let's go together!"

Sister Xiao Wu made her decision on the spot, clapping her hands.

"You're coming too? With me?"

Mo Bai frowned at once.

"What? I can't? I'm the boss of every student in the whole academy. You've never called me Sister Xiao Wu, so I'll punish you by making you take me with you this time!"

Seeing that Mo Bai seemed unwilling, Sister Xiao Wu planted her hands on her hips and put on an adorably fierce expression.

Looking at Sister Xiao Wu's cute little fierce face, Mo Bai really couldn't bear to refuse her. Then he thought about it—bringing her along wasn't bad either. Sister Xiao Wu's background was definitely not simple. If he took her with him, there would probably be people secretly following to protect her, which was practically the same as protecting him too!

Who would say no to free bodyguards?

"No. If you want to come, then come with me!"

So Mo Bai immediately denied it.

"That's more like it!"

"Come on, come on. You still need to go back to your village, right? I'll go with you, so you don't run off!"

Hearing Mo Bai agree, Sister Xiao Wu immediately smiled, then turned around to grab her luggage, ready to head back with Mo Bai.

"Sister Xiao Wu, you... you're going back to Mo Bai's home with him?"

Tang San, who had watched the whole scene unfold, finally couldn't help asking when he heard that Sister Xiao Wu was going back with Mo Bai.

For some reason, Tang San felt inexplicably uncomfortable, as though something were clogging his chest.

"Yeah, we'll go to his village first, then spend the holiday visiting other cities together!"

Hearing Tang San's question, Sister Xiao Wu immediately admitted it. There was nothing to hide.

"Then... then when you asked me before..."

"Right, I originally wanted to ask whether you had anything fun planned for the holiday, but you were just going back to your village!" Sister Xiao Wu knew what Tang San wanted to ask and nodded.

"...Oh!" Tang San didn't know whether he should be happy or upset. Sister Xiao Wu had clearly asked him first.

Thanks to [King Baba] [20200611094323253] [Fate, Wonderfully Unspoken i] [Fellow Daoist Shu Hang] and several other readers for their donations!