Breaking Through Level 30

Bang~

Outside Nuoding City, Mo Bai caught another small Spirit Beast.

But looking at the low-level Wind Spirit Rat before him, Mo Bai shook his head. He just couldn't bring himself to eat it!

It was not merely disgusting. Though it was also a small Spirit Beast, it was still far too big. Even if he forcibly stuffed it into his mouth, it would not fit, let alone be swallowed.

"Forget it, I'll let you go!"

Mo Bai sighed and casually tossed the unconscious ten-year Spirit Beast, the Wind Spirit Rat, aside, intending to let it run off on its own once it woke up.

It was lucky enough to escape disaster.

Mo Bai was beginning to realize that ultra-small Spirit Beasts, small enough for him to swallow, were becoming harder and harder to find.

"This method can't be used forever!"

"Once I reach a high level, spending two years to devour only a few hundred years of Spirit Ring cultivation will be completely not worth it. At best, it'll be better than nothing."

"Besides, once my Spirit Rings reach a certain age, devouring these low-year ones might not have any effect at all!"

On the way back, Mo Bai began pondering whether he could come up with another method.

Relying on himself to eat them all the time was not reliable!

"Could I let my Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass, do the eating instead? For example, I could have it absorb the Spirit Ring of a Man-eating Flower Spirit Beast, then use Blue Silver Grass to swallow the Spirit Beast alive before quickly recalling my Martial Soul!"

"Then I could kill the Spirit Beast inside my body, so I wouldn't need to swallow it myself!"

"I just don't know whether, after the Martial Soul swallows a Spirit Beast into its stomach, it can be recalled into my body together with it!"

"If that works, then the later steps will definitely work too!"

The more Mo Bai thought about it, the brighter his eyes became. He felt this was a good idea.

It all depended on whether his Martial Soul could swallow a Spirit Beast and then be recalled into his body.

"Someone may have tried this idea before. I should go back and see if there are any related records!"

Mo Bai suddenly realized that if he could think of such a method, others in the past should have been able to think of it as well.

After returning to Nuoding Academy, Mo Bai went to the library to look through the books.

Unfortunately, after searching everywhere, Mo Bai found no records related to this.

"Forget it. If I can't find anything, then so be it. I can try it myself in the future!"

"And even if there were records, they probably wouldn't be of much use. Whoever tried it wouldn't have my Startling Feather Art. It'd be a miracle if their Spirit Rings didn't explode!"

"I can only do it myself later!"

"But before that, I should still find a lab rat to test it on, so I don't waste one of my Spirit Ring slots absorbing the Man-eating Flower's Spirit Ring!"

Since he could not find anything, Mo Bai gave up. Nuoding Academy was probably too small to have the books he wanted.

There was another option: asking Master for advice.

But after embarrassing Master last time, Mo Bai did not have the nerve to shamelessly go ask him for guidance again.

A few days later, Mo Bai came up with another idea. He controlled Blue Silver Grass to wrap a Spirit Beast up tightly, then recalled his Martial Soul.

The result was a failure. Only Blue Silver Grass was recalled; the Spirit Beast remained outside.

It seemed he could only find a lab rat to experiment on.

Yet until graduation was almost upon him, Mo Bai still had not found a suitable lab rat.

There were students in the academy with beast-type Martial Souls. He could kidnap one and experiment on them, but since they had not provoked him, Mo Bai would not harm them.

Who knew how serious the consequences might be?

Besides, he did not want anyone to know about this experiment.

Although Mo Bai had been an assassin in his previous life, the people he killed were usually those who deserved to die—at least, those he believed deserved to die.

Mo Bai never accepted assignments involving targets with no misconduct.

He was not claiming to be a saint. He simply believed that, as a Chinese citizen with proper values, he should have his own moral boundaries.

In his previous life, being an assassin was only his profession; it did not define who he was.

As graduation approached, Mo Bai successfully broke through to rank 30, becoming the first student to do so.

Tang San and Xiao Wu were both still at rank 29.

"Good, good!"

"Mo Bai, you truly haven't disappointed me. You actually reached rank 30 before graduation!"

"You are the first student in Nuoding Academy's history to break through rank 30 before graduating!"

After learning that Mo Bai had broken through to rank 30, the Dean personally summoned him and rewarded him.

"Mo Bai, do you need the academy's help obtaining your Third Spirit Ring?"

Then, the Dean asked whether Mo Bai needed help hunting a Spirit Ring.

"Is that possible?"

Mo Bai looked toward the Dean.

If it was possible, that would be pretty good. The ideal age for his Third Spirit Ring was 1,700 years. A Spirit Beast over a thousand years old would indeed be difficult to deal with without the strength of a Soul Elder.

Although Mo Bai could now raise the age of his spirit rings by devouring Spirit Beasts, if possible, he still hoped to directly absorb a spirit ring close to the limit.

After all, devouring had its restrictions too. It was not that easy.

The source of ultra-small Spirit Beasts was the biggest problem!

"Of course. If you absorb your Third Spirit Ring, then Nuoding Academy can rightfully say that our academy has produced a Soul Elder!"

The Dean immediately laughed upon hearing Mo Bai's words.

From now on, Mo Bai would become one of Nuoding Academy's calling cards. Whatever achievements Mo Bai attained in the future, Nuoding Academy would share in that honor.

"Mm, thank you, Dean!"

"No matter where I go in the future, I will never forget that I graduated from Nuoding Academy!"

Mo Bai sincerely thanked him as well.

Nuoding Academy had indeed helped him greatly!

"Hahaha, good, good, good!"

"I know you must have made your own choice again this time. Tell me, which Spirit Beasts have you set your sights on this time?"

The Dean laughed heartily, then asked Mo Bai which Spirit Beast's spirit ring he wanted to hunt.

He now understood Mo Bai's personality. Mo Bai had very strong ideas of his own, so there was no need for him to consider what Spirit Beast Mo Bai should hunt. He knew Mo Bai would certainly have his own plans.

"As expected of you, Dean. For my Third Spirit Ring, I want to hunt a Spirit Power Sacred Wood Spirit Beast!"

Mo Bai had indeed long since decided what Spirit Beast he wanted for his Third Spirit Ring, and he immediately stated it.

The Spirit Power Sacred Wood was a plant-type Spirit Beast.

It was given the name Spirit Power Sacred Wood because of its defining trait: its abundant spirit power.

This type of Spirit Beast was born with immense spirit power. The spirit rings it produced could grant Spirit Masters a percentage increase to their total Spirit Power Value.

As for what percentage it could increase, that depended on its age.

The spirit ring skills produced by the Spirit Power Sacred Wood were also quite good: Spirit Power Shield!

The trait gained after absorbing its spirit ring was an increase in total Spirit Power Value.

Spirit ring traits and skills like these were generally only chosen by Support System Spirit Masters.

Mo Bai had chosen it because he had realized that his Spirit Power Value was not quite enough. Throwing and shooting a Blue Silver Grass leaf certainly consumed less than using a spirit skill, but when he threw too many, the spirit power consumption became substantial. On top of that, using Hidden Weapon Technique also consumed spirit power. Mo Bai had discovered that his Spirit Power Value was a little insufficient.

Mo Bai had noticed this problem during his last duel with Tang San.

Generally speaking, using spirit skills certainly consumed more spirit power. However, Blue Silver Grass was only the lowest-grade Martial Soul, and Startling Feather Art only increased Mo Bai's cultivation speed—it did not increase his Spirit Power Value.

Thanks to readers [T_Heaven] and [Little Cultivator of Days Past] for their rewards!