Originally, Su Ming thought he had already held An Zijin in high regard.
Being able to learn several Spiritual Arts at the very beginning of school and use them with great fluency, An Zijin's talent was beyond doubt.
At least, speaking purely of talent, Su Ming did not feel that he surpassed An Zijin.
That was the evaluation Su Ming had come to after seeing An Zijin's performance during today's mission.
But now, it seemed he had still underestimated An Zijin.
This girl from next door had quietly learned Scorching Sparrow's Cry, which was known as the strongest among the low-level Spiritual Arts. Even Su Ming had not anticipated this.
Because of that, Su Ming asked her a question.
"Are you sure you can use it, rather than merely learn it?"
It was not strange for Su Ming to have such a question.
As mentioned before, the power known as Spiritual Art was inherently quite mysterious.
Some people might be unable to learn even a single low-level Spiritual Art, yet instantly learn a powerful high-level Spiritual Art and rise to the top in one bound.
Just like Su Ming. After obtaining Style 88: Celestial Revolution, he learned it overnight. He simply lacked enough Spiritual Power to use it successfully.
By contrast, Su Ming was still studying Style 81: Myriad Karma Brahma Vista, which he had obtained from one of the 147 packages, as well as another high-level Spiritual Art he had obtained long ago. To this day, he still had no idea how to use either of them.
Under such circumstances, it was entirely possible that An Zijin had only learned the technique for Scorching Sparrow's Cry, but was unable to use it because she lacked sufficient Spiritual Power.
Why had Su Ming's successful use of Style 21 surprised everyone in the team today?
It was not for any other reason than that Su Ming had successfully used it, rather than merely learned it.
The conditions for learning Spiritual Arts were so mysterious that it was not unusual for someone to suddenly learn a high-level Spiritual Art. But "learning" and "using" were two different things.
Generally speaking, during their first or second year, even if someone possessed the aptitude to learn a high-sequence Spiritual Art, their Spiritual Power would usually be insufficient to support their successful use of one.
If An Zijin had merely learned Scorching Sparrow's Cry instead of being able to use it successfully, Su Ming would not have found it strange.
But An Zijin had stated it clearly.
"I really can use it."
An Zijin had no intention of hiding anything from Su Ming. Her answer was crisp and direct.
"All right."
Su Ming accepted the fact.
Naturally, he did not suspect that An Zijin was deceiving him.
There was no need for that.
Su Ming still had the feeling that this girl from next door would deceive anyone but him.
Thus, Su Ming rubbed An Zijin's head and said, "Looks like I underestimated your talent. Compared to new students who have just entered school, your Spiritual Power is undoubtedly much higher."
"Hehe." An Zijin wore a comfortable expression, but she spoke somewhat bashfully. "The instructor said the same thing when he saw me successfully use Scorching Sparrow's Cry. He said that I might be able to enter the top hundred of the Sorcerer Department in my second year and become an elite student. It might even be possible for me to become a top student."
That evaluation was not exaggerated at all.
Su Ming had been considered capable of entering the top two hundred of the Sorcerer Department after using Style 21. An Zijin, however, could use Style 30 right after entering school. If she had not still lacked control, familiarity, and practical experience with the technique, her results would definitely have placed her among the top 150 of the Sorcerer Department.
With An Zijin's talent, once she accumulated enough experience, control, and familiarity, she would immediately qualify to learn intermediate Spiritual Arts and strive to become an elite student—or even a top student, right?
People who could become elite or even top students in their second year were rare in the Demon Hunter Academy.
For example, Xu Qianqian, who was praised as one of the top three in the Hunter Department, had obtained elite-student status during her first-year final assessment and top-student status in her second year. Now, despite only being a third-year student, she already possessed the ability to compete for the title of the strongest hunter in the Demon Hunter Academy.
An Zijin's talent might not be inferior to Xu Qianqian's in the slightest.
"Not only are they evenly matched in appearance, but their talents are on par as well."
These two might truly have been destined to clash.
Su Ming was thinking this when An Zijin, beside him, turned her gaze toward him.
"Why did Brother Su Ming suddenly ask me about that?"
An Zijin asked in confusion.
"Nothing." Su Ming came back to himself and thought for a moment before deciding to tell her the truth. "I originally wanted to teach you a few high-sequence Spiritual Arts to improve your strength, but now that I think about it, perhaps there's no need."
That was the reason Su Ming had come.
Su Ming had already decided earlier to look after An Zijin during this battle, help her gain some experience, and improve her strength so that she could cope with the wars that would arrive later.
Therefore, Su Ming had long decided that, before the entrance to the Spirit Fiend Abyss opened, he would teach An Zijin as many high-sequence Spiritual Arts as possible.
Who would have thought that An Zijin could already use Style 30?
That had somewhat disrupted Su Ming's plans.
After all, Su Ming had originally only intended to teach her Spiritual Arts above Sequence 20.
Now, it seemed that if he wanted to further improve An Zijin's strength, he could only teach her intermediate Spiritual Arts.
But...
If I teach Little Zijin intermediate Spiritual Arts, won't that expose some of my secrets?
Su Ming pursed his lips.
It was not that Su Ming could not use intermediate Spiritual Arts.
Not only could he use them, but he knew more than one or two.
Let alone intermediate Spiritual Arts, he might even be able to use Style 88: Celestial Revolution with some difficulty now.
Under such circumstances, Su Ming had more than enough ability to teach An Zijin Spiritual Arts.
But once Su Ming personally taught An Zijin, the fact that he had been concealing his strength would be exposed in full.
Perhaps...
Su Ming thought for a moment and finally made a decision.
"I'll give you something."
Su Ming said this to An Zijin.
"What?"
An Zijin was slightly startled.
Taking advantage of the moment, Su Ming made a show of reaching into his clothes. In reality, his thoughts opened the backpack in his mind, and he took a book out of it.
"Here, you can have this."
Su Ming pulled the book from his clothes and handed it to An Zijin.
"What's this?"
An Zijin accepted it curiously.
Su Ming revealed the book's true identity.
"This is the technique manual for Style 55: Octagonal Crystal Barrier."
His words made An Zijin's eyes widen slightly.
"Style 55?" An Zijin said in shock. "Isn't that a powerful technique ranked near the top even among intermediate Spiritual Arts?"
"That's right." Su Ming nodded. "Moreover, it isn't an offensive, binding, or support-type Spiritual Art. It's a defensive technique. If you can successfully learn and use it, your ability to save your own life won't be weak even when compared across the entire professional world."
Su Ming handed An Zijin the technique manual for such a Spiritual Art.
Since he could not personally teach her, he could only give her the manual and let her study it herself.
As for whether An Zijin could learn it, that would depend on fate.
Naturally, An Zijin herself felt that this gift was far too precious.
"A technique manual for such a high-sequence Spiritual Art must have taken Brother Su Ming a great deal of effort to obtain, right?" An Zijin hurriedly said. "I can't accept it!"
As she spoke, An Zijin tried to return the technique manual to Su Ming.
However, Su Ming stopped her.
"Take it." Su Ming's reply was concise. "You don't even know whether you can learn it. Even if you can, with your current Spiritual Power, it's still unknown whether you can successfully use a Sequence 55 Spiritual Art. There's no need to refuse."
"But..." An Zijin still looked somewhat uneasy.
"Take it." Su Ming's tone softened. "You're my sister, after all. Isn't it only natural for a brother to save good things for his adorable little sister?"
Upon hearing this, An Zijin fell silent.
After a while, the little girl revealed a lively smile.
"I understand!" An Zijin said. "I'll definitely learn it!"
"Don't force yourself." Su Ming advised her. "It's Style 55, after all—a high-sequence intermediate Spiritual Art that's already not far from the level of a high-level Spiritual Art. You're only a first-year student. Even with outstanding Spiritual Power, the possibility of successfully mastering this technique is still very low. I only want you to give it a try. If it doesn't work, don't force yourself, understand?"
"I know~~" An Zijin replied with a smile.
But whether she would actually listen was something only she herself knew.
"Right!"
Suddenly, An Zijin seemed to remember something. She jumped off the bed and ran to the suitcase in the corner of the room, searching through it for some reason.
"Found it!"
Before Su Ming could ask anything, An Zijin cried out happily. She was also holding a book as she came before Su Ming.
"Brother Su Ming! This is for you!"
An Zijin handed the book to Su Ming.
"Is this a technique manual?"
Su Ming took it and looked at An Zijin in surprise.
"Yes." An Zijin nodded and said, "This is a technique manual for an Extracurricular Sequence."
"Extracurricular Sequence?" Su Ming was stunned.
The so-called Extracurricular Sequence referred to techniques that did not belong to the sequence of the Hundred Spiritual Arts.
There were only one hundred Spiritual Arts. That was an established fact.
Just as the foundational elements said to constitute the world in ancient Greek theory were limited to wind, fire, water, and earth, and the Five Elements consisted only of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, when the people of the modern world awakened their Spiritual Constitutions under the influence of the Spirit Fiend Abyss, they used their own spirituality and Spiritual Power to communicate with the world. The miracles they obtained, known as Spiritual Arts, amounted to only one hundred.
These one hundred Spiritual Arts were like a foundation engraved deep within the world. When a warlock used their own spirituality and Spiritual Power to communicate with it, they could naturally invoke miracles and unleash power capable of effectively harming creatures such as Phantom Demons.
However, throughout the long course of history, humanity had never lacked extraordinarily gifted individuals. Relying on their understanding of Spiritual Power, spirituality, and techniques, they had created techniques distinct from the Hundred Spiritual Arts.
These techniques were the Spiritual Arts of the Extracurricular Sequence.
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