Liang Ji received the Snake Barbarian Scripture inheritance, skills like Mountain Splitting Axe, and two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones from his teacher.
The Spirit Stones were the school's reward for his performance in the trial. Two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones wasn't much; it was enough to buy only one or two first-tier Spirit Roots or Spirit Seeds.
But to Liang Ji, every ounce of strength was precious. It could help close the gap between him and the top Star Lord students.
On Dragon Soul Star, Liang Ji invested the Snake Barbarian Scripture bloodline inheritance, along with the Mountain Splitting Axe, Flying Snake Spear, and Bedrock Shield skills.
Roar!
The Dragon Soul coiled around the star raised its head and let out a dragon's roar. It swallowed the inheritance and skills, refined them, then descended into the Half-Dragonfolk tribe's Heavenly Emperor Temple.
From there, the priests of the Heavenly Emperor Temple would teach the Half-Dragonfolk these bloodline inheritances and skills.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye. More than a thousand years went by on Dragon Soul Star, and the Snake Barbarian Scripture bloodline inheritance had spread throughout the Half-Dragonfolk Retainer population. Every Half-Dragonfolk who had awakened their bloodline and intelligence and advanced to the first tier had already mastered the Snake Barbarian Scripture.
As always, however, the practice of the Snake Barbarian Scripture had also undergone a mutation in the Half-Dragonfolk.
Because their bloodlines were different, the Half-Dragonfolk developed a Hegemonic Body instead of a Barbarian Body.
The Barbarian Body's traits were unmatched brute strength and a defense that made its bearer impervious to blades and spears.
The Hegemonic Body went a step further. Its strength rose from "unmatched brute force" to "absolute dominance," leaving few who could match it at the same tier. And while it retained the physical defense that made its bearer impervious to blades and spears, it also gained magical defense, allowing it to withstand all kinds of elemental damage, including ice, fire, and poison.
However, to develop these kinds of magical defense, the Half-Dragonfolk Retainers had to train in the corresponding environments.
For instance, to gain resistance to fire damage, the Half-Dragonfolk Retainers had to train in a fiery environment. To gain resistance to ice damage, they had to train in a freezing environment, and so on.
Looking at the data and information, Liang Ji's brow furrowed even as a smile tugged at his lips.
The mutation from Barbarian Body to Hegemonic Body further confirmed some of his suspicions. It also gave him greater confidence that he could develop his Vassals, catch up with the top Star Lord students, and even surpass them.
However, this change had also thrown some of his plans into disarray.
Back on the trial star, he had seen the various Rune Artifacts equipped by the top Star Lord students' Vassals, and the top-tier combat power they could unleash.
Liang Ji had planned to spend a fortune on a Rune Master inheritance, cultivate Rune Masters among the Half-Dragonfolk, and equip his Vassals with Rune Artifacts too.
But now, the Hegemonic Body's many traits had disrupted his plans.
To bring out the Hegemonic Body's full power, he would undoubtedly need to build various training environments on his Natal Star, where the Half-Dragonfolk Retainers could train and increase their different forms of magical defense.
Building these training environments required refining various corresponding Spirit Seeds into them. The Spirit Stones he had now might not even be enough to buy many Spirit Seeds, let alone a Rune Master inheritance.
So should he stick to his original plan and buy a Rune Master inheritance, or switch to buying Spirit Seeds for the training environments?
Liang Ji hesitated for only two seconds before putting the Rune Master inheritance out of his mind.
With all the Hegemonic Body's advantages, he believed that as long as he developed the Half-Dragonfolk Retainers' Hegemonic Body properly, they could compete with the Vassals of those top Star Lords—even without Rune Artifacts.
"Twenty days left until the first mock exam. The school is holding it themselves, so it should be fairly easy."
"Usually, Teacher Du, the homeroom teacher, sends first-tier Vassals from his Natal Star to test the students' Vassals. But sometimes, the principal sends first-tier Vassals of his own."
Back on the trial star, Liang Ji had seen how Fang Xiaohan prepared for the mock exams and the college entrance exam. It had shaken him.
Over the past few days, besides training and developing his Vassals, he had also started gathering information and preparing for the mock exams and the college entrance exam.
According to the information he had gathered, Teacher Du's Vassals on his Natal Star were ordinary Spotted Serpentfolk. But after so many years of training and advancement, even at the same tier, their combat strength far surpassed that of the Vassals belonging to newly advanced Star Lord students like them.
"According to messages left by senior students on the school's official forum, Teacher Du's Spotted Serpentfolk Vassals are especially formidable when it comes to poison."
"And the principal's Vassals are a special kind of Two-tailed Serpentfolk with both ice and fire abilities. They can inflict both ice and fire damage at the same time."
"That means that to get a better score on the first mock exam, I need to train the Half-Dragonfolk Retainers' Hegemonic Body to develop at least three kinds of magical defense: poison resistance, ice resistance, and fire resistance!"
"And the stronger those defenses are, the better."
Liang Ji pondered this.
That afternoon, he practiced the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist again in the school's training room, learning from Teacher Wang Hu.
Most students in the Star Lord class had already finished refining their skin and flesh. Now that the second semester had begun, Teacher Wang Hu had started teaching the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist and guiding everyone through Bone-and-Tendon Refining.
After school, Liang Ji went home and logged on to the Treasure Basin official website, searching for Spirit Seeds and other materials used to build training environments.
Among the Star Alliance's Star Lords, building training environments for Vassals was a specialized field of study, even a dedicated course.
They divided these environments and grounds into tiers: first-tier Spell Grounds, second-tier Spirit Lands, third-tier Treasure Lands, fourth-tier Daoist Sanctuaries, and fifth-tier Secret Realms.
Liang Ji needed to build first-tier Spell Grounds. But with his current means and assets, he'd be lucky to create the rudiments of a few. He would have to keep investing resources to improve and complete them over time.
After searching for a while, Liang Ji settled on three Spell Ground seeds: Myriad Poison Grotto, Frozen Abyss, and Flame Valley.
These Spell Ground seeds cost several times more than ordinary first-tier Spirit Roots or Spirit Seeds.
And even after refining them into his Natal Star to form training grounds, he would have to keep investing Spirit Seeds of the corresponding attributes to develop them. They were bottomless pits.
The two hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones invested in Liang Ji by Shan De Lou and Hundred Herbs Collection had dwindled to about fifty thousand over the past few months.
These three Spell Ground seeds alone would cost around a hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
Fortunately, Liang Ji had earned a hundred and fifty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones during the trial on the trial star, and the school had also awarded him two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones.
Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to scrape together enough to buy these three Spell Ground seeds.
And this was only the beginning. If the Half-Dragonfolk were to develop comprehensive magical defense and bring their Hegemonic Body to its peak, Dragon Soul Star would need even more kinds of Spell Grounds.
As the Half-Dragonfolk advanced, those Spell Grounds would also need to be improved and upgraded. Each would become a bottomless pit, swallowing countless Spirit Stones!
Just thinking about it made Liang Ji feel dizzy and panicky.
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