"Whale rubber really has that effect? I remember that stuff was for, ahem..."
One young teacher suddenly remembered there were children present and cut himself off.
"Whatever the case with whale rubber, I agree with the ideas behind martial soul evolution. As they say, you nourish what you eat... hey, come to think of it, eating whale rubber really might strengthen your physique."
Another young teacher offered his opinion.
Only Director Su remained silent, mulling over the theory of ultimate attributes.
After a long while, he said slowly, "These theories may be true. In my youth, I had the good fortune to meet an expert who had cultivated his fire attribute to its ultimate state. Even now, the thought of his flames fills me with despair..."
The two young teachers were stunned.
They hurried back to their desks to write down the theories Su Mo had explained, slipping in some sly flattery as they wrote.
"To think we actually met a real master..."
"Exactly, exactly. Much better than a certain fake master..."
Director Su immediately rebuked them. "Enough. Grandmaster is still the dean's friend."
"If I remember right, Shrek Academy's dean is that so-called Grandmaster's friend too, isn't he? He sure gets around."
Tian Meng could not resist making a snide remark.
Su Mo ignored Tian Meng and turned to Director Su. "Could my little sister and I live outside the academy?"
Director Su shook his head. "Our academy requires students to live on campus."
Su Mo took out a handful of Gold Soul Coins. "Then could you upgrade our dorm room? My sister's a girl. A room full of communal beds isn't suitable for her."
Xiao Wu blinked.
Right on cue, she put on a pitiful expression.
"Haha, that's no problem. Since you both have innate full soul power, you certainly qualify for better accommodations."
Director Su changed their housing information, upgrading their assignment from Dorm Seven to a twin room.
He did not accept the Gold Soul Coins, however.
He handed Su Mo and Xiao Wu two sets of dorm keys and Nuoding Academy uniforms. "Meet at the academy gates tomorrow morning. I'll take you to the Soul Hunting Forest."
"Thank you."
They thanked him in unison. Just as they were about to leave, Su Mo suddenly turned back. "Director Su, you said you encountered ultimate fire in your younger days. So... do you have a fire attribute too?"
Director Su paused in surprise, then nodded. "My martial soul is a Fire Crow."
Su Mo's lips curved slightly. "Then would you like to see the effects of whale rubber for yourself? I happen to have a few pieces."
"All right!"
In the end, Director Su could not suppress his curiosity and followed Su Mo to the dorm room he had just assigned him.
"What do you need me to do?"
Director Su looked at Su Mo.
He kept feeling that the boy before him possessed an air of maturity. Talking to him was like chatting with someone his own age.
"Director Su, sorry for the trouble, but please soften this piece of whale rubber with your flames."
Su Mo discreetly took a deep-yellow piece of ten-thousand-year whale glue from the Frog House. After handing it to Director Su, he began doing push-ups and squats off to the side.
"What are you doing?" Director Su asked, puzzled.
"High-intensity exercise helps with absorption."
Director Su nodded and summoned his Fire Crow for Martial Soul Possession. Three soul rings-yellow, yellow, and purple-pulsed beneath him.
He was a three-ring Soul Elder.
With his martial soul possessing him, black feathers tinged with red sprouted all over Director Su's body. His mouth lengthened into a beak, his feet became talons, and a pair of black wings spread behind him. He looked every bit a humanoid crow.
"Flame Jet!"
The purple soul ring beneath his feet flared as Director Su unleashed his third soul skill.
He controlled its range, however, releasing only a finger-thick ray of flame from his mouth to scorch the whale rubber in his hand.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...
Yet the piece of whale rubber showed no change at all beneath his flames.
Only after some ten minutes did it gradually begin to show signs of melting.
"This tough to crack?"
Director Su frowned and continued raising the temperature of his flames.
By then, the dorm room was as hot as a steamer, and the heat had even spread outside.
Xiao Wu was the first to find it unbearable.
After getting Su Mo's permission, she hurried outside.
Over the next half hour, Director Su kept increasing the temperature of his flames.
Gradually, a rich fragrance wafted from the whale rubber, and its deep-yellow color slowly turned dark gold.
"What a fragrance!"
Director Su took a sniff and immediately felt refreshed in body and mind.
Yet despite the rising heat, only one corner of the whale rubber had softened.
If anyone now claimed whale rubber could not temper the body, he would argue with them on the spot. Anything this difficult to melt with fire was certainly no ordinary substance.
"Director Su, cut off that softened corner."
"Once it's cooled a little, toss it into my mouth."
By then, Su Mo was nearly spent from exhaustion. He stopped exercising, took a few breaths to steady himself, and explained the next steps.
Whale rubber slowly hardened as it cooled, making that the best time to consume it.
"All right."
Director Su wasted no time and followed his instructions, cutting off the soft, dark-gold gelatinous piece.
Once it had cooled, he tossed it into Su Mo's mouth.
The whale rubber tasted salty and fishy, then quickly turned into a warm current that flowed into his stomach.
Su Mo then felt a warm current circling between his chest and abdomen before spreading through his limbs and every part of his body.
His stamina recovered at an astonishing speed.
Before long, however, that warm current gradually became scorching hot.
Large beads of sweat poured from his body.
Su Mo looked just like someone who had fallen into the water.
Soon, however, his sweat turned reddish-brown. His entire body looked as though it had been stained with blood, making for a horrifying sight.
"Are you all right?" Director Su asked anxiously.
"Nothing serious."
Su Mo felt better than ever and started exercising again.
Once he had absorbed most of the medicinal potency within him, he swallowed more whale rubber.
Then he tempered his body, repeating the cycle over and over.
As long as he consumed only a small piece of whale rubber each time and waited until he had absorbed it before taking the next, he did not have to worry about his body being unable to withstand it.
This continued for four hours. Instead, it was Director Su's soul power that gave out first.
Fortunately, only one final small piece of whale rubber remained.
Su Mo swallowed it, expecting it to be just like before. To his surprise, the scorching sensation this time was stronger than all the previous ones combined.
"Urgh..."
He felt as though his body were about to melt.
Even his mind began to grow hazy.
"Su Mo, how are you feeling?" Director Su asked, his face filled with anxiety.
But Su Mo could no longer hear him.
He instinctively summoned the Infinity Gauntlet and reached out to Tian Meng with his mind.
He wanted to convey something, but could not gather his thoughts into a complete message.
"Tsk. When it counts, yours truly still has to step in."
Tian Meng undid the seal and used a sliver of his origin power to stir the Ice Gem embedded in the back of the Infinity Gauntlet.
Boom!
An invisible chill spread from the Ice Gem.
In mere moments, the entire dorm room became as bitterly cold as the depths of winter.
Director Su's pupils contracted slightly at the sight.
"Ul... ultimate ice?"
There was no mistaking that sensation. It was like the absolute suppression of an inferior by a superior, leaving him unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.