Le Bai officially became a member of Shrek Academy.
After that, the rhythm and routine of his life did not change much.
There were two insignificant changes.
One was that, every morning, whether there was anything to do or not, he had to gather at Shrek's playground; the other was that he was no longer merely auditing classes, but sat beside Oscar, with Ma Hongjun joining them as well.
Since Ma Hongjun had only just arrived and was two years younger than Oscar and Le Bai, the three of them did not have many opportunities to attend class together.
Flender had originally intended to arrange the same basic physical training course for Le Bai that Oscar took, but after some tests, he discovered that Le Bai's physical abilities were already close to those of a Battle Soul Master above level twenty while using Martial Soul Possession—far beyond what a level-eight Support System Soul Master should have been capable of.
While marveling at what a "Monster" Le Bai was, Flender merely reminded him to exercise in moderation and not overdraw his body, then quietly doubled Oscar's training load.
Half a year passed just like that.
"Le Bai, is your Soul Power about to reach level ten?"
At the Cultivation Ground beside Le Bai's cabin, which Le Bai had built himself, Oscar asked while doing push-ups.
"Soon."
Le Bai was also doing push-ups, except a flat iron slab larger than his body was weighing down his back.
"It has been almost three years since your Martial Soul awakened. You're finally going to become a Soul Master too."
Oscar looked nostalgic. "By the way, have you decided what effect you want from your First Soul Ring? You might not necessarily find what you want, but you should at least have a few goals in mind."
"I asked Teacher Zhao and the others before, and I also discussed it with the Dean. I have a rough idea."
Le Bai added another, slightly smaller iron slab of the same design onto the flat slab on his back. "Your Big Sausage has an all-around recovery effect. We will most likely act together in the future, so the teachers suggested that I choose an effect that does not overlap with yours. For example, increasing Soul Power, strengthening defense, or increasing speed."
"And what about you?"
Oscar pushed himself up hard and rose to his feet. "Your thoughts should be different from the teachers', right?"
"They are."
Le Bai raised one hand and switched to one-handed push-ups. "My combat strength mainly relies on my own Soul Power, so I want a Soul Skill that can increase the amount of Soul Power as much as possible. Something that can continuously restore Soul Power, increase my total Soul Power, or accelerate Soul Power recovery."
"I still think Support System Soul Masters shouldn't be thinking about fighting."
Oscar shook his head. "No one expects us to be able to fight anyway. Isn't it good enough to stay safely behind everyone and support them?"
"Sure. Of course it is."
Le Bai looked up at Oscar. "But that assumes the enemy is stupid enough to only attack the people in front of us first. And what if, someday, the person you like can only marry a Soul Master with combat ability?"
"You said it yourself, that's something in the future. Who knows whether it will happen?"
Oscar spread his hands indifferently. "Besides, what kind of family in this world would have such a strange rule? All right, I'm not discussing this with you. I worked up a sweat training today, so I'm off to bathe~"
Watching Oscar happily plant that flag and leave, Le Bai shifted his attention to the Panel:
"Upgrading the cultivation method is genuinely difficult. Over the past half year, I've modified it nearly a thousand times, yet the progress bar has only reached 47.17452%."
"Soul Power is also increasing very slowly. It's been half a year since level eight, and I still haven't reached level ten. Oscar is already level nineteen, and Ma Hongjun is level sixteen. The gap between us is only getting wider."
"The difference in Innate Soul Power is simply too great. But once our Soul Power Levels get higher, their rate of advancement will definitely slow down. My cultivation method is improving, and I have no bottlenecks. I'll catch up sooner or later. No need to rush... can't rush..."
"Soul Power Control, Lv41. I'll keep leveling it for now. It might prove useful someday."
"Parallel Thinking has reached Lv32. Lately, I really have been able to think about three things at once. It can basically be confirmed that every ten levels lets me think about one additional thing simultaneously. I wonder whether that will change at higher levels. The pinnacle of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Heart Separation Control is the Seven Orifice Exquisite Heart. I should be able to surpass it someday."
"Spirit Power Overclocking, Lv27. Unfortunately, there is no accurate way to judge the level of the Soul Power gained through overclocking. Otherwise, I could infer the conversion relationship between the Overclocking skill level and the maximum Soul Power after overclocking. Its improvement has slowed lately, so it seems it is not affected only by the level of Soul Power Control."
"[One Blade Asura] and [One Blade Rakshasa]? When did I ever practice these two skills? Wait... did they suddenly appear during the test? They're only Lv1? What a waste. They're both useful and powerful skills. Hmm, decided. I'll grind their levels whenever I have time from now on."
"Aha, Basic Body Technique and Soul Power have both gained another 1% progress. Only the final three points remain before they can level up~"
"Three points, then level up?"
"Grind the hell out of it!"
Another two days passed.
The progress bar for Le Bai's Soul Power Level on his Panel had reached 99.99999%. A little more cultivation would be enough for him to level up.
After class ended, Le Bai suddenly stopped Zhao Wuji. "Teacher Zhao, do you have time recently?"
"Recently? Other than teaching you three little brats, what else could I possibly have to do?"
Zhao Wuji indicated that he was extremely free.
"It's like this, Teacher Zhao. My Soul Power should break through to level ten today. I'd like to ask you to help me obtain a Soul Ring."
Le Bai spoke carefully.
"Ha! I thought it was something serious. Isn't it just your First Soul Ring? Any time is fine! As long as your luck isn't too terrible, half a day will be enough!"
Zhao Wuji did not care about that, but he was curious about something else. "Hey, Le Bai, you just said you would break through today. How did you know you would break through today?"
Le Bai froze. "Don't all Soul Masters know how long they need before they can break through?"
"They do know."
Zhao Wuji wore a subtle expression. "But generally, they can only estimate roughly. They cannot be that precise. Being certain of a breakthrough within seven days is already considered accurate. I've never seen anyone as certain as you that they would break through within a single day."
"This touches on a gap in my knowledge."
Le Bai played dumb. "Maybe it's my talent? When I cultivate, I can clearly feel my Soul Power growing, so I can calculate the time of a Soul Power breakthrough more accurately."
"Oh?!"
Zhao Wuji raised an eyebrow. "I didn't expect you to have that ability!"
Le Bai did not quite understand why Zhao Wuji believed him so easily. "Teacher Zhao, don't you think I might be making it up?"
"Hahaha!"
Zhao Wuji laughed and rubbed Le Bai's hair. "This world is vast, and there are many things you haven't seen. You may be a Little Monster too, but there are plenty of people in this world who are stranger than you. Being able to clearly sense your own cultivation isn't some especially incredible talent. Why shouldn't I believe it?!"
Le Bai nodded thoughtfully. "I see..."
"Since you can be sure that you're about to break through, I won't leave."
Zhao Wuji sat down in a chair in the classroom and said to Le Bai, "It would be troublesome to return to your residence and come find you again. Better to wait here for your breakthrough, then take you directly to hunt a Soul Beast."
This was naturally the best option. It could also effectively prevent any accident from making others suspicious of him—Le Bai had not forgotten the effects of his Panel, especially its ability to ignore bottlenecks.
According to the common knowledge of this world, or rather, its laws, whenever a Soul Master's Soul Power reached a multiple of ten, they had to obtain a Soul Ring before they could continue cultivating and break through.
No matter how one looked at it, needing a Soul Ring to break through could be called a bottleneck.
And the existence of the Panel had eliminated Le Bai's bottlenecks.
This created a problem—what would happen when Le Bai's Soul Power reached a multiple of ten?
Le Bai imagined roughly three possible outcomes:
First, the Panel's effects would override everything, allowing Le Bai to ignore the world's rules and continue increasing his Soul Power without a Soul Ring;
Second, the world's rules would crush the Panel, forcing Le Bai to hunt a Soul Beast and absorb a Soul Ring like every other Soul Master before he could continue advancing;
Third, somewhere between the first and second possibilities, the Panel would directly grant Le Bai a Soul Ring to ensure that he did not encounter a bottleneck.
Until his Soul Power reached a multiple of ten, Le Bai had no way of knowing which outcome would actually happen.
If it was the first or second possibility, the problem would not be serious. As long as he obtained a Soul Ring in time, he would not even have to worry about anyone noticing anything unusual.
The crucial possibility was the third one.
No matter how many ways there were to obtain Soul Rings, the fact that "humans cannot independently produce Soul Rings" had always held true.
If Le Bai suddenly possessed a Soul Ring without a sound, what would Shrek Academy's teachers think?
Things might not necessarily develop in the worst possible direction, but he had to take precautions.
It was not as though he had no excuse, or no convincing explanation, if he had to force one out.
But as the saying went, lies often required more lies to cover them up.
Le Bai felt that would be too exhausting and inefficient.
The very idea was wrong from the start—why should he be the one trying to explain it himself?
As long as he created the established fact that I don't know either, he could let those people with outstanding imaginations come up with an answer that convinced even themselves. Wouldn't that solve everything?
As Shrek Academy's Vice Dean, the strongest person besides Flender, and someone without too many crooked thoughts, Zhao Wuji was undoubtedly the most suitable person to serve as a "witness" to Le Bai's breakthrough.
"Thank you, Teacher Zhao!"
Le Bai thanked him sincerely, then immediately sat cross-legged in an open area of the classroom and began leveling up!
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