"Supreme stars of the Great One, ever-changing without pause;
Drive away evil and bind demons, protect life and guard the body;
Let wisdom shine clear and bright, let mind and spirit rest in peace;
May the three souls endure forever, and may the spirits never be lost."
The next day, as the eastern sky had just begun to pale, Ling Qing got up early. After a quick wash, he began his morning lessons.
Ever since doing morning lessons with Daoist Wenxi, Ling Qing had made a habit of it.
Besides, ever since receiving the Druid inheritance, he had never once slept in.
That would have been utterly unimaginable in the past.
Every day, he would wait until almost time for work before scrambling out of bed and rushing frantically to the company.
But after starting to rise early, he discovered that a day could be so long.
Long enough to leisurely arrange everything he had to do, and still have time to spare.
Before entering the instance, he used the mornings to practice Five Animal Frolics. But after practicing several times in quick succession, he could no longer increase his skill proficiency after two or three rounds.
The incantations of the eight divine spells were not very long, either. It took little time to recite them two or three times.
After finishing his final round of Five Animal Frolics, Ling Qing stretched one leg out and bent the other, then flapped his arms twice like a crane's wings.
As his arms swung, the muscles and bones throughout his body shivered like crane feathers, while his legs dispelled the excess force with each shift of weight.
After finishing, Ling Qing let out a long breath, loosened his muscles and bones a little, then turned and headed outside.
After a lavish breakfast in the dining hall, he returned to the front desk and asked to observe a different animal.
This time, he chose Bear Mountain.
After many attempts the previous day, Ling Qing had confirmed that he had completely mastered the Sika Deer Wild Form.
That was enough to meet the requirements for upgrading Five Animal Frolics. As for other kinds of deer, he had no interest in observing them.
Early that morning, before practicing Five Animal Frolics, he had already completed the upgrade.
"Character spends 600 experience points to improve skill—Five Animal Frolics." "Character skill—Five Animal Frolics level increased (Basic → Advanced)." "Based on the increase in skill—Five Animal Frolics, character attributes Strength +1, Dexterity +1, Constitution +1, increased to 11 points." "Since your Intelligence, Wisdom, and other attributes have already reached or exceeded the range of improvement from Five Animal Frolics, your Intelligence and other attributes have not increased." "Based on the increase in skill—Five Animal Frolics, character's bearing improves to a degree, Charisma +1."
Although the increase was not large, he could already feel that he had improved a little.
His strength, speed, and physical condition had all improved noticeably, leaving him full of energy.
So, buoyed by this good feeling, he planned to keep going and record all four animal forms besides Bird Frolic.
Bird Frolic was beyond what he could manage for now. A level 2 Druid's Wild Form could only transform into animals that could neither fly nor swim.
To transform into a flying animal, his class level had to reach level 8.
Still, Ling Qing was in no hurry.
He planned to try an Ostrich. Although the Bird Frolic in his Five Animal Frolics practice imitated cranes—
Well, Bird Frolic was about birds, wasn't it? What did it matter which bird?
An Ostrich was a bird, too. Besides, there was no harm in trying.
As for transforming, although an Ostrich was a bird, it couldn't fly and had no flying speed.
More importantly, even if he failed, transforming into the other four forms would still raise all his attributes to 14 points.
At worst, he could perfect the skill after reaching level 8. And even if his attributes had already exceeded 15 by then, that was fine—he would save some experience points.
After checking, the front desk directly applied for him to observe the Black Bears.
Not many people practiced Bear-style boxing, and the most recent person had already finished observing the bears while Ling Qing was watching the Sika Deer.
But since Bear Mountain had only a few Black Bears, Ling Qing spent a little longer collecting wild energy and outlining their form.
Still, thanks to his previous experience, practice made perfect. By comparison, it took about as long as it had with the Sika Deer.
A few days later, he had recorded the Black Bear's transformation as well. That night, he successfully turned into a Black Bear.
"Character completes Wild Shape. Character template switches to: Black Bear." "Template: Black Bear Life Level: Level 1 Attributes: Strength: 17 Dexterity: 13 Constitution: 17 Wisdom: 13 Charisma: 6 Skills: Bite, Claw"
Early the next morning, Ling Qing once again poured his accumulated experience points into the Five Animal Frolics skill bar.
"Character spends 1,200 experience points to improve skill—Five Animal Frolics." "Character skill—Five Animal Frolics level increased (Advanced → Expert)." "Based on the increase in skill—Five Animal Frolics, character attributes Strength +1, Dexterity +1, Constitution +1, Intelligence +1, attributes increased to 12 points." "Since your Wisdom attribute has already reached or exceeded the range of improvement from Five Animal Frolics, your Wisdom attribute has not increased." "Based on the increase in skill—Five Animal Frolics, character's bearing improves, Charisma +1."
Ling Qing's attributes had now become:
"Personal Attributes: Strength: 12; Dexterity: 12; Constitution: 12; Intelligence: 12; Wisdom: 14; Charisma: 12."
Looking at the neat rows of attributes and feeling the increasingly powerful strength held within his body, Ling Qing was full of drive.
Apart from meals, sleep, and his morning and evening lessons, he devoted all his time to completing the transformations into the two remaining forms.
At last, a few days later—
"Template: Chimpanzee Life Level: Level 1 Attributes: Strength: 13 Dexterity: 15 Constitution: 12 Intelligence: 10 (Human Form feedback +2) Wisdom: 12 Charisma: 7 Skills: Bite, Swipe" "Template: Siberian Tiger Life Level: Level 1 Attributes: Strength: 19 Dexterity: 17 Constitution: 15 Wisdom: 12 Charisma: 6 Skills: Bite, Claw Special Attacks: Pounce, Rake"
Completing the transformations into Ape and Tiger forms brought him an unexpected surprise from both templates.
The Chimpanzee template had an Intelligence attribute, and could also benefit from his character bonuses.
With an Intelligence of 10, Ling Qing could even learn spells while in Chimpanzee form.
He could only learn two first-circle spells, and had to learn them all over again, but it still made him the equivalent of a class holder.
The Siberian Tiger's Strength was just one point short of becoming extraordinary, and its Dexterity was second only to the Sika Deer's.
It also had two special attack skills, making it formidable in close combat.
In the future, if enemies got within striking distance, he could use it to fight them hand-to-hand.
Ling Qing had now learned four transformations. Only the bird form remained.
After watching him a few times, everyone had come to realize that Ling Qing could quickly win animals' favor. Even ferocious tigers and Black Bears wouldn't hurt him.
He also seemed able to understand what animals were saying, and could grasp what they needed.
During this time, he had also helped the Beast Garden deal with quite a few problems, calming the fury of enraged beasts several times.
After all, some people could quickly become friends with another person, yet never win the favor of animals.
The mountain resort did not keep Ostriches. After receiving Ling Qing's request, its staff specially borrowed one for him.
They also set aside a separate enclosure for him to care for and observe it.
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