The Tournament Begins

More than a month later, Wu Ling returned to Spirit City. The first thing he did was take Oscar to meet his teacher, Bibi Dong.

Although Bibi Dong surely already knew the outcome, it was only proper for them to meet her in person.

With only two months left until the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament, Bibi Dong, as the Pope, had been rather busy lately. However, Wu Ling was her disciple, and Oscar's status as a food-type Spirit Master with Innate Full Soul Power was impressive enough. That was why she made time in her busy schedule to meet the two of them.

As the Pope, upon seeing someone so talented join Spirit Hall, she naturally offered a round of encouragement. There would certainly be preferential access to teaching resources as well. In the end, Bibi Dong personally wrote a letter and told Wu Ling to take Oscar to find someone.

That person was named Stephen, a food-type Spirit Master of Spirit Hall. His Martial Soul was Longevity Noodle, and he was a Soul Douluo with a Soul Power Level of eighty-one.

With Bibi Dong's letter, Oscar easily became Stephen's disciple. However, seeing Stephen's impatient expression, Wu Ling felt that even without Bibi Dong's letter, he would still have accepted Oscar.

After all, a food-type Spirit Master like Oscar with Innate Full Soul Power was practically the ideal disciple for every food-type Spirit Master in the world.

Although Stephen's Martial Soul was Longevity Noodle, he had neither wife nor children. According to him, he had been a late bloomer, so he had not sought a wife when he was young. Once he grew old, he no longer had such intentions either.

Thus, at Stephen's request, Oscar moved directly into his home and remained there to study. After settling Oscar in, Wu Ling returned to his own courtyard.

Oscar joining them as support was not a reason for Wu Ling to slack off. No matter when it was, only strength that belonged to oneself was truly dependable.

And speaking of support abilities, perhaps no one in the world could compare to him, a "support-type" Spirit Master. A single Heroic Spirit Possession enhanced his attack, defense, speed, and Soul Power across the board.

Even without Heroic Spirit Possession, Wu Ling believed that if Xiao Fen was given some time, she could leave every Spirit Master in the world far behind.

Sure enough, as soon as Wu Ling arrived home, Xiao Fen excitedly trotted back to her room. After spending a month on the road without doing any research, she was now eager to stretch her limbs and get to work.

Although Xiao Fen had not conducted any research during that month, she had long since worked out several ideas in her mind. Before long, Wu Ling would likely see what he wanted.

Research and invention could be fast or slow. The key lay in inspiration and direction.

Without inspiration or direction, progress would be slow, and one would wander about during research like a headless fly.

But once there was inspiration and direction, as long as one had sufficient knowledge, all that remained was to assemble it step by step like building blocks.

With Wu Ling's third Spirit Skill, Xiao Fen, who had Medea possessing her, had no lack of knowledge. As for inspiration and direction, they were hardly a problem for a young man of the new era like Wu Ling.

Since someone came to clean the courtyard every day, after Xiao Fen ran back into her room, Xiao Lan and Xiao Hong knew to come out without Wu Ling needing to say anything. They began training on the grass in the courtyard.

Seeing that everything had returned to normal, Wu Ling nodded in satisfaction. Without resting at all, he began cultivating as well.

Cultivation was inherently dull and tedious, emphasizing perseverance. No power could be gained without effort. Just as a certain king had said, "Only after experiencing seven layers of loneliness can one become a true powerhouse." Perhaps the boredom of cultivation counted as one layer of loneliness.

And so, two months passed...

"Grandpa Ghost, this is this month's potion. And Grandpa Yue, this one is yours."

As he spoke, Wu Ling handed a bottle of black potion and a bottle of yellow potion to Gui Mei and Yue Guan respectively.

Gui Mei did not say much after receiving the potion, but Yue Guan blew Wu Ling a kiss. "Little Ling, thank Xiao Fen for me, okay? Oh, right, has there been any progress on that medicine I asked Xiao Fen to make for me?"

Keeping his smile unchanged, Wu Ling said, "Xiao Fen said that if it is meant to transform an ordinary person, everything is easy enough. But Grandpa Yue, you are a Title Douluo-level powerhouse. Your body is no longer something that can be easily altered, so it will require a great deal of time and special medicinal herbs to accomplish.

"Especially the most crucial immortal herb, the Yin Yang Flower. At present, we still do not know where to find it."

Hearing this, Yue Guan's heart was filled with mixed feelings. He had never expected that the greatest obstacle to realizing his dream would be himself.

Just as the saying went, "If I have cultivation, I cannot achieve my dream. If I give up this cultivation, I will no longer be qualified to achieve it."

As for finding the Yin Yang Flower, he did not even dare think about it. Not even Spirit Hall's treasury contained a single immortal herb, so what ability did he have to find a Yin Yang Flower?

Wu Ling did not say much to the disappointed Yue Guan. Although he knew that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well contained many immortal herbs, whether it had a Yin Yang Flower was still unknown. It was better not to give Yue Guan hope for now.

Once Yue Guan returned to stand behind Bibi Dong, Bibi Dong put the potions into her Storage Ring.

"Ling'er, did Xiao Fen come up with anything new this time?"

Ever since Xiao Fen returned, Bibi Dong asked this every time she came to see Wu Ling. To Bibi Dong, it was like opening a blind box. Whenever Xiao Fen brought out something new that she had never seen before, ripples would appear in her calm and dull daily life.

"There is indeed something new this time, Teacher."

Wu Ling then handed three booklets to the three people before him. Each booklet had the character "High" written on its cover.

"These are advanced cultivation techniques. They can increase a person's cultivation speed by thirty percent, making them more efficient than the basic techniques that increase it by ten percent and the intermediate techniques that increase it by twenty percent."

After receiving the techniques, Bibi Dong opened hers and began reading. As she read, she could not stop praising it.

"Thirty percent cultivation efficiency... If I had cultivated this technique from childhood, I might have become a Title Douluo before the age of thirty."

After roughly skimming through the contents, Bibi Dong closed the booklet and carefully put it away.

Then came the main matter. This time, Bibi Dong was not particularly serious as she casually said, "Oh, right, Ling'er. You have probably heard as well, haven't you? The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament is about to begin."