Finally Level Ten

Half a year later.

At dusk, the group of work-study students in Dorm Seven were uncharacteristically not cultivating, instead watching Jiang Jiu, who was currently meditating, with a hint of envy.

Wang Sheng, in particular, felt a complex mix of emotions.

Half a year ago, Jiang Jiu was at level eight, and he was at level nine.

By the time Jiang Jiu reached level nine, he, Wang Sheng, was still at level nine.

Now, watching Jiang Jiu break through to level ten, he, Wang Sheng, was still stuck at level nine!

Was the influence of innate soul power truly this significant?

Thinking back to Tang San and Xiao Wu, who both possessed innate full soul power, his original ambition of breaking through to become a Spirit Master and defeating Tang San had completely vanished.

The gap in the speed of soul power cultivation was simply too vast—so vast that it had surpassed the influence of one's Martial Soul on combat effectiveness.

The other work-study students were merely feeling simple envy; after all, their soul power was inferior to Jiang Jiu's to begin with, so they didn't share the same experience of being overtaken head-on as Wang Sheng.

"Jiu, how is it?"

As Jiang Jiu opened his eyes, Xiao Wu asked with a hint of nervousness.

"Mm, no problems. I've reached level ten."

"That's great!"

Xiao Wu waved her fists in excitement, feeling genuinely happy for Jiang Jiu.

After half a year of living together, the warmth between the two hadn't faded in the slightest; their shared bed had almost begun to smell exactly the same.

As for the other bed, it was piled high with various odds and ends they had bought together over the past six months.

It looked completely different from when they first arrived with only two bundles.

"Congratulations, Brother Jiu!" Wang Sheng and the others also began to offer their well-wishes.

"To think our work-study group is about to produce its third Spirit Master," someone remarked, feeling a sense of shared pride.

Xiao Wu's smile faltered for a moment before returning to normal.

She had spent half a year mentally preparing for this.

A soul hunt was a soul hunt; it was best to set a goal and get it done in one go.

"Wang Sheng, how does the academy usually arrange for students to hunt souls and obtain spirit rings?" Xiao Wu asked.

As the queen of skipping classes, and given that she was already a Spirit Master, she naturally had no need to understand such things.

Wang Sheng, however, was a sixth-year student who had been stuck at level nine for a while, so he was bound to be extremely knowledgeable about these matters.

Wang Sheng scratched his head, thought for a moment, and said, "Sister Xiao Wu, it's like this."

"The academy usually arranges for teachers to help students who have reached level ten to hunt for souls at the end of the semester."

"Usually, there will be several sixth-year students in one soul-hunting group, and occasionally some fifth-year students as well."

"If you don't want to wait, you have to hunt for souls on your own, like you did, Sister Xiao Wu—by finding your own connections or the like."

Don't let Wang Sheng's previous situation fool you; before Xiao Wu and the others arrived, he had been bullied quite badly, but he was indeed a genuinely excellent student at Nuoding Academy. Reaching level ten before graduation was not a problem for him.

"End of the semester? That won't do." Xiao Wu shook her head first. "Finding connections?"

Her own "soul hunt" had absolutely no reference value, as she had simply found a place to condense one herself.

The only one worth using as a reference was Tang San.

Tang San's spirit ring was hunted for him by that Grandmaster, right? She remembered him mentioning it.

"Jiu, when Tang San gets back, shall we ask him?"

"Sure."

Jiang Jiu hadn't expected Xiao Wu to be so invested in this.

Waiting half a year for Nuoding Academy to organize a soul hunt wasn't impossible; after all, one could still cultivate and accumulate soul power at level ten.

But this was undoubtedly the worst option.

It would be fine if they encountered a serious, responsible, and patient teacher, but if the team leader was just going through the motions to complete a task, they might just assign him a ten-year spirit ring, and he would have nowhere to cry.

Of course, in reality, a ten-year spirit ring was something these students at Nuoding Academy would be very grateful for.

But Jiang Jiu's goal was naturally not limited to just a ten-year spirit ring.

If he wasn't going to wait for the academy's arrangements, he would have to find another way.

The first path: use Xiao Wu's connections to find a way into the Star Dou Forest and have Daming and Erming toss out a three- or four-hundred-year-old spirit beast.

Feasibility: zero. Skip.

The second path: use Tang San's connections, preferably having Yu Xiaogang lead the team; if that didn't work, he at least needed to obtain a permit to enter the Soul Hunting Forest.

Without a permit, he would have to sneak into the Soul Hunting Forest, which was far too dangerous.

Furthermore, Tang San was more important than Yu Xiaogang; in terms of combat power, Tang San with his hidden weapons was likely more formidable than Yu Xiaogang.

This path was worth a try.

Furthermore, Jiang Jiu could think of a third option: intercepting the dean of Nuoding Academy.

After all, as a first-year student who had already reached level ten, he surely carried some weight, right?

If he was polite and acted well-behaved, even if he were rejected, it likely wouldn't end poorly.

It would be best to combine the second and third options, forming a hunting party consisting of the dean, Yu Xiaogang, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and himself.

If all else failed, he would simply have to wait another half a year.

If he brought Xiao Wu along to hunt for a soul ring, they might have a chance to take down a century-level soul beast even if they separated from the main group.

"I never burn incense in peace, only to clasp Buddha's feet in a crisis," Jiang Jiu mocked himself.

He had indeed been a bit too focused on his own self-improvement lately. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as ultimately, the only person one could truly rely on was oneself.

But in his current situation, if he had spent more time making himself visible to the dean, the chances of his request succeeding would undoubtedly be higher.

However, on second thought, he was just a six-year-old child in appearance; thinking about "burning incense" and networking was far too idealistic.

Perhaps his heroic figure during his persistent morning runs had already moved the old dean?

With his self-amusement over, Jiang Jiu began to cultivate once more.

Finding people was one thing, but cultivation was another.

"Xiao Wu, I'm going to cultivate for a while. Remember to remind me when Tang San arrives."

"Mm-hmm, leave it to me."

In Dorm Seven, seeing that Jiang Jiu—who had just broken through to level ten—showed no signs of slacking off despite the joyous occasion, the other work-study students straightened their postures and began their own cultivation for the night.

A role model was a role model for a reason; all they had to do was follow his lead.

As for Xiao Wu, she remained as she always did, lying on her side in her bedding, her large eyes blinking as she stared at the cultivating Jiang Jiu.

Xiao Jiu is already level ten. Does that mean I can break through to level fourteen soon?

For some reason, Xiao Wu felt that Tang San, with his innate full soul power, was cultivating a bit slowly. Although Tang San's current soul power was higher than hers, it didn't change her opinion.

Perhaps by the time she broke through from level twelve to fifteen, Tang San would have just gone from level thirteen to fifteen, and after that, her cultivation would leave him in the dust.

Xiao Wu adjusted her own cultivation speed, deciding to just use Xiao Jiu as a benchmark; whenever he leveled up, she would be just about ready to break through herself.

Her innate soul power was higher than Xiao Jiu's?

That just meant the soul power required for her to gain a level in her teens was greater than what Jiang Jiu needed to gain a level.

As for Tang San being slow, that was his own business.

Dorm Seven fell into silence once again.

That night, Tang San walked back to the dormitory under the moonlight.

This scene happened almost every day, and he found it quite fulfilling.

Especially when he returned at night to see a group of people working hard, it gave him a sense of stability.

But today, things seemed a little different.