The plan Lu Chen had devised was a tremendous success!
The moment Xiao Wu revealed that Hundred-Year Spirit Ring, she defeated Xiao Chenyu not only physically, but mentally as well.
Even Xiao Chenyu, the city lord's son, did not have a Hundred-Year Spirit Ring.
Yet he had actually seen a gleaming yellow Hundred-Year Spirit Ring on Xiao Wu.
In the story he dreamed up himself, Xiao Wu had already become the heir of some secluded family, and attending Nuoding Academy was merely a trial her family had set for her.
Once he had thought of all this, Xiao Chenyu accepted his defeat wholeheartedly. He no longer dared to throw his weight around in front of the work-study students, and whenever he saw Xiao Wu, he would respectfully address her as Sister Xiao Wu.
Ever since their last arranged fight, when Xiao Wu had displayed her might.
Xiao Wu was no longer just Room Seven's Sister Xiao Wu; she had become Sister Xiao Wu to the entire academy.
Even Lu Chen benefited from it.
Although Lu Chen had never stepped into the ring during any of the three matches that day, even Xiao Wu, who possessed a Hundred-Year Spirit Ring, had to call him Boss Lu Chen.
As a result, Lu Chen had now become synonymous with "unfathomable" at the academy, leaving him unsure whether to laugh or cry. How had a Spirit Scholar like him, who did not even have a spirit ring yet, become "unfathomable"?
Still, this was good too. With no one daring to provoke him for no reason, he could study at the academy in peace.
Some time after that, Tang San and his teacher, Yu Xiaogang, returned to Nuoding Academy.
Lu Chen had even run into the teacher and disciple when they returned.
Yu Xiaogang's face was deathly pale, seemingly showing signs of excessive blood loss, and he looked considerably weaker than before.
This led Lu Chen to guess that, just as in the original plot, they had still encountered that four-hundred-year-old Datura Snake.
After Yu Xiaogang was poisoned, Tang San had treated him by letting his blood, leaving him looking as though he had lost far too much blood.
By that reasoning, barring any surprises, Tang San's first spirit ring had come from that four-hundred-year-old Datura Snake.
Lu Chen wanted to laugh. The farther Tang San traveled down the wrong road, the more advantageous it would be for him.
When Tang San saw Lu Chen, his expression was quite a sight. Whether intentionally or otherwise, a challenging look would show in his eyes, as though he regarded Lu Chen as a rival, with Xiao Wu's favor as the prize.
Thus, after taking his teacher Yu Xiaogang back to his lodgings, the first thing Tang San did was seek out Xiao Wu.
He wanted to share the news that he had absorbed his first spirit ring and become a One-Ring Spirit Master, so that Xiao Wu would see him in a new light.
Who would have thought that Xiao Wu would react coldly, scolding Tang San for being a coward and showing no desire to speak much with him?
This left Tang San utterly bewildered. How had he become a coward?!
Only after asking around did Tang San learn that, after he left, the academy's work-study students and noble students had fought a match.
Everyone on the work-study students' side had been there. Only Tang San, who had gone out to hunt spirit beasts, had been unable to take part in the match.
It was also because of this incident that Tang San had become a coward in Xiao Wu's mouth.
Even a hundred mouths could not have cleared Tang San's name. The fixed impression had already formed, and any explanation would seem pale and powerless.
He wanted to tell Xiao Wu that he had gone to hunt spirit beasts, not deliberately missed the match between the work-study students and noble students.
Yet Xiao Wu would not listen at all and kept a cold face toward Tang San throughout.
Tang San could do nothing about it, but out of his infatuation with Xiao Wu, he acted like a hopeless lapdog, making a clown of himself again and again in an attempt to win her favor.
Meanwhile, as Tang San spent his time and energy trying to win Xiao Wu's favor.
Lu Chen devoted all his energy to acquiring knowledge.
Lu Chen took his studies very seriously; one could say he thirsted for knowledge.
In class, he was always the most attentive student. Literacy, history, geography... Lu Chen progressed so quickly in his studies that every teacher was full of praise for him.
Aside from these basic subjects, what Lu Chen studied most diligently was knowledge concerning spirit beasts, which was what he needed most.
Spirit beast species, distribution, innate abilities, skills... Lu Chen paid the closest attention to these subjects. Every day after class, he would make a special trip to the teachers' offices and very politely ask them for guidance.
Most teachers at Nuoding Academy were conscientious in their duties. Since Lu Chen was willing to take the initiative to ask questions, they held nothing back.
They explained the spirit beast knowledge they each possessed to Lu Chen in great detail.
Especially knowledge concerning plant spirit beasts!
Because Lu Chen's martial soul was the plant martial soul Blue Silver Grass, most of his questions concerned plant spirit beasts!
Aside from these teachers, Lu Chen had someone else he could consult: Xiao Wu!
As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit who had taken human form, Xiao Wu could count as one of the venerable ancestors of the Soul Beast Realm, no matter how one looked at it. Her grasp of many spirit beasts' habits even surpassed that of the academy's teachers.
Although she had lived for a very long time, Xiao Wu had probably been protected too well, and she had no deeply calculating thoughts.
With just a few words of flattery from Lu Chen, Xiao Wu's head would swim, and she would tell him every spirit beast habit she knew, one by one.
As Lu Chen studied with a thirst for knowledge, his progress was plain to see every day.
Time passed swiftly like this, and three years went by in the blink of an eye!
After three years of growth, Lu Chen was now nine, and he had changed tremendously.
First was his height. He had grown from 1.6 meters to 1.8 meters. Apart from the lingering childishness in his face, his physique was no different from an adult's.
Next was his soul power. Since he had yet to obtain his first spirit ring, his soul power remained stuck at rank ten.
However, throughout these three years, he had cultivated diligently every day. He had the Gold Finger, Become Stronger by Breathing, and with the Meditation Method's enhancement, he could cultivate at twice the speed.
This had brought his accumulated soul power to an inconceivable level. Just look at his burly, 1.8-meter frame when he was clearly only nine.
One could also deduce that the soul power accumulated within his body had to be a truly terrifying amount.
As for exactly what rank his soul power had reached?
That would have to wait until he obtained a spirit ring!
Lu Chen had taken three years to finish six years' worth of material. Literacy, history, geography... He already knew these basic subjects inside out.
Lu Chen had studied knowledge concerning spirit beasts, especially plant spirit beasts, most diligently, and had now accumulated a terrifying store of knowledge.
He could not claim to recognize every spirit beast on the continent, but he could identify the vast majority of them, especially plant spirit beasts, at a glance, and describe their attributes, habits, innate abilities, skills...
Now everything was ready; all that remained was to hunt a spirit beast!
For this, Lu Chen sought out the Dean of Students and applied for leave from his studies, giving his need to go out and hunt a spirit beast as the reason.