Are You Really Only Innately Level One in Soul Power?

When they had barely settled down to cultivate for a few days, they witnessed something that shocked them.

The Sunlight Hall's enhancement far surpassed that of the wilderness!

The seed on Bulbasaur's back was like a greedy black hole, madly absorbing pure light energy.

Lin Xia could clearly feel that the stream of Soul Power flowing back to him was several times faster than before!

Only seven days had passed when, during one of the academy's regular Soul Power tests, the teacher in charge stared at the result on the crystal ball and cried out in shock:

"Level five?! Lin Xia, your Soul Power... is level five?!" How long had he even been enrolled?!

The news spread through the entire Plant Academy like wildfire. That mocked "good-for-nothing" and "connection hire" had risen two levels in such a short time!

Many people recalled the small figure who read in the Sunlight Hall every day without fail, rain or shine, along with that strange "garlic-headed turtle."

Mockery turned into shock and curiosity. Those who had laughed at Lin Xia before now felt as though invisible slaps had struck their faces.

After all, such cultivation speed revealed a great deal, even if he only possessed innately level-one Soul Power!

While everyone over there was stunned, Lin Xia was considering something else.

Pokémon were creatures that naturally craved battle.

Although cultivation was progressing quickly here, fighting was also one of Bulbasaur's paths to greater strength.

However, after thinking it over carefully, Lin Xia decided against it. At the very least, they should wait until they obtained the first soul ring!

Though Bulbasaur currently had many moves, its endurance was still far too poor. This was not the Pokémon world.

Everything here required Soul Power as fuel. It was not like the Pokémon anime, where shouting "Get up," "Dodge it," or "Now's the chance" would somehow make things work.

After temporarily setting aside that idea, Lin Xia used the access privileges on his identity card to learn that lower-year students could undergo a basic training program called the "Rooting Trial" at the edge of the Emerald Black Soil Zone.

This was not a battle. It tested the "life-force absorption efficiency" and "toughness" of plant martial souls within a special soil environment.

Put simply, participants had to root themselves as deeply and as quickly as possible in black soil rich in life force, withstand simulated wind pressure and even mild earth-element Soul Power tremors, then see how long they could endure without losing balance and how much life essence they could absorb.

Of course, not every plant-type Soul Master was suited to this kind of training.

Only a small number of plant-type Soul Masters needed such a venue, since it could greatly increase a Soul Master's combat ability!

And Lin Xia happened to be one of them.

So Lin Xia brought Bulbasaur there.

Most of the students at the training ground possessed vine- or root-type martial souls.

When Lin Xia summoned Bulbasaur, it unsurprisingly drew another wave of snickering:

"Hey, kid, it'll be impressive enough if that garlic-headed turtle of yours can scrape up some dirt with its claws. You want it to root itself?"

Lin Xia ignored them. He crouched down and said to Bulbasaur:

"Don't mind them. Today, we're practicing rooting. Let's see if we can develop some Grass-type moves! Feel the earth. Imagine your roots, like a seed about to sprout, reaching down to explore!"

"Bulba!"

Bulbasaur only half understood, but guided by Lin Xia's thoughts and drawn by the dense earthly essence, it instinctively released two emerald-green vine whips and plunged them fiercely into the black soil!

Then something astonishing happened. Bulbasaur's vine whips seemed born for the earth's network of life, more nimble and resilient than the martial soul roots of most plant-type Soul Masters its age!

Rather than drilling through the soil by force, they explored like spiritual snakes, seeking out the veins richest in life energy and greedily yet efficiently absorbing their power!

When the simulated "wind pressure" and mild "seismic waves" struck, some students' martial soul roots were torn apart, while others swayed unsteadily from the vibrations.

Bulbasaur's vine whips, however, displayed astonishing flexibility and adhesion. Like an octopus's suckers, they clung firmly to the nodes of those energy veins. Its body only swayed slightly, while its absorption efficiency did not diminish in the slightest!

The nourishing energy flowing back to Lin Xia visibly formed a pale green halo that circulated around his body.

The sight left the students dumbfounded once again. They were all Soul Grand Masters or above!

Yet they had been completely outclassed by a child with level-five Soul Power.

For a moment, they could not tell who the real children were.

Time flew, and before long, it was the end of Lin Xia's third month at the Plant Academy.

Over those three months, Lin Xia had not meditated frantically like the other students. The place he appeared most often was the academy's grand and ancient Emerald Library.

Lin Xia moved through the vast sea of books, hungrily absorbing systematic knowledge about martial soul classifications, soul beast traits, soul ring absorption techniques, continental geography, and even the finer points of Soul Power applications and meditation.

Meanwhile, the burden of cultivation fell almost entirely upon Bulbasaur.

Within the Sunlight Hall, Lin Xia would find a well-lit yet inconspicuous corner and place Bulbasaur on the ground.

Its enormous seed faced the pillar of light, greedily inhaling and exhaling the vast sunlight gathered and amplified by the soul guide dome.

Specks of dazzling golden light were drawn into the seed on its back like a whale drawing in water, transformed into surging life force and pure Soul Power.

The academy's lush lawns and shaded paths thick with vegetation were even more natural cultivation grounds for Bulbasaur.

Lin Xia only let it pause there briefly at suitable times to feel the sunlight and the breath of the earth.

Even so, the pure life energy flowing back to him entered Lin Xia's body day and night like an unceasing trickle.

Amid this peculiar symbiotic state, where Lin Xia focused on "theory" while Bulbasaur took on the "practice," a miracle quietly occurred—one great enough to shake the entire upper echelon of the Plant Academy.

The academy's monthly Soul Power testing day arrived.

The middle-aged teacher in charge of testing had a deep impression of Lin Xia, the "level-one Soul Power prodigy" specially recruited by council member Yue Hongsheng.

Over the previous two months, Lin Xia's Soul Power level had risen like a rocket, soaring from level three to level five, then to an astonishing level eight! That speed had already drawn everyone's attention.

The testing teacher handed the Soul Power testing crystal ball to Lin Xia, his tone carrying a hint of emotion:

"Come, Lin Xia. Let's see what surprise your little fellow has brought you this month."

Lin Xia smiled and placed his hand on the crystal ball, calmly circulating the increasingly robust Soul Power within his body.

Bzzzt—!

The crystal ball suddenly erupted with a light far brighter and steadier than in the previous tests! It was as though a gentle green star had been dropped into the entire testing room!

The light rapidly climbed as the markings soared upward, finally stopping firmly at the highest marked area!

"Le... level ten?!"

The testing teacher's eyes widened violently, and his voice cracked from overwhelming shock.

"How is this possible! Three... three months, from level three to level ten?!"

"Are you really only innately level one in Soul Power?"

His booming voice instantly pierced through the room, causing students waiting for their tests in the hallway and passing instructors to stop and peer inside.

"What? Level ten? Who reached level ten?"

"That newly arrived child?!"

"Level ten in three months?! He was only level three when he enrolled!"

"Has everyone gone crazy? Is the crystal ball broken?!"

Doubtful, horrified, envious, and jealous gazes instantly focused on Lin Xia.

The voices that had mocked him as a "good-for-nothing" when he first enrolled now seemed to have been smashed to pieces by invisible slaps.

Lin Xia's rate of Soul Power growth could no longer be described as mere talent. It was simply an existence that defied all common sense!