Learning

The first day of classes ended quickly, and nothing of real substance had been taught.

After returning to his dorm, Huo Ling logged into Southern Heaven University's app and checked his credits. They had already been transferred into his account.

Huo Ling then opened the online marketplace and placed orders for the three main materials he needed for his advancement.

Unexpectedly, there was a slight hitch. Lesser Dimensional Stones and Netherworld Flowers were both in stock, but there was no River Styx Water available.

After asking customer service, Huo Ling understood why. River Styx Water had a limited preservation period. If it was not used within seven days of being extracted, it would transform into ordinary water.

Therefore, students who needed River Styx Water each month had to place a reservation order a month in advance.

Seeing this, Huo Ling had no choice but to reserve it first and wait peacefully for a month, only considering advancement once the River Styx Water arrived.

It was not as though he could not advance to Black Iron now, but he would lose out on a secret technique. The loss would outweigh the gain.

After thinking it over, Huo Ling sent Professor Li a message. After all, the man had promised to recommend a Gold-rank professor as his mentor once he enrolled. He could not waste such a good opportunity.

"Professor Li, I've arrived at Southern Heaven University. Where are you? I'd like to pay you a visit."

After sending the message, he waited for a long time, but Professor Li did not reply.

Huo Ling was somewhat puzzled. He could only send Guan Borong another message to ask about the situation. "Senior Guan, I've reported to the university. I wanted to visit Professor Li and you, but the professor hasn't replied to my message."

Once this message was sent, it too vanished like a stone sinking into the sea.

Neither of them replied, giving Huo Ling a faintly ominous feeling.

What he did not know was that outside the university's Spirit Realm base, in a dense forest, Professor Li and his disciple Guan Borong were resting in a cave.

"Teacher, is this really necessary? Just because you can't fulfill one promise you made to a new student, do we really have to take on such a deadly mission?" Guan Borong said with a bitter expression.

"What do you know?! I truly feel that I've touched the bottleneck. I'm going to take a gamble!" Professor Li was full of excitement.

"Teacher, if you want to gamble, why drag me along? I haven't reached a bottleneck yet!"

Guan Borong poured out his grievances.

"Idiot, isn't this to let you experience it ahead of time? You really don't understand your teacher's painstaking intentions."

"Teacher Xia, this is Huo Ling. I have something I'd like to ask you." After waiting a day without receiving a reply from Professor Li or Guan Borong, Huo Ling called Teacher Xia to ask about the situation.

"Huo Ling, what is it?" Teacher Xia's voice came from the phone.

"It's like this. I was recruited into our university in Stone Creek County, Donghe City. At the time, Professor Li and his student Guan Borong helped me a great deal. I wanted to visit them, but after messaging them, I haven't received any replies. I'm a little worried about them. Could you ask what happened?"

After thinking it over, Huo Ling did not mention Professor Li's promise to recommend a professor as his mentor.

"Professor Li? Let me check." Xia Yang froze for a moment on the other end of the call, then hung up to investigate.

A while later, he called back. "Huo Ling, I just checked with the admissions office. The one who went to Stone Creek County wasn't Professor Li, but Teacher Li from Spirit Realm Biology, along with his student assistant Guan Borong. I asked around about them. They took leave from the university half a month ago and went to the Spirit Realm for a mission. You can visit them after they return to Blue Star."

"Alright, thank you, Teacher Xia."

Huo Ling hung up, and the fist in his hand clenched unconsciously.

He had already realized it. Those two were probably avoiding him. It seemed that the Gold-rank mentor was no longer happening.

Huo Ling gave a laugh, but he had no intention of spreading the matter. After all, compared to several other universities, Southern Heaven University's enrollment benefits were already quite generous.

Besides, the master and disciple had given him quite a bit of help in the beginning.

And so the matter passed. Though he had lost a Gold-rank mentor, it was no great issue. One day, he too would become Gold rank.

Over the following days, Huo Ling threw himself into serious study. These courses held great appeal for him.

He listened attentively in class every day, and whenever he encountered something he did not understand, he would promptly ask the teachers after class.

Even so, he often felt that he could not keep up with the other students.

One day, Huo Ling muttered, "I originally wanted to be your classmate as an ordinary person, but all I got in return was distance. No more pretending. I'll lay my cards on the table—I'm a genius!"

As he spoke, he opened his book.

Potential points! Charge!

With the boost from Potential Points, Huo Ling's learning in these courses became completely different. Knowledge that had once seemed obscure and difficult now became something he could nearly grasp at a glance.

Closing the book on Basic Magical Theory, he had thoroughly mastered the entire year's material at the cost of ten Potential Points.

Looking at his remaining Potential Points, Huo Ling opened Basic Runology.

I can still learn!

After spending all forty Potential Points, Huo Ling had thoroughly mastered his two major courses and two elective courses.

In the classes that followed, the teachers' lectures merely served to fill in the gaps in his knowledge. Still, Huo Ling was not someone who liked to show off, so he did not deliberately display his abilities.

After using up all his Potential Points, Huo Ling felt uncomfortable all over, wishing he could go slaughter several hundred walking corpses and build up his Potential Points again.

But if a craftsman wished to do good work, he must first sharpen his tools. Now that he had entered the university, this treasure vault, he naturally had to dig deep into it.

Huo Ling arrived at the library. It contained records of a vast number of spells, including many first-, second-, and third-tier spells ranging from apprentice rank to Gold rank.

However, with Huo Ling's current strength, he could only honestly remain on the first floor and look through the zero-tier spells.

From the enormous spell repository, Huo Ling selected several spells.

Using his student ID, he borrowed three zero-tier spells, intending to master them first.

They were:

Minor Injury Treatment

Lesser Wind of Acceleration

Lesser Shadow Entanglement

All three spells were highly practical, especially Minor Injury Treatment.

Spell Effect: After casting, provides a healing effect for the target. Can treat minor injuries and stop bleeding. Effects can stack.

Casting Time: 10 seconds

Mana Cost: 6

Healing Effect: Minor

Casting Range: Mental Power × 10

Minor Injury Treatment was also the only zero-tier spell with a healing effect, and its effect was quite decent.

A minor injury was defined as a wound no larger than five centimeters that did not involve vital organs or limbs.

After casting, it could heal wounds. For more serious injuries, it could also stop the bleeding.

Most importantly, it could be cast repeatedly. Generally speaking, the effects of three Minor Injury Treatments were equivalent to one Minor Wound Treatment.