Teacher

Normally, creating a Bone Warrior required four first-circle spells. Going by the time needed to learn them, after mastering those spells, he would have no time left to hunt Spirit Realm creatures to make Bone Warriors.

But it was not impossible. If he could speed up his spell learning, he could still squeeze out enough time to complete the task.

Clearly, Professor He's test was not simply meant to brush Huo Ling off.

"So, will you accept this test?" Professor He asked, lifting his teacup.

"No problem, Professor He. I accept the test." Huo Ling nodded.

"Other than this test, do you have any other requirements?"

"No. As long as you independently create a Bone Warrior within two months, I'll take you as my student." Professor He smiled.

"Um... Professor, I've already completed this test. Please take a look."

Huo Ling pondered for a moment, then cast a spell and released a Bone Warrior from the Bone Graveyard.

As a faint glow rose from the summoning array on the floor, a Bone Warrior clad in gray-black bone armor stepped out.

The Bone Warrior stood two meters tall, wearing bone armor, a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. It dropped to one knee before Huo Ling.

"My lord!"

"Pfft...!"

He Wenhan, who had been drinking tea, failed to hold it in when he saw Huo Ling suddenly summon a Bone Warrior and sprayed tea everywhere.

"You made this thing this month?!" He Wenhan stared wide-eyed at the Bone Warrior before him.

This Bone Warrior was the strongest under Huo Ling's command. It had been made from a zombie that possessed Black Iron strength in life, and its current strength had already reached Black Iron Rank Two.

The ring on He Wenhan's hand flashed faintly, and a document appeared in his grasp. He flipped through it again in disbelief.

"That's right..." He Wenhan muttered.

"You really only advanced to Black Iron last month?" He Wenhan asked in astonishment.

"Yes, Professor." Huo Ling nodded heavily.

Teacher He frowned as he studied Huo Ling carefully. Had he truly stumbled upon a treasure?

With a thought, he sent out a mental command. Before long, a Dark Warrior clad in heavy armor entered from outside the reception room, carrying a corpse.

Professor He pointed at the corpse tossed onto the floor. "Come, cast the spell in front of me. Let me see you make a Bone Warrior."

"Alright, Professor."

Naturally, Huo Ling had no objections.

He examined the corpse on the floor. It belonged to a Black Iron-ranked gnoll.

It had likely been a combat professional in life, with well-developed muscles and thick fur.

The cause of death was a wound that pierced through its chest. It appeared that something like a Bone Cone spell had pierced its heart and killed it.

Huo Ling followed the proper steps and cast the four standard spells one after another. Soon, the corpse changed from a gnoll into an unarmed Bone Warrior.

The Bone Warrior knelt on one knee, its soul fire swearing loyalty. "My lord..."

Though He Wenhan remained seated, he could not help but feel excited at the sight.

He had never expected Xia Yang to truly recommend such a fine student to him. At that thought, the corners of his mouth kept rising.

"Clap clap clap!"

"Not bad, not bad, Huo Ling. Your talent truly makes you suited to continue down the path of the undead!"

He Wenhan could not help applauding.

"Student Huo Ling, you have passed my test. Now let me ask you: are you willing to become my student?" He Wenhan asked solemnly.

"Greetings, Teacher."

Huo Ling had come here today precisely to take on a teacher. At this point, he certainly would not drop the ball, and immediately changed how he addressed him.

"Very good. Put that Bone Warrior away. Things were rushed today, so I did not prepare a suitable gift for your initiation. I'll make it up to you in a while."

He Wenhan nodded in satisfaction.

"However, I have indeed been rather busy lately. How about this? I'll set aside one day every week. When the time comes, gather up the problems you encounter in your studies, and I'll answer them all at once."

"Alright, Teacher. Actually, I already have quite a few questions I want to ask."

Although Huo Ling had learned those spells with the help of potential points, that crash course had only taught him the spells themselves. Potential points would not help with what came afterward.

Even with the same first-circle spell, being proficient and being unskilled produced completely different results.

What Huo Ling had mastered through potential points was the standard casting process. But if he wanted to cast spells faster, or use less mana to achieve greater spell power—

those were things he still needed to put in the effort to study. The more spells Huo Ling mastered, the more problems he encountered in his learning.

Thus, the two remained in the reception room, one asking questions and the other answering and instructing, until late into the night, when all of Huo Ling's questions had finally been resolved.

Professor He Wenhan was also very satisfied with Huo Ling's performance today. Not only was he intelligent, but he was eager to learn. Once his questions were answered, he could immediately draw inferences from one instance to grasp the whole.

It was too late, so Huo Ling did not return to the dormitory and instead rested nearby at his teacher's place.

This was He Wenhan's residence and laboratory. Though Huo Ling had not yet explored it thoroughly, from what he saw while passing through—

the strength here was already formidable.

Every intersection had two Dark Warriors standing guard, and Wraiths could occasionally be seen drifting through the air.

Both Dark Warriors and Wraiths possessed Silver-ranked combat strength.

Huo Ling had already seen no fewer than ten Dark Warriors. That was only because he was above ground, where the defensive presence was relatively weak.

Presumably, even more powerful undead creatures were stationed beneath this laboratory.

His teacher's strength was truly impressive. Black Iron-ranked skeletons did not even have the chance to appear among the stationed guards.

Through their conversation yesterday, Professor He had also learned why Huo Ling had been able to obtain Black Iron-ranked Bone Warriors so quickly.

Slapping his thigh, he said, "Little Huo, good thing you decided to take the undead path. Otherwise, that city of zombies of yours would have gone to waste."

Huo Ling nodded at that.

Before they parted, Professor He handed Huo Ling a long box. "This is the initiation gift I prepared for you."

"Thank you, Teacher. What's inside?" Huo Ling asked as he accepted the box.

"A staff and a spatial bracelet."

He Wenhan spoke lightly, yet Huo Ling's knees nearly gave out beneath him. He almost dropped to his knees and called him godfather.

"Teacher, this is too valuable. I can't accept it."

Huo Ling opened the box. Inside was a staff that measured a full 1.8 meters long, and its design was quite distinctive.

Its main body seemed to be made from the bones of some creature, with a gemstone set at the top.

Besides the staff, there was the small bracelet beside it.

This bracelet was even more expensive than the staff. As a spatial item, every piece of spatial equipment was worth a great deal.

Even if this bracelet only contained one or two cubic meters of space, it was still worth several hundred energy crystals.

"Alright, it's a gift for you, so take it. Why are you acting so wishy-washy?" He Wenhan spoke as though he had given away not enchanted equipment, but a sheet of blank paper.

Warmth filled Huo Ling's heart. "Thank you, Teacher!"