Absorbing the Spirit Bone

The period that followed at Nuoding Academy entered a relatively peaceful phase. Su Ge ignored Yu Xiaogang, who was gradually giving up, and spent his days attending regular classes and reviewing the files on spirit beasts that Xiao Chenyu sent over in batch after batch.

In his spare time, he also tested his spirit power.

The results showed that after absorbing the spirit ring of the Lion-Tiger Beast, his spirit power level had broken through to level fifteen in one go.

He was not surprised by this result; he simply tucked the information away in his heart.

It was not yet time to reveal his edge. Sharpening a sword day after day—one day, he would test its sharpness!

As the first holiday approached, Su Ge's spirit power level had already smoothly broken through to level sixteen and was steadily advancing toward level seventeen.

However, since the break was about to begin, he was in no rush to cultivate and simply packed his luggage by himself.

"Packing" was a loose term, as most of his belongings were already stored in his storage ring; he only needed to carry a few small items.

In addition, he had prepared many things to bring back to Small Stone Village for everyone in the village.

Most of these were food, clothing, and daily necessities. The most precious among them were the convenience plans approved by City Lord Xiao.

For instance, a portion of the supply procurement quota for Nuoding City was allocated to Small Stone Village, along with tax relief and other economic improvement schemes that were slowly being implemented.

Su Ge did not refuse these; having accepted help, he was not the type of person to be ungrateful.

"Su Ge, are you going back?"

Just as he had nearly finished packing, Xiao Wu appeared from somewhere, watching him pack with a curious expression.

"Yes, going back to take a look. I might not have many chances in the future."

"Ah? Why?"

Xiao Wu was stunned by Su Ge's words, looking at him with some confusion.

"As we grow stronger, we will definitely have to go to more distant places to study. After graduation, there will surely be other things pushing us forward."

Su Ge sat on the bed, the dagger Su Dashan had given him appearing in his hand.

"So we are destined to move away from our hometowns, and the time we can return will become less and less."

"Times like these, where we can come and go freely, will eventually never return. So, we should cherish them while we can!"

Thinking of Su Dashan's body, which was no longer as robust as it once was, he let out a deep sigh and looked at Xiao Wu.

"If you can, you should go home and visit, too."

After saying this, Su Ge did not say anything more. He picked up his luggage, turned his back to Xiao Wu, and waved his hand.

"I'm off. See you when school starts."

Xiao Wu watched Su Ge's departing back, her mind filled with thoughts. Originally, she had considered following Su Ge back, or if that didn't work, following Tang San to his village to take a look.

But after hearing his words, Xiao Wu also decided to go home and visit. After all, just as Su Ge said, the opportunities might really become fewer and fewer in the future!

Su Ge did not take to heart the fact that his words had influenced Xiao Wu's decision. After all, he neither coveted Xiao Wu's hundred-thousand-year spirit ring nor had any intention of playing the "nurturing" game like Tang San.

Regarding Xiao Wu, he preferred to let things take their natural course.

Sitting in the carriage back to Small Stone Village, Su Ge was not sentimental. His goal remained very clear: to become stronger, to keep becoming stronger!

"The palm bone can basically be confirmed as not being part of the four limbs. So, that foot-palm bone is truly an external spirit bone..."

Su Ge looked at the organized data in his hand. He had already planned to absorb this spirit bone once he returned to Small Stone Village. If all went well, his spirit power level should quickly break through to level twenty!

"If everything goes smoothly, even without other opportunities, my spirit power level should break through to the Spirit Ancestor realm by the time I graduate..."

Leaning against the soft cushions of the carriage, he opened the file in his hand again. It contained information on a specific spirit beast.

At the very top, it was clearly written: "Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear"!

This was the choice Su Ge had prepared for his second spirit ring. A Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear nearing ten thousand years should be able to provide him with a decent explosive spirit skill.

He looked over the data again, which included the estimated age of the spirit beast and its suspected location—it was a fairly detailed report.

Su Ge closed the file, put it into his storage ring, and sank into the soft cushions behind him, closing his eyes to rest. The slight jolting of the carriage could not affect him in the slightest.

'I have already asked City Lord Xiao to keep an eye out for ten-thousand-year whale glue. After all, the power provided by two such potent supplements is quite substantial.'

'The next few years will be the best developmental period for me.'

'By the time I graduate, I must possess the strength to protect myself in the face of most situations!'

In Small Stone Village, after Su Ge personally distributed the items to everyone one by one, he returned home amidst their gratification and praise.

Everything in the house was clean, clearly indicating that someone had been cleaning it regularly.

He knew this was Su Dashan's doing, because while he was distributing the gifts, Su Dashan had asked him if these things would cause him any burden.

Upon receiving his affirmative answer, the old man, who had toiled for Small Stone Village his entire life, smiled with relief and accepted what Su Ge handed him.

"Whew~"

Back in his familiar little room, Su Ge let out a long breath and lay straight down on the somewhat hard bed.

He might not return often in the future. He would entrust people to bring things to Small Stone Village every year, and he planned to spend his holidays in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Beyond hunting spirit beasts and processing them for trade, he valued the fact that the Star Dou Great Forest contained not only spirit beasts but also humans.

There were some things he would eventually have to face; he had to fight against spirit beasts, but even more so, he had to fight against spirit masters!

"But for now, I should strike while the iron is hot and absorb the spirit bone. I wonder what effect it will bring me?"

Su Ge sat up and took the Lion-Tiger Beast's external right-foot palm bone out of his storage ring.

According to the original records, external spirit bones mostly provided buffs or additional attributes, rarely spirit skills, as spirit bone skills were usually produced by the six major spirit bone positions.

Therefore, the most likely outcome for this spirit bone was a state buff, along with some resonance reinforcement brought by their shared origin.

Thinking of this, Su Ge did not hesitate any longer and began the process of absorbing the spirit bone. If all went well, breaking his spirit power through to level eighteen should be no problem!

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he focused his mind on the spirit bone and began the absorption process within the small room.

When night fell and silver frost covered Small Stone Village, a pair of golden eyes opened in the darkened room, and an aura began to spread through the darkness!

Su Ge took the crystal ball used for testing spirit power out of his storage ring. Seeing that the crystal ball, which could measure up to level thirty spirit power, was more than half-lit, the corners of his mouth curled upward slightly.