Reaching the Bottleneck

"Got it. Thank you, sir." Wu Changkong gave the security guard a slight bow, then passed through the small gate and headed toward the dormitory building.

Back in the dorm, he took off his training uniform covered in coal dust and tossed it into the laundry basket before entering the bathroom and turning on the hot water.

The hot water washed away the exhaustion of the entire day, along with the coal dust and iron filings clinging to his skin.

He leaned against the bathroom wall and closed his eyes for a moment, letting the hot water soak through the muscles in his shoulders and back, stiff from an entire night.

After showering and changing into clean clothes, he sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

He could clearly feel that after Shui Yu's pressure test, the Soul Power within him had increased considerably.

At this rate, he wouldn't need a month. He would reach the bottleneck within half a month.

Time flowed like water, slipping away in silence.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had quietly passed.

Over those two weeks, Wu Changkong's life had been divided into three parts, every one of them packed to the brim.

During the day, he cultivated and studied in Skywater Academy's elite class, or entered the Soul Master Mimicry Zone to train.

After school in the evening, he headed straight to Tie Meng's shop to swing a hammer and forge iron. From crude farming tools to weapons for the city guards, he forged everything. The hourly wage wasn't much, but it allowed him to use the shop's forging equipment openly.

Late at night, after returning to the dormitory, he sorted through the Battle Armor knowledge from twenty thousand years in the future and wrote it down piece by piece, turning it into an introductory textbook that even several girls with no foundation could understand.

The manual was only around a hundred pages, a thin volume, but every page was the essence of the essence.

After Shui Bing'er and the others received the manual, they treated it like a treasure, gathering together to study and discuss it whenever they had time.

Even while eating in the cafeteria, they would occasionally hear terms like "stress relief grooves" and "Soul Power attenuation coefficients" pop out of Shui Yue'er's mouth, leaving the students at neighboring tables utterly baffled.

During those two weeks, he also made a trip to the Spirit Hall Temple in Skywater City.

He collected his final Soul Master subsidy and repaid Shui Bing'er twenty Gold Soul Coins.

At his cultivation speed, he would break through to Soul Ancestor this month, and once he did, the subsidy would stop being issued.

Besides that, Wu Changkong had already finished forging his chest armor and arm armor.

Late at night, Wu Changkong reached the level-forty bottleneck. His meridians swelled, brimming with Soul Power.

"Finally, I can hunt for a Soul Ring."

The next morning, Wu Changkong and Shui Bing'er stood side by side before Ling Shuang's desk.

Wu Changkong then knocked on the door. "Teacher Ling Shuang."

"Mm, come in."

Ling Shuang had just set down the lesson plans in her hand. Looking at the two of them, she asked, "What is it? What do you need me for?"

"Teacher, I've reached the bottleneck."

Ling Shuang let out a puzzled "Huh?" and looked up at him.

Half a month earlier, she had given Wu Changkong a hard deadline of one month to reach the bottleneck. Now, barely half a month had passed, and he stood before her saying he had already reached it—half the time she had estimated.

She fell silent for a moment, then closed the lesson plans, her expression pleased. "That's faster than I expected. Where do you want to hunt for your fourth Soul Ring?"

"The Far North."

Ling Shuang nodded. She wasn't surprised by that answer.

The Skyfrost Sword was ice-attributed, and the Far North was indeed the most suitable place to hunt Soul Beasts.

Then, her gaze shifted to Shui Bing'er beside Wu Changkong. "And what did you come to see me about?"

"I'm going with him."

At that, Ling Shuang rose from her chair. "I'll need to ask the principal about that. Come with me."

The principal's office—

Ling Shuang knocked on the door, and Shui Qinghan's voice came from within. "Come in."

When they pushed the door open, Shui Qinghan was seated behind her desk, reviewing documents.

Ling Shuang then concisely explained that Wu Changkong had reached the bottleneck and needed to travel to the Far North to obtain his fourth Soul Ring.

Shui Qinghan asked, "Were your first three Soul Rings obtained in the Far North as well?"

"Yes, but the previous hunting grounds were on the Far North Plateau, still quite a distance from the true Far North."

"How many years are you aiming for this time?"

"Ten thousand."

Shui Bing'er spoke in surprise. "A ten-thousand-year one? Are you sure?"

The gap between a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast and a thousand-year Soul Beast wasn't a simple numerical difference, but a qualitative chasm.

The combat power of a single ten-thousand-year Soul Beast was enough to crush several nine-thousand-year Soul Beasts. Moreover, the remnant soul impact contained within a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring was something even Soul King-level experts had to face with caution.

"Yes."

"My third Soul Ring was already seven thousand years old. I'm confident that my fourth can be raised to ten thousand."

Shui Qinghan and Ling Shuang exchanged a glance. The same two words were written in both their eyes—monster.

According to the conventional theories of the Soul Master world that they knew, the usual upper limit for a fourth Soul Ring was around four to five thousand years. Absorbing six or seven thousand years already made one a genius among geniuses, while absorbing seven thousand years made one a rare prodigy seen only once in a century.

A ten-thousand-year Soul Ring was a domain only Soul Kings were qualified to touch, a configuration one would only dare consider for a fifth Soul Ring.

Yet Wu Changkong, a mere Soul Elder, had opened his mouth and asked for ten thousand years.

"Fine. Then I'll go with you personally."

Ling Shuang froze, then asked, "Shouldn't I be the one going?"

By regulation, when students went out to hunt Soul Rings, their homeroom teacher was supposed to lead the team, accompanied by two subject teachers.

Only when the risk level of the hunting target exceeded the normal range would the principal or vice principal need to step in personally.

"I'll go." Shui Qinghan waved a hand. "I'm familiar with the Far North. And since he wants to hunt a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast, we'll need to go deep into the glacier region on the outskirts of the Far North. There aren't many ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts around the Far North Plateau."

"Ling Shuang, stay at the academy and oversee preparations for the midterm assessments. We can't do without you here either."

Ling Shuang adjusted her glasses and nodded in agreement.

Shui Qinghan's gaze returned to the young man and woman before her. "Just the two of you?"

Shui Bing'er nodded. "That's right. I'm going with Changkong."

Shui Qinghan lifted the teacup from the desk and took a sip, thinking things over.

Letting Bing'er accompany him to the Far North for some experience wasn't a bad thing. She had cultivated within the family since childhood and didn't have much true combat experience.

Besides, with Bing'er's personality, even if Shui Qinghan refused, the girl would find a way to follow them anyway.

"Fine. The Far North's environment is a natural training ground for ice-attributed Soul Masters. Going there for experience won't hurt."

"Oh, and bring Xue Wu along too."

"She's ice-attributed as well, and she happens to have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Bing'er. There'll be plenty of opportunities for actual combat along the way, perfect for honing their coordination. With a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, every extra bit of mutual understanding means more power."

Shui Bing'er nodded, a glimmer flashing through her eyes.

She had been thinking the same thing herself, but hadn't had the chance to say it.

Wu Changkong had no objections either. One more Xue Wu made little difference, and her Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Bing'er truly needed to be honed in real combat.

Shui Qinghan stood and instructed Ling Shuang, "This Soul Ring hunt is expected to take three to five days. While I'm away, Vice Principal Lan will have full authority over academy affairs."

"Understood."

When Shui Bing'er and Wu Changkong returned to the classroom one after the other, the lunch break had just ended.

Shui Yue'er was sprawled over her desk, listlessly flipping through the Battle Armor introductory manual.

The moment she looked up and saw the two of them entering side by side, a wronged expression appeared on her face.

"Where did you two go? Were you secretly out on a date?"

Shui Bing'er walked over to her sister's desk and knocked her on the head. "What is going through that head of yours?"