Hibernation

"Nothing serious. You can return to the dormitory and recuperate." The doctor in the academy infirmary spoke as he put away the examination equipment.

"Alright, thank you, Doctor." With Shitou and Qian Yiming's help, An Chen slowly made his way back to the dormitory.

Three days had passed since the Blood Moon appeared, and An Chen had spent all three days lying in the infirmary.

"Brother Pot, how are you feeling today?" Shitou asked, supporting An Chen's left arm.

Qian Yiming stood on his right, his face revealing no expression.

"Not bad. I should be able to walk on my own." An Chen shook the two of them off and strode forward.

"Hey, hey, hey, watch it." Shitou hurried after him.

Not long after returning to the dormitory, An Chen casually tidied up and headed out to find Elder Chen.

As usual, An Chen entered Elder Chen's courtyard and called out, "Teacher."

"You're here. Sit." Hearing him, Elder Chen did not even raise his head. He pointed at the chair beside him from behind the tea table.

Elder Chen sat behind the tea table with a map spread out before him, covered in winding lines.

An Chen opened his mouth, then cautiously asked, "Teacher, what exactly happened at the north gate a few days ago?"

Elder Chen sighed after hearing this. Rather than answering, he raised his head and asked, "How are you? Feeling better?"

"Much better." An Chen did not press the matter further.

"It was nothing, just some Evil Soul Masters conducting a sacrifice." Elder Chen put away the map on the table and looked at An Chen. "But what happened to you? Why did you faint on the road?"

After thinking it over, An Chen carefully said, "That day, I heard a loud boom while I was on the road. Then I saw black smoke rising in the north. After that, I don't remember anything."

He did not mention the Babble in his ears, nor did he mention what he had "seen" after fainting. He only described what others had seen.

Elder Chen's brows furrowed slightly as he considered something, then he nodded. "Mm. Others in the city experienced the same thing. They also fainted after seeing the black smoke rise. It should be nothing serious."

An Chen was startled, but he merely nodded on the surface.

"If you leave the city soon, be careful. The leader of those Evil Soul Masters who held the ritual escaped. He is probably still somewhere near Tieyan City," Elder Chen warned.

"Mm-hm," An Chen replied.

"And this. It's a storage Soul Tool." As Elder Chen spoke, he took an ancient black ring from a box and handed it over. His beard trembled. "I used this when I was young. It doesn't have much space, but it should be enough."

An Chen's eyes lit up. Putting on a modest front, he said, "Ah, Teacher, this..."

How could Elder Chen fail to see through his little scheme? He pretended to say, "You don't want it? Then forget it."

He started to withdraw the ring he had offered.

An Chen hurriedly said, "I do, I do! How could I refuse something my teacher gave me?"

Elder Chen's white beard twitched again as he tossed the ring over. "You brat."

An Chen fumbled to catch it, gently feeling the ring's texture as he thanked him. "Thank you, Teacher."

"Alright, alright. There's a copy of Combat Insights in there, along with something I researched before." Elder Chen gestured for An Chen to take them out and have a look.

An Chen held the ring, poured Soul Power into it, and with a thought, two books appeared in his hand.

"Combat Insights? That's really its title?" An Chen looked at the first book, then the second. "Soul Skill Compendium? What kind of book is this?"

"It records the Soul Skills that different Wuhun may produce after absorbing different Soul Rings." Elder Chen spoke casually. "It was something I researched when I was young."

Confused, An Chen casually flipped open a page and was immediately engrossed in it. He only vaguely heard Elder Chen continuing to speak.

"A Soul Skill isn't something you can judge just by the color and number of Soul Rings..."

"Even with the same hundred-year Soul Ring, pairing it with different Wuhun can result in Soul Skills that differ by a hundred thousand miles..."

An Chen only caught fragments of what he said, but his eyes could not leave the book.

The page described "Tool Wuhun: Sword and Saber Class." Below it were densely packed correspondences between dozens of Soul Rings and Soul Skills: "A hundred-year tiger-type Soul Ring has a high probability of enhancing the sharpness or speed of a sword or saber Wuhun," "a hundred-year wind-attribute Soul Ring may grant a sword or saber Wuhun wind blades, wind pressure, increased wind speed," and so on.

Only after finishing that page did An Chen put the book down.

Seeing this, Elder Chen smiled. "That's enough for today. Go back and read them. If there's anything you don't understand, come ask me anytime. Don't cultivate Soul Power for the next few months. You've advanced too quickly and need to consolidate your foundation. Exercise more lately, and study these two books properly."

"Alright." An Chen scratched his head, stored the books in the ring, rose to his feet, bowed, and turned to leave.

On the way back, An Chen habitually activated Spirit Vision and observed the passersby.

He suddenly discovered that the auras he saw through Spirit Vision were clearer than before, both their colors and the changes in those colors.

The distance at which he could see auras had also increased, and many subtle changes had become much clearer.

There was also something he had not noticed before but only realized now: the heaviness in his mind—or rather, his spirit—had greatly eased since the first time he drank a Potion. He felt much more relaxed.

Was this what it felt like to completely digest a Potion?

What changes would drinking that Listener Potion bring?

An Chen continued walking with Spirit Vision activated.

He also discovered that he could now maintain Spirit Vision for much longer than before.

An Chen deactivated Spirit Vision and quickened his pace toward the dormitory.

Over the next three months, An Chen worked hard every day.

During the day, he either studied Combat Insights and Soul Skill Compendium on his own or went to Elder Chen's courtyard to seek guidance.

He used the time he had originally spent cultivating Soul Power at noon to train on the back mountain.

Although he had fully digested the Potion and no longer needed to pray every day, An Chen still occasionally went to the latrine at night to attempt Ritual Magic. Unfortunately, he did not succeed even once.

"Brother Pot! The final assessment is the day after tomorrow." Shitou spoke to An Chen after returning from the classroom.

"Oh, this Soul Master academy has final exams too?" An Chen pulled himself away from Soul Skill Compendium and asked in confusion.

Qian Yiming rarely spoke up. "Of course. The assessment is divided into a written test and actual combat, and the final result combines both scores. Although I'm somewhat weak in actual combat, I'll definitely rank near the top in the written test."

As he spoke, he waved the notebook in his hand.

An Chen recalled the notes he had seen from Qian Yiming during the first class, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Those notes of yours?" Shitou looked at Qian Yiming with disdain. "It's not like they're testing ghost scribbles."

Qian Yiming's ears reddened. He slapped the notebook against his chest. "If you can't read them, that's your problem."

"Like I could read them." Shitou rolled his eyes. "Last time I borrowed your notes, it took me half an hour just to recognize the words 'Soul Power.'"

Listening from the side, An Chen finally could not hold back a laugh.

Qian Yiming shot him a glance, put his notebook away, and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Shitou turned to An Chen. "Brother Pot, how are those two books coming along? Can you teach me?"

"I haven't finished them yet." An Chen stored the books in the ring. "There are some parts I don't really understand. I still need to ask Teacher."

"What about actual combat? You've been training your body lately, right? It doesn't seem like you've cultivated much Soul Power?"

"More or less." An Chen stood and stretched lazily. "The assessment is the day after tomorrow. Let's go run a few laps around the back mountain first."

"Wait, I'm coming too!" Shitou chased after him.

Qian Yiming was silent for a moment before following behind them as well.