The Mental World and the Purple Spirit Eye Art

During the half-hour lesson just now, Lin Yuan had already committed the circulation pathway of [Light Nourishment Art] that Zhao Liang taught him to memory.

It was considerably more complex than [Night Nether Art], which they had learned in their first year.

But compared to [Bonded Enlightenment Art], it was much simpler.

Even so, he listened very carefully to the details Zhao Liang told him to watch out for.

After all, [Bonded Enlightenment Art] had suddenly been engraved into his blood. Even without knowing its principles, he could still perform it completely and smoothly.

Something he learned on his own might not come quite so naturally.

The moment Zhao Liang finished speaking, Lin Yuan looked at the sky outside the window.

Then, following his own understanding, he began circulating the art.

Soon, he felt as though his eyes had caught a beam of light. That beam seemed to suddenly come alive, too, veering off its original path and turning toward Lin Yuan.

Sensing that everything was going smoothly, he moved on to the second step.

The beam grew radiant, yet not dazzling, and flowed into Lin Yuan's eyes like water. He closed them.

The light appeared within his Spiritual World, faintly glowing and drifting uncertainly through the darkness.

Quite naturally, he followed the third step Zhao Liang had described and continued the circulation.

The beam gradually settled from its initial unsteadiness, taking up residence in this Spiritual World.

Did it work?

Lin Yuan opened his eyes and scratched his head.

It wasn't just the first step that was easy. The second and third were easy, too?

Maybe learning [Nourishment Art] was just this simple after awakening a talent.

Still, this was his first taste of the joy of building a Spiritual World—it was more than just a place to house a Pet Beast Space.

As a Beast Tamer's mental power increased and they learned more [Nourishment Art], their entire Spiritual World would become like a newly forged world, giving birth to light, gaining a sky and water, with trees growing...

In the later stages, the Spiritual World would be shaped into an increasingly suitable habitat for contracted pet beasts.

But that was still far too early for one-star and two-star Beast Tamers—for now, their Spiritual World merely made summoning and recalling contracted beasts convenient.

If someone asked Baishi whether staying in the [Pet Beast Space] was enjoyable, Baishi would certainly shake its head.

Savoring the wonderful feeling of creating "my world," Lin Yuan caught a few more beams of light.

Then he began to feel a little tired.

"My mental power is still too low..." He shook his head.

While Lin Yuan was playing with this newly learned [Nourishment Art] like a game, Zhao Liang, who had been observing from the front of the classroom, had barely taken his eyes off him.

When he said the first step was easy, that was from his own experience and perspective.

For a beginner, however, taking that first step had required two or three days even for the best student he had previously taught.

Yet Lin Yuan...

Not only had he completed the first step, but he had also completed the second and third, and had even gone through several cycles in a short time.

The reason he had given Lin Yuan a score of 97 in the [Beast Tamer Aptitude] assessment was that he had not sensed that Lin Yuan had learned or mastered any Nourishment Arts beyond [Night Nether Art] ahead of time.

The number of [Nourishment Art] techniques learned and the degree of mastery were also major assessment criteria in the college entrance examination.

Had he known that Lin Yuan was such a genius at learning [Nourishment Art]...

He might have given him 100 points without hesitation.

He scanned the other students again...

Forget it. No point looking.

"Class, your task today is to complete the first step of this spell. I'll arrange for three teaching assistants to come over shortly and monitor your progress in real time," Zhao Liang said.

"Lin Yuan, come outside with me for a moment."

Lin Yuan nodded, then followed Zhao Liang out of the classroom under the other students' gazes.

Two or three students were rather puzzled. They knew that [Light Nourishment Art] was a key focus of second-year study, so their parents had already arranged private tutors to teach them during the week since their talents awakened.

One of them thought they might actually complete the first step in class today and amaze the teacher.

So why had he just left?

Still, if they couldn't amaze the teacher, amazing the teaching assistants would do...

Zhao Liang took Lin Yuan to his private office.

"Not bad. You learned pretty quickly," Zhao Liang said.

"It's because you taught me well, sir." Lin Yuan nodded.

Although Zhao Liang's expression remained unchanged, he felt a surge of delight. This student certainly knew how to say the right things.

"The day before yesterday, I promised to teach you an extra [Nourishment Art] or [Beast-Taming Art] of your choice ahead of schedule. Originally, I planned to wait until you mastered [Light Nourishment Art]."

"I didn't expect you to be quite so much faster than I'd imagined."

"Then let's strike while the iron is hot and teach you another one."

Zhao Liang was so eager to teach Lin Yuan a second spell because he wanted to confirm one thing—whether Lin Yuan's learning speed was a one-off or applied across the board.

After all, some people were naturally a perfect fit for a particular spell and learned it extraordinarily quickly. Such cases were not unheard of.

But if it was the latter... that would be another story altogether.

Lin Yuan's eyes lit up at that.

Just last night, he had been thinking about what he wanted to learn.

Today, an opportunity had already presented itself.

"Sir, I've thought about it over the past couple of days. I'd like to learn a [Beast-Taming Art] that helps pet beasts adjust their internal energy circulation. Not just my own contracted pet beasts, but other ordinary pet beasts, too."

"Oh?" Zhao Liang looked at him with interest. "Something like the [Unblocking Art] or [Guidance Art] that healers need to master?"

Lin Yuan nodded.

What he really wanted was a [Beast-Taming Art] that could support his [Eye of All Spirits] talent.

Right now, he could use the [Status] field to check whether certain pet beasts were ill and where their illnesses were located.

He might be able to speed up many things—for instance, helping Baishi digest the energy within its body sooner, or helping Linghuan recover earlier and return to peak condition.

"I have both [Unblocking Art] and [Guidance Art] here. Want to learn something more powerful?" Zhao Liang said. "[Purple Spirit Eye Art]."

"It's the spell I used at the end of yesterday's exam."

"Not only does it let you see and guide the flow of energy inside pet beasts, but it also lets you see it in humans."

"It can help you quickly develop an understanding of energy in different living beings. Once you've mastered it, it can even have further uses."

"It's just over a hundred times harder than [Light Nourishment Art], and you'll need quite a few supplementary products to learn it."

"But if you do learn it, it'll be a huge help. You'll even be able to see your own energy flow and circulation, and correct the mistakes you make when using different [Nourishment Arts] and [Beast-Taming Arts]."

"Interested?"

Of course Lin Yuan wanted to learn it. It sounded far too enticing.

Earlier, he had noticed purple light flashing in Zhao Liang's eyes, after which Zhao Liang had quickly scored each of them. So this [Beast-Taming Art] was what he had used.

Before answering, however, Lin Yuan still asked a question. "Can I really just learn such a valuable [Beast-Taming Art]? Do I need to buy some kind of license?"

"Haha, you've even got an awareness of copyright." Zhao Liang chuckled. "If I'm teaching it to you, you can learn it without worry."

"Besides, you probably won't be able to learn it anyway. Without the mental power of a two-star Beast Tamer, even getting started will be difficult."

"But if you do learn it, you'll have to promise me one thing," Zhao Liang said.

"Please tell me, sir."

"You'll have to enter the next Chenlong Kingdom High School Spellcraft Competition with me."

"That means learning quite a few [Nourishment Arts] and [Beast-Taming Arts] over the next six months. It might disrupt your normal study routine."

"There are benefits, too. This counts as a specialized competition. If you actually win a medal, it'll help your chances of getting into one of the top ten universities."

"I know Teacher Chen is also considering having you enter the General Studies Research Competition. It could be quite demanding for you."

Lin Yuan was genuinely tempted.

Spellcraft was currently his weakest subject.

If he could learn all sorts of spells for free and combine them with his talent, many things would become much easier going forward—whether raising pet beasts, conducting research, training pet beasts, or anything else.

As for managing his time?

He had earned the title of "master of time management" in his previous life.

"Sir, I'd like to try." Lin Yuan's gaze was resolute.

"All right. Then I'll give you another private lesson today."

With a wave of his hand, Zhao Liang immediately projected the key concepts of [Purple Spirit Eye Art] onto the office's white wall.

Three hours later.

Lin Yuan's eyes shone brightly.

This spell was indeed much more complex than [Light Nourishment Art].

The guiding process alone had six steps, with numerous transitions between each one.

Not only that, but cultivating it required the help of the morning glow or evening afterglow, capturing the purple qi within.

He would also have to regularly purchase specific graded products, both for external application and internal use. All were necessary for learning and improving the art.

But...

It still didn't seem as complicated as [Bonded Enlightenment Art]?

"Understand now?" Zhao Liang asked.

"Yes." Lin Yuan glanced at the flowchart again and nodded.

"Then give it a try? It's evening right now. See if you can complete the first step..."

Lin Yuan looked out the window.