"The Frost Sword martial soul you mentioned needs a Thousand-Year Ice-Attribute Soul Beast for its third ring, right?"
The Skywater Academy instructor froze for a moment, then hurriedly nodded.
"Yes, Your Highness, Holy Son."
"Then, since the Frost Sword martial soul leans toward power assault, a Thousand-Year Ice Soul Python or a Cold Pool Ice Wyrm would be more suitable. The Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly leans toward agility assault. Using it for the Frost Sword would only yield middling results."
At Shi Meng's words, the Skywater Academy instructor's eyes lit up.
Exactly. The Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly really wasn't a good match for the Frost Sword.
But ice-attribute soul beasts were difficult to find in the Star Dou Great Forest to begin with, so they had to take whatever they could get. Making do was better than having nothing.
The Holy Son had spotted the crux of the matter at a glance. Clearly, his knowledge was anything but ordinary.
Of course. I used to be a professional power-leveler, after all.
Shi Meng turned to Ghost Douluo.
"Uncle Ghost, could you help them find a Thousand-Year Ice Soul Python? I sense one northeast of here. I need to hunt this Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly, so I can't leave."
Upon hearing this, Ghost Douluo agreed with a nod, without the slightest hesitation.
After all, how could he dare disobey this esteemed person's words?
After Ghost Douluo left, Bibi Dong finally raised her eyes to the Skywater Academy instructor, her tone utterly calm.
"I approve Skywater Academy's incorporation into Spirit Hall's affiliated institutions. The ice marrow and jade marrow, the Skywater Token, and priority access to talent-we'll proceed as you proposed."
"The Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly goes to Meng. I won't take the fruits of your three-day pursuit for nothing. Consider Ghost Elder's assistance Spirit Hall's welcoming gift. From now on, your treatment as an affiliated academy will follow Spirit Hall's rules."
Overjoyed, the Skywater Academy instructor immediately dropped to one knee.
"Thank you, Your Holiness!"
The Skywater Academy students standing behind her were all dumbfounded.
Did our teacher just... sell off the academy?
Shui Bing'er remained relatively composed. She realized that this might truly be Skywater Academy's only way forward.
Being affiliated with Spirit Hall might not sound pleasant, but resources, protection, and channels for obtaining soul rings-which of those could Skywater Academy currently reach, even if they fought tooth and nail?
Besides, the instructor had adopted a sufficiently humble stance and shown ample sincerity. Spirit Hall had no reason to refuse.
Put plainly, it was an indenture contract, but one that came with full insurance and a housing fund.
Xue Wu gave Shi Meng a few more looks.
This child had resolved a predicament that had plagued Skywater Academy for decades with just a few words. He really was impressive.
Shui Yue'er stood behind them, but her gaze remained fixed on Shi Meng, her little heart pounding.
Now that Skywater Academy is affiliated with Spirit Hall... does that mean I'll be able to see this boy often?
The instant that thought emerged, she lowered her head, discovering that even the tips of her ears had grown hot.
"Elder Ju, secure the perimeter."
"Yes!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo immediately summoned his martial soul, the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, and scanned the surroundings for any soul beasts that might pass by.
Bibi Dong turned to Shi Meng.
"All right, go ahead. Be careful."
Shi Meng nodded and charged straight toward the Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly in the middle of the lake.
The Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly seemed to sense the fluctuation in soul power. With a beat of its wings, a wave of icy-blue cold spread outward.
But Shi Meng was faster.
A pointer the length of his palm materialized out of thin air.
The pointer began turning silently, and the space-time around it underwent a slight distortion.
At the sight,
everyone from Skywater Academy was stunned.
This was their first time seeing this martial soul, too.
Moreover, quite a few students with tool martial souls even felt an urge to submit that came from the depths of their souls!
This had already exceeded their understanding.
"A pointer... can actually fight?"
Shui Yue'er instinctively murmured the question.
She wasn't mocking him. She genuinely couldn't understand.
How could a pointer with no blade, spearhead, or hammerhead hurt a soul beast?
Yet in the very next second, her doubts were utterly crushed.
Shi Meng's figure suddenly vanished from where he stood for an instant.
It wasn't that he moved too fast to see.
It was more as though he had dialed his position in that second back by half a notch.
The Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly's wave of cold passed through the spot where he had been standing, without even touching the hem of his clothes.
By the time it reacted, Shi Meng had already appeared beside it.
"Holy crap!"
One Skywater Academy student couldn't help crying out in shock.
"How did he get over there? Teleportation?"
"It wasn't teleportation, it was time! He just turned time back a notch!"
"His pointer martial soul... can control time!"
Shui Bing'er's pupils abruptly contracted.
She finally understood why this pointer exerted such an absurd sense of pressure on her.
Because it wasn't some clock component at all.
It was the measure of time.
A weapon forged from the years themselves.
"Your Holiness, may I ask what abilities the Holy Son's martial soul possesses?"
"A special martial soul, the Clock-Hand Pointer. It can control the power of time."
It really was the power of time!
The instructor was utterly shocked.
As the saying went, time was supreme, and space was king.
Time-this was a law of the highest order!
No wonder Shi Meng had become Spirit Hall's Holy Son!
If he were allowed to grow, perhaps even every power on the continent combined would be unable to rival Spirit Hall in the future.
At that thought, the instructor breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she had latched onto the right powerful backer.
Once she returned, she would be sure to tell the dean everything.
Shi Meng, however, paid no attention to their reactions.
The Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly, seeing that it was continually spinning in place, flew into a rage and beat its wings, unleashing an immensely powerful blast of cold.
Shi Meng simply blocked it with his pointer, and the blue flames upon it actually burned the cold away completely.
"Sorry, my pointer is immune to ice."
Of course, Shi Meng wasn't going to chat with a soul beast. He was merely feeling playful and had supplied himself with a line in his head.
A certain punk: You're so great, so noble. Now you can even steal my lines.
"Witness the weight of ages!"
As his words fell, he controlled the pointer and struck the butterfly's wing.
The Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly had no time to dodge. After it was hit, Shi Meng's innate martial soul ability, Weight of Ages, took effect, and its soul power and vitality began draining rapidly.
The most terrifying thing was that the pointer had clearly only tapped it once.
Yet the icy-blue patterns on its wings looked as though the passing years had forcibly aged them by decades.
Their radiance dimmed, the cold dispersed, and its vitality visibly ebbed away.
Shui Bing'er's scalp prickled at the sight.
For the first time, she had seen someone's martial soul attack neither cut, burn, nor freeze, but instead make its opponent "grow old."
"What... what kind of innate ability is this?"
"One touch, and its soul power and vitality are both disappearing?"
"He's only level twenty! He doesn't even have a soul ring yet!"
"He can fight a thousand-year soul beast without a soul ring? Then what do all our years of cultivation count for?"
Proof that you can endure hardship?
The Skywater Academy instructor's lips trembled. Only after a long while did she manage to force out a sentence.
"The power of time... truly lives up to its reputation."
Finally, the Time-Ice Mystic Butterfly fell from the reef, no longer able to resist at all.
Shi Meng withdrew his martial soul, when suddenly...
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