Perseverance, Dripping Water Pierces Stone

Qin Ming was stunned for a moment before saying, "Shi Quan, even the Three Great Education Committees have spoken highly of your accomplishments in Spirit Soul cultivation. Moreover, they personally arranged this matter. I'm only here to relay their decision. You don't need to hide your abilities. I believe in you."

"As for you lot..." Qin Ming's gaze swept across the six of them.

He knew Yu Tianheng and the others' temperaments well. They were proud and arrogant; it was time they were tempered a little. He then asked, "Do you know what Shi Quan's Innate Soul Power was?"

"Rank eight? Rank nine?" Based on Shi Quan's current Soul Power Level, they offered their guesses one after another.

"No. It was Innate Rank One!" Qin Ming dropped another bombshell.

The Imperial Dou Six, including Yu Tianheng, all wore expressions of disbelief.

Yu Tianheng looked at Shi Quan and said, "Teacher, you must be joking! He looks like he's only around ten years old, doesn't he? With Innate Rank One Soul Power, how could his Soul Power Level have reached rank twenty-two so quickly?"

"Hmph! Why would I lie to you? Shi Quan's Innate Soul Power was indeed rank one, but through his own theoretical knowledge, he found a way to make his martial soul capable of growth. He forcibly changed his own talent. Everything he has now was earned through his own efforts, step by step. And there's something else I forgot to tell you—Shi Quan isn't even eleven yet."

As Qin Ming continued dropping one bombshell after another, the Imperial Dou Six were slow to recover their senses.

"How is that possible?" The way they looked at Shi Quan became exceedingly complicated.

"I know the truth is difficult to believe, but I'm telling you that all of this is real. The Three Great Education Committees personally verified it. Do you still have anything to object to?" Qin Ming's sharp gaze swept across the six of them.

The six all shrank their heads back. They were still rather afraid of Qin Ming as their teacher.

Shi Quan rubbed his head. Qin Ming really was straightforward, laying bare all his secrets just like that.

From the looks of it, once he joined the Heaven Dou Battle Team, he probably would not have much free time.

Knowing Ning Rongrong was training had already annoyed him enough. Now he had to guide six more people, all of them proud and arrogant. It would probably be even harder.

Fortunately, Qin Ming is still here, Shi Quan thought to himself.

Qin Ming took charge of the Heaven Dou Battle Team's training and studies, and he arranged their courses as well. With Shi Quan joining in on the planning, it would make his own cultivation more convenient to a certain extent.

Shi Quan's arrival did not prompt any sort of welcoming ceremony. Everything happened naturally.

That afternoon.

Qin Ming also wanted to see what unique insights Shi Quan had regarding cultivation. Before Shi Quan could exchange more than a few words with Yu Tianheng, Qin Ming pulled him aside to discuss the plans and arrangements for their future cultivation.

Though somewhat helpless, Shi Quan used this opportunity as an excuse to gain a deeper understanding of the six people's martial souls, especially Dugu Yan's. That would make it easier later to discover Dugu Yan's poisoning under the guise of guiding her cultivation, thereby drawing Dugu Bo's attention and finding an opportunity to enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

However, there was one problem for now: he knew absolutely nothing about medicine or herbs. If he wanted Dugu Bo to take him to the herb garden, he needed to find a good excuse.

After an afternoon of discussion, they only came up with a rough cultivation plan. At the same time, Shi Quan drew out all kinds of basic training equipment from the gyms of his past life, including Wooden Dummies, and had Qin Ming prepare them.

The main reason was that these crude Training Grounds were simply too painful for Shi Quan to look at.

Dinner.

Other than daily training, eating and chatting together was the easiest way to deepen the bond between teammates.

Once everything had been discussed, Qin Ming led Shi Quan and the others to the Dormitory.

Besides assigning every student a Dormitory, the academy also provided a dedicated communal Dormitory for those who joined the Heaven Dou Battle Team.

That was where they were headed.

It was called a Dormitory, but it was actually a large villa—or perhaps a luxurious apartment complex would have been more accurate.

The Dormitory stood nearly ten meters tall and had three floors. The first floor contained shared spaces such as the living room, kitchen, and dining room. The second and third floors were private areas for students and teachers. Everyone had an independent room, each larger than forty square meters and fully furnished with every necessary amenity.

There were more than ten rooms in the Dormitory.

Thus, there were still many vacant rooms. Under Qin Ming's lead, Shi Quan helplessly chose another room on the third floor.

At this academy, he now had three residences.

When the two returned to the first-floor hall, the other six were already seated at the dining table. Beside it, a middle-aged man and woman dressed in chef uniforms were placing dishes from a dining cart onto the table one by one.

"Let's eat together, chat, and get to know each other better." Qin Ming patted Shi Quan on the shoulder and led him to the seat in the middle.

Shi Quan sat down with a smile and looked at the six of them. "You all know my age. I should be the youngest here, so you can call me Xiao Quan from now on."

"You can call me Tianheng, or Boss, or Captain. Mainly because they all like calling me that." As the leader of the team, Yu Tianheng spoke first.

"You can call me Yanzi."

"Call me Ling Ling."

The six responded one by one. Before long, they had all introduced themselves, the dishes had been laid out, and the two chefs pushed away the cart and left.

With a creak, the main doors closed.

Only then did Yu Tianheng speak again, taking the initiative to ask, "Junior Xiao Quan, what Spirit Beast did your Second Spirit Ring come from? To be honest, we're all rather curious. What kind of Spirit Beast could make fragile Blue Silver Grass so hard that even Power Attack System Spirit Masters of the same rank can't damage it?"

"I was just lucky." Shi Quan replied with a faint smile. "My Second Spirit Ring came from a thousand-year-old Ink Jade Bamboo."

"Ink Jade Bamboo?" Qin Ming frowned as he looked at Shi Quan.

"Teacher Qin, what's wrong with Ink Jade Bamboo?" The others looked at Qin Ming in confusion.

The six clearly did not know the drawbacks of absorbing an Ink Jade Bamboo Spirit Ring, but as their teacher, Qin Ming obviously did. He immediately gave them a detailed explanation of the Ink Jade Bamboo's characteristics.

Only then did the group reveal looks of realization.

"Xiao Quan, when you release your martial soul, it still looks very soft. It doesn't seem to have undergone martial soul Hardening?" Qin Ming asked uncertainly.

"Perhaps it's because of my Spirit Soul Mutation." Shi Quan explained, "After my Blue Silver Grass mutated, its vitality became much stronger than ordinary Blue Silver Grass. On top of that, Blue Silver Grass is naturally soft and inherently weak, so even after Hardening, the changes aren't very obvious."

"You really dared to do it. If anything had gone wrong, your martial soul would have been ruined." Yu Tianheng could not help but sigh. He gained a little more recognition and admiration for Shi Quan, then asked, "Xiao Quan, your Second Spirit Ring is thousand-year-old, so your First Spirit Ring should not be low in age either, right?"

"Yes, my First Spirit Ring is also more than five hundred years old." Shi Quan nodded.

Yu Tianheng confirmed, "Xiao Quan, your First Spirit Ability should be Growth, right?"

"That's right."

"First Spirit Ability: Growth. Second Spirit Ability: Hardening. Spirit abilities can be used together like that?" Upon receiving Shi Quan's confirmation, a flash of amazement passed through Yu Tianheng's eyes. Use the First Spirit Ability's Growth to envelop the enemy, then Harden it to restrain them. Conversely, hardened Blue Silver Grass can be used for defense and attack as well. Control, defense, and attack—Three-in-One. Individually, these two Spirit Abilities are neither strong nor even useful, but together, they can produce such an astonishing effect?

"This combination of Spirit Abilities seems a little too strong." Dugu Yan could not help but marvel as well, having reached the same conclusion as Yu Tianheng.

"The Blue Silver Grass grown through a Spirit Ability is not only fast, but it must consume less Soul Power than making it grow with Soul Power directly. In other words, unless someone spends Soul Power to knock back or shatter the Blue Silver Grass, the longer the battle drags on, the more Blue Silver Grass grows, and the harder it becomes to deal with?" Yu Feng added from the side, equally dumbfounded.

"More or less. But if someone can shatter the hardened Blue Silver Grass, that's another matter." Shi Quan nodded.

As though recalling something, Yu Tianheng asked again, "Xiao Quan, it seems you can control more than one strand of Blue Silver Grass at once? Isn't that something only the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Heart Separation Control can accomplish? Are you from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

Shi Quan shook his head. "I'm not from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. I only learned about Heart Separation Control recently. What I use isn't Heart Separation Control."

He then explained, "I sense my martial soul and treat it as a part of my own body. Then, through constant cultivation and practice, I gradually reached my current level."

"From the time I awakened my martial soul until now, I have been practicing continuously."

Upon hearing that, Yu Tianheng was also astonished. He said with feeling, "Xiao Quan, your perseverance alone is enough to earn my admiration."

"Then how many Vines can you control now?" Dugu Yan could not help asking curiously.

"Almost ten." Shi Quan answered.

After Xiao Meng merged with him, Shi Quan's Spirit Power had increased dramatically, and his ability to control Blue Silver Grass had risen along with it.

"Monster." At that moment, even Dugu Yan had to admit that Shi Quan was truly impressive.

"He really is a monster." Yu Feng clicked his tongue from the side. "If I had to control those Vines, I'd have gone insane long ago."

"Perseverance—dripping water pierces stone. Xiao Quan was able to reach his current level because of years of accumulated practice." Qin Ming sighed, then swept his gaze over everyone. "Now you understand that there is a reason Xiao Quan has come this far. His diligence and hard work in cultivation surpass yours by far. That is what you need to learn from."

"We understand." Yu Tianheng and the other five answered in unison.

Only then did Qin Ming nod in satisfaction. "All right, the food is getting cold. Hurry and eat while it's hot. We can chat as we eat."

Thus, everyone picked up their bowls and chopsticks and began eating.