One week later, at a hotel in Lanyang City.
Lu Ling sat cross-legged on the bed, cultivating like an ascetic while also studying the Vermilion Bird Vessel's abilities.
Its most basic function was to accelerate cultivation. Its current effect was excellent, tripling his cultivation speed-a day of arduous cultivation equaled three days of practice.
It could also collect Soul Essences, a function Lu Ling had tested a few days earlier. As for whether it could absorb the Earth Sacred Spring... he had none, so he did not know.
This was the thing Mo Fan had not taken with him back then. As for why the vessel had not chosen Mo Fan, Lu Ling had no way of knowing and gave it no thought.
For the past year, ever since his master had unlocked the shackles planted in his spiritual world, his cultivation had been on the agenda. It just had not soared into the heavens as he had initially imagined.
So far, his Ice Element, Shadow Element, and Space Element had all reached the intermediate level, while his other magic elements were still lingering at the beginner level.
In fact, Lu Ling's cultivation speed was already considered fast. It was only because he had to divide his attention among all his magic elements that his progress was so slow.
"Nine elements. Just how long will I have to cultivate to max them all out?" Lu Ling flopped onto the bed, limbs spread wide, and let out a long sigh.
"The Three-Step Tower... the Three-Step Tower."
It should be time, right?
If Lu Ling remembered correctly, several elements received special bonus points in Pearl Academy's special admissions: the Curse Element, Space Element, and Summoning System.
Now that his Space Element had reached the intermediate level, gaining special admission to Pearl Academy would not be too difficult. Securing a cultivation slot in the Three-Step Tower would be more troublesome.
But... if I met Dean Xiao directly and revealed just a little of my talent, perhaps I could get in through the back door! I'd only need to reveal another intermediate-level magic element... no, that wouldn't be enough.
Back during the freshman competition, Mu Nujiao had also demonstrated two intermediate-level elements. Even someone that outstanding had been unable to earn a Three-Step Tower reward.
Could my only option be to take the Summoning System route and beat up the whole school?
It was not that Lu Ling lacked confidence in his strength. It was just that his Summoning System... could not establish contact.
If not for that, his Summoning System would certainly have reached the intermediate level by now as well. The Summoning System was the strongest magic element in one-on-one fights between mages of the same level. He was more than willing to cultivate it.
"Forget it. I'll take it one step at a time."
With the totem artifact in hand, he had accomplished the purpose of this trip.
Where should I go next...
Half a year later.
A white-haired young man stood in the mountain wilderness, surrounded by the corpses of Demon Beasts, yet he remained calm and unruffled, paying them no mind.
Clearly, these corpses were all the white-haired young man's handiwork.
At that moment, moon-white radiance shone beneath his feet. Ancient moon-white patterns spread outward from beneath his soles, interweaving and overlapping to trace an intricate magic formation together.
Dimensional Summoning!
Half a year after obtaining the Vermilion Bird Vessel, Lu Ling had finally succeeded in making contact with the Summoning Plane.
Perhaps he had only managed to establish contact because his spiritual cultivation had broken through to the fifth realm. Fifth-realm spiritual power!
Ordinary advanced-level mages, after all, only possessed spiritual cultivation in the second or third realm. Yet Lu Ling had now cultivated his to the fifth realm while still at the intermediate level.
Apart from his extraordinary talent, the Vermilion Bird Vessel deserved considerable credit. Lu Ling had never used a Thought Stone, but he felt that the speed at which the Vermilion Bird Vessel increased his spiritual power was far more terrifying than a Thought Stone's.
Otherwise, there was absolutely no way he could have advanced two realms within half a year. His previous attainment of the third realm had taken over a decade of cultivation.
The Ancient Desolate Continent was where the Summoning Plane lay. This boundless continent had nine regions in total, and even one seemed far larger than Earth. For the Summoned Beasts here to set foot in another region, it would probably take several years.
But Lu Ling, in spiritual form, faced no such restriction. With a thought, he could cross tens of thousands of kilometers, his gaze roaming among countless giant beasts.
Birds of prey, enormous beasts-he even saw many beings with powerful auras...
Commander level... or monarch level?
Their terrifying pressure made even Lu Ling's spiritual form tremble. They were at least monarch-level beings.
Monarch-level beings existed within the Summoning Plane too. However, having already reached maturity, they almost never answered human summons anymore, unless the summoner had fought alongside them while they were still weak.
Soon, his consciousness reached a mountain peak that towered into the clouds.
This was a thriving region of the Ancient Desolate Continent, because he had just seen... dragons here!
The kings among beasts-dragons!
Even a pseudo-dragon carrying only a trace of their bloodline could display strength that dominated others of the same level, let alone a lesser dragon with a purer bloodline.
Filled with anticipation, Lu Ling's consciousness began searching with a purpose.
Is that... a juvenile dragon?! Lu Ling was overjoyed.
In a place high in the mountains shaped by the grand forces of heaven and earth, within what appeared to be a natural nest, Lu Ling saw a white dragon sleeping with her body coiled.
With a thought, Lu Ling projected a contract mark from his mind, awakening the sleeping young dragon.
"Screee!"
The white dragon flew into a rage. She seemed able to see Lu Ling's soul form and roared at him.
"Human!"
An angry shout crossed countless barriers and reached Lu Ling's soul directly.
This dragon... could actually talk! She even seemed to be communicating with him through spiritual power, and she knew of humanity's existence.
The vast world held every imaginable wonder. He had never seen a beast-type Demon Beast capable of speaking.
"Are you willing to fight alongside me?" Unhurried, Lu Ling used his soul as a conduit and revealed the auras of several of his magic elements.
His Stardust and Star Rivers were anything but ordinary. Calling the auras they displayed pseudo-Calamities would not have been far off... though no such thing as a pseudo-Calamity existed.
This is...
The white dragon muttered inwardly, seeming to find the aura of this human somewhat familiar.
A spirit body? A hazy answer arose in her mind, but the white dragon did not nod in agreement.
"What's in it for me?"
"I can help you grow faster."
"That's all..." The white dragon scoffed. Then she paused and actually nodded in agreement.
"All right."
One month later.
Pearl Academy's special admissions assessment.
"Please begin your summoning, Lu Ling."
"All right."
On the training grounds, Lu Ling's robes fluttered without wind.
The moon-white Summoning System Star Path linked together in a single thought, and a moon-white formation appeared beneath his feet.
"Screee!!!"
The dragon's cry arrived before the dragon.
"Was that a dragon's cry??" One of the examiners adjusted his glasses in surprise.
The summoning formation expanded in an instant, taking up a full third of the grounds as a white flying dragon slowly walked out of it.
"Roar!!!"