In the days that followed, Lin Mo spent all his time outside cultivation on the library's second floor.
He had also given up the part-time job he had previously taken on with Director Su.
Although the work was not troublesome and only involved organizing books, it would still take up some of his cultivation time.
Now that he had become a One-Ring Soul Master, he could collect a monthly subsidy of one Gold Soul Coin from Spirit Hall.
That money was enough to cover his daily expenses. There was no need to waste his cultivation time for that little bit of part-time pay.
Otherwise, he would be putting the cart before the horse.
He did not want to be like Tang San and Xiao Wu, wasting large amounts of time on external things and eating, drinking, and having fun during the golden years of a Soul Master's cultivation.
Tang San ran to the blacksmith's shop in the city all day long to tinker with his smithing, dressing it up as training his body and supplementing the household income.
In reality, he wanted to use the smithy's space and materials to forge his own hidden weapons. Even so, Lin Mo still thought he was putting the cart before the horse.
Rather than waste time hammering iron, he would be better off devoting all that time wholeheartedly to cultivation.
Once his cultivation rose in the future and he reached a bottleneck, it would not be too late to turn back and study these external things.
He might even find an opportunity for a breakthrough through them, rather than letting external things drag down his cultivation progress as they did now.
Xiao Wu's behavior was an even greater waste of talent. She either dragged the other working students into fooling around on campus or went wandering around Nuoding City with Tang San.
She dressed it up as familiarizing herself with her surroundings.
This could not help making Lin Mo curious. Had this little rabbit come to the human world just to eat, drink, and have fun?
Or was it truly as she herself said, and her purpose was to avenge her mother?
But if it really was the latter, then Xiao Wu's behavior over the past year and more had been such a grand display of filial piety that it could bring the whole house down with laughter.
Neither of them valued their own talent much at all, to the point that, despite both possessing Innate Full Soul Power, they had not even cultivated their Soul Power Levels to the Soul Elder rank after five years in the original story.
On average, their Soul Power Levels had risen by fewer than three levels a year. That cultivation speed was enough to make people laugh their teeth out. They were completely wasting their talent of Innate Full Soul Power.
Among the books on the library's second floor that only teachers could consult, Lin Mo read everything with relish, whether it concerned Soul Master cultivation or Soul Beasts.
These books were far more profound than the basic ones downstairs. Although Nuoding Academy's collection could hardly be called particularly advanced, it still offered plenty of inspiration to a novice One-Ring Soul Master like him.
By cross-checking what he read in the books against the Blood Burst technique he had worked out himself, he came up with some new ideas.
However, these ideas were still only rough outlines and needed more time to test and develop.
Given the current situation, developing Second-Stage Blood Burst in a short time would be a heavy burden with a long road ahead.
He did not neglect his cultivation, either.
Every day, without fail, he meditated and cultivated to increase his Soul Power, not daring to miss a single day.
His Soul Power and Charmander's were already shared, which made his cultivation speed considerably faster than that of ordinary people.
Coupled with his diligence in cultivation, his Soul Power increased quite steadily.
Occasionally, he would summon Charmander, and they would stay together in a corner of the library's second floor.
Charmander seemed to like this quiet atmosphere too, lying by his feet to doze or looking around curiously.
The flame on his tail swayed gently, adding a touch of warmth to this place steeped in the scent of books.
Time flew by, and the final stretch of nearly half a year passed smoothly.
After this half year of arduous cultivation, Lin Mo's Soul Power Level had reached the middle of level fifteen. He remained extremely diligent in his cultivation, without the slightest slackening.
Meanwhile, apart from him, Tang San, and Xiao Wu, the other working students were still cultivating hard as well.
Some time earlier, he had reported his situation to the academy, successfully passed its test, and secured a place in the end-of-term Soul Hunting group.
On the day Wang Sheng broke through to level ten, he shouted excitedly in Dorm Seven for ages and even treated a few working students he was close to to a good meal on the cafeteria's second floor.
Although it was only the cheapest set meal, everyone was happy for him.
After all, only a minority of working students could break through to level ten and become Soul Masters.
For Wang Sheng to reach this point through his own hard work was already very impressive, drawing envious looks from quite a few working students.
And today was the sixth-year students' final assessment.
Recently, quite a few senior students at the academy had been mustering their last reserves and cultivating desperately, preparing for one final push to see whether they could raise their Soul Power to level ten during this time.
Otherwise, they would miss the academy's upcoming Soul Hunting trip.
Not everyone was as lucky as Lin Mo, who had earned the dean's regard and been personally taken by him to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain his own Soul Ring.
If they missed the end-of-term group Soul Hunt, then even if they subsequently raised their Soul Power Levels to ten, they could only wait for the group Soul Hunt organized by the academy the following year.
Although Yu Xiaogang had used Tang San to promote his so-called Ten Core Competencies Theory within Nuoding Academy, he had done just that.
But not many people believed in this so-called Ten Core Competencies Theory.
When they could obtain a Soul Ring earlier, no one was willing to waste a year of cultivation time for no reason.
The academy was therefore somewhat livelier than usual, with senior students hurrying about everywhere, tension and anticipation on their faces.
However, none of this had anything to do with Lin Mo.
Thanks to the dean's regard, he had successfully obtained his First Soul Ring half a year earlier and become a true One-Ring Soul Master.
The sixth-year final assessment and the academy's group Soul Hunt, things that excited the other students so much, had long since ceased to have anything to do with Lin Mo.
After finishing breakfast on the cafeteria's second floor, Lin Mo walked toward the dean's office with light steps.
He had not eaten much that day, ordering only two portions of meat steaks, two rolls, and a bowl of hot soup.
He had also summoned Charmander, who helped himself to a few bites of meat before Lin Mo recalled him, thoroughly satisfied.
If nothing unexpected happened, these next two days would be his last at Nuoding Academy. He was going to apply for graduation.
Walking along the academy's main path and looking at the familiar scenery around him, Lin Mo did not feel much reluctance to leave.
To him, Nuoding Academy was more of a transitional place.
Here, he had successfully awakened his Martial Soul, found Charmander again, obtained his First Soul Ring, and learned a fair amount of basic knowledge about Soul Masters.
But all of this was still far from enough.
His goal was to become a god! To live forever!
Continuing to stay at this tiny Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy would not only be of little help to him, but would instead restrict his growth!