Chapter 101
"We've got this in the semifinals, we're going to win!"
Chapter 101
After the tactical meeting, the relaxed atmosphere in the villa disappeared, replaced by everyone's hard work, focus, and seriousness.
At lunchtime, Ruan Tao carried a prepared nutritious meal into the restaurant.
At this time, Xu Jintang and the other four were still diligently training in their respective rooms.
Ruan Tao called out to the upstairs, "Come down for dinner!"
Normally, upon hearing this noise, the five of them would have immediately scurried down like ducks.
The shouts carried for a long time, but no one came out.
Ruan Tao put down her nutritional meal, went up the stairs, and started knocking on doors one by one, calling out, "Come out and eat."
Song Tianqi's voice echoed from inside the room, "Right away! Right away!"
The others also gave perfunctory responses.
When Ruan Tao arrived at Xu Jintang's door, she cleared her throat, raised her hand, and knocked. "Aren't you going to rest yet?"
The words had barely left her lips when the door opened, revealing Xu Jintang, who greeted her with a smile, "Let's eat."
After calling out to everyone, only Xu Jintang came downstairs with her.
Ruan Tao looked at her with a puzzled expression, "What's going on with you all lately? Why are you working so hard?"
Xu Jintang shrugged, "The semifinals are coming up soon, we can't afford not to work hard."
"No matter how hard you try, you still need to eat." Ruan Tao's tone was a mixture of concern and helplessness.
Xu Jintang chuckled, "I'm out now, aren't I?"
With that, the two went downstairs and into the restaurant.
Xu Jintang pulled out a chair and sat down at the dining table, picking up the nutritious meal with her name tag on it. "Sister Taozi has made new dishes again!"
Ruan Tao's earlier puzzlement vanished instantly, replaced by a smile. "Yes! Try it. You told me recently that your mental progress was slow, and this nutritional meal is specifically designed to improve that."
"Okay." Xu Jintang picked up his utensils and started eating.
Ruan Tao looked at Xu Jintang expectantly, waiting for her comments.
After tasting it, Xu Jintang immediately gave a thumbs up, "Delicious!"
A warm current flowed from her mouth as she swallowed, gradually spreading throughout her body.
The spiritual energy within the body also began to circulate automatically and slowly.
Xu Jintang wolfed down his meal and quickly stood up, saying, "I'm going back to continue my cultivation."
"Okay, then you..." Before Ruan Tao could finish speaking, Xu Jintang rushed upstairs and back to his room.
Ruan Tao had to swallow the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
She shook her head helplessly and put the remaining four meals into the insulated box.
As she left the villa, she sent a message to Zhuang Silin: "[Your students are really working hard lately.]"
Zhuang Silin quickly replied: [Of course, after all, we're the team aiming for the championship.]
Ruan Tao smiled knowingly, but didn't reply. Instead, she logged into the Star Network forum and proactively applied to join the Mask Squad fan group.
Since her favorite team has already been eliminated, she'll support the Mask Squad instead.
Xu Jintang continued cultivating until evening before slowly concluding his practice and ending the circulation of his spiritual energy.
She exhaled a breath of stale air, opened her eyes, and got up to leave the cultivation room.
"I'm finally out!" A clear child's voice suddenly rang out.
Xu Jintang paused, quickly realizing that it was the spirit of Libra speaking.
She frowned slightly, looked around, and after not seeing a single person, asked, "Where did you go?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a phantom image appeared in front of him.
A tiny, winged elf boy appeared before them. He was very small, looking only five or six years old, with a childlike face, but his eyes held a hint of disdain.
Jin Xiaobao put his hands on his hips and said domineeringly, "Your cultivation is too slow, forcing me to cultivate on my own to escape the seal of the Tilting Scales."
"So it was you, you little brat, who made me a human's contracted beast!" Sensing the presence of its old rival, the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx, driven by a strong desire for revenge, rushed out and began to curse.
Immediately afterwards, he transformed back into his original form, opening his arms to try and grab Jin Xiaobao.
Before they could even touch each other, they were bound by a beam of silver light, which froze their arm in place.
Jin Xiaobao glanced at him disdainfully, "A mere little monster dares to fight me."
Xu Jintang looked Jin Xiaobai up and down and teased, "You look like you're only five or six years old. Is it appropriate for you to call yourself 'Young Master'?"
Jin Xiaobao immediately bristled, "I've lived for hundreds of years, okay! This body shape is just a disguise I created to make it easier to appear in front of humans!"
"Oh." Xu Jintang sat down on the sofa, looking him up and down. "Then why did you suddenly run out here?"
Jin Xiaobao thought that his appearance would be a great treasure to Xu Jintang, and that she would even eagerly come to him to ask him all sorts of questions.
Xu Jintang's calm demeanor left him speechless.
After a long pause, Jin Xiaobao explained, "Because my strength has recovered, I can freely enter and exit the Tilting Scales now."
"So you're now living in my spiritual sea of consciousness?" Xu Jintang asked three questions in a row.
Jin Xiaobao snorted softly, sat down on the coffee table opposite him, and crossed his legs.
"I am the spirit of the Tilting Scales. In this world, only the most powerful artifact-type abilities can give birth to a spirit. So simply put, the moment you were born, I appeared in your spiritual sea along with the Tilting Scales, not just temporarily residing there!"
Xu Jintang stroked his chin, lost in thought.
It is said that a person's inherent abilities are determined at birth, but they will only be fully awakened after the body has matured.
So this little kid might indeed have been born at the same time as her.
"Then what exactly are you good for?" Xu Jintang asked, looking at him.
A smug look flashed across Jin Xiaobao's youthful face. "I already told you I'm a spirit. Without my help, you'd have to reach at least the Fifth Tier before you could activate the Tilting Scales. But now I can help you."
He crossed his arms in front of him, looking arrogant, waiting for Xu Jintang to bow down and submit.
The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx nearby quietly chimed in, "Could you let me go first?"
His previous arrogance had completely vanished.
Jin Xiaobai glanced at him sideways, raised his hand and waved it, and the power binding the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx immediately disappeared.
Once freed, the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx became completely obedient and immediately hid silently in its pet space.
"Then help me activate the Tilting Scales now," Xu Jintang said, looking at Jin Xiaobao.
Jin Xiaobao immediately lost his temper, "You'll have to beg me."
Xu Jintang ignored him completely, simply crossing her arms and looking at him calmly.
The air fell silent for a moment.
Jin Xiaobao hesitated for a moment before agreeing, "Alright, I'm in a good mood today, I'll show you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jin Xiaobao slowly opened his two chubby hands, and silver light extended from his palms.
Then, a miniature Tilting Scales appeared before us.
The Libra scales continued to grow larger until they settled firmly on the ground.
With a "ding," the balance scale, which had been in equilibrium, swung to the left and came to a stop.
Several strands of silver thread quickly extended from the scales, covering and enveloping a square area on the left side.
"The Tilting Scales to the right create a group buff that can be used on yourself or up to three teammates. The buff increases your Spirit Power level by one level and lasts for twenty minutes."
Xu Jintang's eyes lit up, "So strong."
She had seen many auxiliary abilities, but this was the first time she had ever heard of one that directly increased mental strength.
Jin Xiaobao snorted, "Of course, this is one of the top ten weapon-type superpowers."
After saying that, he raised his small hand and started the Tilting Scales again.
This time, the scale needle swung to the right.
"The Tilting Scales to the right create a group debuff that forms a Silence Domain. Any enemy target pulled into this Silence Domain will have their mental strength level instantly reduced by one level, and the effect lasts for twenty minutes."
Xu Jintang's eyes shone even brighter, "Now can you help me use these two moves?"
Jin Xiaobao pursed his lips. "It's possible, but normally you can only use this skill after you reach Fifth Tier. If you insist on me helping you, then after I use it once, I'll have to go back to Libra and start training again."
At this point, he held up a finger and shook it. "So, I'll only consider helping you if your life is in danger. Otherwise, don't get your hopes up."
Xu Jintang's newly formed expectations vanished immediately.
She silently looked away. "Then you can go back."
This time, Xu Jintang didn't linger. He turned around, pushed open the door, and walked out of the room.
"You cold-hearted woman!" Jin Xiaobao, feeling ignored, put her hands on her hips in anger. After holding back her frustration for a long time, she finally let out a cold snort and disappeared from sight.
Xu Jintang went down the stairs to the living room, poured himself a glass of refreshing juice, sat down on the sofa, and turned on the communicator's screen to start browsing the forum.
While scrolling, a post popped up: [Hilarious! Fans of the Soul Awakening Team and the Mask Squad are fighting! Come and see!]
Xu Jintang casually clicked on the post:
The main post is a screenshot of the chat interface:
--[The Mask Squad will win!]
--[Bullshit, our Soul Awakening Team is the one that will definitely win.]
--[Humorous, the Mask Squad hasn't used all five of their abilities yet, they definitely have more tricks up their sleeves. Soul Awakening Team is just a matter of lifting a finger for them.]
--[Oh dear, the overall strength of the Soul Awakening Team has already surpassed the Fourth Tier. No matter how many trump cards they have, they have no chance to resist in the face of absolute power.]
The argument escalated, leaving Xu Jintang speechless.