She stood waiting on the central arena platform, while the senior students below, who were supposed to wait for her to catch up, hemmed and hawed.
As a combat technique course, once students had grasped the basic principles, they moved on to the next stage of advanced combat technique training.
Being able to produce an energy weapon was the foundation; its stability, strength, and duration were what really mattered.
The training method at this stage was simple. Students at the same level of progress formed identical weapons and clashed blades head-on, without using any fighting techniques.
In Joel's words: "Energy weapons get stronger by destroying and being destroyed!"
But now, the second- and third-ranked students Joel had named to clash blades with Wen Jing were trying to pass the task off to each other.
"You go."
"I'm not going. You go!"
"You're further along than me. You're the better choice."
After finishing his explanation to the students who were behind, Joel turned to find the two still dragging their feet. Impatiently, he said, "What are you dawdling for? If you're not confident, both of you get up there!"
Under the pressure of their instructor's authority, the two had no choice but to step onto the platform.
Wen Jing, who had been waiting opposite them for some time, gestured for them to begin.
The third-ranked student swallowed and made the first move, forming the long saber he was most proficient with. The energy of its blade was solid and dense, like a physical object.
Joel gave a slight nod of satisfaction at the sight, then turned his gaze to the second-ranked student.
The second-ranked student formed a spear. Not only was its shaft as solid-looking as the third-ranked student's saber, but an extraordinary sheen also flowed over its tip.
"Wen Jing, form whichever weapon you're best with too."
Joel spoke to Wen Jing. The original rules called for clashing identical weapons, but since two students were challenging her together, he would change them a little.
Wen Jing nodded agreeably. The next moment, energy surged in her hand, and the students watching all covered their eyes with practiced movements.
"Shing..."
Amid a faint, clear ringing, a radiant sword of light took shape in her hand. Inside it, energy seemed to... no, energy really was surging.
And on closer inspection, the energy flowing inside followed a specific frequency and rhythm.
Compared to the radiance of her sword, the glow on the second-ranked student's spear tip was practically negligible. Even just displaying their weapons made for a brutal comparison, like putting white- and green-rarity weapons next to an orange-rarity one in a game.
Bang!
Bang!
With two bursts of dispersing energy, the outcome was exactly as expected.
Wen Jing was nowhere near satisfied and turned an expectant gaze toward Instructor Joel.
Over the past half month, she had made milestone gains in both her electives.
[Mastered 'Combat technique: Energy-Shaping Weapon', skill points +10] [Attained proficiency in 'Secret technique: Energy Amplification Method', skill points +10]
Not only had she mastered Energy-Shaping Weapon, but her Energy Amplification Method had also reached the proficient level, earning her double the skill points. Her energy amplification multiplier was now over fourfold, and Louisa said she was nearing the graduation standard for the advanced course.
At the same time, the progress bars for the next level of both skills had unlocked.
Her perfection-level Energy Amplification Method progress was only at 2%, but her proficient-level Energy-Shaping Weapon progress had reached an astonishing 66% in a short time!
Her initial mastery of the skill had come thanks to the groundwork laid in the Trial Tower. This second surge, however, came because Wen Jing had discovered during her studies that some techniques from the Energy Amplification Method could be applied to strengthening Energy-Shaping Weapon.
All sorts of combat techniques and secret techniques had originally been developed by Awakeners through use in battle. At their core, they were all applications of energy.
By cross-referencing them, understanding one opened the way to understanding many.
When she accomplished this, her proficient-level Energy-Shaping Weapon progress bar shot up a considerable amount. Naturally, she now wanted to keep studying and improving.
Unfortunately, Joel seemed not to have understood Wen Jing's meaning at all. Casually wiping his forehead, he encouraged the other students present, "Very good! Work hard to catch up with Wen Jing!"
"Yes..."
At this point, nobody thought there was anything wrong with their instructor telling them to catch up with a freshman who had only attended four class periods.
The class had gone from wondering why they had to suffer through all this to calmly accepting the possibility that they were background extras providing reactions in some novel.
Having failed to get any special tutoring from her instructor, Wen Jing could only regretfully opt for a trip to the Ancient Wilderness after class.
Registration center.
The staff member and Wen Jing were already well acquainted. Even so, a glance at her registration information gave him a fright.
A freshman was traveling over every four or five days, and that interval was still shrinking. That practically meant she had never taken a break!
He hurriedly reminded her, "This is already your third trip since registering for Pin Hao Suan membership. You still have more than half a month left. There's no need to rush."
"It's fine. I know." Wen Jing nodded and stepped onto the platform with practiced ease.
In fact, it wasn't just the staff member. Even Xie Ming had specifically reminded her that she didn't need to push herself so hard.
Only she knew that the stretch of giant trees spreading out around the ant nest had practically become her private territory.
At this stage, her classmates in the winter class were still preparing for their first exploration of the Ancient Wilderness, while her only complaint was that the interval between trips was too long.
The world shifted, and the next moment, Wen Jing went from the registration center's platform to a giant tree.
She had two frequently used travel points here: one near the ant nest and one near the fluorescent flower field.
This time, she chose the flower field.
On her previous trip four days ago, the nectar in the flower field hadn't replenished much. Only now had it filled up again.
The little blue-gray insect drifted into the beautiful flower field and began the day's harvest with familiar ease.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp..."
On the panel, her life and spirit attributes rose.
Life: 15.01, 15.02... Spirit: 9.51, 9.52...
But compared with the rapid jumps at the start, as Wen Jing's attributes increased, she seemed to have developed a "resistance."
Even after upgrading her digestive system to fluid form, and despite consuming far more nectar now than on her first visit, the efficiency of her attribute gains kept declining.
She visited the fluorescent flowers circle by circle, gradually making her way down the giant tree.
As the mist began to thicken, signs of reptiles appeared.
Beneath a covering of vines, a lizard rested, almost indistinguishable from the surrounding vines when it stayed still.
On a flowering vine behind it, the little blue-gray insect approached silently. The lizard noticed nothing.
After Wen Jing's mental power exceeded 8 points, even the cold-blooded vine lizards could be easily located by her scans.
The next instant, the little insect swooped down. A sharp spike of energy extended out of thin air from her mouthparts and plunged viciously into the lizard's skull.
A lethal strike. The vine lizard convulsed all over, then went still.
But Wen Jing ignored that completely, leaping from the spot and striking straight at its tail.
Whoosh!
The little insect charged toward the lizard's tail, which had only just begun gathering energy. A wing made entirely of blades abruptly sprouted from her previously bare back.
Green blood spilled as the vine lizard's other head, used for escaping, was severed outright.
The former prey had long since become the predator.
Wen Jing no longer needed the ant army's help to hunt vine lizards alone.
After hunting and eating three vine lizards in succession deep within the flower field, her life and strength attributes enjoyed another surge, both breaking past the 20-point threshold.
But as with the nectar, consuming the same food repeatedly was clearly producing gradually diminishing effects.
Having finished harvesting her "farm" for the day, Wen Jing did not venture any farther down the vines.
The ant army couldn't reach this place, so she could only explore downward alone. The deeper she went into the mist, the larger the vine lizards she encountered became, and the poison in the mist began to make even her, with her abnormal status immunity, uncomfortable.
More importantly, the last time she had tried exploring farther down, she had sensed an unprecedented aura of danger, even more alarming than her encounter with the red-and-white bird.
She chose to trust her instincts.
After leaving the flower field, Wen Jing saw that she still had plenty of time left, so she headed up the main trunk and wandered around the area.
After practicing her blade techniques with a mantis on a branch and playing an insect version of whack-a-mole near the horsehair worm swamp for a while, she suddenly spotted several ants returning to their nest.
She hadn't paid attention to the ants in a long time. On a whim, Wen Jing drifted over to the tree hollow housing their nest.
Come to think of it, as the ants' great general-self-appointed-she seemed never to have been inside their nest.
The ants worked so diligently outside every day. They must have stored plenty of good things, right?
Chapter 39
Recalling the ant riot she had triggered the last time she approached their home, Wen Jing made preparations in advance this time.
Not only did she mimic the ants' pheromones with her antennae, but she also used the trait she had obtained from the vine lizards, "Basic Mimicry"-
The pigment on the little blue-gray insect gradually darkened. A moment later, her head, torso, and other main body sections were pitch-black, while her six legs had turned dark red.
Apart from the difference in body shape, Wen Jing now looked like a giant mutant ant.
Once all this was done, the little insect landed at the entrance to the tree hollow.
Just like last time, the moment she poked her head into the nest, a mass of complex pheromones flooded toward her.
Her antennae instinctively waved nonstop. Like a precision decoding machine, she rapidly adapted to and analyzed these chemical signals, then mimicked them.
What Wen Jing felt at that moment was extraordinary.
Among ants active outside, chemical signals were sent and received in one-way exchanges. Inside the nest, however, it was an upgraded, enhanced version. More numerous, more complex, and more layered chemical signals converged here, forming an enormous social network.
As an infiltrator, she felt as though she had become a hacker who needed to bypass the ant colony's various security alarms and defense mechanisms.