Upon hearing this, Su Daqiang’s pupils widened in disbelief.
But after only a moment, he suppressed the greed rising in his heart and pushed the spirit bone away, speaking with firm resolve: “Xiao Yuan, you know how precious spirit bones are.
This spirit bone dropped from the spirit beast whose ring you absorbed—you’re the one best suited to absorb it.”
“Hurry up and absorb it while you can.”
Lu Yuan certainly knew how valuable a spirit bone was.
But seeing Su Daqiang suppress his own desire so resolutely only strengthened Lu Yuan’s determination to give it to him.
Looking up, Lu Yuan said decisively: “Teacher, you should absorb this spirit bone.
You need it more than I do.”
“I’m still young—I’ll have plenty of opportunities to obtain spirit bones in the future.”
Seeing that Su Daqiang was still wrestling with his own desires, Lu Yuan played his trump card:
“If you won’t take it, then just throw it away!”
“Sigh!
Why must you do this?” Looking at Lu Yuan, a complex emotion stirred in Su Daqiang’s heart.
“It’s me who’s benefiting from your good fortune.”
Lu Yuan: “Teacher, there’s no need for that between us.
You should just absorb it now.”
“Alright.
If I refuse any further, I’d just be pretending.
I’ll shamelessly accept it then.”
With that, Su Daqiang found a spot to sit down and began absorbing the spirit bone.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuan didn’t remain idle—he continued cutting up the spirit beast’s meat.
A quarter of an hour later, after Lu Yuan had wrapped up all the meat he could carry in leaves, Su Daqiang had successfully absorbed the spirit bone as well.
“Awesome!”
“Looks like you’ve successfully absorbed the spirit bone.” Seeing this, Lu Yuan jogged over to Su Daqiang’s side and asked eagerly: “How does it feel?
Any effects?”
“Effects?” Su Daqiang thought for a moment, then burst into laughter.
“It feels amazing!”
“Who would have thought that just absorbing a spirit bone would boost my spirit power all the way to level forty-five.”
“In another year or two, I should be able to break through to Spirit King.”
Seeing the puzzled look on Lu Yuan’s face, Su Daqiang explained: “Don’t think that breaking through to Spirit King in two years is slow.
Remember, my innate spirit power was only level four.
Reaching Spirit King by forty is already quite fast.”
Hearing this, Lu Yuan finally understood.
With that, Su Daqiang turned to look at Lu Yuan and said solemnly: “I won’t say anything sappy.
If there’s ever anything you need me for, come find me anytime.”
Stepping forward, Lu Yuan patted Su Daqiang’s arm with his small hand, acting like a little adult.
“Teacher Su, you’re thinking too small.”
“Would you not help me even without this spirit bone?” New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
Su Daqiang froze for a second, then burst out laughing.
“Hahaha, you little rascal.
You’re right—even without the spirit bone, I’d still help you.”
Lu Yuan: “So there’s no need to be so formal with me.
After all, I’ve never stood on ceremony with you.”
“Alright, we’ve wasted enough time.
Let’s head back.”
Before leaving, the two of them picked up the large, wrapped portions of spirit beast meat and slung them over their shoulders.
Exiting the soul beast forest, under the envious gazes of the other spirit masters, they boarded a carriage and left the Hunting Spirit Forest.
By evening, they had returned to the school.
After a quick wash and a light meal, they both fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, after getting up and having breakfast, Lu Yuan went to Su Daqiang’s office.
“You say you want to go home and visit?”
“Yes.
As you know, our village hasn’t produced a spirit master in years.
Now that I’ve obtained my first spirit ring, I definitely need to go back and see the elders—and give them something to celebrate.”
Su Daqiang considered it and found Lu Yuan’s reasoning sound.
Returning home in glory—if you don’t show off your success, it’s like walking in fine clothes at night.
“By the way, Xiao Yuan—I was so happy yesterday that I forgot to ask: after absorbing the spirit ring, what level did your spirit power reach?”
Lu Yuan replied: “Level fourteen!”
“Level fourteen…” Su Daqiang muttered to himself for a moment, then looked at Lu Yuan again.
“Before you go back to the village, remember to report to the Spirit Hall and claim your stipend as a spirit master.”
“Mm-hmm, I’ll remember.”
“Alright then.
Be safe on your way home, and make sure to report back before the semester starts.”
“Mm-hmm, thank you!”
…
After leaving the campus, Lu Yuan made his way to the Spirit Hall in Notting City.
The receptionist was a young man around the same age as Su Yuntao, named Li Jiang, accompanied by a rather attractive female spirit master.
Li Jiang seemed to be in a hurry.
Under Li Jiang’s handling, the entire certification process was very straightforward—test spirit power, display the spirit ring, and finally collect the gold soul coins.
The whole process took less than a minute.
Similarly, even after the certification was complete, Lu Yuan didn’t hear a single recruitment pitch from Li Jiang.
Just as Lu Yuan was wondering about this while holding his gold soul coin, he happened to see Li Jiang arm-in-arm with that woman, boarding a carriage.
“Good grief—the guy was in a rush to pick up a girl!”
As the carriage drove off, Lu Yuan didn’t pay the small matter much more attention.
The Spirit Hall not recruiting him saved him the trouble of fabricating excuses.
After negotiating the price, he climbed inside.
Checking his coin pouch, he found that the thirty-plus gold soul coins he’d brought from home were untouched, plus the one he’d received today.
At present, Lu Yuan had a total of thirty-five gold soul coins, three silver soul coins, and ten copper soul coins.
For a child his age, that was truly a small fortune.
Tucking the pouch away again, Lu Yuan began contemplating his next move.
“I’ll reach Heaven Dou City today, rest for one night, and set out for the Sunset Forest tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll need to bring enough food and water for the hunt—no telling how long this trip might take.”
“If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll even stumble upon the Yin-Yang Dual Flame Eye while I’m out hunting.”
But he knew that was highly unlikely.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Lu Yuan gazed out the window at the trees and flowers rushing past, breathing in the fresh air of nature and enjoying the scenery along the way.
The carriage sped on.
As dusk approached, Lu Yuan arrived at a small town on the outskirts of the Sunset Forest.
He first found an inn, renting a room for the price of one silver coin, then went to the nearby market to buy some dry rations, jerky, water, and a map—which cost him another five silver coins.
Looking at his bundle, Lu Yuan grumbled softly: “What a rip-off.
This little bit of stuff cost me five silver soul coins—damn expensive.”
After eating dinner outside, Lu Yuan returned to the inn and went straight to sleep.
The next morning, after disguising himself a bit, Lu Yuan left the inn and officially entered the Sunset Forest.
After walking for about ten minutes, Lu Yuan sensed something was off.
Though he was following the safe route marked on the map, he could still feel multiple gazes locking onto him from all directions.
“No wonder it’s called the Sunset Forest—only a few steps in and I’ve already encountered so many spirit beasts.
Not bad luck, I suppose.”
“Steel Refining Technique!”
Without hesitation, Lu Yuan activated his Rainbow Stone ability.
Instantly, a steel fork gleaming with dark luster appeared in his hand.
Then, with a single thought, his body began switching back and forth between normal state and Steel Body state.
“Not bad.
It seems the abilities from the Rainbow Stone are pretty decent.”
The steel fork created through Steel Refining Technique could persist indefinitely without consuming spirit power.
Its hardness might not have fully recovered yet, but as Lu Yuan’s level increased, so would the fork’s hardness.
Perhaps sensing the dangerous aura emanating from Lu Yuan, the hidden gazes around him quietly retreated.
Lu Yuan didn’t waste time chasing them.
His target this time was a thousand-year spirit beast called the Exploding Wolf Spider—not those miscellaneous creatures nearby.
The Exploding Wolf Spider, when attacking, could release explosive sticky fluid within a ten-meter radius around itself.
It was a formidable long-range attack ability.
The moment Lu Yuan had read about this spirit beast in the books, he’d set his sights on it.
After all, having watched so many flashy moves like Ice Explosion and Flame Explosion in his past life, Lu Yuan now wanted a cool move of his own.
For no other reason—just because it looked cool!