Outside the restricted forest, Bibi Dong stood straight like a spear. Around her, there were already a few men and women. Each of them had their own specialty— be it their aura, physique, or facial features. All of them had passed the forest's restrictions rather quickly but once they came out, all of them were stunned to find that their exit had been the same place where Bibi Dong stood. In fact, all the spirit masters appeared in that location itself.
But Bibi Dong didn't communicate with anyone. Those who wanted to leave didn't dare move without this cloaked woman's permission and had to remain in the region itself. All of them slowly grew tired. Many sat under the trees as the moon reached high and even then, Bibi Dong continued to stand still silently. A few couldn't help but move away and much to their pleasant surprise, Bibi Dong didn't stop them.
However, to the astute individual, this was even more dangerous. Those who felt that something was wrong continued to sit in silence.
Hours flew by and the sky started to slowly light up once again.
"Knock-knock," A calm voice echoed in this silence. It was extremely faint but those with sharper senses could hear it since the speaker didn't have any intention of hiding his voice.
"Who's there?" A slightly languid yet sweet voice replied. Bibi Dong was already aware of the identities of the speaker and couldn't help but frown. Out of everyone present, why would these two emerge so late? In fact, they were barely on time since it was almost dawn.
"Human-tongued Owl." The male voice answered.
"Human-tongued Owl who?" the female continued the inquiry.
"Human who tongued the owl."
The listener's expression froze instantly. Even the female speaker seemed to have been stunned before she chuckled, "Ew."
The two speakers calmly approached the exit and who else could it be except for Ja Sun and Ah Yin? Over this period, the two only used the rules of the forest to slowly make their way out of the forest. In the meantime, Ja Sun had Ah Yin accustomed to Knock-knock jokes. He felt that he had nothing else to do. In fact, after using many of the best Knock-knock jokes he had heard in his previous life, Ja Sun began creating more of these scripts that would be in tune with his current world.
Seeing that there were many people present, Ah Yin and Ja Sun grew silent and as if not recognizing a few odd gazes sent towards them, the duo calmly stood on the side. Though Ah Yin's expression revealed slight traces of exhaustion, the passive nature of her Martial Soul— Blue Silver Goddess, was also revealed as she was filled with inexhaustible vitality.
On the other hand, even with his enhanced physique, Ja Sun felt more hungry than tired which gave a rise to a sense of weariness.
Seeing that everyone continued to stay silent, the duo rested silently themselves until another two hours.
Finally, at the break of dawn, Bibi Dong opened up.
"Your first lesson ends here. Those who are present here right now are qualified to take my next lesson. Tomorrow, at this time, if you are present here, good. If not, don't bother showing up. Your class will change automatically."
"Permission to speak?" A young man raised his hand. He was in fact from the couple who came late yesterday while huffing and puffing.
"No," Bibi Dong replied calmly, "There will be two more lessons that shed a few more students to various other classes. Today's lesson was based on Arrays.
Those who do not know of this profession, let me explain: Array Masters belonged to an unpopular branch of spirit masters that fizzled out quickly. Though delving into this profession is a mark of a genius, practically, an array hardly stops a spirit master. You can break it, escape it, or learn its rule. All of you followed one of these methods. A few escaped into the sky, a few broke the trees in their paths and the very last two learned the rules of the array.
This array is not an illusion, but a slight application of the spatial element.
Is everyone clear on today's lesson?"
She inquired sharply and others nodded.
"Until you are in my class, refer to me as teacher. If you're not, don't bother me. Tomorrow, I expect everyone to be present by the time I arrive and in proper uniform."
With that, Bibi Dong turned around and left.
"Seriously, what is with that woman?" One of the 'students' present finally spoke up. If anyone else saw them, none would believe that these men and women are students. Their ages, for one, did not match at all with the youths that are present in the academy. Not only that, each and everyone looked more like a bandit. Except for Ah Yin.
"I'm not wearing that sissy uniform," the largest of the men growled. His bald head gave a faint luster as the light bounced off of it.
"Whatever. She's stronger than us so she can probably teach us how to fight better."
The students gradually dispersed. Even Ja Sun and Ah Yin went towards their residence and finally slumped down after eating their breakfast. Although Ja Sun did feel Liu Erlong's reluctant gaze, everyone were already tired, not physically, but mentally. Many were hungry, too.
[Objective: Leave the Array Forest and find a secure, enclosed space.
Optional Objectives:
1) Complete the objective on foot.
2) Complete the objective without the act of damaging the forest.
3) Complete the objective by figuring out the mystery of the forest.
Mission Rank: F-E-E-C
Mission Rewards: Leaf of Bewilderment—Robust Sandals—Forest Nymph's Bark—Blueprint of Qi Strand Array.]
[Status: Complete-Complete-Complete-Failed.]
In the end, despite figuring out the rules, Ja Sun could never come to understand the mystery of the forest. This meant that he still lacked a few important pieces of knowledge since the mission's rank was only a C.
---
Aside from that one large bald man, the next day, everyone appeared in their uniforms. Still, even with their uniforms, many kept their masks on. Even Ja Sun wore his masks and gauntlets despite wearing the silver jacket, black shirt, and silver trousers ending with a pair of black shoes.
Today, the woman gazing in his direction like a predator, finally moved. Her clothes were similar to Ah Yin so even if there was an extremely cold expression on her face, she also managed to look slightly funny in her skirt.
"You... you will pay for robbing me." Her words were clear and spread within the group. Everyone looked in Ja Sun's and Liu Erlong's direction and revealed bright expressions.
"How much?" Ja Sun inquired with a shrug, "Since you were so scared of me back then, clearly, you cannot defeat me. If it's reimbursement you seek, go ahead, tell me a number."
Ah Yin glanced at Ja Sun. By now, she already knew Ja Sun's method of dealing with opponents. Every word, every expression, every gesture is made to make the opponents lose their pace and patience. Even she herself was ambushed by him after just healing the stab wound into his heart.
The corner of Liu Erlong's eyes twitched as she couldn't refute. She would still shiver at the recollection of that particular show of bloodlust.
"What... happened to the beast I was chasing?" Liu Erlong inquired.
"The beast?" Ja Sun tilted his head slightly while revealing a confused tone, "Oh, I let her go."
Her lips trembled for a moment and a sense of madness slowly oozed out of her body. Sensing this, a few other students around the trio moved back while Ja Sun inquired calmly, "I thought that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan doesn't allow its members into other factions. What are you doing here?"
"I'm not part of that clan," Liu Erlong hissed.
"Really? Because when you were on your knees, you looked extremely confident that the clan will avenge your death," A faint pressure bubbled from Ja Sun. Others couldn't feel it because it was extremely controlled and only Liu Erlong's expression paled slightly. However, biting her pretty thin lips, she continued to resist the pressure and barely spat out, "That silver bracelet... I want it back."
Ja Sun frowned for a moment and finally recalled the bracelet she was talking about. Touching his belt, Ja Sun pulled out a ring. Liu Erlong's essence tool. And from this ring, Ja Sun pulled out a dull, silver bracelet. It was unadorned and the locks of it looked slightly damaged.
"Don't bother me from now on," Ja Sun's serene tone made Liu Erlong filled with anger and indignance, however, she carefully took the silver bracelet and stored it in another ring of hers.
"My name is Liu Erlong. You best remember it."
She turned around and left with heavy steps.
"You see, Ah Yin, beautiful women are introducing themselves to me. Too bad you couldn't get this body in time," Ja Sun turned his face to Ah Yin as she smiled.
"Pitiful me. But sure, go to that Liu Erlong. I'm just worried that unlike me, she won't just suck the benefits out of you but eat you up and spit you out."
"Where is your uniform?" Before Ah Yin and Ja Sun's banter could reach its boiling point, a cold voice made everyone's heart shudder. They looked towards the source of the voice and found the exceeding large man with his chest bare and filled with scars kneeling in front of Bibi Dong. His large body continued to shudder as if facing a life and death crisis and managed to stutter out his apology.
"S-s-sorry—"
His eyes rolled up and his body slowly fell forward. Stepping aside, Bibi Dong's gaze swept over everyone. It lasted momentarily on Ja Sun, Ah Yin, Liu Erlong, and six others. After inspecting the uniforms, Bibi Dong uttered,
"Individuals below Spirit Elders, step out."
Three individuals walked out silently and Bibi Dong gestured for them to stand behind her.
"All the spirit elders in this group, step out."
Ja Sun and fourteen others stepped out before they, too, were grouped separately.
"Spirit Ancestors, step out."
Liu Erlong and seventeen other students stepped out and were grouped separately again.
Now, only two individuals remained. Ah Yin, and another girl: the other half of the sensual couple from yesterday.
In total, there were 38 students excluding the fainted giant.
"I will be sparring with all of you for one minute straight. When sparring with a Spirit Grandmaster, I'll only use my first two spirit abilities and nothing else. With Spirit Elder, three spirit rings. With spirit ancestor, four spirit rings, and finally, five spirit rings when facing a Spirit King.
I told you all that there will be two more lessons to shed the numbers. This is the second lesson— Combat. However, within this minute, if anyone of you manages to land three hits on me, you will be exempted from the third lesson and will be considered a permanent part of my tutelage."
As she said this, two yellow spirit rings appeared around her body and she gazed at the three spirit grandmasters. In fact, these three spirit grandmasters had low talent. All of them were above the age of 20 and the reason they were able to persist in the war for so long is because of their sheer combat experience.
The three men looked at each other, unable to decide who should step forward because they did not know their teacher's abilities at all.
Even Ja Sun looked more focused. A mission already prepared for him as he stood behind the group, mumbling in low voice.
"Step forward," Bibi Dong pointed at the slightly bulky man in the middle, and with a bitter expression, he stepped forward. Two yellow rings appeared from his feet, too, as they rotated around his gently. A pitch-black axe appeared in his grasp and the demeanor of the man changed completed. His sharp eyes focused on Bibi Dong when—
*Snap*
Her first ring flared and the man with the black axe was sent hurtling back alongside a faint screeching sound that distorted the area between Bibi Dong and the man with a tool spirit: Black Axe.
Seeing that the spirit master wasn't getting up, a severe light flashed through the eyes of the remaining two spirit masters and they bowed towards Bibi Dong. Both of them spoke simultaneously.
"We do not wish to participate. We lack the ability to study under teacher's methods."
Everyone frowned at this point. Within the group, there were a few individuals who seemed to have understood something. However, none of them were completely sure about it. Even Ja Sun gazed at the unconscious man with a slight furrow of his brows.
Two spirit rings or not, Bibi Dong was extremely strong and the difference between the spirit ranks was high. Of course, the output generated by her first spirit skill will be astonishingly different from the output generated by a Spirit Grandmaster. It could be said that in this 'lesson', the outstanding Spirit Grandmasters with the astonishing will to handle Bibi Dong's killing intent and then even walk out of the forest, didn't have any chance.
'Oh... this could be it. Compared to other Spirit Grandmasters, these three are too good,' Ja Sun narrowed his eyes. Without sufficient clues, his speculations would never be solidified so he let go of it and waited as Bibi Dong accurately pointed at a thin youth within the group of Spirit Elders.
Another spirit ring blossomed under her feet— A thousand-year-old purple spirit ring.
"Step forward."
The youth's expression changed slightly. Gritting his jaws, he finally stepped forward. Three spirit rings appeared under his feet.
Yellow, yellow, and purple.
Another outstanding youth.
His body began to bulge. His thin physique reached an astonishing height of three meters. Fur all around him and his arms lengthened enough to actually support his body on the ground, like a primate. Seeing this, Ja Sun couldn't help but frown and before the youth could charge, Bibi Dong's palms congealed a small sphere of spirit energy from which, a single string of purple web shout out. A menacing violet mist surrounded this string as it suddenly expanded midair, forming into a spider's web that instantly caught the spirit master.
"I fail, teacher!" The youth screamed in a panic as he felt a searing pain travel through his body despite being enhanced by his martial soul.
At this point, many were aware of what was going on. A few revealed a bitter expression while many were already pale.
"Leave..." Bibi Dong stated faintly. This time, not only the defeated Spirit Elder, but many within the groups of Spirit Ancestors also left. Instantly, the number of students was reduced from 38 to 20. The remaining individuals revealed a clueless expression while Bibi Dong glanced at an equally clueless Liu Erlong.
Then, she gazed at the group of Spirit Elders. Out of the previous 15, 9 remained.
"Ka-ul, step forward," Bibi Dong's gaze condensed over Ja Sun with a stifling pressure. If it was merely the intent of blood or death, Ja Sun would have breezed through it but it would seem that even Bibi Dong was aware of that fact, and her actual pressure formed over him this time.
Stepping forward, Ja Sun crouched softly and grew ready to face the opponent. Her strength was clearly about a Spirit Emperor, or at least, a peak Spirit Emperor, Ja Sun realized. If he hadn't given Ah Yin the Blue Silver Emperor's Core, she would become as strong as Bibi Dong only after a few years which meant that both of them used to have the same natural talent. It wasn't the case now. Ah Yin was already a spirit emperor.
Seeing that Ja Sun was unwilling to reveal his spirit ring, a trace of cruelty flashed through Bibi Dong's eyes under her mask. It was already clear to the astute minds that her condition was unstable for some reason. A faint white light filled with icy intent flashed around her body before disappearing and her purple ring flashed once again.
Instead of one, two strings of web shot out and Ja Sun's body flashed instantly. Instead of simply using Storm Steps, an extremely tiny purple ring rotated around his finger. His feet and hands were covered by a silver light but strangely, the silver current was thicker around his feet than his hands.
Silver Burst!
After making great strides in Heart Separation Control, Ja Sun can divide the energy of his first spirit skill! If all the ends of his limbs received 30% enhancement previously, then at this moment, due to his own doing, his hands received 1% enhancement each and his feet were enhanced by 59%!
His figure was like a silver shadow leaving a glowing trail of energy as everyone grew alert. Just with speed alone, Ja Sun matched an ordinary Spirit King.
Everyone marked him as an extraordinary agility-type spirit master.
*Chi*
The air around Bibi Dong distorted violently once again and her first spirit ring flared. Everyone took a step back but the one on whom the energy was concentrated on stopped suddenly, his momentum shooting to its very peak and this time, the light over his three limbs dulled incomparably. Instead, his left palm revealed a great luster and he slapped forward.
The invisible vibration that distorted the air around Bibi Dong instantly felt another prominent force counteracting it. In fact, this force was much sharper despite being the same in nature.
Bibi Dong's eyelids twitched.
Her second yellow ring brightened and from Bibi Dong as a center, the ground around her lit up in a pattern of a spider's web. The pattern revealed a purple luster and Ja Sun's body instantly felt heavy.
'A second spirit ring as a gravitational force?' Everybody's eyes lit up and they deduced the nature of the skill.
'It... is a web,' Another ring formed around his finger and four silver wings unfurled behind him. With a powerful beat of his wings, Ja Sun's body flashed high and as expected, the gravitational pull will only be affected if he touches it on the ground.
His four wings were instantly covered by silver burst before Ja Sun pushed every output into the top two wings.
The enhancement of two hands, two feet, and a pair of lower wings were reduced to 1%. The enhancement of the pair of his upper wings increased by 117% each!
The more limbs he adds, the greater effect he can condense out of this skill.
Ja Sun's body shot down with a shrill screech produced by his wings. Ordinarily, a close combatant, flying was simply a means to an end. As he flashed in front of Bibi Dong, his right hand condensed the shock of Gentle Tactics, and while in the same output of spirit energy, he withdrew all the enhancement of his silver burst into this particular attack.
Bibi Dong's eyes flashed in surprise momentarily. The strength of the attack... no, the terrible, undulating shockwaves managed to create a crack in her mask. It eas extremely thin. But seeing the mark, Ja Sun's eyes lit up. In such a close distance, Bibi Dong had once again released her third spirit skill and that's what he wanted!
The strength from Ja Sun's hand was removed instantly. The layer of spirit energy Bibi Dong had created lost its use and Ja Sun's left upper wing glittered brightly. As the web struck Ja Sun, his body tilted, making the attack only spread from his right shoulder while Bibi Dong herself was struck by the tremendous force of the wing.
Only stepping sideways by one step, her eyes flashed with an exceedingly cold killing intent and suddenly, her intent was blocked and submerged. Her body jolted into awakening. Behind her mask, a thin trail of blood leaked through her nostril and she waved her hand.
Intense spirit pressure gently set Ja Sun away. His uniform was ruined over his right shoulder as the flesh of his shoulder was covered with slight pus.
"You pass."
Bibi Dong stated and she appeared in front of Ja Sun. Once again, his golden pupils confronted the set of crimson eyes behind the mask and as Bibi Dong placed her palm on his shoulder, all the poison that entered his system was pulled out.
Today's spar revealed to Ja Sun that he needed a proper counter against poison.
***
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