Su Hao stared at the chaotic training ground before him, falling silent.
He had only dared to attempt a combination move after renting an advanced training room. The Blaze Crow merged into the Flame Storm, while the Dream Butterfly added fuel from the outside, casting illusions. The combination move he had just executed was, at best, only half-complete. He didn’t dare to keep going.
“Sigh, why is the quality of this training room so terrible!”
He had finally become an intermediate-level spirit nurturer, with plenty of free monthly training hours, only to suddenly realize he couldn’t use them anymore. No wonder there were so few elite-level spirit envoys in An City!
He wasn’t an elite-level yet, because the Dream Butterfly hadn’t broken through.
A few months ago, in the Changbai Mountain Primitive Zone, the Dream Butterfly’s base stats had already been able to approach, or even rival, the peak of the entry-level. But in reality, the little one’s spiritual power back then was only a little over five hundred. It was just that its spiritual power had been compressed multiple times, allowing its ultimate moves to pack a punch no weaker than the average entry-level peak. As for its physique… he had his own unique cultivation plan, letting the little one reign supreme among fragile types.
Su Hao’s vision flickered as a panel appeared, and he tapped on the Dream Butterfly’s stats.
【Dream Butterfly】 [Attribute: Wood] [Ability: Dream] [Evolution Path: Silkworm → Dream Butterfly → Fairy Butterfly] [Info: Growth Stage: 70.5%; Spiritual Power: 1355 (Entry-Level Peak+++); Mental Power: 1677 (Entry-Level Peak+++++); …] [Moves: Charge (Improved · Multi-Stage Charge), Roar, Intimidate, Energy Ball, Pellet Machine Gun, String Shot (Improved · Sharp Cutting Thread), Whirlwind Impact, Hurricane, Lullaby, Dreamweave, Nightmare Eye, Dream Erosion, Psychic Shield, Psychic Impact.] [Special Training: Flight: Wind Mastery; Fixed Dreamweave Scenarios: ① If You’re a Spirit, Climb a Hundred Floors ② Impossible Maze; Five-Sense Illusions: Visual Control, Auditory Control, Olfactory Seal, Gustatory Seal, Tactile Seal…]
The average entry-level peak had a spiritual power of about 1000. The better the cultivation, the higher the ceiling, making it easier to break through to elite-level. The little one had broken through to entry-level at just 215 spiritual power, so its ceiling wouldn’t just be over 2000—it would be significantly higher than ordinary spirits. It still hadn’t reached its limit.
“Raising spirits step by step is just so slow.”
Psychic Shield, Psychic Impact, Lullaby, and Dream Erosion were the new moves the Dream Butterfly had learned over the past three months. Lullaby was just filler; its main focus had been on the illusion trio: Dreamweave, Nightmare Eye, and Dream Erosion. From these, it had developed two fixed illusion scenarios and an immature five-sense control.
The Dream Butterfly practiced these two scenarios daily, able to set them up in just a few seconds—and they were very stable. Stability was the key, making them hard to break.
The “Climb a Hundred Floors” illusion scenario was used to confuse enemies while dealing damage. It required not only jumping back and forth between limited footholds but also dodging the dense rain of falling rocks from above—so flying was useless. Su Hao had tried it with the Blaze Crow. Using the Blaze Crow’s feedback, he got firsthand data. He wouldn’t go into the details, but the Blaze Crow couldn’t break free at all.
The “Maze” illusion scenario was mainly for trapping enemies. For example, spirits with strong mental power, like the Marionette or the Sleepy Owl, had high resistance to illusions. When hit by illusion damage, their instinctive burst of mental power might let them break free from the illusion. In such cases, a harmless scenario was needed.
Just how strong was the Dream Butterfly now? To be honest, Su Hao… wasn’t entirely sure! He had no point of comparison. The Marionette had failed to break through to elite-level and was already left behind by the Dream Butterfly. As for Instructor Xiong’s Tyrant Bear, a month ago, the little one could hold its own against it. But for some reason, Instructor Xiong seemed to have suddenly left An City on urgent business and hadn’t returned yet.
The Blaze Crow had also made significant progress, with its spiritual power exceeding 1000. The Water Pony was still in its un-evolved, pre-entry-level stage, developing slowly. But its growth rate was still faster than the Silkworm and Little Fire Crow back then.
“Its spiritual power ceiling is very high.”
The Silkworm, after Su’s stimulation method, had a spiritual power limit of only 180. The Water Pony, however, naturally approached 200. Even though he couldn’t get any more water-type secondary attribute cores, using only Su’s stimulation method, he had expanded the Water Pony’s spiritual power limit to 220. For now, though, its spiritual power wasn’t full yet.
…
At the front desk of the lobby.
Su Hao’s handsome face carried a hint of awkwardness. The Blaze Crow stood beside him like a statue, showing no awareness of being the culprit. After a moment, the compensation amount for the damaged training room came out. The receptionist said, “That’ll be 35,700 in total. Would you like to pay now or defer payment?”
After all, he was a well-known intermediate-level spirit nurturer, so the training center wasn’t worried about him defaulting. “I’ll pay now. Swipe the card,” he said.
After settling the compensation for the training room damage, Su Hao turned and left, silently reminding himself not to come back. Not until his figure disappeared around the corner did the young receptionist look away and murmur, “Talented and handsome… ah, I forgot to ask for his QQ number!”
…
Leaving the Spirit Plaza, Su Hao didn’t bother with a shared bike. Instead, he called a spirit-exclusive car—regular ride-hailing services might have drivers who wouldn’t allow spirits onboard. The car dropped him off at the entrance of a high-end villa district on the outskirts. This was his new home.
Yes, he had another new house!
Considering that the old house was no longer convenient for training and housing spirits—it might disturb the neighbors—he had been scouting for a new place. A villa was the best choice, as it could accommodate large spirits in the future. But there was a problem: buying a villa was expensive, and his money had to go toward nutrition for his spirits. After much thought, Su Hao “had no choice” but to “casually” reveal his identity as an intermediate-level spirit nurturer.
In An City, the status of an intermediate-level spirit nurturer was unquestionable. He didn’t know if there were any advanced-level ones, but even Zhao Liangcai, the owner of the Spirit Nurturing House, was only an old-school intermediate. As expected, Su Hao received a villa as a reward.
“Only a small portion of the villas in Clearwater Spirit Court are sold to the public. Most are given by An City as gifts to outstanding talents, like intermediate-level spirit nurturers or elite-level spirit envoys… The goal is to keep these talents in An City,” Zhao Liangcai had told him.
Su Hao learned that Instructor Xiong’s villa was also in this district. He had thought he could corner Instructor Xiong’s Tyrant Bear here, but later found out… Instructor Xiong didn’t actually live here.
“Seventy to eighty percent of the villas in Clearwater Spirit Court have been given away, but less than twenty percent are actually lived in.” Su Hao understood. An City’s other facilities couldn’t keep up. Elite-level spirits didn’t even have a proper training ground… An City had produced quite a few elite-level spirit envoys, but most had left their hometown.
He walked into the district. The security guards were already familiar with him. No need to say much—a person walking around with three spirits was definitely a big shot in the eyes of ordinary security guards. They’d remember him after just two glances.
Su Hao reached his standalone villa, opened the door, took off his shoes, closed the door, turned on the air conditioner, and collapsed onto the sofa. He scrolled through his phone, browsing news about some spirit envoy fugitive being killed, some spirit trainee trending on social media…
As he scrolled, his phone vibrated. It was a call.
He swiped to answer and brought it to his ear. “Hey, Brother Zhao… Five big clients booked? Okay, sure, schedule them for Saturday morning.”
After a bit of small talk, he hung up. Since becoming an intermediate-level spirit nurturer, his status at the Spirit Nurturing House had risen accordingly. Not only had his consultation fees gone up, but his split with the house had changed from fifty-fifty to seventy-thirty. Plus, he no longer had to be on duty every week—he could come and go as he pleased.
With his talent and current reputation, he could certainly go solo. But there was no need. It would be a waste of time. Working at the Spirit Nurturing House, taking on big clients, not only earned him money but also expanded his network.
“Too bad, what An City calls ‘big clients’ still can’t match the consultation fee for a full elite-level spirit plan.”
Su Hao lived a simple, routine life. Occasionally going to school. Occasionally training his spirits by the lake behind the villa district. Occasionally earning some extra cash at the Spirit Nurturing House. Occasionally working on academic exam papers. Occasionally teasing the Dream Butterfly or walking the Water Pony.
The uneventful days passed one by one, and soon, the first stage of the college entrance exam—the written test—arrived.
—
On New Year’s Eve, the author wishes everyone a happy New Year~
Wishing you all a prosperous Year of the Rat, happiness, health, and all the best!
Saluting the heroes fighting the coronavirus! Hope the virus is defeated soon!
…
Well.
Then…
Just one chapter today.
It’s New Year’s Eve, so I can be forgiven, right?
“Gunu (yes, yes)~”
╮(￣▽￣)╭~~~