Five minutes ago, King Wu hadn't placed much importance on the letter of recommendation.
King Xia didn't send many out.
But over the years, there had been a few.
As King Xia's close friend, recommendation letters were usually sent directly to him.
King Wu would naturally honor his friend's request.
Granting that student some convenience was effortless for a dignified king-level figure.
But that was all.
He wouldn't personally teach them just because of King Xia's words.
How busy was he, King Wanmu?
He had no time to mentor any students!
At most, he'd hand them over to an experienced first-level instructor.
Two minutes ago,
King Wu had read most of the letter and nodded slightly.
An excellent and humble student always left a good impression.
"If this Su Hao is really as Old Xia says, then..."
Taking him on as a personal student wouldn't be out of the question.
Raising an outstanding spirit tamer would also bring him great face among his many old friends.
Now, though.
"Whoa?"
"He's from an ordinary family?"
The gap between an ordinary family and a spirit-raising family was enormous!
It wasn't that no one from an ordinary family had become a strong figure.
Several kings born in recent years came from humble beginnings.
But they...
had only started to shine in university, leveraging the resources there.
In high school and the college entrance exams, King Wucuizhi had to admit, students with connections had a huge advantage.
"This Su Hao achieved so much through his own efforts. Now that he's at Jingdao University, what's next...
"He absolutely has the potential to become a king."
Not those spirit tamers with just a slim hope of reaching king level.
Every first-level instructor at Jingdao University had that faint possibility of crossing into king level, didn't they?
But many had their aces stuck at quasi-monarch level for years. No matter what they tried, they couldn't cross over.
They were desperate too...
"Who knew Old Xia would introduce me to such a quality student. Not bad, not bad—he clearly has a connection with me!
"Too bad it's not the start of the semester yet, so I can't take on students."
According to the rules.
After the freshman challenge round, instructors would light up—ah, spit—extend an olive branch. If two instructors favored the same student, the student could choose.
They could pick which instructor to follow.
King Wu stroked his thick, shiny hair, pondering:
"With Su Hao's strength, plenty of first-level instructors will want him, but... a king-level might not.
"When the time comes, I, a dignified king professor, will personally recruit him. Those instructors won't stand a chance. Who Su Hao chooses will be obvious.
"It's settled!"
"No... I need to be more cautious."
King Wu then thought, what if... what if another king-level also took a liking to Su Hao?
Then his chances would drop to just 50%.
Not stable enough.
He thought it over and suddenly had an idea.
"Maybe I could..."
...
Jingdao University, Spirit Library.
Su Hao stood before this magnificent building, paused for a moment, then walked in.
He took out his temporary student card, swiped it with a "beep," and stepped inside.
The library had five floors.
The first and second floors housed ordinary techniques from various disciplines.
Like the most basic Charge, the slightly more complex Pellet Machine Gun, the more advanced Energy Ball...
Here, they were all classified as ordinary techniques.
Free to browse.
The third floor housed advanced techniques from each discipline.
"Cloud Step" and "Water Path" were both on the third floor. These techniques required payment but were cheaper than outside.
The fourth floor stored the ultimate moves created by master-level and king-level spirit tamers.
The fees weren't high either.
But just studying books and videos of ultimate moves made them hard to grasp.
You still needed to consult an instructor.
And the fifth floor...
Stored secret techniques.
These could be understood as inheritance manuals of certain schools, systematic combat methods, powerful and unique killing moves, and so on.
Secret techniques were often composed of multiple improved techniques and ultimate moves.
Su Hao didn't rush to the third floor.
He first wandered around the first floor.
Free stuff, right?
No harm in looking.
He came to a shelf over two meters tall, filled entirely with training books on the Charge technique.
They weren't identical.
There were hundreds of versions.
"Training methods for Charge tailored to different forms and attributes of spirits, plus many variations with different improvements."
He spotted one designed specifically for a silkworm spirit.
Pulling it out, he flipped through it.
"Impressive. It's only a tiny bit worse than the unlocked version."
Next to the Charge shelf hung a display screen.
Su Hao reached out and tapped it, seeing related videos paired with the training books.
There were also explanations from spirit tamers.
Very detailed.
If an ordinary student usually took half a month to teach their spirit a basic technique, with the library's detailed tutorials, they could learn it in a week.
Any shorter, and it depended on the spirit tamer's comprehension.
That's why culture mattered.
If a spirit tamer couldn't understand the technique tutorial, how could they teach the spirit? Let the spirit learn on its own?
Hmm... Su Hao glanced at the Dream Butterfly, also reading a book.
Seemed, maybe, probably... not a big issue.
"These detailed tutorials help me too."
What Su Hao had unlocked was the perfect version.
But going from "crude version to perfect version" and from "advanced version to perfect version" definitely had different costs.
And...
"Ding!"
In his ear, the long-missed pleasant notification sound rang again.
Browsing the Charge tutorial didn't help, but the techniques he'd never encountered before, after reading more...
Intelligence Value +1.
Su Hao was moved.
If Intelligence Value didn't come soon, he'd be running out!
Raising three spirits was this hard!
Immersed in the sound of Intelligence Value increasing, Su Hao couldn't pull himself away.
He wandered from the wood-type technique area to fire-type, then water-type, then other types.
He'd forgotten his original purpose.
...
Villa.
The sky was growing dark.
The Water Scale Beast on the treadmill let out a weak "shiluu."
It was asking the Fire Wool Crow.
Why hadn't Su Hao come back yet, shiluu~?
The Fire Wool Crow tilted its head.
Indicating it was also time for its meal.
But it wasn't worried.
As long as it stared at the wall, hunger would be kept at bay.
That's the way, ya~!
"Shiluu?"
The Water Scale Beast jumped off the treadmill. It flopped onto the ground.
Staring blankly at the wall.
Then its gaze drifted to the window, looking at the sky.
Hurry back~
Lingling will train hard, shiluu~!
...
Inside the library.
A middle-aged man with thick, jet-black, shiny hair held a technique training book, his mind elsewhere.
"Strange, wasn't he just here?"
"I've chased him through five technique areas!"
"Is it this hard to run into him!"
The middle-aged man grabbed his thick hair, forcing himself to calm down.
"No rush. There's still plenty of time before school starts. I'll have chances to get familiar."
...
First floor of the library.
With his vast knowledge reserves and genius-level brain processing speed, Su Hao, from a high vantage point, could grasp basic and beginner technique training books with just a quick flip. In no time, he'd roughly mastered one.
"Can't get any more Intelligence Value. Time to move to the next area."
He put the book back on the shelf.
Suddenly sneezed. He looked and saw—holy crap, it was already this late.
Well then...
"Let's head to the third floor and buy those two techniques first."