A few hours later.
"So he's not Old Wu's illegitimate son after all."
King Wu expressed disappointment, but then turned around, his eyes gleaming brightly. "This young classmate is quite outstanding. Could it be... Old Wu wants to take on a disciple?"
He quickly looked up Su Hao's background.
Top of the joint entrance exam.
Provincial champion of Tiannan.
Intermediate Spirit Cultivator.
And from an ordinary family.
In that regard... he was just as surprised as King Wu.
Thus, Su Hao caught his attention.
"What a pity..."
Su Hao had an average build—not particularly muscular, but not frail either.
Yet in King Bu's eyes, that frame was far too thin.
It didn't meet his aesthetic standards.
"No muscles, arms and legs too slender.
"But when he was weak, he stepped up during a terrorist attack. That takes courage. With some training, he might just build a perfect set of muscles."
King Bu thought it over.
He made a decision.
At the opening ceremony, he'd go take a look, give that kid Su Hao a glowing recommendation. Who knows, he might train a king-level successor to carry on his legacy.
...
Su Hao had no idea the person he'd met that day was a king. He kept training his spirits at his own pace.
He bought a monthly pass for the Skyfall Waterfall for Aqua Beast.
And a weekly pass for Ember Crow.
The next day, he let the two spirits train on their own.
He only dropped by occasionally to supervise... ahem, guide them.
He also picked a special training ground for Dream Moth.
—The Mirror Forest.
Vast stretches of smooth, mirror-like crystal pillars formed the forest.
The Mirror Forest was best suited for ghost-type spirits to train.
But other types with sufficient mental strength could also touch the crystal pillars, infuse their mental energy, and condense their own mental projections within.
These projections darted between the pillars. The longer they held out, the more refined their mental energy became.
The improvement was significant.
"The only limitation is that spirits can't train in the Mirror Forest too often."
But that was fine.
In his spare time, Su Hao packed the little one's schedule with plenty of training tasks.
As the big sister, she definitely wouldn't get fewer tasks than the other two spirits.
Dream Moth: "???"
This isn't the coo I asked for~!
Days passed one by one.
Su Hao lived a highly structured college life... oh, college hadn't actually started yet.
In the blink of an eye, a month went by.
Aqua Beast learned two advanced techniques.
After Ember Crow could sustain its fire-feather stance for five minutes under the Skyfall Waterfall, Su Hao tossed it into the "Lava Hell" to train.
Both spirits made noticeable progress.
As for Dream Moth...
In Su Hao's eyes, the word "Limit" now appeared in parentheses next to Dream Moth's attributes.
It meant all its basic stats had reached the maximum capacity for its entry-level stage.
It was ready to break through.
"Faster than I estimated.
"But breaking through from entry-level to elite is harder than going from unranked to entry-level.
"Many spirits rely on the opportunity of evolving into their final form to break through the bottleneck."
Dream Moth wasn't yet ready to evolve.
In fact, it didn't even meet the prerequisite attributes—the evolution conditions for Fairy Moth weren't much easier than those for quasi-monarch paths.
"It'll have to rely on the little one itself, and well, my help, to make the breakthrough."
Su Hao learned that Whale Island University had a facility that could help spirits break through.
It was called the "Pressure Chamber."
It incorporated gravity, high-level spirit pressure, and some intangible forces he didn't understand.
All of it pressed down on the spirit.
Using that pressure to push through the breakthrough in one go.
"According to the school's intranet, the first attempt in the Pressure Chamber yields the best results.
"Even if the breakthrough fails, you have to grasp the feeling of it, or it's all wasted."
So Su Hao decided to give Dream Moth a few days off.
"Coo?"
"Really taking a break!"
"Coo?"
"No interest, no double training!"
"Coo?"
"Do you want the break or not!"
"Coo~"
Dream Moth tentatively nodded.
It relaxed its body and mind, adjusting its state to the best.
A few days later, Su Hao brought Dream Moth to the Pressure Chamber.
It looked similar to regular training rooms—a series of sealed, spacious chambers.
The spirit entered, while the spirit master could only stand outside, looking in through a glass window—going inside would mean instant collapse.
Su Hao arrived at the lobby to handle the paperwork.
He saw a middle-aged woman sitting there playing on her phone, with a Moonlit Dancer beside her.
Hmm... transcendent level.
Su Hao quickly corrected himself, "Hello, teacher, I'd like to rent a B-grade Pressure Chamber."
The middle-aged woman looked up, her gaze sweeping over him and Dream Moth.
"2 credits. If you fail, you have to wait a week before trying again."
She said, taking the temporary student card Su Hao handed over, a hint of surprise on her face. "A freshman?"
She thought Su Hao had a good attitude and potential, so after a moment's thought, she said, "A spirit's breakthrough depends not only on the spirit itself but also on the spirit master's encouragement.
"Encouragement, in essence, comes from the support of the spirit master's soul power. But at your stage, your soul power isn't strong enough yet. Aside from a few fixed spirit techniques, you can't actually mobilize it.
"Encouragement, wholehearted support—that's the best boost for your spirit. Don't underestimate it. Studies show that spirits more attuned to their spirit masters break through more easily."
Su Hao nodded solemnly, indicating he understood.
The relationship between spirit master and spirit was one of mutual benefit—you nurture me, I help you.
Higher levels meant closer bonds.
...
Pressure Chamber.
Wood-type, B-2 Room.
The middle-aged woman left the Moonlit Dancer in the lobby and followed him over.
"Let the spirit go in. Inside, the pressure will gradually increase over time, peaking at the tenth minute, then holding steady for a while. Whether it succeeds depends on whether the spirit can grasp the breakthrough opportunity before the tenth minute."
Su Hao exchanged a glance with Dream Moth.
He gave it encouragement.
"Coo?"
"Alright."
"Coo?"
"Al...right."
"Coo?"
Su Hao picked up Dream Moth, flexed his arm muscles, and tossed it.
Biu~
A Dream Moth was flung into the Pressure Chamber, fluttering its wings to steady itself, staring with wide, innocent eyes.
The door closed.
Su Hao stood at the only window, looking inside.
He couldn't see anything unusual.
But from Dream Moth's gradually serious little face, he could tell... the pressure had descended.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Time passed.
Su Hao and the female teacher both stood outside the Pressure Chamber, quietly watching.
Soon, it reached the tenth minute.
Peak pressure.
Dream Moth's wings fluttered very slowly, dense spiritual energy swirling around it, radiating rings of emerald light.
But...
There was no sign of a breakthrough.
Through the contract link and repeated comparisons with the panel data,
Su Hao realized the pressure wasn't enough.
In fact, the little one was gradually adapting to the Pressure Chamber's environment.
He thought it over and had to ask, "Um, teacher, can the pressure inside be increased a bit more?"