August 13th, Wednesday, Sunny. Day 16 of the contract silkworm. Day 2 of school. Formal classes for the Spirit Studies course began. On the desk lay a new book published by the Spirit Contract Alliance, titled *Starting with a Contracted Spirit*, which detailed how to grow from a newcomer who had just contracted a spirit into a true, qualified spirit master. The book wasn’t as dry as typical textbooks; instead, it explained the stages of a spirit master and their spirits in simple, clear terms. It was interspersed with tales of famous spirit masters’ rise to fame. Su Hao opened it and was immediately absorbed. It felt like he could hear the “ding-dong” notification sound of intelligence points increasing. This was double the joy. The life of a spirit master was so wonderful and delightful. In the classroom, besides the students, there were spirits—some crouching, some standing, some lying beside their masters. But they were all quiet. Even the mischievous spirits that had ignored their masters yesterday and gone off on a wild spree were now putting on a “well-behaved.jpg” act. The silkworm was no exception. Its big eyes occasionally glanced ahead at a life-sized puppet... oh no, a life-sized marionette. The marionette wore a floral dress, with threads connecting its hands and feet, suspended in midair by a cross-shaped wooden hanger. Its eyes were lively and animated, rolling around as it scanned the rookie spirits in the room. —A string puppet! It was the evolved form of a wooden puppet. Su Hao didn’t need to look to know it was the “pressure” radiating from the string puppet that had cowed all the spirits in the classroom. It was pretty impressive. The silkworm closed its eyes, opened them, closed them again, then crawled and crawled until it hid behind Su Hao. Su Hao: “…” At the podium, Old Chen calmly lectured, “Since you’ve all chosen the Spirit Studies course, you have only one goal: to become a true spirit master.” She paused, “You should know the requirements to become a certified spirit master of the Alliance: owning a beginner-level spirit. “So, what exactly is a beginner-level spirit?” Old Chen’s gaze swept the room, and many students, afraid of being called on, timidly lowered their heads. Su Hao was immersed in the ocean of learning, immune to the homeroom teacher’s stern stare. Old Chen had no intention of asking questions anyway. “When a spirit’s spiritual energy reaches 100, it can start attempting to compress that energy within itself. After compression, whether using special moves or simple spiritual energy applications, the effects multiply... That’s when a spirit can truly be considered a beginner. “Growth-stage spirits are in a period of rapid development. Many spirits, because they weren’t adequately nurtured during this stage and didn’t absorb enough spiritual energy, end up with less than 100 spiritual energy by adulthood. Once their potential is exhausted, breaking through to the beginner level becomes extremely difficult.” The rookies in the class listened intently and now understood why they were always told to feed their spirits jade powder. Spirits that only ate regular food had almost no chance of breaking through. “If you can raise your spirit to the beginner level before the college entrance exam, getting into a top spirit university is practically guaranteed,” Old Chen said. “If you don’t break through but have spiritual energy above 90, you still have a chance to get into a spirit university. In short, if you don’t want to be eliminated, you must get serious starting today!” A student weakly raised a small hand. “Speak.” “Teacher, what level is your string puppet?” Old Chen snorted, “You can’t even remember the name. Go back and thoroughly read the spirit encyclopedia...” She continued, “After the beginner level, spirits are divided into low, mid, and high grades. Above that is the elite level. The same goes for spirit masters. My string puppet is high-grade, but none of that matters to you. Don’t aim too high; solidifying your spirit’s foundation is what you need to focus on now. “Let’s talk about before the beginner level. If we want to categorize, spirits can be divided into several stages. The first stage is just entering the growth phase, where your spirits are now. The second stage is when spiritual energy exceeds 30, and you can start learning special moves—special moves are a more advanced way to use spiritual energy and are key to unleashing a spirit’s strength. “The third stage is when spiritual energy exceeds 60, allowing for multiple special moves. With spiritual energy nurturing them, the spirit’s physique also improves. “The fourth stage is when spiritual energy reaches or exceeds 100, and compression begins. You can also try designing a tactical system for your spirit... “My requirement for you is to try to get your spirit’s spiritual energy to 60 points by the end of this semester. Besides supplementing with jade powder and other nutrients, this also requires some corresponding training to fully tap into your spirit’s potential.” For others, measuring their spirit’s spiritual energy was troublesome and required going to the appropriate facilities. Su Hao opened his panel and glanced at it. The silkworm’s stats had become: Physique 11; Spiritual Energy 18. The distance to the first stage of 30 spiritual energy didn’t seem that far, did it? ... The Spirit Studies course had few classes. Only two to three sessions a day required being in the classroom. There was also an outdoor class teaching students how to train their spirits. Su Hao listened attentively. Regardless of intelligence points, much of the knowledge opened a brand-new door for him. But, “For my spirit cultivation plan, I’ll still stick with the panel.” Over the next half-month, everything settled into a routine. Monday: The silkworm trained speed and endurance on the school’s treadmill—long-distance running was no longer enough for it. Tuesday: The silkworm trained speed and agility on the school’s “stake array.” Wednesday: The silkworm used the school’s “impact force tester” to measure the full force of its ramming. —The evaluation showed it could break a bowl-thick tree trunk. Thursday: The silkworm trained spiritual energy at school... Friday: The silkworm... Of course, Su Hao played a crucial role in all this, turning what seemed like ordinary training into extraordinary results. “Gu-nuo, gu... nuo...” The silkworm crawled and crawled, letting out a faint sigh, its eyes spinning in circles. Taking advantage of the moment when the silkworm was incapacitated, Su Hao scooped it up, stretched its body, and fixed it onto a rack. He applied the painstakingly bought spiritual medicine essential oil, then sprinkled some ground medicinal powder over it. He flipped it over and spread it evenly. Under the simple rack, he turned on the stove and slowly baked it over low heat to promote the silkworm’s absorption of the medicine. The powerless silkworm let itself be handled, looking utterly resigned. It was already a useless silkworm. On September 1st, the day when first and second-year students started school, Su Hao opened the silkworm’s information. Its physique had grown to 18, and its spiritual energy had just reached 30—the second stage Old Chen had mentioned! This was the most basic progress. Some hidden improvements, not shown on the panel, were also significant. For instance, the skin cultivated through the “baking” method was gradually becoming comparable to a shell.