The evolution was very successful. Kaguya Spirit was a bit neurotic, but Su Hao figured... that probably wasn't a big deal.
He cleaned up the leftover materials, hopped onto his Husky Qilin, and headed not to the dormitory but to the training area.
"Beep, student card." "Beep, intermediate training room."
The ceiling lights flickered on, illuminating the entire empty training room as if it were broad daylight.
But in that daylight, a faint, shadowy figure drifted about.
"I need to run some tests. Data alone isn't intuitive enough," Su Hao thought.
He glanced at Kaguya Spirit's list, which had only four moves.
A bit sparse.
After all, unlike Big Fatty Bear, it wasn't a second-generation inheritor.
The only dark-type move, "Dark Energy Ball," had been self-learned during evolution.
"It used to be a light orb, so it must be more familiar with light-type moves. Aim at that target and use Light Energy Ball!" Su Hao commanded.
Kaguya Spirit, which had been swaying back and forth with a hint of resemblance to Husky Qilin, suddenly stopped.
It tilted its head, as if thinking.
After several seconds, it lifted its head. Its pitch-black hair gradually brightened, shifting to a blazing white with a faint golden glow.
Dazzling and radiant.
Its body, seemingly made of mist, also changed from a dark hue to a bright one.
It stood there, hair flowing, countless rays of light bursting forth, like a holy priest.
Hearing Su Hao's words, it pressed its palms together. Between its hazy hands, a tiny speck of light appeared, then rapidly expanded. In an instant, it became a dazzling light-type energy ball.
Hovering between its palms.
"Short casting time, strong stability—Kaguya Spirit's use of light-type moves is indeed impressive," Su Hao mused.
He watched as Kaguya Spirit raised its hand, aimed at the target... and gently tossed the ball.
The radiant orb floated slowly, arcing through the air before finally striking the target.
"Fuu~ Fuu~" It closed its eyes, then peeked open to look.
Su Hao: "..."
He needed to sort out his thoughts.
From the moment the energy ball was thrown to when it hit the target, the whole process took... a full three seconds!
Three seconds!
Were you throwing an energy ball? Even tossing a bouquet wasn't that slow!
"Something must be wrong here," he thought.
He then had Kaguya Spirit use Light Shield and Healing Light.
It raised its hand, and light scattered. In an instant, a massive, translucent golden shield appeared before him.
The next moment, a bright pillar of light descended, enveloping him.
A warm sensation washed over Su Hao.
The fatigue from staying up all night vanished. Every cell in his body seemed to rejoice, and he felt more than ten times more energized.
"The effect is great, but I'll need Husky Qilin to test the actual healing ability—"
Su Hao turned to look, only to see the retreating back of a Husky Qilin fleeing.
It had opened the training room door itself, then closed it. In Su Hao's contract sense, it was rapidly moving away.
"Forget it... Let's try the Dark Energy Ball."
Suppressing the urge to drag Husky Qilin back, he gave the order.
Instantly, Kaguya Spirit's blazing white hair turned pitch-black.
It spread its arms, and in each palm, a deep, dark orb appeared. It thrust them forward.
In an instant, the dark energy balls exploded on the target.
Boom!
Boom~!
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!
The dark energy balls appeared, were thrown, appeared, were thrown. The sturdy fixed target trembled violently under the bombardment. Kaguya Spirit's black hair flew wildly as it let out a "Hee hee hee hee hee—" laugh.
It fired off dozens of dark energy balls in a row until its spiritual energy ran out. Somewhat tired, it stopped, ran to the target, reached out, and yanked—
Bang, bang, bang~!
The already cracked target finally broke apart under its pull.
Kaguya Spirit grew even more excited, waving its arms and dancing.
Su Hao: "..."
"Its use of dark energy balls isn't as good as light energy balls, but..."
He looked at the black Kaguya Spirit, then recalled the white one, and felt...
Kaguya Spirit wasn't just a little off in the head—it had a serious condition.
...
"Quiet, settle down. Turn your hair white."
"Hee? Hee hee? Fuu hee~ Fuu~ Fuu~"
The white Kaguya Spirit stood quietly and elegantly to the side, its blurry face's eyes still curiously scanning the surroundings.
Su Hao reached out, slowly, bit by bit, toward Kaguya Spirit's shoulder. His hand passed right through.
"Warm, with a tactile sensation, but somewhat illusory..."
After fiddling with his hand inside its body for a while, he concluded, "At this stage, only its hair is solid. The rest of its body is an illusory elemental form... When it evolves into Eternal Night Shining Maiden, the elemental body will become solid. In that regard, it's the same as the other two paths."
Su Hao had already unlocked the evolution conditions for Eternal Night Shining Maiden, giving him deep insight into its final form, along with considerable understanding of Holy Radiance Spirit and Dark Star Spirit.
After thinking for a while, he had an idea for Kaguya Spirit's future development.
"Right now, when using light- or dark-type moves, it has to stay in two different states. The switch between them has a delay and is also affected by the environment."
It was nighttime. Even with the training room lit like day, switching to dark form was relatively smooth.
Switching to light form took a few seconds of lag.
"First step, Kaguya Spirit, you need to achieve seamless light-dark switching."
"Fuu fuu~"
"Second step, you need to be able to use dark-type moves in light form and light-type moves in dark form. Only then can you potentially combine the two types of moves."
"Fuu fuu~"
"Third step, enhance the power of your moves."
Su Hao observed that while Kaguya Spirit had the flaw of needing to switch states, it could also be turned into an advantage.
"Develop the light-dark switching into a true light-dark stance, like Dull Crow's Fire Feather Stance."
That involved light- and dark-type secret techniques, which Su Hao had no leads on yet.
He decided to start with the moves.
Opening his spirit beast bracelet, he purchased several techniques.
Including "Light Beam," "Dark Touch," "Dark Star Cluster," "Polar Day," "Polar Night"...
There weren't many light- and dark-type moves. After browsing Whale Island University's library website, he only found these few.
He patted Kaguya Spirit's hair and said, "I've found some online courses for you. Watch them first, then I'll teach you."
"Fuu? Fuu hee~"
Kaguya Spirit nodded obediently.
...
After resting for a while and being fed some jade powder by Su Hao, Kaguya Spirit had mostly recovered. It continued practicing, getting used to the power of its new form.
Its form was clearly different from both Dawn Spirit and Twilight Spirit.
Su Hao thought he should inform Senior Brother Wu and Master Yao.
He pulled out his phone and noticed the time.
It was just past five in the morning, still dark. He couldn't call, so he sent messages to Senior Brother Wu and Master Yao on WeChat.
"I'll have to write another paper when I get back. Ah, the troubles of a genius."
As he thought this, his phone vibrated.
The screen lit up.
Senior Brother Wu: "What, you again...??!" Senior Brother Wu: "Puppet controller staring wide-eyed.jpg" Senior Brother Wu: "Where are you now?"
Su Hao: "..."
Wasn't Senior Brother Wu very protective of his hairline?
Just as he was about to type, his phone vibrated again.
Master Yao: "What? Wait, I'll be there in three minutes!"
Su Hao: "..." +1
He rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
Senior Brother Wu and Master Yao were both prominent figures in the country. Maybe the reason they achieved such high success was because...
They'd seen their phones at five in the morning?
...
At that moment, the first glimmer of dawn had yet to appear.
The duty officer in the training area lobby yawned, scrolling through his phone out of boredom.
Suddenly~
A figure appeared, flying in like a ghost.
The duty officer started to speak, "Hello, may I—"
Before he could finish, the figure zipped into a corridor and vanished.
The duty officer froze for a moment, then stiffened.
"Wait, wasn't that... King Wu?"
As he thought this, another figure rushed in, slammed a hand on the service counter, and a loud clang echoed.
The newcomer asked urgently, "Which training room is Su Hao in? Check for me, quick!"
"Ah? Oh."
The duty officer blinked, recognizing the man with the noticeably receding hairline as Master Yao!
He quickly checked. "Room B-16."
The figure flashed and disappeared in an instant.
The duty officer rubbed his eyes, feeling stunned.
Shocking: A certain king and a certain spirit cultivation master came to the training area late at night, all for him...!!
...
Inside the training room.
Senior Brother Wu stared wide-eyed.
The puppet controller also stared wide-eyed.
Master Yao stared even wider, his eyes practically bulging.
"It switches between light and dark attributes? No, no—it's just light suppressing dark and dark suppressing light, manifesting one attribute externally. A remarkable discovery! Based on this inference, perhaps we can—"
Master Yao muttered to himself, pulling out paper and pen to scribble.
After a while, he suddenly turned to look at Su Hao.
A burning gaze.
A middle-aged man's burning gaze.
Su Hao couldn't take it.
He looked at the Husky Qilin, which had just been summoned and "caught" back.
Originally, he'd thought about mentioning Husky Qilin's new form too.
But now...
That middle-aged man's burning gaze was too terrifying. Next time. He'd save it for next time.