The explosion of the oversized energy ball sent wave after wave of shockwaves rippling outward.
Su Hao felt a gust of wind slapping wildly against his face, *smack smack smack smack*.
It completely messed up his handsome hairstyle.
"How many tons...?"
He looked at the display screen above the target, where the attack intensity value was rapidly climbing.
It instantly surpassed 300 tons!
400 tons!
500 tons!
Finally, it stopped at 588 tons!
"Holy crap!"
Su Hao turned his head at the sound and saw a staff member whose mouth could swallow a duck egg.
His glasses were crooked, and he didn't even bother to straighten them.
After a dazed moment, he quickly checked if the test data was wrong.
Then he slapped himself across the face.
Forget the data—just the sheer force of that energy ball's explosion—was that something an ordinary intermediate-level spirit could pull off?
Freak!
"Xiao Su, this silkworm of yours is really... really..."
No matter how much Bear Instructor racked his brain, he couldn't recall any spirit in his memory that was this freakish right after breaking through.
But then he reconsidered.
This silkworm had always had high spiritual power; it might be exceptionally talented, and Su Hao's nurturing played a part too.
Plus, the silkworm had absorbed a very rare Attribute Heart with an absorption rate far beyond normal spirits, and he'd heard that King Zhou had given them a Spirit Spring reward... That was likely why its ultimate move was so strong right after breaking through.
Bear Instructor's analysis was logical and well-founded, which put Su Hao at ease.
'I was a bit hasty.'
Still, he thought back—King Zhou had seen the silkworm match up to the White Seal and hadn't asked many questions.
That meant while the silkworm's case was rare, it wasn't impossible—some people and spirits could achieve it.
Maybe the higher-ups also knew the multi-compression technique.
Or maybe they had other special training methods.
Su Hao didn't know.
The power of the silkworm's energy ball exceeded his expectations.
But when he thought it through, it made sense.
With double compression, the silkworm's spiritual power was roughly equal to 0.9 of a newly initiated spirit.
Now, with triple compression and the big compression upon breaking through the initiation stage, it was like 0.9 + 0.45 + 1 = 2.35. Any ordinary move it used would be over twice as strong.
588 tons after charging wasn't too much.
The staff member finally finished checking and confirmed the machine wasn't malfunctioning.
He swallowed his saliva and asked, "Are you going to keep going?
"I mean, try to break 600 tons."
The silkworm gave it a shot.
As it turned out, its first attempt was the best.
The next two tries scored 580 tons and 566 tons.
Its performance gradually declined.
No luck with advanced-level spirits.
Su Hao didn't feel regret either.
After all, since Little Fire Crow hadn't broken through, his current Spirit Master rank couldn't advance to advanced anyway.
...
With the test done, in a few days, Su Hao would be a proud intermediate Spirit Master.
"I heard the homeroom teachers for Class Three and Class Four are only intermediate too."
Su Hao felt that wasn't right.
He was getting a bit full of himself.
Walking with a swagger.
But I can't help it!
"Now that you're at the initiation stage, you need to plan the silkworm's future development path. The difference between pre-initiation and post-initiation training is huge. As a spirit breeder, you should know this, so I won't go on."
Bear Instructor was unusually talkative today. He continued, "The silkworm's final evolution is the Golden-Winged Sky Silkworm. There are two mainstream training paths: one is the close-combat thread-cutting style..."
He explained.
Su Hao recalled the older spirit breeder's Six-Winged Flying Silkworm, which followed the thread-cutting path.
It focused on strengthening those wings and its body.
It could easily slice through ultimate moves, earning the nickname "Golden Killer."
"The other is the close-combat technique style, a battle method centered on combining multiple moves, emphasizing the spirit's ability to master moves that work at both long and short ranges.
"Your silkworm is very agile with its moves, so it could try the second path.
"Of course, this is just a suggestion. The real choice is up to you and your silkworm."
Su Hao could only nod at Bear Instructor's goodwill.
He hadn't planned for the silkworm to follow the Golden-Winged Sky Silkworm sequence.
But he couldn't say that.
He'd have to wait until after the silkworm evolved.
Then, using the excuse he'd already prepared, he'd "reverse-engineer" the evolution conditions for the silkworm's new path and publish one or two papers—that would do.
Back in the day, when evolution plans for spirits were still rough, many spirits evolved by chance.
Spirit breeders would analyze and deduce the required evolution conditions based on the spirit's training direction, the environment at evolution, and the materials prepared.
A few experiments later, it would work.
Su Hao's plan was to make it seem like the silkworm "accidentally" stumbled onto a different evolution route.
"Gu nuo~ Gu nuo!"
Just as he reached the guild hall and was about to leave, Su Hao suddenly heard the silkworm's urgent cries from above his head.
Still lost in thought, he took a few more steps before the silkworm grabbed his hair.
"Gu nuo nuo!"
The silkworm tugged his hair, twisting his head like a pointer to the right.
Su Hao turned his neck ninety degrees with a *crack*.
He saw a huge poster on the side of the guild hall.
At the center of the poster was an Elephant General in a custom suit, wearing an understatedly luxurious Lao Li Shi watch and black sunglasses, surrounded by several other fashionably dressed spirits.
That Elephant General looked vaguely familiar to Su Hao.
After a moment's thought, he realized it was the cover star of that thick book from before—Elephant General Bard.
Had he become an idol?
Su Hao looked closer and found that wasn't entirely the case.
It wasn't promoting some product, but rather a campaign by the Spirit Union for "Spirit ID Cards."
The little guy was clearly intrigued, its big, watery eyes fixed on the text, unable to look away.
"Gu nuo! Gu nuo nuo!"
"You want to get an ID card?"
Su Hao found it troublesome.
This was the first generation of spirit ID cards just launched by the Union—optional, not mandatory.
To apply, the spirit needed to be accompanied by its Spirit Master.
"Actually, getting an ID card for your spirit isn't a bad idea," Bear Instructor chimed in. "Many high-level Spirit Masters' spirits need special training and 'cultivation,' and they're often not kept by their side.
"With a spirit ID card, those high-level spirits can travel much more conveniently.
"I heard it started when a certain King-level Spirit Master's spirit got lost on its way back from training because it had no sense of direction. It wanted to take the high-speed rail but couldn't buy a ticket without its Spirit Master.
"Later, that King-level proposed a related topic at the Union meeting, which eventually led to the first generation of spirit ID cards."
Bear Instructor looked at Su Hao's silkworm and Little Fire Crow.
"With an ID card, everything will be easier in the future. The Union is probably going to fully implement it in a few months, and during this promotion period, it's free to apply."
Hearing Bear Instructor's words, the silkworm nodded frantically.
This big guy was a good person.
Little Fire Crow tilted its head.
Though it didn't know why the boss was so enthusiastic, nodding along was the right move.