Soon enough, the bell signaling the end of class in the building rang faintly, and students began to come out one after another, starting to collect their own Spirit Beasts from Liu Yu.

"Thank you, Teacher Liu."

"Teacher, you've worked hard."

"Goodbye, Teacher!"

Liu Yu nodded to the students as a sign of acknowledgment while continuing to stand in place, waiting.

He knew Lin Guang had a habit of continuing meditation after class, so he planned to wait for a while. However, after just a few minutes, he suddenly noticed Lin Guang's handsome face with glasses appearing beside Vishdair, saying something.

He stepped forward.

"Lin Guang."

"Teacher Liu."

Lin Guang looked up at him with a shy smile: "Could you wait for me a moment, please."

Liu Yu was a bit taken aback but nodded.

Under his slightly puzzled gaze, Lin Guang suddenly stretched out both hands, clasping them together in front of his chest, then closed his eyes.

Liu Yu's face suddenly showed a surprised expression.

Because as soon as Lin Guang closed his eyes, his hands began to emit a white glow visible to the naked eye, and the air around him gently stirred, with many light spots surrounding his body, rotating around his face and then pouring into his hands.

The perception of a Three-Star Spirit Master made him feel the flow and transmission of Ether, and he blurted out: "Ethereum Charging!"

Vishdair also looked at her hands in surprise, emitting a faint glow—she felt the Ether consumed by the skills used earlier in her body was being quickly replenished by the Ether transmitted from the other end of the contract.

After about ten seconds, Lin Guang opened his eyes, stopped his hand movements, and showed a thoughtful expression.

"So this Spirit Pattern works by using Spiritual Power to stir the Ether around, and then transmitting it to the contract target through the contract? What's the maximum distance effect? Since it relates to the Ether concentration in the surrounding environment, carrying some Ethereal Crystals should increase efficiency? How does the ratio of Spirit Beast Attributes and the various Ether types nearby affect the outcome..."

Lin Guang suddenly realized, looked at Liu Yu: "Ah, sorry, Teacher, I got a bit carried away, is there something you need?"

It seems I've underestimated the word "genius" too much... Liu Yu thought.

Young people are truly remarkable.

He swallowed the prepared lecture, only sighing: "Nothing, I just realized I'm getting old."

"Huh? You look quite young."

...

After the little incident.

Lin Guang boarded the bus with Vishdair, heading toward the battle arena.

Sitting on the bus, he stuck his half of his head out the window, feeling the breeze, his hair slightly disheveled, yet a considerable arc lifted at the corner of his mouth, indicating a good mood.

Thanks to the "extra lessons" at the Spirit Rune Meditation Hall over the weekend, he not only completed and mastered the Tier One non-attribute Spirit Pattern [Ethereum Charging], but his Spirit Master level was also upgraded to Level 9.

However, this level is not yet optimal for learning the Two-Star non-attribute Spirit Pattern [Barrier], and unlocking it now would waste a valuable Spirit Pattern Crystal.

The two got off at the station at the battle area, entered the massive square combat facility, and walked through the corridor to the special combat arena for Grade One.

"Huh?"

Lin Guang just walked in as the class bell rang, thinking the combat class for Class A of Grade One was almost over, with everyone packing up ready to leave.

Yet what he saw were over thirty people from Class A gathering around the circular combat arena, genuinely watching two people battle seriously.

Standing at the referee's spot was, unsurprisingly, the instructor for the class, Yu Haidong. What truly surprised him was the two people in the middle were Wang Dawei and Lv Rui.

"Ah, Lin Guang is here!"

Someone shouted, and everyone turned to look at Lin Guang coming over, even the two on the field couldn't help but glance sideways.

Lin Guang waved his hand and shouted: "You keep fighting, I'm just passing by!"

Hearing this, everyone turned their heads back, yet Wang Dawei on the field still couldn't resist making a muscle-flexing move towards Lin Guang, as if showing off his confidence.

"Why are you still here fighting when the bell has rung?"

Lin Guang walked over to the chubby Deng Yifeng and asked softly.

One is the top student in class, the other is the usual chatterbox; for these two suddenly to start fighting, there must be a reason.

"Ah, you really don't know about this."

Deng Yifeng explained: "This morning, the homeroom teacher announced in class that the second slot for the exchange competition is decided, it's Wang Dawei, that happy-go-lucky guy."

Lin Guang raised his eyebrows: "Pre-decided? Wasn't it supposed to be announced in two weeks?"

A nearby classmate couldn't help but roll eyes: "You're the first pre-decided one, why so surprised?"

Another nodding in agreement: "That's right."

Knowing their teasing was not malicious, Lin Guang paid them no mind, just slightly surprised: "Why not choose Lv Rui? I've seen her Fire Spirit Bird in action, it's pretty good in battle, isn't it?"

——There are three slots for the exchange competition in Grade One.

Putting aside Lin Guang, who was obviously not a contender, the remaining two slots were originally planned to be "selected from interested elites in each class and a closed battle held in two weeks to decide."

The reason it's tentative is because the final decision still rests in the principal's hands. If a student suddenly makes significant progress or has an encounter that boosts their combat power greatly, the principal might decide the slots early to allocate more resources for higher chances of victory.

Everyone knows Wang Dawei's previous performance as fair at best, always full of talk, with his martial arts grade just about average, though he's double green, his Spirit Beast command skills probably didn't have much advantage over most, nor had he pre-learned Spirit Patterns like He Shenghuang—given his personality, had he learned any Spirit Pattern the whole class would know that same day.

Meanwhile, Lv Rui from the same class was different, her grades only slightly below He Shenghuang's, also double green, her future guaranteed with blue-green configuration, her family had land and buildings, not lacking resources, and it's heard she's mastered a Spirit Rune Secret Technique, yet she still couldn't get the "guaranteed pass" qualification from the principal.

Lin Guang was more aware of Wang Dawei's situation.

Wang Dawei's White Phoenix Parrot had just taken a potion Lin Guang concocted a few days ago, and its power might even be slightly chaotic due to awakening in the bloodline. How did he get selected?

Some classmates chimed in: "The homeroom teacher said his big bird learned a very impressive new Skill... but who knows the real situation, maybe his dad exerted some influence again."

Considering the Integrated Research Center has a building named "Wang Xiaosheng Experimental Building," this scenario might really be true.

But hearing this, Lin Guang showed somewhat surprised expression.

"New Skill? Could it mean—"

"What, Lin Guang, do you know something?"

"Just watch directly."

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