After more than a month away, the first thing Wu Ling did upon returning to Spirit City was bring Oscar to meet his teacher, Bibi Dong.
Bibi Dong had certainly already learned the result, but whether out of emotion or proper form, meeting her once was still the right thing to do.
The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament would begin in two months, so Bibi Dong had been rather busy as Pope. Even so, Wu Ling was her disciple, and Oscar's status as a food-type innate full Spirit Power talent was weighty enough. She made time in her packed schedule to meet them both.
As Pope, seeing such a talented person join Spirit Hall naturally meant giving words of encouragement first. Of course, teaching resources would be tilted in his favor too. At the end, Bibi Dong personally wrote a note and had Wu Ling take Oscar to find someone.
That person was named Stephen. He was a food-type Spirit Master of Spirit Hall. His Martial Soul was Longevity Noodles, and his Spirit Power level was eighty-one, making him a Spirit Emperor.
With Bibi Dong's handwritten note, Oscar easily became Stephen's disciple. But judging from Stephen's impatient eagerness, Wu Ling felt that even without Bibi Dong's note, Stephen still would have accepted Oscar.
After all, a food-type Spirit Master with innate full Spirit Power was practically the ideal disciple for every food-type Spirit Master in the world.
Stephen's Martial Soul was clearly Longevity Noodles, but he had no children. According to him, he was a late bloomer. In his youth, he had never taken a wife, and once he grew old, he no longer had any such intention.
At Stephen's request, Oscar moved directly into his home and stayed there to study. Once Wu Ling settled Oscar, he returned to his own courtyard.
Oscar joining as support was no reason for Wu Ling to slack off. No matter the time, only power that belonged to oneself was truly reliable.
Besides, when it came to support ability, there was probably no 'support-type' Spirit Master in the world who could surpass him. One Heroic Spirit possession enhanced attack, defense, speed, and Spirit Power across the board.
Even without Heroic Spirit possession, Wu Ling believed that as long as Rose was given enough time, she could make every Spirit Master in the world stare in helpless envy.
Sure enough, as soon as Wu Ling returned home, Rose excitedly jogged back to her own room. She had spent a month on the road without doing research, and now she was eager to move her hands again.
Although Rose had not physically worked on research during that month, many ideas had already formed in her mind. It likely would not be long before Wu Ling saw the thing he wanted.
Research and invention could be fast, or it could be slow. The core was inspiration and direction.
Without inspiration or direction, research was slow, like a headless fly spinning in circles.
But once both existed, and as long as the knowledge base was sufficient, one only had to assemble the pieces step by step like building blocks.
With Wu Ling's third Spirit Skill, Rose possessed Medea's knowledge and did not lack for technical reserves. As for inspiration and direction, for a young man of a new era like Wu Ling, that was no problem at all.
Because the courtyard was cleaned every day, once Rose ran back into her room, Azure and Ember came out without needing Wu Ling to say a word. They began training on the grass in the courtyard.
Seeing everything return to its proper track, Wu Ling nodded in satisfaction. Without resting, he also began cultivating.
Cultivation was inherently dull and tedious. What it demanded was persistence. No real power could be gained without effort. As a certain king once said, only after enduring seven layers of loneliness could one become a true powerhouse. The boredom of cultivation might count as one layer of loneliness.
And so, two months passed.
"Grandpa Ghost, this is this month's potion. Grandpa Yue, this one is yours."
As he spoke, Wu Ling handed a bottle of black potion and a bottle of yellow potion to Ghost and Yue Guan respectively.
Ghost accepted his potion without saying much, but Yue Guan blew Wu Ling a kiss. "Little Ling, thank Rose for me. Oh, right, has there been any progress on the medicine I asked Rose to make?"
Wu Ling maintained his smile without changing expression. "Rose said that if this were meant to transform an ordinary person, everything would be easy. But Grandpa Yue, you are a Titled Sage-level powerhouse. Your body is no longer something that can be changed casually. It will require a great deal of time and special herbs to complete."
"Especially the most important immortal herb, the Yin Yang Flower. At present, we still do not know where to find it."
Hearing this, Yue Guan felt a swirl of complicated emotions. He had not expected the greatest obstacle to realizing his dream to be himself.
It was like the saying: once I have the cultivation, I cannot realize my dream. If I abandon that cultivation, I lose the qualification to realize it.
As for finding the Yin Yang Flower, he did not dare to think about it. Even Spirit Hall's treasury did not contain a single immortal herb. What ability did he have to find a Yin Yang Flower?
Wu Ling did not say much to the disappointed Yue Guan. Although he knew that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well contained many immortal herbs, whether a Yin Yang Flower existed there was still unknown. For now, it was better not to give Yue Guan hope.
Once Yue Guan returned behind Bibi Dong, she stored the potion in her storage ring.
"Ling'er, did Rose make anything new this time?"
Ever since Rose returned, Bibi Dong has asked Wu Ling this every time she visits. For Bibi Dong, this was like opening a mystery box. Whenever Rose brought out something new that she had never seen before, a ripple would pass through her otherwise calm and tedious daily life.
"There is something new this time, Teacher."
Wu Ling then handed three booklets to the three people before him. On the cover of each booklet was the word 'Advanced.'
"This is the advanced cultivation method. It can increase a person's cultivation speed by thirty percent. Compared with the ten percent boost of the basic method and the twenty percent boost of the intermediate method, it is much more efficient."
After receiving the method, Bibi Dong opened it and began reading. As she flipped through it, praise came naturally.
"A thirty percent increase in cultivation efficiency. If I had cultivated with this method from childhood, I might have become a Titled Sage before thirty."
After a rough skim of the contents, Bibi Dong closed the booklet and solemnly put it away.
Then came the main point. This time, Bibi Dong was not especially serious. She merely said in a casual tone, "By the way, Ling'er, you should have heard about it too. The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament is about to begin."