Bibi Dong adjusted her posture slightly, and dense Spirit Power surged from her body.
Sensing the intensity of her Spirit Power, everyone except Chrysanthemum Sage and Ghost Sage showed a flash of surprise.
Bibi Dong had clearly only reached level ninety two years ago. Yet the depth of her Spirit Power now did not resemble that of a level-ninety-one Titled Sage at all.
Titled Sages such as Snake Spear and Porcupinefish, who were at level ninety-two, could even feel considerable pressure from her.
Level ninety-three. That was Bibi Dong's current Spirit Power level, and she had not merely just entered it. Even among level-ninety-three Titled Sages, she stood around the upper-middle range.
Over the past two years, she had first absorbed a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast's Spirit Ring, then used cultivation methods and potions from Wu Ling. Under all those factors, Bibi Dong had reached this level in only two years.
For Titled Sages who had remained stuck at their current level for three years, five years, or even decades, that speed was already astonishing.
"I imagine all Elders here have many questions. I can only say that half the credit for my progress belongs to my disciple, Wu Ling. This meeting was also requested by Ling'er."
As she spoke, Bibi Dong looked at Wu Ling and nodded lightly, signaling that he could begin.
Facing the gazes of fifteen Titled Sages, Wu Ling remained calm and smiled as he began his presentation.
"Greetings, Elders. I am Wu Ling, Teacher's disciple. Before I explain why I asked Teacher to convene this meeting, I hope everyone will first examine these three booklets."
Wu Ling circled the table. Each time he reached someone, he stopped and took three small books from his storage ring. Their covers were respectively marked Low, Middle, and High.
As he handed them out, he said, "Please read them in order from Low to Middle to High, then try the contents written inside."
For Titled Sages, reading ten lines at a glance was a basic skill. After everyone finished the booklet marked Low, all the Elders who had not already known about it looked at Wu Ling with strange eyes, then began circulating their Spirit Power.
Every person present understood their own Spirit Power intimately. After running one full circuit according to the method in the booklet, they discovered that the Spirit Power they absorbed this time was truly ten percent higher than usual.
In an instant, their heated gazes seemed almost capable of burning through the two remaining books. The Grand Elders in particular had completely lost their previous calm expressions.
After reaching Titled Sage, the gap between each level grew wider and wider, especially after level ninety-five.
And now, they were being told that a simple cultivation method could increase total Spirit Power absorption by ten percent. How could they not be excited?
That ten percent represented not only faster cultivation, but also a ten percent advantage in Spirit Power recovery during battle against opponents of the same level.
They were excited, but powerful people still had pride. As if they had agreed beforehand, they all picked up the second booklet marked Middle at the same time.
After reading and testing it, they did not stop for long before picking up the third booklet.
When they began circulating the method in the third booklet, they ran it again and again. If Bibi Dong had not interrupted them, they might have cultivated in that conference room until the end of time.
Facing their heated gazes, Bibi Dong remained calm. "I know what you want to ask. But I already said it. Ling'er proposed this meeting, and all three cultivation methods came from him alone."
As everyone's disbelieving eyes turned to him again, Wu Ling remained composed and began telling a story.
"Elders, since you have already verified those three cultivation methods, allow me to tell you a story."
"At the beginning of the story, gods still walked upon the earth..."
Wu Ling retold the story he had once told Bibi Dong, polishing it further. His explanation to Bibi Dong was that as his Spirit Rings increased, he had gained more memories from the same time period but from different perspectives.
The story lasted half an hour, but the Elders and Grand Elders did not find it tedious. On the contrary, when it ended, they still wanted to hear more.
After that, Wu Ling displayed his Martial Soul and explained its ability.
Wu Ling would hide some of his information from outsiders, but internally, he did not conceal too much. Of course, the premise was that he knew no one present was a traitor.
Explaining his Martial Soul after telling the story was his first purpose: to turn himself from someone valued by the Pope and Elders into someone valued by all of Spirit Hall.
"Wait. The story is impressive, your Martial Soul is certainly special, and the three cultivation methods do serve as evidence. Even so, I still cannot fully believe your account."
The speaker was Golden Crocodile Sage. As an elder even senior to Lucius Cross by a slight margin, his decades of worldview and proud personality did not allow him to accept Wu Ling's words so easily.
"I truly do not know much about what existed before Spirit Hall's founding, and the records are sparse. But that does not mean a child's well-made story is enough for me to believe it. Anyone can invent a story. The only difference is whether it is good or bad."
Once Golden Crocodile Sage spoke, the Elders who had been half-believing turned back to Wu Ling. They wanted to see how he would explain himself, or whether he could produce something convincing.
Wu Ling had long anticipated this. Part of his work over the past week had been preparation for this exact moment.
Seeing his backup plan prove useful was enjoyable to someone like Wu Ling, who had mild obsessive tendencies. When he played games in the past, he liked arranging summoned creatures or characters from weakest to strongest. So when he played FGO, his rule had always been simple: Merlin and the big supports go last.
"No matter what I say now, I imagine none of you will fully believe it. Facts speak louder than words. Elders, please visit my residence. There, everything will become clear."
As he spoke, Wu Ling gestured toward the door.
"Fine. Then I will go with you."
Under Wu Ling's lead, fifteen Titled Sages made their way in a grand procession to his residence.
Wu Ling had originally planned to pour tea for the Elders, but Golden Crocodile Sage waved him off.
"Do not bother with empty formalities. If you have evidence, show it."
Wu Ling waved the servants back to their quarters, then slowly walked to the center of the courtyard.
"Before I demonstrate, I want to ask the Elders a question. What use does Spirit Power truly have?"
"For Spirit Masters today, aside from raising levels, using Spirit Skills, and improving physical ability, do they have any other way to use Spirit Power?"
"The answer is no. Apart from those things, the Spirit Masters of today almost do not know how to use Spirit Power at all."
"To that, I can only say this: Spirit Power is not such an inconvenient thing."