Qian Lei’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! It sounds reasonable. I feel it myself — as my Spiritual Power becomes stronger, my summoning becomes much easier. And without your help now, my summons are stronger than before. This should be due to the overall increase in my cultivation. I gave myself a goal: to obtain 500 points of Spiritual Power and to reach the 30th rank in Soul Power. All of this must be obtained within a year!”
But as soon as he talked about his goal, a defeated look appeared on his face. “But increasing my Spiritual Power isn’t just as easy as shifting my determination. I can only rely on meditation or a continuous use of it. It truly is…”
Liu Feng rolled his eyes. “You’re resenting your rise in Spiritual Power for being slow, then what about me? You’re just too lazy. You just have to keep on using the Gate of Summoning. If you can’t use it in the real world, can’t you come into Soul World and practice?”
Qian Lei opened his eyes wide. “Me, lazy? Do you know how unbearable it is when you have a weak spirit? The sense of extreme weakness makes you feel as though you’re dying. Ignoring the head-splitting pain, you won’t even have an ounce of strength in you, as though your body doesn’t belong to you. It is many times more unbearable than overdrafting on Soul Power. Your abilities aren’t as related to Spiritual Power as much, so you never had the experience of overdrafting your Spiritual Power. But when I summon, I consume much more Spiritual Power than Soul Power. You’re just blabbering on without knowing what’s going on!”
Liu Feng snorted. “It is because it hurts that’s why it’ll be more effective. Do you admit to that? If you work harder, you might have long broken through into the Spirit Sea realm.”
Qian Lei curled his lips but did not refute. In fact, he truly disliked the pain during the period of weakness. It was really not a pleasant feeling to have! And once his Spiritual Power reaches a definite point of weakness, he would no longer be able to summon soul beasts and might even be devoured by them instead. So, he would never allow himself to reach that state. But he had to admit that Liu Feng’s words were sound and reasonable. If he was able to overdraft himself at every practice, his Spiritual Power would definitely rise much higher.
Lan Xuanyu patted Qian Lei’s shoulder and laughed. “If we are the only Elite Junior Class and we are together, your abilities are definitely enough. But you have to consider the future, standing on your own feet firmly in Shrek Academy. Brother, I’m afraid you have to be harder on yourself.”
At this point, Lan Xuanyu’s smile actually became a bitter smile.
Qian Lei asked curiously. “What’s up with you? You don’t seem very happy?”
Lan Xuanyu laughed bitterly. “In any case, you have the choice; I don’t even have the chance to do so. I don’t even need to be fiercer to myself, Teacher Ji and Teacher Yin have long done that for me.”
“Hahahaha!” Qian Lei and Liu Feng immediately broke out laughing upon hearing his words. They were clear of Lan Xuanyu’s state every time he returned to the dorm. There were times when he was close to crawling back, and to prop himself up to meditate was already an extremely good thing. But there were also times when he immediately fell into sleep upon returning. There were times where the two were already asleep when Lan Xuanyu returned, but due to being overfatigued, he would fall right asleep on the floor and only be discovered by them in the next morning. One could only imagine the hard work he had to suffer from.
“We should all be working hard. We have to eat the hardship to rise above the others. Xuanyu is right. If we want to have our own footing in Shrek, we need to work even harder.” Liu Feng clenched his fists as the gaze in his eyes turned determined.
They were still very young, and despite knowing that they had to work hard in the past, the students in the Elite Junior Class were equally working hard. This prevented them from seeing the true results of their own hard work. But getting first place in the qualifiers had greatly moved Liu Feng. After gaining his first soul bone and fusing with the Silver Moon Wolf Right Arm Bone, he was extremely clear on how great his strength had risen.
How did this come about? From being champions and having good results in the qualifiers. What did that mean? It meant that the stronger one was, the higher the potential one could become even stronger. As this went on, the disparity would become even larger. Just like in Heaven Luo Academy, although it was a peak academy in Heaven Luo Planet, how was it compared to Shrek Academy? How great was the disparity?
The more effort they put in, the further they could see. They had the experience and knowledge that their classmates would never experience. The accumulation as time passed would form a large disparity.
So, the right arm bone was Liu Feng’s greatest motivator — just like Lan Xuanyu’s experience of watching Young Noble Le destroy a warship with one foot. These were all motivators and goals for them to advance.
Only by giving it all to work hard will they be able to realize in the future how much it meant.
“Let us continue.” Qian Lei summoned the Gate of Summoning, and the three continued to advance. They encountered a few soul beasts en route, but they were all not too strong. After dealing with the soul beasts respectively, they continued to advance.
Following their different encounters, Lan Xuanyu would redirect their orientation. They continued to move on the correct path towards the inner regions of Star Dou Forest.
When night fell, the three were able to discern that they were about 20 kilometers into the forest.
Qian Lei had exhausted his powers the most since he was the one constantly summoning. He sat cross-legged beneath a large tree and meditated. Lan Xuanyu and Liu Feng stood by his side and guarded him while taking turns to rest.
This was the benefit of staying within the simulation pod; the nutrient fluids had sufficient nutrients for them, allowing them to continue without the need to eat or drink. There was no sensation of hunger in Soul World.
The test had a span of seven days, and the first day passed just like that. They did not encounter too many troubles. There was only one encounter where they met a beast horde. The three quickly climbed trees to avoid them. They did not encounter anyone else from the other teams. After all, although there were over a hundred teams participating, the immensity of Star Dou Forest was too huge for the numbers to amount to anything.
The night passed without any words. On the morning of the second day, the three had recovered their energy.
Qian Lei was about to perform a summon from the Gate of Summoning when Lan Xuanyu stopped him.
“We’re not summoning anymore?” Qian Lei queried.
Lan Xuanyu frowned. “It was too peaceful yesterday. Do you guys feel uneasy?”
Qian Lei was unconvinced. “No! My perception is so sharp, but I didn’t sense any danger!”
Liu Feng. “Not danger, but unease. Don’t forget how we want to obtain good results for this test. We have to penetrate through the forest as fast as possible, and kill as many soul beasts as we can to earn more points. We had been moving too carefully yesterday and shouldn’t be far from the deep parts of Star Dou Forest. This also means that our points will not be high. But what about the other teams that had ventured deep in as well? We aren’t clear on this. This means that we are most probably last in terms of points. And only 10 teams can win in the end. This means that we might be eliminated if we lag behind. I believe Xuanyu’s talking about this.”
Lan Xuanyu nodded his head, while Qian Lei was stunned from understanding the situation. He looked at Liu Feng strangely. “How did you get enlightened?”
Liu Feng pointed to his own head. “I have learned to be good at reflecting and observing. Do you think everyone’s the same as you and are all foolish?”
Qian Lei raged immediately. “Why’re you scolding me?”
Liu Feng laughed. “I’m praising you. Foolish people have foolish luck.”
Qian Lei: “You’re the dumb one!”
“Alright, Let’s move. Liu Feng will take the lead and open up a path. We will remain in our original formation and will try to speed up today. Let’s see what kind of soul beasts we will meet today. Qian Lei, I need you to get ready to be able to summon at any time. Judging from yesterday, we can’t be too careful already. I think this test most probably tests our drive to take risks, as well as the ability to adapt during the risks. Courage, meticulousness, strength, adaptability, I reckon these are the important factors that they are observing. And of course, luck…”