A few days later, the early afternoon sun streamed into Mei's small, meticulously tidy dorm room. She stood by the window, running through vocal scales, her voice clear and resonant even in the confined space. Ai floated nearby as a translucent hologram, offering subtle pitch corrections.
'Slight flat on the E, Mei! Think sunshine, not syrup!'
A firm knock interrupted the exercise. Mei turned, smoothing her simple training robes, to find Tang San standing in her doorway. His expression was its usual calm focus, but a slight tension around his eyes betrayed his purpose. Before Mei could greet him, a flash of pink darted past Tang San's shoulder.
"Brother San! I knew you were sneaking off somewhere interesting!" Xiao Wu declared, bouncing into the room with her characteristic energy, her rabbit ears twitching curiously. "Ooh, Mei! Are you practicing? It sounds pretty!"
"Hello, Xiao Wu, Tang San," Mei said, offering a welcoming smile, though internally she sighed. So much for a private strategy session. "Just some warm-ups. What brings you both?"
Tang San shot Xiao Wu a look that clearly said 'I told you not to follow me,' but Xiao Wu just grinned back, utterly unfazed. He turned his attention back to Mei, his demeanor shifting to serious inquiry.
"Mei," he began, his voice low and earnest, "I've reached the bottleneck at Spirit Power Level 10. I need to absorb my first spirit ring to advance. But…" He hesitated, the unspoken question hanging heavy. He trusted Mei with his deepest secret, but revealing his twin spirit, the Clear Sky Hammer, was a step too far, too soon.
"My Blue Silver Grass… its nature feels ambiguous. Weak, yet possessing innate full spirit power. I need some advice. What kind of spirit ring should I get?"
Before Mei could even open her mouth, Xiao Wu piped up, perched on the edge of Mei's neatly made bed. "Oh, that's easy, Brother San! You just need to find a spirit beast that resonates with your martial soul and defeat it! The stronger and more compatible, the better the ring!" She nodded sagely, as if imparting ancient wisdom.
Tang San sighed internally. Xiao Wu's answer was technically correct but offered no real insight into his specific, complicated situation. He looked expectantly at Mei.
Mei nodded, acknowledging Xiao Wu's basic point. "Xiao Wu is right about the resonance being key," she started diplomatically. She walked over to her small desk, piled with neatly stacked books – spirit theory texts, botanical classifications, historical records of spirit masters she'd borrowed or acquired.
"But 'resonance' can be complex, especially for a spirit like Blue Silver Grass that seems… deceptively simple." She picked up a heavy tome titled "Fundamental Properties of Plant-Type Martial Souls".
"From everything I've studied," Mei continued, tapping the book's cover for emphasis, "the most sustainable path isn't always about brute force or trying to change a spirit's fundamental nature. It's about understanding its inherent strength and cultivating that." She met Tang San's intense gaze.
"For Blue Silver Grass… everyone sees weakness. But what if its true strength lies in its resilience? Its adaptability? Its tenacity to grow anywhere? Or it's hidden potential for binding and control?" She subtly referenced the characteristic she suspected from his reincarnator background, masking it as scholarly deduction.
"Focus on identifying that core characteristic and nurture it relentlessly. Break through the restriction by embracing your spirit's nature, not fighting it or trying to make it something it's not."
Tang San's eyes sharpened. She wasn't just parroting basic knowledge; she was offering a philosophy, a path aligned with his Tang Sect principles of mastering one's tools. Embrace the nature… cultivate the core strength… It mirrored his thoughts about the Blue Silver Grass's hidden potential.
"And the ring?" he pressed, leaning forward slightly.
Mei placed the plant spirit book down and pulled out another: "Synergistic Effects: Spirit Rings and Martial Soul Affinity." "Again, based on the principle of cultivating inherent strength," she explained, flipping it open to a marked page showing diagrams of vines. "For a plant-type spirit, especially one where you seek to enhance its core characteristics, the most reliable amplification often comes from another plant-type spirit beast." She pointed to a passage.
"The shared life essence, the botanical resonance… it allows the ring's power to integrate more seamlessly, specifically boosting the plant-like qualities – its vitality, its growth potential, its binding force, or whatever its true strength may be. A beast-type ring might add raw power or aggression, but it could dilute or conflict with the fundamental plant nature you're trying to cultivate."
She closed the book with a soft thud. "Of course, finding a spirit beast whose abilities specifically align with the characteristic you want to enhance is ideal. But starting with a compatible plant-type foundation seems the most logical approach, according to these texts."
She gestured towards the stack of books on her desk – her tangible "basis" for the judgment. "It minimizes risk and maximizes the potential for harmonious growth. The library has some excellent texts detailing common plant spirit beasts in nearby spirit forests, categorized by their dominant traits."
Tang San stared at the stack of books, then back at Mei. Her advice wasn't just guesswork; it was grounded in study, presented logically, and aligned perfectly with his own instincts about the Blue Silver Grass.
It also cleverly avoided any need to reveal his twin spirit. The recommendation for a plant-type ring specifically resonated – it felt right for the path of control and resilience he envisioned.
"I see," he murmured, a spark of clarity in his eyes. "Cultivate the inherent strength… Seek resonance through affinity… Plant-type for foundational synergy."
Tang San stared at the stack of books, then back at Mei, absorbing her well-reasoned advice. A final, crucial question surfaced. "Mei, your guidance on type is clear. But what of the age? The texts I've skimmed mention limits, but the specifics vary. Is there… established research on the maximum safe age for a first spirit ring?"
Mei nodded, unsurprised by the practical follow-up. She immediately turned back to her desk, her fingers tracing the spines of the larger, more densely packed volumes near the bottom.
"Ah, yes, the age limit is a critical safety parameter." She pulled out a thick, leather-bound tome titled "Fundamental Spirit Ring Theory: Absorption Limits and Age Correlations" by Liu Xian. The cover showed intricate diagrams of spirit rings superimposed over human meridian charts.
"This is considered the seminal work on the subject," Mei explained, hefting the heavy book. "Professor Liu Xian spent decades collating data from thousands of documented cases, controlled absorption experiments, and spirit master physiological studies." She flipped it open to a heavily annotated chapter titled "First Ring Thresholds: Establishing the Foundation Safely."
"His research strongly indicates," Mei continued, pointing to a complex graph and accompanying text, "that for a Spirit Master at the 10th rank, the absolute upper safe limit for a first spirit ring is approximately 423 years. Beyond that, the spiritual energy becomes too volatile, overwhelming the nascent dantian and meridian system, with catastrophic failure rates exceeding 95%."
She tapped the sobering statistic. "However," she added, her tone shifting to one of cautious pragmatism, "Liu Xian strongly advises against pushing that absolute limit for a first absorption. The strain is immense even near the threshold. His recommendation, backed by the highest success and stability rates, is to target a ring between 300 to 400 years. This range provides significant power amplification while staying well within the safety margins for nearly all healthy Spirit Masters."
She closed the book with reverence. "It's dense reading, but Chapters 4 and 5 detail all the evidence, case studies, and physiological reasoning behind those numbers. If you want the full basis for the judgment on age limits, Liu Xian's research in this volume is the most authoritative source I've found."
She offered him a small, encouraging smile. "The library should have a copy."
Tang San took in the information, his mind already categorizing the numbers: *Absolute limit: 423 years. Recommended optimal: 300-400 years.* The specificity, backed by the weight of a dedicated scholarly work, was exactly what he needed. It provided a concrete framework, a scientific boundary for his ambition.
"Liu Xian's Fundamental Spirit Ring Theory," he repeated, committing the title and author to memory. "Chapters 4 and 5. Understood. Thank you, Mei. This is precisely the kind of grounded knowledge I require." His respect for her diligent research deepened further. She hadn't guessed; she had studied.
Xiao Wu, who had been listening intently, though perhaps not grasping all the scholarly nuances, beamed. "See, Brother San? Mei knows everything! Told you coming here was a good idea!" She hopped off the bed.
"So, we're going plant hunting? I know some good spots! Lots of tasty… I mean, strong plant spirit beasts!"
Tang San managed a small smile, the tension easing from his shoulders. Mei had given him a clear, reasoned direction. The path to his first spirit ring, and the next step in unlocking his potential, now had a solid foundation. He had studying to do in the library, and then a forest to explore.
"Indeed," he said, turning towards the door, already mentally scanning the titles on Mei's desk that he needed to find. "Let's go, Xiao Wu. And Mei… thank you again."
As they left, Mei let out a quiet breath, exchanging a glance with Ai. 'Now, let's hope he finds a nice, compliant vine and not something that tries to eat Xiao Wu.'
Mei just smiled, picking up her vocal exercise book again.