The principle of the Spirit Master's cultivation lies in using meditation to outline the rune of the Contract Technique beneath the sea, leading the Talent to resonate together.
In this process, the Talent Spirit Pattern at the top resonates simultaneously with the Contract Law Spirit Pattern at the bottom, gradually expanding the volume of the entire Sea of Spirit, and the quality of the Spiritual Power condensed within the sphere is continuously refined to a higher level.
The proficiency of the Meditation Contract Technique essentially reflects the efficiency of this resonance within the Sea of Spirit, determining the level of one's control over their own spirit.
The proficiency of the Meditation Contract Technique is generally low for most novice Spirit Masters. Although they can attract the Spiritual Element Ether around them and enhance their Spiritual Power limit, their practice is usually exhausting, leading to fatigue, preventing prolonged training sessions. Additionally, the Contract Chain (Enslavement Contract) can initially restrict the spiritual recovery rate by binding the spirituality of the Spirit Beast, leaving many to face an adjustment period when practicing Contract Technique after contracting a new Spirit Beast.
With these two debuffs stacking, students who can persist here for a full hour have already surpassed most peers of their age group.
But Lin Guang is different. He feels that he can endure for a long, long time, even substituting it for sleep.
"Let's go, let's go."
Generally speaking, even after class, the concentration of Spiritual Power Ether here is higher than elsewhere, so he would often stay here for a long time alone.
However, this time, he didn't linger in the Meditation Room, leaving immediately after class.
That's because Vishdair had already started to entertain herself by boxing inside his head - a downside of the Equal Contract, where Spirit Beasts maintain a clear self-awareness within the contract - it's almost divine being-level patience to keep meditating through that.
Unlike schools in past lives that focused on cultural courses, Zhen Sheng Experimental School is considered one of the top ten Spirit High Schools in the entire Fenghai Province and one of the best in Zhen Sheng City, thus occupying a vast area.
The left edge of the school is extravagantly planted with a dense Golden Birch Forest, nestled between the library and the Meditation Room.
According to seniors from previous years, the forest doesn't have any special purpose, but in autumn, the ground is covered with golden leaves, creating a unique aesthetic.
This area is quite secluded, and generally doesn't attract many people. In an ordinary high school, it might be a spot for young lovers to meet, but here you mainly find Spirit Masters who have contracted Wood Attribute Spirit Beasts taking a stroll – after all, Golden Birch Trees are strangely common in Zhen Sheng City and aren't anything special.
Lin Guang strolled to this place, then the Spirit Pattern on his right hand glowed faintly blue, releasing Vishdair from the Spirit Beast Space.
Today, Vishdair wore a black and red outfit, with pure black stockings, quite similar to her illustration in "Future Ark." These were bought online by Lin Guang himself yesterday. Although she said she'd rather go to the training room than waste time in a mall, when putting on this outfit in the morning, Lin Guang noticed her little tail wagged much more happily.
By the way, Lin Guang also bought another set of clothes for Vishdair, matching the blue and white school uniform design of Zhen Sheng City's students, but in deep green, with the words "Great Xia" printed on both sides of the jacket zipper in white, claiming it could reduce visibility by more than 50%, but Vishdair refused to wear it, much to his regret.
"Phew... glad to be out; it was stifling in there."
Vishdair stretched her arms wide, taking a deep breath, her already considerable chest heaving with her breaths.
"The Spirit Beast Space constructed by the Equal Contract should have a calming effect."
"Want to switch places next time?" she retorted without hesitation.
"True, I overlooked the fact that you have human intelligence, unlike those lab subjects in papers. Sorry."
Seeing him admit his mistake so frankly, Vishdair huffed and didn't say more.
"I remember, if there's a special situation, you can apply to summon a Spirit Beast in the classroom, as long as classroom order is maintained."
"What order?"
"Do not disrupt others' learning. Naturally, talking and playing with phones are prohibited, as is sleeping. Repeated warnings will result in a deduction of resource subsidies as punishment; your growth speed will slow, and even household meals will downgrade."
"..."
The girl wore an expression of visible conflict on her delicate face, finally sighing, seeming somewhat uninterested as she waved her hand, "Forget it, I'll just stay in there and bug you."
However, the next moment, both she and Lin Guang suddenly seemed to sense something, fell silent, and turned to look in one direction.
For a split second, Lin Guang thought he saw a girl leaning against a Golden Birch Tree, quietly watching him and Vishdair.
But in the next second, the spot was empty.
"Who!"
W's eyes became sharp instantly; she was sure she wasn't hallucinating, her right hand already clenching in mid-air, forming the outline of a gun with shimmering light.
But Lin Guang pressed down on this hand, interrupting the weapon summoning process.
Lin Guang glanced at her helplessly, "This is one of the best high schools in the city; students above sophomore year are top Spirit Masters of their age group. Someone sensing a Spirit Beast summoning fluctuation and checking it out is normal. Calm down, we're not doing anything shady."
"..."
"Hmph."
Vishdair shot a fierce glance toward the direction of the vanished figure, but didn't insist further, exiting the forest with Lin Guang.
After a while, the silhouette reemerged in the Golden Birch Forest, watching the swaying black-red tail behind Vishdair, a thoughtful expression on her face.
.....
Lunchtime was long enough, and since Lin Guang intended to introduce the campus to Vishdair, the pair walked a lengthy distance after leaving the Golden Birch Forest, instead of taking the bus, eventually seeing the towering silver-white "iron shells."
"I know, it's a factory," Vishdair pointed confidently at the building; she had just seen almost identical buildings on her phone the day before.
"How could there be a factory in a school? That's the dining hall."
"Huh?"
"Three are for beast-shaped Spirit Beasts; the other serves students and humanoid Spirit Beasts. For uniformity, they are designed alike; humanoid Spirit Beasts typically don't grow much larger with upgrades and often possess higher intelligence than beast-shaped ones, so they can eat with students."
Though interested, Vishdair was more drawn to the meal aspect; physiological activity and energy consumption within the Spirit Beast Space mirror the outside world.
Lin Guang led her into the smallest building, where they saw a few humanoid Spirit Beasts.
On the way to the meal counter, the two received nearly a 100% turnaround rate, eyes filled with surprise or envy, mainly fixated on her appearance and demon horns and tail, causing Lin Guang to regret not persuading Vishdair to wear the "Great Xia shirt," which might have toned down her striking looks.
Lin Guang secretly hoped not to run into classmates, as he'd need to explain now and again during the afternoon's combat class, a pure waste of time.
"Oh my gosh... Lin Guang, who's this?!"