One day later, at noon, Yang Yunhai returned to Gu Cao Village.
The first thing he did was return the little yellow horse. Then, he went to the orphanage to see the village chief. Seeing that Yang Yunhai had returned safely, the village chief was overjoyed and asked his wife to prepare a proper meal to celebrate. Afterward, he insisted that Yang Yunhai stay the night at the orphanage.
The next morning, Yang Yunhai bid farewell and left.
After arriving in Nuoding City, he first went to the Spirit Hall to retest his spirit power and collect the monthly subsidy for spirit masters.
The test showed his spirit power to be at level 11, which was within the normal range and didn't draw much attention from Matthew Nuo. The entire process went smoothly.
With everything taken care of, Yang Yunhai returned to the academy.
His first stop was the teaching office to report in.
Perhaps because he had left a good impression before, as soon as they met, Director Su stood up with a pleasant smile and congratulated him on becoming a spirit master. He then asked which spirit beast he had hunted and what his current spirit power level was.
As for his spirit skill, he didn't ask. In the world of spirit masters, asking about someone's spirit skill is considered extremely rude, even between teachers and students.
Yang Yunhai answered without hesitation: level 11, and he had hunted a common hundred-year-old green vine.
It seems the village chief of Gu Cao Village didn't place much importance on this child, Director Su thought to himself. After all, Yang Yunhai's spirit was Blue Silver Grass, and his innate spirit power was only 0.5.
In Su's eyes, finding someone to help him hunt even a hundred-year plant-type spirit beast was already quite generous.
After a brief chat, Director Su let Yang Yunhai leave.
Since Director Su didn't pry further, Yang Yunhai was more than happy to take his leave and head back to his dormitory.
It was afternoon by the time he arrived. He pushed open the dorm door and found it empty, likely Xiao Wu had taken the group out again, playing her role as the "big sister." Without thinking much of it, Yang Yunhai dropped off his things and headed straight to the open space behind the mountain to begin a new round of training.
"Split-mind control is a must to study, it improves control over my martial spirit. Plus, my first spirit skill is extension, and it's unlimited in length with minimal spirit power consumption. That can definitely be developed."
He sat down as he thought.
"For example, using it like a whip. Or growing vines from my body to weave vine armor for defense, or weaving a vine cage from the ground to trap enemies. If I could add lightning to that…"
He shook his head shortly after.
"To do all this, I must improve my control over the vines."
"I'll start with training my split-mind control."
With that thought, he summoned his martial spirit and used his spirit power to create two vines.
From what the original story described, split-mind control was essentially multitasking.
He had already devised a training process for this. Instead of jumping straight into controlling two vines to touch different objects, he imagined the vines as his own two arms, first learning to move them freely, then gradually practicing more complex movements, and finally increasing their number.
The goal was simple: to control the vines created by his martial spirit as easily as moving his own limbs.
To him, the vines created by his martial spirit were essentially spirit power given form. Relying on the connection between his spirit power and the vines, he believed that with enough practice, he could eventually gain total mastery over them.
Just like Doctor Octopus in that movie from his past life.
The four mechanical arms on his back? They weren't just cool, they could climb walls, lift heavy objects, and more.
Once I reach that level… His eyes gleamed with excitement.
The Blue Silver Emperor, and the Blue Silver Emperor's Right Leg Bone, he had been craving them for a long time.
According to the original story, Tang Hao had hidden the Blue Silver Emperor's body in a mountain range not far from Saint Soul Village. The outer terrain was treacherous, with peaks reaching into the clouds and near-vertical cliffs that were extremely difficult to climb. Even at full speed, it would take half a day to reach the interior of the mountain range. And near the pool of water there was a waterfall 20 meters wide and 200 meters tall.
The stone walls around it were incredibly slippery due to years of water erosion.
The cave where the Blue Silver Emperor was located was halfway up the waterfall, about 100 meters high.
100 meters! That's insane!
Even in the original story, when Tang San had already reached spirit power level 59 after leaving Yuexuan, he had to rely on his Sky Claw skill to climb it. And I'm nowhere near that level.
Even if I could climb it, the force of the waterfall at that height would be terrifying.
How to get through that is another problem.
Tang Hao had used his immense spirit power and martial spirit to split the waterfall open. I don't have that kind of power.
No wonder the Blue Silver Emperor hadn't been discovered all these years, and Tang Hao hadn't even set up any protection. Even if someone made it to the pool, who would think there's a hidden door in the middle of a waterfall? And without knowing about the door, how could anyone find the switch and open it?
A mountain range surrounded by cliffs, requiring half a day to traverse to the interior, suggested the mountain area wasn't very large. Plus, it was near Saint Soul Village. A 20-meter-wide waterfall implied there was a river at least that wide feeding it.
All these clues were enough for him to identify the approximate location using a regional map.
He might not find a detailed map of the continent, but the Nuoding City Spirit Hall would definitely have records of the surrounding mountain terrain. When the time came, he could just go take a look or even ask Chang Gong Di or Chang Gong Ao to get a copy for him.
He had already come up with an excuse: he wanted to travel to Heaven Dou City or even Spirit Hall City in the future and didn't want to get lost.
If all else failed, he could just ask some local merchants about the geography.
Once he confirmed the general location, all that was left was choosing the right time and figuring out how to get into the mountains and climb the waterfall.
As for timing, without a doubt, the best chance was when Tang San graduated and left for Shrek Academy, since Tang Hao would definitely go with him. Otherwise, the story of Zao Wou-Ki getting beaten up wouldn't have happened after Tang San passed the entrance test.
In fact, Yang Yunhai had reason to believe that Tang Hao would visit the Blue Silver Emperor right after Tang San returned home from Nuoding Academy, and then go back to the village to wait, to make sure Tang San didn't leave early for Soto City.
After all, Tang San had that hundred-thousand-year rabbit with him.
So, Yang Yunhai could time things perfectly, leave early, and still make it to Heaven Dou City in time to register at the Imperial Academy. He already had a plan to get in.
As for entering the mountain and climbing the waterfall, wasn't that the reason he chose this first spirit ring?
He picked the Sky Vine specifically for this reason.
Known for its elasticity, the ability to extend is essentially the ability to increase length. Back when he first awakened his martial spirit, he had already decided to use the Sky Vine as his first spirit ring. He had studied the soul beast compendium of the beginner hunting forest long ago.
And now, the effect of his first spirit skill pleased him.
Unlimited extension, once he mastered control, what's so hard about scaling a cliff or climbing a 100-meter waterfall?
Why not go early, then? First of all, there could be spirit beasts in the mountains. Without enough strength, entering might be suicidal. Second, the mountains were close to Saint Soul Village. Tang Hao, with his power, could easily come and go. Most importantly, Yang Yunhai didn't even know where Tang Hao was.
If he got spotted near the waterfall or in the mountains…
What if Tang Hao just smacked him to death?
He didn't dare take that risk! Why take chances when he could play it safe? It's not like he was in a rush.
Most importantly, he had to master control over the vines first. Otherwise, he couldn't even reach the waterfall.
Thinking this, his mind cleared. He immediately closed his eyes and focused on the connection between his spirit power and the vines, working hard to control their movements.
Time passed quietly. The sun soon set.
At the teaching office.
"Level 11, a hundred-year-old green vine?"
When Director Su mentioned Yang Yunhai's return, Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but show a trace of disdain.
I knew it. How could that village chief help him hunt the ideal spirit beast?
A green vine, such a low-tier plant-type spirit beast, and only a hundred years old, how much could that really enhance a Blue Silver Grass martial spirit?
A commoner is still a commoner. With poor talent, refusing to accept fate won't change anything.
Just a fleeting dream in the end.
He shook his head, took the report, and strode out of the teaching office.
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