Upon returning home, Jin Bao watched as his father impatiently shared the news of his Spirit Awakening with other relatives. After all, they were a family with a heritage spanning three generations, so they had quite a few relatives. However, their shop wasn't a family business; the other relatives were involved in different trades. His mother said with a smile, "Alright, go back to your room and have a good rest. I'll tell the kitchen to make something you like."
At that moment, Jin Bao suddenly asked, "Mom, do you know how to cultivate?"
Although the fragmented memories in his mind suggested that spirit power cultivation involved sitting cross-legged in meditation, he had never actually seen it in practice. Even with his own parents, he had never seen them cultivate.
His mother replied, "Our Yuan Bao really knows how to be proactive! Fine, Mom will teach you how to cultivate first, but you mustn't exhaust yourself!"
After entering his bedroom with his mother and taking off his coat, Jin Bao sat cross-legged on the bed as she instructed.
"Close your eyes. Do you remember the feeling of releasing spirit power before? That's right, use your consciousness to guide the spirit power, letting it flow through your body instead of releasing it. Remember, don't rush, take it slow, and pay attention to your breathing."
Watching Jin Bao gradually enter the state, Jin Bao's mother smiled.
Her son was such a genius; he found the feeling during his very first meditation session.
At this moment, Jin Bao already felt the spirit power flowing within his body. For the first cycle, his consciousness merely guided the spirit power to prevent it from dissipating outward. The speed wasn't fast, but it was relatively smooth.
Once he completed a full cycle and felt the spirit power return to its starting point, it had clearly grown a fraction stronger.
'Is this cultivation? It's not as difficult or as tiring as I imagined!'
With this thought, Jin Bao began a second cycle of spirit power circulation. However, the effect this time wasn't as good as the first. His consciousness couldn't even perceive the progress of his spirit power; he could only sense its presence, but it wasn't as substantial as the first time.
'Could this be why spirit power growth becomes slower and slower?' Jin Bao wondered as he continued the next cycle.
Seeing that her son had entered a meditative state, Jin Bao's mother didn't disturb him further and quietly left the room.
An hour later, Jin Bao opened his eyes.
From the initial clear feeling of progress until now, he had completed thirty cycles. The accumulated spirit power increase was about one-tenth of his total spirit power. However, he clearly felt that if he continued, his brain would instinctively resist, causing a sense of dizziness.
In his memory, cultivation efficiency was relatively better during childhood and youth. After the age of thirty, even a full day of cultivation couldn't compare to the progress made when young.
"At my current cultivation speed, two more sessions should bring me to Rank 10," Jin Bao muttered to himself. He wasn't sure when the next effective session would be, but it would likely be no later than this time tomorrow.
At this time, he circulated his spirit power and released his Spirit.
The Money appeared once again. Jin Bao took his Spirit over to the bookshelf and pulled down a book.
This was a family record of Spirit Beast species. Since their family Spirits were all gemstones or jewelry, their development paths were basically fixed. Recorded here were the Spirit Beasts previously hunted by family members and the Spirit Abilities they had obtained.
Looking closely, Jin Bao found that most people in the family—actually only five people—had chosen paths with support-type Spirit Abilities, while a few others had defense-type ones.
Actually, it made sense. The most famous gemstone-type support Spirit on the continent was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. They had become one of the Upper Three Sects and were the wealthiest Sect, naturally setting an example for those with ordinary gemstone Spirits.
Flipping all the way to the end, Jin Bao didn't find a single Spirit Ability he liked. He didn't want to become a pure support Spirit Master; even if he couldn't be a Battle Soul Master, the control system would be good too!
Support Spirit Masters were in high demand, but in an actual fight, the opponent would definitely target the support. Furthermore, being alone outside would be much more dangerous for a support Spirit Master!
Even a top-tier support Spirit Sect like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School had to provide powerful Battle Soul Master bodyguards or even spouses for their direct descendants. Otherwise, why would Ning Rongrong have immediately stated that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School was willing to place a massive order for Hidden Weapons once she discovered the power of Tang San's weapons?
At that moment, he suddenly noticed that two pages were stuck together. He had flipped past them earlier without noticing.
Gently prying the two pages apart, he found a rather unique Spirit Ability recorded there.
"The Gold-Devouring Rat provides a Spirit Ability that, while defensive, can be maintained with continuous spirit power output and the shield's position can be adjusted with one's thoughts. It allows for fine manipulation, and the area increases as spirit power grows. It is estimated that full-body coverage can be achieved at the Spirit Elder level!"
"In my opinion, this is a Spirit Ability that integrates offense and defense, and could be considered as a First Spirit Skill for family disciples."
After reading the last sentence, a smile finally appeared on Jin Bao's face.
If there wasn't a more suitable Spirit Ability, he would choose this as his First Spirit Skill!
"Yuan Bao, time for dinner!"
His mother's voice came from the door. Jin Bao put the book away and quickly ran out of the room.
That evening, during dinner, Jin Bao saw his father return home slightly tipsy.
"Haha, good son! Your luck is truly too good. There were only five spots left in the Noble Class at Craig Academy, and your father managed to snag one for you! Tomorrow, you can go report to the school!"
Before bed, Jin Bao tried to cultivate once more. Although it had an effect, it wasn't very good.
Moreover, the more he cultivated, the sleepier he became, so Jin Bao simply went to sleep.
'If the school can teach a method to replace sleep with cultivation, I definitely have to try it.'
The next day, Jin Bao woke up to his mother's gentle calling.
Craig Academy wasn't actually inside this city—or rather, it wasn't in the inner city.
Originally, this city wasn't large, but with the prosperity of commerce, more and more people built houses outside the city walls. When Craig Academy settled here, the nobles and wealthy individuals who wanted to ensure their children's safety collectively built the current outer city wall.
By now, the outer city had become a part of the whole city. Craig Academy sat on one side, while the other side was a large residential area for commoners. Between the two was a small commercial area; naturally, the closer it was to the academy, the more high-end it became.
The carriage stopped at the academy gates, and the three of them entered the campus on foot. With the letter of introduction, gold soul coin card, and the certificate from Spirit Hall, Jin Ge quickly finished the registration procedures for Jin Bao.
As for Jin Bao, he looked at the door sign to confirm it was his classroom, knocked, and walked inside.