The effects of the Spirit-Nurturing Ancient Tea—Qin Xiaoxue truly had not lied to him.
Su Ping felt his spiritual power boiling and surging like never before.
The smoothness of his meditation was so great that it even caught him off guard.
Just a few days ago, he had only just broken through to Ordinary Fifth Rank.
Yet after repeatedly brewing that small pot of Spirit-Nurturing Ancient Tea several times, Su Ping discovered that his spiritual realm had actually broken through another level outright.
He had reached Ordinary Sixth Rank.
And even that was only the beginning!
Just as Qin Xiaoxue had said, the effect of the Spirit-Nurturing Ancient Tea was to enhance meditation. After breaking through and resuming meditation anew, Su Ping could clearly feel that—
With only such a brief meditation session, a familiar sensation surged up once more!
His spiritual power was about to boil again.
For Beast Tamers, breakthroughs in spiritual power did not involve issues like unstable foundations from advancing too quickly. After all, a Beast Tamer's main combat strength was tied to their pet beasts.
Naturally, Su Ping was determined to seize this opportunity.
Sure enough, as he continued meditating, over the course of that single afternoon, his realm broke through yet another level.
Most importantly, Su Ping could even feel that this was not truly the end.
With some time to settle, his future meditation efficiency would likely be several times better than before.
At the same time, future meditation cultivation would become far smoother.
But even so, Su Ping was already satisfied!
From Ordinary Fifth Rank to Ordinary Seventh Rank.
This had happened barely a little over a month after graduation.
With such speed, Su Ping believed that within all of No. 6 High School, there was probably no one who could compare to him.
However, after glimpsing a much broader world through Qin Xiaoxue, comparing himself to his classmates from No. 6 High School suddenly felt… rather meaningless.
He shook his head, stood up, and glanced at the sky outside the window as dusk gradually settled. Ripples of emotion rose again in his heart.
He glanced once more, feeling a bit unreal, at the account balance displayed on his phone.
Su Ping suddenly felt that perhaps his mindset needed some readjustment.
This encounter with Qin Xiaoxue had been a stroke of fortune for him, allowing him to come into contact with two individuals who were clearly major figures in Linzhou City.
There was even that special wager.
All of this stemmed from his own abilities—but those two big shots, was it really only because of Qin Xiaoxue that they harbored no ill intent toward him?
Or was it that, whether in the Dragon Nation as a whole or in regional places like Jianghai Province and Linzhou City, those who displayed talent and ability were primarily nurtured rather than suppressed?
If that was the case, then perhaps he could safely display more of his abilities. If doing so allowed him to gain greater benefits and resources to strengthen himself, why not?
Of course, everything needed moderation.
Su Ping knew clearly that focusing solely on the cultivation of Forest Wolves was enough. Strictly speaking, that could even be considered his family's inherited specialty.
But if he hastily started cultivating other pet beasts and also discovered additional cultivation methods or perfected rare evolution paths, that would be far too eye-catching.
Advance steadily and securely—until no one dares to question my strength.
That was the principle Su Ping set for himself.
He let out a slow breath. Through the soul connection, after completing the leap from Ordinary Fifth Rank to Ordinary Seventh Rank, Su Ping clearly felt—
As expected, influenced by his growth as a master, Xiao Qing's realm also received a feedback boost.
That very morning, Xiao Qing had only just advanced to Ordinary Fifth Rank due to the Sunlight Absorption skill reaching the Proficient level. Now, its body grew another full circle larger, its aura strengthening as it reached Ordinary Sixth Rank.
Now, Xiao Qing was already about the size of an adult wolfdog.
A pet beast's increase in size primarily depended on realm advancement.
Accelerating a pet beast's realm growth through various means naturally caused its body to grow as well.
However, at Xiao Qing's current size, it was clearly no longer possible for Su Ping to hold it in his arms like he could a few days ago.
That said, Xiao Qing's combat power had also improved markedly.
Su Ping smiled in satisfaction. Soon, he led the equally eager Xiao Qing toward the forest ahead.
Mutou's training—and the wager with Sun Chaoju—allowed only half a month.
Fifteen days to raise Self-Healing to the Proficient level.
For an ordinary breeder, that would be an enormous challenge. But for Su Ping, it would not even disrupt his original training plan.
Still, Su Ping was never one to grow complacent. Strategically, he despised his opponent—but tactically, he took them seriously.
Thus, upon reaching the forest's edge, he gave an order.
From within the dark forest, Forest Wolves rushed out one after another. Under the cover of night, their green-glowing eyes looked particularly chilling.
"From now on, I'll be setting up a training plan. Only those who truly want to become stronger may participate!"
At his command, nearly all the Forest Wolves stepped forward, brimming with anticipation.
Su Ping smiled slightly.
"Don't worry. All of you will participate tonight. You'll just be divided into two groups. One group will use Vine Strangulation on the other, injuring them. The second group must continuously use Self-Healing!"
His instructions were relayed to all the Forest Wolves through Lao Sha.
Very quickly, the fewer than thirty Forest Wolves split into two groups. Just as Su Ping was about to begin connection sharing, he paused in surprise.
Because he suddenly realized that the original limit of fifteen connected beasts had increased—to seventeen!
So advancing his own realm also affected the number of pet beasts he could connect?
Su Ping let out a long sigh of relief. One extra Forest Wolf in the connection meant that skill proficiency would increase at nearly double the previous speed.
Now, for Mutou to raise the proficiency of Self-Healing, the speed was seventeen times faster than training alone!
Such a terrifying concept was enough for Su Ping to let all his pet beasts truly embody the principle of "diligence can make up for lack of talent" through sheer numbers.
Immediately, under the cover of night, the twenty-seven Forest Wolves split cleanly into two camps—seventeen taking hits, and ten dealing them.
Within the dark forest, they began training the Self-Healing skill.
The only slight regret was that Little Dot and Xiao Qing, having not yet comprehended Self-Healing, could not join the connection and thus could only participate on the attacking side.
Su Ping did not mind. He believed that with Xiao Qing's talent, grasping Self-Healing was only a matter of time.
After giving some instructions, he assigned Lao Sha as the supervisor to ensure no irrecoverable injuries occurred, and ordered the training to end after midnight.
Balancing work and rest was the key to improvement. Besides, daytime was the optimal training period for Forest Wolves. With Sunlight Absorption, they could rapidly recover energy and stamina.
With one such training session every night, by tomorrow Su Ping could go see Uncle Guan to discuss the matter of pet beast rentals.
Thinking this, Su Ping sent Uncle Guan a message, arranging to meet early the next morning to talk about pet beast leasing.
Only real combat could enhance these little fellows' combat power.
On one side, there was a venue where they could freely engage in practical combat; on the other, he could earn some extra spending money.
Why not?
Relaxed, Su Ping returned to his room. Just as he lay down contentedly, his phone chimed.
It was a private message—from Li Shu.
After leaving the group chat, the only classmate from No. 6 High School he still kept in touch with was Li Shu.
The message content was simple:
"Brother Ping, tomorrow's the day of the gathering! I'll be there too—are you ready to receive us?!"
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