Shao Han had always believed that Zhao Mu's success was nothing more than flashy tricks and clever gimmicks.
In his eyes, true strength for a Spirit Power User depended on only three things:
Combat Level.
Combat Technique.
And ember remains.
Those were the only paths to genuine power.
Because of that belief, Shao Han could never accept the idea that an Awakened with a mere E-Rank Talent could surpass someone like him, a proud owner of a B-Rank Talent.
Perhaps he could reluctantly accept being inferior to Mo Guanguan.
But Zhao Mu?
Absolutely impossible.
Shao Han clenched his fists tightly as a cold sneer appeared on his face.
"Once we enter a real battlefield, talent tricks won't matter anymore," he thought.
"In the end, everything comes down to Combat Level, combat skills, and ember remains."
As he rubbed his fingers together, confidence slowly returned to him.
Tomorrow's final training event would be his chance to reclaim everything.
His chance to crush Zhao Mu publicly.
"Zhao Mu…"
"I can't wait to see you fall from the top of the rankings."
"The closer someone gets to victory before failing… the more painful the despair becomes."
"To destroy someone at that moment is the cruelest thing of all."
Meanwhile, Zhao Mu had no interest whatsoever in Shao Han's thoughts.
Instead, he raised his hand and asked the instructor directly.
"Instructor, is tomorrow's live combat training going to be a battle between students?"
Zhang Biao smiled faintly and shook his head.
"No."
"Tomorrow, your targets will be exotic beasts."
The moment those words fell, the atmosphere instantly changed.
The students froze briefly before breaking into loud discussion.
"Hunting exotic beasts?!"
"With our current strength?!"
"Isn't this way too early?"
"It's probably not a real danger zone…"
"I've never even seen an exotic beast before except in textbooks!"
Anxiety spread quickly through the group.
Although they had spent years studying theory and training their bodies, they had all lived relatively protected lives.
None of them had actual battlefield experience.
Especially not against exotic beasts.
Everyone knew that humanity's greatest enemies in this era were divided into two categories.
The first were the Dark Races—intelligent species with terrifying spiritual power.
The second were the monstrous exotic beasts, creatures born with overwhelming destructive abilities and a natural instinct to devour humans.
Compared to ordinary combat training, this was an entirely different matter.
A few students instinctively looked toward Zhao Mu.
Without them even realizing it, he had gradually become the backbone of the entire third group.
"Captain," one student asked nervously, "do you have any ideas?"
Most of the students looked uneasy.
Zhao Mu calmly glanced around at everyone.
After spending so much time together during Boot Camp, he already understood these people quite well.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"There's no need to panic," he said calmly.
"This is still training, not a real battlefield."
"Even if there's danger, the instructors will keep it within controllable limits."
"So stop overthinking things."
"All you need to do tonight is rest properly and prepare yourselves mentally."
The moment everyone saw Zhao Mu's familiar smile, their tension eased significantly.
Over the past month, every time difficulties arose, Zhao Mu always maintained this same calm expression.
And every single time, he found a solution.
Trust wasn't built overnight.
It accumulated little by little through countless moments.
Soon, the students gradually dispersed in groups, discussing tomorrow's training excitedly as they walked away.
However, the people from Dormitory 207 remained behind, along with Wang Jiaojiao and Zhu Meng.
These people had already become the core members of Zhao Mu's team.
Zhu Meng walked directly toward Lu Yan with an excited expression.
"A-Rank Special Recruit," he said enthusiastically, "tomorrow, you're going to be the main damage dealer of our team!"
Compared to Zhao Mu's dazzling performance during Boot Camp, Lu Yan had appeared relatively ordinary.
Some people had almost forgotten that he was also an A-Rank Special Recruit.
However, his Combat Level 12 foundation was very real.
And after receiving Zhao Mu's guidance for an entire month, his swordsmanship had improved dramatically.
Even Zhao Mu nodded in agreement.
"Your combat power is currently among the strongest in our group."
"I'll be relying on you tomorrow."
The moment Lu Yan heard that, however, his face suddenly turned pale.
Everyone immediately noticed something was wrong.
Lu Yan hesitated awkwardly for several seconds before lowering his head.
"I…"
"I'm hemophobic."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Everyone froze.
Even Zhao Mu suspected he had misheard.
"What did you just say?"
"You're… hemophobic?"
An A-Rank Special Recruit.
A genuine genius.
Afraid of blood?
Seeing the disbelief on everyone's faces, Lu Yan scratched his head helplessly.
"It's true…"
Zhuo Yun looked utterly confused.
"But during anatomy training, you didn't faint when looking at internal organs."
Lu Yan coughed awkwardly.
"That's different."
"I only react to human blood."
"I really can't stand seeing people get injured."
Meng Qiuqiu suddenly widened his eyes.
"Wait…"
"So that's why you've never touched a blade before!"
Everyone suddenly realized something strange.
During the entire month of Boot Camp, Lu Yan had almost never used edged weapons.
At first, they assumed it was simply his fighting style.
Now they finally understood the truth.
Lu Yan wasn't originally from Lujiang City.
Cross-city enrollment itself was relatively uncommon, so Zhao Mu had once wondered why someone with such talent transferred here.
Now everything made sense.
His condition probably made training extremely difficult elsewhere.
Zhao Mu rubbed his forehead helplessly.
"Can't stand seeing others bleed…"
"Can't stand seeing yourself bleed…"
"What exactly is your situation?"
Lu Yan answered honestly.
"Both."
"Once, I accidentally cut my finger."
"After staring at the blood for three seconds, I became dizzy and nearly fainted."
Everyone's expressions immediately became complicated.
Hemophobia itself wasn't especially rare.
But for it to appear in an elite A-Rank genius?
That was catastrophic.
After all, combat between Spirit Power Users inevitably involved injury and bloodshed.
Zhao Mu genuinely could not understand such a reaction.
Still, after a moment of silence, he calmly spoke again.
"Forget about the hemophobia for now."
"You're still a Combat Level 12 fighter."
"Tomorrow, stay close to me."
"You'll definitely be useful somehow."
Lu Yan nodded awkwardly.
Soon afterward, the group went to eat together.
Because the instructor had revealed very little about tomorrow's training, it was impossible to formulate proper tactics in advance.
After dinner, Zhao Mu headed directly toward the Engineering Department alone.
Earlier, Jin Xiangcheng had given him twenty million Xuanfeng coins.
Out of that amount, Zhao Mu had immediately handed nineteen million over to Meng Qiuqiu to purchase bone remains for him.
Even though Meng Qiuqiu's family deliberately offered discounts, nineteen million still bought only ten portions of first-grade Jinhai bone remains.
That alone demonstrated how absurdly expensive ember remains truly were.
Normally, even the cheapest first-grade materials cost more than two million Xuanfeng coins each.
After all, only bone remains from Rank-2 exotic beasts or Dark Race creatures possessed enough value to craft ember remains.
During this period, Zhao Mu used those materials continuously to improve his proficiency with the skill:
[Seal Bone Remains]
And the results were astonishing.
His proficiency had already reached 36.
That meant his success rate had reached approximately thirty-six percent.
Strictly speaking, he had already stepped into the threshold of becoming a First-Level Jinhai Master.
Because after mastering the first three steps of crafting, the final stage—connecting spiritual pathways—was comparatively easier.
Of course, the mithril Liang Gongchi previously provided him for practice had almost been completely exhausted by now.
Still, Zhao Mu wasn't in a hurry to officially craft ember remains.
At the moment, he lacked suitable high-grade materials.
More importantly, he wanted to raise his proficiency further before attempting anything valuable.
In Zhao Mu's opinion, wasting precious materials before reaching maximum efficiency would be foolish.
He planned to continue practicing with ordinary materials until his proficiency reached 100.
Only then would he attempt crafting ember remains truly suitable for himself.
Soon, Zhao Mu arrived at the Engineering Department and found Liang Gongchi directly.
Without hesitation, he explained his purpose.
"Teacher," he said seriously, "I've already become a First-Level Jinhai Master."
"Can I apply for crafting materials from Qingfeng Camp in the future?"
"There should be a supply system for that, right?"
Liang Gongchi stared at him expressionlessly.
At this point, she honestly felt numb.
This monster's growth speed was completely unreasonable.
"Oh?"
"You're already a First-Level Jinhai Master now?"
Her tone carried obvious skepticism.
"You say you are, so that makes it true?"
Zhao Mu blinked innocently.
"My proficiency already reached thirty-six."
"There shouldn't be any problem with that…"
Liang Gongchi's eyelid twitched violently.
Then she rolled up the magazine in her hand and slammed it loudly against the desk.
Bang!
"You little brat!"
"You think understanding theory makes you a Jinhai Master?!"
"You need to independently craft an actual first-grade Jinhai ember remain first!"
"Only then can I submit an application to Qingfeng Camp for you!"
Zhao Mu coughed awkwardly and rubbed his nose.
"Well…"
"There's just one small problem."
Liang Gongchi narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"What problem?"
Zhao Mu smiled sheepishly.
"I've run out of materials."
"So I was wondering if you could maybe…"
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