Life in the Academy was only fresh at the beginning; after that initial phase, it became dull and uninteresting.
Only the cultivation sessions, which happened every three to five days, could bring a genuine sense of joy to Wang Li. Why every three to five days? Because each cultivation session required three to five days to recover from.
Wang Li did not learn the basic meditation method taught by the Academy; instead, he used the meditation method provided by his system panel, which was truly overbearing.
Wang Li suspected that if one cultivated this meditation method without experience to guide them, it would be best to combine it with medicinal baths or dietary supplements to quickly progress while simultaneously replenishing the body's deficiencies.
However, Wang Li did not have the means for this and could only wait for his body to recover naturally. This greatly increased his appetite, and he ate far more than his peers every day. Fortunately, he had brought a good amount of silver coins when he left the village, otherwise the ten bronze coins he earned daily from cleaning would truly not be enough to eat.
But the cultivation effect was absolutely astonishing; just one session could equal ten days to half a month of regular cultivation. He had a system panel, and he could visually see his progress after each cultivation session.
In his judgment, he would be able to advance one level of spirit power after only four to five cultivation sessions. Even though cultivation in the Spirit Scholar stage was relatively fast, his speed was still incredibly absurd.
Life at the Academy was monotonous, and the only source of entertainment came from Xiao Chenyu, a senior student. As the City Lord's son, instead of cultivating properly, he found pleasure in bullying the work-study students.
Xiao Wu was not someone to suffer a loss, and one day she formally challenged the group of seniors led by Xiao Chenyu.
Wang Li was also a work-study student, so he naturally had to follow along. Although he also wanted to fight to gain experience points, his Spirit was not suitable for combat, and no one was willing to rashly let him fight.
The first to fight was Wang Sheng. Before his battle was even finished, Tang San, who had gone out to acquire a spirit ring, returned.
This left Wang Li with even less chance to fight, and he could only continue watching, feeling quite bored.
Tang San faced Xiao Chenyu.
When Tang San's hundred-year spirit ring appeared, Xiao Chenyu's ten-year spirit ring seemed utterly ridiculous.
Seeing this, Wang Li couldn't help but inwardly complain: Wasn't Xiao Chenyu the City Lord's son? How could he not even get a hundred-year spirit ring?
Although Nuoding City was a remote small city, the Nuoding City Lord was still a noble, having risen above commoners. Yet, his son still started with a ten-year spirit ring, just like a commoner.
To highlight Tang San and the preciousness of a hundred-year spirit ring, this was truly too much of a plot device.
If one had to find a reason, perhaps Xiao Chenyu was the City Lord's illegitimate son, which is why he was left to grow up freely at Notting Academy, while the true heir had long since been sent to a more prestigious academy or power.
As expected, first-year Tang San completely crushed sixth-year Xiao Chenyu.
At this point, it had greatly deterred the group of seniors led by Xiao Chenyu.
Finally, Xiao Wu's Spirit possessed her; she was also an eleventh-level Battle Spirit Master, also with a yellow spirit ring signifying a hundred years.
Everyone, including Xiao Chenyu, was completely subdued…
Only Wang Li felt a deep sense of regret, having not gained any experience points from it; to him, it was like missing out on a fortune.
Cultivate, cultivate fiercely! He had to quickly escape his current predicament. Only by possessing a certain level of strength could he experience more battles, gain more experience, and further improve his strength.
...
Three months passed in a flash.
Within Wang Li's body, spirit power continuously surged forward through his meridians, rushing wildly like a dragon or snake, greedily devouring the free spirit power outside his body. It then compressed and condensed at an extremely fast rate, transforming into his own spirit power, strengthening him.
When this cycle was completed, the spirit power within his body suddenly increased greatly, officially breaking through to level ten.
Wang Li was overjoyed. He immediately focused his mind, channeling his spirit power back to his dantian. All the restlessness gradually subsided. Within his dantian, spirit power nourished the Blue Silver Grass Spirit, and the Blue Silver Grass Spirit in turn nourished the spirit power.
Wang Li felt an indescribable warmth within his body.
Slowly opening his eyes, they were filled with joy. Wang Li thought:
Three months ago, I was only a third-level Spirit Scholar. Three months later, I am already a tenth-level Spirit Scholar. This cultivation speed is absolutely no less than that of a top genius.
By this time, it was already dark, but not yet deep into the night. The other occupants of the dormitory were all cultivating. Wang Li glanced in Wang Sheng's direction.
Wang Sheng often boasted in front of them that he would soon reach level ten, that he was about to reach level ten…
Yet, now he himself had reached level ten faster than Wang Sheng. Wang Sheng liked to proclaim things widely, but Wang Li was quite low-key.
Even now, the others did not know Wang Li's true spirit power level. Although there were crystal balls in the Academy for testing spirit power, they were only used at the end of the semester, which was equivalent to a final exam.
Therefore, as long as Wang Li didn't say anything, no one would know his true spirit power level.
He did not have a way to hunt Spirit Beasts independently to acquire a spirit ring, so whether he spoke or not, it made no difference.
If he wanted to rely on the Academy to hunt Spirit Beasts, he would have to wait until this year's sixth-year students graduated. Only then would the Academy collectively organize all students who had reached level ten spirit power to go to the Hunting Soul Forest to hunt Spirit Beasts; they would not make an exception for any single student.
Since his spirit power had reached level ten, he decided not to continue cultivating today. Wang Li quietly lay down, looking at the ceiling, and thought:
Although I don't have a spirit ring and my spirit power cannot break through, I cannot be completely idle. The spirit power cultivated now will manifest after absorbing a spirit ring.
However, besides spirit power cultivation, the most important thing for me right now is to cultivate one or two protective techniques, self-created Spirit Abilities. The difficulty involved is not small.
As he thought, Wang Li fell asleep, sleeping until the next day, when the sun rose in the east and the sky was bright.
The two morning classes, cultural knowledge and Spirit knowledge, certainly could not be missed. Although Wang Li found them boring, he still studied diligently.
In the afternoon, Wang Li went directly to the back mountain. The ecological environment of Douluo Continent was very good; lush Blue Silver Grass could be seen everywhere on the ground, and the mountains were shaded by green trees. Birdsong and cicada chirps were continuous and endless.
Wang Li did not go too far. He found a hillside dense with Blue Silver Grass. The terrain here was open, and looking down, he could even see Notting Academy.
Taking a deep breath and stretching, Wang Li took off his school uniform, revealing a large expanse of tanned skin and a sturdy upper body. His expression was firm as he slowly said:
"Then let's begin… true cultivation!"
Wang Li had not learned any true martial arts, but his Spirit possessed the highly versatile characteristics and passives of vitality and toughness.
Therefore, the cultivation method Wang Li thought of was to harm his own body and then let it recover on its own, to see if he could train it into a technique like the Golden Bell Shield or Iron Cloth Shirt.