Chapter 31: Practice
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
During this time, the number of people fishing by the lake gradually decreased, returning to the state of five or six people as before.
The main reason was that White Carp was indeed difficult to catch, and it couldn't be caught directly. Many people realized the difficulty and were unwilling to waste their time on it.
During this period, besides Lin Xiu being able to consistently catch something every day, only two or three others were lucky enough to catch one.
Some people attempted to ask Lin Xiu for advice to gain some skills, but they were all rejected by Lin Xiu.
His fishing method was not even mentioned to Xiao Ning, let alone told to others.
After all, helping them would be creating enemies for oneself.
During this period, Lin Xiu used White Carp as a condition, allowing Xiao Ning to spar with him by the lake during the day, and finding Lin Dun at night.
Many Dou Techniques level soared rapidly. In addition to gaining a large number of Attribute Points and strength improvement, Lin Xiu also merged some Dou Techniques.
"Panel."
With a thought, text appeared in front of Lin Xiu.
[Name: Lin Xiu]
[Age: 17]
[Realm: 3 Star Dou Practitioner (188/300)]
[Constitution: 14]
[Spirit: 7]
[Aptitude: 10]
[Abilities:
Wind Thunder Technique (Black Mid) lv8 (800/800)
Mountain Breaker (Yellow High) lv5 (350/500)
Thundering Palm (Black Mid) lv2 (50/200)
Swift Wind Steps (Yellow Mid) lv2 (60/200)
Energize (Yellow Mid) lv3 (10/300)
Flying Flowers Through Leaves (Yellow Mid) lv1 (90/100)]
[Attribute Points: 24]
Swift Wind Steps is a body technique Dou Technique, formed by the fusion of Shadow Step and Chasing Wind, combining the agility of Shadow Step and the speed of Chasing Wind.
Energize, on the other hand, is synthesized from Qi Strength and another Yellow Rank Low-Level defensive Dou Technique. When activated, it can briefly gather blood and energy in one part of the body to enhance defense.
When he first obtained this Dou Technique, Lin Xiu made a bold attempt, but fortunately stopped in time when he realized something was wrong. Otherwise, he might have had to bid farewell to his happiness for the rest of his life.
Flying Flowers Through Leaves is an attacking Dou Technique, leaning towards sword moves, meant to be used in conjunction with a sword.
In addition to these, Lin Xiu has plenty of low-level Dou Techniques, most of which have not reached their full level and cannot be merged yet.
Apart from the gains in Dou Techniques, his strength has increased by 1 Star, Constitution has been enhanced by 2 points, and Spirit has increased by 1 point.
"Thundering Palm and Mountain Breaker are very powerful. When sparring with Xiao Ning and Lin Dun, I never get a chance to use them." Sometimes Lin Xiu would lament that advancing too quickly wasn't good because there were no suitable sparring partners.
"I'll save the Attribute Points for future needs. I'm not lacking in Dou Techniques now. In fact, I rarely get a chance to use Dou Techniques. What I do lack is a decent weapon."
Inside his ring, there were some Dou Techniques that required practice with a weapon. Lin Xiu usually used a wooden stick as a spear or a longsword. However, with the advancement of Dou Technique levels and power, the wooden stick often couldn't last long.
There were weapons sold specifically at the Academy, but not only were they expensive, most were made of stainless steel and lacked strong attack capabilities in actual combat.
The weapons Lin Xiu wanted leaned more towards magic core weapons, crafted with embedded Magic Beast cores, often possessing unique characteristics.
"Even the cheapest magic core weapons start at around five to six thousand gold coins. I don't quite have enough money for that."
Before, when he wanted to buy a weapon, Lin Xiu specifically went to the market where many senior students learning forging sold their own weapons.
Fishing by the lake until dusk, Lin Xiu carried a White Carp and gave it to the elder.
Then, he went straight back to the dormitory.
These days, the only thing Lin Xiu found relaxing was that Xiao Mei and Xiao Yu finally stopped coming to find him.
"Brother Xiu, Mentor wants to see you." Seeing Lin Xiu come in, Lin Dun handed him dinner.
Both of them were students of Huo Lan.
"Did he say what it's about?" Lin Xiu didn't rush to leave, sitting on the edge of the bed to eat.
Lin Dun shook his head, "Mentor didn't say."
Nodding, Lin Xiu quickly finished his dinner, then left the dormitory and headed towards Huo Lan's residence.
At this moment, in Huo Lan's house, there were three other people, two men and one woman, all dressed in student uniforms.
They are Du Chaoping, Han Pu, and Qin Zhi. Du Chaoping was from the last but one batch of students, with average talent. In the past two years, his strength hasn't broken through to Dou Master level yet. The other two are from the last batch of students, both 8-Star Dou Practitioners.
"Du Chaoping, I have always trusted your abilities. This time, I've called you all here because I have a task for you." Huo Lan first looked at the man in the middle.
"Teacher, just give us your orders." Du Chaoping responded promptly.
"Recently, I've taken in a new disciple from the freshmen, but since the beginning of the school year, he has been indulging in fishing. Since you have a mission, I want you to take him along." Huo Lan was referring to Lin Xiu.
He held high hopes for Lin Xiu, which is why he willingly offered him an advanced Qi Method, even though Lin Xiu ultimately chose a Black Rank Low-Level one.
However, after Lin Xiu enrolled, Huo Lan learned that Lin Xiu would spend all his free time fishing during the day, which gave him a bit of a headache.
Entering the Academy, the most important thing naturally was cultivation, especially since he hoped Lin Xiu would secure a spot in the top five during the Inner Court Assessment two years later, making time even more precious.
"Teacher, there's no problem bringing along the junior brother." Du Chaoping was accustomed to such tasks and had become familiar with them long ago. "However, our target for this mission is the Water Tiger Beast."
The Water Tiger Beast was a Second Rank Magic Beast, considered relatively weak in the second tier, but handling them would still put considerable pressure on the three of them. If they were to bring along a newly enrolled junior brother and any unexpected situations arose, they might not be able to ensure his safety.
"Why did you take on this task?" Huo Lan frowned, sensing some trouble.
Because Du Chaoping had often been instructed to bring along newcomers before, Huo Lan had thought of him this time too, relying on Du Chaoping's reliability.
"Teacher, I asked Senior Du to take it because my weapon broke." Qin Zhi replied.
This task is to obtain the magic core of the Water Tiger Beast, and upon completion, you can obtain a weapon.
The three of them joined forces, plus the fact that the Water Tiger Beast wasn't particularly formidable, led them to choose to accept the task.
When the room was somewhat quiet, a knock sounded at the door, followed by Lin Xiu's voice, "Teacher, it's Lin Xiu. I'm here."
Huo Lan instructed Lin Xiu to come in first.
After pushing the door open, Lin Xiu saw the other three people inside, a smile appearing on his face. The three also smiled and nodded in response to Lin Xiu.
"Teacher, what do you need from me?" Lin Xiu went straight to the point, not wanting to waste too much of their time.
"Well, you've been at the Academy for some time now. I want you to go out and experience with these three for a while. Staying in the Academy all the time isn't necessarily the best way to grow." Huo Lan spoke with a tone of discussion, his eyes filled with a hint of anticipation as he looked at Lin Xiu.
He felt that Lin Xiu might refuse him, and since this opportunity wasn't quite suitable anyway, if Lin Xiu did refuse, he could just send him back.
The pressure from the Water Tiger Beast seemed a bit much for Du Chaoping and the others, so Huo Lan felt it would be better not to let Lin Xiu take the risk first. They could wait for the next opportunity.
"Experience? Sure, when do we leave?" Lin Xiu's excited response left Huo Lan looking somewhat astonished.
During this time, Lin Xiu hadn't had many chances to fully utilize his Dou Techniques, and his experience growth had slowed down.
If he could go out and battle Magic Beasts, his experience would surely skyrocket.
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