Isn't this even more satisfying than some gambler's comeback revenge saga?

But this sentiment is something Li Pu can't quite grasp.

Because he's never been despised like that before nor lost everything.

"By the way, teacher."

After talking about the card selling, Li Pu did have something to discuss with Li Fan.

"I think I should be able to learn the linkage skill [Sprint] now."

After relentless practice over these days, Li Pu has completely mastered [Hardening].

Maybe not so proficiently, but he can activate it instantly on individual parts.

Activating it all over the body takes a few seconds to start up.

Initially, Li Fan said once reaching this level, he'd be ready for the next step.

"You've mastered it... quite quickly."

To be honest, this surprised Li Fan a bit.

It took him about a year to reach this level back in the day.

Li Pu took only half a year, much faster than he did.

"Okay then, see if there are any skills you want to learn."

So he sat upright, preparing to take out the available Summoner skills for learning.

"Wait a moment, teacher, I actually have an idea."

But Li Pu didn't intend to learn the skills offered by his teacher.

"Hm?"

Li Fan raised a slight brow.

Then, Li Pu shared his idea.

"Your idea is quite ambitious..."

After listening, Li Fan pondered for a long time.

He felt Li Pu's proposed concept was more complex than his own [Void Thunder].

Strictly speaking, it's not even a 3-linkage skill; it should be counted as a 3.5 or 4-linkage skill.

"Here's the thing, I'm not familiar with this skill either."

"So, how to integrate them together specifically is something you have to research on your own."

"But I can tell you the specific ideas and directions."

"Additionally, I have already designed the linkage operation route for [Sprint] + [Hardening] for you in advance."

That's all Li Fan can help with.

Actually, Li Pu can already activate [Sprint] + [Hardening] at the same time, but there's a reason to make a linkage skill.

The most direct advantage is in terms of Spiritual Power consumption.

Take Li Fan's [Void Thunder] as an example.

[Void Thunder] = [Sprint] + [Voidification] + [Thunder Armor]

Let's assume these three Summoner skills consume the same amount of Spiritual Power.

If maintaining [Sprint] + [Voidification] + [Thunder Armor] separately and simultaneously consumes Spiritual Power of 3.

Then maintaining [Void Thunder] would only consume 1.5~1.7, not even needing as much Spiritual Power as maintaining two skills separately and simultaneously.

Of course, [Sprint], [Voidification], and [Thunder Armor] don't require equal Spiritual Power; this is just a hypothesis to illustrate the advantages of linkage skills more intuitively.

The simplification and fusion of energy operation routes make linkage skills consume less and faster to activate.

So the second advantage of linkage skills is the activation speed.

Still using [Void Thunder] as an example.

Assuming Li Fan separately activates [Sprint], [Voidification], and [Thunder Armor] in about 0.1 seconds, then three skills would take 0.3 seconds.

Before linkage, Summoner skills could only be maintained simultaneously, not activated simultaneously.

So there is an order in activation unless you're some genius who can multitask to an extreme level.

It's known that at certain critical moments, these differences in fractions of seconds can affect or even decide many things.

And [Void Thunder] is just one skill, so its activation time can be 0.1 seconds, much faster than activating three consecutively.

Li Fan has already built the initial framework of [Sprint] + [Hardening] for Li Pu.

This isn't a 2-linkage skill of [Sprint] + [Hardening] but an incomplete operation route model with vacant slots.

Meaning Li Pu still needs to fill in subsequent Summoner skills within this framework to complete it; otherwise, it can't be used.

"Thank you, teacher."

Even so, this makes it much easier for him.

Moreover, without Li Fan's framework, Li Pu would have neither the experience nor the direction to create a linkage skill based on [Sprint].

Next, he'll need to spend time researching and practicing on his own.

With the official matters done, the two chatted a bit and exchanged updates, then started playing cards.

Li Pu felt his Dragon cards were not yet perfect, so he didn't take them out to play against Li Fan.

Consider it a small surprise for the teacher, waiting until it's thoroughly perfected to use it and sweep him away.

The outcome now, of course, is like before, with Li Fan winning easily.

Li Pu's card pool is updating, but so is Li Fan's.

So speaking of strategic changes and cunning tactics, he's still far from matching the other.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now; you take care."

After completely defeating his student, Li Fan felt quite satisfied.

Seeing Li Fan off, Li Pu quickly returned to the trading station.

The 1 million in his hand is enough for acquiring the auxiliary materials needed for Bo Bo's transformation.

After a round of purchasing, he brought a full load of materials to the training ground.

Then began the transformation of two summoned beasts.

First, Bo Bo's transformation plan, which is quite simple.

Since last time it gained the devouring attribute with Guan Heshi's help, Li Pu asked the teacher about it.

Don't underestimate Guan Heshi for focusing mainly on plant-type magical beasts; he has abundant knowledge in some relatively basic areas.

3 transformations are still quite low, so his knowledge reserve is fully sufficient for this.

Upon seeing and examining the unknown beast skull bones Li Pu brought from home, Guan Heshi helped design a detailed transformation plan.

This plan is somewhat similar to the general plant-type transformation plan, considered an upgraded version for animal-type transformations.

It's about figuring out a way for Bo Bo to consume the entire beast skull bones with auxiliary materials on a specific transformation array.

Bo Bo is quite resistant to this.

Moreover, those bones are very hard things to chew.

Don't forget Bo Bo is a summoned beast with the [Baby Teeth] trait; it can't easily gnaw on hard things, barriers excepted.

For this, what Li Pu needs to do actually involves a lot more.

The most important task is to make the bones consumable by Bo Bo.

For example, grinding them into pieces or powder, then mixing with auxiliary materials.

To deal with hard things, of course, suitable tools are required.

Li Pu specifically bought a substantial mortar from the trading station for this purpose.

This tool is generally used for processing hard materials, allowing them to be crushed.

If patient, it can even be ground into powder.

Originally, Li Pu could have gone to the Mechanical Department to find some machine to do the work, but hearing that using that level of equipment requires consuming Mechanical Department Points, he reconsidered and decided to buy a mortar and do the processing the old-fashioned way.

Although the mortar wasn't cheap, costing 10,000 Crystal Coins.

Anyway, since he might encounter situations requiring specially hard material processing in the future, Li Pu gritted his teeth and bought it.

Theoretically, this rough work should have been entirely the Scarecrow's responsibility.

Scarecrow: Grass!

But considering efficiency issues, Li Pu decided to handle it himself.

Scarecrow: You're decent!

"This thing is quite heavy."

However, when holding the pestle made of special metal in hand, he somewhat changed his mind.

This weight, truly speaking, might be too much for Wu Guinan or Long Ren to even lift.

Even standing it on the ground, it's not easy to tip over; it's just too heavy.

After all, if it lacks its own weight, it's not conducive to crushing hard materials.

"What should I do? Feels like it's going to be a major task."

Li Pu didn't want to rely solely on brute force, so he started thinking of a solution.

...

...