Ti Jiu was ranked ninth among the top ten first-year students at Imperial University, with a major focus on the Living Division.

Among the top ten, he wasn't actually one with great innate talent. He didn't have the strong physique like Gu Zhe, nor the natural affinity with dragon summoning beasts like Long Ren, and he certainly didn't have the luck of encountering opportunities from time to time like Qian Shanshan.

Even his sister, Ti Shi, had more talent than him in many aspects.

Despite having the worst starting conditions among the top ten, Ti Jiu always managed to secure his place steadily, relying purely on hard work.

After his monthly Living Division written test ended, he went straight to the training ground to start his cultivation practice.

And he would stay there for several days.

Beyond nurturing summoning beasts, Ti Jiu also placed great importance on his own cultivation.

This cultivation wasn't about physical training like Gu Zhe's; it referred to the cultivation of summoner skills. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The top ten each had their strengths, and he was no exception.

Among all the first-year students, through diligent practice, he became the one who mastered the most summoner skills.

And each skill was highly proficient; he could casually pick one out and be stronger than other students.

At this moment, Ti Jiu had just completed a round of skill release practice, sitting cross-legged on the ground for meditation.

Cultivating summoner skills was something that consumed a lot of Spiritual Power.

His unique meditation method could enhance the recovery speed of Spiritual Power to some extent.

However, the frequent vibrations from the ground were making him uncomfortable.

His meditation method was most afraid of being disturbed by external factors.

So, Ti Jiu always pursued a relatively quiet environment.

Currently, most people's monthly exams were still ongoing, and this training ground was a relatively secluded place. He thought there wouldn't be any disturbance, but...

Bang!... Bang!... Bang!... Bang!... Bang!...

The rhythmic vibration was like a clock striking, beating on his heart.

"What are the guys next door up to?"

In the end, Ti Jiu couldn't persist anymore and had to break away from his meditative state.

If it were about nurturing summoning beasts and there was an occasional collision vibration, he could ignore it; it wouldn't interfere with him.

But this noise felt like laying a foundation.

The training ground's soundproof facilities were quite advanced, generally filtering out any minor noise.

"Is there really a construction team next door laying a foundation?"

With this doubt, he stood up.

Decided to go check it out.

As soon as he walked out of his training ground, he could immediately hear the rhythmic pounding sound.

Leaving the soundproof facility, Ti Jiu realized the noise was even louder than he had imagined.

Following the source of the sound, it was easy to pinpoint the target.

He quickly walked over, slowing down as he got closer.

Because he noticed that perhaps due to negligence, the door of this training ground wasn't closed.

For reasons unknown, Ti Jiu was intrigued to take a closer look to see what was going on.

But the gap in the door was small, making it hard to see inside.

So, he reached out to push the door open a bit more.

[Roar woof woof!]

Just then, he heard a noise from under the door.

Before he could see anything, Ti Jiu felt numbness on his hand, and the shock went straight to his head.

Thud!

His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

After a while, Ti Jiu was awakened by the vibrations.

"What... just happened?"

He rubbed his throbbing head, unsure of how long he had been unconscious.

Yet, the strange noise continued, and the door gap had been widened by him earlier.

This time, Ti Jiu cautiously avoided touching the mysteriously electrified door, squatting down to peer inside through the gap.

In the center of the training ground, there seemed to be a mortar set up, and a thick pestle was continuously pounding something inside the mortar.

The rhythmic noise came from the pestle striking the mortar.

"An invisible summoning beast?"

Seeing this scene, he was slightly puzzled.

Because before his eyes, the pestle was moving up and down autonomously without anyone handling it.

This piqued Ti Jiu's curiosity even further.

You should know, some summoning beasts have invisibility skills, especially ghostly types.

For example, he himself had an invisible summoning beast.

But this was no problem for Ti Jiu because he mastered a rare summoner skill that could see through invisibility—"True Sight."

Although this summoner skill was purely auxiliary, its practical effect was excellent.

So, with a thought, Ti Jiu activated the skill.

Instantly, his eyes changed from an ordinary perspective.

If there were others observing, they would notice a slight spatial distortion in his eyes, blurring slightly.

At the same time, the world in his eyes turned into a coarse, grainy texture.

But what he saw startled him.

In this visual state, Ti Jiu surprisingly saw nothing!

What it was like before, it remained.

Still, the pestle moved up and down on its own.

The scene could only be described as bizarre.

"Is this place haunted...?"

As he watched, Ti Jiu's face turned pale, beads of cold sweat forming on his back.

He had a lot of confidence in his "True Sight" skill and had never failed since mastering it.