Chapter 218: Chapter 181: New Tier Two Power

Two hours passed in a flash.

Han Ning sat on a chair in the temporary laboratory, eyes closed, focused on the vision of the advancing Rock-Breaking Ants.

Before he knew it, the three Rock-Breaking Ants had burrowed to a depth of about 300 to 500 meters. Each one had traveled a total distance of nearly a thousand kilometers.

Their underground exploration wasn’t a straight line. Instead, they moved in looping, arcing paths to survey the subterranean conditions as thoroughly as possible.

So, a total distance of one thousand kilometers didn’t mean they had actually advanced that far from their starting point.

Since the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm wasn’t very intelligent, it couldn’t distinguish which terrain was suitable for constructing a power station. It could only mechanically direct the ants to explore onward slowly.

Han Ning had instructed it to alert him only when the Rock-Breaking Ants entered a region with a higher temperature.

So far, no specific reports had come back.

CREAK... The door opened quietly.

Teacher Zheng walked in slowly, carrying a black duffel bag.

She unzipped it, revealing twenty test tubes filled with a gray liquid nestled inside.

"Thank you."

Teacher Fang gave her a small smile, took the test tubes from the bag, and placed them on the desk next to Han Ning.

"Thank you for your trouble, Teacher Zheng." Han Ning stood and gave her a slight bow.

By this point, the busy Dean Wu had already left to handle other academy matters. Only the three of them and a few other students working on different tasks remained in the temporary lab.

"Han Ning, when do you plan on taking these? Drinking twenty vials of Weakened Concentration Liquid in one go... there might still be a certain degree of risk."

Although Teacher Fang was often cavalier about his own safety, he was extremely concerned about Han Ning’s.

"It’s fine. I’ve tried it before. The side effects of the Weakened Concentration Liquid are negligible for me."

Han Ning shook his head. ’I absorb it using the panel, so how could there be any side effects?’

Once again, right in front of the two teachers, he took the test tubes from the rack one by one and downed the contents of all twenty. He immediately converted the Spiritual Energy into Attribute Points and added them, point by point, to his Spiritual Attribute.

Tier One (96%→97%→98%→99%)

The moment the progress bar on his panel hit 100%...

Particles of four colors—green, yellow, red, and black—materialized out of thin air and converged on Han Ning’s body.

At the same time, Han Ning felt an icy coolness spread through his brain, as if an endless, refreshing spring were washing over his mind.

His spirit felt as though it were ascending endlessly, as if he had arrived amidst a brilliant star cluster. Here, everything before him resembled Van Gogh’s famous painting, *The Starry Night*. He could "see" particles of every imaginable color.

A faint glimmer appeared on the surface of Han Ning’s eyes, flickering between green, yellow, red, and black.

The Spirit Fusion Technique, learned from the legacy of the Yinsaike Race’s Insect Masters, activated on its own.

The green particles, representing the Wood Element, converged on Han Ning’s abdomen from all directions.

The red Fire Element particles gathered at his heart.

The yellow particles surged toward his abdominal cavity.

The black particles, the rarest of all, rushed into his limbs.

INHALE... EXHALE...

On the nearby desks, papers tucked into folders swayed back and forth rhythmically with Han Ning’s breathing.

The only sounds in the quiet room were his breathing and the soft pitter-patter of rain outside. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Yin Yi sat lazily on a chair not far from Han Ning, its tender leaves flicking about from time to time.

Teacher Fang and Teacher Zheng watched the scene with solemn expressions, hardly daring to breathe.

This tranquil scene continued for an unknown amount of time.

Suddenly, a breeze stirred in the windless room, sending ripples across the neat leaves on Yin Yi’s back.

"Ling?"

RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE~

The breeze grew stronger and stronger, forcing the two teachers to take several steps back.

An invisible force lifted Han Ning’s body a foot off the ground, leaving him hovering in mid-air.

Faint waves of Spiritual Energy radiated from Han Ning’s body, and a cyan-green light enveloped Yin Yi as well.

His neatly trimmed hair fluttered as Han Ning, whose eyes had been tightly shut, suddenly snapped them open.

Faint, interwoven lines of red, yellow, green, and black lit up on his healthy skin. These patterns intertwined, covering every inch of his body.

If a physician familiar with the body’s acupoints were present, they would surely have cried out in shock, because the glowing patterns on Han Ning’s body were a perfect diagram of the human meridians.

The phenomenon lasted for only a second or two.

Then, the complex patterns vanished along with the gale, and Han Ning fell to the ground with a THUD, landing on his rear.

"This kid... It’s like he’s having a realm breakthrough from a fantasy novel." Teacher Fang’s mouth hung slightly open, his expression one of utter astonishment.

’So this is Tier Two Spiritual Power...’

Han Ning dusted himself off and stood up. He quietly stared at his right hand, sensing his new abilities as he clenched his fist.

On the surface of his fist, a hazy, four-colored pattern lit up. As it flowed through his meridians, the colors began to merge.

His once fair, smooth right hand took on a dusty gray hue. Han Ning increased the output of Spiritual Energy, and the gray deepened until it detached from his fist, forming a grayish-yellow slurry that swirled silently within a three-inch radius of his hand.

With the slurry swirling around his fist, he focused his will again.

The red light within the four-colored pattern on the back of his hand intensified.

The slurry gradually vanished, and in its place, a crimson fire instantly enveloped his palm. The flames shifted, gradually forming a fiery claw with five sharp, blazing talons.

He looked at the claw of flame in his hand, walked to the windowsill, slid open the window, and flicked it gently out into the pitch-black, rainy night.

WHOOSH~

The claw of flame shot out, but before it could even reach the ground, it disintegrated into countless motes of light.

"Han Ning... Are you... are you turning into a Soul Beast?" Teacher Zheng couldn’t help but ask, staring at the dissipating flames around his right hand.

"No... it’s not that." Han Ning clenched his fist and explained, "When Spiritual Power breaks through to Tier Two, the Spiritual Power in your brain increases dramatically. I can even use my Spiritual Power to attract the free-floating Energy Particles in the atmosphere to cast one of my Contracted Soul Beasts’ Soul Techniques."

"It’s just that... the effect of this ’borrowed’ Soul Technique isn’t that great. It looks cool, but in reality, it lacks power."

"Casting offensive Soul Techniques might lack power, but if you borrow support-type Soul Techniques, you could achieve some tactical effects," Teacher Fang said, walking over to Han Ning and examining the faint meridian patterns on the back of his hand.

"Do any of your Soul Beasts have debuff-type Soul Techniques? Try borrowing one from them and use it on me. I want to see if my Tier One Spiritual Power can resist it."

"That... doesn’t seem like a good idea." Han Ning looked at the intensely curious expression on Teacher Fang’s face and shook his head firmly.

He wasn’t proficient with this new ability yet. If he slipped up and hurt Teacher Fang, he would never forgive himself.

But Teacher Fang looked unconcerned.

"It’s fine... If anything goes wrong, just pull back in time."

"Absolutely not."

"Alright then."

Seeing Han Ning’s firm refusal, Teacher Fang just smiled and didn’t press the issue.

He knew the student was just looking out for him.

Han Ning summoned his panel and looked over his Soul Beasts’ techniques.

He immediately dismissed the offensive-type Soul Techniques. Although his Spiritual Power had reached Tier Two, his physical strength hadn’t noticeably increased. The only major improvement was his level of control over Spiritual Energy.

Even if he "borrowed" and cast an offensive Soul Technique, its destructive power would be like comparing a firefly to the bright moon when compared to the Soul Beast casting it itself. The difference was just too vast.

But as Teacher Fang had said, even if offensive techniques were out, borrowing support-type Soul Techniques from his beasts would undoubtedly increase a physically fragile Beast Master’s chances of survival in a fight.

’Support-type Soul Techniques... Yin Yi and Egg Pancake are combat-oriented, so they don’t have any. That only leaves the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm...’

Han Ning’s gaze fell on the entry for "Demonization," and an idea struck him.

’If I borrow the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s Demonization, and it casts Demonization itself, would stacking the two multiply the effect?’

Casting Demonization for an extended period would drastically consume the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s Blood Qi, so he planned to only use it for a second or two, just to test the waters.

Deciding to give it a try, Han Ning focused his Spiritual Power on the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm within his body.

The next second, a bizarre smile crept across his previously calm face.

"Han Ning... you..." Seeing his smile, Teacher Zheng couldn’t help but take a step back.

No matter how she looked at it, the smile seemed to hold a sinister, bewitching quality.

At some point, Han Ning’s clear eyes had been completely overtaken by a dark purple glow.

This dark purple light grew more intense with each passing moment, eventually erupting into two raging balls of flame in his eye sockets. Endless, thick black smoke billowed out from around Han Ning, completely enveloping his body!

WHOOSH~

The black smoke flashed.

In the blink of an eye, the roiling cloud of black smoke appeared beside a small tree a dozen meters away.

An arm covered in vicious bone spurs and black-purple skin reached out from the smoke and clenched its fist at the small tree.

BANG!

The slender trunk instantly exploded into a shower of splinters.

A bizarre flame clung to the shattered splinters, continuing to burn.

The black smoke roiled and flashed again.

Han Ning’s figure abruptly reappeared before Teacher Fang and Teacher Zheng.

Amidst the roiling flames, the two could vaguely see a pair of malevolent, dangerous eyes, flickering in and out of sight.

"H-Han Ning?"

The two teachers stared at the student before them, their expressions grave.

Whoosh~

A soft breeze swept past, blowing away the burning flames to reveal Han Ning’s calm eyes and slightly pale face. It was as if nothing had happened.

He glanced at the smoldering chunks of wood in the distance and said with a look of lingering fear,

"The drain is terrifying. Just that one move made my legs go soft and my whole body feel weak."