Chapter 136 - 93: Combat Power Feiyue
"And so, among the stars born from this issue of the journal, you have ascended to become the most brilliant of them all."
"Even the starlight, condensed from the wisdom of Official Wizards, pales in comparison to you."
This praise was remarkably eloquent, even elegant, clearly surpassing the level of an ordinary human.
This small glimpse gave Mo Ning a much deeper appreciation for Lord Martin’s power.
For the former dean to have created such an Artificial Soul, his mastery of Divination and the depth of his research into the soul must be far beyond anything Mo Ning had imagined.
Flower even revealed a perfectly timed secret:
"Even Lord Martin only published a paper that made the journal’s cover when he was a First Level Apprentice. Your talent surpasses that of Lord Martin in his youth."
Mo Ning was left speechless.
He had the [Eye of Truth] to thank for his achievement. Lord Martin, on the other hand, had no such advantage, yet he had still managed to surpass numerous Official Wizards and make the journal’s cover as a First Level Apprentice.
’Those who become Third Level Wizards truly are a cut above the rest!’
Flower immediately demonstrated its keen insight into its master’s thoughts:
"Mr. Mo Ning, would you like me to leave a copy of the journal on the desk for you? That way you can look through it at your leisure."
Mo Ning marveled inwardly, ’This AI is incredible,’ and replied, "Please do!"
The remaining nine hardcover editions of the journal lifted from the shelf in a neat line and flew slowly toward another bookcase.
A single copy of the journal was left on the desk.
Mo Ning strode over to an armchair and plopped down into it.
Just yesterday, this "sofa" had been a wide wooden chair. Flower had laid a thick, plush cushion on it and draped a slipcover over it, instantly transforming it into an armchair.
He didn’t know what the cushion was filled with, but it was soft without being flimsy. Sitting down felt like being gently cradled by a pair of soft hands.
Mo Ning sank into it, feeling half his body enveloped by the softness. Compared to the hard, unyielding wooden chair in his apartment, this was comfortable beyond measure.
He closed his eyes and resumed the work he had left unfinished the day before: solidifying the deeply optimized [Wind Chasing Needle] within his Spiritual World.
Flower immediately took notice.
In an instant, the world inside the hall seemed to slow down.
The stacks of drafts Flower was organizing all slowed their movements to avoid the faint RUSTLE of paper against paper.
Two feather dusters were still chasing each other playfully out of habit, but their speed dropped by more than half, and they moved with a new, tiptoeing quality.
The floor-sweeping roller simply rolled into a corner and stopped, motionless, as if entering a state of hibernation.
A gentle quiet descended, blanketing the small space.
The only sound was Mo Ning’s own breathing—slow, deep, and steady.
「Five short minutes later.」
Mo Ning observed his Spiritual World and "saw" a Witchcraft Model emitting a faint glow.
He could clearly feel that after his Spiritual Power underwent its second metamorphosis—aided by the potent Spiritual Power of the [Radiant Spirit Oil]—his speed at capturing Demon Seeds and constructing the model had increased significantly.
The [Eye of Truth] promptly provided a series of statistics, confirming his subjective assessment:
[Analysis complete. Demon Seed Mapping speed increased by 16.3%. Demon Seed Group construction speed increased by 12.7%. Node fusion speed increased by 8.64%.]
[A bottleneck currently exists in node fusion speed. Specialized training is recommended to accumulate more data for optimization.]
Mo Ning accepted the recommendation.
But not right now. He added it to his future training schedule.
He had a more important task at hand—repeatedly practicing the [Wind Chasing Needle] to raise his control and precision to the highest possible level.
「Another half hour passed.」
Mo Ning issued a mental command: ’Begin combat simulation!’
The world changed in a flash.
A Cold Pine Forest, like something from an ink wash scroll, was swiftly sketched into existence by an invisible brush. Spiraling snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.
The cold pines stood like silent sentinels, enclosing the virtual battlefield to form a natural coliseum.
Mo Ning stood in the center of a clearing. As his Sheepskin Boots touched the frost-covered ground, his scalp instantly prickled.
He knew instantly that something was watching him from behind.
He activated [Fast Sliding] with maximum speed.
The Witchcraft Model in his Spiritual World flared to life. A strange power enveloped his feet, and the friction between his Sheepskin Boots and the ground vanished as if it had evaporated.
His body shot forward, and in an instant, he became a blur, sliding more than thirty meters like a gust of wind.
As he slid, he weaved flawlessly around six cold pines. A dip of his shoulder, a duck of his head, a bend at his waist—every movement was as precise as if it had been calculated, every turn executed in the nick of time.
In the midst of his slide, he executed a graceful turn, rotating one hundred and eighty degrees in mid-air. He went from fleeing with his back to the enemy to facing them head-on, ready for a fight.
When Mo Ning came to a stop, he found himself facing a dark, hulking figure across the clearing.
With a flicker of his eyes, he immediately identified the monster.
The creature looked very much like a Lizardman, but it was far larger—a full two and a half meters tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back.
The scales covering its body had a dark red sheen, the telltale sign of a Dragon Lizardman.
Lizardmen who possessed the diluted blood of a Giant Dragon would see their scales gradually change from the common blue-gray to dark red. The stronger the bloodline, the deeper the shade of red.