Inside the carriage returning to Nuoding City, Bai Mu was in exceptionally high spirits.
This Spirit Hunt had brought him tremendous gains.
Not only had he successfully absorbed a spirit ring and broken through to Level 11, he had also discovered that he could replace Spirit Abilities with Pokémon Moves through spirit-ring resonance. Beyond that, there were still many hidden benefits he had yet to fully explore.
He was already itching to return to Nuoding City and find time to study everything carefully on his own.
"Little Mu, since you've obtained a spirit ring, you should go to the Spirit Hall and register as a Spirit Master first."
As the carriage entered Nuoding City and came to a stop, the Dean said with a laugh.
"Although the monthly subsidy from the Spirit Hall is only one gold coin, for you right now, that's still a considerable amount of money."
"Understood, Dean!"
Bai Mu agreed readily.
"Little San, you're now a Spirit Grandmaster. You can receive ten gold coins as well—go update your information too."
Yu Xiaogang deliberately added this at the side.
"Understood, Teacher."
Tang San nodded. He walked together with Bai Mu and started chatting along the way.
"Bai Mu, how much stronger do you think Zygarde is compared to before?"
"It's alright. Overall combat power probably increased by about half."
Bai Mu shook his head with a helpless smile.
"If we fought again now, I probably wouldn't be your opponent anymore, Little San."
"Don't underestimate yourself. You should already be unrivaled below the Spirit Grandmaster rank."
Although Tang San felt secretly pleased, remembering that his teacher wanted to take Bai Mu as a disciple, he spoke modestly.
"Keep working hard on your cultivation. If you don't understand something, you can always ask me or the teacher. We'll definitely help you."
Tang San was usually cold toward people other than Xiao Wu, but his attitude toward Bai Mu was clearly much warmer now.
In his heart, although he did not want to become a pure support whose fate depended on others, having a teammate who could both fight and provide support was undeniably attractive.
"That really is wonderful."
Bai Mu saw through Tang San's thoughts but did not expose them. Instead, he smoothly steered the topic toward cultivation.
"I've been thinking about optimizing my cultivation method recently. I have a few questions about meridians—could I ask you about them?"
Recalling Bai Mu's help during the Spirit Hunt, Tang San did not hold back. As long as it did not involve the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, he answered Bai Mu's questions seriously and resolved his doubts one by one.
He was not worried in the slightest that Bai Mu could derive any powerful cultivation technique from this.
After all—the Mysterious Heaven Skill was unrivaled.
---
Nuoding City Spirit Hall
Tang San, already familiar with the place, led Bai Mu to an elderly man who was organizing documents.
"Tang San? You broke through again?"
Mathew Nuo exclaimed in surprise the moment he saw him.
"Yes, Grandpa. I've just obtained my second spirit ring," Tang San replied politely.
"Good! Good! Truly a genius!"
Mathew Nuo beamed and tried once again to recruit him.
"Child, have you really no intention of joining the Spirit Hall? With your talent—"
"I'm sorry, Grandpa. I won't consider that until after graduation."
Tang San shook his head gently.
Mathew Nuo sighed and turned his gaze to Bai Mu.
"And this young man is?"
"Hello, Grandpa. My name is Bai Mu. I'm a work-study student at Nuoding Academy. I've just obtained my first spirit ring and came to register as a Spirit Master."
Bai Mu greeted him with a smile.
"Oh? Another one from Nuoding Academy…"
Mathew Nuo quickly found the relevant file. When he saw Innate Spirit Power: Level 1, his brow furrowed slightly. But as he continued reading—
"Nine years old? From Level 1 to Level 10 in just three years?!"
He suddenly looked up, shock written all over his face.
"You're not joking with me, are you, child?"
You had to know—going from Innate Level 1 to Level 10 was far more difficult than going from full spirit power Level 11 to Level 20.
"That's right."
Bai Mu nodded calmly. With a thought, a bright yellow spirit ring rose beneath his feet.
"A hundred-year spirit ring!"
Mathew Nuo's eyes lit up. He took a deep breath to steady himself.
"Child, could you release your Spirit for me to see?"
"Come out, Zygarde."
"Woof~"
Bai Mu raised his hand. A ball of light descended, and Zygarde appeared beside him.
"A detached Spirit… wait!"
Mathew Nuo was inwardly shocked. He looked down at the file again.
Spirit: Zygarde (Mutated Planarian)
He suddenly raised his head.
"That's not right! The record says Planarian—how did it turn into a dog?"
A realization struck him.
"Could it be… your Spirit evolved?"
"Yes."
Bai Mu nodded obediently.
"Child."
Mathew Nuo stared at Zygarde for a long time, his tone turning solemn.
"Are you willing to join the Spirit Hall?"
"Thank you, Grandpa, but I have no intention of joining for now."
Bai Mu smiled innocently and shook his head decisively.
Fighting Tang San was one thing. As long as he didn't aim to kill, even if Tang San was injured, Bai Mu wasn't worried that Tang Hao—a peerless powerhouse and an 'excellent' father who let his under-six-year-old son eat porridge every day—would interfere in a junior's duel.
But the Spirit Hall was different.
He genuinely suspected that Tang Hao might be lurking nearby, and if he were in a bad mood, he might casually crush someone.
Safety first. Caution above all.
"…I see."
Mathew Nuo could not hide his disappointment, but he quickly regained his gentle smile.
"If you change your mind in the future, you can come at any time. The Spirit Hall's doors are always open to you."
He swiftly completed the registration and updates for both of them and issued their subsidies.
"Thank you, Grandpa."
Bai Mu smiled as he accepted the heavy gold coin.
In truth, he believed the Spirit Hall was the best organization on the entire Douluo Continent.
It provided free Spirit Awakening for commoners, distributed subsidies to Spirit Masters, and maintained a relatively fair promotion system.
After the Spirit Hall's destruction, not only did the subsidies disappear, but even Spirit Awakening required payment.
Even so, Bai Mu had no intention of joining.
Because—
"The Spirit Hall is good, but that crazy woman Bibi Dong is a ticking time bomb."
Bai Mu sighed inwardly.
If he joined the Spirit Hall, he was genuinely afraid Bibi Dong might pull some insane stunt.
You simply couldn't understand a lunatic using normal human logic.
By comparison, he was far more interested in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and the Heaven Dou Empire.
The former was the wealthiest sect, and its members were relatively sane.
As long as he could handle Ning Fengzhi or Ning Rongrong, it would be equivalent to indirectly gaining the backing of Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo.
As for the latter, the reason was simple—
The Heaven Dou imperial family did not possess a Titled Douluo who truly belonged to them.
In Bai Mu's view, in a transcendent world like this, without peak-level powerhouses, even an army of a million was nothing more than meat on the chopping block.
And that kind of environment was perfect for manipulation.
As for that fake Crown Prince, Xue Qinghe…
"Hahaha…"
Just thinking about it made Bai Mu laugh out loud.
Tang San looked at him in confusion.
"Why are you laughing, Bai Mu?"
I laugh at Bibi Dong's madness and Qian Renxue's stupidity.
They were clearly the two women with the greatest talent on the entire Douluo Continent.
One fell in love with a useless Grandmaster, failed to elope, turned against her teacher, and was ultimately violated.
The other, a peerless genius with Innate Spirit Power Level 20, wasted years on a ridiculous plot to usurp an empire.
How absurd.
But facing Tang San's question, Bai Mu simply replied,
"I thought of something happy."
"What was it?"
"My wife gave birth—ptooey!"
Clutching the gold coin, Bai Mu declared arrogantly,
"Tomorrow, when I drink soy milk, I'll drink one bowl and pour out another. The point is—I've got money, so I can be willful!"
Tang San: "???"