Outside Tianshui City, in a secluded back mountain.
"Come out, Zygarde!"
"Woof~!"
Two spirit rings—one yellow and one purple—rose beneath Bai Mu's feet as Zygarde was summoned.
"Little Soft, let me see your new move."
Pointing at a massive boulder ahead, Bai Mu said,
"Use Earth Divine Power!"
"Awoo!"
Zygarde let out a low growl as bright green light surged across its body. The ground beneath it instantly cracked, spreading out like a spiderweb.
In the next instant, thick pillars of green light erupted from the earth. The ground split apart and collapsed.
"Boom!"
With a deafening explosion, the giant boulder was blown to pieces.
As the light faded and rubble scattered everywhere, the entire area was left in ruins.
"Hiss—this much power?"
Bai Mu was stunned.
He suddenly felt that move power values in the game were like Pokémon height and weight data—purely for reference.
This level of power… how could it only be 90?
Even if someone said it was 150, he'd believe it!
"I really wonder what it'll look like when Core Enforcer is used."
Feeling a surge of anticipation, Bai Mu calmed himself and continued testing.
"Use Dragon Dance!"
"Awoo, awoo~"
The moment the move activated, Zygarde began hopping around like an overexcited husky—shaking its head, wagging its tail, and striking exaggerated poses as if performing some bizarre ritual.
When the dance ended, white light flashed over its body, and its Attack and Speed were instantly enhanced.
"Use Earth Divine Power again!"
"Awoo~"
After testing once more, Bai Mu confirmed that the power of Earth Divine Power had indeed increased by 50%.
"The effect is solid. The rules haven't changed, but…"
He paused, staring at Zygarde with a helpless expression.
"Your Dragon Dance is way too complicated. There's no way you can spend half a day dancing in the middle of a fight."
"You'll need to simplify it. Strip away every unnecessary movement until you can boost yourself while fighting at the same time."
'I'll do my best.'
Zygarde wasn't very confident it could achieve that quickly.
"That's fine. Take it slow."
Bai Mu smiled encouragingly. "If you pull it off, then at the same Rank, your power and speed will be unmatched."
"Now try Substitute."
'I'll try.'
White light flared around Zygarde, and a Substitute identical to it formed in front.
Under Zygarde's control, the Substitute moved smoothly, sprinting and maneuvering through the valley with natural, fluid motions.
"Heavy Stomp!"
Bai Mu took over control.
The Substitute stomped the ground decisively, producing a relatively weak shockwave.
"Not bad. In a real fight, I can control the Substitute for you if needed."
Bai Mu nodded in satisfaction.
In the real world, this Substitute—aside from the fact that enemies could directly attack the true body—was far more useful than its in-game counterpart.
'For me, its greatest use is acting as a shield.'
Zygarde, however, wasn't particularly impressed.
"That's more than enough."
"You practice on your own for now. I need to get familiar with it too."
Bai Mu's second spirit ring lit up. As his stamina drained, a Substitute formed beside him.
Then he didn't stop.
Substitute—again!
A second later, a second Substitute appeared.
"Is there a limit to how many I can make?"
Curious, Bai Mu repeatedly used Jungle Healing to recover stamina while continuing to create Substitutes.
When the number reached five, he clearly felt an immense mental strain.
The Substitutes could still follow simple commands, but their movements became stiff and sluggish, their reactions delayed.
It was like an AI running out of processing power—artificial intelligence degrading into artificial idiocy.
"As expected, control difficulty increases exponentially with numbers."
"With my current ability, I can perfectly control one without affecting myself. Two is manageable if precision isn't required. Any more than that, and it's total chaos."
His head throbbing slightly, Bai Mu dismissed all the Substitutes and rubbed his temples.
"I didn't expect spirit power and stamina to be non-issues, while mental force becomes my biggest limitation instead."
"It looks like I'll need a way to strengthen my mental force in the future."
As for how, he currently saw only three paths—
Creating his own cultivation technique, obtaining the Immortal Herb Autumn Water Dew, or acquiring a head spirit bone.
"A head spirit bone that greatly enhances mental force… isn't that the Wisdom Skull Bone Tang San got during the Spirit Master Competition?"
Did that mean he'd have to take part in the competition too?
It didn't seem impossible.
"Forget it—let nature take its course."
Bai Mu set those thoughts aside.
With his abilities, as long as his Rank kept up, he could enroll in any academy and crush the competition when the time came.
---
Half a year passed quietly.
Bai Mu lived an extremely disciplined life—cultivating, eating, reading, and training every day.
When bored, he would go shopping or spar with Water Ice and Water Moon.
During this half-year, Water Moon successfully completed her Body Refining using hundred-year, thousand-year, and ten-thousand-year Whale Glue, and also obtained a thousand-year second spirit ring.
Bai Mu himself naturally reached Rank 30.
On this day, Zygarde finished digesting another portion of the Immortal Herb's power and split off a new Z Cell.
Yet Bai Mu couldn't bring himself to feel happy.
Good news: there were now 49 Z Cells.
Bad news: four Z Cells still hadn't split due to incomplete digestion of the Immortal Herb's power.
"Too slow. Only two split in half a year."
"At this rate, it'll take at least another year to truly gather all 49."
Bai Mu was growing impatient.
Originally, he'd planned to wait until he could transform into the Z-Snake before leaving the mountain.
Now, the plan had changed.
He was preparing for a breakthrough.
"Instead of staying stuck at Rank 30 for a year, I might as well go to the Star Dou Great Forest, hunt a third spirit ring, break through directly, gather the Z Cells, and transform into the Z-Snake!"
The next day, Bai Mu decisively bid farewell to the Water family.
"You're going to the Star Dou Great Forest?"
Water Cloud Heart frowned. "That place is far more dangerous than the Ice Bound Forest. The outer regions are fine, but deeper inside there are ten-thousand-year spirit beasts everywhere—and even legends like the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python."
"It's fine, Auntie. I won't wander too deep."
Bai Mu grinned. "I'll just gain some experience in the outer areas, then head back to Nuoding City to see the old dean."
"Sigh… you child."
Water Ice handed him a map.
"This is a copy from the academy's collection. It marks dangerous zones and the habitats of special spirit beasts. You must be extra careful and avoid unnecessary risks."
"Thank you, Auntie. I'll be careful."
Bai Mu accepted the map with a smile. "When it's convenient, I'll write to let you know I'm safe."
"Stay safe. See you next time."
Water Ice grabbed his wrist, her tone serious.
"Yeah. I will."
Bai Mu gently squeezed her cold hand.
"You absolutely have to be okay!"
Water Moon turned her head away, eyes slightly red, looking both fierce and adorable. "Otherwise, I'll find a boyfriend even more handsome than you just to spite you!"
"Hearing that, I'm relieved. After all, in the entire continent, there's no one more handsome than me!"
"You—!"
Laughing, Bai Mu ruffled Water Moon's hair hard.
Before she could explode, he turned and strode away without looking back.