Free Web NovelChapter 396: Chapter 383: Teacher Tang’s Guidance
"I heard your club president and members ran into trouble at the Yichuan Ruins. What’s the situation?"
Teacher Tang was playing with his Ghost Kitten. He teased the spatial afterimages of Mo Ying with his fingertips while speaking to Gu Ming, his expression placid and his presence exuding a natural calm.
It was as if the incident with the club leader and the others was, to him, just something "worth a casual inquiry, nothing more."
He looked as if he wouldn’t mind even if Gu Ming gave a perfunctory answer.
Gu Ming had returned to the company and naturally received the school’s report on the search, so he reported:
"The teachers’ search has made progress. The school found the bodies of the deceased students in an officially marked restricted zone. The whereabouts of the living students are still unknown."
The advice Gu Ming had given proved useful, which was good news for the rescue effort.
Now that the bodies had been found, their path forward was clear.
By following this route into the undeveloped areas, they would most likely find the survivors.
Teacher Tang nodded and went back to watching the cat.
Unsure if Teacher Tang was truly concerned, Gu Ming added:
"The upperclassmen’s Star Levels aren’t that high. If they could get in, the teachers can certainly get in and explore safely. It’s just a matter of being delayed by the Illusion Realm.
"As long as they’re still alive, there’s a chance to rescue them."
After speaking, Gu Ming recalled the messages in his system’s bullet comments.
The so-called Illusion Realm was all just the Memory Essence of the Primordial Dream Butterfly.
Pieces of this Memory Essence could form the Memory Fragments of an Ancient Divine Beast. If there were memories of someone cultivating a Spiritual Skill inside, they would sell for an astronomical price.
This made him want to get his hands on it for himself.
So, seizing the opportunity when Teacher Tang asked him, "Regarding the school’s cultivation plan, what are your expectations? You can tell me."
Gu Ming’s first thought for a cultivation direction was "memory collection."
"I want my Pet Beasts to be able to collect Memory Essence."
The moment he said this, Teacher Tang’s usually steady presence faltered for a moment.
Then, his expression returned to normal, and he said placidly:
"Collect memories? Do you know what you’re talking about?
"That’s a High-star Skill for Spiritual Pet Beasts, not something a Low-star can do.
"Right now, the only one I see with that kind of potential is Lu You’s Illusory Color Butterfly.
"But it would have to evolve into its Illusory Color Butterfly form to be able to do that.
"As for your Cyan Treasure, Ah Kun, and Ah Ji, I don’t see any of them having that potential."
Teacher Tang was usually a man of few words, but this time, he said a little more than usual.
Lu You was listening from the side. She didn’t know why Gu Ming wanted to collect memories.
But since Gu Ming had a need for it and her own Pet Beast happened to be of the Spiritual Element, she took the initiative to say:
"I want to set my cultivation course to ’memory collection’.
"The teacher said it’s difficult... but difficulty means it’s valuable. I want to try."
Teacher Tang didn’t stop her, commenting casually:
"Mm, the Illusory Color Butterfly larva is qualified for that.
"And what about your Mouse Treasure?"
"The Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster is an Earth Attribute. I saw the Earth Dragon Illusion on its Foundation Establishment Platform. It knows Earth Dragon Skills, so perhaps you can choose the Sub-dragon Bloodline Evolution and go for a variant Evolution path.
"What do you think?"
Lu You grew troubled, lowering her head to whisper and consult with her Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster.
After dealing with Lu You’s cultivation plan, Teacher Tang turned back to Gu Ming:
"Have you thought through your expected approach?
"Let’s talk about Cyan Treasure first. Its Life Light Wave has a special Attribute. My suggestion is to develop this characteristic and make its other Skills carry a similar effect.
"If you can achieve that, it definitely won’t be a stumbling block on its future path of Evolution, but a great asset."
Teacher Tang had sharp eyes. This judgment was based on the perception of the Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul. When Cyan Treasure’s Plant Life Light Wave acted as a Catalyst, it was by no means a simple life-level catalysis. It was more like "fast-forwarding through its growth time."
But to say it was a Time Element ability...
Teacher Tang didn’t believe it.
It was precisely because he didn’t understand it that he was more optimistic about the future potential of this hidden characteristic.
Gu Ming was slightly taken aback by the analysis, and just then, a bullet comment popped up from his system:
「Eight-star master Tang Tianyi’s cultivation plan for Cyan Treasure:
「Unearth its Time Element Talent and achieve Time Reversal.」
For some reason, this bizarre main quest line for the Sect had resumed.
Still, this was good. Gu Ming had been coveting the Time Reversal Talent for a while.
He hadn’t managed to cultivate it before and thought that path was closed.
Now that he had the chance, he naturally had to ask this Eight-star master for his plan, so he nodded in agreement:
"I’ll do as you say, Teacher. I’ll strengthen Cyan Treasure’s characteristic and apply it to its other Skills."
After discussing Cyan Treasure, Teacher Tang looked at Ah Kun and Ah Ji:
"There’s not much to say about the Grouper Fish. It’s just an ordinary Fish Pet. Even if its bloodline has mutated to give it cultivation Talent, for now, you should focus on practicing the Wave-Swallowing Technique. Try to master the second stage in the first semester."
Next was Ah Ji.
"As for Ah Ji, it has the potential for a brand new Evolution.
"Dark and Light Attributes have never been compatible. The fact that they can coexist within its body proves it can walk the path of balance.
"The Balance Dao is extremely rare in Pet Beast cultivation. In my long research career, I’ve only ever encountered one pair.
"Unfortunately, my abilities were lacking back then, and I didn’t have the chance to study it in depth."
He paused, looking at Ah Ji’s big, adorably dopey eyes, and said:
"At Wenquxing University, there’s an old professor who follows the path of balanced Evolution. Other people don’t really like his class. They think balance equals mediocrity, meaning all its abilities are average, and so is its combat power.
"To be honest, I don’t have any better options, but if you want to cultivate both Attributes, you could perhaps try taking his class.
"Of course, if the results aren’t good, you can change it next semester."
This was Teacher Tang’s cultivation plan.
Gu Ming expressed his thanks, then took the plan and headed back to school with Lu You, who was in the same cohort.
On the way, Lu You glanced up at Gu Ming several times, wanting to ask why he wanted to collect memories, but she hesitated each time. Her social anxiety made it difficult for her to speak up, as she was afraid Gu Ming would think she was ignorant.
It wasn’t until the Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster tugged on the corner of her clothes, pointed a small paw at Gu Ming, and took the initiative to ask on behalf of the Insect Baby, "What do you want to use the collected memories for?" that Gu Ming thought for a moment and said:
"I’ve experienced many of the Memory Fragments in the Yichuan Ruins. I saw those massive, ancient creatures fighting."
"I think that even if it’s just some combat fragments, the benefits for us would be immense."
The Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster had a moment of realization and squeaked as it relayed the message to its master. Only then did Lu You understand Gu Ming’s deeper meaning. ’So that’s what he was preparing for.’
And it had to be said, that really was a good direction for study.
...
When Gu Ming took Teacher Tang’s plan to Elder Huo, the latter was in the middle of deducing something with an Array Plate.
After hearing the plan, Elder Huo tapped a finger on the Array Plate and raised an eyebrow.
"Collecting memories?
"A little interesting.
"But the Spiritual Element courses are tough. Professor Zhang’s ’Spiritual Fragment Analysis’ has had the highest failure rate for years.
"If you can get through it, the precision of your Brain Array inscriptions will increase by at least thirty percent."
He paused, then tossed a Jade Scroll to Gu Ming.
"These are my lecture notes from back in the day. Take a look at them first.
"Come to my office tomorrow. We’ll talk about how to combine ’Dynamic Arrays’ and ’memory collection’."
