After seeing Romantina and the others off, Sisi turned to Su Yuntao and asked, "You seem to know those two boys?"
"They're exactly the kids I mentioned before — their spirit weapons are Blue Silver Grass and Heart, but they have innate full spirit power," Su Yuntao eagerly told Sisi.
Hearing "innate full spirit power," Sisi's eyes brightened.
Unlike Su Yuntao, Sisi had read some books on spirit weapon cultivation and knew that the level of innate spirit power roughly correlated with the speed of cultivation.
However, when she thought about their spirit weapons — Blue Silver Grass and Heart — a trace of disdain appeared in her eyes.
Blue Silver Grass was widely recognized as a useless spirit weapon; she wasn't sure what it could be cultivated into.
As for the Heart spirit weapon... such a spirit weapon identical to a body part was very rare but usually cultivated extremely slowly. For example, Romantina's Brain spirit weapon also cultivated at a painfully slow pace.
Therefore, the Heart spirit weapon was also considered useless.
Naturally, Sisi's attitude carried a hint of disdain...
Knock knock knock!
There was a knock at Ma Xiunuo's office door.
"Come in."
The door opened right after.
"Oh, it's you."
Putting down some information about the continent-wide Advanced Spirit Master Academy elite competition, Ma Xiunuo smiled at Romantina, "What brings you here to bother an old man like me?"
"I became a spirit master, so I came to register," Romantina said, walking up to the desk and teasing Ma Xiunuo affectionately, as if they were close relatives despite no blood ties.
"That's really fortunate."
Registering new spirit masters was one of Ma Xiunuo's duties as the branch hall leader, and it had to be done personally to show respect.
However, Ma Xiunuo's workload wasn't heavy — spirit masters were rare, and most just came monthly for subsidies at the hall's outer lounge. In a small city like this, being a branch hall leader was relatively easy, and if you had no ambition, you could do the job for decades.
But Ma Xiunuo soon looked puzzled: "Su Yuntao is on duty today, such an important matter, he should have brought you here. Why didn't I see him?"
"I'm familiar with the place, so I came alone. Besides, he's chasing after Miss Sisi, so I didn't want to interrupt," Romantina teased, showing a mischievous side before Ma Xiunuo.
"Sisi?"
Ma Xiunuo shook his head with a sigh. With his years of experience, he knew her situation well.
"She's reckless, and Su Yuntao can't control her. If he keeps being so impatient, by the time he's thirty and his body peaks before declining, he'll probably never break past level 30 — just like me."
Then Ma Xiunuo took out a crystal ball and said to Romantina, "Let's test your spirit power."
"Okay."
Romantina placed her hand on the crystal ball, which glowed with a brightness of 11/20.
"Spirit Power: Level 11."
Ma Xiunuo nodded and stamped her spirit weapon certificate, congratulating her, "Congratulations on officially becoming a spirit master."
"Thank you." Romantina smiled brightly and then introduced Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu, "They're new students at Notting Academy, all with innate full spirit power, and have already gained their first spirit rings. I brought them to register."
"Innate full spirit power? I've heard about that from Su Yuntao... He should have brought you here directly..." Ma Xiunuo said, pushing the crystal ball toward Zhou Qing. "Let's test yours."
Zhou Qing placed his hand on the crystal ball and injected spirit power.
The ball suddenly burst into brilliant light, showing spirit power at level 15!
"Level 15! How is that possible?"
Ma Xiunuo's eyes widened. In all his years, he'd never seen such a ridiculous case — just getting the first spirit ring and jumping that high in spirit power.
He quickly regained composure and asked, "Which spirit beast gave you your first ring?"
Lower-level spirit masters require less spirit power to advance, but 15 was still extraordinary. The likely explanation was the spirit beast was very well-aged and matched his spirit weapon perfectly.
"A Mou Chun Niu — its age should be close to 500 years," Zhou Qing answered honestly.
"The leader of the Mou Chun Niu in the Notting Hunting Forest? It's over 490 years old!" Ma Xiunuo knew the exact age well. This made the boy even more terrifying for absorbing a spirit ring way above his level.
Even the direct heirs of major sects usually only got spirit rings aged between 300-400 years, rarely over 400.
Because for kids, spirit rings over 400 years old put great pressure on the body and often caused problems.
But this kid actually absorbed a 490-year-old spirit ring from a beast leader — risking his life!
"Next time, consider the ring's age before choosing... Who's your team leader? How could you be so reckless letting you take such a high-aged spirit ring?"
Though Ma Xiunuo thought Zhou Qing was lucky to survive and gain such a boost, it was way too risky.
Even big sect elders who prepared many resources — medicated baths, physical training, and strengthening — wouldn't allow their heirs to take such a risk, especially not common spirit masters without backing.
"You're only allowed one life."
Zhou Qing explained, "We don't have a team leader. We were anxious and it's just the start of the semester, so we didn't wait for the holidays and went to the Notting Guild to post a hunting mission ourselves."
"Your guts are really something," Ma Xiunuo said, knowing academy teachers usually only taught basics and took students on hunts during holidays due to their limited time and many classes.
He hadn't expected these kids to post missions and find hunting teams by themselves.
"You must be the one who accepted their mission."
Ma Xiunuo gave Romantina a sharp look, "I don't know how to say this... Notting's hunting forest isn't very strong, and you've developed quickly with regular training and good physical strength. Otherwise, even as the deputy city leader's daughter, you wouldn't have been able to register as an adventurer before becoming a spirit master."
"Won't happen again," Romantina blushed and promised Ma Xiunuo.
But Ma Xiunuo didn't believe her at all.