"Lei Yao, like this, control the Thunder Element..."
The T-shaped Training Ground constantly echoed with Chu Chen's encouraging voice, and Lei Yao was practicing with great effort.
Apart from encouraging Lei Yao, Chu Chen was also doing the same practice himself, compressing his Soul Power and occasionally changing its form.
Time quietly passed during the training, and in the blink of an eye, it was already noon.
Reluctantly, Chu Chen left the Daoist School. After having a simple lunch, he headed to school.
Forty minutes later, Chu Chen appeared at the entrance of Class Three, where the sharp-eyed Wang Lu immediately noticed him.
"Chu Chen, come in quickly, I have something important to tell you," Wang Lu beckoned with his hand.
Upon hearing this, Chu Chen quickly walked over.
"What's so urgent?" Chu Chen asked in confusion.
Wang Lu quickly said, "Have you heard? Quite a few twelfth-grade students from other schools are transferring to our Number One High School."
Chu Chen replied indifferently, "What's so strange about that? Isn't it like this every year? Some transfer voluntarily, while others are poached by our school."
Wang Lu shook his head and said, "This year is different. Zhang Yuyan's Cultivation Talent has already been reported to the Beast Taming Education Bureau, and three students from other high schools have reached the Cyan Rank in their Cultivation Qualities this year."
Chu Chen pondered, "Do you mean to say that these three students will also transfer to our Number One High School?"
Wang Lu said excitedly, "Yes, I heard they're already handling the transfer procedures."
"How is that possible? Will their school really let them go so easily?" Chu Chen asked, puzzled.
Wang Lu, with a meaningful expression, said, "You probably don't know, but Celestial Star City's joint exam results are always at the bottom every year, and the City Lord is very dissatisfied with this. Naturally, the talents that emerged this year will be carefully nurtured."
"Are you saying the transfers are the intention of the Beast Taming Education Bureau?" Chu Chen guessed, astonished.
"Exactly. I heard that the Beast Taming Education Bureau and the Beastmaster Association have jointly provided a large amount of cultivation resources for the Elite Class, which is why those students are transferring."
Upon hearing this, Chu Chen's brows furrowed. The difficulty of securing a spot in the Elite Class was about to skyrocket.
However, if he could enter the Elite Class, the benefits Chu Chen could receive were far beyond what he had before.
Thinking of this, Chu Chen couldn't wait to start training immediately.
At this moment, the classroom door was suddenly pushed open, and a middle-aged man in casual attire walked in.
All the classmates stopped talking and turned their attention to the man.
The middle-aged man went straight to the podium, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote "Liu Qing" on the blackboard.
"Class, my name is Liu Qing, and I'm your Soul Skills instructor. I hope we will have a pleasant year together," Liu Qing said with a smile, pointing to the blackboard.
The students responded with applause to show their welcome.
Liu Qing nodded with a smile. Once the applause ceased, he continued, "Does anyone know what Soul Skills are?"
All the students shook their heads.
Liu Qing was not surprised by this; the students had just contracted their Guardian Beasts, so it was normal for them not to focus on studies.
At this moment, an arm that was slowly raised caught Liu Qing's attention.
"This student, please answer," Liu Qing said with a smile.
Everyone glanced at the owner of the hand and, seeing that it was the class's top student, had expressions of expected acknowledgment.
Chu Chen stood up and answered loudly, "Soul Skills are a way of using Soul Power, condensing a Soul Seal in the Soul Sea, and injecting Soul Power into the Soul Seal to release the skill."
Liu Qing smiled at this, saying, "Please sit down. This student answered very well; it seems you have done some pre-reading."
The others had complex expressions. Some normally high-achieving students showed regret. They also usually pre-read their lessons, but having just awakened their Soul Power, they were too occupied with cultivation to prioritize this.
Some students with lower academic performance showed disdain, even contempt, feeling that cultivation was paramount now, and focusing on academics seemed backward.
Chu Chen was indifferent to this. Pre-reading had become a habit; he wasn't a genius, becoming a top student was a result of hard work.
"Please open your books to the first page. We'll begin with the first Soul Skill..."
The Soul Skill class lasted for two hours—the first hour Liu Qing explained the theoretical knowledge, and the second hour was for students to practice on their own.
Soul Skills can be divided into two categories. The first is supportive Soul Skills, which usually increase the abilities of the Guardian Beast, such as defense skills, attack skills, speed skills, and so on.
The second category is offensive Soul Skills, which are the only attack methods for a Beast Master, like Soul Spike, which can attack a Star Beast's soul.
Soul Skills are graded into four ranks: Celestial, Earth, Profound, and Yellow, with Celestial being the highest and Yellow being the lowest. Each rank is further divided into upper, middle, and lower grades.
The first Soul Skill Chu Chen learned today was the Yellow Rank Lower Grade skill, Stone Skin, which can form a rock-like armor on the surface of the Guardian Beast. This armor is extremely lightweight and doesn't affect the Guardian Beast's flexibility, increasing the Guardian Beast's Defense Power by twenty percent.
Of course, Soul Skills have time limits; for example, Stone Skin can last for one minute.
The Stone Skin Soul Seal is composed of ten Soul Lines, and each Soul Line is condensed from ten Soul Threads. The entire condensation process must be continuous without the slightest interruption; otherwise, the Soul Seal will collapse, and the previously condensed Soul Lines will also disappear.
Therefore, mastering the condensation of Soul Seals requires high control over the Soul Power.
The only way to improve control over the Soul Power is through extensive practice, and some training techniques can accelerate this progress.
Of course, some are naturally gifted, but such individuals are very few. The vast majority of Beast Masters must rely on effort.
Chu Chen mobilized ten strands of Soul Threads to begin compressing them. This process needed to be exceptionally careful, with each compression requiring precise control, and the force needed for each compression varied.
Applying too much force during compression could break the Soul Threads, while too little force would fail to achieve the compression effect, wasting Soul Power.
And such force could only be discovered through trial and error.
Thus, sighs occasionally filled the classroom, indicating that the students' progress was not smooth.
At this moment, Liu Qing clapped his hands to stop the students' practice.
"Just now, I observed your training and noticed some issues. Some students tried to take shortcuts, compressing only two Soul Threads at a time, then adding one more to continue compressing. This method is incorrect; compressing two Soul Threads into one thicker Soul Thread, its compressive capacity is not comparable to a single Soul Thread. However, you can divide the ten Soul Threads into five groups, with two Soul Threads in each group, compress them into a thicker Soul Thread, then compress the five thicker Soul Threads into a Soul Line, which will greatly reduce the difficulty of compressing the Soul Threads," Liu Qing explained with a smile.
Upon hearing this, the students had a look of realization, their eyes shining with admiration as they looked at Liu Qing.
Liu Qing was quite satisfied with this, and with a wave of his hand, a complete Stone Skin Soul Seal appeared in front of him.
Liu Qing pointed at the Soul Seal with a smile, saying, "I'll leave you a homework assignment: whoever can carve out a Stone Skin Soul Seal first, I'll personally reward them with a bottle of First-Grade Star Power Pill." With that, he left the classroom.
Staring at Liu Qing's back, Chu Chen felt extremely excited inside. A bottle of Star Power Pill was worth five thousand Alliance Coins. For some students from wealthy families, this Star Power Pill might mean little, but for him, it was a lifeline, a timely help in his urgent need. It seemed time to switch into top gear.