Summer was almost here, and every day, the sky over Center City grew brighter and brighter.
The temperature climbed higher with each passing day.
Because of this, the heavy spring clothes had all been swapped out for an array of light summer outfits.
There were sleeveless shirts, T-shirts with thin shoulder straps, tiny short jackets, white shorts, as well as blouses and hot skirts of all kinds.
There were even bikini swimsuits.
Xu Chuyao’s gaze darted swiftly, skipping here and there, glancing over every summer outfit that flashed past. Even the plain ones didn’t hold her attention, and after tapping her little paws ten times, the first rare-colored prize appeared.
[Ability Enhancement: Third Rank Middle Stage → Third Rank Late Stage]
The little guardian was in hand. She kept tapping, drawing several more times, and just as she was almost out of attempts, the second rare-colored prize appeared before her.
[Active Skill: Thunder Rainbow Resonance]
Description: Such a fierce, inspiring thunder will never fade to dust.
Effect: Your elemental attacks will apply one layer of Thunder Mark to the target (if you have the necessary chant, all attacks will be effective). The marks can stack infinitely, and interact with other skill effects accordingly.
Introduction: “I hear the thunder crow shaking the world.”
Xu Chuyao let out a pleased little “Ah—!” sound.
Both descriptions seemed to indicate powerful effects, but as for how other skills interacted with them… Wait.
She hurriedly brought up that purple prize from earlier, checking through each skill one by one, and sure enough, found a matching skill set.
[Active Skill: Detonate]
Effect: Detonate all Thunder Marks on the target, causing area-of-effect explosive damage. The more marks, the greater the damage and range.
Introduction: “Now, it really explodes.”
[Active Skill: Magnetize]
Effect: Transform the target’s Thunder Marks into magnetic currents, binding multiple targets together. The more targets affected, the better the effect. Additionally, more marks increase the chance of critical hits.
Introduction: “I can’t tell you anything!”
[Active Skill: Sable Crow Remains]
Effect: Imbue your attack with elemental magic—be it weapon or otherwise—granting all passive skill effects.
Introduction: “Conduct the current! Zzz… Zzz… Zzz…!”
Xu Chuyao spent half a minute digesting these new skills. At first glance, they all had their own unique flavor, but the most delightful thing was that from now on, she wouldn’t have to get dangerously close to fight. Even with a forty-meter Giant Saber, she could hack with electricity! As for how to use them skillfully, she’d figure that out later—for now, at least, applying marks had become much easier and more efficient.
Of course, a forty-meter Giant Saber probably didn’t exist, and in actual combat, more practical tools would be needed. More importantly, she was now at Third Rank Late Stage. Her girlfriend probably couldn’t beat her anymore, right?
“Hahahaha, excellent! This is perfect!”
Mi Xiaolu, who was sitting nearby, suddenly looked up at her. “Xu Chuyao, what’s wrong? Do you need to go to the infirmary?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve actually gone silly?”
“You don’t get it,” Xu Chuyao waved her little hand, “this is the joy of victory. And not just for yesterday’s win, but for even greater, longer-lasting triumphs in the future.”
“Is that so?”
“You still don’t believe me? Next time I twist Shen Ning over here, just wait and see—when you see her getting ridden, you’ll understand.”
Office Building, the class advisor’s office on the second floor.
“Four Defenses?”
Yu Jing poured two glasses of water, placing one on the desk and handing the other to the girl, her expression somewhat sympathetic.
“I never thought I’d be discussing Four Defenses with a student who hasn’t even graduated.”
Don’t even mention Four Stages—even Third Rank is already rare enough. So many years, and only this year did such a case suddenly appear. And not just one, but two.
Shen Ning pushed the water cup with both hands, speaking softly: “I feel like there’s not much room left for improvement at Third Rank, so I’m very curious about the Four Stages.”
In theory, only Principal Lü at Shengling Academy had reached the Four Stages, but she and the Principal weren’t that close, so she’d come to consult the class advisor.
“It’s fine, curiosity is the driving force behind learning,” Yu Jing smiled as she walked back behind her desk. “Actually, the core of Four Defenses isn’t that complicated. From Three Defenses to Four Defenses, to put it simply: it’s the shift from the physical to the metaphysical properties of elements.”
Shen Ning nodded slightly to show she was listening.
“To give myself as an example, at Third Rank, fire is just fire. If I want to burn something, I have to let the flame touch it, consider the temperature, the material, the ignition point, and the surrounding environment.
But once you reach Four Stages, and master the special traits of combustion, all those things are irrelevant—you can burn anything for sure.”
“I think I understand a little,” the girl ventured. “It’s like skipping the process and jumping right to the result.”
She wasn’t totally clear about physical and metaphysical properties, but with this concrete example, she understood at once.
“To be precise, it’s not skipping the process, but disregarding it. That’s the core of moving from Three Defenses to Four Defenses. Besides that, there’s even more to it, but…,” Yu Jing’s expression turned a bit complicated, “I can’t teach you more.”
Because she herself hadn’t reached the Four Stages.
“That’s already enough.” Shen Ning bowed politely. “Thank you, Teacher Yu.”
As she prepared to leave, a system prompt sounded in her mind, informing her that the prerequisite task was complete, and Ling Sense Enlightenment had been activated. She hurried off to find a quiet place in the Trial Field to check it out.
“Shen Ning.” Yu Jing suddenly called out, her tone earnest. “Going from Three Defenses to Four Stages is a huge leap. Only those with clear minds can succeed. You must… never let your Heart Demon block your way.”
Walking out of the Office Building, the shadow of Emotional Suppression quietly emerged from her own shadow: “The teacher’s overthinking it. If you want to figure something out, just do it. You’ve always been smooth sailing—never stuck before!”
Decayed Shadow retorted indignantly: “Don’t make it sound like only the blunt ones can do it. Even if you don’t figure it out, family… family can do it too!”
Forest Shadow produced a class advisor’s tea cup from beneath her skirt, sipping as she spoke: “I don’t know what this Heart Demon is. Xu Chuyao never mentioned it.”
The three shadows had their own odd ways of explaining, but their message was the same—nothing could hinder her path to Four Stages.
Shen Ning knew this, but she still asked an old question: “Did Teacher Yu have a past Heart Demon Trial?”
The atmosphere went silent. She saw Emotional Suppression Shadow looking at Decayed Shadow, Decayed Shadow looking at Milk Powder Shadow, and Milk Powder Shadow clutching her head in distress. Their meaning was clear: “Why are you looking at me? I’m a good kid, I never tried to Bug Card anything.”
The girl was taken aback for a moment.
So Teacher Yu’s past really was involved in the main storyline.
“Alright, stop overthinking. It’s useless anyway.” Emotional Suppression Shadow patted her own shadow’s shoulder. “Hurry to the Trial Field and see if you have any new abilities.”
That made sense.
Though, considering how powerful her own moves might be, so as not to disturb her classmates, Shen Ning waited until the gym class people had left before entering and booking the field for herself.
[Ling Sense Enlightenment (Activated)]
Description: You have roughly grasped this power. Please savor it.
Effect 1: All elemental skills are enhanced.
Effect 2: When using elemental skills, there is a small chance to grant them a random Four Stage trait.
Introduction: “As long as you keep trying, something miraculous will happen.”
A few simple sentences. Shen Ning read it several times but still didn’t quite understand. A random Four Defense trait—what did that mean?
“Didn’t the description say? Just keep trying.” Emotional Suppression Shadow prompted. “Give it a shot.”
So, the girl began experimenting in the Trial Field.
Of all her skills, Guiding Airflow consumed the least spirit power and only required proximity and recitation to target, allowing for rapid casting. She picked a forty-kilogram sandbag, and used Guiding Airflow to drag it back and forth, turning it into a big slingshot.
Guiding Airflow! Guiding Airflow! … Airflow! Flow!
After more than ten minutes of attempts, and countless casts, a change finally happened—she felt nothing in her hand, saw nothing before her, yet the sandbag was clearly caught by something invisible, moving wherever her thoughts commanded.
“That’s Invisibility,” Decayed Shadow said. “One of the special traits of Wind.”
So that’s what it was.
Shen Ning withdrew her spirit power, watching as the barely perceptible, invisible ripple in the air returned to calm, lost in thought. If not for deliberately sensing and being vigilant, no one would notice this faint fluctuation at all—it was just like the natural breeze of everyday life.
Triggering the Invisibility trait on Guiding Airflow wasn’t especially powerful, but if applied to another skill, it might be different.
The girl sat and rested for a while, then kept on experimenting—raising her hand, she drew wind element power into her heart.
If it were an invisible Wind Arrow, no one could see it, and by the time they sensed it, they’d already been hit—how terrifying would that be!
Yet, as Shen Ning looked down, she saw a bright green Wind Arrow in her hand—so vibrant and obvious.
“What are you thinking? You just triggered the effect on your last try. The odds aren’t that high,” Emotional Suppression Shadow laughed. “You’re just like Xu Chuyao—always thinking you can get a double draw in ten tries!”
That’s true, the effect did say the odds were low.
A bit disappointed, Shen Ning casually shot the green Wind Arrow into the air, watching it vanish into the sky.
But for some reason, this arrow didn’t dissipate right away as usual. Instead, it exploded into a massive gust of wind, sweeping in all directions.
“Oh no!” Decayed Shadow said urgently. “That’s a wide-area blast!”
Emotional Suppression Shadow rushed to the girl’s side, looking up at the wild storm overhead, and patted her on the shoulder.
“Good news: you managed to trigger both effects in a row. Bad news: you’re going to have to pay for the damages.”
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