Worried that its power might be too great and disturb the others, he took Yin Yi and Egg Pancake and walked another two or three hundred meters. They arrived at a more secluded spot where they could still see the faint, flickering lights of the dorms. Pointing to a nearby overgrown greenbelt, he said, "Unleash Cyan Wood Radiance over there. Let’s see what it can do."

"Ling~"

Yin Yi backed away a dozen or so meters, extending only the vines on its right side.

Dozens of dense vines intertwined to form the shape of a cannon’s muzzle.

The four green, crescent-shaped leaves on its back swayed gently.

Specks of green particles rapidly converged from all directions onto the pale silver ring on its back.

At the same time, a violently churning ball of green light began to form in front of the muzzle.

Once the orb of light swelled to the size of a head, Yin Yi let out a soft cry, and it shot forward.

A beam of concentrated green particles slammed into the ground where Han Ning had pointed.

A deafening BOOM ripped through the air.

Dark brown soil and pulverized blades of grass flew high into the air.

A crater appeared before them, about five meters in diameter and over a meter and a half deep.

’So this is the destructive power of the Extraordinary Level...’

He also discovered that Yin Yi’s Cyan Wood Radiance had two output modes.

One mode was just like this: firing a self-contained beam of light that detonates on impact, like a cannonball.

The other was a continuous beam, dealing sustained damage to a single area.

’The power is immense, but so is the consumption.’ Han Ning observed Yin Yi’s Spiritual Energy consumption and calculated that it could only maintain the continuous output mode for one minute before its Spiritual Energy was completely depleted.

"Alright, next up is the last Soul Technique. Yin Yi, unleash Emerald Sword Stab."

The words had just left Han Ning’s mouth.

As he watched, emerald-green particles began to rapidly circle the tips of the vines on either side of Yin Yi’s body.

As the Wood Element gathered, two sharp swords formed at the ends of Yin Yi’s "hands." They shimmered with an emerald light, their tips spitting out fine, fiery sparks.

And orbiting the two green swords were several high-speed, self-spinning Emerald Flower Thorns.

Han Ning looked around, found a rock that weighed at least a few dozen pounds, and tossed it toward Yin Yi.

"Ling~"

Yin Yi tilted its head, raised a longsword, and slashed forward.

SWISH!

A brilliant flash of green light streaked through the air.

The rock was sliced cleanly in two.

Tiny arcs of cyan light danced across the cut surfaces of the stone before bursting.

With two soft CRACKS,

the rock instantly shattered into dozens of smaller pieces.

’Emerald Sword Stab enhances Yin Yi’s close-quarters combat abilities...’

Han Ning recalled how, before its evolution, Yin Yi had to constantly create distance when facing that silver mantis up close. Its only way to gain an advantage was by bombarding the mantis with Emerald Flower Thorns.

This proved it lacked any means of close-quarters combat.

Now, with the Sword Stab, it no longer had to fear close-quarters combat.

"Alright, that’s enough testing for today. Let’s call it a day and head back."

Han Ning beckoned to Yin Yi, pulling his phone from his pocket and giving it a little shake.

"Ling~"

Seeing this, Yin Yi immediately dispelled its Light Sabers and trotted over happily.

...

「Two days later.」

「The outskirts of the Mushroom Forest.」

Han Ning stroked his chin, watching a fierce battle unfold before him.

Sand and gravel flew through the air ahead. More than a dozen Entry Level III green and purple mushroom-heads darted about, vaguely forming an encirclement as they relentlessly attacked the earth-yellow Great Guardian trapped within.

Egg Pancake was covered in blood. A faint aura of the Earth Element surrounded its body as it hid within a thick layer of mud, leaping left and right to dodge the mushroom-heads’ attacks.

For the past two days, whenever he had a spare moment, Han Ning would have Yin Yi put Egg Pancake through a grueling training regimen for both body and soul.

Under Yin Yi’s relentless training, Egg Pancake’s combat skills had improved significantly.

To test Egg Pancake’s strength, Han Ning had specifically asked Yin Yi to bring them to the outskirts of the Mushroom Forest, find a wandering group of mushroom-heads, and let it try its hand.

Having evolved into a Cyan Jade Wood Demon, Yin Yi’s flight speed had reached a whole new level. It could now make the hundred-kilometer round trip from the academy to the Mushroom Forest in just one hour.

After all, Yin Yi wasn’t a Soul Beast that specialized in flight; it was merely a supplementary ability.

BANG!

Egg Pancake burst out of the mud and, with a single Punching Fist, sent an unsuspecting mushroom-head flying through the air.

Copious amounts of purple spores sprayed out like blood onto the slightly blackened ground of the Mushroom Forest.

"Looks like a dozen or so Entry Level III mushroom-heads aren’t enough," Han Ning said, watching as Egg Pancake grew more excited and showed signs of turning the tide. He immediately commanded, "Yin Yi, release that other Entry Level IV mushroom-head. Put some more pressure on Egg Pancake."

He then added as a final instruction, "Keep a close eye on it. Don’t let the mushroom-heads kill Egg Pancake."

"Ling~"

Beside Han Ning, the small and exquisite Wood Demon had a mushroom-head several times its own size tightly bound in a dense web of vines, holding it like a captured cub.

The purple-capped mushroom-head struggled helplessly within Yin Yi’s vines, waving its pale stalk and letting out terrified shrieks.

At Han Ning’s command, Yin Yi extended its vines and tossed the Entry Level IV mushroom-head in front of Egg Pancake.

At the same time, a curtain wall of thick, blackish-green vines rose up around the mushroom-head horde, preventing any from escaping.

"Defeat it, and I’ll let the rest of you go," Han Ning announced to the lead mushroom-head.

Whether the mushroom-head understood him or not, Han Ning could sense its feeling of utter helplessness.

Desperate to survive, the mushroom-head violently sprayed a massive cloud of spores from beneath its cap.

The cloud of spores coalesced into an even larger spore-construct in the shape of a mushroom-head, which then descended upon Egg Pancake.

Its massive, toxin-filled body tore through the air, kicking up a cloud of sand and stone as it struck Egg Pancake’s rock-like skin with a series of dull, grating THUDS.

The large group of Entry Level III and Entry Level IV mushroom-heads unleashed a joint bombardment of spores and green beams of light. All sorts of Soul Techniques rained down on Egg Pancake in the center, as if they cost nothing to use.

"GYAAH!"

Egg Pancake cried out in pain, covering its face with its forelimbs as it tried in vain to charge its way out of the Soul Technique bombardment.

But with Soul Techniques packing the destructive power of an Entry Level IV mixed in, escaping wasn’t going to be so easy.

Even with Egg Pancake’s astonishingly tough exterior, the relentless barrage of Soul Techniques gradually carved deep gashes into its powerful body. Flesh was torn open, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

However, before the blood could even hit the ground, it was swept up by the spore cloud. It merged with the cloud, causing wisps of white smoke to rise.

Relying on its powerful defenses, Egg Pancake barely held on. Its blood seemed to flow endlessly, only to be swept away...

Finally, after half a minute, with its expression tense and its body curled into a ball as it dodged and weaved, Egg Pancake suddenly let out a heaven-piercing roar.

"KREEE!"

An earthy-yellow halo began to suffuse its body.