Chapter 438 – Duoling Shield

The Lu family’s inherited [Rhythm of the Wind mental power cultivation method] wasn’t considered top-tier among the various mental power cultivation methods. It was only slightly better than some of the popular cultivation methods available on the market.

Nonetheless, the intricacy involved in the analysis, comprehension, and application of mental consciousness in this cultivation method far surpassed the mental power training methods considered prestigious on the Home Planet by a hundredfold.

“The Bai Family must also possess a similar mental power cultivation method, but they would never share this core Legacy with others…”

To the Bai Family, the powerhouses on the Home Planet were merely their “labor force,” and having enough “strength” was sufficient.

If they’re too strong, it becomes difficult to control.

“I originally broke the limit on my mental power four times, making me quite formidable in the star spirit realm, but my skills in applying mental power were quite shallow…”

The [divine weapon] skill on the [martial arts Grandmaster (extraordinary)] panel indeed involved some exploration in this area. Unfortunately, before Lu Yuan could raise the [divine weapon] to the max level and evolve it into higher-level skills, the [martial arts Grandmaster (extraordinary)] panel was gone.

Now, unexpectedly arriving at Duoling has given him the opportunity to make up for this shortcoming.

Lu Yuan mastered the [Rhythm of the Wind mental power cultivation method] with hardly any effort.

It’s worth noting that it took Lu Qiyuan nearly ten years of cultivation to achieve this milestone.

Yet Lu Yuan managed it in less than a single breath.

The [devour] skill stemming from the Spirit Devourer Clan’s Talent is what makes it so formidable-after devouring, one can perfectly inherit everything from the other, saving oneself countless hard work and effortlessly gaining the accumulation of others over many years.

This is why the Spirit Devourer Clan refers to themselves as the Lord of All Spirits, the King of All tribes.

The more they devour, the more abilities they accumulate, enabling those giants within the Spirit Devourer Clan who have survived for millennia to possess incredibly daunting power.

No one truly knows how many powerful means they have accumulated. Within the same level, hardly anyone can match them.

After successfully transferring his mental power cultivation, Lu Yuan noticed a small whirlwind icon appearing under the [devour] skill on his [Spirit Devourer: God and Demon Species (Transcendent Mythical)] main panel.

Clicking it revealed the skill symbol for [lv2 Rhythm of the Wind].

Lu Yuan experimented and found that he could use skill points to directly upgrade as well, and it only required 1 skill point to go from lv2 to lv3.

He didn’t rush to upgrade immediately but continued to examine another method, the [Zero-Style Mental Power cultivation method].

Mental power cultivation methods can be cultivated concurrently.

In fact, many people choose to cultivate them concurrently.

Apart from the few mental power cultivation methods that produce a remarkable synergistic effect when dual cultivated, complementing each other, learning an additional mental power cultivation method also means that your mental power background is more substantial than others, giving you one more technique in battles.

However, cultivating multiple methods will certainly dilute your focus, and the pros and cons need to be weighed individually.

“This aspect is really similar to martial arts…”

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but sigh.

Unlike [Rhythm of the Wind], which primarily boosts agility, [Zero-Style] provides a more comprehensive enhancement to mental power.

Strength, defense, perception… it covers almost every aspect, but the enhancement effects in each area are very minimal, making it a kind of jack-of-all-trades cultivation method.

His predecessor, Lu Qiyuan, also attempted to study it but did not get beyond the beginner level, only scratching the surface.

Lu Yuan spent two days, piecing together information found online and slowly figuring it out, finally managing to grasp the basics.

[lv1 Zero-Style].

The newly manifested Zero-Style cultivation method skill did not register on the [Spirit Devouring: God and Demon Species (Transcendent Mythical)] panel but existed independently on another gray panel.

After mastering Zero-Style, a portion of Lu Yuan’s mental power transformed into a transparent white sphere, positioned at the center of the golden whirlwind.

The two remain independent from each other and are not particularly receptive to one another.

With the appearance of the transparent sphere representing the Zero-Style cultivation method, Lu Yuan’s mental power core split from one to two.

The golden whirlwind symbolizing Rhythm of the Wind became noticeably smaller, and Lu Yuan felt the amplification effect decrease when he switched his mental power to Rhythm of the Wind.

This is a normal occurrence when cultivating multiple methods concurrently.

There is usually a brief “weak period” when cultivating multiple mental power cultivation methods concurrently. Over time, as this “weak period” passes, the two cores will return to their normal size, and at that point, Lu Yuan’s total mental power will become double its original amount.

This scenario applies when the mental power cultivation methods being dual cultivated lack any synergistic effects. If the methods have synergistic effects that complement and enhance each other, then after the weak period, the emissary’s total mental power could increase to three times the original amount, or even more.

“For me, having the total increase is sufficient. The total amount of mental power is somewhat linked to the intelligence attribute, so as the quantity increases, the intelligence attribute will naturally improve as well…”

Lu Yuan thought, feeling quite satisfied with this outcome.

To others, concurrently cultivating mental power cultivation methods with no synergistic effects might seem a thankless task, as the time and effort invested far outweigh the returns.

But Lu Yuan is different; he possesses the [devour] skill.

Once he completes [devour], learning a new mental power cultivation method becomes considerably easier than it would for an ordinary person.

“It saves me a significant amount of attribute points.”

Two days passed quickly, during which members of the Lu family visited a few times.

Most of the visits were from servants of the Lu family, bringing food and drink to Lu Yuan. Lu Qiyuan’s elder sister, Lu Qiyuan, visited once, exchanged a few words with him, and then left.

Her words implied that he must behave and settle down from now on; her frustration was evident.

Lu Yuan could now somewhat feel the pressure that his predecessor, Lu Qiyuan, had been carrying.

As the sole heir to the family, the future head of the Lu family, the expectations placed on him were exceptionally high.

Unfortunately, his talents and abilities were limited.

From Lu Qiyuan’s memories, it was clear that he had not been without efforts in the past.

But having faced numerous setbacks and being only criticized and disciplined by those closest to him, over time, he naturally became disheartened and chose to give up.

“The family’s approach to education is really important…”

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but sigh.

His family structure is actually quite similar to Lu Qiyuan’s, with a strict father, a kind mother, and an elder sister.

However, while his parents had been strict with him throughout his childhood, they didn’t put too much pressure on him academically. Even if he didn’t do well on an exam, they were more about offering encouragement.

The Lu family, on the other hand, took the opposite approach.

Doing well on exams was simply expected, but doing poorly would lead to a barrage of criticism, with physical punishment being a common occurrence.

But then again, the circumstances of ordinary families and noble families are completely different and not really comparable.

Lu Qiyuan’s biological mother, that beautiful woman, hadn’t visited again, but every time a Lu family servant delivered something, they would pass on her words of care and concern to Lu Yuan. It was clear she truly cared for her son, Lu Qiyuan.

Aside from people from the Lu family, two others also came to “visit” Lu Yuan.

“What are people saying in the class group?”

In the hospital ward, Lu Yuan sat calmly by the window, slowly peeling an orange-red fruit with a fruit knife.

A tall and a short youth, both around his age, stood before him, appearing somewhat awkward.

“Haven’t you checked the class group in the past couple of days, Qiyuan?..”

The short, thin boy on the left, with a tuft of green hair, averted his gaze and answered hesitantly.

The taller and chubbier one next to him stood with his head tilted, pretending to look at the scenery outside the window.

These two were the same followers who had accompanied Lu Qiyuan to collect meteorites in the wilderness in the middle of the night.

Both were children of nouveau riche families, but their noble titles were rather low-one a baron of the eighth rank and the other, a baron of the ninth rank-barely above ordinary folks.

“The class group?”

Lu Yuan continued peeling the fruit, as if just recalling that there was such a thing in Lu Qiyuan’s Smart Light Brain contact list.

He casually used his mental power to touch the silver-black pendant hanging around his neck, and the messages from the class group mentioned by the two quickly came into view.

“Lu Qiyuan really hit a 6661 this time, going out in the middle of the night to pick rocks and ended up putting himself in the hospital, haha!”

“LOL!”

“Truly the greatest romantic of Duoling Shield, hats off to you.”

“Manual mention of the main character. @Lu Qiyuan”

“When’s the great romantic getting discharged? Let’s all go pick you up!”

The messages were just people joking around and having a laugh at his expense.

The Duoling Shield is known for its intense academic pressure and fierce competition. The students there love quirky news stories, so the bizarre incident of meteorite collecting has become quite the sensation. It’s not just among Lu Yuan’s “Obsidian Class Five,” but is also spreading to other classes, and even students from different grades have heard about it.

Lu Yuan glanced at all the teasing and playful comments with a calm heart. He simply closed the messages without any emotional ripple. What does Lu Qiyuan’s folly have to do with him, Lu Yuan? They’re laughing at Lu Qiyuan, not him.

Lu Yuan was ready to brush this trivial event aside, but knowing Lu Qiyuan’s personality, while he might not care about much, there’s one person likely to come up in conversation.

“What about Vinia?” he asked casually while peeling his fruit, not even bothering to look up, “What was Vinia’s reaction?”

“Vinia… should probably be very moved, considering you ended up in the hospital for her,” the green-haired youth replied reluctantly.

In truth, he knew that when Vinia heard about Lu Qiyuan’s hospital stay, she had shown no reaction whatsoever. There were even rumors that she disliked Lu Qiyuan. But he couldn’t tell Lu Qiyuan that, or it would certainly set him off.

As the green-haired youth was contemplating how to navigate this topic, the expected follow-up questions never came. The young man sitting in front of him merely responded with a simple “Oh,” and left it at that.

Just as the green-haired youth was puzzling over this, Lu Yuan shifted the topic and asked, “How is Xu Mingguang doing now?”

“Xu Mingguang?…” The green-haired youth paused when he heard the name.

He looked up and saw that Lu Yuan had stopped peeling his fruit, calmly locking eyes with him. It was clear that Lu Yuan was far more interested in this matter than in Vinia, who should have been the main focus of the conversation.

“… Xu Mingguang suffered extensive burns over his body, some internal organs damage, and radiation exposure… However, he’s mostly recovered now. He should be able to leave the hospital in a few days. But you…”

The green-haired youth replied honestly, “I heard that Xu Mingguang’s family reported this to the administration office. Since it’s become quite a big deal, the school might impose some sort of penalty on you. Qiyuan, I suggest you go back and apologize to your dad first, and have him smooth things over.”

“Hm, I got it,” Lu Yuan nodded, though his thoughts were far from any potential punishment. He was more concerned with figuring out how to retrieve the golden Magic Cube from Xu Mingguang once he was out of the hospital.

That golden Magic Cube, with its mysterious origins, had come from the Extraterrestrial just like him, and Lu Yuan had a feeling it was something unusual. Plus, since it had “saved” his life, he felt a certain connection to it and naturally wanted to get his hands on it for study.

“Alright, Qiyuan, take care of yourself. We’ll head off now. Contact us anytime if you need anything.”

“Okay,” Lu Yuan replied, raising his hand in a dismissive gesture. The two youths, feeling relieved, hurried out of the ward.

It wasn’t until they were outside the hospital, basking in the bright sunlight, that they stopped and let out a long breath.

“Why do I feel like Qiyuan seems a bit different after getting injured?” the green-haired youth spoke first.

The chubby youth next to him nodded in agreement. “Just now standing in front of him, I felt more pressure than when talking to my dad.”

“He didn’t even seem to care much about Vinia,” added the green-haired youth.

The chubby youth thought for a moment and then said, “Maybe it’s because of the mental trauma and all the external blows. I’m sure he’ll be back to normal soon. Wasn’t it always like this before?”

“True,” the green-haired youth nodded.

Lu Qiyuan had pursued Vinia for so long with little encouragement from her and had given up many times, even undergoing drastic changes at one point, closing off his heart of cement. But whenever Vinia appeared before him, he’d be back to himself in less than three seconds.

The nickname “Duoling Shield’s First Rank Sycophant King” wasn’t given for nothing.

With this relatively reasonable explanation, the two youths left, feeling satisfied.

Back in the ward…

Lu Yuan snapped his fingers softly, and an unseen breeze stirred within the quiet ward, forming a gray vortex before his eyes. Casually, he tossed the peeled fruit into the vortex. Half a second later, a thoroughly gnawed fruit core flew out of it.

“It seems a little bigger than last time…” Lu Yuan mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he watched the gray vortex until it completely vanished.

During his hospital stay, he had taken to activating [Extraordinary Contact] whenever he had a spare moment, summoning the gray vortex to toss fruit into it. The premium fruits brought by the Lu family had been “devoured” by the gray vortex, basket after basket, without any apparent feedback. However, the experience points for the [Extraordinary Contact] skill kept increasing, and the summoned gray vortex grew each time.

“Next time, I’ll try throwing something else in,” Lu Yuan thought idly, then turned his head back to the window.

It seemed as if he was merely enjoying the view, but in reality, he was secretly practicing the [Rhythm of the Wind] and the [Zero-Style] cultivation methods in his mind. With cultivation as his companion, even the most mundane and tedious times passed swiftly.

On the sixth day after Lu Yuan had regained consciousness in the hospital, he finally received the news-he could return home.

Footnote:

1. 666(666): In Chinese internet slang, ‘666’ is used to praise someone for doing something impressive or skillful. It can be genuine or sarcastic.