Chapter 96: Return to the Sunset Forest!
Dugu Bo smiled, his gaze sweeping over Lin Mo, Ye Lingling, and Dugu Yan. His tone was quite casual.
"Alright, matters here are mostly settled. I'll take the three of you back to the academy. I'll personally speak with those three old fellows, Meng Shenji and the others."
He had a good relationship with Prince Xue Xing. In his early years, the prince had once done him a favor.
That was also one of the reasons he had sent Dugu Yan to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
With his connection to Prince Xue Xing, even if those three old fellows were unhappy, they would still have to give him some face.
Hearing this, Lin Mo, Ye Lingling, and Dugu Yan looked at one another and nodded in unison.
"Yes, Senior."
"Yes, Grandpa."
However, Ye Lingling, who was standing to the side, cast a subtle glance at Dugu Yan. A faint trace of resentment lingered in her eyes.
Clearly, she still held a small grudge over Dugu Yan's extremely bold action earlier.
After more than half a month, the three of them once again stepped through the gates of Heaven Dou Royal Academy and headed straight for the Teaching Committee Building deep within the academy.
The three Committee Members, Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhi Lin, were already waiting there.
Seeing Lin Mo appear safe and sound, without any sign of injury, the three of them visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Meng Shenji stepped forward, his tone filled with concern. "Lin Mo, it's good that you're alright."
Before Lin Mo could reply, Dugu Bo had already stepped forward and spoken on his behalf.
"Alright, enough pleasantries."
"From now on, Lin Mo won't be spending all his time at the academy. He'll be following me to cultivate for a while."
Lin Mo nodded from the side, confirming Dugu Bo's words.
The three Committee Members' expressions immediately became hesitant.
They exchanged looks, their eyes showing a certain degree of doubt.
It could not be helped. Dugu Bo's reputation in Heaven Dou City was far from good. He was known for being eccentric and temperamental.
Because of that, it was difficult for them to feel completely at ease handing Lin Mo over to him.
Meng Shenji hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Your Excellency Poison Douluo, Lin Mo is, after all, a student of our academy, and he is still young. Leaving the academy for a long period might be…"
Before he could finish, Dugu Bo impatiently slapped the nearby table with a muffled thud.
His eyes widened, and his voice rose several degrees. "What? You don't trust this old man?"
"Let me tell you, Lin Mo is now Dugu Bo's brother! How could I possibly harm him?"
As soon as those words came out, Lin Mo reflexively covered his face, looking as if he could not bear to watch.
Everyone else present, including Dugu Yan, was stunned. Their faces were filled with confusion.
Dugu Yan opened her mouth, clearly with many questions to ask, but Dugu Bo silenced her with a single look.
Clearly, Dugu Bo had no intention of explaining this matter in detail.
Seeing Dugu Bo's forceful attitude, the three Committee Members could only look helpless.
Meng Shenji sighed and shook his head. "Since Your Excellency Poison Douluo has given such a guarantee, and Lin Mo himself agrees, then we cannot forcefully stop it any longer."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo finally gave a satisfied grunt and curled his lip.
"That's more like it. Besides, when it comes to teaching, how could you possibly understand teaching according to aptitude better than I do?"
As he spoke, he turned and gestured to Lin Mo.
"Lin Mo, release your Martial Soul and let these three old fellows open their eyes."
With a slight thought from Lin Mo, a red light flashed before him.
The next moment, Charmeleon appeared in the open space at the center of the Teaching Committee hall.
The appearance of Charmeleon instantly shocked the three Committee Members.
The three of them stood up almost at the same time, their eyes fixed firmly on Charmeleon.
With their experience, they could naturally tell at a glance that this greatly transformed External Beast Martial Soul was deeply connected to Lin Mo's previous Charmander Martial Soul.
But what surprised them even more were the three spirit rings slowly rising from beneath Charmeleon's feet.
Two yellow and one purple.
It radiated the spirit power fluctuations of a Spirit Elder.
Spirit Douluo Zhi Lin could not help blurting out in shock, "This… how is this possible?! Lin Mo, I remember that when you first entered the academy over a month ago, your spirit power was only Rank 28!"
"Later, under my spirit power pressure, you broke through to Rank 29. How long has it been since then? Not only have you reached Rank 30, you've even obtained your third spirit ring?"
This cultivation speed had completely exceeded the scope of their understanding.
Lin Mo's expression remained calm as he slowly repeated the explanation Ye Linyuan had taught him in advance.
"Committee Members, after successfully absorbing its third spirit ring, my Charmander Spirit underwent a Martial Soul evolution because its own Bloodline was triggered by the power of the spirit ring. That also caused its appearance to change."
"So now, I call it Charmeleon."
Bai Baoshan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart.
With a flick of his wrist, he took out an azure crystal ball from his storage spirit tool. It was slightly larger than the standard version.
"This is a testing crystal ball specifically used for the Spirit Elder level, with higher precision. Lin Mo, come and test your current spirit power rank."
Lin Mo did not hesitate. He stepped forward and gently pressed his palm against the blue crystal ball.
The crystal ball instantly lit up, releasing a soft glow.
The light climbed rapidly, finally stopping clearly at the Rank 32 mark inside the crystal ball.
"Rank 32!"
Bai Baoshan's voice was somewhat dry as he looked at the scale on the crystal ball.
With the result of "Dugu Bo's teaching" right before their eyes, the three Committee Members were completely speechless.
It seemed they really had no reason to stop Lin Mo from following Dugu Bo to cultivate now, especially since Lin Mo himself did not object.
Meng Shenji finally let out a long sigh, his tone filled with helplessness.
"Very well. Lin Mo, since this is your own choice, and since Your Excellency Poison Douluo will personally guide you, we agree."
Two days later, on the outskirts of the Sunset Forest.
Dense trees blotted out the sun, and the air was filled with the scent of damp earth and the faint fragrance of vegetation.
Lin Mo, Ye Lingling, and Dugu Yan moved cautiously through the forest in a simple triangular formation.
The purpose of this trip was to find a suitable third spirit ring for Ye Lingling, whose spirit power had reached the Rank 30 bottleneck.
Dugu Bo followed them from a short distance away, leaning against the thick branch of a large tree with his arms crossed.
On this trip, besides protecting the safety of the three youngsters, he also intended to test their actual combat abilities.
As for the true combat strength of Lin Mo's External Beast Martial Soul, Charmeleon, although he had sensed it directly a few times before, those were only perceptions.
He was also very curious about just how strong Lin Mo's Charmeleon Spirit truly was.
And when it came to testing combat power, hunting Spirit Beasts in the wild was naturally the most suitable method.
Similarly, he wanted to see with his own eyes how much Dugu Yan's combat ability had improved now that her Spirit had evolved into the Jade Phosphor Dragon.
The average quality of Spirit Beasts in the Sunset Forest was far superior to those in captive Soul Hunting Forests. Even in the outer regions, Thousand Year Spirit Beasts would occasionally appear.
Lin Mo and the others did not dare to be careless. They stayed only in the outer areas and carefully searched for a suitable Spirit Beast target for Ye Lingling.
Dugu Bo remained nearby to guard them, preventing any Spirit Beasts that could pose a fatal threat from approaching.
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