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"You shameless old coot, betting early—you were that sure it'd be him?!"
Tu Hongwu shook his head. "Not sure, but I love a good gamble!"
"Fine, can't argue with you, old man. Unseal his experience—just don't overshoot. I can only tweak it the instant he hits Level 10…"
"Relax, I won't screw up something this simple!"
Their cryptic chatter left Su Mo scratching his head.
He'd always wondered, watching TV, why people loved talking in riddles, dropping half-sentences.
Now his own master seemed to…
Tu Hongwu caught Su Mo's puzzled look, reading his mind, and spoke again:
"Some things I'm not hiding—they just can't be said. But trust me, since I've taken you as my disciple, I'd never harm you. You'll get the full story when you're strong enough."
With that, Tu pressed a hand to Su Mo's shoulder. The experience bar, long maxed out, flowed free like a dam breaking.
Su Mo, already capped at Level 9, broke through to 10 the second it spilled.
Tu resealed the bar, and a bloody red glow wrapped the trio.
Right then, Bai Yuanhao—usually laid-back—turned dead serious.
Mystic runes flashed from his hands, warping and collapsing the dungeon's space. A final point at Su Mo's brow—
A white light burst from Su Mo's body, tangling with the black glow from Bai's fingertip. The moment they touched his skin, both vanished.
Bai's face shifted, thoughts unreadable, then black light flared again, surging into Su Mo.
Su Mo's system space, already expanding from hitting Level 10, shot to a 100-cubic-meter cube in a flash.
But as the black light poured in, the growth—nearly stalled—kicked into overdrive.
Two minutes later, it ballooned from 100 to 1,000 cubic meters—and kept going, hitting 1,300 before stopping.
By now, Bai Yuanhao's clone was fading fast—barely a flicker unless you squinted.
"Done—promise kept. This clone's toast. Remember your word—three days, I'll come for you!"
Bai's voice faded, and his faint clone blinked out.
Su Mo felt the 1,300-cubic-meter system space, puzzled. Wasn't it just a 10x boost? What's with the extra 300?
Did his bargain-bin master haggle for a bonus after their chat?
The thought lit him up inside.
Before, his system space couldn't even fit a two-meter horse-slashing saber.
Now, 1,300 cubic meters—he had no clue what to cram in to fill it.
Blinking back to reality, he saw Tu Hongwu—beaming but pale.
Catching Su Mo's gaze, Tu dialed back the grin. "Good, good, good—worthy of being my pick! You didn't let me down!
I know you've got questions, but hold 'em. Use that Blank Skill Book from topping the exam first—I'll explain after."
Su Mo had other stuff to ask.
But at Tu's words, he didn't hesitate—pulled out the Blank Skill Book he'd earned as top scorer.
He flipped it open, and a white light shot into him.
He felt it link to his body, stirring something deep.
A new power woke up slow inside him.
His heart raced—was he about to awaken a skill?!
With his ability, what'd he get?
Absolute defense was already nuts—what related skill could top it? Just imagining it sent his pulse soaring.
Then a system ping hit, and his mouth twitched.
[Defense Field: Releases a 3-meter radius defense field, protection scales with your defense attribute.]
What kinda garbage skill was this?!
I'm already defense-proof—what's this field for?
Even bumping my reflection up a bit—or any reflection—I'd take it.
But this crap?
How the hell do I use it?
Su Mo's inner rant raged, but Tu Hongwu, watching his twitching face, chimed in:
"Skill awakened? You don't look thrilled—tell me what you got."
He paused, adding, "If you don't wanna say, I won't push."
Su Mo stood, shaking his head. "It awakened, but it's useless—a defense field, 3-meter radius."
"Defense field, huh? Decent skill—don't set your bar too high.
Not happy? In a couple days, tag along with Old Bai, grab some materials. I'll get Gongsun Mu to whip you up another."
???
Three question marks popped over Su Mo's head. "Wait, Master—what'd you say? This skill book's crafted? Not a dungeon drop?"
"That's what I'm getting to. You probably learned in theory class—
Non-profession awakened can use skill scrolls, but not skill books.
Scrolls come in all flavors, but some don't fit certain awakened—
and lots of us have crazy strong abilities that are a pain to develop. Then Gongsun Mu, that old geezer, spent decades tinkering and cooked this up."
Tu paused. Su Mo stayed quiet—knew the meat was coming next.
Tu Hongwu cleared his throat lightly and continued: "This thing's been around for a while—uses regular skill books, but mass production? No dice.
The big hitch is a super rare material.
Rare's not quite right—it's not that scarce. Problem is, the dungeon's a beast to clear, and it's only open for a tight window.
Every year, it pops up for just seven days after the exam. No level req to enter, but there's a catch—awakening can't be over a month old."
It clicked for Su Mo—no wonder high schoolers got awakened right before the exam.
This dungeon was why!
Ten days pre-exam for awakening, seven-ish for the exam itself, leaving just enough time to hit the dungeon.
Noble heirs, awakened early, were out of luck.
Makes sense—noble legacies leaned hard on profession awakenings.
These skill books were for ability awakened like him—nobles didn't need 'em.
Seeing Su Mo's lightbulb moment, Tu Hongwu nodded, satisfied.
"Looks like you've figured it out. Yep, exactly what you're thinking. I don't know what this year's dungeon will be, but with your strength, I'm sure you'll handle it.
If you can, bring back as much of that material as possible—for our nation, for humanity.
Of course, the state'll reward you for it."
Su Mo nodded solemnly. "Got it, Master—I'll do my best to haul back plenty."
Tu chuckled softly. "No need to stress. Oh, and since you're this year's top scorer, you get one request from the state. Thought about what you want?"
Su Mo went quiet.
Honestly, he'd planned to ask for an awakening shot for his sister.
But with the Forced Awakening Stone in hand, that was off the table.
Maybe have her join him at school?
He spoke up: "I want my sister to go to university with me."
Tu Hongwu coughed hard, drowning him out. "Cough, cough—Little Mo, what'd you say? Didn't catch it. No rush on state requests.
Your sister going to uni with you? Just tell me—Qinghua or Peking, I've got pull.
Come to think of it, I'm some kinda deputy dean somewhere. Show up, drop my name, you're set."
"Then, I want a mou—"
Su Mo got halfway before Tu clapped a hand over his mouth, feigning shock:
"What?! A God-tier mount?! That's a tall order!
But I hear the Chu family's got a God-tier mount egg lying around.
It's tricky, but don't worry—the state's gotta honor your request, and I'll make sure they do."
Su Mo had thought his cheap master was a bit unhinged, jumping at shadows—but hearing this, he nodded fast.
"Thanks, Master—yep, I want a God-tier mount."
Tu grinned, nodding, thinking: Teachable kid.
Beyond the starry void, in some massive slaughter dungeon, Chu War God watched the master-disciple duet on a projection, face red with rage.
If two guys weren't pinning his shoulders, he'd have stormed Earth already.
"Let me go! That shameless old fart Tu Hongwu—let me at him, I'll chop him dead right now!"
"Old Chu, chill—chill! Tu's a bit of a jerk, but he didn't break rules. We're stuck guarding here—you bailing's a bad look."
"Yeah, Old Chu, it's not worth it—just a mount egg."
Chu Zhongtian: "Bullshit! 'Just a mount egg'?! That's a God-tier egg—for my nephew! This bastard… #$@%… even agreed for me! I'll #$@%&*…" (Too crude—censored.)
…
Back on the podium, Tu Hongwu stroked his blood-red beard, all serious as he faced Su Mo:
"Little Mo, I'm a rough guy—everyone's awakened stuff is different. Saying I can teach you specifics? That'd be a lie.
All I can do is guide you, cut the detours, get you to the next generation's human guardian ASAP.
Anything you don't get, any materials or resources you need—just tell me. I'll make it happen if I can. Got it?"
Su Mo piped up quick: "Master, how do I use the Forced Awakening Stone?"
"For your sister, right? Easy—have her drip blood on it. It's tested, super safe.
Got time now—anything else you wanna ask or need?"
"Uh, I want some defense-related skill scrolls—ones that convert defense to other stats would be best."
Tu's blood-red brows creased, like he wanted to say something but held back. After a long pause:
"Those are rare—I'll ask around. When you hit Qinghua or Peking, check the library for stuff like that. If I spot any, I'll grab 'em.
Time's up—this clone's fading.
After you're done in that dungeon, head to Qinghua or Peking—I'll be waiting. We'll do the official apprentice banquet then."
Tu's hand flashed red again, hitting Su Mo. The sealed XP from breaking Level 10 unlocked—two white flashes later, both were gone.
Su Mo blinked—back on Tianfu High's plaza.
The already wild reporter swarm, now amped by his top scorer win, had the whole school locked down tight.
Up on the platform, Old Man Wang was barely holding on, while Wang Defa—Su Mo's pale-faced homeroom teacher—faced a mob too.
Su Mo's arrival yanked every reporter's focus his way.
His insane XP reserves flooded out like a busted dam, smashing past Level 11 and barreling straight to 12 without a hitch.
Counting that dungeon jump, that's three levels in a row—unsealed now, he could grind like crazy again.
With his current haul, couldn't he snag a mount for kicks?
Sure, Master promised a God-tier egg—but it's an egg! Hatching takes who-knows-how-long.
And a fresh-hatched mount? Can't ride it for ages.
Like before—wrong weapon, no biggie, but bare hands won't do. Gotta have a mount though, right?
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