"Hahaha, my uncle would be damned pissed!"

Chen Linjian laughed loudly. Droplets of tears marred the corner of his eyes as he wheezed. It was too good! His unlawful cousin getting his ass punked right in front of his parents!

"Sigh, man, this isn't cool. Even my father would be coming for Ray'er, and even if they wouldn't say anything, I have a feeling that they are going to talk about me, too..."

Ye Hong exhaled as they both rested after a good sparring match. Chen Linjian observed Ye Hong from the corner of his eyes and snorted, "You lucky dog, you already got a great girl with beauty and talent unseen for dozens of years. Can't you stop your self-pity?"

Ye Hong sneered.

Girl?

Great?

That wasn't the correct path of a man. A man should never put out for the opposite gender! A man is made for another man!

Ye Hong decided to drop the subject and then looked towards Lanrou and Nik sitting together, "I don't think Teacher Nik had planned all of this, though. Truth be told, he is one of the best teachers I can ask for."

Chen Linjian sighed softly as he looked at Lanrou. She was a beautiful woman, and Chen Linjian wouldn't be considered reasonable if he did not have a strange liking for the pinkette. But aside from the slight distaste, Nik was definitely a tutor worthy of the title. Apart from being slightly inept in the art of inscriptions, Nik presented a vast pool of knowledge and relatable stories that attracted their attention in mere moments.

Thirty minutes later, the classes came to an end, and Nik was free for two hours before he had to train his apprentices. Due to her earlier commitments, Lanrou returned to her home while Shen Xiu was nowhere to be found. In the next fifteen minutes, Nik assigned the clerk of the institute to send the letters to the households of the students of his class and made sure to express that the message should reach the parents of the students on a priority basis.

With all his task done, Nik was finally visited by one of the renowned professors of the Institute, Ye Sheng— The Vice-Principal.

Nik welcomed the old man into his room and offered him a chair while sitting in front of him on his bed.

"Is there something I can assist you with?"

Nik inquired politely. Technically, Ye Sheng was his boss, so it did not hurt Nik to treat the man kindly. Seeing that Nik did not wish to dabble in formalities, Ye Sheng nodded and spoke up, "The Principal contacted me. He is impressed with your idea of this conference with your parents and expressed his support on the matter."

Hearing Ye Sheng, Nik frowned. He suddenly recalled Ye Hong's encounter with the Principal, and Nik couldn't help but feel strange. 

He?

A male?

Though the voice in that coat of light during Nik's first encounter seemed rather strange, Nik was sure that he picked scent of a 'she,' and Nik was convinced that he couldn't be wrong in this matter.

With no evidence to support his conviction, Nik stayed silent and waited for Ye Sheng to complete his portion as he went on to describe how the entire institute would soon incorporate the concept to better the future of the students.

"But this is only one of the reasons I am here for.

Nik," Ye Sheng's expression grew somber as he continued," I have received a few complaints that your proficiency in inscriptions is lower than that of the students from the Apprentice Classes."

Hearing Ye Sheng's words, Nik frowned as the old man continued, "We all know about your past and the fact that your real talent lies in martial arts. But the Principal expresses his concerns that you should learn from these complaints and learn the art of Inscriptions so that you can become a professor worthy of admiration."

Nik nodded at this reasoning. Being unable to learn inscriptions due to him 'not feeling' it was an irresponsible excuse. Nik was now a teacher, and he needed to be someone who can act like his student's father. Someone to guide the little troublemakers and for that to happen, his incomplete knowledge on one of the primary professions of the City was an obstacle that Nik needed to conquer.

"I understand, sir," Nik spoke with troubling emotions and sighed deeply, "I will make my way to the library—"

"Actually," Ye Sheng smiled and waved his hand, "Seeing your talents, the Principal arranged an Inscription Master to tutor you. This month's salary will be credited to the master that will teach you."

"A tutor?"

Nik couldn't care less about the money. He had plenty of it. But the thought of someone else teaching him made him frown.

Understanding Nik's thoughts, Ye Sheng spoke up with a slight smile, "You don't have to worry too much. The inscription master that the Principal arranged is actually our Snow Wind Family's Inscription Master. She is one of the—"

"I'll do it!"

Nik spoke up.

"I am willing to learn."

Ye Sheng's expression grew strange, but he nodded eventually.

Soon, Ye Sheng left and reported back to Ye Shou. 

"Huff," Nik exhaled sharply and slumped back on his bed before springing up shortly when Asmodeus' whisper grazed his consciousness, "I can teach you about Inscriptions, too, you know..."

Nik ignored her words and sat cross-legged. It was time to make use of the technique Sky gifted him with. This plane's law forbade anyone aside from the creatures categorized as Spirit Beasts to cultivate their spirit ring. Even when the humans had partially manifested spirits within them, they failed to form their individual spirit ring. If the description in Sky's technique was accurate, then, what Nik knew about the concept of spirits and soul was quite correct till now.

The soul is a source of power that could trigger evolution. It was both physical and spiritual in existence and hence, cannot be differentiated.

His body and his spiritual world housed his soul. This was all a theory, and Nik had no way to confirm this, but at least, he now had a sense of what his body contains aside from blood and gore. The Sprits and his flesh, on the other hand, are the guards of the gates that cover his soul. His spirits ensured to remove anything harmful to his soul from his spiritual world while the strength of his flesh would protect his vital organs so that his body can keep on functioning.

{A/N: Though cringe, I needed to introduce a unique cultivation method one way or the other. I apologize if my theory of body and spirit being a by-product is not appreciated. But this is what I have planned for the novel.}

Once his spirits are completed, instead of stacking more spirit rings, the three can also cultivate their own spirit rings and reinforce them with compatible, external spirit rings.

Nik slowly controlled his breathing and let his spiritual energy revolve within his body. This time, Nik made sure to allow his spiritual energy through his spiritual world, too.  The formation of a spirit ring was a task that cannot be completed in a day. Nik needed time to keep on revolving his spiritual energy so that he can form a resonance between his spiritual world and physical body so that his spirit ring can gain the primary ability of his body and bloodline. Only the ability embedded into the deepest recesses of his bloodline would be turned into a spirit ability and with that, Nik would be able to cultivate his spirit ring further.

For two hours straight, Nik continued to revolve his spirit energy within his body before breaking out of his meditation.