Chapter 95

Yue Heng was greatly alarmed, feeling something was clearly wrong. The talent aura within the divine palace was dissipating at a much faster rate than usual, as if countless large mouths from the outside were devouring his overflowing talent aura. The power of the "Spring" character talisman did not remain in his body at all, completely disappearing!

The speed at which his talent aura was being devoured exceeded Yue Heng's expectations. It wouldn't be long before he was completely drained. Normally, he could use the character talisman seven or eight times, but this time, using it once almost cost him his life. He hurriedly cut off his divine consciousness and forcibly closed the channel through which the talent aura was leaking.

"Huh? Ha! It's really true!" Min Ruogu's voice of celebration came from behind, her eyes shining as she looked at Yue Heng. She said urgently, "Duckhead, continue! Why did you stop?"

Continue? If I continue, I'll be drained dry!

Yue Heng rolled his eyes and instinctively took two steps back, not daring to get too close to this little devil. Who could bear to fall into a pit every few days?

"Huh, Little White, Little White! What are you doing~" Min Ruogu noticed something was amiss. Little White, who was perched on Yue Heng's shoulder, had a blissful look on her face, her big tail wrapped around Yue Heng's neck, and her small head rubbing against his chin. She looked extremely comfortable. Only when Min Ruogu called her did she reluctantly leave Yue Heng's shoulder, as if he were her best friend.

"What's going on here..." Yue Heng was speechless about the little beast's attitude.

He noticed that the small tree, which had been drooping, had miraculously lifted its head, and the small green fruit stood proudly. Thinking of the "Spring" character talisman, he asked, "Miss Min, did I trigger some taboo in the array just now?"

Min Ruogu circled Yue Heng a few more times, blinked her eyes, and suddenly tiptoed, raising her arm to touch Yue Heng's head. She asked in confusion, "Duckhead, are you really a first-level child scholar?"

"I am a second-level student. Besides the 'Life' character talisman, I also have the 'Spring' character talisman in my body," Yue Heng answered honestly.

Min Ruogu repeated "Spring" and "Life" several times, then suddenly realized, "The vitality in your body only affects humans, while the 'Spring' character talisman should be effective for plants and medicinal herbs. Hey! The Spring Revival Array, the Spring Revival Array, it really works!"

At this point, Min Ruogu revealed everything. There was indeed a super-large Spring Revival Array operating in the garden. The divine consciousness Yue Heng had sensed was from this array. His "Spring" character talisman power was indeed effective, turning him into a huge spirit stone. The talisman power was extracted by the Spring Revival Array and transformed into plant vitality, which spread out, causing the drooping plants to immediately recover.

Yue Heng smiled bitterly, feeling that the array itself had no problem, but the little girl had not updated or replaced the old spirit stones. The Spring Revival Array had been running for too long, so its effectiveness had naturally decreased. He, as a human spirit stone, had been targeted.

"Miss Min... little sister... hero... please spare me. No matter how much talent aura I have, I can't compare to a spirit stone! I swear to the spirit of Fuxi that your Spring Revival Array is not malfunctioning... but I am a poor scholar, where can I afford a brand new spirit stone..."

Back at the thatched cottage, Yue Heng was almost driven mad. Min Ruogu blinked her pitiful eyes, tugged at his sleeve, and pleaded, looking as innocent as possible. Even after he refused, her eyes filled with tears, ready to spill over.

No matter how long he tried to persuade her, it was useless. Yue Heng had no choice but to compromise, saying, "Miss Min, for the sake of your brother, can you give me a few days? I need to study the operation mechanism of the Spring Revival Array and find a way to transfer the 'Spring' character talisman power to the talisman disk. Then I can provide a continuous supply of 'Spring' character talisman power. If I fail, I... I will be your human spirit stone for a few days, okay?"

Min Ruogu tugged at his sleeve, swinging it back and forth, and asked innocently, "Brother Yue, are you really serious?"

Yue Heng was almost swearing, "Absolutely! I won't go back on my word!"

Min Ruogu blinked, whistled, and looked at Little White sitting on her shoulder, smiling and saying, "Little White, did you hear that! If Duckhead goes back on his word, you bite him!"

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Little White waved her little claws, looking anything but threatening, but rather incredibly cute. Yue Heng almost burst out laughing.

But considering the lightning snow weasel's incredible speed and its diet of venomous snakes and scorpions, he knew it wasn't something to be taken lightly. Yue Heng compromised and bowed respectfully.

Since they had come to an agreement, Min Ruogu no longer obstructed him and took him on a tour of the garden, showing him the entire Spring Revival Array.

Yue Heng was quite moved. The transcendent status of spirit masters was something they had to strive for. Cultivating medicinal herbs and plants was a technical skill and also extremely expensive. The Spring Revival Array was divided into different levels based on its range, the degree of spirit energy loss, and stability. The lowest level, a second-grade Spring Revival Array, required materials worth a thousand contribution points to set up, and hundreds of contribution points worth of spirit stones were needed each month to maintain the array's effective operation.

Money was needed to grow herbs well, and spirit masters would either consume them directly or use them to refine medicines and elixirs. On the battlefield, spirit masters played a role in healing or poisoning, all relying on these herbs they cultivated.

Each had their own expertise, and Yue Heng did not aspire to become a master of elixirs.

However, he could still participate in various spirit arrays useful to spirit masters and experiment with his improvements.

In the following days, Yue Heng studied new knowledge in the array research room in the morning, went to Min's garden through the spirit master passage in the afternoon, lectured at the Taishang Wine House in the evening, and read by candlelight on the troop and supply transport vehicle at night, strengthening his understanding of array fundamentals.

For ten whole days, he did not attend a single class for second-level students or show his face among the child scholars. Those who knew him were inquiring about his whereabouts.

Xiao Molin and Bai Huanzhi sat in the wine house, drinking in silence.

It had been half a month since the start of the semester. Bai Huanzhi had originally planned to quietly eliminate Yue Heng, even using mechanical beasts and spirit-arousing incense to sow discord between Yue Heng and his teachers. In the end, he failed and lost track of Yue Heng.

"Brother Xiao, you are the leader of the poor scholars' association, and there are fewer than two thousand scholars in the entire academy. How can you not find him?" Bai Huanzhi was particularly dissatisfied with this.

Xiao Molin's head ached. "This year, Ji Jingyu and his group seem to have taken the wrong medicine. For the past half month, they have been constantly arranging soul-snatching battles. We have been busy dealing with them every day. Where do we have the energy and manpower to investigate Yue Heng?"

Bai Huanzhi said angrily, "So my contribution points and materials are wasted?"

Xiao Molin quickly said, "That's not how it is. Your commission is long-term, but before the spring hunt, we are really stretched thin. You will also participate in the spring hunt this year. Ji Jingyu and his group have even prepared a blood oath. You should understand the importance of it, right?"

Bai Huanzhi was silent for a long time before saying fiercely, "Even if they have a blood oath, I'm not afraid! No matter where Yue Heng hides, he won't escape the spring hunt. I'll cross the student battle zone if I have to and kill him with my own hands!"