10: Chapter 10 A Variety of Armored Spirits

A while later, the door was pushed open again.

A burly middle-aged man walked in, wearing a black training outfit, his gaze sharp.

He walked up to the podium, placed the things in his hand on the table, and scanned the entire class.

Everyone instantly quieted down.

"I am Zhao Tieshan, your homeroom teacher." His voice was deep and powerful.

"I am also a Rank 43 Armor King."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces.

"You might not have much of a concept of what a Rank 43 Armor King is."

He rested his hands on the podium, his tone flat.

"Let me put it this way: among everyone here, those who can reach the Armor Spirit Rank before graduation can be counted on one hand."

The classroom was silent.

Someone muttered unconvincingly, but didn't dare to speak up.

Zhao Tieshan sneered, "Unconvinced? Fine, let me do the math for you."

He took the stack of meditation Cultivation techniques from under the podium and tapped them on the table.

"An Armor Beast Master's Cultivation relies on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, tempering oneself, and simultaneously nourishing the Armor Spirit. And what does the speed of absorbing spiritual energy depend on?"

No one answered.

Zhao Tieshan answered himself: "It depends on the number of Armor Cavities."

He glanced at the whole class.

"What are Armor Cavities? They are the channels for the body to communicate with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The more Armor Cavities, the more channels, and the faster the speed of absorbing spiritual energy."

"Let's use a simple example. If a person with one Armor Cavity has an absorption speed of one, then two Armor Cavities would be two, three would be eight, and four would be sixteen."

"By that logic, the Cultivation speed of nine Armor Cavities is 512 times that of one."

A sound of gasping echoed in the classroom.

Zhao Tieshan dropped the chalk and clapped his hands.

"So, do you know why I said that those who can reach the Armor Spirit Rank before graduation can be counted on one hand?"

He looked out the window, his gaze distant.

"You should have heard of who has the best Aptitude in our school this year. Ye Wushuang from Class One has eight Armor Cavities."

"With eight Armor Cavities, his Cultivation speed is dozens or even hundreds of times faster than most of you. One day of his meditation is worth months of yours."

"What right do you have to compare yourselves to him?"

The classroom was silent as the grave.

Xu Ziyan muttered quietly to the side.

"Lin Fan, is the Ye Wushuang he mentioned... from that Ye family? I heard he is both handsome and rich."

Lin Fan glanced at him. "Your focus is quite strange."

Xu Ziyan shrank his neck and didn't dare to make another sound.

Zhao Tieshan threw the meditation Cultivation techniques to the first row.

"Pass them down, one for each person. Take them home, read them, and practice."

The booklet reached Lin Fan's hands. He flipped through it; it was a thin twenty-something pages.

After Zhao Tieshan finished distributing the meditation Cultivation techniques, he scanned the class.

"Do you all have them? Then don't just sit there, follow me to the training field."

He turned to walk out, but stopped at the door to add,

"Bring your own Armor Spirits; today, I'll first test your baseline."

There was a commotion in the classroom.

Xu Ziyan held the Snow Spirit Fox in his arms and asked Lin Fan in a low voice.

"Lin Fan, how do you think Teacher Zhao will test us?"

Lin Fan stuffed the meditation Cultivation technique into his pocket and stood up.

"I don't know. We'll see when we get there."

On his left wrist, Xiao Zhuang seemed to sense something and moved slightly.

The training field was behind the laboratory building. It was a large open-air venue, covering an area the size of half a football field.

High metal fences stood all around, and the ground was covered with special alloy plates that were said to be able to withstand the attacks of Armor Spirits.

Zhao Tieshan stood in the center of the field with his arms crossed, waiting for all the students to arrive before speaking.

"What is the most important ability of an Armor Beast Master?"

No one answered.

Zhao Tieshan answered himself: "First, contracting an Armor Spirit. Second, combat using Armor Transformation."

He pointed around.

"I won't test you on anything else today, just two things. Release your Armor Spirits, then perform Armor Transformation, and let me see."

Just as he finished speaking, someone raised their hand.

"Teacher, Armor Transformation consumes spiritual energy. We are low Rank right now and can't maintain it for too long."

Zhao Tieshan glanced at that person.

"I know. You don't need to maintain it for long, just show it."

The student lowered his hand awkwardly.

Zhao Tieshan scanned the crowd: "Who's first?"

A silence followed.

Lin Fan leaned against the fence with his hands in his pockets, looking indifferent.

Just then, a tall and thin boy walked out from the crowd.

"Teacher, let me go first."

Zhao Tieshan nodded: "State your name, number of Armor Cavities, and Armor Spirit."

"Zhang Lei, four Armor Cavities, Armor Spirit is a Blazing Dog."

He extended his right hand, and a red pattern appeared on his wrist, the outline of a dog.

"Armor Transformation."

With a flash of red light, his right hand was quickly covered in a layer of fiery red fur starting from the wrist. Sharp claws grew from the tips of his fingers, and sparks faintly danced at his fingertips.

Lin Fan's left eye heated up slightly, and lines of small text appeared.

【Race】: Blazing Dog

【Aptitude】: Mortal Spirit Intermediate (Cap: Profound Spirit Low)

【Rank】: 5

【Armor Transformation】: Hand

【Armor Transformation Skill】: Flame Claw (Adds fire damage when swiping claws), Thermal Perception (Can sense changes in surrounding temperature)

【Evaluation】: Ordinary goods, just a bit better than a guard dog.

After Zhang Lei finished his demonstration and retracted his Armor Transformation, he looked a bit smug.

Zhao Tieshan nodded: "Rank 5, not bad. Next."

Next, students came forward one after another to demonstrate.

Lin Fan leaned against the fence, scanning them one by one with his left eye, like looking at a vegetable market.

【Race】: Iron Armor Rhino

【Aptitude】: Mortal Spirit Intermediate (Cap: Profound Spirit Intermediate)

【Rank】: 4

【Armor Transformation】: Torso

【Armor Transformation Skill】: Iron Armor Body (Significantly increases defense), Charge (Linear impact, greater power)

【Evaluation】: Thick-skinned and fleshy, suitable as a meat shield, but the speed is too slow, easy to be kited.

【Race】: Wind Wing Bird

【Aptitude】: Mortal Spirit Intermediate (Cap: Profound Spirit Low)

【Rank】: 6

【Armor Transformation】: Hand

【Armor Transformation Skill】: Wind Blade (Attacks by swiping a Wind Blade), Glide (Short-term gliding ability)

【Evaluation】: Fast runner, can't fly high, only useful for reconnaissance.

【Race】: Shadow Cat

【Aptitude】: Mortal Spirit Intermediate (Cap: Profound Spirit Intermediate)

【Rank】: 5

【Armor Transformation】: Eye

【Armor Transformation Skill】: Night Vision (See in darkness), Stealth (Conceal aura)

【Evaluation】: Suitable for sneak attacks, frontal combat ability is worrying.

Lin Fan watched all the way through, his mouth twitching.

The Armor Spirits in this class were all Mortal Spirit Rank, and the highest cap was only Profound Spirit Intermediate.

An ordinary class is truly ordinary.

Just as he was thinking this, a short and fat boy walked forward.

"Teacher, I... my name is Zhou Hu, four Armor Cavities, and my Armor Spirit is a Rock Armor Turtle."

He extended his left hand, and a brown pattern appeared on his wrist, the outline of a turtle.

"Armor Transformation."