While researching that morning, Lin Guang came across a widely cited paper. Based on observations across twenty-six control groups, it suggested that "transmigrators" like W—those who had essentially been reset and forced to start over—would level up at 1.5 to 2 times the speed of spirit beasts with the same potential, provided they possessed considerable strength in their original world.
This accelerated growth would continue until they regained their former power.
That was likely the reason behind W's rapid leveling.
"Mm, regarding this, the academic community—"
Before he could finish, W waved him off impatiently.
"I don't want to hear all that long-winded nonsense."
"I remember you said someone with my talent can easily reach above Level 30, right? And I've just reached Level 4."
Lin Guang rubbed his temple helplessly. "Yes. And this growth isn't linear. Just like my talent, the higher the level, the greater the increase. Eventually, you'll far surpass your original peak."
"It keeps increasing? Even better! Just tell me how to level up."
"..."
A rather subtle expression crossed Lin Guang's face. He shook his head and said instead, "Combat and training, or lucky encounters and potions made by Miracle Alchemists. The former is the most common and important method."
"Got it!"
W perked up, slapped her legs, and forced herself to stand, heading toward the original Crying Scarecrow. But after just a couple of steps, her legs suddenly gave out.
She turned her head and saw that Lin Guang's eyes were no longer glowing with that dim golden light—his talent boost had been deactivated.
"Why'd you stop?"
She sounded a bit annoyed.
"That's enough training for today."
W grew anxious. "No, I'm not even exhausted yet—"
Before she could finish, Lin Guang cut her off.
"When your aether is depleted, it's like running out of stamina—you need rest to recover. Forcing yourself to overdraw it will only damage your future potential."
He handed her a prepared damp towel and said seriously,
"You're in a relatively peaceful environment now. It's not completely safe, but at least there's no immediate danger. You don't need to trade your future for the present anymore."
Trade the future for the present…
For some reason, W lowered her head slightly and glanced at her right forearm.
Against her pale skin was a faint bluish-black tint. If one didn't look closely, it could easily be mistaken for veins beneath the skin.
But soon, she lifted her head again as if nothing had happened and took the towel.
After looking at the boy's sharply defined face for a moment, she turned away with a huff.
"Fine. I'll listen to you this time."
"Then it's my turn."
Lin Guang nodded and suddenly began taking off his shirt, revealing a yellow sports T-shirt underneath. On the front were the cryptic words "No Boarding," while the back read "8+24."
He also removed his black-framed glasses.
As a side note, with the improvement of his spiritual power, his mild nearsightedness had lessened. Still, he had grown used to wearing glasses, so he had bought a pair of plain lenses online as a replacement.
"Now you coach me."
"?"
W blinked in surprise.
The boy in front of her spoke matter-of-factly, "Physical training. I figure you're better at that than a bookworm like me."
"My stamina's weak. Sure, it'll improve naturally as I level up, but since I have the chance now, there's no harm in training."
A smile suddenly appeared on W 's face. Her slender red-black tail began swaying much faster.
"You asked for this yourself. No quitting halfway, and no begging for mercy!"
…
Two and a half hours later—
Soaked in sweat like he had just been dragged out of water, Lin Guang looked like a lifeless fish as W half-carried him. The two leaned against each other, limping out of the training center.
After they left, the receptionist clicked open a chat window on her computer.
"Xiao Miu, the guests from B31 just checked out. Go clean it up. Based on the feedback data, the fire aether was extremely active—must've been quite a scene. Might be a tough job."
After a pause, she added with a slightly cheerful tone, "That guy was really handsome, and the girl with him was super pretty too. I'll send you a screenshot from the surveillance later… Shame though, no chance to squeeze in there. Guess I don't stand a chance."
"Got it, Sister Wang."
A crisp and cheerful girl's voice came through the headset.
"And hey, how would you know if you don't try? I'll cheer you on!"
A moment later, a girl with long, glossy black hair entered Training Room B31 lightly.
Her bangs were clipped up with a delicate golden parasol-tree leaf hairpin, faintly gleaming.
As she stepped inside, a surge of intense fire aether hit her face. Her brows lifted slightly as she instinctively took half a step back, the cute ahoge atop her head bobbing with the motion.
Soon, her gaze was drawn to the scene inside.
She saw the Crying Scarecrow—more than half its body blown away. The sight made her brows knit together tightly.
Walking over, she crouched down and carefully gathered the scattered straw, tying it back onto the scarecrow piece by piece.
"Oh dear… this is really excessive," she sighed with a wry smile.
Cleaning the training room was included in the fee—she didn't mind that.
But judging from the texture of the straw, this Crying Scarecrow had used the skill Harden to boost its defense, yet it had still been nearly killed in a single strike.
That meant the attacker was extremely powerful. This Tier 1 scarecrow wouldn't have provided any meaningful training at all.
This wasn't training.
It was closer to venting anger—or outright slaughter.
After finishing, the girl raised her hand and gently rubbed the jade pendant at her chest. A faint glow appeared, and a round cactus materialized beside her.
This was a Tumbleweed Cactus, a Green-grade Excellent spirit beast—rare, and mainly support-oriented.
After being summoned, it rolled in a small circle on the ground, as if greeting her.
"Xiao Qiu, I'll leave it to you!"
She clenched her fist slightly, as if cheering it on.
"Help heal the Crying Scarecrow, and absorb the excess fire aether in the air."
At her request, the Tumbleweed Cactus first shot several of its longest spines into the scarecrow (a faint green glow flickered), then its body expanded like it was being inflated. Its spines began to emit a soft white light as the restless fire aether in the room flowed toward them.
After about five or six minutes, its body gradually shrank—smaller than before, clearly exhausted.
At the same time, a bud atop its head bloomed into a beautiful fiery-red flower.
As a plant-type spirit beast, it couldn't retain fire aether within its body.
The girl carefully plucked the flower and placed it into a prepared box.
This flower counted as a Tier 1 material.
Beep beep beep…
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She took it out—it was a message from Sister Wang, containing a screenshot from the surveillance camera.
In the image, a silver-haired girl looked annoyed as she supported an exhausted boy. Yet she allowed him to lean against her in a somewhat intimate way.
Despite being drenched in sweat, both of them still looked far above average in appearance.
The girl froze.
Though a bit blurry, she recognized the boy.
"Lin… Guang?"
Who was that girl leaning against him?
And those devil-like horns by her ears… could it be…?