With a thought, Ian Song summoned the movement manual into his hand once again.
This manual contained a total of thirty-six diagrams; fusing the first twelve had allowed him to master the Art of Great Teleportation.
He wondered if the remaining twenty-four diagrams could also be merged into two complete charts.
So Ian started comparing the thirteenth diagram onward. Just as he'd suspected, the thirteenth and fourteenth diagrams were highly similar—over ninety percent alike.
After finishing his comparison, he was certain that diagrams thirteen to twenty-four were pieces of a single, complete chart, broken up.
Next, he compared diagrams twenty-five through thirty-six.
Sure enough, these twelve diagrams could also be merged into one complete operation chart.
After an hour of work, he had successfully fused these twenty-four diagrams into two complete new charts.
But upon studying them, he found that the newly merged charts were even more profound and obscure.
He tried cultivating with the second merged chart, but the mental consumption was overwhelming. In just half a quarter-hour, he'd burned through a tenth of his spirit power, and the route had advanced less than one percent.
Even with Spatial Stasis activated, he still couldn't complete the second chart.
"Looks like I'll have to wait until my spirit power grows much stronger before I can cultivate the second and third charts!"
"Gurgle!"
His stomach grumbled, and Ian headed toward the cafeteria.
The cafeterias for third-level students were separated.
Compared to the lower-level students' cafeteria, the food in the mid-level one was much more refined, though the prices hadn't gone up.
His breakthrough the other day had caused such a commotion that, as soon as Ian appeared in the cafeteria, he became the center of attention.
Some people even came up to greet him.
Ian greeted everyone warmly, never acting arrogant just because he'd condensed a Heaven-Rank Domain.
More and more people came over to get to know him, so his simple meal ended up stretching to over an hour.
After finishing his meal and returning to his dorm, Ian took out the sword manual gifted to him by the Venerable Dragon Sword and began to read.
Although the Venerable Dragon Sword was only at the late Martial Saint stage, his sword-arts mastery allowed him to challenge Martial Saints at their peak.
This manual recorded the sword arts he cultivated and his personal insights; it was so valuable that even a hundred million taels of silver might not buy it at auction.
So Ian made sure to remember this favor from the Venerable Dragon Sword.
With his Photographic Memory, he quickly memorized the entire thick sword notebook, then activated his Mastery Insight skill to contemplate its contents in depth.
Unknowingly, the night passed by.
Ian felt he'd gained a lot, but even with Mastery Insight, he'd only grasped less than one percent of the notebook's essence.
He wasn't worried, though—he had plenty of time.
Today, he planned to visit his group of friends.
After a quick wash, he headed over to the low-level student area.
"Junior Brother Huang, you're here! I thought you’d ditch us now that you’re a mid-level student!" Yoon Zhengyang said with mock bitterness.
Ian fired back, "Heh, I think it's you low-level students putting on airs! I waited for you in the mid-level area, left and right, but you never came to pay respects, so I had to come myself!"
"Of course! I'm your senior brother, so it's only right for you, the junior, to come greet me!" Yoon said proudly.
"Wrong!" Ian said playfully. "My cultivation is already at Grandmaster. If this were the sect, I'd be an Elite Disciple. Have you ever seen an Elite call an Inner Sect disciple 'senior brother'? So you should change how you address me—call me Senior Brother Huang! Come on, Yoon, let’s hear you say it."
Yoon’s face reddened, but then he had a flash of inspiration: "This isn’t the sect. Wait until you’re officially promoted to Elite Disciple, then we’ll talk!"
Ian’s eyes gleamed mischievously. "Hey! If you won’t call me senior brother, at least call me upperclassman. You can’t expect a mid-level student like me to call a low-level student 'upperclassman,' right?"
"...You...!"
Yoon was left speechless, his face turning bright red.
Seeing this, Ian couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Before long, Yoon joined in, laughing along with him.
Word quickly spread that Ian had returned to the low-level student area, and Eric Zhou, Ian Tian, Benson Bai, Celine Murong, Yvette Xue, Winnie Shentu, and others all came by to catch up.
Only Harriet Gu was absent.
"By the way, where's Senior Sister Harriet?" Ian asked.
"Harriet went into seclusion yesterday to attempt a breakthrough to Grandmaster," Yoon replied.
"That fast?" Ian was a bit surprised.
"What, you’re allowed to break through, but no one else is?" Yoon joked.
Yoon quickly explained, "Harriet was probably inspired by you. Back then, we were all Inner Sect disciples and you were still Outer Sect. Now you’ve reached Grandmaster, so if we don’t work harder, we’ll be left in the dust!"
Ian just smiled and said nothing.
Since Ian had just broken through to Grandmaster and everyone present was still stuck at the ninth layer of Qi-Refining, they eagerly asked him to share his breakthrough insights.
Ian didn’t hold back; he patiently explained his experience and techniques for condensing a domain and crossing into Grandmaster. The group was both grateful and enlightened.
Before they knew it, noon had arrived.
Ian treated everyone to a meal at Tianwu House before leaving.
As he left, he quietly handed a small bottle of pills to Rose Changsun, asking her to deliver it to Harriet Gu and to tell her that if her spirit power ran low during her breakthrough, she should take one.
Breaking through to Grandmaster consumed a huge amount of spirit power. The pills were a gift from the Melody Empress and had miraculous effects for restoring mental strength. Knowing Harriet was in seclusion, Ian passed them on, hoping they'd help her succeed.
Mental-restoration pills were always extremely precious.
Rose was shocked—and a little envious—that Ian would give such a rare treasure to Harriet.
Back in the low-level area, Rose headed straight for Harriet's courtyard, pills in hand.
Seclusion didn't mean no visitors; it just told others not to disturb unless it was important.
"Senior Sister Harriet, these pills are from Senior Brother Huang. He said if your energy runs low while breaking through, you should take one!"
Rose knew Harriet's cold temperament, so she skipped the small talk and simply handed over the bottle.
"Oh, I know," Harriet replied calmly.
"Alright, I'll get going then!"
Task complete, Rose left right away—she knew Harriet wouldn't say more unless necessary.
Back in her room, Harriet held the pill bottle, her icy face unconsciously softening into a faint smile. She murmured, "Are you worried about me?"