"Teacher, I want to learn this."

Li Pu pointed to one of the Summoner skills.

[Hardening]: Can temporarily harden any part of the body

"Hmm?"

Li Fan was initially taken aback, then chuckled and swore, "You sly boy, you sure know how to pick."

This is [Hardening], after all, only those who've used it truly understand it.

And typically, ordinary Summoners have no way of learning it.

Back in the day, he had to pester the homeroom teacher for four years before he finally learned it just before graduation in his senior year.

"Um..."

Actually, Li Pu hadn't intended to think that way initially, but Li Fan's smile made him misinterpret it.

However, to be fair, he really wanted this skill.

If he could [Harden] himself, he wouldn't have to worry about the slashes from those scythe aphids and sword aphids.

By then, a kick to each would be incredibly satisfying.

Besides, as one of the few Summoners who engage in battle personally, he really needed such a defensive skill.

"Right now, it's too early for you to learn the linked fusion version of [Sprint]."

"At least wait until you can instant-cast [Sprint] before considering it."

"But learning another skill in advance to lay the groundwork isn't a problem."

"So, alright then."

Li Fan's final answer brought great joy to Li Pu.

Once he mastered [Hardening], he could truly go and challenge those aphids again.

"Hang on a moment; I'll sketch out the incantation for you."

Li Fan asked Li Pu to wait a moment and walked into the inner room.

He glanced at the scarecrow enjoying a cola at Li Fan's place, lying flat on the ground, sipping slowly through a straw and looking utterly relaxed.

Feeling a bit idle, he asked for permission and then turned on the computer in the living room.

He logged onto the school forum, wanting to see if there were any new training tasks available.

After all, he needed to grab both relevant materials and crystal coins simultaneously to strengthen the scarecrow.

But before he even opened the forum posts, he received several private messages.

[Prince Turtle]: Where have you been these past two days, are you coming back for dinner tonight?

[Rice Seller Girl]: Li Pu, thanks for last time; I'll treat you to dinner another day.

[Rice Seller Girl]: Li Pu, when are you free to take on training commissions again?

[CHACHA]: Nihao ya

[Inauthentic Cai]: Fellow student, I heard you take on training commissions?

"Great."

Li Pu hadn't expected that this time, it seemed like commissions were being sent to him.

That Prince Turtle was Wu Guinan, judging from the tone, it sounded like a resentful spouse.

But considering they were roommates, Li Pu thought it was necessary to help train Prince Turtle's tortoise someday—perhaps for half-price?

As for CHACHA, he had no idea who that was; using pinyin felt a bit strange.

Li Pu was certainly not going to refuse the commissions that came his way.

So he replied to Dai Mi and the inauthentic Cai in sequence.

Dai Mi's response time was as fast as ever.

Turns out she had taken up a training task on the forum as a punching bag for the Punching Rock, making some money.

Punching Rock, a summoning creature belonging to the rock element.

Its main method of attack was using its hard stone fists to hit enemies.

Training with a punching bag mode could accelerate the digestion of nutrient energy within its body.

It was the perfect match for the beaten-up rice sack that could upgrade through beatings.

But how Dai Mi convinced that senior was unclear, as when Li Pu mentioned being a freshman to them, they immediately declined.

Currently, the rice sack was at level LV5, and Dai Mi offered a price of 100 crystal coins per level.

This was a very standard market rate, and after some consideration, Li Pu accepted it.

After all, big clients with urgent orders like Senior Yi were rare.

Dai Mi's case was more the norm.

After settling things with Dai Mi, the inauthentic Cai also sent a reply.

The person claimed to be a close friend of Senior Yi Lunyou, wanting Li Pu's help to train their two summoning creatures.

The price offered was even higher than what Yi Lunyou had initially given.

Twice the market rate!

"So, this is what's called reputation?"

He was practically beaming as he took on the job.

But since he had already scheduled with Dai Mi, Cai's order had to be placed afterward.

Sealing two deals back-to-back put Li Pu in a good mood.

He didn't browse the forum posts any further; there was no need to fill his schedule that tightly.

After finishing this matter, and waiting for another half an hour, Li Fan finally returned from the inner room.

The "moment" he mentioned did indeed take a while.

"Here's the incantation."

"Take a look, and if you don't understand something, ask me here."

When Li Fan produced that thick stack of incantations, Li Pu understood why it took so long.

Picking up the top sheet, his expression turned peculiar.

It was the incantation for hardening that specific part.

Seeing Li Fan's playful smile, it showed how "seriously" he took it.

So he went through them sheet by sheet, and by halfway through, Li Pu had a general understanding of the [Hardening] Summoner skill.

No wonder this Summoner skill was so unpopular, as learning it was extremely difficult.

For instance, hardening the legs involves two separate running routes.

The left leg or right leg, each had an individual running route, which compared to [Sprint], was much easier.

Even considering both together, it's not as complex as [Sprint].

But the challenge lay in the fact that the left leg or right leg has a separate running route, and both legs combined have an entirely new running route.

Each part hardens individually, with separate routes, and there seems to be no pattern.

Part + part hardening simultaneously adopts a completely different route.

That's why [Sprint] could be completed on a single sheet, but [Hardening] was a thick stack.

"So, how about now; there's still time to regret."

Seeing Li Pu's increasingly furrowed brows, Li Fan, with arms crossed, chuckled.

"Teacher, I don't get these bits here and here."

Unexpectedly, Li Pu didn't give up and pointed to the running charts on the left and right legs.

This action made Li Fan nod in approval.

He wasn't exactly praising the student's grit to overcome challenges or endure hardships.

But rather, if the student dared to give up easily after he worked so hard on drawing those charts, he'd beat him.

After receiving Li Fan's guidance, Li Pu nodded thoughtfully.

Then he sat on the sofa, closed his eyes, and pondered.

"Take your time."

Click.

Li Fan chuckled and lit a cigarette.

If it were that easy to learn, there wouldn't be a need for teachers.

"Teacher, I think I learned it."

A moment later, really just a moment later, he opened his eyes.

"Huh?!"

Li Fan's slender fingers trembled, almost dropping his cigarette.

This scenario felt oddly familiar.

...

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