As for the Buried Snow Swordsmanship itself, Li Heng could satisfy the requirements for its first four effects. Most of them only required 10 points in Snow Affinity, and he currently had 26.
Li Heng still had nearly 10,000 Soul Energy Points. Maxing out the Buried Snow Swordsmanship and then upgrading it would probably only cost around two thousand Soul Energy Points in total.
So, after learning the specifics of the Buried Snow Swordsmanship and thinking for a moment, Li Heng maxed out its level and upgraded it.
Name: Hidden Snow Swordsmanship (Lv. 1)
Category: Soul Energy Skill
Value: Rare
Effects:
1. After learning this swordsmanship, those with a Snow Affinity of 10 or higher gain +3 sword-drawing speed.
2. +3 to Snow-type Sword Intent comprehension ability.
3. Upon reaching max level: Strength +5, Agility +5.
4. Upon reaching max level, those with a Snow Affinity of 10 or higher have a chance to create snowflakes along the trajectory of their longsword with each swing.
5. For those with a Snow Affinity of 50 or higher, all the above effects are doubled.
6. For those with a Snow Affinity of 60 or higher, when using this swordsmanship with a longsword or shortsword of a related cold attribute, the bonus to either Strength or Agility is doubled.
[Consume 1000 Soul Energy Points to level up this skill?]
[This skill has not reached max level and cannot be upgraded.]
——
Li Heng: Soul Warrior
Soul Energy: 7960
Divinity: 0
Legend: 0
Strength: 48 (+5, +5, +9)
Agility: 49 (+5, +3, +3)
Spirit: 31 (+3)
Snow Affinity: 26
Ice Affinity: 3
Soul Energy Skills: Wolf Walk Technique Lv. 10, Ghost Butterfly Illusion Sword Lv. 10, Shangxue Flying Knife Technique Lv. 1, Hidden Snow Swordsmanship Lv. 1.
Soul Energy Pets: Ice Luan, Shadow Wolf Cub.
Soul Energy Equipment: Iron Flying Knives ×20, Empty Cicada Longsword, Blood Soul Wolf Fang Bracelet, Snow-Binding Ring, Moon Heavy Armor Arm Guard, Yun Han (Mythic), Yin Bone Paper Fan (High Epic).
Soul Energy Items: Li Hua Demon’s Soul Pearl (Mythic), several flasks of Hundred-Year-Old Qingfeng Wine, one pot of Cold Mountain Palace Snowflake Brew (Mythic), Meteor University Regulation Uniform ×4, other items omitted...
Skills: Basic Swordsmanship, Basic Body Technique, Crude Sword Intent (Passive), Wolf Soul Mark (Passive).
For various reasons, including his current Soul Energy Points, Li Heng decided not to level up the Hidden Snow Swordsmanship any further after obtaining it.
He just took the opportunity to briefly review his current status.
At the same time, after the upgrade, Li Heng decided to wait a while before returning the swordsmanship manual.
After all, he had a system that let him learn Soul Energy Skills instantly. It was best to be low-key about something like that. Being a "Sword Way genius" was a pretty good cover story.
Besides, for a so-called Sword Way genius, taking a month to comprehend and master a swordsmanship manual was perfectly reasonable, right?
So, Li Heng placed the swordsmanship manual on his desk, opened it to the last page, and then paid it no more mind.
’Looks like... I still don’t have enough Soul Energy Points... I really wonder when the school vacation will start.’
You never know how few Soul Energy Points you have until you need them. In any case, Li Heng wanted more Soul Energy Points right now. With enough points, he could first max out his Hidden Snow Swordsmanship, and then he could shamelessly grind for Divinity Points.
In truth, while using Yun Han, Li Heng could still turn a net profit in the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain. However, the progress was a bit slow, and he had to maintain a high level of concentration the entire time.
Exploring the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain consumed several times more stamina than other Dungeons. Between the dungeon runs from the past few days and the recent battle with the Blood Wolf God Shadow, his Spirit attribute—not counting equipment bonuses—had already risen to 28!
This just went to show the immense pressure and intense focus required for the latter half of the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain!
’In other words... if I level up this Hidden Snow Swordsmanship, my Strength will break 30, and my Agility will be pushing 40. As for Spirit... if I grind the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain for a few more days, it’ll probably break 30, too. Isn’t this pace... a little too fast?’
While Li Heng was complaining about his lack of Soul Energy Points, he also got a clear picture of his three main attributes.
There were two conditions to advance to the Great Soul Warrior realm.
1. All three main attributes must reach 30 without relying on equipment.
2. The foundational Soul Energy Skills of the Soul Warrior realm must be fully mastered.
Li Heng thought it over. For him, meeting these two conditions was just a matter of Soul Energy Points. And if it was something Soul Energy Points could solve, it wasn’t really a problem.
However, Li Heng had other considerations. "Genius" was a good excuse, but even a genius couldn’t be too outrageous. He had only just advanced to Soul Warrior right before entering the university.
Becoming a Great Soul Warrior in less than a month after starting school?
That was too risky!
Therefore, to be safe, Li Heng planned to delay his advancement for a while, or wait for the perfect opportunity and a good reason to make his breakthrough.
As for "clearing" the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain Dungeon, Li Heng also decided to wait until he reached the Great Soul Warrior realm. Before his realm advancement, his main focus would be grinding.
And so, after borrowing the "Buried Snow Swordsmanship" manual from the library, the pace of Li Heng’s life and studies suddenly slowed down considerably.
During the day, he would run the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain Dungeon, but he would stop at the mountainside and go no further, earning about 1,800 Soul Energy Points per run.
After subtracting the 1,000-point "entry fee," the rest of the Soul Energy Points were saved up. At the same time, he trained his Spiritual Power and tested his luck to see if he could get any Divinity Points to drop.
At night, he would take a stroll around campus to relax his body and mind, which also helped him clear his head.
It was worth mentioning that during these few days, Li Heng didn’t see Gu Qingwu at all. He had no idea where his Senior Sister Gu had gone after their last encounter where she played the zither for his sword practice.
This routine lasted for about three days before it came to an end, because the freshmen who had chosen the other routes had returned to Meteor University!
On this day, the first-year freshmen’s spring outing officially concluded!
When the freshmen from the other routes returned, Li Heng went to the "scene" to take a look and found that their condition was largely the same as those who had chosen the South City Gate.
However, when it came to variety, Meteor University certainly knew how to play.
Not to mention the small roadblocks along the way, the 300-li round-trip points for the East City Gate and North City Gate routes weren’t Soul Beast Sealing Stones, but Li Heng had to admit he was impressed by their "novelty" and the degree to which they screwed people over.
The freshmen who had previously chosen the South City Gate route also showed up to "spectate." Seeing that the freshmen from the other routes were just as miserable, they felt relieved.
After the male teacher in charge of the spring outing explained Meteor University’s "well-meaning intentions" for the event, he announced that the spring outing was officially over.
As for the rewards, punishments, and the list of students who had to retake the spring outing, that information would be distributed to the bishop teacher of each department. The students just had to follow their department’s arrangements.
And it was on this day that the bishop teacher of the Comprehensive Department found Li Heng and informed him that the first class for the first-year freshmen of the Comprehensive Department was about to begin!