"Hah, the control issue with wood clones, perfectly solved!"
Wang Zhong excitedly cheered as he placed his head back onto the wood clone.
What had just happened was a puppet show staged under his will, and Wang Zhong was very satisfied with it.
"Wood clone!"
Three spirit rings rose from his feet, the third spirit ring spinning slowly. Behind the wood clone that had already formed, four more wood clones emerged as if being squeezed out of a toothpaste tube.
After a breath, the four wood clones landed separately, lining up with the one from before.
Just then, without any visible action from Wang Zhong, the five clones opened their eyes simultaneously, exchanged glances, and then, with different expressions on their faces, went off to do their own things.
Running, lying down, playing in the water, exercising, jumping around, and Wang Zhong's main body standing there – a total of six figures, each engaged in simple activities.
After only about fifteen minutes, the five clones in front of him began to encounter problems. Their body movements and facial expressions started to stutter, become blank, or even inconsistent.
The one who was running suddenly stopped and fell straight down. The one playing in the water, who was having a good time, instantly adopted a running posture and plunged headfirst into the river. In short, everyone's movements changed, and chaos ensued among all of them at that moment.
Even Wang Zhong himself, although his body movements remained unchanged, his facial expression became uncoordinated.
Shaking his head forcefully, Wang Zhong gasped for air, his expression utterly exhausted, and all the wood clones dissipated under his control.
"Fifteen minutes! Fifteen minutes is the limit for me to control six bodies, including myself!"
"And this is only for performing simple actions. If the five clones were to fight simultaneously, this time would be reduced by several times."
"Spirit power is only one aspect; the most fatal issues are brainpower, mental strength, and willpower! The consumption of these three is what makes me unable to continue!"
"Brainpower is the basis for all judgments and the information given to the body to react, while willpower needs to continuously transmit this information to each clone, breaking it down into details. Whether to retract or extend a movement, whether an expression should be joy or sorrow – all must be decided by willpower."
"And mental strength is the fundamental requirement for accelerating thought. Without thought acceleration, there would be no need to transmit these movement signals; it would be too late!"
Gasping for air, Wang Zhong analyzed the results of his recent experiment. The facts made him feel somewhat dejected.
Control was not an issue, but the duration had now become his biggest shortcoming. Brainpower and willpower could be forced to persist for a while, but mental strength was something Wang Zhong had no solution for.
Mental strength, being on par with spirit power in some aspects, was actually more important than spirit power because mental strength accelerates spirit power cultivation and enhances the control over spirit skills.
Despite these advantages, the spirit master world did not place much importance on mental strength. Firstly, mental strength could not directly increase combat power like spirit power. Secondly, its growth, like spirit power, could only be achieved gradually through postnatal cultivation, akin to accumulating water. In fact, the cultivation of mental strength was even slower than that of spirit power.
The lack of power increase and the slow cultivation speed led to very few spirit masters on the continent placing too much importance on mental strength. Most adopted an attitude of using as much as they had and not worrying about what they didn't.
Influenced by this attitude, methods for cultivating mental strength were extremely rare, almost non-existent. This meant that besides gradually increasing it through postnatal cultivation, there were no rapid methods to improve mental strength.
However, Wang Zhong's thought acceleration required mental strength as its energy source, and his own mental strength could only sustain it for less than fifteen minutes. In the absence of any cultivation methods, this flaw was almost the biggest and most obvious weakness of his third spirit skill, wood clone!
"Ah! So annoying! Why does a third spirit skill have so many limitations!"
"Even if the mental strength issue is resolved, coordination is another problem! Perhaps after solving coordination, another problem that I haven't discovered yet will emerge."
"Solving one problem leads to another popping up; it's incredibly frustrating."
Wang Zhong ran his hands through his hair, almost madly ruffling it, making it stand on end.
"Hahaha."
"Little fellow, what's wrong? What's bothering you so much!"
A pleasant voice sounded. Even without looking, Wang Zhong knew who it was.
Bibi Dong walked up to Wang Zhong and, seeing his disheveled hair standing on end and his troubled expression, her wine-red eyes narrowed into thin slits with amusement.
It was not common to see this little fellow so frustrated. Even when facing Lu Xiaoshuang or the five people in the fourth-grade A class, he wouldn't show fear or frustration. While he might be annoyed, he always remained confident.
But now, Bibi Dong sensed a hint of dejection and melancholy in Wang Zhong, which surprised her.
"It's nothing, nothing. Just a small matter that I'll resolve soon."
"Your Excellency, you don't need to worry."
Wang Zhong rested his chin on his hands and shrugged, feigning indifference.
Bibi Dong's narrowed eyes held a hint of danger. She grabbed one of Wang Zhong's ears with one hand and said impatiently, "You little fellow, you're being secretive even with me."
"Don't forget, you are my chosen disciple!"
"If you encounter any unsolvable cultivation problems, you can always talk to me, your teacher."
"Ah! It hurts!"
Wang Zhong cried out in pain and quickly turned his head to beg for mercy, "Your Excellency, don't pull so hard, I was wrong, I was wrong!"
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you."
"That's more like it!"
Bibi Dong, hands behind her back, looked at Wang Zhong with an expression that said, "This is how it should be; you asked for it."
With a resentful face, Wang Zhong rubbed his red ear, looking somewhat aggrieved at Bibi Dong.
This time, she had truly held nothing back and had used considerable force.
Although Bibi Dong appeared as gentle and caring as ever at this moment, she simply stood there with her hands behind her back, looking steadily at him.
She had already decided to accept Wang Zhong as her disciple, and as his teacher, Bibi Dong needed to have a thorough understanding of many things, especially concerning cultivation.
Only then could she guide and nurture Wang Zhong effectively. Yet, Wang Zhong was intending to conceal his cultivation issues and the troubles he was facing. Not only did her identity as the Pope forbid any deceit from him, but her role as a teacher also disallowed any concealment. At this moment, Bibi Dong had to adopt a different, more serious demeanor.
She wanted to convey her attitude: such actions are not permitted and are wrong in front of me, and this is a necessity that comes with the identity of a teacher!
Bibi Dong's stern demeanor, contrary to her usual self, caused Wang Zhong to open his mouth. He had witnessed such an attitude from Ying Yanyang, and it seemed to be called... a teacher's authority!
Wang Zhong quickly straightened his back, sat down properly with his legs crossed, and then slowly began to explain the problems he was currently facing.
Upon hearing Wang Zhong's difficulties, Bibi Dong was first taken aback, then fell into deep thought.
These two problems of Wang Zhong could actually be resolved by her!
However, the issue of mental strength was somewhat troublesome!