“Friendship comes first, competition second. Your talent and family background may not be as good as theirs, but even if you lose in actual combat, there’s no need to mind. Keep it up, I believe you’ll definitely excel in theory.”

Henry Sutton was a bit speechless. He put away the note and continued eating. A moment later, another girl came over and left a note—this time it was Olivia Warren.

He could only laugh at himself. Even though all the girls’ words were encouraging and acknowledged his theoretical knowledge, in everyone’s mind, no one really believed in him. They were right, too—without the system, he wouldn’t have been arrogant enough to sign up for the All-Star Competition as a freshman.

Without the system? Maybe after two or three years of hard work, he’d try again in his senior year? His talent, aside from lacking wood, earth, fire, and the like, wasn’t bad. Compared to Grace Warren, James Hughes, and others, he simply had a few years less cultivation time.

Don’t forget, before Henry Sutton got the system, he already had two level-1 spells: Vine Whip and Flower Goddess Art! That’s a level considered excellent among college seniors nationwide. It was the result of his three years of hard work in high school.

After eating his fill and leaving the cafeteria, Henry Sutton was about to head back to the library when he saw David Bolton leading a few people toward him. From a few steps away, David Bolton grinned and said, “Henry Sutton, you signed up too? That’s some guts, haha! Want to spar again? Let me test your strength?”

Henry Sutton’s eyes lit up—he literally brightened. This wasn’t provocation; this was a quest NPC walking right up to him!

Last time, he got the level-1 Wood God Art reward because David Bolton had come to “offer himself up.” After completing that, the second quest appeared, but for six days now, Henry Sutton hadn’t found a target. He couldn’t just shamelessly go pick a fight with someone for no reason.

With only one day left before the quest failed and he’d face punishment, Henry Sutton was feeling a bit frustrated.

If David Bolton lost to him again, the quest would be complete, and he’d get a new spell or academic reward.

“You really have that much free time?” Suddenly finding David Bolton kind of cute, Henry Sutton was a little speechless.

“How is this being free? I’m helping you test your strength. Come on, let’s go to the Spirit Nurturing Garden for some real combat. Let’s see how you do in practice—this is worth 100 points in the competition. How can you compete with a missing leg? You’re going to lose anyway, so lose to me first and get used to it. That way, when you lose in the competition, you won’t be embarrassed.” David Bolton was full of himself. Last time, he’d tried to show off in front of the goddess, but ended up getting humiliated instead. He still couldn’t forget that frustration and embarrassment, or the way the goddess Nancy Rowe looked at him.

After that challenge, David Bolton realized that Henry Sutton wasn’t someone to be underestimated. Last time, he’d ranked outside the top fifty in the whole department, but in the two months since then, Henry Sutton had improved a lot.

Even he, the second-ranked student in Class 3, had lost to him in theory.

Luckily, this guy had another big weakness. He wanted to prove to Nancy Rowe and all the other students that he wasn’t inferior to Henry Sutton. A spirit wood master with only theoretical knowledge wasn’t worthy of being called a true spirit wood master.

What’s the use of empty talk? If you can’t efficiently cultivate and nurture spirit plants, no one will take you seriously—unless your accumulated theoretical knowledge is enough to make you a sage like Samuel Thompson, Charles Hughes, or Julia Brooks, proposing a new concept or establishing a formula or theorem that influences generations.

But that’s just wishful thinking, isn’t it?

……

Some time later, in a corner of the Spirit Wood Department’s Spirit Nurturing Garden.

David Bolton pointed proudly at two special Moon-Chasing Flowers growing side by side and said to the excited boys gathered around, “Watch closely, everyone. Don’t say I’m bullying anyone—this is an essential practice for our Spirit Wood Department. This is the battlefield.”

“These two Moon-Chasing Flowers have both absorbed a lot of moon spirit energy. For those cultivating fire, light, or water spiritual power, they offer great benefits. But both of these are damaged, with identical injuries from being exposed to intense sunlight that harmed their essence.”

“In theory, this kind of injury requires first using Luminous Art to adjust the lighting, then applying just the right Temperature Shift Art. Remember, timing is everything. Healing a damaged spirit plant is much harder than cooking a meal. If you don’t control the heat when cooking, it just tastes bad. But if you expose a Moon-Chasing Flower to excessive sunlight and destroy its roots, even a slight error in temperature control or a mistake in the Luminous Art’s light adjustment will only make things worse—death!”

……

David Bolton truly deserved to be the academic star of Class 3, one of the top ten contenders in the whole department.

At this moment, facing the two injured Moon-Chasing Flowers, everything he said was spot-on. Even Henry Sutton had to admit that David Bolton’s fundamentals were solid. When David Bolton spread his palm, the sunlight on the Moon-Chasing Flower in front of him instantly dimmed, as if noon had turned to moonlight. The temperature there steadily dropped, decreasing by a degree every few breaths…

David Bolton looked at Henry Sutton with a proud and provocative gaze. He knew this guy hadn’t mastered any other spells.

What’s the use of strong theory??

“According to the Temperature Shift Law proposed by our department’s sage Director Rowe, and the Ω>ΞЙ>∮℅℃ concept put forward by the lighthouse expert Charles Walbeck, we must pay close attention to temperature changes under different lighting…”

“We are doctors—specialist doctors who treat damaged spirit plants and precious herbs. We can’t just have theoretical knowledge, but in practice…”