Bibi Dong thought about Su Ming's ability to resurrect Ah Rou or perhaps the possibility of obtaining a revival-related reward.
Even though she knew Su Ming's Rinnegan had the power to resurrect, she was certain there must be some sort of side effect, as resurrection was too powerful an ability. There was no point in thinking about it too much now. All she could do was avoid using Ah Rou's spirit ring and spirit bone to preserve Ah Rou's soul as much as possible. Fortunately, Ah Rou was a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast, so her soul was strong enough to not dissipate easily.
Meanwhile, after finishing lunch, Su Ming and Xiao Wu returned to Notting Academy.
They went to a quiet, secluded spot because Su Ming wanted to test the power of his martial spirit and experiment with some basic Wood Release techniques. He asked Xiao Wu to help him assess the strength of his abilities.
Su Ming said to Xiao Wu, "Xiao Wu, I want to test the power of my martial spirit, and I have some self-created spirit skills I'd like to try out. Can you help me gauge their power?"
Xiao Wu thought to herself, 'You're sure these are self-created skills and not just system-gifted Wood Release techniques?' Though inwardly skeptical, she nodded, interested in seeing how her own Wind God Leg technique would fare. She had started practicing it that morning and, although not fully mastered, it was ready for a test.
Once they were ready, Su Ming thought for a moment and decided which Wood Release technique to use.
Recalling the hand signs used by Senju Hashirama, he clasped his hands together and called out, "Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
Xiao Wu was surprised. Was Wood Release really that simple? Just clasping hands and shouting? How bizarre!
In the next moment, wooden pillars rose from the ground and curved around to form a circular shield, protecting Su Ming.
Su Ming assessed the consumption of his spirit power. It had taken about a third of his total spirit power to create the Wood Locking Wall. And this was with a normal casting—he hadn't even infused extra spirit power to strengthen it. It became clear that his current spirit power quality and quantity still had room for improvement. If the basic Wood Locking Wall used up a third of his spirit power, there was no point in even trying more advanced techniques like Wood Release: Tree Bind Flourish. That would likely drain him completely.
Su Ming wanted his Wood Release to be as powerful as Senju Hashirama's, not like Yamato's, which was only useful for landscaping and construction.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Su Ming emerged from the shield and said to Xiao Wu, "Xiao Wu, try attacking this shield to see how strong its defense is."
Xiao Wu, eager to test its durability, quickly gathered her strength and attacked the Wood Locking Wall with her legs in rapid succession.
On her first kick, the wall didn't budge. The second kick caused a slight crack, and by the third kick, the wall was covered in cracks. It wasn't until her fourth kick that the wall shattered completely.
Su Ming was satisfied. It took four kicks from Xiao Wu to break through, and considering that she likely had already absorbed her first spirit ring, her physical attributes would have been enhanced. For the Wood Locking Wall to withstand multiple strikes was a good sign. With time, as he compressed and improved his spirit power, its defense should only grow stronger.
Xiao Wu, on the other hand, was dissatisfied with her own performance. Her kicks were progressively stronger, and even at level 11, it had taken four kicks to break through the wall. She resolved to train harder with her Wind God Leg technique so that next time, she could shatter the shield in a single strike.
Still, Xiao Wu couldn't help but marvel at the power of Wood Release. The shield was made of wood, yet its defense was remarkably strong!
If only Xiao Wu knew that this technique was one of the most basic Wood Release defensive techniques—what would she think then?
With the defensive technique tested, Su Ming moved on to an offensive, or rather, control-type technique. Given that he had two-thirds of his spirit power left, he chose something simpler.
Turning to Xiao Wu, he said, "I'm going to try a control skill now. Stand still and see if you can break free."
Xiao Wu nodded in agreement.
"Wood Release: Silent Strangling Binding!" Su Ming clasped his hands together, and a flurry of branches shot from his hand toward Xiao Wu, quickly wrapping around her and binding her tightly.
Su Ming checked his spirit power consumption—about a quarter had been used up, which was acceptable.
"Xiao Wu, try breaking out of it."
Xiao Wu struggled with all her strength but couldn't budge. The branches wrapped tightly around her, restricting her movements.
Seeing that she couldn't break free, Su Ming released the Wood Release technique. He thought to himself that this was a far better control skill than Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Binding.
With enough control over his martial spirit, he could easily perform such bindings without needing to waste a spirit ring slot for it. Su Ming inwardly criticized Tang San's first spirit skill, which was just a basic entangling ability from a 400-year-old Datura Snake, with a slight paralyzing effect. This skill was practically useless against higher-level spirit masters, yet Yu Xiaogang considered it decent—a waste of a spirit skill slot!
After being freed from the binding, Xiao Wu bounced back to Su Ming's side, exclaiming, "Su Ming, your self-created spirit skills are amazing!"
"And you haven't even absorbed your first spirit ring yet. Once you do, these skills will probably get even stronger!"
Su Ming nodded, satisfied with the results. While his tests had gone well, there was still much room for improvement if he wanted his Wood Release to rival Hashirama's.
Lastly, Su Ming wanted to test the healing properties of his Wood Release. Shortly after his martial spirit awakened, he realized it had a passive ability: healing.
Without hesitation, Su Ming bit his lip and cut his palm with a wooden spike, ignoring the pain.
Xiao Wu, shocked, cried out, "Su Ming, what are you doing? Why would you hurt yourself like that?"
Su Ming explained, "My martial spirit has healing abilities, so I wanted to test how effective they are."
Xiao Wu hadn't realized that Su Ming's martial spirit had passive healing capabilities. Impressed, she watched as Su Ming activated the healing effect of his Wood Release. In less than a second, the cut on his hand closed up completely, using minimal spirit power.