It seemed that Su Ming and Ning Rongrong's relationship had grown to be somewhere between friends and more than that, just shy of becoming lovers. Fortunately, Xiao Wu hadn't interrupted them and turned into a third wheel. If she had, Ning Rongrong probably wouldn't have dared to make such a bold move, and she might have even been teased by Xiao Wu later on.
After a brief moment, the two separated. Still feeling shy, Ning Rongrong quickly said, "I'm off now, wait for my good news!" Then, without even looking at Su Ming, she turned and ran off.
"Let's go, Xiao Wu. Rongrong's already left!" Although there was no one around, Su Ming said this as if speaking to someone.
Suddenly, the air around them rippled, and in the blink of an eye, Xiao Wu appeared in front of Su Ming, pouting playfully. "Hmph! Even though I tried to hide, Su Ming-ge still found me!"
Although Xiao Wu wanted to give Su Ming and Rongrong some alone time, she never said she wouldn't peek from a distance. Now, when Rongrong returned, she could tease her properly. It was payback for all the times Rongrong had teased her.
Ning Rongrong's departure to her clan was something Zhu Zhuqing knew about, but she didn't follow along. She had simply bid her farewell back at the dorm.
Ning Rongrong didn't tell Zhu Zhuqing the real reason for her return, as she hadn't succeeded in her mission yet. She figured she'd tell her once she came back.
Zhu Zhuqing simply thought that Ning Rongrong was returning home to visit her family. However, she did ask how Master and the others would react if they found out Ning Rongrong had gone back to her clan instead of staying to learn Lingbo Weibu from Su Ming. Ning Rongrong reassured her not to worry, as Su Ming would handle everything. Then, she briefly explained the events of the morning to Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing quickly understood. The three of them were quite mischievous, and Su Ming, in particular, had a streak of cunning in him. He was a little bit devious!
That afternoon, Su Ming returned to his usual spot to continue his second-stage training for Sage Mode. Xiao Wu followed along out of curiosity.
Initially, Su Ming suggested Xiao Wu could return to her own training since he could handle the next stage alone. But Xiao Wu was too curious about Su Ming's training to leave, so she decided to stay and watch.
After satisfying her curiosity about the second stage of Su Ming's training, she could meditate and cultivate her soul power right there.
Without explaining much, Su Ming used his spirit power to create a long pillar that stood tall in the air. Xiao Wu glanced at the pillar and noticed that the top was pointed. She wondered why.
Without a word, Su Ming gathered his spirit power in his feet and leaped to the top of the pillar. Once he found his balance, he summoned a thick rectangular wooden board and placed it on the tip of the pillar, sitting down cross-legged on top of it.
Su Ming was imitating the training that the Toad Sage had used to teach Naruto. Sitting high up in the air would help him feel more attuned to nature's energy. However, Su Ming wouldn't have as much trouble as Naruto did, since their strength and environments were completely different.
Initially, Su Ming wobbled a bit as he tried to balance on the wooden board, though he didn't fall off. Eventually, he steadied himself.
As the Toad Sage had said, inner peace was key. To truly absorb nature's energy and harmonize with it, Su Ming had to calm his mind, like a serene lake with no ripples.
Xiao Wu watched him for a while, unable to see what Su Ming was trying to accomplish. After calling out to him several times with no response, she noticed that Su Ming had become completely still—no longer wobbling at all. Even the slightest movements had ceased. She figured he had likely achieved success with this stage of his training.
Su Ming had, in fact, calmed his mind and entered a meditative state. He began carefully absorbing the nature energy that flowed around him, cautiously drawing it into his body and trying to harmonize it with his own spiritual and soul energy.
During this initial attempt, small frog-like bumps appeared on his skin, but they were still under control. This gave Su Ming a sense of excitement—he was making progress. He felt that, with more time, he might achieve a perfect Sage Mode like Naruto.
The training continued until evening. By then, faint traces of the sage markings had appeared around Su Ming's eyes. Though he hadn't yet achieved perfect Sage Mode, he had reached a level similar to that of Jiraiya, with only minor imperfections in the form of some frog-like bumps on his skin.
Considering it was just one afternoon of practice, Su Ming felt it was impressive progress. One more day of training should bring him much closer to mastery.
Entering Sage Mode, Su Ming could feel his physical abilities improve significantly, though he wasn't sure by how much yet. The most noticeable change was how attuned he felt to the world around him. It was as if he had merged with nature itself. He could tell that his soul techniques would be several times more powerful while in this state, though he'd have to test them to know exactly how much stronger they were.
He decided to wait until he mastered the perfect Sage Mode before conducting any tests. There was no rush.
With that, Su Ming jumped down from the pillar, still in his incomplete Sage Mode. Xiao Wu, seeing this, smiled and said, "Ge, did you succeed? I saw it! While you were training, a bunch of birds flew around you, and some even landed on you! They weren't scared of you at all. Congratulations!"
Su Ming smiled back, "Not quite yet. I'd say I'm about 80-90% of the way there. I still have a few frog-like bumps on my skin, which means my three energies aren't perfectly balanced yet. Once I achieve that, I'll reach the perfect Sage Mode."
"Let's head for dinner," Su Ming said as he released his Sage Mode.
Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong, eager to return to her clan, had asked her secret protectors to reveal themselves. Some of them were flying-type soul masters, so Ning Rongrong requested that they take turns flying her back to the clan as quickly as possible, using her martial soul to assist along the way.
Whenever they approached a city, they'd land to restore their spirit power before continuing their journey.
Because of this, Ning Rongrong had already covered half the distance back to her clan in just half a day. If it weren't for the dangers of traveling at night, she would've pushed on further!
Back at the academy, Su Ming and Xiao Wu arrived at the dining hall. Master Yu Xiaogang noticed that Ning Rongrong wasn't with them, which seemed odd to him.
Feeling uneasy, he asked, "Su Ming, where's Rongrong? Why didn't she come to dinner with you?"