"Eating nine-grid hotpot has its own set of rules."
Li Shutong said while swishing meat in the pot.
His mood wasn't affected at all by the earlier incident.
"The very center grid is for quick swish, cook and eat instantly."
"The other four large square grids are for boiling; food should be simmered but not for too long."
"The four small grids in the corners are for slow cooking, suitable for long simmering."
It's clear that Li Shutong has a deep understanding of nine-grid hotpot culture.
Han Zhan stared pensively at the nine-grid hotpot before him and suddenly asked, "Teacher, what about me? Am I 'swish cook', 'boil cook', or 'slow cook'?"
Han Zhan wasn't clueless; following Li Shutong are eight students now in charge of the Eight Major War Zones.
Now that he's the ninth student, he couldn't believe it was meaningless.
Hearing Han Zhan ask proactively, Li Shutong burst into hearty laughter.
"You? I don't know."
"Everyone has their own path, and that path should be chosen by themselves."
"No one can be certain about someone's future, and that includes me."
Your own path... Han Zhan muttered, repeating it pensively.
"What the heck, where's my tripe? My beef!" Li Shutong asked, frustrated, as he glanced at the now-empty nine-grid pot.
Xia Youwei sheepishly placed her bowl in front of Han Zhan and then kept her eyes politely down.
"??!" Han Zhan glanced at the newly appeared tripe and beef in his bowl with a jolt.
He surreptitiously covered his bowl with his hand, pretending to be deep in thought.
At this moment, Han Zhan noticed, the other brothers mirrored his actions, holding their bowls pensively.
Han Zhan: "..."
Respect your teacher.
"Senior Brother, why aren't your Contracted Spirits, um, your ladies, with you?" Han Zhan changed the subject to ease the awkwardness.
It was a question he'd been curious about since the beginning.
Neither Li Shutong nor the eight brothers from the war zones had their Contracted Spirits by their side.
But from what Second Brother Lin Jingxuan just demonstrated, they seemed quite extraordinary.
How is this achieved?
"I can answer that for you." Lin Jingxuan picked up the conversation, pressing the bowl in his hand firmly.
He had picked up quite a lot earlier, nearly causing the bowl to overflow.
He used the topic to cover his other hand movements.
"The two of you probably haven't shared a room yet."
Upon Lin Jingxuan's words, before Han Zhan could react, Xia Youwei was already flushed with embarrassment, and in her nervous panic, a warm hand gently held hers.
Han Zhan kept a straight face outwardly, while doing these little gestures behind the scenes.
Xia Youwei felt a sweet warmth in her heart, her initial tension and panic quietly fading away.
"After sharing a room, a Spirit Contract Master can copy the abilities of the Contracted Spirit to some extent," Lin Jingxuan continued, pretending not to notice. "But the copied ability is never as strong as when the Contracted Spirit itself uses it. How much it's weakened depends on the compatibility between the Spirit Contract Master and the Contracted Spirit."
"Since we're on the topic, let me elaborate a bit more."
"Our Contracted Spirits aren't with us because they have more important tasks to do."
"There are two combat forms for the Contracted Spirits: object form and human form."
"The object form is when they fight alongside the Spirit Contract Master. Human form is when they fight independently."
"Right now, they're all in human form, upholding their duties. That's why we have the time to gather here. Without them, do you think we could truly take a break with our status?"
Lin Jingxuan's explanation finally resolved the lingering doubts in Han Zhan's mind.
A Spirit Contract Master and their Contracted Spirit could either fight together or separately.
No wonder Senior Brother immediately gifted him a pair of gloves; increasing the Spirit Contract Master's own combat strength greatly impacts the battle situation.
As for copying Contracted Spirit abilities... that will just happen naturally, let's leave it to fate!
"Speaking of which, I have a question for you too." Lin Jingxuan paused, "What's the ability of your SSS Level Talent Divine Awakening? Is she really just an E Level Contracted Spirit?"
Not only Lin Jingxuan,
the others put down their bowls and chopsticks, showing immense curiosity about Han Zhan's talents and Xia Youwei's talents.
Being fellow brothers, with superiors much stronger, Han Zhan had no reason to hide and directly shared his and Xia Youwei's talents with them.
Actually, Han Zhan had another purpose in sharing, hoping to use his brothers' wide connections to keep an eye out for other Ancient Divine Soldiers.
After hearing, even these battle-tested war zone heads gasped.
Han Zhan's talent was simply defying all norms!
If such a talent were to grow, the potential of its future was unimaginable.
Even their teacher Li Shutong couldn't compare!
"Aside from us, tell no one about your talent," Li Shutong said, looking over at Lin Jingxuan, "Jingxuan, use your contacts to classify their information as top secret in the Second War Zone."
See, this is the benefit of having backers.
Han Zhan thought gratefully.
"Old Jiu. Though your talent allows for limitless contract with Contracted Spirits, I hope you'll restrain yourself."
"In these times of insect catastrophe, we must keep true to ourselves."
Li Shutong was genuinely mentoring Han Zhan as his own child, hoping he wouldn't recklessly misuse his formidable talent, leading to an uncontrollable future.
Taking it all in, Han Zhan nodded.
"Teacher, I understand."
"I won't contract ordinary Contracted Spirits. Due to my talent's traits, if I encounter Contracted Spirits with Divinity, I won't miss the chance."
In Han Zhan's past life memories, among the ten Ancient Divine Artifacts, besides the Fu Xi Zither, there were nine others.
He didn't know how many he might eventually contract.
"It's good that you think this way."
"Okay, have you all finished eating? After this meal, everyone will head back to their places."
Upon Li Shutong's words, Wei Qinglin, Lin Jingxuan, and the others stood up, respectfully bidding farewell to Li Shutong.
"Teacher, Great Xia has been securing victory after victory on the front against the Insect Race this year, winning 19 consecutive battles, morale is soaring!"
"Teacher, we've reclaimed six territories this year, expanding Great Xia's total area by 20%!"
"Teacher, we've made progress on the cause and hypotheses regarding the Insect Race outbreak this year as well."
"Teacher..."
They didn't talk business while eating hotpot earlier, so the heads of the districts chose to report the achievements to their teacher before leaving.
"Teacher, only three months left until the year-end, let's gather again in Deep Blue City then!"
"Good, good, good." Listening to these exhilarating news, Li Shutong's smile grew even broader.