Golden right leg

[Reward being distributed...]

Boom!

A crisp engine roar suddenly exploded deep in his mind.

Before Cai Kun could react, the platinum train head began to tremble violently.

The hundred-year Soul Ring around the outside of the train was changing, its color rapidly deepening.

Deep yellow, pale purple, bright purple!

In the span of two or three breaths, the Soul Ring's age had risen by a thousand years.

His first ring had successfully reached the ordinary standard for transmigrators!

The guide-rail gears formed from Extreme Modification No. 9 Beast around its outer edge grew increasingly fierce-looking, as though they had undergone another extreme modification.

Immediately afterward, a tremendous current of heat rushed up his spine and straight to the crown of his head.

Crack! Crack!

The bones and joints throughout his body were updated too. A tearing pain swept through his limbs.

Cai Kun gritted his teeth.

He silently repeated to himself, It's supposed to hurt. That means I'm building muscle. I have to endure it!

The pain vanished as quickly as it had come.

After the heat receded, his muscle fibers had noticeably tightened and become more solid. His previously somewhat slight six-year-old frame now had the bearing of a trained fighter.

Most importantly, he now had the beginnings of the extraordinary jawline possessed only by the strong.

[The host's handsomeness has increased. A special reward has been granted!]

[Twin-bar Motorcycle Beast Hydraulic Shock-Absorber Right Leg Bone (age: hundred-year | growth-type)]

Amid flickering light, a strange bone about the length of a forearm floated quietly in midair.

Cai Kun took a closer look and nearly choked on his own spit.

The Soul Bone was dark gold all over, but its shape had nothing whatsoever to do with the bones of a Soul Beast.

Two thick alloy slide rails interlocked side by side, with a finger-thick, high-strength damping spring wedged firmly between them. The joints even had mechanical fittings with hex bolts.

This was fucking just a hydraulic shock absorber stripped straight off the rear wheel of a heavy electric motorcycle, plated in gold, and given the name of a Soul Bone!

"System, did you buy your Soul Bones wholesale at an auto parts market?"

"Why do you keep coming up with Soul Beasts that don't exist? Are you trying to make me achieve mechanical ascension?"

"Actually, though, that works too. It'd be even better if you gave me more."

Cai Kun cursed and grumbled, but his hands didn't pause for a moment. He pressed his right palm straight against it.

Hum!

The mechanical Soul Bone turned into a streak of light and plunged into his right lower leg.

The muscles in his right leg felt as though they were wrapped in warm water, and also as though they had been fitted with a snug metal knee guard.

The faint sounds of meshing gears and a hydraulic valve releasing air echoed softly in his marrow, then fell completely silent.

There was no rejection at all. The absorption went as smoothly as drinking a mouthful of cool boiled water, with no pressure whatsoever.

Cai Kun swung his right leg, then stamped down hard where he stood!

Bang!

The ground beneath his foot caved in with a crash, forming a shallow pit half a meter wide.

The mechanical recoil propelled him more than three zhang straight up from level ground, sending him directly to the top of a pine tree seven or eight meters tall.

His body hung at its highest point for an instant, then Cai Kun plunged straight toward the ground.

Thud!

Both feet struck the ground with a thud.

Normally, if he jumped from that height, the impact would have cracked his heels for sure.

But the instant he touched the ground, the hydraulic spring in Cai Kun's right leg suddenly compressed and rebounded, instantly dissipating the tremendous force of his fall. His knees didn't even wobble.

He stood as steady as a rock. His right leg wasn't sore or numb, and there wasn't even a trace of the dull ache from taking the impact.

"What a great thing. Isn't this just a portable air cushion?"

"Now I'm a man with a golden right leg too!"

Cai Kun licked his lips, feeling considerably more reassured.

He settled himself and brought up the Douluo Travel Guidebook again.

His finger swept across the panoramic map, and the red and green dots around Nuoding City enlarged one by one.

Cai Kun looked around, his brows gradually drawing together.

This lousy place was far too barren. Apart from places connected to the god, such as the academy gate and the work-study students' dormitory, most of the city was made up of unremarkable shops.

To the northeast, however, there was a green expanse of forest flashing with a dazzling red light:

[Soul Hunting Forest (70% of transmigrators have visited).]

[The scenery here is beautiful and full of the breath of nature, with all kinds of dangerous, cute little animals.]

[This is also the site of the famous attractions "Birthplace of the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo" and "Yu Xiaogang's wipeout spot."]

[High-risk check-in creature: Hundred-Year Mandala Snake (the culprit behind the famous theory master's wipeout) (the god's first Soul Ring).]

Cai Kun rubbed his chin.

According to the original course of events, after Tang San took Gangzi as his master, Gangzi would surely be in a hurry to take him to the Soul Hunting Forest to hunt for his first Soul Ring. Then Gangzi would ultimately wipe out and be saved by Tang San.

The place was heavily guarded by Spirit Hall troops. Ordinary Soul Masters couldn't get in at all without a written permit.

It wasn't impossible for Cai Kun to sneak in, but if he was discovered, he could easily end up with a record. His goal was to be a model child in morality, intelligence, and physical fitness, so he wasn't about to break the law. He might as well tag along using Gangzi's special Spirit Hall permit.

He could get in for free, watch the famous Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo scene up close, and take his Mandala Snake check-in photo while he was at it-three birds with one stone.

"All right, I'll find them and team up after a while. I'll go back to the village and rest first."

At dusk, the setting sun dyed the rice fields outside Holy Soul Village golden.

Cai Kun had just stepped into the little courtyard at the village entrance when a dull thud came from inside.

Thock!

Old Jack, clutching his walking stick, rose from the threshold of the earthen house with a dark expression.

The old man's coarse jacket was still speckled with mud; he had evidently just come back from working in the fields.

"You little bastard! You've got the nerve to come back?!"

Old Jack strode forward, covering three steps in two, and slammed his walking stick into the earthen ridge beside Cai Kun, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"I only just took you into the city this morning, so you could study hard at school and strive to cultivate into a Soul Saint someday!"

"And look at you! You probably hadn't even warmed your seat before you sneaked back to the village to wander around as soon as it got dark!"

"Have you forgotten what you did this morning already?! Do you want to do it again?! Would you be happy scaring an old man like me to death?"

The old man bristled and glared, his chest heaving. He was clearly furious.

Cai Kun hunched his shoulders but didn't talk back.

He knew the old man cursed fiercely, but it was for his own good.

"Grandpa Jack, please calm down. I only came back after I finished the paperwork."

Cai Kun went up to him with a cheeky grin and took hold of the old man's arm.

"I'm not used to sleeping in the city. Home is more comfortable. Besides, I couldn't bear to leave you alone in the village with no one to look after you."

Old Jack was briefly at a loss for words. He shot Cai Kun a fierce glare, but in the end, the walking stick in his hand didn't come down on him.

"Sweet talker!"

The old man snorted and turned toward the house. Though his tone was stiff, the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching slightly.

"There's hot water warming in the stove, and the food can be heated up again. Get ready to eat."

Cai Kun grinned and reached back to close the courtyard gate.

The next day.

The oil lamp in Old Jack's house had already been burning for half an hour.

Cai Kun walked out of his room, bleary-eyed, to find the old man busy at the stove. A sweet, toasted fragrance filled the house.

Several sections of radish lay on the chopping board, produced by Old Jack's radish Martial Soul.

The old man mixed the chopped radish with rendered animal fat, wrapped it in coarse dough, and slowly baked the pies against the edge of the red-hot iron pan.

Before long, several steaming radish pies, golden brown on the outside, came out of the pan.

Old Jack took a sheet of clean kraft paper, carefully wrapped two pies tightly, tied them with hemp string, and stuffed them firmly into the side pocket of Cai Kun's backpack.

"Take these."