Jiang Taichu Shows His Edge for the First Time, and the Curious Ye Lingling

Jiang Taichu shook his head, the chill in his eyes growing colder.

The fierce-looking man's expression changed.

"Brat, don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!"

"I'm a Power Attack System Soul Master, and a Soul Grandmaster at that."

"No matter how I look at it, your Martial Soul's ability resembles a Support System Soul Master's. Add your age to that, and what can you possibly do to resist me?"

The fierce-looking man was utterly confident. He didn't believe Jiang Taichu had the ability to resist him.

He was just a mere Support System Soul Master.

What the fierce-looking man really had in mind was to abduct Jiang Taichu and lock him up, forcing him to obediently condense Life Essence for him.

That way, he might have a chance to break through to Soul Elder in the future.

At the thought, the corners of the fierce-looking man's mouth curled up slightly, revealing an evil smile.

"Battle Axe, don't push your luck. The little genius did me a favor and helped me break through to Soul Grandmaster. If you want to bully him, you'll have to see whether I agree first."

At that moment, Zhao Gang stepped forward.

Zhao Gang knew Battle Axe too. Having lived in the Heaven Dou City area for several years, he knew something about the Soul Masters there.

Battle Axe usually threw his weight around, bullying others and collecting protection money. He was a complete thug.

"Haha, Zhao Gang, so what if you broke through to Soul Grandmaster?"

"Though we're both Soul Grandmasters, I have two rings, while you still have one."

"One ring is one ring, and two rings are two rings. The gap between them isn't one you can cross!"

Battle Axe folded his arms and spoke with confidence and arrogance.

"Hmph, so what?"

"At worst, we'll fight it out!"

Zhao Gang wasn't afraid in the slightest. He had already clenched his fists, ready to fight at any moment.

"Stop."

Jiang Taichu spoke up, interrupting the fight that was about to break out between them.

Then he looked at Battle Axe.

"Are you really going to pick a fight?"

Battle Axe laughed and replied:

"So what if I am?"

Hearing that, a trace of killing intent gradually appeared in Jiang Taichu's eyes.

"In that case, I'll show a little of what I can do today. That'll save me from having people keep bothering me in the future."

Jiang Taichu slowly stood up and faced Battle Axe.

Seeing this, Battle Axe clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.

"Brat, you don't actually want to fight me, do you?"

"Against the likes of you, I could handle you with one hand."

Jiang Taichu said nothing. He was determined to teach Battle Axe a lesson today and establish his own authority at the same time.

Soul Power circulated around Jiang Taichu, and a blue spear condensed from Blue Silver Grass appeared in his hand.

The spear differed in length from an ordinary one. It was shorter, condensed by Jiang Taichu to suit his height.

With the Blue Silver Overlord Spear in hand, Jiang Taichu's bearing abruptly changed.

A moment ago, he had seemed like a boy without the strength to truss a chicken. Now his entire body was filled with spear intent sharp to the extreme.

"Today, I'll cripple you."

Killing Battle Axe in full view of everyone would violate the laws of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Naturally, Jiang Taichu wasn't going to bring trouble upon himself.

He would cripple Battle Axe today.

Once the crowd had dispersed, he would have Ah Yin sneak over and cut the grass and pull out the roots.

He was just a thug. Not many people would care whether he lived or died.

But killing him in public would indeed leave Jiang Taichu reeking of trouble.

Seeing Jiang Taichu's imposing presence, Battle Axe was already feeling somewhat afraid.

This... brat looks a little unusual. Did I kick an iron plate this time?

But it was impossible to back down now, so Battle Axe could only grit his teeth and press on.

The next moment.

Jiang Taichu flashed forward and charged at Battle Axe.

Battle Axe was stunned. He summoned his axe Martial Soul to block.

But how could Battle Axe withstand the might of the Blue Silver Overlord Spear?

Battle Axe's axe Martial Soul flew backward and plunged deep into the earth, standing upright in the ground.

Battle Axe himself was blasted backward by Jiang Taichu's force. He fell straight to the ground, clutching his chest and coughing up blood.

"Th-this... the little genius is far too powerful."

"If I'm not mistaken, the little genius is only seven or eight, right? To defeat a Soul Grandmaster at that age, I'm afraid even the top geniuses at Heaven Dou Royal Academy can't compare to him."

The crowd began discussing it.

Jiang Taichu, the subject of their discussion, paid them no attention and walked straight toward Battle Axe.

Since Battle Axe's Martial Soul was an axe and he fought by swinging it with his arms,

Jiang Taichu would simply sever the tendons in his hands and completely cripple him.

"Little genius, young master, I was wrong. We can talk this out. I really didn't mean to pick a fight just now."

"I have fifty Gold Soul Coins. I definitely wasn't trying to dine and dash. If that isn't enough, I'll add another fifty Gold Soul Coins. Please, let me go."

Battle Axe kept begging Jiang Taichu for mercy, without a trace of his earlier arrogance.

"Heh, you haven't realized your mistake. You're just about to be crippled."

With that, Jiang Taichu used the Blue Silver Overlord Spear to sever the tendons in Battle Axe's hands, ensuring that he would never be able to hold his Martial Soul again.

"Aaaagh, it hurts!"

Battle Axe screamed at the top of his lungs.

The crowd felt no pity at the sight.

Battle Axe usually bullied the weak and feared the strong. Seeing him meet this end was satisfying.

Jiang Taichu returned to his stall and looked around.

"Who's willing to buy this last bottle of Life Essence?"

A girl stepped out of the crowd. She had ice-blue hair and eyes, delicate features, and fair skin.

The girl was around twelve or thirteen and wore luxurious clothing. At a glance, she was clearly not from an ordinary family.

"Little brother, I'll offer you a hundred Gold Soul Coins. Would you sell me this last drop of Life Essence?"

The girl spoke with a smile.

Anyone who looked closely would have noticed that her gaze was full of curiosity as she looked at Jiang Taichu, as though she couldn't wait to take him home and study him thoroughly.

Seeing the girl before him, Jiang Taichu felt that she seemed to match the image of a certain supporting character in his mind.

Could this be Ye Lingling? I actually ran into her on my very first day in Heaven Dou. What a fateful meeting.

After that thought, Jiang Taichu put his thoughts aside and nodded to Ye Lingling.

"Mm, yes. For a hundred Gold Soul Coins, you can take this last bottle of Life Essence."

Ye Lingling stepped forward and reluctantly took out a hundred Gold Soul Coins.

It was the pocket money she had saved over so many years.

Spending it all at once now truly pained her.

Still, she was terribly curious about the Life Essence.

Her Martial Soul was the Nine Heart Begonia, a powerful Support System Martial Soul.

No matter what Soul Rings were added to the Nine Heart Begonia, it could only possess one ability: healing.

According to legend, if a possessor of the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul broke through to Titled Douluo, they could even bring the dead back to life.

To a certain extent, the Nine Heart Begonia was also a Life System Martial Soul.

However, a possessor of the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul couldn't directly condense their own life force into Life Essence as Jiang Taichu did.