Two Years Later

Watching Xia Liang suddenly pull something resembling a lump of whale blood skin from the trash can, the chefs present were all slightly stunned.

When they saw the lump of whale blood skin washed clean with water and reveal a pale yellow crystalline form, a hint of surprise appeared in their eyes.

"A Liang, you know what this thing is?" the old chef could not help asking.

"No. I just think it looks pretty. Uncle Chen, if you want it, take it. Your child probably likes collecting strange little things like this too."

As he spoke, Xia Liang handed the thumb-sized pale yellow crystal to the old chef.

The old chef covered his nose, saying with some disgust, "Forget it. This thing smells too fishy. You should keep it. If I brought it home for my kid to play with, my wife would definitely scold me."

"It really is a little too fishy." Xia Liang covered his nose with his other hand as well. "I was thinking of using it as a pendant."

"A Liang, that's enough. Get back here already, or I'm not watching your dishes for you," a chef helping Xia Liang cook suddenly complained.

"Okay." Xia Liang tucked the pale yellow crystal into his waistband, climbed onto the tall stool, and continued cooking.

No one said anything else, nor did they pay much attention to the matter.

After all, Xia Liang was only a six-year-old child. Children all liked picking up strange and unusual things.

At midnight, when the night was quiet and still,

Xia Liang finished his part-time job at Fish Roast Restaurant and hurried back to Nuoding Primary Spirit Master Academy.

Only after showing his academy identification did the gatekeeper allow him inside.

He returned to Dorm 7.

Lin Xiao, Wang Sheng, and half of the other dormmates were still awake. They sat cross-legged on their respective beds, all meditating.

Arriving at his bed, Xia Liang carefully took off his shoes. He had showered at Fish Roast Restaurant before returning, so he was clean and refreshed enough to go straight to sleep.

He had been too tired after a whole day.

Both physically and mentally, he was utterly exhausted.

The feeling of transmigrating from Blue Star to Douluo Continent only to work himself like a beast of burden was truly unbearable.

Xia Liang did not plan to meditate or cultivate anymore, nor was he in a hurry to check whether that pale yellow crystal was Whale Rubber. After climbing into bed, he lay down comfortably and closed his eyes to rest.

Would the next six years at Nuoding Primary Spirit Master Academy be this exhausting too? In fact, with his Skeleton Martial Soul, he could completely join Spirit Hall and curry favor with Ghost Douluo.

But Innate Level Five Soul Power was not an outstanding talent. With no family ties or connections, he might not even catch Ghost Douluo's eye.

Besides, Spirit Hall's upper ranks were not as wonderful as he had imagined. Rather than rely on others, he might as well rely on himself.

As long as he could ultimately do as he pleased in this world where strength reigned supreme, all the hardship and effort would be worth it.

Emptying his mind, Xia Liang soon fell asleep.

""

Two years later.

Guowan Village, the old village chief's home.

Xia Liang woke from his sleep.

Early in the morning, he got up to prepare breakfast.

During his two years at Nuoding Primary Spirit Master Academy, Xia Liang studied knowledge related to Soul Masters and Soul Beasts diligently every day.

He never missed the morning theory classes. During the afternoon practical classes, he would instead go alone to the Academy Back Mountain to meditate and cultivate.

What mattered most now was expanding his knowledge and improving his Soul Power. The academy's practical classes could not really teach him any useful combat skills.

After finishing his afternoon meditation, he went to work part-time at Fish Roast Restaurant.

After work, he returned to the dormitory to sleep.

That was basically his daily routine. Though life was hard, it was fulfilling.

The various forms of Soul Master cultivation made up for the emptiness of having no phone to play with.

Two years passed just like that. The semester ended, and the three-month holiday began.

When school resumed, he would be a third-year student.

As he prepared breakfast and reflected on the past two years, Xia Liang wore a smile. Not only had his cooking improved, but he had also developed seasonings unique to Blue Star.

With these seasonings, he could make dishes identical to those on Blue Star, such as roast duck, noodles, Chopped Pepper Fish Head, and more.

Xia Liang had not revealed the recipes for these dishes to Boss Cui of Fish Roast Restaurant.

He wanted to wait until he reached major cities like Heaven Dou City or Star Luo City, then sell the recipes safely to five-star restaurants. That way, he could earn more money to purchase all kinds of Cultivation Resources.

However, Xia Liang had told Boss Cui of Fish Roast Restaurant how to make Pickled Fish and Grilled Fish. After all, since he worked there, some things could not be hidden.

Rather than conceal them and make others resent him, he might as well reveal them in exchange for better pay.

Fortunately, Boss Cui was a reasonable man. Seeing that Xia Liang had brought enormous profits to the restaurant, he was not stingy and raised every chef's wages to one Silver Soul Coin per day.

As a result, Xia Liang not only avoided offending any of the chefs, but also received all kinds of care from them.

His greatest gain over the past two years had been discovering Ten-Year Whale Rubber.

That pale yellow crystal had indeed been Whale Rubber. Although it was only ten years old, the benefits brought by Ten-Year Whale Rubber were just right for a six-year-old child.

So far, Xia Liang had consumed nine pieces of Ten-Year Whale Rubber.

The weak power of the Whale Rubber did not have much aphrodisiac effect. Instead, it somewhat nourished a child's body.

As early as when he consumed the fifth piece of Ten-Year Whale Rubber, Xia Liang's physical condition had already surpassed that of children his age.

Now that his body had been strengthened by nine pieces of Ten-Year Whale Rubber, absorbing a Five-Hundred-Year First Soul Ring would definitely not be a problem.

Besides his physical strength and knowledge, his Soul Power had improved the most.

After two years of arduous meditation, Xia Liang had risen from Level Five Soul Power to Level Nine. If he worked harder during the three-month holiday, he might break through the Level Ten bottleneck and obtain the first Soul Ring of his life.

After breakfast,

Xia Liang headed to the small hill outside the village to cultivate. Along the way, he saw Su Yuntao, under the old village chief's watchful gaze, lead six or seven children into the small wooden house.

Today was once again the village's annual Martial Soul Awakening.

According to the original plot, none of these children would awaken Innate Soul Power.

Because three months later, only two new Work-Study Students would arrive at Dorm 7 of Nuoding Primary Spirit Master Academy: Tang San and Xiao Wu.

Tang San was already six years old. After Su Yuntao finished awakening the Martial Souls of Guowan Village's children, he should head to Holy Soul Village.

At that point, the original story would officially begin.

Thinking of this, Xia Liang could not help feeling fortunate. He did not have as many cheats as Tang San, but he still had some.

His Skeleton Martial Soul, which could cultivate using Susanoo as a template, and the Undead Attribute he had yet to fully master.

Those were his cheats.

Xia Liang felt that his greatest cheat was having read the original story.

With the advantage of foreknowledge of the original plot, as long as he worked hard, his future achievements would certainly not be too poor.

First, he would set himself a small goal: obtain a Five-Hundred-Year First Soul Ring within half a year and cause the ribs of his Skeleton Martial Soul to undergo a morphological change.

Three months later.

Nuoding Primary Spirit Master Academy.

Principal's Office.

Dean Ding sat behind his desk, reviewing the materials submitted by the returning senior students.

Every year when school began, new students enrolled while old students returned.

New students needed to submit documentation for their admission applications, while old students had to submit a cultivation summary every two years.

With these cultivation summaries, the academy could learn each student's cultivation progress and provide better guidance.

As he flipped through the stapled document cards, Dean Ding nodded approvingly when he saw the cultivation summary submitted by Xia Liang. A thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

Two years ago, when Xia Liang had first joined Nuoding Primary Spirit Master Academy, his new student enrollment documents had stated: Martial Soul: Skeleton. Innate Level Five Soul Power.

Now, after completing his second year, Xia Liang's holiday summary stated: Martial Soul: Skeleton. Soul Power: Level Ten. First Soul Ring not yet obtained.