A Chance Encounter with Tang San, Plans for the Future

After returning home, as expected, Lu Mingchuan received a round of scolding. Yet he did not feel the slightest bit impatient. Instead, his body felt warm. After all, he had been an orphan in his previous life and had never experienced even a trace of familial affection. Now that he had a grandfather who loved him, how could he possibly be impatient?

Seeing his well-behaved grandson, Old Jack could not help but sigh. He reached out and rubbed Lu Mingchuan's head. "All right, let's eat."

He then took Lu Mingchuan's hand and led him to the dining table. After they sat down, he got up and brought a roast chicken out from the kitchen.

"I had your Uncle Tom bring this back when he went into the city. If you'd come home earlier, you could've eaten it hot. It's a shame it's cold now."

Old Jack placed the roast chicken in front of Lu Mingchuan, then sat down and smiled at him. Lu Mingchuan, meanwhile, tore off a chicken leg and stuffed it into Jack's hand.

"You should eat some too. I can't finish this much by myself, and it'll spoil by tomorrow if we leave it there."

"Alright, alright. Grandpa will eat too."

As he spoke, he used his other hand to rub Lu Mingchuan's head. After Lu Mingchuan finished eating, he washed both their bowls and chopsticks clean, then returned to his room to sleep under Old Jack's urging.

Lying in bed, Lu Mingchuan thought over everything that had happened today. Then he suddenly called out to the system, "System, are you there?"

"Ding. Host, do not overthink things. The system is always here."

Hearing the somewhat cold mechanical voice in his mind, Lu Mingchuan felt boundless reassurance. He then closed his eyes and gradually fell into a baby-like sleep.

What Lu Mingchuan did not know was that after obtaining the Gaze of the Hunt, his body had begun ceaselessly absorbing the ever-present Imaginary Energy.

The next day, when Lu Mingchuan opened his eyes, he immediately felt full of strength. Something also seemed to be slowly flowing within his body.

"System, what's going on?"

Without hesitation, Lu Mingchuan asked the system in his mind. The system dutifully replied, "Ding. This is the ability granted to the host by the Gaze of the Hunt to absorb Imaginary Energy. Since it has only just been activated, the host can feel it more clearly."

"I see."

Lu Mingchuan nodded, then prepared to get up for breakfast. As for the fact that he was absorbing Imaginary Energy rather than Soul Power, Lu Mingchuan was not worried in the slightest.

Because he believed the system would handle it.

Besides, with yesterday's gains, even if he failed to draw anything good afterward, he could still be invincible in this world.

After a particularly warm breakfast between grandfather and grandson, Lu Mingchuan decided to go to the Back Mountain and see whether the Gaze of the Hunt had any functions the system had not mentioned.

Having made up his mind, Lu Mingchuan slowly headed toward the Back Mountain. However, he encountered someone unexpected along the way—Tang San!

Tang San was hurrying from the direction of the Back Mountain toward the Blacksmith Shop. When he saw Lu Mingchuan, he was clearly somewhat surprised, seemingly not expecting anyone else to be heading to the Back Mountain so early in the morning. However, that flicker of surprise did not affect Tang San. He ignored Lu Mingchuan and simply leaped past him.

After all, in Tang San's eyes, Lu Mingchuan was merely a native of the Douluo Continent. Their futures were as different as heaven and earth, so there was no need to pay him any attention.

Lu Mingchuan did not pay much attention to Tang San either. As a transmigrator, he knew perfectly well what Tang San was doing at the Back Mountain at this time. He had simply not expected to run into him.

Coming back to his senses, Lu Mingchuan continued toward the Back Mountain. A short while later, he arrived and sat down on the stone slab from yesterday.

"System, display my personal status panel."

Name: Lu Mingchuan

Age: 3 Level: 10 (converted to Soul Power)

Items: Gaze of the Hunt

Soul Rings: None

Skills: None

"The remaining entries will activate when the host obtains the corresponding items or abilities."

Lu Mingchuan nodded to show that he understood, then used his thoughts to select the Gaze of the Hunt.

Gaze of the Hunt: The gaze of the Aeon of the Hunt. Note: Under the system's intervention, its original function has been slightly altered. In addition, the host will awaken the martial soul "Imperial Bow" at the age of six.

Looking at the few words in the item description, Lu Mingchuan fell into thought.

"The original function should have meant embarking upon the Path and having a high chance of becoming an Emissary of the Hunt. But since it says the original function has been slightly altered, becoming an Emissary is probably no longer possible."

"To be precise, there's no chance of it for now. But in exchange, the system gave me a martial soul—the Imperial Bow!"

"A martial soul exchanged for an opportunity to become an Emissary definitely can't be underestimated. But if it's a bow-type martial soul, I should add archery practice to my future plans."

After thinking it through, he practiced some push-ups and other exercises on the spot to learn his limits. Then, based on that data, he made plans for himself.

Although he could become invincible in this world by relying solely on the system, Lu Mingchuan felt that a strong person was not merely someone with great power. Their state of mind also had to keep pace. Cultivating one's mindset was a slow, grinding process, and he could not afford to be lazy. Besides, putting in some effort would allow him to reach the peak even faster.

Time always passed quickly when one focused on something. In the blink of an eye, noon was approaching. Lu Mingchuan raised his head and looked at the sun.

"It's already noon. Time to go home for lunch."

He then wiped the sweat from his forehead and dragged his tired body toward home.

When he got home, Old Jack saw Lu Mingchuan covered in sweat and hurriedly took out a towel to wipe him down. He then pulled Lu Mingchuan toward the dining table and poured him a cup of warm water.

"Child, what happened to you?"

"It's nothing, Grandpa. I was thinking that since it'll soon be time to awaken my martial soul, I should exercise and try to awaken a powerful one when I'm six. Then I can take Grandpa to live in a big city."

Old Jack could not help but smile when he heard that.

"Alright. Then Grandpa will wait for you to take him to live in a big city."

Old Jack then rubbed Lu Mingchuan's head and signaled for him to eat. Lu Mingchuan chuckled twice and began eating lunch.

After lunch, the old man and the child sat beneath the eaves to cool off. Seeing that Old Jack was nearly asleep in his chair, Lu Mingchuan spoke up. "Grandpa, I want to ask you for something."

"What is it?"

"I want a bow and arrows!"

Old Jack smiled indifferently upon hearing that.

"Alright. This afternoon, Grandpa will find some materials and make one for you."

Lu Mingchuan was not surprised. After all, when a three-year-old child asked for a bow and arrows, adults would naturally assume the child wanted a toy.

"Grandpa, I don't want a toy. I want the kind I can use to practice archery."

Old Jack was surprised by this, but he still agreed. Seeing that, Lu Mingchuan could not help but feel puzzled.

"Grandpa, aren't you going to ask what I want it for?"

"Grandpa is just a farmer, and you've always been sensible and well-behaved since you were little. Grandpa knows you have something you want to do, so he won't ask too many questions."

"But you have to promise Grandpa that you won't hurt yourself."

Lu Mingchuan nodded. Old Jack then gave up on sleeping, slowly got to his feet, and took Lu Mingchuan to the Blacksmith Shop where Tang Hao lived.