I'm Called Xiao Wu, the Wu of Dancing (Part 1)

Notting City was a second-rate city in the Balak Kingdom. Located at the border between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, it saw a considerable number of passing merchants, giving it the potential to develop into a first-rate city.

"Ning Qiu, the Junior Soul Master Academy of Notting City is up ahead."

"Did you take care of what I asked you to do?"

"Don't worry. The last few times Dad and I entered the city, we made a special trip here. After that, following your instructions, I brought that Gatekeeper Bro gifts several more times. Gatekeeper Lad has already agreed to keep an eye out for you!"

"Mm."

Ning Qiu nodded.

Ever since Ning Qiu recruited Gou Dan and had him take charge of that patch of Red Soil Land, Ning Qiu planted nothing but carrots there. All the carrots he grew were handed over to Gou Dan's father to sell.

Of course, Ning Qiu sold them to Gou Dan's father at wholesale prices. He had made quite a tidy sum from growing carrots.

With the enrollment date for the Junior Soul Master Academy of Notting City drawing near, Ning Qiu asked Gou Dan's father to bring some gifts to the academy's Gatekeeper Bro, bribing him to keep watch.

"Gatekeeper Bro!"

Gou Dan came before the iron gates of the Junior Soul Master Academy of Notting City and greeted a young man at the entrance with a smile. He then looked at Ning Qiu and said, "Gatekeeper Bro, this is Ning Qiu."

"You're Ning Qiu?" Gatekeeper Bro sized Ning Qiu up and down. The latter was around 1.34 meters tall, but however he looked at him, he was merely a child under ten. He clearly had not expected the person who had repeatedly sent him gifts to be a child.

"Mm. Has she come?" Ning Qiu asked.

"Don't worry, I've been keeping an eye out for you! So far, no one matching your description has appeared!" Gatekeeper Lad answered Ning Qiu, one hand behind his back supporting his aching waist.

"Gatekeeper Lad, I left in a hurry this time and didn't bring much of a gift. Please accept these." Ning Qiu took three carrots out of his system storage.

There were only three carrots. Under the sunlight, they reflected a red gleam, as though the carrots themselves radiated a hazy crimson light. They looked remarkably mystical.

Knowing the Douluo storyline well, Ning Qiu knew that this Gatekeeper Lad was a snob. He also had a habit of looking at people through a crack in the door and looking down on them.

Giving him three carrots—wasn't Ning Qiu just waiting for Gatekeeper Lad to mock him?

Yet the moment Gatekeeper Lad saw the carrots in Ning Qiu's hands, his eyes widened and lit up. Delighted, he said, "Look at you two, I haven't even done anything to help you, yet you bring me gifts every time you come. You're making me feel embarrassed!"

Though he said that, Gatekeeper Lad had already accepted the carrots without hesitation. His shining eyes made it seem as though he were holding three gold bars.

"They're only three carrots. Do you really need to be that happy? I even thought the gift was too modest," Gou Dan deliberately remarked.

"Then you're mistaken. Your carrots are incredibly unusual. No matter how exhausted I am, as long as I eat one of your carrots, I feel as though I've been pumped full of energy and can quickly recover my strength. Carrots grown by others don't have that effect. Only your family's carrots have this strange property." Gatekeeper Lad grinned as if his mouth had been smeared with honey, smiling brightly.

"Gatekeeper Lad, do you want to become a Soul Master?" Ning Qiu asked.

"A Soul Master? Who wouldn't? But to become one, you need soul power. My martial soul is a brick, and I don't have the slightest bit of soul power. I'm destined never to become a Soul Master in this life." Gatekeeper Lad answered helplessly.

"Gatekeeper Lad, you can't say that. They say one is influenced by one's surroundings. You've been a gatekeeper for so long—perhaps you already have soul power now!" Ning Qiu kindly reminded him.

"That may be true, but when I was six, I was tested. I... had no soul power," Gatekeeper Lad said.

"Times change. Maybe you didn't have soul power back then, but you have it now?" Ning Qiu said.

"That's possible?" Gatekeeper Lad asked, somewhat tempted.

"You won't know unless you try." Ning Qiu replied.

"That's right. I also suggest you go to Spirit Hall and try again, have them test whether you possess soul power." Gou Dan echoed with a smile.

Gou Dan and Ning Qiu exchanged a glance, their eyes conveying a hidden message.

Gou Dan knew just how extraordinary Ning Qiu's Red Soil Land was. Not only did cultivating it grant soul power, but harvesting crops granted even more soul power.

Furthermore, any crops grown on Ning Qiu's Red Soil Land could grant soul power when consumed.

Gou Dan and Ning Qiu had once compiled some statistics.

Ning Qiu's Red Soil Land was now level 1. If its carrots were eaten by a person, an entire carrot could grant one point of soul power.

After discovering this secret, Ning Qiu and Gou Dan crazily devoured carrots. They did indeed raise their soul power as they had hoped. But after that binge, for quite some time, the sight of a carrot was enough to make them nauseated and want to vomit.

In the end, the two had no choice but to abandon the impractical notion of becoming Titled Douluo by eating carrots.

Since Ning Qiu and Gou Dan could gain soul power by eating carrots, Gatekeeper Lad could certainly do the same. In other words, the Gatekeeper Lad of the Junior Soul Master Academy of Notting City already possessed soul power!

"Eh, Gatekeeper Lad, what happened to you?"

Ning Qiu suddenly noticed that Gatekeeper Lad's face always carried a faint trace of pain.

"Don't mention it. An old man and a child came by earlier. The certificate said that child had Innate Full Soul Power. I've been a gatekeeper for so long, yet I've never seen a child with Innate Full Soul Power. I'd never even heard of anyone having Innate Full Soul Power upon awakening their martial soul. So naturally, I mocked him a little. After all, I'm the gatekeeper. If I let someone slip in and they caused trouble, wouldn't that be my responsibility? Who would've thought that little boy would actually attack me? This pain in my waist was caused by that kid." Gatekeeper Lad complained bitterly.

Uh!

Ning Qiu's heart jolted.

That child Gatekeeper Lad mentioned must have been Tang San. Since Tang San had already entered the Junior Soul Master Academy of Notting City just as in the storyline, why had Xiao Wu, whom Ning Qiu was waiting for, still not come to register at the academy after so long?

"Eh, little brother. Look, is that little girl the person you're waiting for?" Gatekeeper Lad pointed ahead. A little girl with rabbit ears was walking on tiptoe, as if she were hopping along. Together with her rosy little face, she looked utterly adorable.