Hearts of Men

Gradually, Shi Yi drifted off to sleep. When he woke again, the sun was already setting behind the western hills.

Shi Yi looked at the sunset beyond the window, a trace of disappointment flashing through his eyes. If he could, he would have slept straight through until the next day. Still not fully awake, he could not help yawning.

Coming back to his senses, Shi Yi turned his gaze to the table beside him, only to find that Little Ant had gone somewhere.

"Did it return to my body automatically because it ran out of Soul Power?" Puzzled, Shi Yi willed it into being and summoned Little Ant again.

Yet Little Ant did not appear in his palm. Clearly, it was still outside. Shi Yi slowly got out of bed. His room was not large, but after sweeping his eyes around it, he found no trace of Little Ant.

"Little Ant probably can't run too far. My strength probably wouldn't allow it to go very far either."

Just as Shi Yi was preparing to continue searching, a strange sensation rose in his heart. It seemed to be tugging at his soul.

"Is this... Little Ant calling me?"

Following that faint, almost imperceptible pull, Shi Yi opened the door and saw Little Ant not far away, gnawing on the corpse of an ordinary ant.

Watching the scene, Shi Yi fell into thought. Compared to rice porridge, devouring its own kind was clearly the fastest path to evolution. He did not think there was anything wrong with that. Natural selection and survival of the fittest were things he had learned long ago.

Different lives held different value. Becoming part of nature's food chain was also the meaning and value of their existence.

"I hope Little Ant and I are lucky." Shi Yi sat quietly on the threshold, watching Little Ant enjoy its meal.

Night fell. Shi Yi did not yet know how to cultivate, so he could only go to sleep early. There was not much entertainment in this world, but thankfully, there was no industrial pollution. The clear, star-filled night sky was Shi Yi's only pastime. For Soul Masters, however, nighttime was more often a good time for cultivation.

Looking at the stars outside the window, Shi Yi did not know how long had passed before he yawned. Turning over in bed, he suppressed the excitement and anticipation in his heart and gradually drifted into dreams.

The next day, the first ray of morning sunlight had just pierced the night. The village was still shrouded in a thin mist. Roosters crowed one after another, breaking the silence of the night and heralding the start of a new day.

Shi Yi got up early. Normally, at this time, he would exercise a little in the village. Though he did not know whether it helped his cultivation, being healthier was never a bad thing. Of course, the intensity was not high. He merely jogged around, practiced the Eight Brocades, and helped the villagers with whatever odd jobs he could manage.

He naturally understood that too much was as bad as too little. Even in a fantasy world, Shi Yi believed that many fundamental laws would not change. How could children still in their growth stage endure high-intensity training?

Conservation of energy still applied in this world. Physical growth required energy. Shi Yi, who had also learned about fitness in his previous life, understood how the body grew stronger. Through long-term, appropriate exercise, muscle fibers could thicken, making muscles larger while improving the body's control over them, thereby increasing strength.

All of that required energy. If one kept training desperately during the growth stage, perhaps one's body would show some extraordinary traits in the short term, but many parts would certainly remain underdeveloped. The most direct problem would be failing to grow tall.

Even when Yu Xiaogang made the Shrek students run, he understood that their diet needed attention and had prepared Medicinal Baths for them. Tang San had already reached the age of twelve then and possessed three Soul Rings.

Shi Yi could accept that as a suitable age to temper the body. Having read the original story, he understood that when Soul Masters absorbed Soul Rings, they not only brought growth to their Martial Souls but also accelerated the Soul Masters' development. That was why children in this world all seemed so precocious.

After tidying his room and tying the bundle onto himself, Shi Yi stood at the doorway and quietly looked over everything inside. Perhaps he would not return to this place for a very long time.

It was not that he was cold or heartless. Rather, he understood perfectly well what kind of road he was about to take. On the path of Soul Master cultivation, conflict would never cease. Shi Yi did not want anyone to die because of him.

After looking for a while, Shi Yi put away Little Ant and headed toward the village entrance.

Before long, Shi Yi saw the uncles of the village hauling the goods they intended to sell to the entrance and loading them onto a donkey cart.

"Xiao Yi, you're here." Shi Yi saw a middle-aged man greeting him.

"Morning, Uncle Wang." Shi Yi nodded in reply.

"Congratulations, Xiao Yi. The village chief already spoke to me. Once Uncle finishes loading their things, we can set off."

"Thank you, Uncle Wang." Shi Yi smiled at the middle-aged man.

After exchanging a few simple pleasantries, Shi Yi stopped talking. He took the initiative to stand in a corner, quietly watching them load the cart and making himself as inconspicuous as possible.

Having struggled through society for so many years in his previous life, Shi Yi knew very well that going up to greet and make small talk with these uncles now was not a good idea. If he greeted them or helped with the work at this moment, they would only misunderstand him as showing off his awakened Soul Power to satisfy his sense of superiority.

That was how jealousy arose. It was not that Shi Yi held any grudge against the villagers; people's hearts were simply often like that. He understood that not everyone would be happy for him.

Their children had not awakened Soul Power, so why had an orphan awakened it and changed his fate?

During his six years in this world, there had been no shortage of people who found a sense of existence in bullying Shi Yi, an orphan, to satisfy their meager superiority. They were all children, so Shi Yi had not taken it seriously, but children often reflected the shadows of their parents.

Silence, a sign of poor manners, was especially appropriate at a time like this. Giving people something to hold against him and letting them grumble or even curse him in their hearts would help soothe the imbalance in their minds.

After being a good person for too long, sometimes one also needed to play the villain. The way of dealing with people was to balance hardness and softness, to know when to advance and when to withdraw.

Soon, the villagers' goods had all been loaded onto the donkey cart. It was the spring plowing season, and everyone needed to exchange their produce together for new seeds, so there was no need for as many people as usual to go to market. Shi Yi boarded the donkey cart as well and left the village with the middle-aged man.

As soon as the middle-aged man left with Shi Yi, voices of dissatisfaction immediately rose among the villagers.

"I never thought that brat would become a Soul Master."

"At least the village gave him food to eat. He usually acts like such a polite child, but now that he's leaving, he didn't even come say hello to us."

"He's a Soul Master now. He looks down on mud-legged folk like us."

"What nonsense are you talking about... That child is more sensible than your own children. How could he be that sort of person?"

"I think you lot are just jealous because that child awakened Soul Power."

"Exactly. Earlier, I saw your child calling him a wild child."

The people who had been rebutted immediately had nothing more to say.

Moonflower City was not far from Riverbank Village. In less than half an hour, the two arrived at Moonflower City. After entering the city with the middle-aged man, Shi Yi parted ways with him.

Shi Yi did not go to Moonflower Junior Soul Master Academy. Instead, he asked around Moonflower City for the location of a carriage service.

In this world, the main means of travel still relied on horse-drawn carriages. Once Shi Yi reached the carriage service, he immediately spent all five silver coins Li Yi had hidden in the bundle to rent a carriage to Nuoding City.

Shi Yi did not know whether the price was cheap or not. There had been no need to spend money in the village, and the original story had not described this world's purchasing power in much detail. Shi Yi had no intention of dwelling on such trivial matters. Soon, the driver set off with him.

On the road, Shi Yi sat in the carriage and summoned Little Ant. Now that he had embarked on the path of a Soul Master, there were many things he needed to do.

Thinking about the development direction of his Martial Soul was one of the most important matters, and it was also a long-term issue.

Hard work was important, but if the direction was wrong, all effort would be wasted. Was Yu Xiaogang not the best example of that?

If Shi Yi possessed a cheat, then his cheat was his familiarity with the plot and the scientific knowledge of modern society.

In his previous life, Shi Yi had been a manager overseeing the data department of a listed company. Gathering data, analyzing data, and evaluating suitable plans for the company—Shi Yi believed that the abilities and knowledge he brought from the modern age would surely reveal an unimaginable charm in this world.

Now, Shi Yi needed to devise a development plan that could progress alongside his Martial Soul.

Shi Yi quietly looked at Little Ant, continuously analyzing its potential as a Martial Soul. Taking out a sheet of paper, he drew a Hexagram Chart.

Living Beast Martial Soul: Little Ant. (Score: 1–5)

Bloodline: 0 points.

Among Beast Martial Souls, bloodline power was a factor that had a tremendous impact on battle. The reason the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was called the number one Beast Martial Soul under heaven was its powerful Dragon Clan bloodline, which could suppress most Beast Martial Souls. Little Ant, meanwhile, was practically at the bottom of the food chain.

Strength: 3 points.

Strength was one of the few praiseworthy traits ants possessed, but for a Living Beast Martial Soul, Little Ant's size and bloodline were important factors affecting its strength attribute.

Defense: 0 points.

For Little Ant, whose bloodline had not received any improvement, its defense was practically zero. Even an ordinary person could crush it underfoot. It was best not to summon it in crowded places.

Speed: 0 points.

...

Energy: 0 points.

No special attributes.

Special: 3 points.

Poison. Its highly sensitive antennae could develop toward perception. As its bloodline and the Soul Master's cultivation improved, perhaps it could communicate with its kind and become the king of the ant world.

Shi Yi looked at the Hexagram Chart he had drawn. He felt that such a profile was already decent for a Soul Master with innate first-level Soul Power. At least it was not completely worthless. Clearly, for Beast Martial Souls, bloodline was the most important factor.

A Beast Martial Soul with a powerful bloodline could not only suppress opponents, but the abilities of a Beast Soul would also be greatly influenced by that bloodline. This was not limited to Beast Soul Masters. Soul Beasts with special abilities all possessed powerful bloodlines.

As long as one possessed a powerful bloodline, simple three-dimensional attributes such as strength, speed, and defense would all improve greatly. Therefore, Shi Yi believed that among these six aspects, those three were actually the least important, because they would grow alongside the Martial Soul. This was also the advantage of Little Ant as a Living Martial Soul, and Shi Yi was confident that he could make his Martial Soul grow.

What Shi Yi valued more was the enormous ant population. If possible, he wanted Little Ant to become the king of the ant world. Like Tang San's mother, the Blue Silver Emperor, ants were also found everywhere across the Douluo Continent.

Shi Yi drew another diagram on the paper, but this time it was no longer a hexagram. It was a quadrilateral: body, Soul Power, Mental Power, and Little Ant.

These were the four most important factors that could affect him. Shi Yi understood clearly that no ability could escape these four factors. In other words, as long as these four factors were sufficient, there was no ability that could not be acquired.

His weaknesses were obvious. His body was clearly at the level of an ordinary child, while his Mental Power surpassed that of most children, perhaps due to the advantage of having lived two lives. Shi Yi could clearly feel that his memories from his previous life were incredibly vivid in his mind. Yet his Soul Power and Martial Soul were far too weak.

"Looks like I still need to reach Nuoding City and confirm the timeline before I can plan what comes next. I don't even have the most basic Meditation Method right now. Many things can only remain fantasies."

With that thought, Shi Yi put away the papers covered in writing and drawings. His fingers lightly teased Little Ant as he looked at the scenery outside the carriage window, anticipation rising in his heart.

Two days later, Shi Yi lifted the curtain and looked up at the Nuoding City plaque atop the distant gate tower. Excitement could not help rising within him.

"I hope this trip hasn't been for nothing."

If the protagonist's storyline had not yet begun, then there were many things he could take part in, and his path as a Soul Master could become much smoother.

As the carriage entered the city, Shi Yi slowly got down with dark circles under his eyes. At his age, he needed sleep, and traveling was too boring, so he had no choice but to sleep. But the roads of the Douluo Continent were far from smooth. Even in a carriage, there was constant jolting, and Shi Yi had spent the journey drifting endlessly between sleep and wakefulness.

"This transportation system... no wonder taking a carriage once costs so much. If I hadn't paid five silver coins, I'd feel sorry for the driver."

Other than resting at night, the driver had diligently driven all day for the past two days. Not to mention that the roads of the Douluo Continent were nowhere near the standard of his previous life, even when Shi Yi had traveled to a nearby city for work in his previous life, he would not have chosen to drive himself. He would have taken public transportation instead.

Shi Yi casually asked around on the streets and soon arrived at Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy. He had just reached the entrance when the young gatekeeper stopped him. Seeing the man's aggressive manner, Shi Yi felt helpless. It was easy to meet the King of Hell, but difficult to deal with his petty attendants.

Seeing that, Shi Yi could only steel himself and walk over.