The Hunt Finally Begins

As a town with a junior college, Notting City is far more prosperous than its surrounding cities.

Especially with the start of the school year approaching, and with only about two weeks left before the start of the new semester, many students have returned to school early, making the city very lively.

"Um?"

You Chen and You Xing were walking down the street when they happened to see a somewhat familiar figure walking towards them, looking completely lost and dejected.

"Hmm?"

The dark-skinned, honest-looking boy suddenly looked up, and it was none other than Tang San.

How could it become such a decadent look?

You Chen was a little confused, but after a moment's thought, he quickly figured out the reason.

"By the way, according to the original plot, Tang San should have found the letter left by his father, Hao, after returning home. In the original timeline, with Xiao Wu by his side to vent his depressed emotions, the storyline of 'recognizing Xiao Wu as a substitute for his father' naturally began, along with the vow of 'stepping over a corpse'..."

Now that Xiao Wu is gone, and he's all alone in the countryside with no friends, isn't Yu Yu all he has to do? But, judging by his route... could it be that he just returned to Notting City early to seek comfort from Yu Xiaogang? Then why does he look so dejected?

You Chen didn't know was that Tang San had originally planned to seek comfort from Xiao Wu after returning this time. However, he accidentally learned from Xiao Wu that her level was now 3 levels higher than his level 15!

Deeply discouraged, he approached Yu Xiaogang again, hoping to find out if there was any way to accelerate his cultivation. However, unsurprisingly, Yu Xiaogang failed to provide him with a satisfactory answer.

Actually, it's not that Yu Xiaogang doesn't know the method, but... even if he did know, he wouldn't have the ability to improve it.

The method to improve Tang San's cultivation speed is quite simple. Tang San is currently not receiving the cultivation resources that a top genius should have, which is why his cultivation speed has fallen behind. If Yu Xiaogang could provide Tang San with the same resources he had when he was cultivating in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, such as high-grade Soul Beast and top-grade medicinal baths at every meal, Tang San's cultivation level would not have fallen behind Xiao Wu.

However, Yu Xiaogang doesn't have that kind of money right now.

Xiao Wu could quickly level up without bottlenecks by relying on the energy of her pre-transformation Soul Beast before reaching level 70. Now, she no longer needs to deliberately slow down her progress to protect her "third brother's" pride, and she has also witnessed You Xing's terrifying strength. She has worked much harder than in the original story, which is why she leveled up faster than in the original story.

Tang San didn't have such conditions. His simple-minded father didn't know to secretly give his good son some cultivation resources. In addition, Tang San's true Soul Power aptitude was not Innate Full Soul Power. Even with the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he could only improve by 2 or 3 levels in a little over a year.

However, Tang San, whose eyes had been lifeless, suddenly brightened up when he saw the master and disciple.

Tang San suddenly remembered that he had heard Xiao Wu say that You Xing would acquire the second ring after training with You Chen for a period of time. A year ago, You Xing was only level 15, and a year later he had absorbed the second ring... He had increased his Soul Power by 5 levels in a year!? Even if he was only a little short of reaching level 16 before, that would still be at least level 4 of Soul Power!

'In that case, Master You Chen must have a solution!'

Because Master You Chen spent all his time locked in his room conducting research, Tang San You Chen actually rarely saw him more than a few times a year.

"Master You Chen— "

The thought of not knowing when they would meet again by chance made Tang San anxious to ask the question, but he suddenly stopped.

He thought of his teacher, Yu Xiaogang.

Although Master You Chen and I had a good relationship, I was completely at odds with my teacher.

Even though she already has Yu Xiaogang as her teacher, instead of asking her questions, she seeks help from someone who is at odds with her teacher...

'What would the teacher think if he found out about this?'

The moment this thought crossed Tang San's mind, the image of Yu Xiaogang's weathered face, with its conflicted expression of embarrassment yet an inability to blame him, flashed into his mind.

In an instant, Tang San's fluctuating emotions fell silent.

So what if his cultivation is slower? Compared to that, how could he betray the teacher who treated him like his own child?!

"What's wrong, Tang San? Is something the matter?" You Chen asked, puzzled.

"No, it's nothing."

Tang San forced a smile and said, "I was just a little surprised to see Master You Chen after so long. I have other things to attend to, so I'll be leaving now. Brother You Xing, I'll find you to spar with later."

Watching Tang San's hurried departure, You Chen's eyes flickered thoughtfully: 'It seems Tang Hao's departure has indeed dealt this guy a considerable blow... Now is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of his vulnerability and breach his defenses.'

However, You Chen did not intend to let You Xing take advantage of Tang San's low mood to improve their relationship and act as a substitute for the "older brother" version.

He planned to use You Xing's words to subtly tell Xiao Wu that Tang San had recently encountered misfortune, and to ask Xiao Wu to treat Tang San gently in the near future...

'In that case, Tang San will probably be completely entangled and unable to extricate himself, right?'

Thus, we can basically declare the "simp training plan" a success...

He manipulated two clones, one of which headed towards the dormitory.

Of the three clones, one dissipated, the remaining two remained in Notting City, while You Chen's true body went directly to Spirit City...

With all the trivial matters and preparations completed, it was time for the official hunt to begin.

You Chen looked at the current mission of mission line 1. The mission content was "humiliation". The target was a new "professor" who had competed with him for research resources in the past but was squeezed out by him.

However, the once-rising star professor is now a middle-aged man with graying hair. Over seventy years old, at the Soul King realm, he almost never leaves Spirit City... For You Chen now, he's just an appetizer.

The appearance of Kiku and Kiku on the border of the Balak Kingdom was actually great news for You Chen.

'Even two of her most capable lieutenants have been dispatched; it's almost certain that Bibi Dong has very few men left in Spirit City. Or rather... those remaining are insignificant small fry.'

You Chen didn't even bother to wait for nightfall. He activated the Aura Concealment Art and strode confidently into Spirit City.

After exchanging information with the Beast Envoy in Spirit City, they headed straight for their target location.

A Soul King, who is also a full-time researcher outside of combat, is simply trash that You Chen can deal with in one hit.

Fortunately, this guy reached the Soul Ancestor level more than 20 years ago, and because the professor's status in the Spirit Hall was equivalent to that of Black-robed Bishop from the start, the mission rewards given by the system were quite considerable, making it worthwhile for You Chen to make a special trip for him.