The Twentieth Card - Original Work: Shotaro Ishinomori!

He kept his word and agreed to Zhen Jianwu's request.

"I can take you, but we need to set three ground rules first. Don't yell, and don't hold me back."

Xu Wenlong raised his fingers as he spoke.

"Mm. My martial soul, Qijiela, is at Soul Power Level Five now. I can use soul power to activate its trait and put nearby living things to sleep!"

As he spoke, Zhen Jianwu's palm bloomed with that pure white flower.

"One more thing. I need you to keep everything you see and hear on this trip confidential. Don't tell anyone."

Xu Wenlong said.

"Mm. I won't tell anyone. I promise to keep it secret!"

Zhen Jianwu mimed zipping his lips from one side to the other.

"Good. Let's go!"

Xu Wenlong led Zhen Jianwu out of the Soul Master Academy.

"Farewell, Wind Sand Town!"

Xu Wenlong looked back at the city gate carved with the name Wind Sand Town and sighed.

He might never return here for the rest of his life.

Thinking that, Xu Wenlong felt no reluctance—just a brief sigh, then he walked away without looking back.

"Um, shouldn't we rent a carriage or buy supplies?"

Zhen Jianwu asked. After all, the nearest Soul Beast Forest was a considerable distance from Wind Sand Town, and he had asked many people who had obtained soul rings before.

From here to the nearest forest took several days of travel. Renting a carriage and buying supplies would cost a Work-Study Student like him a long time's savings.

But carriages let you rest and sleep overnight, and compared to roadside inns or the prices in the Soul Beast Forest, it was still cheaper.

"No need. Just follow me."

Xu Wenlong kept walking without turning back.

"Oh. Okay."

Zhen Jianwu didn't ask further and just followed Xu Wenlong with his head down.

Soon, they reached a sparsely populated area.

"Don't tell anyone about what comes next."

Xu Wenlong said with a smile.

"But it might turn your worldview upside down."

That was Xu Wenlong's modern-man superiority over these natives.

With a wave of his hand, a faint, trembling gray door appeared out of thin air before Zhen Jianwu—a door that seemed to float in space.

Yes, this was the signature skill of a certain most compassionate knight: the Space Gate.

Xu Wenlong waved again, and the Space Gate vanished behind him, leaving behind a motorcycle brought by the gate.

Xu Wenlong swung his leg over the seat, sat down on the motorcycle, inserted the key, and put on one of the two helmets he'd pulled from his Four-Dimensional Chrysanthemum. He tossed the other to Zhen Jianwu, who was still frozen in place.

Xu Wenlong twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle roared with a sound that thrilled him.

Vroom~ vroom~ vroom~ vroom!

It was the crystallization of industrial technology—a sound that brought Xu Wenlong immense comfort.

"What are you standing there for? Put on the helmet and sit behind me."

Xu Wenlong said to Zhen Jianwu, helmet already on.

"Ah, ah! Okay."

Zhen Jianwu stared at Xu Wenlong in shock, as if seeing him for the first time, but said nothing. He copied Xu Wenlong, put on the helmet, swung one leg over the seat, and sat behind him.

"Hold on tight. Wrap your arms around my waist and get ready!"

Xu Wenlong "kindly" warned Zhen Jianwu.

"Oh. Okay."

Zhen Jianwu, looking completely bewildered, wrapped his arms tightly around Xu Wenlong's waist.

Once he felt Zhen Jianwu truly holding on, Xu Wenlong twisted the throttle a few more times right there.

Vroom~ vroom~ vroom~ vroom~ vroom~

Finally, he pulled back the foot that had been blocking the motorcycle, and the bike shot forward.

Vroom!

In an instant, it left a deep tire mark on the ground.

"Whoa!"

Xu Wenlong reveled in the lightning-fast speed. He'd wanted to do this for a long time.

Actually, Xu Wenlong could have used the Space-Time Door to teleport them both directly to the Soul Beast Forest.

But, well, Xu Wenlong was also afraid of truly shocking Zhen Jianwu.

Of course, that was just Xu Wenlong's excuse. He had always had a dream.

To race through desolate, uninhabited places—whether on a motorcycle or a sports car, Xu Wenlong wanted to do it.

It was a small dream of his, and of course, only after truly experiencing it did Xu Wenlong realize how exhilarating it was.

Naturally, while Xu Wenlong was having a blast, Zhen Jianwu was suffering.

As soon as the motorcycle started moving, Zhen Jianwu felt the lightning-fast speed. His feet didn't even know where to put them, though luckily, after some searching, they finally found the foot pegs, and he stepped on them with relief.

At first, Zhen Jianwu closed his eyes in fear, but later he discovered that with the helmet on, he could only hear some wind noise and feel the wind brushing past his body.

After the initial fear, Zhen Jianwu slowly opened his eyes, and then he fell in love with the feeling.

This proved that no matter the world, a man's romance is ultimately universal.

But up ahead, Xu Wenlong started to feel puzzled.

"Why does it feel like something's missing?"

Xu Wenlong furrowed his brows. He always felt like something was missing, and something very important at that.

"Oh, right!"

Xu Wenlong suddenly recalled something and finally found what was missing.

But indeed, without this thing, it was like losing the soul entirely.

And so, the Great Shocker System began to respond.

"Congratulations to the host for finding the missing soul. The system specially presents a soul as a gift!"

"Host, do you wish to install?"

"Yes or no?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Xu Wenlong nodded repeatedly.

"Installing... installation successful!"

In less than a second, the installation was complete, and soon a few lines of large text appeared on the side of Xu Wenlong's motorcycle.

At that moment, Zhen Jianwu also noticed this.

Seeing something that hadn't been on the vehicle before, Zhen Jianwu curiously read it out in a low voice.

"Original work, Shotaro Ishi... nomori?"

"No, it should be like this."

Xu Wenlong, without turning his head, corrected Zhen Jianwu's mistake.

"It should be read like this!"

"Original work: Shotaro Ishinomori!"

"Oh!"

Zhen Jianwu suddenly understood. Though he didn't know what "original work" meant or who Shotaro Ishinomori was, he still felt the greatness of that person.

And so, the two chatted in fragments like this, relying on a speed far beyond this era's standards. Setting out in the morning, they arrived at the Soul Beast Forest by evening.

What comforted Xu Wenlong was that, from start to finish, Zhen Jianwu never asked him about the Space-Time Door or the motorcycle.

When they were almost at the Soul Beast Forest, Xu Wenlong put away the motorcycle. After all, now wasn't the time to be too flashy.

Because before entering the Soul Beast Forest, there was a small town that every such forest had.

Here, all kinds of merchants and soul-hunting teams gathered.

In this place, you could hire people to help you obtain a soul ring, or buy many tools for dealing with soul beasts, as well as find lodging and such.

Of course, all of this required one thing: money. And it wasn't cheap—nothing a Work-Study Student barely scraping by on odd jobs could afford.

And even if you could get a month's worth of gold coins from Martial Soul Hall after obtaining a soul ring, that was still far from enough.