A Challenge from the Sea Spirit Brothers

Director Lu and Dean Shui swept their gazes over the somewhat awkward Ji Wuming and said in unison,

"Then let Ji decide for himself whom he wishes to take as his master."

Ji Wuming himself did not know what to do at the moment. Did every powerhouse on the continent feel the urge to take a disciple whenever they saw a slightly talented child?

A good master chose a promising disciple, and a promising disciple also chose a good master. Ji Wuming was not opposed to taking a master. After all, he came from a commoner background. If he could receive the help of a Soul King in his early years, then his next three Soul Rings would be taken care of. However, the Soul Master world had a rule: a person could only acknowledge one master in their lifetime.

Although a Soul King master could guide him in the early stages, the help such a master could provide in the middle and later stages would be quite limited. It might not even be as powerful as his own Fourth or Fifth Soul Skill, and there was only so much such a master could teach him.

Ji Wuming found himself unable to make a choice. Refusing to take a master might damage the relationship between teacher and student, but choosing Dean Shui would inevitably hurt Director Lu's feelings.

Then, Ji Wuming gritted his teeth and stomped his foot. He immediately turned around and ran out at top speed, muttering,

"Too terrifying. This is truly too terrifying. I'm going home."

Director Lu and Dean Shui were both stunned by Ji Wuming's actions. It took them quite a while to recover. With a casual wave of his hand, the dean's office door closed, and fierce arguing could be heard from within.

"Dean, look, you scared Ji away! You should have let me choose first. Don't you understand what it means to respect the young and love the old..."

"Little Lu! I'm a Soul King. In the Soul Master world, strength is supreme. What I possess is not merely knowledge, but abundant combat experience as well. Can you compare to me?"

Only after returning to his dormitory did Ji Wuming finally calm down. He took out every weapon from his Soul Guidance Ring.

Ji Wuming picked up a gleaming, undamaged metal box. As soon as his finger touched the switch on top, the metal box opened, revealing three slender little metal tubes.

"Could this be an offensive Soul Tool?"

Ji Wuming immediately took the Blood Dragon's corpse out of his Soul Guidance Ring. The Blood Dragon was dead, but its scales were incredibly tough, making it perfect for testing the weapon's power.

As Soul Power flowed into it, three streaks of white light shot out from the metal tubes.

Bang...

One of the Blood Flood Dragon's scales was blasted straight off, while several patches of its skin were charred black.

"Damn, the power of this Soul Guidance Ray can even knock off the scales of a mutated Blood Flood Dragon. If it struck a person, it would far surpass an ordinary Soul Grandmaster's long-range Second Soul Skill! This is equivalent to a second-grade Soul Tool from ten thousand years later."

"Could it be that second-grade Soul Tools are already in widespread use on the Sun and Moon Continent?"

Ji Wuming could not help falling into deep thought. Soul Tool technology on Douluo Continent had already been lost to history. Other than a few Storage Soul Guiding Devices, the mainland rarely had any offensive Soul Tools.

Moreover, the vast majority of Soul Tools had been discovered in the ocean and then sold. Or rather, the vast majority of Soul Tools found in the ocean had come from the Sun and Moon Continent.

Even ten thousand years ago, the Sun and Moon Continent's Soul Tool technology was probably not far behind.

Ji Wuming then picked up the last three identical, intact Soul Tools. One of them began emitting a yellow glow that flickered repeatedly.

"Is this a desk lamp?"

A "ding ding—" sound rang out.

"Not right?"

Ji Wuming cried out in alarm. He hurriedly put away the other two Soul Tools, then quickly retreated more than ten meters and raised a bedboard as a shield.

Boom—

The tabletop was blown apart, and flying metal fragments scattered in every direction, leaving the entire dormitory in a complete mess.

"This, this really is a Soul Power Bomb!"

Ji Wuming stared in shock at the metal fragments embedded in the walls and bedboard, then shook his head.

"The power is just too weak. It's probably not even as strong as some close-combat First Soul Skills."

Ji Wuming looked at the Soul Tools scattered across the floor and helplessly shook his head. He was not about to be like Tang San and abandon his excellent cultivation talent to study Soul Tools like Hidden Weapons, wasting his golden period of cultivation in the process.

Besides, he knew nothing about making Soul Tools, and the Soul Tools he had obtained were currently too low-grade. Even if he made them, their power would definitely be no match for Hidden Weapons.

Soul Tools could be researched, but this was absolutely not the time.

After thinking it through, Ji Wuming immediately put away all the Soul Tools present. Looking over the dormitory, he could not help sighing.

"Ugh, I still have to clean this up myself!"

Soon after the dormitory had been cleaned, its door was kicked open.

"Ji Wuming, I heard Director Lu successfully helped you obtain your First Soul Ring. The two of us want to spar with you. Do you dare?"

The newcomers were none other than the fourth-year Sea Spirit Brothers, Hai Bai and Hai Gui. As well-known wealthy young masters of Vast Sea City, they were practically schoolyard tyrants at the academy. Whenever someone displeased them, they would drag that person to the Duel Pool for a one-on-one match.

According to many students, the Sea Spirit Brothers intended to defeat every Soul Master in the academy who possessed a Soul Ring. They had already been doing this for over a month. Ji Wuming had not expected them to challenge him the moment he returned from hunting Soul Beasts.

"Fine, I accept your challenge. But there has to be a wager..."

Ji Wuming rubbed his thumb and middle finger together in a gesture for money.

"Gold Soul Coins are no problem. If you can win, we brothers will give you all of our living expenses for the next half year—nearly five hundred Gold Soul Coins."

"No, I don't want Gold Soul Coins. I heard your Hai Family runs a large fishing business. I want forty jin of Whale Rubber, or an equal weight of Soul Beast meat. The older the better."

The Sea Spirit Brothers stared brightly at Ji Wuming. Then they exchanged glances and mocked,

"Ji Wuming, we didn't expect you to have that kind of fetish. Has your body even fully developed yet?"

Ji Wuming shot them both a glare and said with some anger, "Agree to this wager, and I'll fight you. If you don't agree, compensate me for damaging the door, then see yourselves out."

"Fine, we'll take the bet. If we lose, we'll give you Whale Rubber. But if we win, what will you give us?"

In response to Hai Bai's question, Ji Wuming answered without hesitation, "If I lose, I'll compensate you with Gold Soul Coins of equal market value."

"Fine. See you at the Duel Pool in an hour."

The Sea Spirit Brothers immediately headed for the Duel Pool behind the dormitory building and had their lackeys spread word of the match.

Today was the academy's weekly free cultivation day. Whether they were upper-year or lower-year students, once they heard that Ji Wuming was going to fight the Sea Spirit Brothers, they all rushed over to watch the excitement.

"Have you heard? That weirdo who carries a Rusty Spear all day just came back after obtaining a Soul Ring, and he's already going to fight the brothers Hai Bai and Hai Gui."

"The Hai Bai brothers have never lost in the past month of challenges. Even the strongest sixth-year students can't beat them. A mere Rusty Spear Tool Martial Soul wants to defeat the Sea Spirit Brothers? What wishful thinking."

"Yeah. Don't be fooled by the fact that they only have one Soul Ring. Their Martial Soul Fusion Skill—Water Spout—is incredibly powerful."

More and more students gathered by the Duel Pool. They all wanted to see with their own eyes exactly how quickly Ji Wuming, that weirdo, would be defeated by the Sea Spirit Brothers' Martial Soul Fusion Skill.