Set a Small Goal First (Please Bookmark!!!)

That was a Vitality Rat.

Compared to ordinary rats, Vitality Rats were much larger. This one, with two complete rings of markings and a full two hundred years of cultivation, was nearly as big as Su Wen!

The Vitality Rat's traits were fairly ordinary—it could store Soul Power, and among Soul Beasts of the same cultivation level, its total Soul Power reserves were considered above average.

This trait was highly compatible with Old Jerry's Sweet Potato Martial Soul.

Of course, the most important thing was that Su Wen was confident he could kill this Vitality Rat.

He might not have been confident against other Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, but Vitality Rats were different.

Especially here on the outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest, where he could fight without holding back.

Su Wen summoned his Martial Soul. One Book Page after another separated and folded into tiny swords that revolved around him, ready to fire at any time to prevent the Vitality Rat from escaping.

Of course, seeing that Su Wen and Old Jerry were just a child and an old man, the Vitality Rat had no intention of running either.

One word: Fight!

Gripping his long spear tightly, Su Wen charged forward.

"This kid... he doesn't have a Tool Martial Soul, so using any other weapon won't give him a boost!" Old Jerry watched with some concern.

However, he soon no longer needed to worry.

When Su Wen's staff came down, it did not knock the Vitality Rat back, but it matched the beast blow for blow.

"He's that strong?" Old Jerry's eyes widened.

Did becoming a Soul Master make someone this powerful just by picking up a weapon?

As for the paper swords floating and spinning around Su Wen, Old Jerry paid them no mind.

After all, they had not played any role in that earlier clash.

Soul Power circulated within Su Wen's body.

There were countless Meridians in the human body. Thanks to his innate talent, Su Wen did not need to slowly use Soul Power to probe their locations and paths bit by bit.

He could explore, with maximum efficiency, the effects and speed of circulating Soul Power through each Meridian and along various routes.

Besides developing a complete Circulatory Cycle as internal energy, Su Wen had also worked out several Soul Power circulation paths. When paired with specific attacks, they could unleash greater force and stack with the strength gained from simply reinforcing his body with Soul Power.

Soul Power strengthening the body and unleashing greater force was Soul Power augmentation.

Soul Power flowing through the Meridians, complementing the body's movements and erupting along with the force of a Soul Master's attack, was another layer of added power.

On top of that, Su Wen himself coordinated the strength of his entire body. With every move, he tried his best to mobilize all of his strength and make it work together, unleashing the greatest possible force.

With all these factors combined, the power Su Wen could unleash was not something ordinary Soul Masters could match.

Of course, a Soul Master's basic physical fitness was still crucial. Su Wen had never neglected training in that area, either.

With an iron staff in hand, Su Wen's battle with the Vitality Rat grew increasingly fierce.

"This is what a real fight feels like!"

Su Wen realized that he quite liked this kind of close-quarters brawling.

Unfortunately, his Martial Soul was a Book Martial Soul. He was destined not to walk this path all the way to the end.

That would be unwise.

The paper swords whirling around him continuously stabbed at the Vitality Rat during Su Wen's battle, leaving wound after wound across its body.

With close combat combined with the damage dealt by the paper swords around him, Su Wen clearly held the upper hand.

"This..."

Watching Su Wen battle the Vitality Rat while simultaneously controlling more than a dozen tiny paper swords to attack it, Old Jerry was already dumbfounded.

Wasn't Xiao Wen's Martial Soul a Book Martial Soul?

And how was he controlling so many paper swords at once?

Also, he was fighting a Hundred-Year Soul Beast in close quarters! Wasn't he afraid that a single lapse would let it find an opening?

The longer Su Wen fought, the more excited he became.

This kind of battle really did get his blood boiling.

"My Spiritual Power is far stronger than that of ordinary Soul Masters."

After advancing to Soul Master, his Martial Soul developed new traits, and Su Wen became certain that his Martial Soul possessed talent in the Mental Attribute.

And that was indeed the case.

As a transmigrator, he already possessed powerful Spiritual Power. With the additional boost from his Martial Soul, his Spiritual Power had grown rapidly as his body developed.

As a Soul Master's body developed and their Soul Power cultivation improved, their Spiritual Power would also receive a certain degree of feedback and increase.

Su Wen had arrived in this world with powerful Spiritual Power. With the feedback from his physical development and Soul Power cultivation, his already formidable Spiritual Power grew even faster.

Combined with his deliberate training—continuously practicing fine control over large numbers of paper swords—his Spiritual Power improved at a rapid pace.

The Vitality Rat felt that the child before it was far too strange.

It wanted to run.

Unfortunately, Su Wen's Paper Swords, fired from afar, always hindered the Vitality Rat's attempts to flee.

"Grandpa, you need to finish it yourself before you can absorb its Soul Ring."

The Vitality Rat had already been tormented by Su Wen until it was on its last breath.

It wanted to kill itself, but Su Wen happened to know its methods of suicide inside and out, and cut off that possibility with his Paper Swords.

Old Jerry took the dagger from Su Wen and plunged it into the Vitality Rat's exposed chest.

A yellow Soul Ring slowly rose.

"Grandpa, absorb it quickly," Su Wen reminded him.

Old Jerry took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement as he began drawing in the Soul Ring as Su Wen had instructed.

"My strength is already comparable to that of many Soul Grandmasters, but even that isn't enough."

As Su Wen kept watch, he also reflected on himself.

"The Paper Sword tactics will stop being effective after the Soul King stage. They're only useful for my early battles. Even by the Soul Elder stage, I should start developing new tactics."

Spiritual Power was another path Su Wen could think of where he could temporarily stay ahead of others.

Once he strengthened himself in that regard, he would not need to worry about lacking power during the Soul Grandmaster stage.

At the Soul Elder stage, he could consider shifting toward the Magic Book. With his foundation, he would not need to worry about insufficient power either.

"No matter what, I have to raise my strength quickly. My Soul Power cultivation cannot fall behind, and neither can my combat ability."

He was already two years older than Tang San. Yet because of the gap between their innate martial souls, Su Wen had wasted more than two years and had become a Soul Master far later than Tang San.

However, relying on his mind and his study of theory, turning knowledge into power, Su Wen quickly caught up and reached Level 20 at the same time as Tang San.

"Tang Hao must die, and I have to kill him with my own hands. Then I can't be weaker than Tang San!"

Even if he secretly killed Tang Hao, after taking revenge, he still needed the strength to withstand Tang San's retaliation.

Therefore, he absolutely could not fall behind Tang San.

"Not only can I not fall behind him—I'm already two years older than him."

For the time being, Su Wen had no plans to use Spirit Hall to hunt Tang San down.

Setting aside the source of the intelligence and whether it could be carried out, there was still the question of whether the goal could even be achieved.

Did Bibi Dong want to kill Tang Hao?

Was Tang Hao truly at the end of his rope?

He had lasted until seventy, eighty, even ninety years later in the Original Work. At this stage, Tang Hao could definitely still unleash terrifying strength.

Revealing his information to Spirit Hall would only create a prolonged stalemate. In other words, Tang Hao would flee everywhere while Spirit Hall hunted him down everywhere.

The already tense situation on the continent would explode at the slightest spark.

How was Su Wen supposed to develop peacefully then?

Stability was the true path.

The original plot was Su Wen's greatest source of confidence.

"What if the original plot changes, and Tang San reaches the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well earlier than in the Original Work?"

Without Immortal Herbs, if Su Wen wanted to defy fate and change his destiny, he could only constantly worry about his talent and tirelessly work toward improving it.

That would delay things too much.

Before obtaining Immortal Herbs, he would let everything develop according to the original plot.

"First, let's set a small goal: catch up on the two-year gap in Soul Power cultivation!"

Reaching Level 20 at the same time just because he was two years older?

That would not do.

"Soul King. Let's set the goal at the Soul King stage for now."

I will become a Soul King two years before Tang San!

And that effectively meant Su Wen had to become a Soul King before the Soul Master Competition.

Six years, from Level 20 to Level 50—Su Wen might have gone mad.

"Knowledge is power. So I need to quickly find knowledge that, once put into practice, can rapidly translate into faster Soul Power cultivation!"