Receiving a Gold Soul Coin

"Good, good! Nuoding Academy has produced another genius!"

After his shock subsided, Director Su patted Mo Hui on the shoulder and laughed heartily.

Although Mo Hui had previously displayed a cultivation speed far beyond that of his peers and formidable learning ability, neither was as immediately apparent as a powerful soul skill.

Throughout Director Su's decades of teaching, he had encountered cases of students who cultivated quickly in the early stages but later faded into obscurity.

Some had been unlucky and obtained mediocre soul skills. Some had suffered setbacks after entering an Intermediate Soul Master Academy and fallen into decline. Others had reached the limits of their martial souls, causing their cultivation speed to gradually fall behind their peers.

But after witnessing Mo Hui's first soul skill, Director Su could already foresee the rise of a genius.

A weakened will? Director Su had never seen a student with such firm resolve as Mo Hui. Mo Hui's extreme self-discipline was something not even he, a sixty-year-old man, could achieve, let alone a student.

A poor soul ring? A three-hundred-year Gale Demon Wolf, and such a powerful soul skill at that. Even if Mo Hui's later soul rings were a little worse, it would not matter.

Weak combat ability from his martial soul? Pidgey did not feel any weaker to Director Su than those powerful martial souls.

The only thing that could hold Mo Hui back was the limitation of his Innate Soul Power. But judging by Mo Hui's diligence, becoming a Soul Elder was practically guaranteed. He also had a high chance of becoming a Soul Ancestor, and he might even reach Soul King within his lifetime.

After all, the headmaster of Nuoding Academy was only a level forty-two Soul Ancestor.

"Xiao Hui, congratulations!"

Li Ya also offered her congratulations.

Yet among the three of them, no one was happier than Mo Hui's uncle, Mo Hen. After so many years, his support for Mo Hui had finally borne fruit. A nephew guaranteed to become a Soul Elder, with hopes of becoming a Soul King, allowed him to see the rise of the family.

"It's all thanks to Teacher Li Ya and Director Su. If it weren't for you two, I wouldn't have been able to obtain such a good first soul skill." Mo Hui replied with a smile.

Of course, the person Mo Hui was most grateful to was still his uncle, Mo Hen. Without his uncle, Director Su and Li Ya would never have taken leave to help him obtain a soul ring, much less hunt this three-hundred-and-fifty-year Gale Demon Wolf for him.

Without Mo Hen's full support, the best he could have hoped for was waiting until the academy arranged a group hunt for soul rings. Since the teachers got along reasonably well with him and knew he had some talent, they might have helped him find an ordinary century-old wind-attribute soul beast to absorb. But that would have been all.

Afterward, Mo Hui and the other three rested briefly before setting off on their journey back to Nuoding Academy.

Half a day later, they returned to Nuoding City before curfew.

"Xiao Hui, we'll head back and rest. If you have any questions, come find me on the top floor."

After returning to the dormitory building, Mo Hen and the others parted ways with Mo Hui. Mo Hui then headed toward Dorm 7.

"Mo Hui, you must have obtained your soul ring too, right? Let's have a match!"

The moment Mo Hui pushed open the door to Dorm 7, Tang San eagerly stepped forward. He stared at Pidgey on Mo Hui's shoulder, his eyes brimming with fighting spirit.

After following Yu Xiaogang's guidance and absorbing a four-hundred-year Man-faced Demon Spider soul ring, Tang San was fully confident that he could defeat Mo Hui. Seeing Mo Hui return, he immediately challenged him to a fight.

He wanted to prove that Yu Xiaogang's theories were the best, and that Mo Hui had made an extremely foolish decision by refusing to take Yu Xiaogang as his master.

But when Mo Hui heard Tang San's words, the joy of obtaining his first soul ring instantly vanished.

He even felt a little numb. Why fight? So he could beat Tang San and get lectured by that petty Ghost Douluo again?

Just as Mo Hui was considering how to refuse Tang San, inspiration suddenly struck, and an idea came to mind.

Mo Hui said calmly, "You can challenge me, but first you have to prove that you're qualified to do so. After all, you lost to me before."

Hearing this, Tang San immediately clenched his fists and asked in a low voice, "How do I prove it?"

"It's not difficult!"

Mo Hui pretended to glance around before his gaze settled on Xiao Wu. "If you can defeat her, I'll give you the chance to challenge me."

Tang San definitely would not use hidden weapons against Xiao Wu. And if he did not use hidden weapons, then relying on that useless Blue Silver Grass and his so-called first soul skill, defeating Xiao Wu would not be easy at all.

"Xiao Wu?"

When Mo Hui named Xiao Wu, hesitation appeared on Tang San's face.

Tang San did not really want to fight Xiao Wu. She looked so delicate, and it would be bad if he accidentally hurt her during the battle.

Because Mo Hui had arrived, there had been no fight over who would be boss, so Tang San did not know Xiao Wu's true strength. He only knew that she also possessed Innate Full Soul Power.

But when Xiao Wu heard that, she blinked. "Little San, you're going to fight me? That sounds fun. Come on, hurry up."

"All right, then."

Hearing Xiao Wu say that, Tang San made up his mind. At worst, he would be a little gentler later. With the Tang Sect's precise control over strength, he should not hurt her.

But would things really go as Tang San wished?

"Pidgey~"

A quarter of an hour later, Pidgey watched Mo Hui meditate and cultivate, then let out a bored yawn.

There was no helping it. Tang San had lost to Xiao Wu, so Pidgey never got the chance to take the field.

The next day, at the Nuoding City branch of Spirit Hall.

"Your Soul Power is already level twelve? It seems the age of the first soul ring you absorbed was not low!"

Inside Spirit Hall's testing room, Ma Xiunuo looked at the glow from the Crystal Ball with some amazement.

However, having already seen Tang San directly break through to level thirteen, Ma Xiunuo was not overly surprised. Still, he instinctively extended an invitation to Mo Hui. "Kid, are you really unwilling to join Spirit Hall?"

"Sorry, Grandpa Ma Xiunuo, I don't want to join Spirit Hall for now. Besides, I'm already studying at Nuoding Academy."

Mo Hui shook his head and declined the invitation.

"Ah, what a pity!"

Hearing that, Ma Xiunuo sighed. Since Mo Hui had already enrolled at Nuoding Academy, he could not force him. Besides, he did not have enough to offer him.

A short while later, when Mo Hui emerged from the Nuoding City branch of Spirit Hall, he had an additional badge in his hand, forged by Spirit Hall specifically to prove his identity as a soul master, as well as a Gold Soul Coin.

Mo Hui's eyes lit up as he looked at that Gold Soul Coin. At last, he had received the subsidy granted to soul masters.

The expense of cultivation had exceeded his expectations. After more than a year, his two and a half Gold Soul Coins had nearly been used up. If he could not receive Spirit Hall's subsidy, he would have to ask Mo Hen for living expenses.

"Only level twelve as a soul master?"

Recalling the scene of testing at level twelve just now, Mo Hui could not help sighing. "It seems that when I absorb soul rings in the future, I should still look for ones with higher ages."

It was only one level, but it had saved Mo Hui at least several months of cultivation. Cultivating after becoming a soul master was nowhere near as easy as it had been before level ten. Previously, Mo Hui could raise seven levels in one year and three months, but now, gaining three levels in the same amount of time would already be quite good.

Furthermore, after this attempt, many of Mo Hui's former concerns had eased considerably.

In the past, Mo Hui had not really dared to absorb soul rings beyond his level like characters in other novels did. He feared that absorbing too much energy from a soul ring would cause him to explode and die.

When Mo Hui read novels in his previous life, one particular scene had remained deeply etched in his memory. The male protagonist and a little squirrel discovered a spiritual fruit tree at the same time. After the protagonist ate one spiritual fruit, he entered the Qi Refining stage, began his path of cultivation, and retained his youthful appearance forever. Yet the little squirrel merely took one bite of the same spiritual fruit and exploded on the spot.

Even after transmigrating, Mo Hui had never believed himself to be the chosen one. He was more likely to be that little squirrel, someone who could lose his life with one careless mistake.

That was why Mo Hui had always acted with great caution. He never did anything he was not confident about.

But this experience had put Mo Hui at ease. During the process of absorbing the soul ring, he had not felt any turbulence at all. He had experienced similar sensations hundreds of times over the past year; this time had merely been a little more intense.

Mo Hui even felt that even if the Gale Demon Wolf's age had been increased by another one or two hundred years, it would not have posed any threat to him.

Thinking of this, Mo Hui silently thought:

It seems I can be bolder with my next soul ring.