Testing Skills

By the official road.

A rundown tea stall.

A few rickety wooden tables and battered stools creaked under the wind as though they could collapse at any moment.

Han Yuchen sat there.

On his shoulder, the tiny snow-white Star Fox curiously surveyed its surroundings with emerald eyes, occasionally pawing at his hair with its little claws.

At the next table, several burly mercenaries spoke without restraint about topics merchants dared not discuss.

Their voices were so loud, it was as if they feared people ten miles away might not hear them.

A bearded man, his face still full of admiration and excitement, slapped the table, making the bowls and plates clatter.

"You lot haven't been to Star Dou Town! Good heavens, have you heard the hottest rumor going around town lately?"

"What rumor? Isn't it just that bunch of unlucky fools from the Gao Family picked a fight with the wrong people and got crippled?" a lanky man said dismissively.

"The wrong people? That was a damn diamond drill given human form!"

The bearded man's eyes widened like brass bells.

"I'm telling you, that Hat Guest wasn't human."

He lowered his voice, making himself seem even more mysterious.

"I heard from a brother who escaped the forest that Gao Yan, that Soul Ancestor from the Gao Family, was level thirty-nine! His martial soul was even a Flame Lion! But guess what happened?"

He deliberately left them hanging.

"What happened?" His companions took the bait as expected.

"One move!"

The bearded man held up one thick finger.

"Just one damn move! That lord merely moved a finger, and Gao Yan got pierced through the chest by a water blade. He was crippled on the spot! He didn't even have time to summon his martial soul!"

Hiss—

A chorus of sharp breaths came from the neighboring table.

Han Yuchen held his teacup as steadily as a rock.

His heart was utterly unmoved. He even felt like laughing.

Crippled Gao Yan in one move?

No, I remember arguing with him for a while first.

These rumors are starting to get interesting.

Another mercenary, his face scarred, clearly had even more explosive insider information. He leaned in with lingering fear written all over his face.

"That's nothing! I heard it from our boss Meng Li. Later, the earth shook, you know? The entire Star Dou Town felt it!"

"An ancient beast at the ten-thousand-year level crawled out from underground!"

"A ten-thousand-year beast?!"

"My god! Then what happened? Was Boss Meng Li and the others alright?"

"Alright? They were better than alright!"

The scar-faced man looked proud, as if he shared in the glory.

"Guess what happened? That giant beast, the kind that could flatten mountains, saw that Hat Guest lord..."

He paused, each word seeming to squeeze out through clenched teeth.

"It knelt on the spot!"

"It really knelt! Its head hit the ground, obedient as a little dog!"

This time, even the tea stall owner was dumbfounded. The rag in his hand fell to the ground.

Han Yuchen nearly sprayed out a mouthful of tea.

Pfft.

Kneeling?

Earth Dragon King, did you hear that? They said you knelt before me.

If the Earth Dragon King knew its mighty image had been twisted into this, it would probably be so angry that it crawled out of the ground again.

The third mercenary, who had remained silent all along and looked rather shrewd, glanced around before dropping the ultimate bombshell in an even lower voice.

"That's still nothing."

"I heard that beneath that Hat Guest's hat was actually a rather young boy!"

"And beside him was a divine fox, snow-white from head to toe!"

Whoosh!

Everyone's eyes instinctively swept toward Han Yuchen... and the Star Fox on his shoulder.

Snow-white.

Fox.

Boy.

Han Yuchen's heart skipped a beat.

Fortunately, his current sickly appearance was simply too deceptive.

The mercenaries only glanced at him before automatically ruling him out.

How could a Sickly Child without even a trace of Soul Power fluctuations possibly be that godlike figure?

The shrewd mercenary continued.

"The most ruthless part was that after that lord left, the Gao Family refused to accept it and sent another group into the forest for revenge. In the end... not a single one came out alive!"

"Not even bones remained!"

Good grief.

Han Yuchen could no longer hold it together.

These rumors are updating faster than I can keep up with them.

I clearly only crippled them. How did it become a total wipeout?

And not even bones remained?

Was I really that brutal?

He lowered his head and complained to the little creature on his shoulder in a voice only he could hear.

"Star Fox, hear that? You're a divine beast now. Quite the status you've got."

"Chirp?"

The Star Fox seemed to understand. Its emerald eyes filled with pride, and it even puffed out its tiny chest in a very humanlike manner.

Its fluffy tail swept back and forth across Han Yuchen's cheek, making him itch.

As if it were saying: Of course. This divine beast is just that impressive!

Han Yuchen helplessly pressed down its little head.

After finishing the last mouthful of tea that tasted like dishwater, he made up his mind.

The Hat Guest identity was getting a little too hot to handle.

Its reputation was too great, too conspicuous.

If he kept using it, Spirit Hall might even send people to investigate his background.

The tallest tree catches the most wind. Staying quiet and getting rich was the proper way.

He had to keep a low profile. He might as well weld that principle onto his forehead.

He stood up and silently pressed a copper soul coin beneath his bowl.

While the mercenaries were still fiercely debating whether the Hat Guest was a Soul Sage or a Titled Douluo, he had already left the tea stall with the Star Fox and quietly slipped into the empty forest beside the road.

Deep in the forest, ancient trees towered overhead, and everything was silent.

This was the perfect place to test his new skills.

Han Yuchen stood before a gigantic ancient tree that would require three people to encircle it, his gaze calm.

With a thought.

His second soul ring, a deep black halo, suddenly lit up!

Sword Dance!

Hum.

A strange sensation rose within him.

An invisible, razor-sharp force field seemed to form around his body.

A nearly imperceptible pale golden phantom of sword qi flashed across the surface of his body.

His attack level rose.

He did not stop and continued channeling Soul Power.

Hum.

A second phantom of sword qi stacked atop the first, its light becoming slightly more solid.

Hum.

A third... then a fourth...

As time passed, more and more phantoms of sword qi continuously stacked together.

Han Yuchen could clearly feel the offensive power within his body rising crazily at a terrifying geometric rate!

It felt like constantly increasing the pressure inside a V8 engine, again and again!

As though he could unleash a world-destroying punch the very next second!

Not bad.

A pretty good skill.

If he kept it bottled up and unleashed something huge on his opponent at the critical moment, it would definitely feel amazing.

The only drawback was that the stacking time was a little long. He would need to find the right opportunity.

He dispelled Sword Dance and turned his gaze toward a massive boulder the size of a millstone some distance away.

Then, time to try the other one.

Earth Dragon Armor!

Boom!

Soul Power surged.

A layer of ferocious dark-red scales, as though formed from cooled lava, instantly covered his entire body!

Dark patterns like flowing magma ran across the scales, brimming with explosive power.

A heavy, domineering aura naturally radiated from him.

At that moment, he resembled a humanoid ancient earth dragon.

He slowly raised his right fist, covered in scales, and threw an utterly ordinary punch at the boulder.

There was no external release of Soul Power, no earth-shattering display.

Only pure physical strength.

Bang!

A dull thud sounded.

The boulder did not move in the slightest.

Not even a crack appeared on its surface.

Yet Han Yuchen drew back his fist with satisfaction.

He turned and walked a few steps away.

Behind him.

Crash—!

The seemingly intact boulder suddenly appeared to lose all support.

It collapsed from within.

It did not shatter into chunks of stone. Instead, it directly collapsed into a pile of fine stone powder, as though it had been crushed hundreds of millions of times!

A gust of wind blew past, scattering the powder and leaving behind only a shallow pit.

Earth Pulse.

Molten Burn.

Attack and defense in one, with a shockwave effect on top of that.

Perfect.

In the future, he would also be able to take a beating better while pretending to be weak.

Several days later.

A city far more magnificent and prosperous than Nuoding City appeared at the end of the horizon.

Its towering walls, broad moat, and endless streams of people all displayed the city's status.

Suotuo City.

The city of soul masters.

The map Master had given him and the casual conversations he had overheard at the relay stations automatically came together in Han Yuchen's mind.

Shrek Academy was nearby.

This was also the final major supply point before heading there.

Before entering the city, he found an empty corner and skillfully changed back into his plainest cloth clothes.

The Star Fox was tucked into a specially made pocket, with only its little head exposed as it curiously looked around.

The harmless Sickly Child was back online.

He recalled the rumor he had heard at the relay station.

Shrek Academy only accepted monsters.

And this round of admissions seemed to involve Spirit Hall as well.

They were looking for someone special.

Interesting.

I should wade into these muddy waters.

He entered Suotuo City.

The bustling streets, the dazzling array of shops, and the Soul Masters hurrying past with their varied auras all struck him as novel.

The number and caliber of Soul Masters here truly could not compare to a beginner village like Nuoding City.

Quite a few people wore exquisite Soul Tools at their waists, clearly not cheap goods.

His gaze was eventually drawn to the most conspicuous and grandest building in the city center.

It was a massive circular structure, sprawling over a vast area and blazing with lights. Even in broad daylight, he could feel the clamor and fervor rushing toward him.

Four large gilded characters, written in bold, sweeping strokes, hung from the top of the building.

Soto Grand Soul Arena.

Han Yuchen came to a stop.

He looked up at the magnificent structure, the corners of his lips uncontrollably lifting into an amused curve.

I heard this is the best place to test one's strength.

And the fastest place to make money.

More importantly... the fastest place to make a name for oneself and draw attention.

He narrowed his eyes, and an imperceptible gleam flashed in them, like a hunter eyeing his prey.

I wonder if this "monster" of mine is qualified enough?

Can I catch any fish?