Looking Down on Others

Three days later.

Old Jack took Tang San and Tang Jiu out of Holy Spirit Village and headed for Nuoding City.

Tang San traveled light, while Tang Jiu carried an enormous bundle stuffed with dried pork.

He also held a large War Hammer. Old Jack laughed. "You're going to school, and you're bringing this much meat?"

"Meat in the city is so expensive! Have some too, it's delicious!" Tang Jiu had already started treating Thousand-Year Spirit Beast Meat as a snack. He handed Old Jack a piece.

As Old Jack ate the meat, he asked, "Do you have your tuition?"

"Yep, my dad gave it to me!"

Old Jack nearly choked. In disbelief, he said, "You're paying tuition to go to school, while Xiao San is going as a Work-Study Student? Tang Hao is really something! Which one of you was actually picked up?"

Tang San truly wanted to say, I was!

Along the way, Old Jack told Tang Jiu and Tang San everything he knew.

"Junior academies only teach basic things. They only accept children who have just awakened their martial spirits, and the program lasts six years. By the age of twelve, you can graduate after obtaining one Soul Ring. If you obtain two Soul Rings, you can enter an intermediate Soul Master Academy.

"Xiao San, Little Jiu, although you both have Innate Full Soul Power, your martial spirits are Blue Silver Grass and an egg. Grandpa Jack isn't asking much of you. If you can cultivate to the next rank and obtain two Soul Rings, you'll bring glory to Holy Spirit Village!"

"As for advanced Soul Master Academies, it'll probably be difficult for you to get in. After all, only the two great empires on the continent have advanced Soul Master Academies, and together they enroll fewer than a hundred students each year."

Old Jack reminded them, "You can obtain your first two Soul Rings with the help of other Soul Masters, but from the third onward, you'll have to rely on yourselves. Be careful in the future, and don't offend people you can't afford to provoke!"

Old Jack lectured them all the way there. Before long, the three arrived at the entrance to Nuoding Academy, only to be stopped by the gatekeeper as they prepared to enter.

"What are you doing here? This isn't a place country people like you can come."

The gatekeeper swept a disdainful glance over the three of them. They wore rough hemp clothes covered in patches, making it obvious that they were from the countryside. The strangest one was Tang Jiu, who carried such a huge bundle and held a War Hammer in his hand. He didn't look like a good person at all.

Old Jack smiled politely. "We're from Holy Spirit Village. Our village has a Work-Study Student spot this year, and there's another child coming to enroll as well."

The gatekeeper looked at them with distaste and sneered, "Can a phoenix really come out of a grass nest? A tiny village produced two children with Soul Power? You aren't impostors, are you?"

"And this one is even more ridiculous. Dressed like that, he's obviously the son of some poor blacksmith, yet he wants to enroll here? Do you know that one year of tuition here is enough for commoners to live on for ten years? Get lost!"

As he listened to the gatekeeper's endless sneers and insults, Old Jack was furious. But being from the countryside, with neither status nor standing, he could only keep smiling and hand over the documents.

"These are certificates issued by Su Yuntao, a Battle Soul Master from Spirit Hall. Please take a look."

The gatekeeper took the two certificates and immediately laughed. "Blue Silver Grass, Innate Full Soul Power. And this one—his martial spirit is an egg!"

"Hahahaha..." The gatekeeper burst into laughter and mocked, "I've been a gatekeeper at this academy for four years, and I've never heard of Innate Full Soul Power. Especially not with one martial spirit being Blue Silver Grass and the other being an egg. I think these certificates from Spirit Hall are forged!"

"You...!"

Old Jack was a man who cared deeply about his pride. Humiliated like this, his face went pale with anger, yet he still bent down to pick up the certificates from the ground.

Tang Jiu stepped forward, helped Old Jack up, and glared at the gatekeeper. "You. Pick those up for me."

"Tch. You look this poor, and you think I'm afraid just because you're carrying a big hammer? Carrying all those bundles, you look like beggars. Why don't you stop calling yourselves Holy Spirit Village and call it Beggar Village instead?" Seeing a child challenge him, the mighty gatekeeper of Nuoding Academy, the gatekeeper's words became increasingly vicious, stabbing right at Old Jack's heart.

"What did you say?"

Old Jack spun around. The gatekeeper's words had struck at his greatest pride. Even Tang Hao would be scolded for half a day if he said the village was no good. Now that this gatekeeper had insulted the village so contemptuously, Old Jack immediately turned back to argue with him.

"You old bastard, you dare attack me!"

The gatekeeper was not afraid of Old Jack. Seeing him charge over angrily, he casually pinned a crime on him, then shoved him without hesitation. Old Jack staggered back several steps. If Tang Jiu had not caught him quickly, he would have fallen straight to the ground.

"You dared to hit Grandpa Jack? You're courting death!"

Tang Jiu steadied Old Jack, then drove a merciless punch into the gatekeeper's stomach, sending him smashing through the gate and flying backward.

Instead of being afraid after being knocked to the ground, the gatekeeper's face twisted viciously. "Kneel before me right now and compensate me with one Gold Soul Coin, or I'll hand you over to the Spirit Hall guard force. I'll say you caused trouble at Nuoding Academy and injured the gatekeeper. I'll make sure you pay dearly!"

Tang Jiu snorted. "Does Spirit Hall belong to your family? You think they'll believe whatever you say?"

"I'm the gatekeeper of Nuoding Academy! If the Spirit Hall guards don't listen to me, will they listen to commoners like you?" The gatekeeper glared furiously at Tang Jiu, already thinking of how to punish them.

"Little Jiu, you were too impulsive!" Old Jack said anxiously, leaning on his cane.

"Grandpa Jack, don't worry. The Spirit Hall guards definitely won't listen to a watchdog!" Tang Jiu said.

"You're still too young." Old Jack shook his head.

"Now you know fear, huh? Kneel and apologize to me, and I might let you suffer a little less!" the gatekeeper sneered.

"Is that so? Do you think your words carry more weight than those of a Soul Master?"

Seeing that Old Jack had been frightened by the man, Tang Jiu stopped hiding it. He immediately summoned his Spirit Ring Spirit. A yellow Soul Ring floated quietly around him, leaving Old Jack completely dumbfounded.

"A—a Soul Master! And a Hundred-Year Soul Ring!"

The gatekeeper's eyes widened, and his face turned deathly pale. He trembled all over in terror. The country bumpkin he had taken for a commoner was actually a one-ring Soul Master!

And his martial spirit was a yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring!

With a thud, he dropped to his knees and begged, "Lord Soul Master, spare me! I was blind and looked down on you!"

Tang Jiu snorted. "I told you to pick up the certificates!"

"Yes, yes, my lord!"

The gatekeeper hurriedly crawled over, picked up the Spirit Hall certificates he had thrown on the ground, carefully wiped them clean with his sleeve, and handed them to Old Jack with a fawning smile. "You are a magnanimous man. Please don't lower yourself to my level!"

"Hmph!" Old Jack snorted and took the certificates. A sense of pride immediately rose in his heart. Look at that—this was the importance of being a Soul Master. Let's see who dared look down on Holy Spirit Village in the future!

"Little Jiu! Is there anything you need Grandpa to help with?" Old Jack now looked at Tang Jiu as though he were his own grandson.

"When you have time, keep urging my dad to earn more money and send it to me!" Tang Jiu said with a grin.

Tang San broke out in a cold sweat. Sure enough, the most favored son was often an ungrateful wretch!

Old Jack wholeheartedly agreed. He happily patted his chest and said, "If your father dares slack off, I'll scold him to death!"

"Then that's settled!" Tang Jiu smiled. Now he could rest easy.

"Old sir, may I take a look at the certificates from Spirit Hall? I'm from this academy." Master, who had been watching from the side for quite some time, finally spoke.

To his eyes, Tang Jiu's Soul Ring was no ordinary Soul Ring. With his vast knowledge, he recognized at once that it was definitely the color of a thousand-year-or-higher Soul Ring. Only one thought remained in his mind: How could that be possible?