Xiao Ze's Anti-Hao Plan

"It's soul power."

"Soul power?" Xiao Ze froze.

"Yes, that's right. Both of your crops possess soul power, though not much. But your rice and wheat probably have special effects."

Principal Xiao spoke seriously.

"I understand."

Principal Xiao patted Xiao Ze on the shoulder. "Whatever those effects may be, you must keep them secret."

"Mm."

On the way back, Xiao Ze secretly ate a grain of wheat and rice raw.

An invisible force flowed into every part of his body.

"So that's how it is."

Xiao Ze suddenly understood. They really did have special effects.

Wheat increased the speed of soul power cultivation. Although the effect was not obvious, that was only because its quality was low. If he ate it every day, the effects would accumulate over time.

Perhaps his cultivation speed could even surpass Tang San's.

Rice, meanwhile, nourished one's vitality and blood—or in other words, strengthened the body.

It could allow Xiao Ze to obtain Soul Rings with higher age limits.

Both effects were extremely useful.

Xiao Ze was now looking forward to seeing what special effects other crops might have.

But first, he needed to make sure he could eat rice and wheat every day.

Their yields were actually quite high, but there was no rush. He would wait until the Wheat Agricultural Sprite appeared first.

When he returned to the Seventh Dormitory and saw Tang San, Xiao Ze suddenly thought of Tang Hao.

If he wanted to freely eat wheat and rice, Tang Hao was the one person he absolutely had to guard against.

No one else would be able to see their effects.

Even the principal could not tell.

But Tang Hao was a Title Douluo. Perhaps he could see through them.

Given his nature, he would definitely lock Xiao Ze up and force him to continuously produce rice and wheat for Tang San.

Wouldn't that be the end of him?

Besides, there was no such thing as guarding against a thief for a thousand days. Sneaking food over a long period of time would eventually cause problems.

He had to find a way to drive Tang Hao away—or kill him.

For the sake of his farming life, Tang Hao, please die.

Xiao Ze gave Tang San a deep look and began to ponder.

Tang San was utterly baffled by Xiao Ze's stare. He had no idea what it meant, but he had the vague feeling that something bad was about to happen.

The only people capable of dealing with Tang Hao now were those from Spirit Hall.

But how could he make the people of Spirit Hall believe it was real?

The next day.

Holding his report letter, Xiao Ze arrived at Spirit Hall. He looked around and saw no one.

He infused soul power into the sheet of white paper and threw it.

Bang—

Glass shattered, followed by a scream.

The corner of Xiao Ze's mouth twitched as he immediately left.

Tang Hao kept his eyes on Tang San at all times. He would not be watching Xiao Ze; Xiao Ze was not some genius with Innate Full Soul Power.

He was perfectly safe.

Though there had been an element of gambling in this, the fact that nothing had happened meant he had bet correctly.

"I absolutely can't do this again. I need to prioritize caution. This is the last time." Xiao Ze took a deep breath. His heart had been racing just now, and he had been terrified that Tang Hao would discover him.

At that moment, inside Nuoding City's Spirit Hall, Su Yuntao pulled the sheet of white paper off Si Si's cheek.

Si Si was not a powerful Soul Master, nor did she possess a Beast Soul. Her physique was weak, and Xiao Ze's paper had injured her when she was not paying attention.

"Who was it that actually tried to assassinate me with a sheet of paper?!"

Si Si's face was full of fury.

"Su Yuntao!"

"Huh?"

"Hand it over!" Si Si had just tried to snatch the white paper, but Su Yuntao refused.

Si Si froze for a moment. "Su Yuntao, give me the white paper."

"I can't give it to you. There's very important information on it."

"Is it more important than me?"

"Uh..." Su Yuntao hesitated.

"Oh, so you've grown some nerve, Su Yuntao!"

Si Si left immediately.

Su Yuntao sighed but did not go after her.

He continued reading the letter in his hand.

[I am an enthusiastic spirit master, and I discovered traces of Tang Hao in Nuoding City.

Near the Blacksmith Shop in Nuoding City, I repeatedly saw a tall, heavily bearded man. His appearance was extremely similar to Tang Hao on Spirit Hall's wanted notice.

...

I hope Spirit Hall will take my report seriously and dispatch Worshippers to Nuoding City as soon as possible to capture Tang Hao, thereby safeguarding Spirit Hall's authority and the peace of the Spirit Master World.]

Xiao Ze feared that Spirit Hall would not believe it, so he had even explained the grudge between Tang Hao and Spirit Hall.

This included what happened to his wife, Ah Yin, as well as the death of the former Pope, Qian Xunji.

Back then, many spirit masters had no idea what had actually happened.

They only knew that Tang Hao had killed the previous Pope.

That made it seem more credible.

"Whew..." Su Yuntao took several deep breaths, suppressing the shock in his heart.

"So that was how the Pope died."

Su Yuntao felt as though he was about to die.

Still, the fiercely loyal Su Yuntao handed the letter to the Elder of Nuoding City's Spirit Hall.

When the Elder saw the information, he was completely dumbfounded.

Good heavens, the Clear Sky Douluo was in Nuoding City. Wasn't this a death sentence?

"Su Yuntao, this matter is far too serious. I will report it to Spirit Hall. If it is true, I fear I will have to give my position to you."

Su Yuntao gave a bitter smile. Never mind a reward.

With so many old secrets written in there, would I even survive?

The Elder understood Su Yuntao's worries and patted him on the shoulder.

"I can't guarantee anything about this."

"But if Tang Hao really is there, those secrets are nothing. Helping the Pope avenge his death would be an enormous merit."

"I understand."

Over the next period of time, Xiao Ze planted more corn and potatoes.

Corn increased Spirit Power Purity.

As mentioned before, Spirit Power Purity represented the strength of a spirit master's spirit power.

Eating corn could slightly refine one's Spirit Power Purity.

That allowed him to deal more damage with less spirit power.

Though he currently had no offensive abilities.

Suihua did.

Suihua's spirit power was the same as his, and so was its purity.

Moreover, as his Spirit Power Purity rose, even his farming efficiency improved considerably.

As for potatoes, their effect was to restore stamina.

Spirit power and stamina were two different things.

A spirit master might possess spirit power, but without stamina, their combat strength would decline very quickly.

Even releasing spirit power required stamina.

If you were told to shake the floor, could you do it without any stamina?

And stamina gave Xiao Ze more time to train his body.

Letting him push his body even harder.

Xiao Ze had also secretly fed these four crops to Grandpa Xiao.

It was effective even on Soul Kings, though the effect was already negligible.

So if he wanted it to remain useful in the future, he still needed to improve the quality of the Crops.

Which meant improving the quality of the Agricultural Sprites.

Wheat did not even have an Agricultural Sprite yet.

He could only take it slowly.

His martial soul was the snowballing type.

As long as it developed well enough, it would far surpass any Twin Martial Souls or God-Tier Martial Soul.

What? You're strong?

How many divisions do you have?

I have a whole row of Agricultural Sprites.

Meanwhile.

Spirit Hall.

Palace of the Pope.

"Your Holiness the Pope, there is a report from the Spirit Hall branch in Nuoding City. It says it is related to Tang Hao."