Six years had passed. Zhang Yang, Tang San, and Xiao Wu had successfully graduated from Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.
Over those six years, there had been plenty of laughter, as well as many unforgettable and profound memories.
Among them, what left the deepest impression on Zhang Yang was that he had completely lost his final memories of the novel Douluo Continent.
After all, that novel had finished when Zhang Yang was in his first year of middle school, a full twenty-four years ago.
Not even an immortal's brain could remember the contents of an online novel from twenty-four years ago, right?
Six years had passed. Zhang Yang, who had only been 1.3 meters tall back then, had now grown to over 1.7 meters. He looked nothing like a twelve-year-old boy.
But seeing that Tang San was already 1.7 meters tall as well, Zhang Yang did not think much of it.
After waving goodbye to their parents, Zhang Yang, Tang San, and Xiao Wu set off for Suotuo City in the Balak Kingdom. Master had recommended Shrek Academy, which was located outside Suotuo City, to Tang San and Zhang Yang.
Although Master had only recommended that Zhang Yang and Tang San attend that academy, Xiao Wu did not want to be separated from Tang San, so she came along as well.
The three set out from Nuoding City and headed southeast. After traveling for more than ten days, they finally arrived in Suotuo City two days before the academy's enrollment date.
Now that they had reached Suotuo City, Shrek Academy was not far away.
Having relaxed, the three decided to find a hotel and rest first. Whatever came next could wait until tomorrow.
Following the crowd, they had not walked for long before Xiao Wu spotted a rather distinctive hotel.
The hotel was styled like a blooming rose, making it quite eye-catching. Its name also suited the theme perfectly: the Rose Hotel.
"Rose Hotel. Xiao San, Zhang Yang, let's stay here," Xiao Wu said, pointing at it.
Zhang Yang folded his arms. "Whatever."
Tang San had no objections either, so the three entered the hotel together.
Breathing in the faint scent of roses, they arrived at the front desk. Tang San, who usually handled outside matters among the three, spoke up. "Please get us two rooms."
The receptionist looked at Zhang Yang, then Tang San, then Xiao Wu. A meaningful look of you guys sure know how to have fun appeared in his eyes. "Sorry, sir, we only have one room left."
"One room?" Zhang Yang frowned and tapped the front desk. "Kid, who are you trying to fool? Hurry up and see if there are any rooms with canceled reservations. I don't want to sleep in the same room as those two."
"Hey, Zhang! What do you mean by that? I'm naturally gorgeous. Is sleeping in the same room as me such a hardship for you?" Xiao Wu jumped up and bared her teeth at Zhang Yang.
"No, Boss Zhang just isn't used to sleeping in the same room as someone who serves tea and pours water." Zhang Yang reached out and pressed down the jumping Xiao Wu, making Tang San reveal a faint smile.
"Oh, reservations..." The newly hired receptionist finally realized that he had not checked the reservation records.
After going through the reservation information again, the receptionist gave a bitter smile. "Well, now there really is only one room left."
Raising his head, the receptionist helplessly said to Zhang Yang, "Sorry, sir. There are no cancellation records for the reserved rooms. We really only have one room left."
"..." Zhang Yang could not help rubbing his forehead. Damn it, why did I have to remind him?
"But please don't worry. Our rooms are quite large. There's absolutely no problem with three people sleeping in one."
"Forget it, we'll take that room." Xiao Wu instructed the receptionist to handle the paperwork, then said to Zhang Yang and Tang San, "One room is fine. We're cultivating at night anyway."
"It seems that's the only option." Tang San nodded.
Everyone had already grown accustomed to replacing sleep with cultivation. After all, they were all peerless geniuses, one in ten thousand, and under Master's teachings, they understood that the slow bird had to start flying early.
At that moment, the hotel manager happened to enter the lobby from the back. His feet seemed to be riding the wind as he swiftly passed Zhang Yang's group and greeted three people who had just entered the hotel.
"Young Master Dai, you're here. Red Ocean has been kept for you, on the inner side of the third floor. I'll take you there." The hotel manager, with three layers of swim rings around his waist, bowed deeply and treated this "Young Master Dai" with great respect.
Tang San studied him curiously and discovered that this Young Master Dai had naturally occurring double pupils.
Zhang Yang and Xiao Wu, however, were focused on something else.
"Twins? Hmph, men." Xiao Wu curled her lip, inwardly despising that blond scumbag.
Clearly, Young Master Dai had heard Xiao Wu muttering to herself. However, he had heard similar remarks countless times since being with the twin sisters, so Xiao Wu's words caused no reaction. The two groups went upstairs separately.
In truth, Zhang Yang had already vaguely guessed it when he saw the hotel's name, and the room's decor confirmed his suspicion.
"So it really is a love hotel." Zhang Yang rubbed his cheeks, wiping away the embarrassment on his face.
Xiao Wu slept on the Heart-shaped Bed in the inner room, while Zhang Yang and Tang San sat cross-legged on the sofa and cultivated through the night.
After breakfast, Xiao Wu saw that Zhang Yang and Tang San were preparing to cultivate for the entire day again, so she hurried over to stir things up. "Xiao San, don't stay cooped up in the room. Come out and have some fun with me, okay?"
Tang San looked at Xiao Wu and smiled indulgently. "I'm not like you. You're extraordinarily gifted, and your strength keeps improving even without much cultivation. We can only start early and work hard."
"But you need to balance work and rest too. Didn't you cultivate all night already? You should rest for a while." Xiao Wu pouted unhappily and tugged Tang San's arm as she pleaded.
"Then..." Tang San looked at Zhang Yang, then at Xiao Wu, somewhat tempted.
"I think Xiao Wu is right. You still need to balance work and rest. But I'm not going. Over these two months of vacation, you've already pulled far ahead of me."
During the two months of vacation, because of his parents, Zhang Yang had only been able to find time to cultivate at night. When he checked, he found that he was at Level 28 and had fallen a whole level behind Tang San.
"Alright." Tang San nodded.
Because of the Mysterious Heaven Technique, Tang San cultivated much faster than Zhang Yang. Even though Tang San had to work every afternoon, Zhang Yang still could not leave him behind in Soul Power Level.
Over the two months of vacation, Tang San had plenty of time to cultivate every day, while Zhang Yang could only cultivate at night. Naturally, a gap had formed.
Although Zhang Yang did not say it aloud, Tang San and Xiao Wu had both noticed how hard he had been cultivating these past few days.
Xiao Wu smiled. "What are you afraid of, Zhang Yang? Your Soul Skills are so overpowered. Even if you fall three or five levels behind us, the two of us still wouldn't be your match working together."
"But they're only low-level Soul Skills. Once we reach higher levels, low-level Soul Skills won't be nearly as useful." Zhang Yang shook his head. He knew to be prepared for danger in times of peace.
Xiao Wu dragged Tang San out to shop, while Zhang Yang continued cultivating cross-legged in the room.
As Zhang Yang was being trained by Master as an Assault Type Battle Soul Master, his Second Soul Ring was supposed to grant a strength-based Soul Skill according to the plan. Therefore, the Soul Beast they hunted was a Great Strength Gorilla, whose attack power was no weaker than that of an ordinary Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
For that, Master had even brought along a friend of his who was the principal of Nuoding Academy to help Zhang Yang and Tang San hunt Soul Beasts.
But Borsalino said that he had different ideas regarding Zhang Yang's Soul Skill.
Thus, Zhang Yang's Second Soul Skill changed from the strength-type Soul Skill that a Great Strength Gorilla was guaranteed to drop into Flash Physique.
Second Soul Skill: Flash Physique.
After Zhang Yang activated this Second Soul Skill, he could move at lightspeed like Borsalino from the manga, possessing a cool and overpowered Lightspeed Movement ability capable of blinking more than a hundred meters in a single move.
That was why Xiao Wu had said that his Soul Skills were so overpowered.
To summarize the first stage, the first Soul Skill of Zhang Yang's Borsalino Martial Soul was a Defense Type ability: the Glint-Glint Fruit's Elementalization. His Second Soul Skill was a movement ability: the Glint-Glint Fruit's Lightspeed Movement.
At this point, Zhang Yang finally understood that his Borsalino Martial Soul wanted to use nine Soul Skills to turn him into a Glint-Glint Fruit user in another world.
So, his First Soul Skill could only be used for defense, and his Second Soul Skill could only be used for movement. He estimated that only when he acquired his Third or Fourth Soul Skill would he gain the cool offensive abilities of a normal Glint-Glint Fruit user.
Thinking of how his Soul Power had already reached Level 28, Zhang Yang felt that those cool offensive abilities were not far away.
At noon, Zhang Yang was still immersed in cultivation when he heard a deafening boom, as if the entire hotel had shaken. When he opened his eyes, he discovered that the pink-toned room had been covered in a layer of gold.
"What's going on?" Zhang Yang frowned as he looked at the excited Tang San and the bewildered Xiao Wu.
Tang San did not answer. "Zhang Yang, Xiao Wu, quick! Help me gather all this gold together. Don't let a single bit escape."
As he spoke, Tang San was the first to act. He used Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, and wherever he passed, the golden particles were drawn one by one into his hands.
Zhang Yang's face darkened. "What a mess."
Though he said that, Zhang Yang still crouched on the floor like Xiao Wu and controlled the Soul Tool on his wrist to gather the golden particles from the ground. He was no slower than Tang San.
This bracelet-shaped Storage Soul Tool had been given to Zhang Yang by Master. It possessed two jade stones and a total of fourteen cubic meters of storage space.
Although it could hold far less than Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night, its value was no lower at all.
Master asked Zhang Yang to give the bracelet a name as well. Zhang Yang thought for a moment. "How about Two Tigers Run Fast?"
Master fell silent for a long time. "Xiao San, help Zhang Yang come up with a name."
Tang San thought for a moment. "Shuang Ye Hong Yu Er Yue Hua."
"Uh..." Zhang Yang instantly thought of the preceding line and shook his head. "Anything else?"
"Tong Que Chun Shen Suo Er Qiao?"
Zhang Yang froze for a moment. Why lock up Er Qiao? Was it because the tequila girls were too tempting?
Master asked in confusion, "It sounds like there's some kind of story behind it..."
Tang San was startled and hurriedly pretended to be clueless, explaining to Master that he had seen the line in some book and did not know what it meant.
Regardless of the story, the bracelet's name was decided just like that.
There were simply too many golden specks in the room. Before Zhang Yang and Tang San had gathered even a tenth of them, a rapid knock sounded at the door.
The three in the room immediately tensed. Zhang Yang signaled Tang San to hurry up while he went to deal with the visitor.
He pulled the door open a crack and looked at the visitor, raising his brows.
Zhang Yang recognized the man. He had seen him in the hotel lobby yesterday. It was that Young Master Dai who liked playing games with twins.
Dai Mubai was obviously in a bad mood. He had only thrown on a piece of clothing haphazardly. It seemed Tang San's hammer strike had interrupted his good time.
When someone opened the door, Dai Mubai immediately vented his temper on Zhang Yang. "Are you three idiots? You've been making all that clanging noise next door. This is a love hotel, not a Blacksmith Shop."
"Oh, that sound just now? It wasn't from our room. We don't know where it came from either." Zhang Yang put on a bewildered expression, intending to brush off this uninvited guest.
"Bullshit. I'm right next door to you. That hammer sounded like it hit right beside my ear. If it didn't come from your room, where else could it have come from?" Dai Mubai pressed a hand against the door and exerted force, intending to barge straight in.
How could Zhang Yang let Dai Mubai have his way? His right hand braced against the door and his knee pressed against it at the same time. Not only did Dai Mubai fail to push the door open, but the gap gradually began to close.
"Oh? I couldn't tell. You're pretty strong." Dai Mubai gave Zhang Yang a surprised look after suffering a small setback.
Dai Mubai had Level 37 Soul Power. After the cleansing of three Soul Rings, and with his powerful White Tiger Martial Soul, he had not expected to lose to a boy who was clearly younger than him in a contest of strength.
Zhang Yang shrugged helplessly. "I can't exactly just let you barge in."
"Come on, let's have a match." Dai Mubai's competitive spirit rose. He voluntarily backed away several steps and moved to the center of the corridor.
"Uh..." Zhang Yang hesitated somewhat. After being the boss for so long, he was already tired of such meaningless fights.
At that moment, a rigorously dressed fat man came jogging over from the stairs.
It was the hotel manager with the three layers of swim rings from yesterday.
Seeing Dai Mubai's current appearance, the quick-witted hotel manager instantly understood what had happened. He hurried forward to ingratiate himself. "Young Master Dai, I'm sorry for disturbing your rest. We'll investigate the source of that loud noise as soon as possible and give you an explanation."
"No need, Manager Wang. Just stand aside. I'll cover all the damages later." Dai Mubai waved Manager Wang away and took up a stance toward Zhang Yang.
"Young Master Dai, let's talk this out. Let's talk this out. Don't fight, don't fight." Manager Wang was so anxious that sweat began to pour down his face.
"Move aside." Dai Mubai waved a hand and looked at Zhang Yang. "Come on."
Zhang Yang was helpless. It looked like this fight was unavoidable.
Before you continue