Soul Skill Test

These words were logical and precise, with an accurate grasp of the market.

They made the shopkeeper break out in a cold sweat.

How was this a six-year-old child?

He was clearly an old fox who had spent years navigating the business world!

"Wait! Little brother! We can talk this over!"

The shopkeeper hurriedly pressed down on the bundle, his face covered in an ingratiating smile.

"Fifty it is!"

"Let's call it the price of making a friend!"

A moment later.

Bai Tang San walked out of the shop.

He tossed a heavy money pouch in his hand, containing fifty gleaming Gold Soul Coins.

In this world.

One Gold Soul Coin was enough to support an ordinary family of three for several months.

Fifty coins.

That was an enormous sum.

Bai Tang San did not stop. He turned and entered a Soul Tool general store.

"Boss, give me a secondhand Storage Soul Tool."

"It doesn't need to look good. As long as the space is stable, that's enough."

Even with money, he remained careful with every expense.

In the end.

He spent twenty Gold Soul Coins on an ordinary-looking, somewhat worn black iron bracer.

It only had two cubic meters of storage space.

Compared to the "Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges Night," it was practically street-stall trash.

But Bai Tang San put on the bracer and stored the remaining thirty Gold Soul Coins, along with all the rare poisonous herbs he had gathered in the forest and could not bear to sell.

He looked at his wrist, rational light glinting in his eyes.

"A name?"

"I don't need that kind of flashy nonsense."

"If it can hold things and save my life, it's a good thing."

After that.

He went to an apothecary.

"Angelica Sinensis, Astragalus, Goji Berry... and these few potent medicines for promoting blood circulation and clearing bruises."

"I'm preparing a medicinal bath."

"Although I've broken through the first-layer bottleneck of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, my body is still far from strong enough."

"Without a powerful physique, how will I bear even more overbearing poisons in the future?"

He bought bags upon bags of medicinal ingredients.

Bai Tang San walked back toward the academy, the setting sun stretching his shadow long behind him.

"In this world."

"Money isn't omnipotent."

"But without money, nothing can be done."

"Dignity isn't earned from a belt handed out in charity."

"It's built from the resources in your own hands!"

[Real World]

Flender abruptly leaped up from his chair.

The eyes behind his glasses shone so brightly that they were frightening.

"Good!"

"Very well said!"

"This kid is practically a business genius!"

"Fifty Gold Soul Coins! That was fifty Gold Soul Coins!"

"That Hei Tang San was clutching an empty belt and crying his heart out, yet he didn't even have enough money in his pocket to buy a steamed bun."

"Look at Bai Tang San!"

"Not only did he buy a Storage Soul Tool, but he still had a large sum left to buy materials for a medicinal bath and strengthen his body!"

"This is cultivation! This is living!"

Flender paced in circles with excitement.

"If this Bai Tang San could come to our Shrek..."

"Wouldn't my academy's funding problem be solved?"

Zhao Wuji, standing beside him, was also dumbfounded.

"The gap... is just too huge."

"One side clung to his Teacher's leg and cried about being poor."

"The other relied on himself and was swimming in money."

"They haven't even had their First Soul Rings long enough to warm up."

"Yet their starting lines have already been pulled tens of thousands of miles apart."

Meanwhile, within the Sky Curtain's image.

Hei Tang San was still deeply moved by that belt, swearing to protect this "Teacher's kindness" with his life.

Bai Tang San, however, was already sitting in a bath barrel filled with the fragrance of medicine.

He closed his eyes, absorbed the medicinal effects, and tempered his muscles and bones.

At his side.

That black iron bracer lay quietly.

Though ugly.

What it contained.

Was his first pot of gold in this world.

It was also the solid foundation for his path toward becoming the "Peerless Poison Emperor."

Night fell.

The Tang Sans of both worlds returned to their academies.

The next day.

Was the time to test their results.

Soul Skill test.

The Blue Silver Grass that had been trained into a rope.

Against the deadly poison seed infused with life.

Which one was true control?

Which one was the true... killing move?

The morning air at Nuoding Academy carried a trace of chill.

For Soul Masters who had just obtained their Soul Rings, this was not merely a new day, but the beginning of a complete transformation.

The time to test their results had arrived.

Above the Sky Curtain, the image lit up on schedule, displaying the "first lesson" of both worlds before everyone without reservation.

[Black World]

Academy Back Mountain, in a secluded clearing.

Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back, looking expectantly at the proud disciple before him.

"Xiao San, show me."

"Let your teacher see just how far your Blue Silver Grass evolved after fusing with the Datura Snake's Soul Ring."

Hei Tang San nodded and took a deep breath.

He could feel the surging strength within his body. The fullness after breaking through his bottleneck greatly boosted his confidence.

"First Soul Skill—"

"Entanglement!"

With a low shout, the yellow Soul Ring around him suddenly lit up.

More than a dozen thick Blue Silver Grass vines surged from beneath his feet like pythons emerging from their lairs.

The vines were dark green, covered in fine snake-scale patterns, and appeared exceptionally tough.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The vines precisely wrapped around a granite boulder half the height of a person ahead of him.

"Contract!"

Hei Tang San abruptly clenched his right hand into a fist.

The vines instantly tightened, producing a teeth-grating sound of friction.

Crack—

Under the immense crushing force, cracks actually appeared across the hard granite. It finally burst apart with a boom, shattering into several pieces.

Dust flew everywhere.

Hei Tang San wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes full of delight.

"Teacher, look!"

"The power is even greater than I imagined!"

Yu Xiaogang looked at the scattered stones and stroked the sparse stubble on his chin with satisfaction.

"Not bad, very good."

"The Datura Snake's toughness attribute has perfectly bestowed powerful binding force upon Blue Silver Grass."

"Although it is only a hundred-year Soul Ring, the strength of this Entanglement is enough to trap Assault System Soul Masters of the same level."

He began expounding on his theories again.

"Xiao San, remember this."

"For Control System Soul Masters, control is king."

"As long as you can trap your enemy and keep them from getting close, you will stand undefeated."

"This is the significance of this Soul Ring—absolute restraint."

Hei Tang San nodded repeatedly as he listened, his admiration for his Teacher surging like an endless river.

"Teacher is right!"

"With this move, even if I'm just a rope, I'll be a rope that can strangle someone to death!"

Teacher and disciple immersed themselves in the joy of their "success."

The scene was warm and inspiring.

As though this were the proper way for a Soul Master to begin cultivating.

However.

[White World]

The scene suddenly shifted.

The same morning, the same back mountain.

Even the granite boulder used for testing was there.

But Bai Tang San did not choose that stone.

Alone, he walked into a denser, uninhabited forest.

There were no spectators.

No guidance.

Only the rustling of wind through the leaves.

Bai Tang San stood before an ancient tree so thick that two people would need to wrap their arms around it, his expression as calm as stagnant water.

He did not loudly call out the name of his Soul Skill.

He merely slowly raised his right hand.

From his palm did not surge those seemingly fierce and thick vines.

Even the fluctuation of Soul Power was extremely faint.

Whoosh—

With a light flick of his finger.

Several dark green spores, nearly invisible to the naked eye, drifted with the breeze and softly landed upon the ancient tree's trunk.

Like specks of dust.

Completely harmless.

"First Soul Skill: Parasitic Poison Seed."

Bai Tang San's lips moved slightly as he uttered those cold words.

The next moment.

No violent collision occurred.

Nor was there any sight of vines entangling anything.

The ancient tree still stood silently, as if nothing had happened.

But Bai Tang San had already turned around and begun recording the data in his notebook.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

The instant he counted to "one."

A sudden change erupted!