That was-the debt of gratitude for teaching.
But to earn a substantial debt of gratitude, he would have to impart valuable knowledge.
Yet Su Mo did not want Tang San to gain anything from it.
So choosing what knowledge to teach required some thought.
After hurriedly finishing his meal, Su Mo sat cross-legged in meditation. His consciousness entered the Sea of Consciousness, where he began discussing the matter with Tian Meng.
Tian Meng, however, was more curious about something else.
"Say, do you have a grudge against Tang San? I've watched you snatch the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone and Xiao Wu out from under him, then transfer the Soul Beast aura to him. Now you're planning to go after the ultimate wood in the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline."
Every single move targeted Tang San.
This went beyond knowing the future and therefore disliking Tang San. It seemed more like Su Mo had a personal score to settle with him.
"You could say that."
Su Mo did not know how to explain it either.
He had been beaten to death by Tang San's fans. Strictly speaking, that had nothing to do with Tang San himself.
But after transmigrating to the Douluo Continent, he had no way to take revenge on his killers. Unable to put his resentment to rest, he could only make their idol suffer a little instead.
It was rather shameless, but that was fine.
Of course, even without that incident, he would still have suppressed Tang San after transmigrating to the Douluo Continent. He had been a hater to begin with.
"All right, then."
Seeing that Su Mo did not intend to elaborate, Tian Meng returned to the subject of gratitude for teaching.
"I reckon your first choice should be something valuable but not particularly useful-or at least not useful to Tang San."
Su Mo nodded and added another point.
"It could also be something Tang San won't be able to use anytime soon, or something he won't believe."
"Exactly, exactly!"
A good idea suddenly struck Tian Meng. "What do you think about whale rubber?"
Everything clicked into place for Su Mo. "Whale rubber can strengthen the body, helping someone absorb Soul Rings beyond their usual limit. It really is valuable. More importantly, Tang San won't believe it easily, and he'll have trouble getting any whale rubber in the short term."
"That's not all!" Tian Meng's chibi body wriggled back and forth.
"Tang San was the one who discovered that use! Teaching his present self a secret method his future self discovered and earning a huge debt of gratitude for nothing-that'll feel even better than drinking sweet dew in the dog days of summer!"
Su Mo gave him a thumbs-up. "As expected of Brother Sky Dream. You really have no shame."
"Right back at you."
"Hahaha..." The human and the worm looked at each other and laughed.
Perhaps having a concrete example had cleared the fog from their minds, because Su Mo and Tian Meng promptly came up with several more good ideas.
In the end, Su Mo settled on three particularly suitable pieces of knowledge. "Let's call them the 'Ten Laws of Martial Souls.'"
"Huh? There are only three, though. Where did ten laws come from?" Tian Meng was a little bewildered.
Su Mo shrugged. "The name is mainly meant to challenge the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul. As for the rest, we can make them up slowly."
Tian Meng: "..."
Brilliant!
His consciousness returned to his body, and Su Mo got out of bed.
He noticed Xiao Wu sitting beside the dining table with a round, bulging belly, still stuffing carrots into her mouth. Her cheeks were puffed out, making her look just like a little hamster guarding her food.
"What are you..."
"Mmph, mmph~ Bro, I'm almosht done eating..."
Seeing that Su Mo had woken up, Xiao Wu ate faster, terrified that her rabbit head might not survive.
Su Mo could not quite bear the sight. He really feared the little girl would eat herself to death. "Forget it. You don't have to eat anymore. I won't have spicy rabbit head."
At his words, Xiao Wu immediately jumped up in delight and rushed over to give Su Mo a bear hug.
"Woo, woo~ Thanksh, Bro! You're the besht!"
Su Mo looked disgusted. "Get off. Don't smear carrots all over me."
Over the next few days, Su Mo changed his running route, shifting most of it outside the village to plug a hole in the origin story for the Ten Laws of Martial Souls he would soon reveal.
Only when he felt the timing was about right did he seek out Tang San.
"Yo, Little San! Forging again?"
Pretending to pass Tang San's house after finishing his run, Su Mo greeted him as usual.
Bang!
Tang San had just reached the tenth strike of the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer when that demonic greeting bored into his ears. His attention slipped, and the hammer suddenly flew from his hand, smashing through the room beside the smithy.
Tang San's heart lurched. His father was still resting inside! He shot Su Mo a resentful glare and immediately ran into the room.
Su Mo: "..."
You can't blame me for that. I haven't even done anything yet.
Pushing open the front door, Su Mo made himself at home as though he were entering his own house.
Before he could enter the room, however, Tang San emerged carrying the hammer. Su Mo promptly put on a concerned expression.
"Little San, you didn't hit Uncle Hao, did you?"
"No," Tang San replied irritably.
Su Mo seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "That's good. Little San, not to criticize you, but how could you be so careless? A blacksmith who can't hold his hammer steady is like a swordsman who can't hold his sword steady. You still need more practice."
Tang San: "..."
Whose fault was it that I lost my grip?
And now you're standing here critiquing me?
If his father had not told him to get along with Su Mo, he would already have taught the other boy a lesson.
"Did you want something?"
Tang San's tone was somewhat cold.
"Hey, I've got something to tell you. I finally met a real grandmaster today!"
Ignoring Tang San's increasingly impatient expression, Su Mo began recounting his prepared story with richly animated expressions.
"When I was running this morning, I met an old man beside a patch of fallow land outside the village. He'd fallen and couldn't get up, and there was nobody else around. Everyone knows that I, Su Mo, am kindhearted, respect the elderly and care for the young, have the warm heart of an old-fashioned gentleman, and am always happy to help..."
"Get to the point!"
Tang San interrupted Su Mo's self-praise.
"Ahem, here's what happened." Su Mo leaned close to Tang San's ear and lowered his voice. "After I helped the old man up, he saw that I'd awakened my Martial Soul and taught me some incredible things."
Su Mo's mysterious manner did stir a little curiosity in Tang San.
Perhaps the old man had seen Su Mo's extraordinary bone structure, recognized him as a one-in-ten-thousand martial arts prodigy, and bestowed an unrivaled divine art upon him.
"What did he teach you?"
"First, the old man taught me a set of Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests..."
Su Mo then explained basic knowledge to Tang San, including Soul Master ranks and professions, Soul Ring colors and the age limits for absorbing them, as well as Soul Skills and Soul Bones.
After hearing this introduction to the basic theories of Martial Souls and Soul Masters, Tang San was left wanting more.
This was all knowledge he had never encountered before.
Still, surely these were things he could learn at school.
There was nothing particularly incredible about them.
"Don't be impatient. Those were just the basics. The real main event comes afterward."
As though he had seen through Tang San's thoughts, Su Mo's lips curled slightly. Small amounts of gratitude had already begun flowing into his left eye.
"The old man later brought up the theory of Soul Ring limits. The upper limit for the first Soul Ring is around four hundred years, but that isn't exact. It fluctuates according to the individual's physical condition. From that, he deduced that the upper limit for Soul Rings is related to how strong the body is."
Tang San was greatly surprised to hear this.