Three months after the Martial Soul Awakening, it was time to head to Notting Academy for school.
Old Jack had put on his best clothes well in advance. Looking sharp and energetic, he arrived early to take Ye Lin and Tang San to Notting Academy.
In the end, just as in the original story, Tang Hao had found Holy Soul Village's village chief, Old Jack, a day ahead of time and secured a Work-Study Student spot for Tang San.
Old Jack had gotten the spot from several neighboring villages. After all, none of them had anyone who could become a Soul Master.
As she walked away from Holy Soul Village, Ye Lin tallied up her points. She had already accumulated 362.
She now had three chances to make small modifications.
For the past three months, Ye Lin had unfailingly used her daily modification chances and completed her daily tasks. Though the tasks were supposed to change the plot, in practice, they were just ways to mess with Tang San.
Ye Lin simply couldn't stand Tang San. There was something wrong with that guy.
For example,
[Tang San brought the forging hammer down on the iron...]
Ye Lin silently changed "iron" to "face."
Tang San raised the hammer high. He had clearly been aiming at the red-hot iron, but with a thud, he brought it down on his own face instead.
He collapsed to the ground with a thump and didn't move.
Ye Lin had marveled at how sturdy Tang San was. He could fall asleep the moment he hit the ground. She herself sometimes lay in bed for ages without being able to sleep.
Along the way, Tang San and Old Jack talked nonstop about Soul Masters and such. Ye Lin simply followed in silence, playing the part of an invisible person.
For one thing, she already knew all about it. For another, she didn't want to draw too much attention to herself.
She preferred to furrow her brow and retreat behind the crowd. If she could keep a low profile, she absolutely wouldn't make a move.
They set out in the morning, and by the afternoon, the three of them finally reached Nuoding City and saw the Notting Academy they had been headed for.
The three slowly approached the entrance, where, as expected, a young gate guard stopped them.
This was supposed to be the scene where Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang made his entrance.
Old Jack hurriedly explained to the young guard that the two children were Work-Study Students, and showed him two certificates from Spirit Hall.
A look of surprise appeared on the young guard's face.
His words were full of mockery.
"Two Work-Study Students? And both with Innate Full Soul Power?"
"These certificates must be fake."
"And one of them even has Blue Silver Grass? Since when does that kind of Trash Martial Soul come with Soul Power?"
"And you're from Holy Soul Village? More like Beggar Village."
"What did you say!" Old Jack roared at the young guard, his anger flaring. Holy Soul Village was his pride and joy.
"What are you shouting for!"
The young guard's temper flared. He reached out to shove Old Jack.
Ye Lin's gaze fell on Tang San. Just as the plot unfolded, Tang San quickly stepped forward, raised a hand, and shoved the young guard. With a slap, he knocked him to the ground, making sure everyone noticed him.
But that wasn't what Ye Lin cared about. She was waiting for Grandmaster to appear.
The soft sound of Grandmaster's footsteps had already reached her ears. Ye Lin glanced back. The man certainly looked the part of a decent human being.
[Ding, a new daily task has been issued: Modify Yu Xiaogang's plot. The greater the change to the plot, the greater the reward.]
If Tang San was the second most annoying person, then Yu Xiaogang was unquestionably the most annoying of all.
[Yu Xiaogang slowly walked toward the entrance and called out, "All right, stop fighting."]
Ye Fan stared at the sentence and pondered for a long time, but couldn't figure out what to change.
Changing "walk" to "crawl" or "roll" didn't seem like it would do much. Making Yu Xiaogang lose face wasn't an option either; with only the young guard there, he wouldn't lose much.
Then she saw what Yu Xiaogang said, and an idea struck her. Language was an art.
She changed "stop" to "start."
The young guard quickly got back up after Tang San knocked him down and charged straight at him.
"All right, start fighting."
A hoarse voice rang out. The young guard had already wanted to beat Tang San up, and now that Yu Xiaogang had backed him, he felt free to do whatever he wanted.
He rushed forward, grabbed Tang San, and lifted him up. Then he started smacking Tang San's bottom with his right hand, again and again.
Slap after slap rang out, followed by Tang San's loud wails.
Even if Tang San had learned a little kung fu, he was still only a six-year-old child. There was no way he could pull off another surprise attack like that.
"Stop, stop!"
The young guard had already landed dozens of slaps before Yu Xiaogang finally came to his senses and hurriedly called for him to stop.
The young guard was momentarily confused.
"Grandmaster, weren't you the one who told me to hit him? Why are you telling me to stop now?"
A trace of embarrassment crossed Yu Xiaogang's face. He didn't know why he had clearly meant to say "stop fighting," but ended up saying "start fighting."
"Did I say that 'start fighting' meant you should hit him?"
"It's your own fault for misunderstanding me, and now you're blaming me? This is outrageous!"
Ye Lin couldn't help marveling at Yu Xiaogang's shamelessness. He'd thrown the blame straight onto the gate guard.
"Leave these two children to me."
"Which one of you is Tang San?"
"I am."
Ye Lin was still marveling at the scene when Yu Xiaogang quickly finished handing things over with Old Jack and led Tang San into Notting Academy.
He was also whispering something to Tang San, probably trying to convince him to become his disciple.
He spoke very cautiously, as if he was afraid someone else might find out.
"Xiao Lin, you should go in too,"
Old Jack said with a smile.
"Grandpa Village Chief, be careful on your way back."
Ye Lin gave Old Jack a reminder, then placed a Gold Soul Coin in his palm.
"This!"
Old Jack was startled, but before he could say anything, Ye Lin had already darted into the academy.
She wasn't short on money. If she didn't have limited space to carry it, then given enough time, she could cause inflation across the Douluo Continent.
All she had to do was change the "one" in [Ye Lin has one Gold Soul Coin] to "ten thousand."
The system wouldn't let her change it to "one hundred million."
Ye Lin had already figured out that the system's rules depended on the impact of the change. Changes affecting strength were more significant, and ordinary modifications weren't allowed.
Changes involving things like money had less impact, so she had some leeway.
As for what a person would do, she had complete freedom.
[Tang San takes Yu Xiaogang as his master...]
The plot updated in no time.
An idea suddenly popped into Ye Lin's head. Would this count as a major change to the plot?
She silently changed "master" to "adoptive father."
After their conversation, Tang San immediately felt that Grandmaster was exactly the person he needed.
He dropped to his knees before Yu Xiaogang with a thump and called out loudly,
"Tang San has wandered for six years, and only regrets never having met a wise lord. If you don't mind, I'd be honored to call you Father!"
Before you continue