Chen Yumo made a quick calculation.
Six hundred and fifty Gold Soul Coins filled one-third of his Soul Power progress bar. Filling it completely would cost roughly two thousand Gold Soul Coins.
That meant raising his Soul Power by one level required two thousand Gold Soul Coins. From level one to level ten, he needed to gain nine levels. Nine times two was eighteen—an entire eighteen thousand Gold Soul Coins.
But after buying the Whale Rubber and the first batch of Mulberry Leaves and Mulberry Fruit, Chen Yumo only had 7,049 Gold Soul Coins left. At most, that was enough to raise him to level five!
"Oh my god, cultivation burned through resources this badly?" Chen Yumo immediately felt a headache coming on.
Even using the correct method, he consumed this many resources. So how many resources had that trash Gangzi devoured from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan by using the wrong method, just to be force-fed all the way to level twenty-nine?
Afterward, Chen Yumo conducted a few more experiments.
After feeding his Martial Soul Mulberry Fruit and Mulberry Leaves separately, he found that Mulberry Leaves offered better value. Although Mulberry Fruit contained more energy and was easier to digest, the same amount of Gold Soul Coins could buy more than three times as many Mulberry Leaves.
In other words, if Chen Yumo bought only Mulberry Leaves and no Mulberry Fruit, he could cultivate all the way to level ten.
He could even have four or five hundred Gold Soul Coins left over for daily expenses.
The only issue was that his cultivation speed would not be nearly as fast. Eating only Mulberry Fruit would raise him one level in under two months, while eating only Mulberry Leaves would take over three months per level. It was essentially trading time for money.
But reality could not be interpreted so simply.
Chen Yumo had no income. As a six-year-old child, he could not use methods from his previous life to make money on Douluo Continent. It was not that he could not do it, but that he was too weak to hold onto it.
That also meant the little over seven thousand Gold Soul Coins were the only wealth he could currently control. Once they were gone, they were gone.
If he ate only Mulberry Leaves, he could steadily reach the level ten bottleneck in less than three years.
But if he ate Mulberry Fruit, he could indeed reach level five in a short time. Yet without follow-up resources, who knew how many years it would take him to cultivate from level five to level ten relying on his own talent?
After reasonably allocating his wealth and resources, Chen Yumo still chose the safer method to cultivate his Martial Soul.
One level every three-odd months, averaging a little over three levels a year. He would only need two and a half years to reach level ten.
By then, he would not even be nine years old.
Wang Sheng was already over ten, yet his Soul Power Level was only seven. His Innate Soul Power had even been higher than Chen Yumo's, but on average, he could only raise one level a year.
That was the difference between having resources and lacking them, between knowing how to cultivate and not knowing how.
It was also the most fundamental divide between nobles and commoners on Douluo Continent—an impassable chasm.
Time slowly passed.
Chen Yumo immersed himself in improving his Martial Soul.
Ever since he began cultivating his Martial Soul through feeding, he could feel himself progressing every day. He could also clearly see his Ice Silkworm Martial Soul constantly changing.
It had initially been no larger than his little finger, but gradually grew to the size of his middle finger. Its icy white body became more crystalline and translucent, and a sky-blue glow could faintly be seen flowing beneath its skin.
Outsiders could barely notice it.
Only Chen Yumo could feel that the energy stored within his Martial Soul body was growing day by day. These continuously accumulated reserves would one day erupt completely and become the opportunity for Metamorphosis.
Over more than half a year of cultivation, he successfully reached level four and welcomed his first academy break.
Likewise, this break was also his first act of revenge against Yu Xiaogang after lying low for over half a year!
Over the past six months, the Ice Silkworm had continuously assisted his cultivation, allowing him to free up plenty of time for things he wanted to do. And aside from studying, the thing that consumed the most of his energy was taking revenge on Yu Xiaogang!
As someone who had read the original novel countless times, Chen Yumo knew Yu Xiaogang's character far too well.
That bastard had little ability, yet cared immensely about saving face. He was so obsessed with his pathetic self-esteem that he had long since drifted far from normal people. After all, the more someone lacked something, the more sensitive they were about it—just like when he had flown into a rage and cursed Chen Yumo half a year ago.
There were even more examples in the original novel, too many for Chen Yumo to bother listing.
There were simply too many to list.
To attack someone like that, he had to strike fiercely at their weakness!
And this break was the best time for Chen Yumo to act. He had planned to make his move during the break anyway, letting Gangzi experience the malice of a transmigrator!
Watching Tang San and Xiao Wu leave Nuoding Academy together, Chen Yumo turned back to glance at Nuoding Academy's gates, his gaze meaningful.
"Gangzi, I hope you like this 'return gift' of mine! After all, I've kept that barrage of insults and mockery you threw at me firmly in mind!"
Heh heh heh...
Chen Yumo brushed the hem of his clothes and set off toward his village beneath the setting sun.
And on the second day after the break began.
Yu Xiaogang walked along a small path within Nuoding Academy as usual, wearing his cold, stiff corpse-like expression as he prepared to mooch a meal from the cafeteria.
He had always done this, and today was no exception.
But on the same old path, Yu Xiaogang noticed something was off. The people passing by seemed to be looking at him strangely.
Yu Xiaogang's expression did not change, but he was deeply puzzled.
Still, he did not think much of it. The people passing by were all in a hurry, and especially after walking past him, they quickened their pace as though they could not avoid him fast enough.
He did not even have time to make out the meaning behind their looks before they had already vanished.
He had originally assumed it was an isolated incident, but when he arrived at the cafeteria to beg for food, there were even more people staring at him.
And because everyone was eating in the cafeteria, Yu Xiaogang could more clearly see what they were doing and roughly understand the expressions on their faces.
Some looked disgusted, some seemed suddenly enlightened, some were utterly shocked, some gave him ambiguous looks, while others held nothing but amusement and mockery in their eyes. Without exception, all those complicated emotions were directed at him.
Yu Xiaogang could endure it no longer. Clenching his fists, he approached a student and suppressed his anger as he asked what was going on.
But the other student merely hastily said that it was nothing, then ran away without even finishing his meal.
That only made him even more certain that something bad had happened to him, and that it was specifically targeted at him.
Yu Xiaogang took the matter to heart and began deliberately paying attention to what had happened. In the end, he got his answer after overhearing two students talking...
Student A: "Hey, have you heard?"
Student B: "What a joke. Of course I have. At this point, the entire Nuoding Academy probably knows, except Grandmaster himself, right?"
Student A: "Hahaha, I'm dying! I was wondering how someone who didn't even teach could keep eating and drinking for free at the academy. Turns out he sold his ass to the dean so he could stay at the academy and beg for food!"
Student B: "Exactly! I'm dying! No wonder he's called 'Grand-wet'!"
Yu Xiaogang:?!
Before you continue