Welcoming New Challenges

"Forget it. I'll take it one step at a time."

More than ten years of life had also changed Chen Yumo's understanding of Douluo Continent from the plot of a novel into a real world.

Here, nothing was completely fixed. Anything could deviate from the original story.

If Chen Yumo thought that having read the original work meant he could toy with the people here in the palm of his hand, then he would definitely die a miserable death.

Hearing was false; seeing was believing.

He could only make any decision after seeing things with his own eyes.

Whether or not he should befriend Dugu Bo could wait.

But he was absolutely determined to claim the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Since he had already confirmed that Tang San was his enemy, there was even less chance that he would hand over the opportunity for Immortal Herbs to him.

Though whether they were enemies or not, Chen Yumo would not have yielded it anyway.

For someone like Chen Yumo, whose cultivation required an enormous amount of resources, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was a resource site he had to occupy.

Heaven Dou City was also a destination he had to visit.

Tang San was already eleven. According to the original timeline, within at most another year and a half, he would come into contact with Dugu Yan, use her connection to get acquainted with Dugu Bo, and ultimately enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as a matter of course.

Chen Yumo had little time and few options. He could only race against time.

After glancing back at Nuoding City's gates, Chen Yumo turned and headed toward Holy Soul Village. Before going to Heaven Dou City, he still needed to return there once.

Because of Chen Yumo's skillful ostracism, Tang San had never returned to Holy Soul Village after that incident, not even during holidays. He ate and lived in Holy Soul Village.

Chen Yumo, on the other hand, returned every time.

This time was no exception.

The next time he returned to Nuoding City would most likely be when Tang San headed to Shrek Academy, with Tang Hao escorting him and beating up Zhao Wuji to establish his authority.

At that time, Holy Soul Village would definitely be in a vacant period. Many fellow transmigrators who planned to intercept Ah Yin and the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone chose this very moment.

Chen Yumo was not stupid. There was an existing answer sheet to copy from. It did not matter whether the method was clichéd—as long as it worked.

Without the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone, the difficulty of Tang San's second Martial Soul awakening would soar. If Chen Yumo found an opportunity to take out the Blue Silver King in the Blue Silver Forest as well, Tang San would never be able to awaken his Blue Silver Grass into the Blue Silver Emperor.

They had long been confirmed to be on different paths, and their future relationship would basically be one of life and death. Chen Yumo would therefore do everything possible to weaken Tang San, preferably crippling him outright.

Under such circumstances, no method was too extreme.

Before then, Chen Yumo only needed to wait quietly for the right moment.

After returning to Holy Soul Village, Chen Yumo did as usual and brought gifts to the village elders. This time, however, the gifts were not just for Old Jack and the neighbors who had helped him—every household in the village received something.

The next time he returned, Chen Yumo would not be visiting the village either.

If Ah Yin and the Spirit Bone disappeared as soon as he returned to the village, would that not be blatantly telling Tang Hao that there was something suspicious about him?

In the future, Chen Yumo might return to Holy Soul Village less and less often. After all, before he had fully grown strong, the enemies he encountered on the path of a Spirit Master would only increase.

Not becoming too deeply connected with Old Jack and the others was instead a form of protection for ordinary villagers like them.

That was why he gave so many gifts this time, nearly more than triple what he had given before. He also told Old Jack and the others that he had already become a Spirit Master and would be venturing into a greater world in the future, so he could no longer return to Holy Soul Village as often as in previous years.

The people of Holy Soul Village had actually never known about Chen Yumo becoming a Spirit Master.

News of his breakthrough had only spread widely within Nuoding Academy. He had not taken the initiative to mention it, and Tang San no longer returned to the village, so Old Jack and the others naturally had no way of learning this information.

Seeing the pale yellow Spirit Ring around Chen Yumo, Old Jack's tear-filled eyes were particularly gratified. His lips trembled for a long while, yet he could not say anything.

"Good, good child. Go!" Old Jack patted his shoulder. "Everyone in the village is ordinary folk, so there's nothing we can do to help you. But we'll always take care of your house in Holy Soul Village!"

"No matter when, Holy Soul Village is your home. If you suffer or grow tired out there, come back. We are all your family!"

Parting was always sorrowful.

Chen Yumo did not like that atmosphere, yet he still bade farewell to every elder and companion he knew in Holy Soul Village.

Because Chen Yumo knew that they truly cared for him as though he were one of their own younger relatives.

This farewell was not only a farewell to those he knew, but also to his former self. It declared that he had officially left the beginner's village and was heading into a greater world to welcome new challenges.

On the empty country road, a gust of hurried wind swept through without warning. Several blades of grass were pressed flat as though some creature had trampled over them.

Simulation Spirit Skill, Light Distortion.

"Xue'er, slow down a little. It's too bumpy." Chen Yumo had a straw hat covering his face as he reached down and patted the black-and-white tiger beneath him.

The tiger obediently slowed its running pace, allowing Chen Yumo, lying on its back, to be more comfortable.

The tiger was naturally Chen Yumo's Martial Soul.

In its White Tiger Transformation state, the largest it could currently become was three meters in body length, not counting its tail. With such a massive body, temporarily serving as Chen Yumo's mount was effortless.

As for the name "Xue'er," it was one Chen Yumo had given it.

Its full name was "Xueli," while Xue'er was simply a shorter form.

If Gangzi's pig could have a name, why could Chen Yumo's Ice Silkworm not have one?

It was just that Chen Yumo himself was terrible at naming things. If he had to deal with Gangzi, he could think of ten thousand ways to viciously strike Gangzi's Demon Pill, but asking him to choose a name was far too difficult.

Since his Martial Soul had originally only been an Ice Silkworm, and both Phantom Butterfly Transformation and White Tiger Transformation carried hints of icy blue and snowy white, he simply named it Xueli.

However, in Chen Yumo's view, his Martial Soul seemed to quite like the name. When he had first settled on it, it had even displayed feelings of excitement and delight.

Now, Chen Yumo lay on its broad back, basking in the sun as it carried him toward Heaven Dou City.

A Martial Soul and Spirit Master were connected in heart and mind. To a certain extent, Chen Yumo and Xueli could even share senses and vision, so there was no possibility of taking a wrong turn.

Traveling on his own took too much effort. He might as well slack off for a while and let Xueli carry him, while he lay down and cultivated the Bloodline Secret Art.

Yes, that was right. He was cultivating, absolutely not loafing around.

He might look as though he was merely sleeping in, but in truth, he was developing the Bloodline Secret Art of White Tiger Transformation.

Not only did he need to cultivate the Bloodline Secret Art, Chen Yumo even had to frequently maintain the use of the two spirit skills Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Simulation to avoid unnecessary trouble along the way.

Riding a tiger down the road so openly was, honestly, extremely conspicuous.