A Parent's Legacy?

Su Yuntao said to Tang San, "Once you obtain a soul ring, you will be called a Soul Master. For now, you are merely Soul Scholars."

Soon after, Su Yuntao finished explaining and packed his things. Jiang Huai, Tang San, and Su Yuntao left the Martial Soul Hall, and Su Yuntao closed the wooden doors behind them.

Old Jack walked over to Jiang Huai and patted both his and Tang San's heads, asking, "Lord Soul Master, did any children in our village possess soul power this time?"

After casting a spell to lock the door, Su Yuntao turned around and said, "There were some, but they are both trash martial souls."

Hearing this, Old Jack's eyes lit up as he asked, "What do you mean?"

Su Yuntao replied, "Your village had two children with Innate Full Soul Power this time. Of course, you know that someone with Innate Full Soul Power has limitless potential, but one of them has an unknown martial soul, and the other has Blue Silver Grass. Do you really think their future achievements will be good even if they get soul rings?"

Old Jack felt instantly dejected upon hearing this, but he said unwillingly, "Lord Soul Master, is there really no other way? What if they could... after absorbing a soul ring?"

Su Yuntao interrupted, "Enough, I don't have much time and still need to go to the next village. I understand what you're saying, but you shouldn't gamble the future of two children just because you are unwilling to accept reality. What if an accident happens while they are absorbing a soul ring?"

After saying this, Su Yuntao activated his martial soul and left Holy Soul Village, leaving Old Jack with no choice but to send the two children home.

The next morning.

After a night of deep contemplation, Old Jack decided that he would send Jiang Huai and Tang San to study at Nuoding Soul Master Academy. Regardless of what their future achievements might be, he had to try. If they succeeded, the children's futures would be limitless; if they failed, he was willing to sacrifice his own old bones.

He acted immediately, but the village only had one quota for a work-study student. Thus, over the course of the next week, Old Jack traveled to various large and small villages nearby, hoping to secure another schooling opportunity for the two children.

In a village near Holy Soul Village called Xiling Village, they hadn't had any children with soul power for years, and this year was no exception. Therefore, the village chief of Xiling Village, Huake, gave their village's work-study quota to Old Jack.

As soon as he returned to the village, Old Jack went back to his home and started rummaging through his things. He didn't even close his door, and villagers passing by were puzzled as to what Old Jack was looking for.

Soon, Jack found a sword case and carried it toward the smallest thatched cottage in the entire village.

Old Jack was holding the sword case and hadn't even brought his cane. It was only after arriving at the cottage that he realized he had forgotten it, so he had to go back to retrieve it.

He knocked on the door of the cottage, and the sound of cooking inside stopped. Jiang Huai opened the door and respectfully called out, "Grandpa Jack."

Jack nodded, gently patted Jiang Huai's head, and pointed to the sword case, asking, "Do you want to know what's inside this?"

Hearing this, Jiang Huai looked at the sword case Jack was pointing to. It was jade-colored, with the character "Jiang" inscribed on it.

Jiang Huai reached out his palm and touched it; the "Jiang" character was inlaid with various colored gemstones.

Old Jack smiled and said, "Little Huai, this is what was placed beside you when I found you all those years ago. Grandpa doesn't know what's inside either, so I brought it over for you."

Hearing this, Jiang Huai said to Jack, "Thank you."

Jiang Huai carried the sword case to the corner of the cottage, crouched down, placed it flat on the ground, and opened it.

The moment it opened, he saw a black sword. The scabbard was inlaid with exquisite, colorful gemstones. A red gemstone formed the character "Jiang" on the scabbard, and the end of the hilt also featured the character "Jiang" inlaid with light blue gemstones.

Jiang Huai used his left hand to grip the scabbard and draw the sword, placing his right hand on the hilt to unsheathe it.

The sharp blade was so clean it could serve as a mirror; it was sharp enough to cut through hair and slice through iron like mud. Inside the sword case, there was also a belt and a necklace, and even a crown appeared inside.

The belt and necklace were both Soul Tools; the belt was a storage Soul Tool, and the necklace was the most precious type of defensive Soul Tool.

There was also a letter inside the sword case. Jiang Huai picked it up and read: "The letter had signs of being torn, and it only contained the character 'Jiang,' along with a jade pendant engraved with the character 'Lin'."

Old Jack patted Jiang Huai's head and said, "Child, when I brought you back that year, there were two severely injured people—a man and a woman in black—lying beside you. Grandpa doesn't know if they were your parents or who they were, but I buried them. Would you like to go see?"

Jiang Huai shook his head upon hearing this and said, "No, Grandpa Jack. I'd rather focus on cultivating my sword path."

Old Jack nodded and asked, "Child, are you willing to go to the Nuoding Soul Master Academy in Nuoding City to learn the knowledge of Soul Masters?"

Jiang Huai was stunned for a moment before looking up and saying, "I am willing."

Hearing this, Old Jack happily patted Jiang Huai's head, then headed to Tang San's house to tell him about going to the Nuoding Soul Master Academy in Nuoding City.

After Old Jack left, Jiang Huai finished his lunch and began practicing his sword skills. This time, he didn't use the wooden sword, but the black iron sword instead.

Jiang Huai touched the blade and said, "Since there is a 'Jiang' character on your blade, I will give you a name: Jiang Ling."

Jiang Huai spent the entire afternoon dancing with the sword outside his house. A few days passed quickly, and during this time, Jiang Huai grasped a trace of the sword path.

Jiang Huai named the trace of sword intent he had realized "Xuanyuan." He named it "Xuanyuan" because he had realized it while using Jiang Ling, and because Jiang Ling was entirely "Xuan" (black) in color. "Yuan" represented the vastness of the abyss like the sea, also signifying that Jiang Huai's attainments in the sword path were as vast as the ocean.

Today, Jiang Huai didn't eat breakfast and practiced his sword skills before the sun came out. Just as the sun was rising, Jiang Huai took the opportunity to thrust his sword forward.

On a large rock behind the mountain, Tang San sat with his eyes open, absorbing the morning sunlight. The entire Holy Soul Village seemed to shine because of the efforts of the two of them.

In these few days, the temperament of Jiang Huai and Tang San had become more mature, especially Jiang Huai. In these few days, his sword path had become refined to perfection. If the proficiency of the "Xuanyuan" sword path was 100%...

Then Jiang Huai had already used these short few days to raise his sword path to 10%.

Moreover, Jiang Huai had also realized some skills within his sword path. As for what those skills were, they would appear during the part where he fought the disciples at the Nuoding Soul Master Academy.

Jiang Huai practiced his sword skills until noon, while Tang San returned home to cook for his slovenly father after absorbing the morning sunlight.

After Jiang Huai stopped practicing, his clothes were soaked with sweat. He placed the sword and the sword case into the storage Soul Tool at his waist.

Then, he headed to the river where the village women washed clothes, jumped into the water, and began to bathe.