Level Ten, the Soul Hunting Journey

"Croak, this guy knocked Boss Xiao to the ground. He's definitely going to humiliate Boss Xiao badly!"

Watching the "invincible" Xiao Chenyu get knocked to the ground by Chen Ming's Heart-Striking Elbow, the remaining small-fry students began to stir restlessly. Yet not a single one dared step forward to attack Chen Ming.

Xiao Chenyu curled up like a shrimp and rolled across the ground, muttering incoherently.

"Just you wait. I'm the city lord's son. My father won't let you get away with this."

"The city lord's son, really?" Chen Ming walked over to Xiao Chenyu and looked down at him from above.

"What level was your Innate Soul Power?"

"I was a genius with level five Innate Soul Power."

"You're twelve years old and in sixth grade, yet you only have level eleven Soul Power. Setting aside the one level you were bound to gain after absorbing a Spirit Ring, you didn't even increase by one level a year? Was your Innate Soul Power level five, or level zero point five?"

"I..." Xiao Chenyu, who had been rolling on the ground, froze. The pain in his stomach suddenly did not seem important anymore.

"You're the city lord's son, with level five Innate Soul Power. You have status, talent, and resources, yet you gained less than one level a year. Then your first Spirit Ring was only a ten-year Spirit Ring? Answer me. Do you think you're really his biological son? Answer me!"

"I... Waaaah!" Xiao Chenyu burst into tears, tears streaming down his face. "I'm the city lord's youngest son. I'm useless and have no inheritance rights... Waaaah... I have no talent as a Spirit Master. I'm trash who couldn't even get a hundred-year first Spirit Ring..."

Xiao Chenyu cried on the ground, without a trace of the academy boss he had once been.

Looking at the broken Xiao Chenyu, Chen Ming shook his head and turned to leave. "I can't be bothered to say more. You're not worthy of hearing it."

"From now on, if anyone dares discriminate against Work-Study Students, I'll challenge them to a one-on-one duel. Understand?" Chen Ming scolded the surrounding small fries.

"Yes!" Seeing their boss knocked down, the small fries, being the standard villain NPC type, hurriedly nodded in response.

"One more thing. From now on, I'm this academy's Sister Xiao Wu. Do you understand?" Xiao Wu sprang out from the side and said with her hands on her hips.

The surrounding small fries looked at Xiao Wu in confusion. Blushing, Xiao Wu summoned her Martial Soul and first Spirit Ring. Seeing that bright yellow first Spirit Ring, as well as Xiao Chenyu crying on the ground, the small fries quickly recognized who the real boss was.

"Also, from now on, you'll handle the Work-Study Students' work. Understand?"

"Understood, understood!" The small fries nodded repeatedly.

The crowd dispersed. Xiao Chenyu climbed to his feet from where he had been crying on the ground, then left unsteadily with Ling Feng clutching his face and Liu Long holding his shoulder. The Work-Study Students also prepared to leave. Only then did a figure slowly appear and block their path.

Seeing Tang San appear out of nowhere, the previously excited Work-Study Students fell silent for a moment. Their expressions held an indescribable mix of disdain and awkwardness, making Tang San feel a burst of irritation.

"I came to help you out of kindness," Tang San said resentfully.

"But you didn't do anything!" Xiao Wu answered sternly.

Tang San's good mood after obtaining his first Spirit Ring was completely ruined. Although he returned to the dormitory with the Work-Study Students, he felt that all of Dorm Seven was somehow utterly incompatible with him.

Time passed bit by bit. Chen Ming studied basic knowledge at the academy while sparring with different students every day. Once one opponent could no longer put pressure on him, he would choose to fight several at once. Without exception, every battle ended in Chen Ming's victory.

Occasionally, Chen Ming chose to duel Xiao Wu, exchanging Soft Techniques with her while observing her condition. However, as Chen Ming became increasingly familiar with Xiao Wu's techniques and body, Xiao Wu could not gain any advantage against him despite being a full realm above him.

As Chen Ming's deeds gradually spread, the academy teachers also learned that one of this year's new students was exceptionally skilled at fighting.

In the fourth month after school began, just before the holiday, Chen Ming's cultivation finally broke through to level ten.

Seven months had passed since he awakened his Martial Soul, and he had raised three levels. That speed was already remarkably fast. Especially without resource support, Chen Ming's rate of progress was enough to make ordinary Spirit Masters weep.

After learning that Chen Ming's cultivation had reached level ten, the academy teachers were greatly surprised, though not particularly shocked.

Level seven Innate Soul Power did not necessarily mean exactly level seven. It could have been level seven and a half, or close to level eight. By that calculation, reaching level ten in seven months was merely fast, rather than impossible...

Probably?

Generally speaking, once a Spirit Scholar reached level ten during their studies at a Soul Master Academy, the academy had to obtain their first Spirit Ring for them. It was a compulsory task.

Under normal circumstances, considering effort and various other factors, most junior academies would simply obtain a ten-year Spirit Ring for their students and call it a day.

However, because Chen Ming had displayed outstanding cultivation talent and fighting ability, the Nuoding Academy principal thought highly of him and offered him a better opportunity.

Director Su, accompanied by a teacher, would help Chen Ming obtain a hundred-year beast Spirit Ring.

For some unknown reason, Yu Xiaogang, who had not spoken a single word to Chen Ming since enrollment, also approached him shortly before the academy break. He said he could help Chen Ming obtain his first Spirit Ring, but the age and type of Spirit Ring had to follow his decision.

No matter which side he chose, Chen Ming could obtain a hundred-year yellow Spirit Ring. But after some consideration, Chen Ming firmly refused Yu Xiaogang, politely declined the principal's goodwill, and chose to obtain a suitable Spirit Ring himself.

The place he chose was not the usual Soul Hunting Forest, but the Star Dou Forest, the largest gathering place for Spirit Beasts on the Douluo Continent.

With Chen Ming's current strength, he naturally could not confront a hundred-year Spirit Beast head-on. But as a transmigrator, Chen Ming naturally had his own ideas.

After leaving Nuoding City and setting out for the Star Dou Forest, Chen Ming continued purchasing sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal in batches from the towns he passed through. He also began manually extracting refined white sugar from brown sugar.

More than once in his previous life, Chen Ming had read about the precise proportions for making gunpowder. While watching various military and historical videos, he had also seen how to refine and pack gunpowder, as well as how to further maximize the force of explosions.

In his previous life, Chen Ming had no use for that knowledge, and it had simply slipped from his mind after he saw it. But with his AI Thinking, Chen Ming successfully recreated gunpowder—one of the greatest inventions in human history from his previous life—in the Douluo World, and optimized its granularity and density.

After commissioning special iron tubes, steel pellets, and scrap iron sheets from a blacksmith shop, then assembling them, Chen Ming ultimately produced an old-fashioned musket with an enormous caliber and several fragmentation grenades.