Eleven-Year-Old Pseudo-Soul Ancestor

Half a year later.

Nuoding City, old district.

Jiang Ming stood at the street corner, his gaze slowly sweeping across the familiar street.

Four years!

He had been away from Nuoding City for a full four years!

Looking at the old wooden house before him, Jiang Ming raised his hand and knocked softly a few times.

A middle-aged man opened the door and appeared in Jiang Ming's sight.

More than half of his hair had turned white, and the wrinkles on his face were more than twice as deep as they had been four years ago.

"Are you... Little Ming?"

Jiang Tao narrowed his eyes as he studied the young man outside.

His gaze swept from Jiang Ming's face to his shoulders, then returned to his face.

His eyes held confusion, uncertainty, and a cautious reluctance to believe it.

"Uncle Jiang."

Jiang Ming nodded.

"It really is you, kid!"

"Four years! Four whole years!"

"The year your parents passed away, you had just turned five. In the blink of an eye, you've grown this tall!"

Jiang Tao's eyes immediately reddened.

"People have to grow up."

Jiang Ming stood quietly where he was, allowing his old neighbor to look him over.

"Come in and talk, come in!"

Jiang Tao stepped aside and ushered Jiang Ming inside.

"No, Uncle Jiang. I came to ask you for a favor."

Jiang Ming's voice was calm and clear.

"Go on, tell me. As long as I can help, Uncle Jiang won't hesitate."

Jiang Tao patted his chest in assurance.

"I may not be able to come back to pay respects to my ancestors for the next few years. My parents' graves..."

Before Jiang Ming could finish, Jiang Tao understood.

"Don't worry. I visit your parents' graves every year."

"I go during Qingming Festival, and I go on the anniversary of their deaths. Pulling weeds, adding soil, burning paper offerings—I never miss a thing."

"Last year, I even had your aunt steam a few buns as offerings. Your parents loved buns when they were alive."

"We've been neighbors for decades. Your parents helped our family plenty when they were alive. When your Aunt Jiang fell ill that year, it was your mother who gave us money to buy medicine."

"You don't need to ask. Uncle Jiang would do this on his own."

Jiang Tao's voice choked slightly.

Jiang Ming took a heavy cloth pouch from his robe and handed it over.

Jiang Tao looked down, and his expression immediately changed.

Gold Soul Coins.

A whole pouch full of Gold Soul Coins.

"I can't take this! I can't!"

"We're neighbors. This is what I should do!"

"Life isn't easy for a child out there on his own. Keep this money for yourself."

"If you give me money, you're slapping Uncle Jiang in the face!"

Jiang Tao hurriedly tried to push the pouch back.

"Uncle Jiang, I remember Brother Zheng is about to start a family too. The bride's family will need certain things prepared, and your finances aren't generous."

Jiang Ming did not withdraw his hand.

Jiang Tao's motion of refusal paused.

What Jiang Ming said was true.

His son, Jiang Zheng, was nineteen this year and engaged to a girl from the next street over.

The girl's family had asked for a betrothal gift of fifty-eight Gold Soul Coins.

He had emptied his savings and only managed to scrape together twenty.

These past few days, the matter had kept him awake at night.

"Even so, I can't! You're just a child..."

Jiang Tao still refused to agree.

"Uncle Jiang."

"I receive a hundred Gold Soul Coins every month now."

"I don't lack this little bit of money."

Jiang Ming interrupted Jiang Tao.

Jiang Tao froze.

His eyes widened as he once more examined the eleven-year-old boy before him.

A hundred Gold Soul Coins every month?

That number was too distant for him to comprehend.

He worked himself to the bone carrying loads at the docks, yet only earned three to five Silver Soul Coins a month.

One Gold Soul Coin equaled one hundred Silver Soul Coins.

One hundred Gold Soul Coins...

That was more money than he could save in a lifetime of dock work.

"I came back this time, but I'll be leaving again soon."

"I have something important to do next. It may take a long time, which is why I came to ask you."

Jiang Ming closed Jiang Tao's hand around the pouch of Gold Soul Coins.

"Don't worry. I'll definitely look after your parents' graves. Go do what you need to do, and do it without worry."

Jiang Tao opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely nodded forcefully.

"Thank you."

Jiang Ming turned and walked toward the other end of the old street.

Half a year!

It had been a full half year since he obtained his third Soul Ring!

Over the past half year, he had done only two things.

The first thing!

Absorb the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone!

The second thing!

Continue cultivating!

The Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone had not only raised his physique once more, but also increased his Soul Power by six levels.

Jiang Ming then spent another three months raising his Soul Power from level 39 to level 40!

But the real trouble had only just begun.

The fourth Soul Ring!

Jiang Ming's third Soul Ring had already been ten thousand years old!

His fourth Soul Ring could not possibly be a step backward!

But a spatial-attribute Soul Beast over twenty thousand years old?

Across the entire Douluo Continent, such creatures were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns—something one could only hope to encounter!

Jiang Ming did not believe his luck could remain so good forever!

Once, twice, three times!

Things never happened more than three times!

Spatial Soul Beasts had practically delivered themselves to his door three times. Could there really be a fourth time?

Therefore, he had to prepare for a prolonged battle.

It could take a few months at the shortest, or at the longest...

Even he could not say for certain.

That was why he had made a special trip back.

Some matters had to be arranged beforehand before he could search for Soul Beasts without distraction.

One year later.

Nuoding City, City Lord's Mansion.

Xiao Yu stood before the study window, gazing at the low mountain silhouettes on the western horizon.

"City Lord."

A respectful voice came from behind him.

The newcomer was the steward of the City Lord's Mansion, a slightly plump middle-aged man.

"Did you find out?"

Xiao Yu did not turn around.

"I did."

"This year's Qingming Festival, only one person went to pay respects at the Jiang Family Cemetery."

"Jiang Tao from the old district. He used to be a neighbor of the Jiang family."

"It was him last year, him the year before, and him the year before that as well."

"No one else has gone."

The steward opened the ledger in his hands and read line by line.

"What about that boy Jiang Ming?"

Xiao Yu continued.

"There has been no news at all. No one has seen him return, nor has anyone received a letter from him."

"This subordinate specifically asked at Nuoding Academy. They said the same thing. He most likely died somewhere outside."

The steward raised his head, revealing a confident smile.

"Five years."

Xiao Yu slowly turned around, his face brimming with pleasure.

"It has been a full five years since he left Nuoding City."

"A seven-year-old child, with no one to rely on, alone out in the world, with no news for five years.

"If he were still alive, how could he not return to visit his ancestral graves? How could he not send even one letter back through someone?"

Xiao Yu walked to the desk and picked up a document that had long been prepared.

"Pass down the order. The demolition project at West City Cemetery will officially begin in three days."

The document bore the great seal of the City Lord's Mansion. The vermilion seal paste gleamed with a glaring sheen beneath the sunlight.

"The City Lord is wise."

The steward bowed, accepted the document, and backed out of the study.

Xiao Yu turned back toward the window.

From this angle, the cemetery to the west of the city was just obscured by the crowns of several old locust trees.

"A bunch of dead people occupying land for the living—what's the point?"

Xiao Yu's tone was exceedingly flippant, as though he were discussing something utterly insignificant.