Nuoding Restaurant's Banquet, Tang San's Desperate Situation

Nuoding Restaurant.

This was the most luxuriously decorated restaurant in Nuoding City.

Usually, only the City Lord and the high-ranking officials of the Martial Soul Branch Hall could afford to dine here.

At this moment, inside the most spacious "Heaven-Class One" private room on the top floor, the atmosphere was lively yet tinged with a comical sense of restraint.

The massive rosewood round table was laden with a dazzling array of dishes.

Rich soup brewed from a century-old Golden Money Turtle, charcoal-grilled Red-Tailed Chicken, and steamed Jade Bone Fish.

Every dish radiated a dense fluctuation of soul power and an enticing aroma.

Wang Sheng and a dozen other work-study students from Dorm Seven were crowded into the lower half of the round table.

They held exquisite silver cutlery in their hands, their eyes fixed intently on the delicacies, their Adam's apples bobbing frantically, yet no one dared to be the first to pick up their chopsticks.

This kind of spread, which they had only ever seen in dreams, made them so cautious that even their breathing became careful.

Su Chen sat in the seat of honor.

He had removed the heavy outer robe that signified his status as the Holy Son, wearing only a form-fitting black inner garment.

His sleeves were slightly rolled up, revealing his well-defined forearms.

"What are you staring at?"

Su Chen picked up the white porcelain teacup in front of him, brushed away the floating leaves, and took a light sip.

"The food won't taste good if it gets cold. Start eating."

This sentence acted like a military order that broke a seal.

"Thank you, Boss!"

Wang Sheng took the lead with a shout, and the work-study students immediately reached out with their chopsticks like hungry tigers pouncing on prey.

For a time, the only sounds in the private room were the clinking of bowls and chopsticks and the frantic noise of chewing.

The only exception was Xiao Wu, who sat beside Su Chen.

She hadn't been restrained for even a single second like Wang Sheng and the others.

A ceramic bowl larger than her face was placed in front of her.

It was filled to the brim with carrot and pork ribs stewed until the meat fell off the bone.

Xiao Wu grabbed a rib with both hands, eating until her mouth was covered in grease.

Her large pink eyes narrowed into crescent moons, and the rabbit ears atop her head swayed back and forth with the rhythm of her chewing.

"These ribs... are so delicious!"

Xiao Wu mumbled indistinctly, spat a bone onto the table, and impatiently reached out to grab the next piece.

"Slow down."

Su Chen set down his teacup.

He pulled out a snow-white silk handkerchief and naturally handed it to Xiao Wu.

"You've got your face all messy like a little kitten. Wipe it off."

Xiao Wu froze for a moment.

She looked at the handkerchief held out to her, then at Su Chen's calm and gentle profile.

Instead of taking the handkerchief, she leaned her face forward quite naturally.

"My hands are dirty, you help me wipe it."

Xiao Wu lifted her chin with righteous confidence, her eyes sparkling.

For a hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit who grew up in the Star Dou Great Forest, she simply didn't understand human rules regarding the boundaries between men and women.

She only knew that whoever gave her delicious food and protected her was someone close to her.

Su Chen looked at the greasy, pretty face leaning toward him.

He did not refuse.

Holding the handkerchief with his fingers, he gently wiped the corners of Xiao Wu's lips and her cheeks.

His movements were neither too light nor too heavy.

Just enough to wipe away the grease.

Xiao Wu caught the faint scent of Soul-Calming Incense on Su Chen.

Her cheeks inexplicably grew warm.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Su Chen, are you really the Holy Son of the Martial Soul Hall?"

Xiao Wu sat back in her chair, biting on a carrot, her large eyes darting around.

"I heard them say that people from the Martial Soul Hall are all very fierce."

Su Chen tossed the soiled handkerchief aside.

"Whether I am fierce or not depends on who I am dealing with."

Su Chen tapped his fingers lightly against the tabletop.

"When dealing with a hypocritical fraud like Yu Xiaogang, one must naturally use a blade."

"When dealing with one's own people, that blade should be put away."

"One's own people..." Xiao Wu chewed on these three words.

Her rabbit ears perked up happily.

She brushed off her greasy little hands, leaned in close to Su Chen, and lowered her voice.

"Is that old man named Yu Xiaogang really as bad as you say?"

"He is even worse than I described."

Su Chen turned his head, looking straight into Xiao Wu's eyes.

"Not only does he steal from others to decorate his own facade, but worst of all, he treats his disciples like test subjects."

Su Chen's tone grew heavy; he was deliberately trying to inoculate Xiao Wu against them.

"Xiao Wu, remember this."

"In this world, the most dangerous people are not those who wear their malice on their faces."

"They are the ones who speak of benevolence and morality, claiming to do things 'for your own good' while actually extracting every ounce of your value."

"Take that Tang San, who uses hidden weapons to hurt people, for example."

Su Chen sneered.

"He resorts to sneak attacks with poisoned hidden weapons when he can't win, and when caught red-handed, he trots out grand principles about 'respecting teachers and the path' to cover it up."

"That kind of person is even more hypocritical than Yu Xiaogang."

Xiao Wu nodded repeatedly as she listened.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's intuition for danger was naturally keen.

Today at the academy gate, she had heard with her own ears Yu Xiaogang's fallacious theory about using plant-type martial souls to forcibly absorb animal-type soul rings.

She had seen with her own eyes Tang San launch a sneak attack after Su Chen exposed him.

In her mind, the labels for this master and disciple had been firmly set as "extremely dangerous frauds."

"Don't worry, from now on, I'll stay far away whenever I see them!"

Xiao Wu waved her small fist.

"If they dare to provoke me, I'll use the Eight-Stage Throw to kick them flying!"

Su Chen smiled.

He picked up his teacup.

Xiao Wu's defenses were now firmly established.

Tang San's usual routine of acting pitiful and gifting hidden weapons to win Xiao Wu's favor would no longer work.

At the same time.

Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, infirmary.

The pungent smell of medicinal liquid permeated the cramped ward.

Tang San lay on the cold, hard wooden bed and snapped his eyes open.

The excruciating pain in his fingers, which felt as if it reached his heart, flooded his brain like a tidal wave.

"Hiss..."

He drew a sharp breath, instinctively trying to clench his fists.

But his hands were already wrapped in thick white bandages like two round balls, unable to move even a fraction.

His Mysterious Jade Hand had been broken, and his finger bones were fractured.

This sense of humiliation drove him crazier than the physical pain.

Tang San gritted his teeth, forcibly mobilizing the last trace of Mysterious Heaven Skill internal energy in his dantian.

As soon as the internal energy began to circulate, a stagnant, stinging pain shot through his meridians.

Su Chen's kick during the day had not only broken his ribs but had also shattered the foundation of the internal energy he had painstakingly cultivated for years.

"Creak—"

The ward door was pushed open.

An academy healing soul master wearing a white coat walked in.

He carried an iron tray holding several rolls of new bandages and a bottle of low-quality black bruise medicine.

"Awake?"

The healing soul master's tone was icy, even revealing a hint of undisguised disgust.

"Apply this medicine once you're awake. The Dean has spoken: your injuries were caused by your own troublemaking, so the academy is only providing the bare minimum of treatment."

Tang San's brows locked together.

Back in Holy Soul Village, even Old Jack the village chief treated him with three parts courtesy.

Never before had he been subjected to such cold treatment.

"Teacher, may I ask... where is Grandmaster?"

Tang San suppressed his fury, asking the question that concerned him most.

The man who had seen through the secret of his Twin Martial Souls was his only hope now.

"Grandmaster?"

The healing soul master sneered, slamming the metal tray onto the bedside table with a heavy thud.

"There is no longer any Grandmaster at Nuoding Academy."

"That fraud has been issued a Death Warrant by Martial Soul Hall. If he dares to stay in Nuoding City for even one more second, the City Defense Army will break his legs and throw him out."

The healing soul master looked down at Tang San from a height.

"Kid, I'm warning you. You'd best draw a line between yourself and him immediately."

"You offended the Holy Son of Martial Soul Hall; the fact that the Dean hasn't expelled you is already an act of extreme benevolence."

"If you dare mention that fraud's name again, you can pack your things and get out of Dorm Seven."

Having said that, the healing soul master didn't even bother to change his bandages, turning and walking away.

With a loud "bang," the wooden door was slammed shut.

The infirmary fell back into a deathly silence.

Tang San stared blankly at the yellowing ceiling.

His chest heaved violently.

He had been abandoned.

No, he had been forcibly cut off from his future by Martial Soul Hall.

Yu Xiaogang being driven away meant he had lost the best guide for obtaining his first soul ring.

What was even more desperate was that in this Nuoding City, where Martial Soul Hall held absolute power, he—a mere work-study student—could never obtain a permit to enter the Soul Hunting Forest without Grandmaster's guarantee.

Without a permit, he could not obtain a soul ring.

His Mysterious Heaven Skill would be stuck at the first level forever.

He would be reduced to a complete cripple.

"Martial Soul Hall... Su Chen..."

Tang San squeezed these words out through his teeth.

His eyes were bloodshot, and a strange purple hue flickered deep within his pupils.

The third rule of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record: Once you determine an opponent is an enemy, if they have a path to death, do not show mercy, otherwise you will only bring trouble upon yourself.

Su Chen had crippled his ten fingers in public, humiliated his hidden weapons, and severed his path forward.

This was no longer just a path to death.

This was an irreconcilable blood feud.

Tang San struggled to roll over, avoiding his broken ribs.

He used his elbows to prop himself up on the bed and slowly sat up.

He had to rely on himself.

His hidden weapons were destroyed, his fingers broken.

But he still had another trump card.

Tang San lowered his head.

He closed his eyes, sensing the heavy, dense power in the palm of his left hand.

Clear Sky Hammer.

Although he didn't know how to cultivate a martial soul.

His experience as a blacksmith in the Tang Sect from his previous life remained.

As long as his fingers recovered.

He could go to a blacksmith shop in Nuoding City to work.

Earn money, recast his Silent Sleeve Arrow, and perhaps even forge a more lethal Godly Zhuge Crossbow.

Once he had enough lethality, even if he had to sneak in, he would slip into the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain a soul ring.

"The humiliation of today shall be repaid a hundredfold in the future."

Tang San stared at the deep night outside the window, swearing the most venomous oath in his heart.

Meanwhile, a few streets away from the infirmary.

The dinner banquet at Nuoding Restaurant had already concluded.

Wang Sheng led a group of work-study students with round, full bellies back to Dorm Seven, offering endless thanks.

On the streets of the night market.

The lights were bright, and the crowd flowed like a tapestry.

Su Chen did not take a carriage; he walked unhurriedly along the bluestone path with his hands tucked into his pockets.

Xiao Wu hopped and skipped along beside him.

In her hand, she held a carrot-shaped sugar painting she had just bought.

Every now and then, she would stick out her pink, delicate tongue to take a lick.

"There are so many delicious things in Nuoding City at night!"

Xiao Wu sighed with satisfaction, her large eyes fixed on the various stalls along the road.

"Star Dou Gre... the village I lived in before was pitch black at night, with nothing at all."

She had almost let Star Dou Great Forest slip out, so she quickly stuck out her tongue and forced a correction.

Su Chen pretended not to notice her slip of the tongue.

He stopped in front of a stall selling hair accessories.

His gaze swept over the crudely crafted trinkets on the table.

Finally, he picked up a wooden hairpin carved into the shape of a carrot.

The wood quality was average, but it won out for being small and exquisitely shaped.

"Boss, how much for this?"

Su Chen asked casually.

"You have a good eye, young master. This is high-quality fragrant wood, only two Copper Soul Coins." The stall owner beamed.

Su Chen tossed down a Silver Soul Coin and didn't ask for change.

He turned around and held the carrot hairpin out to Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu stopped in her tracks.

She looked at the wooden hairpin, then back at Su Chen.

"For me?"

"I noticed you quite like carrots. This will last longer than a sugar painting."

Su Chen's tone was very casual.

There was no deliberate attempt to curry favor; it was as if he had just picked up a small trinket on a whim.

Xiao Wu took the hairpin.

The surface of the wood was polished very smoothly and carried a faint, woody fragrance.

Having grown up in the forest, she was accustomed to the law of the jungle and had never received a gift carrying such pure "goodwill."

She touched the rabbit ears on top of her head.

Suddenly, she felt a warmth she had never experienced before welling up in her heart.

"Thank you."

Xiao Wu's voice became much softer, and her cheeks appeared exceptionally rosy under the glow of the streetlights.

"However, this Big Sister isn't someone who can be bought with just a hairpin."

She lifted her chin with feigned arrogance.

"If you dare to bully me in the future, I'll still beat you up."

Su Chen chuckled aloud.

"Very well. I shall await it at any time."

The two walked side by side into the night.

The distance between them had invisibly drawn much closer.

Su Chen looked toward the end of the street ahead.

The next priority was to completely destroy the soil in which Tang San could develop in Nuoding City.

Tomorrow was the day classes officially began at Nuoding Academy.

Tang San wanted to work at a blacksmith shop? Wanted to sneak into the Soul Hunting Forest?

With him, the Martial Soul Hall Holy Son, present.

In this Nuoding City, no shop would dare to hire Tang San.

And there would be no path that allowed Tang San to walk out of this city.