"If you go register at Spirit Hall now, they'll definitely discover that you have Innate Full Soul Power. So I hope you can wait until next year, and when you register, just say that your Martial Soul is a Mutated Chrysanthemum."
"There's no denying that once your talent is revealed, the important figures of Spirit Hall will take notice of you. But Spirit Hall isn't the only force on the continent."
"The Upper Three Sects and the two great empires are on bad terms with Spirit Hall. If you join Spirit Hall, they'll definitely target you. Given the chance, they'll kill you without hesitation. But likewise, if you don't join Spirit Hall and join them instead, Spirit Hall will target you."
"So what I mean is, I hope you can play both sides. When the time comes, make them all think they have a chance to recruit you. Buy yourself time and become strong enough that you no longer need to fear assassination."
What Flender said did make sense.
Lu Fan neither agreed nor disagreed.
"But wouldn't that mean I'd lose twelve Gold Soul Coins?"
Lu Fan curled his lip. Twelve Gold Soul Coins were an enormous fortune to him right now.
Flender rolled his eyes at Lu Fan. Gritting his teeth, he steeled himself and pulled out twelve Gold Soul Coins, handing them over. "There. I'll make up the difference. Happy now?"
Lu Fan took the twelve Gold Soul Coins from Flender in surprise and stored them in his storage ring.
"Hehe, I won't stand on ceremony, then."
He had not expected Flender, that stingy old miser, to be willing to give him so much money.
For a moment, Flender rose considerably in his estimation.
"Oh, right, Xiao Fan. I think your name is a little unlucky. Have you considered changing it?"
Flender suddenly suggested.
Lu Fan frowned slightly, curious about what Flender had come up with to make him change his name.
"Let's hear it."
With an extremely confident expression, Flender proposed, "How about Lu Guan? Chrysanthemum Douluo of Spirit Hall has the same Martial Soul as you. His name is Yue Guan, and yours can be Lu Guan. Not bad, right?"
"Uh..."
Lu Fan's mouth twitched.
"Listen to that name. Does it sound good to you?"
"Isn't it a good name?"
Flender looked somewhat confused.
Lu Fan nodded. "It's quite good. Out of ten, I can give it an 8.5 or an 8.6."
"Because I'm speechless by 1.5 points, and a little dead inside by 1.4."
After returning to Suotuo City,
Ma Hongjun and Oscar, the two boys his age, both crowded around him curiously to ask what Lu Fan had gained on this trip.
Lu Fan did not feel the need to hide it from these two future companions.
After all, once he fought, his Spirit Skill would basically be exposed anyway.
There was no need to spoil their excitement over this.
"My first Spirit Skill is called Singular Velvet Protection. It's a defensive Spirit Skill that can form a protective barrier around my body."
However, Lu Fan was no fool.
The three of them were classmates now, and in the future, they would be friends—perhaps even brothers who would fight through life and death together.
Still, that did not mean there would be no competition among them. It was best to hold something back. When they competed internally in the future, it could also help determine who was stronger and who was weaker.
"So, Lu Fan, you're planning to take the defensive Soul Master path in the future?"
Ma Hongjun asked.
Lu Fan nodded. "Probably."
Oscar excitedly said, "That's great! Fatty will definitely be a strong attack type in the future, Lu Fan, you're a defense type, and with me as a food-type support, the three of us practically complement one another perfectly."
As soon as he said that, both Lu Fan and Ma Hongjun felt that it made a lot of sense.
Oscar stepped forward, held Lu Fan's arm with both hands, and even gave it a rather lecherous squeeze. In an affected tone, he said, "Brother Fan, you're a defense-type Soul Master. You have to protect me, your support, in the future."
Lu Fan burst out laughing. "Hahaha, no problem. Just for calling me Brother Fan, whenever we have Soul Fighting in the future, you can stand behind me and mess around with your big Sausage."
"Long live Brother Fan!"
"Hey, hey, hey, what about me?!"
Seeing how close the two were, Ma Hongjun felt a little left out and hurriedly squeezed over.
"Hehe, Xiao Ao, call me Brother Jun, and Brother Jun won't treat you badly in the future either."
Oscar rolled his eyes at Ma Hongjun. "Forget it, Fatty. You're the weakest among the three of us right now. You're the only one who hasn't gotten your first Spirit Ring yet."
Ma Hongjun suffered a heavy blow at those words. Lies did not hurt people; the truth was the sharpest blade.
Oscar was speaking the truth.
Lu Fan and Oscar were the only peers Ma Hongjun had met.
Both had arrived later than he had, yet their cultivation was already higher than his. That was indeed a blow to him.
Besides, Ma Hongjun's Martial Soul came with the Evil Fire buff.
It was a flawed Martial Soul.
Lu Fan noticed Ma Hongjun's disappointment and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him. "Fatty, train hard. I don't know whether you can catch up to me, but catching up to Xiao Ao shouldn't be a problem."
"Xiao Ao is a food-type Soul Master. Food-type Soul Masters are famously slow at cultivating."
A glimmer of light flashed in Ma Hongjun's eyes.
He looked maliciously at Oscar, whose expression had changed, and laughed. "Hehehe, Xiao Ao, just you wait. At most a year from now, I'll definitely surpass you."
Oscar's expression changed.
He knew the common knowledge that food-type Soul Masters cultivated slowly.
Now it seemed that he was the real clown.
"No~"
Oscar's legs went weak, and he dropped to his knees, sighing toward the sky.
"Snowflakes drift, the north wind howls~"
Lu Fan sang softly from the side.
At the same time, he did not forget to use his Martial Soul to make a few petals drift down onto Oscar's head.
The next day, having obtained a Spirit Ring and become a true Soul Master, Lu Fan officially began his life as a Soul Master.
The teachers of Shrek Academy began giving the three of them lessons in cultural subjects.
To be fair, although none of them were theoretical researchers, their reserves of knowledge far surpassed those Soul Masters and Soul Grandmaster teachers at low-level academies.
Besides theoretical studies, physical fitness training was naturally indispensable as well.
But compared to the training they would face six years later,
they were still only six-year-old children, and Oscar, the oldest, was only a little over seven.
Flender and the others were not so heartless as to make a few children undergo some kind of devilish training.
Six-year-olds only needed to do running drills.
Although running drills sounded somewhat laughable,
they were very necessary for children of this age.
It truly was the most suitable training method.
Even after they grew up, running would still be the best way to train physical strength, endurance, and willpower.
Zhao Wuji watched the three of them running laps through the village.
He looked at Ma Hongjun, who was lagging behind, and scolded him with disappointment in his voice:
"Hong Jun, work harder lately. Look at Xiao Fan and Xiao Ao. They're already Soul Masters, while you're still just a Soul Scholar. Think about it—are you willing to be weaker than those two?"
"Hurry up and become a Soul Master. Then I'll arrange for you to have practical sparring training with Xiao Fan."
"Whoever wins will be Shrek Academy's strongest student."
Before you continue