"You're graduating, then? Do you have a mid-level Soul Master Academy in mind? If not, I can recommend an especially outstanding one."
Since Yu Xiaogang was asking Li Luo for a favor, he didn't put on that haughty, superior air of his. In truth, Li Luo had beaten him into submission earlier, and he no longer dared act cocky.
"Not interested."
Li Luo replied and pushed Yu Xiaogang aside.
Li Luo was strong. Even though it was just a casual shove, Yu Xiaogang stumbled and nearly lost his balance.
Watching Li Luo's retreating figure, Yu Xiaogang didn't dare try to stop him again.
He called out after Li Luo.
"That mid-level Soul Master Academy is called Shrek Academy. It's located in Suotuo City, in the Balak Kingdom. Its faculty includes at least two Soul Saints and several Soul Emperors. It's an academy that only accepts monsters like you."
Li Luo didn't stop when he heard Yu Xiaogang's words. He knew Yu Xiaogang was talking about Shrek Academy, nothing more.
But Li Luo knew exactly what Shrek Academy was like. As for whether he wanted to go, he would go in the end—but not to study there. He had other plans.
To advance, Li Luo needed to capture Soul Masters after reaching a Soul Master bottleneck and obtain Soul Rings. Four years later, when he turned twelve, he would go to Shrek Academy to take the entrance exam. By then, Ning Rongrong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Zhu Zhuqing of the Hell Spirit Cat clan would arrive as well.
With her Innate Soul Power of level nine and her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul, Ning Rongrong's talent went without saying. He absolutely had to make her his contracted beast.
As for Zhu Zhuqing, although her Innate Soul Power was a little lower, she was diligent and hardworking in her cultivation.
Once Zhu Zhuqing was captured by Li Luo's Prism Ball, her Martial Soul would naturally evolve to the highest aptitude.
With Zhu Zhuqing's attitude toward cultivation, Li Luo's Soul Power Level would rise quickly.
And if you were wondering whether Li Luo had any designs on the Little Demoness and the big cat—
Of course he did.
After leaving Notting Academy, Li Luo first took Tang San and Xiao Wu back to Holy Soul Village to let Old Jack know they were safe. Old Jack was overjoyed that Li Luo and Tang San had both become honored Soul Masters.
Li Luo left Old Jack some money. When Tang San returned home, he found that Tang Hao hadn't come back, and he felt a little dejected.
The three of them swore brotherhood on the grass behind the village. Li Luo became the eldest, Tang San the second, and Xiao Wu the third.
Afterward, Li Luo took Tang San and Xiao Wu to Gengxin City. At this stage, Li Luo, Tang San, and Xiao Wu were all in a lull in their Soul Power growth and could only improve through meditation.
But cultivation was like rowing upstream: if you didn't press forward, you fell behind. Li Luo wasn't without a way to quickly consolidate and improve his strength.
That way was Whale Rubber. As a substance that could greatly raise the body's physical limits, Whale Rubber was something Li Luo naturally wouldn't forget.
But Whale Rubber was an aphrodisiac. Although it wasn't particularly expensive, with Li Luo's current finances, he could only afford a few pieces that were several decades old, or at most a hundred years old.
A thousand-year or ten-thousand-year piece of Whale Rubber was a potent tonic for nobles who indulged in nightly revelry and debauchery. Naturally, merchants selling it hoarded the older varieties to drive up the price.
So Li Luo planned to put Tang San's skills to good use by having him craft Hidden Weapons with great destructive power and a wide range, such as the Godly Zhuge Crossbow and Sand-Shooting Shadow. They would auction them off to earn their first pot of gold.
Li Luo brought Tang San and Xiao Wu to Gengxin City. Xiao Wu's Martial Soul had now evolved into the Soft Bone Charm Jade Rabbit, and the aura of a Soul Beast was concealed. Under ordinary circumstances, even a Titled Douluo couldn't see through Xiao Wu's identity.
"Hello. I'm here to register as an apprentice blacksmith in Gengxin City."
Li Luo brought Tang San to the Blacksmith Association, and Tang San stepped up to the staff member.
Hearing someone call out to him, the staff member looked up at Tang San.
"Little boy? Are you sure you haven't come to the wrong place? This is the Blacksmith Association. Did you get separated from your family?"
Tang San was only nine years old. Although absorbing two Soul Rings had helped him grow, he still couldn't hide his childish air.
Tang San was used to this sort of thing. The three of them had attracted plenty of attention on the way here.
Especially when they'd gone to a medicine shop to buy Whale Rubber that was several decades old—the shop assistant had looked at the three of them strangely.
"Are kids these days really so precocious? They look barely ten, but they're already getting up to that sort of thing?"
It was obvious the shop assistant had misunderstood when Li Luo and the others bought the Whale Rubber. The combined ages of Li Luo and Tang San across their two lives exceeded thirty, while Xiao Wu was a hundred-thousand-year-old rabbit. Naturally, they all understood what the shop assistant had meant.
At first, Xiao Wu had been rather expectant, but Li Luo told her that softening Whale Rubber with Soul Power before consuming it could raise the body's physical limits and help with cultivation.
Xiao Wu was immediately disappointed, her face falling.
"Big brother, I may be young, but I'm plenty strong. And I have a full two and a half years of forging experience."
Only then did the staff member turn his attention to Tang San and size him up.
"Little brother, how old are you?"
"Nine!"
"A nine-year-old is already this tall and sturdy? I thought you were fourteen!"
"Little brother, is someone in your family a blacksmith? Did he teach you to forge?"
Tang San thought it over. Tang Hao was indeed the blacksmith in Holy Soul Village, so he nodded.
"So you come from a family of blacksmiths. That's a good pedigree. Come with me."
Gengxin City was different from the outside world. Here, Soul Power Level wasn't the most important standard. What mattered was a person's forging ability and family background. Without a doubt, having blacksmiths in the family was highly regarded.
The president of the Blacksmith Association was only a Soul Emperor, but with his peerless forging skills, he was hailed as the "Divine Craftsman" and held an extremely high status in Gengxin City.
The staff member led Tang San into a forging room.
There was nothing else in the room but a blacksmith's platform. Beneath it was a furnace, and on top lay an ordinary piece of natural iron ore that had never been forged.
"All right. Now refine this iron ore. You have two and a half hours. If you can refine it to fifty percent purity within the time limit, you'll pass the assessment and receive a junior blacksmith certificate."
"With a junior blacksmith certificate, you can register a shop in Gengxin City and run your own business."
After the staff member finished speaking, he left the forging room and brought in the assessment examiner.
Once the examiner announced the start of the timer, Tang San picked up the assessment hammer and began forging the iron ore.
"Eighty!"
"Eighty!"
"Eighty!"
Small hammer, forty. Big hammer, eighty!
Tang San opened with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. With each successive strike, he built up another layer of force, every blow more powerful than the last.
After just ten strikes, the iron ore had already been refined to forty-nine percent purity, only a little short of the required standard.
The examiner beside him was dumbfounded. He drew in a sharp breath and exclaimed in shock.