Ma Xiunuo was completely absorbed in reviewing this year's awakening reports from Nuoding City. He was passionate about his work and had spent decades striving to uphold its standards.
In the past, this dedicated old man had always traveled far and wide to awaken the Martial Souls of children from commoner families in remote areas. This year, however, Su Yuntao had returned to Nuoding City and volunteered to take on the assignments involving the longest journeys.
It was thanks to Ma Xiunuo's decades of diligent service that he had been promoted to deacon of the Spirit Hall branch in Nuoding City. After all, it was rare for someone with the strength of a twenty-ninth-level Soul Master to be promoted to deacon of the Spirit Hall.
In this year's report, Su Yuntao had concealed the information about the child's Innate Full Soul Power. He felt that if the report mentioned it, even Pope Bibi Dong might be alerted.
In the ten years since his transmigration, he had sometimes felt utterly lost. Many things in the original story were utterly absurd and illogical, yet they had happened again and again. Perhaps something was guiding it all, driving the world along a predetermined course.
Su Yuntao spoke up. "Master, I have something extremely important to tell you."
Ma Xiunuo replied, "What is it, Yuntao? You can tell me anything."
Su Yuntao's expression grew grave. He enunciated every word. "Master, I've found a way for us to change our fates."
"Change our fates?" Ma Xiunuo asked in confusion. "Yuntao, what do you mean?"
"Master Ma Xiunuo, you've been stuck at level twenty-nine for decades. I've obtained a treasure that can transform our constitutions, making the path of cultivation much smoother! If you take it, not only will you break through to level thirty with ease, you might even become a Soul Master of Soul Sage rank or higher someday!"
Revealing the existence of the Immortal Herbs wasn't a wise decision, but Su Yuntao had chosen to do so anyway. A person needed to be rational, but if they were rational about everything—even if they felt no impulse to act when their parents passed away—then they were no longer human.
When Su Yuntao had been destitute, Ma Xiunuo had reached out to help him. In Su Yuntao's eyes, Ma Xiunuo was family. If he wanted to help the old man break through to level thirty and extend his life, an Immortal Herb was essential. Ma Xiunuo's kindness and Su Yuntao's deep regard for him had ultimately led to this decision.
By taking the spirit herb Ninth-grade Immortal Ganoderma, Master had been able to gain more than ten levels of Soul Power in five or six years and advance to Soul Ancestor. By the time of the Battle of Jialing Pass, he had reached the level of a Soul King, above level fifty.
Although Ma Xiunuo was older than Master, if he took an Immortal Herb, reaching level seventy would pose little difficulty in his lifetime. As for advancing beyond level seventy, that would depend on how things went.
If circumstances allowed in the future, Su Yuntao wouldn't mind giving him a Soul Bone to help the old man who had once done everything he could for him break through to level seventy.
At these words, Ma Xiunuo's expression turned serious at once.
"Yuntao, don't joke around."
Su Yuntao replied slowly, "Master, we've known each other for years. Surely you know what kind of person I am?"
At that, Ma Xiunuo looked astonished, a burning glint in his eyes. Although the whole thing seemed unbelievable, Su Yuntao had never been one to joke around.
"Master, you have to leave the Spirit Hall. Once you take this treasure, your Soul Power Level—and even your appearance and Martial Soul—will undergo enormous changes!"
"Such obvious signs will surely attract attention. I'm sure you understand that for people as weak as us, once we draw the notice of high-level Soul Masters, disaster will soon follow."
Ma Xiunuo looked dazed. Su Yuntao's words had shaken him so deeply that the old man couldn't react for a moment.
"Yuntao, what exactly is this thing you've obtained?"
Su Yuntao replied calmly, "Even if I told you exactly what it is, Master, you wouldn't understand. But I can say for certain that it's worth no less than a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring!"
At that, Ma Xiunuo slumped back in his chair.
"Yuntao, are you telling the truth?"
Su Yuntao nodded solemnly, then said slowly, "Master, pack your things. We'll meet in Fengling Village tonight. I can guarantee that after you take the treasure, you'll never dare return to the Spirit Hall!"
Ma Xiunuo asked, his voice trembling with emotion, "Yuntao, why would you do this for me?"
"Master, didn't you do everything you could to help me when I was in trouble? You showed me kindness in the past, and now I'm repaying it. I know that even a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring!"
Before he could say more, Su Yuntao turned and left. Ma Xiunuo surveyed everything around him, everything he knew so well, and his eyes filled with deep reluctance.
"Ah!" Ma Xiunuo sighed. He didn't want to leave the place where he had worked for decades, but no Soul Master could resist such temptation.
He was already eighty-one years old. If a Soul Master failed to break through to level thirty before turning thirty, they were destined to remain stuck there for life, their path of cultivation cut off.
And although Soul Masters did live longer than ordinary people, he was old all the same. Only by breaking through could he extend his life. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't resist the treasure's allure."
Fengling Village, forty li south of Nuoding City
The sun sank in the west. Before long, the moon rose, bathing the quiet little village in an even deeper stillness.
Ma Xiunuo looked at the four unusual flowers and herbs before him, his expression filled with excitement.
"Yuntao, are these the treasures you mentioned?"
"Master, that's right. All four of these plants are best suited to us. In fact, it would be more accurate to call them Immortal Herbs."
"I have four Immortal Herbs here: Tomorrow Sacred Heart Flower, Aromatic Maple Orchid, Eternal Illusion Demon Flower, and Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid! The one best suited to you is the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid!"
Each of the four Immortal Herbs was among the finest in the world. The Tomorrow Sacred Heart Flower bestowed fire attributes and had the effect of restoring youth.
The Aromatic Maple Orchid bestowed an exceptionally strong wind attribute and could even change a person's appearance.
As its name suggested, the Eternal Illusion Demon Flower enhanced spiritual power and had an exceptionally powerful illusion effect. It could even change the color of a person's Soul Rings.
These were the three Immortal Herbs Su Yuntao had carefully chosen for himself. The tremendous boost to his fire, wind, and spiritual attributes would make his Lone Wolf Martial Soul evolve like never before.
Naturally, the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid he had prepared for Ma Xiunuo was no ordinary herb either. It had the mildest medicinal effects of all the Immortal Herbs, making it the easiest for the old man to absorb. After all, he was old, and Su Yuntao worried that if the effects were too potent, they might finish him off on the spot.
Su Yuntao plucked the Eternal Illusion Demon Flower and swallowed it. As soon as the Immortal Herb went down, he felt as if he had entered some kind of ethereal state. Everything around him seemed clearer than ever before, as though all things were within his grasp.
After taking the Eternal Illusion Demon Flower, Su Yuntao began absorbing the medicinal effects of the Tomorrow Sacred Heart Flower and the Aromatic Maple Orchid.
As he absorbed the effects of the two Immortal Herbs, his body began to change ever so slightly. To Ma Xiunuo's astonishment, the changes didn't slow with time; they only grew more pronounced. The effects of the two herbs weren't fully absorbed until dawn was near.
The body of the twenty-two-year-old Su Yuntao had changed completely. He looked at least ten years younger, no more than fourteen or fifteen, and his bone age was astonishingly only around ten.
Su Yuntao had already been handsome, but now his appearance had undergone a stunning transformation. His thick, jet-black hair had turned a silky, smooth green.
His already handsome face now surpassed the average reader's looks, making him arguably the most handsome man on the entire Douluo Continent.
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