Nuoding Academy

Hearing this, Tang San couldn't help but pause. Earlier, he really had thought that being a blacksmith would be nice. But ever since losing his first spar with Ye Chen, he had realized that to survive in this world, he needed great strength.

Losing to Ye Chen three times in a row only stirred up the desire to win that lay buried in his heart.

Whether in his previous life in the Tang Sect or in this one, Tang San felt he was a determined person. It was precisely because of that determination that he had created the peerless Hidden Weapon the Tang Sect had been unable to make for hundreds of years: the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus.

Driven by that determination, he hadn't beaten Ye Chen even once or vindicated the Tang Sect's techniques. How could he be content to stay in the village and work as a blacksmith?

What was more, he had been stuck at the bottleneck of the first layer of the Mysterious Heaven Skill for a long time. Perhaps it had something to do with a Soul Ring.

So he had to join Nuoding Academy and ask a teacher to help him obtain a Soul Ring!

Having made up his mind, Tang San replied, "Father, I'll do as you say. I won't ever add a Soul Ring to my Hammer Martial Soul. I'll only cultivate my Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul."

"You're not going to ask why I'm making this demand of you?" Tang Hao said coolly.

Tang San smiled faintly. "You're my father. Whatever you say or ask me to do, I'll agree. You must be doing it for my own good."

At this, Tang Hao froze. After a brief, dazed moment, he instructed him, "Remember, in the future, you must use the hammer in your left hand to protect the grass in your right."

"Only by cultivating your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul first, then your Hammer Martial Soul, can you achieve that. Xiaosan, come over. I'll teach you a few more forging techniques. The money you earn as an apprentice with your forging skills will be enough to cover your living expenses at Nuoding Academy."

"Okay!" Tang San replied, his heart suddenly warming. He hurried over to the stove to learn forging techniques from Tang Hao.

One month later, at four in the morning.

Ye Chen bid farewell to the old village chief at the entrance to Pallet Village, then climbed onto Uncle Meng's ox cart to head for Nuoding Academy in Nuoding City.

The old village chief was the head of Poultry Village. His name was Wang Damu, though the villagers were used to calling him Old Wang or Chief Damu.

After Poultry Village was renamed Pallet Village, Chief Damu became the first village chief of Pallet Village.

Uncle Meng was Chief Damu's son. He made his living raising poultry and often transported chickens, ducks, and other fowl to Nuoding City to sell.

On the broad mountain road.

As Uncle Meng drove the ox cart, he cautioned him, "Ye Chen, remember to behave when you get to Nuoding Academy, okay? Whatever you do, don't pick a fight with that noble student who's like the king of beasts just to become the boss of the academy. You'll only bring trouble on yourself."

"Don't worry, Uncle Meng. I'm going there to study, not to fight. Besides, I've already changed the village's name. I can't let everyone down. Once I become a powerful Soul Master, I'll make Pallet Village prosper and help everyone live better lives!"

Hearing Ye Chen make such a solemn promise in a childlike voice, Uncle Meng laughed heartily. "Good. We'll be waiting."

In the morning, the sun rose, and the sky was just beginning to brighten.

At Nuoding Academy.

After completing his registration at the academy's administration office, Ye Chen collected several uniforms and headed alone to the dormitory area.

When he reached the entrance to Dorm Seven, he saw that the door was open, but the dormitory was empty.

"Did I get here too early?"

Ye Chen entered Dorm Seven and chose the bed in the innermost corner, closest to the wall.

After cleaning the bed, he made it, then folded his bedding and placed it at the head of the bed. He was now settled in Dorm Seven.

Seeing that none of his roommates had returned yet, Ye Chen went to the bathroom, took a shower, and changed into Nuoding Academy's blue uniform.

Suddenly, a tall boy in the same blue uniform knocked at the dormitory door.

Ye Chen looked toward the entrance and saw that the tall boy seemed to be eleven or twelve years old. He stood two heads taller than Ye Chen.

Dorm Seven was a mixed dormitory for work-study students, so the boy could only be a work-study student too.

Ye Chen quickly figured that the tall boy must be his senior.

By Dorm Seven's rules, a fight was unavoidable. If so, rather than let his senior give him a taste of his fists, he might as well give his senior a taste of his first!

Thinking this, Ye Chen went to the door and asked the tall boy, "Are you a new work-study student?"

The tall boy furrowed his brows. "What do you mean, 'new work-study student'? My name is Wang Sheng, and I'm the current boss of Dorm Seven. My Martial Soul is Battle Tiger. I'm a sixth-year student. Who are you, kid? Why are you in our Dorm Seven?"

"So you're the boss of Dorm Seven." Ye Chen pointed his thumb at his chest and said with feigned swagger, "I'm a new work-study student. Wang Sheng, since you're the boss of Dorm Seven, let's fight. Whoever wins gets to be the boss."

"Sure. Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson." Wang Sheng thrust his fist in front of Ye Chen and growled, "You little brat, tell me your name. I, Wang Sheng, don't fight nobodies!"

"No. I don't need to fight you myself."

As he spoke, Ye Chen stepped back five paces. A streak of red light shot from his chest in an arc and fell to the ground, where it transformed into a Torchic.

"Chamo, chamo—"

As its childish cries rang out, a golden light revolved around Torchic, making it seem to glitter.

Seeing the golden chick before him, Wang Sheng first froze, then snorted with laughter and said disdainfully, "A chicken Martial Soul? You little brat, you think you can challenge me for the boss's spot with a poultry Martial Soul? Do you even have what it takes?"

"I can't be bothered to waste my breath on you. Torchic, attack."

After giving the command, Ye Chen turned and sat on his bed to watch the show.

Torchic let out its "chamo, chamo" cries, and countless small flames shot from its beak, instantly heating the air around them.

Then the countless small flames roared through the air and exploded all over Wang Sheng.

Bang, bang, bang! Aah!

As screams rang out at the dormitory entrance, Wang Sheng ended up sprawled on the ground in a sorry heap, and the fight was over just like that.

The small flames that ended the battle were Torchic's Fire-type skill, Ember, which it had learned a month earlier.

Although the attack was fierce, Torchic had deliberately weakened Ember, so Wang Sheng hadn't suffered any real injury. His arm had only sustained a slight burn.

What disappointed Ye Chen was that the battle experience Torchic gained from defeating Wang Sheng was less than one-twelfth of what it had gained from defeating Tang San. Wang Sheng was clearly far weaker than Tang San.

It seemed that if he wanted to raise his Soul Power quickly through fighting, he would have to find an opponent stronger than Tang San.

As the saying went, strike one fist to keep a hundred at bay.

Once Wang Sheng, the boss, had been beaten into submission, his roommates naturally didn't dare cause trouble when they gradually returned to Dorm Seven.

After this, Ye Chen became the boss of Dorm Seven.

At that moment, everyone was sitting cross-legged on their own beds in Dorm Seven.

As Wang Sheng applied medicine to his burned arm, he looked at Ye Chen and said pitifully, "Boss, now can you tell me? What's your name? And why is your chicken Martial Soul so powerful?"