The entire hall fell deathly silent.
The laughter and jeers that had filled the place moments ago seemed to be choked off by an invisible hand.
Everyone had become mute, unable to utter even a single syllable.
They stared blankly at the crack.
Then they looked at the innocent little girl clutching her candied hawthorn.
Their minds went completely blank.
What kind of power was this?
The crystal ball... had cracked?
Ma Xiunuo remained frozen in place, his hands still poised as if holding something.
As a senior appraiser at the Spirit Hall Branch in Notting City, he had spent sixty years working his way up in this field.
What hadn't he seen?
But this wave today was not only huge, it had also capsized the little boat of experience he was so proud of and sent it straight onto the beach.
He stared at the fragments on the table, his throat dry.
Only one thought remained in his mind.
It had exploded.
An A-cup had exploded.
To outsiders, this was just a glowing soul power testing crystal.
But in their trade, these things were divided into strict grades.
Different levels of soul power required testing crystals of different capacities. The industry slang for them was "cups" of various sizes.
Soul power testing was all about capacity.
The special blue fluid inside the crystal ball had to completely envelop the soul power, allowing it to swim freely within, before it could give an accurate reading.
For accuracy and cost-efficiency, the continent had divided testing crystal balls into ten grades, from A to J.
The ones used for every newly awakened child were standard A-cups, also known as Awakening Cups.
Their maximum capacity was level ten—the threshold for becoming a Soul Master.
An A-cup was more than enough for a child.
After all, children who had just awakened hadn't developed much physically.
Even someone like Tang San, with the rarest of Innate Full Soul Power, could at most fill an A-cup and make it shine bright enough to blind everyone.
But he could never burst it.
There was only one possible explanation for an A-cup bursting.
The soul power poured into it had generated pressure in an instant that exceeded the limit of the crystal ball's shell.
What did that mean?
Ma Xiunuo felt as if his breathing were about to stop.
It meant that this little girl, only two or three years old and still eating candied hawthorn, had a Soul Power Level that started at Soul Grandmaster!
She needed a B-cup!
Or... perhaps something even bigger!
To contain soul power of that level, they would need at least a C-cup—or even a D-cup, the kind used to test powerhouses of the City Lord's caliber!
"This... this isn't scientific..."
Ma Xiunuo shakily picked up a piece of the crystal, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
A two-year-old Soul Grandmaster?
Even if she had started cultivating in the womb, that was still absurd!
Wasn't this taking things a bit too far?
The villagers and parents around them didn't understand anything about A-cups and C-cups.
But seeing Master Ma's ghost-struck expression and the fragments on the table, they were all dumbfounded too.
The ones who had laughed loudest moments ago now hunched their shoulders, wishing they could bury themselves in the ground.
Tang San stood to one side.
His usually straight back now seemed stiff.
He looked at the shattered crystal, then at the Blue Silver Grass in his hand.
His soul power had filled it, yet it hadn't left so much as a crack in the crystal ball.
When that wave of pink soul power burst forth, the Mysterious Heaven Skill that was constantly circulating inside him had been forcibly suppressed and brought to a halt!
He had used every ounce of strength just to keep himself from collapsing to his knees on the spot.
A shiver from the very depths of his soul left him cold all over.
An unprecedented sense of defeat gnawed frantically at his heart.
Innate Full Soul Power made him a favored child of heaven.
But what was bursting a crystal ball?
Could she be the favored child of heaven's dad...
The Heaven-Chosen Strict Father?
Tang San's worldview was blasted to pieces in that moment.
Just as Tang San was reeling from the Heaven-Chosen Strict Father's devastating blow, Master Ma moved.
Terror, shock, disbelief, and a host of other emotions flashed across his old face.
In the end, they all transformed into an extreme fervor and reverence.
He instantly pieced together a whole story in his mind.
Some ancient family that had been in hiding for thousands of years—perhaps even one of the Upper Three Sects...
They had sent their most extraordinarily talented junior into the mortal world to gain experience and see how ordinary people lived.
If this little girl was so heaven-defying,
then Li Hao, whom she called Dad and who stood beside her, had to be no ordinary man either!
Although he looked lazy and listless, like a salted fish,
that was an illusion!
He was absolutely no salted fish!
He was most likely her guardian!
A peerless powerhouse tasked with protecting this little princess!
His lazy demeanor had to be a disguise!
A return to simplicity!
The perfect camouflage for a powerful expert!
Even if he had the face of a child, he might be old enough that Ma Xiunuo ought to call him Grandpa!
Having figured it all out, Master Ma no longer dared to neglect him in the slightest.
He didn't even bother to pick up his crystal spectacles, which had fallen to the ground.
He came hurrying over to Li Hao.
Then, under the horrified gaze of everyone there,
this respected Soul Grandmaster of Notting City bowed to Li Hao with the utmost deference.
He gave a perfect ninety-degree bow.
"P-Predecessor!"
Ma Xiunuo's voice trembled, full of excitement and apprehension.
"This junior is Ma Xiunuo. I failed to recognize Mount Tai and offended you and the young miss! I beg you to forgive me!"
That single "Predecessor" boomed through the crowd like thunder from the heavens.
Everyone was stunned.
Li Hao was stunned too.
He looked down at the Soul Grandmaster bowing and scraping before him, nearly burying his head in the ground.
Then he looked at Xiao Wu in his arms, licking her candied hawthorn and blinking her innocent, big eyes.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What did I do?
Predecessor?
I'm a six-and-a-half-year-old fishing enthusiast. You're calling me "Predecessor"?
Old man, you're taking this scam a bit too far!
"Um... Teacher Ma, have you mistaken me for someone else?"
Being called "Predecessor" by a man about as old as his grandfather made Li Hao feel rather awkward.
"No! I definitely haven't!"
Ma Xiunuo abruptly lifted his head, his old face flushed red with excitement.
"Your bearing is like the bright moon in the sky, drawing moths to their doom! Even if I were blind, I could never mistake you!"
Li Hao was speechless.
"Thanks. That was a great use of idioms. Don't use that one again."
"Predecessor!"
Ma Xiunuo's fervor only grew.
"Nuoding Academy sincerely invites your daughter to enroll! Tuition, lodging, and meals will all be free! The academy's resources will be at the young miss's disposal!"
"And that's not all!"
He changed tack and suddenly dropped to one knee with a thump.
He looked up at Li Hao, his eyes full of longing.
"This junior dares to ask for your guidance! Even a few words would benefit me for the rest of my life! If you don't mind, this junior... is willing to become your disciple!"
Boom!
The teacher had gone crazy!
That was the only thought in everyone's minds.
A senior appraiser at Nuoding Academy, a Soul Grandmaster, was actually asking to become the disciple of a lazy man who looked younger than he did?
This world had gone mad!
"Don't, don't! You can't! Absolutely not!"
Li Hao stumbled backward in fright, nearly dropping Xiao Wu from his arms.
What kind of joke was this?
Yesterday they made me a dad, today they wanted me to be a master. Tomorrow, would they try to make me a mom?
Were these troublemakers trying to wear me to death?
I just wanted to be a salted fish, freeload and wait to die, fish and slack off!
"Um, Teacher Ma! We were just passing through! Just passing through! Well, we're off!"
Li Hao felt that this was no place to linger.
If he stayed any longer, there was no telling what kind of trouble the old man would stir up.
He clutched Xiao Wu tightly, pushed through the crowd, and practically fled.
This time, no one dared laugh at him.
The crowd parted of its own accord, making a path for him.
Everyone's gaze was filled with awe, fear, and a faint trace of sycophancy.
They watched the peerless powerhouse carry the little princess away in a fluster.
Waves of shock crashed through their hearts.
Only after Li Hao had completely disappeared at the end of the street did the oppressive atmosphere slowly fade.
The crowd erupted into chatter once more.
"My heavens! Holy Soul Village has produced such an important figure!"
"We... actually laughed at a Predecessor just now?"
"We're done for! What if the Predecessor holds a grudge?"
No one paid any more attention to that so-called genius with Innate Full Soul Power.
Compared to the world-destroying pressure from just now, Innate Full Soul Power was nothing!
Tang San stood alone where he was.
He lowered his head and looked at the Blue Silver Grass in his palm, which still gave off a gentle blue glow.
Once upon a time, this had been one of the foundations on which he could make his place in this world.
Even if it was an ordinary Martial Soul, he had still been proud of it.
But now, that pride seemed so commonplace, so weak.
It was like a roadside...
foxtail grass.
The more he looked at it, the uglier it seemed.
"No wonder she said it was uglier than foxtail grass..."
Only after fleeing all the way back to the ramshackle wooden hut in Holy Soul Village did Li Hao finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He shut the door, leaned against it, and panted heavily.
That had been intense.
This one day had been more intense than everything he'd experienced in both his lives combined.
He lowered his head and looked at Xiao Wu in his arms.
The little one was still basking in pride over her performance, tilting her face up and asking for praise.
Li Hao rubbed her head and sighed helplessly.
So be it.
At least he'd managed to bluff his way through.
From today onward, he wouldn't go anywhere crowded, even if they beat him to death.
If they ran into some old monster at the Titled Douluo level, Xiao Wu's identity would be exposed.
Until he got his hands on the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, it was better to keep a low profile.
Just as he was about to think about what to have for dinner, Xiao Wu suddenly tugged at his sleeve.
She looked up at him with her delicate, doll-like face, gazing at him pitifully.
Her little mouth puckered slightly.
"Daddy, I'm hungry."
"I want those red, sweet berries from the Star Dou Forest."
Before you continue