Winning Without Bloodshed

Time flew by, and the years slipped away.

In the blink of an eye, six years passed like a white colt flashing across a gap.

Over those six years, Su Yu, Tang Wu, and Xiao Wu had enjoyed a peaceful and fulfilling period of growth at Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy.

Sparks flew inside a blacksmith's shop on East Street in Nuoding City.

The broad, burly blacksmith Wang Dachui swung a hammer weighing dozens of pounds, smashing it hard against a red-hot block of iron.

As he hammered away, he laughed smugly to himself.

Floating above his head was a translucent blue panel that only Su Yu could see.

The words "God-Level Forging System" were written across it.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing your daily blacksmithing task. Reward: +1 Strength. Keep up the good work. Next main quest: forge one hundred fine-steel longswords."

At the cold mechanical voice in his mind, every muscle in Wang Dachui's body trembled with excitement.

He was a transmigrator who had possessed this ordinary blacksmith's body six months ago.

With the system, all he had to do was hammer away every day to grow infinitely stronger.

He had even begun fantasizing about smashing Spirit Hall with a hammer, marrying the Saintess, and reaching the pinnacle of life.

On the second floor of a teahouse less than fifty meters from the blacksmith's shop,

Su Yu sat leisurely by the window, dressed in a neat black changshan.

He lifted the fine Yuqian Longjing Tea from the table and took a small sip, his gaze calmly fixed on the blacksmith's shop across the street.

Deep in his eyes, golden light slowly turned.

With the Eye of Truth fully activated, he could see every character on the System Panel above Wang Dachui's head perfectly clearly.

"God-Level Forging System? Quite an impressive name, but at the end of the day, it's nothing more than a low-tier cheat without even a core firewall." Su Yu set down his teacup, his tone undisguisedly scornful.

Su Yu had hardly been idle these past few years.

Using the Eye of Truth, he had secretly ferreted out several hosts bound to low-tier lifestyle systems in the streets and alleys of Nuoding City.

There was a butcher who grew stronger by slaughtering pigs, a tailor who gained Soul Power by sewing clothes, and now a blacksmith who dreamed foolish dreams while hammering iron.

These system hosts were like parasites clinging to the Douluo Continent's plane, constantly sucking away its origin fortune to strengthen themselves.

Su Yu had not killed them with his own hands.

He knew that acting directly would not only risk exposing his strength but might also draw the attention of major powers like Spirit Hall. It simply wasn't worth it.

He had a more elegant—and deadlier—method.

Su Yu raised his right index finger and lightly traced it through the air.

His Second Martial Soul, the Conceptual Eraser, activated in an instant.

After the Advancement Permission had been strengthened by the System Origin Fragment, he could alter the missions of low-tier systems with far greater ease.

An invisible force of rules crossed the fifty meters and descended directly upon the System Panel above Wang Dachui's head.

The words "forge one hundred fine-steel longswords" instantly blurred.

Then, using his finger as a pen, Su Yu wrote a new mission command on the panel from afar.

Inside the blacksmith's shop, Wang Dachui was about to fetch another piece of raw iron.

"Ding! System main quest has been changed!"

"Latest main quest: Go to the City Lord's Mansion immediately, take off your pants in public, and perform a pole dance in front of the City Lord's main gate. Time limit: five minutes. Failure penalty: immediate execution!"

At the sudden prompt in his mind, the hammer slipped from Wang Dachui's hands with a clatter and nearly crushed his toes.

He was completely dumbfounded, his eyes as wide as bells, his face full of disbelieving terror.

"System, have you gone mad? There are dozens of armed guards at the City Lord's Mansion! You want me to take my pants off and dance there? How's that any different from asking me to die?" Wang Dachui screamed in despair inside his mind.

The system gave no response. Only the cold red countdown continued to race.

"4:59... 4:58..."

Under the system's absolute control, Wang Dachui's body instantly stopped obeying him.

Like a puppet on strings, he sprang forward and shot out of the blacksmith's shop like a gale, racing straight toward the City Lord's Mansion.

Five minutes later, a thunderous roar came from outside the City Lord's Mansion.

"What pervert dares to do something so indecent in front of the City Lord's Mansion?"

"Guards, obey my order! Chop that old lecher who took off his pants to pieces!"

Amid the clash of weapons being drawn and a bloodcurdling scream, Wang Dachui was hacked into a heap of flesh by dozens of furious guards.

On the second floor of the teahouse, Su Yu remained calmly seated by the window.

The moment Wang Dachui breathed his last, the God-Level Forging System completely collapsed along with its host.

A tiny fragment of gray-gold energy, no bigger than a grain of rice, quietly appeared in midair.

As if pulled by a powerful force, it turned into a streak of light, pierced the teahouse window, and sank into Su Yu's palm.

Su Yu closed his eyes and felt the faint trace of system origin merge into his body.

His already vast meridians widened by a tiny amount, while the Soul Power in his dantian grew denser and heavier.

These past few years, Su Yu had used this method of killing with borrowed knives, winning without bloodshed, to clear every parasite from Nuoding City.

Each time he eliminated a low-tier cheat user, he absorbed a faint trace of system origin.

Little by little, his reserves of Soul Power had reached an unfathomable level, far beyond those of others his age.

Graduation season arrived right on schedule.

The entrance to Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy was packed with people and buzzing with activity.

Su Yu, Tang Wu, and Xiao Wu stood side by side outside the academy gates.

Six years had stripped away their former immaturity, and all three had grown into skilled Soul Masters with nimble bodies.

Su Yu stood tall, already nearly one meter seventy.

He wore a fitted black outfit, with sharp brows, bright eyes, and handsome features.

Standing there, he exuded the steady, unfathomable air of a deep abyss.

Tang Wu stood on Su Yu's left, both hands clasped tightly around his arm.

She had grown even more beautiful and radiant.

Her long, deep-blue hair fell smoothly down her back, and her delicate features were flawless.

She wore a fitted blue short dress, leaving her long, straight, fair legs bare and eye-catching.

Thanks to the Top-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill, her figure had developed exceptionally well.

Xiao Wu stood on Su Yu's right, holding his other arm just as tightly.

She still wore her signature pink short skirt, along with a headband that looked like rabbit ears to everyone else.

Years of body training had made her waist exceptionally supple and slender, narrow enough to fit in one hand.

Her long, powerful legs brimmed with explosive strength, and her whole being radiated a youthful, lively, untamed beauty.

The two girls pressed close to Su Yu on either side, secretly competing with each other. Neither was willing to loosen her hold.

The male students passing by watched with envy and jealousy, but not one of them dared to approach and strike up a conversation.

That was because these three were the most terrifying monsters in the history of Nuoding Academy.

The Old Dean led all the instructors out of the academy in a grand procession to see them off in person.

The Old Dean's hair was white, and the wrinkles on his face had grown deeper than they had been six years ago.

He walked up to the three of them and stopped, his eyes full of reluctance, but even more of deep awe.

"Su Yu, Tang Wu, Xiao Wu. Today's your graduation day." The Old Dean's voice trembled slightly, his tone carrying a hint of almost pleading humility. "Nuoding Academy is just a tiny temple; it can't hold three Buddhas like you. You have the most terrifying talent I've ever seen in my life."

The instructors around them nodded and whispered among themselves.

"Exactly! It's practically beyond belief!"

"It's not just their levels. The three of them are absurdly powerful in battle, too. At yesterday's graduation exam, they didn't even release their Martial Souls. They beat several instructors who were Soul Grandmasters over level twenty with nothing but their physical strength, and those instructors couldn't fight back at all."

"Su Yu is especially incredible. I still can't fathom how strong he is. Just standing near him gives me the terrifying feeling of facing an abyss."

Listening to the instructors' discussion, the Old Dean took a deep breath, pulled three gold-embossed diplomas from his robes, and respectfully handed them to Su Yu.

"These are your graduation certificates. With your strength, any advanced Soul Master Academy on the continent would fight to recruit you. I wish you bright futures." The Old Dean bent at the waist, his manner respectful to the utmost.

Su Yu took the certificates with an impassive expression and casually put them into his Storage Soul Tool.

He didn't waste words. He simply nodded slightly to the Old Dean in acknowledgment, then turned and left with the two girls.

Watching them disappear into the distance, the Old Dean let out a long breath, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

At last, the three monsters were gone. Nuoding Academy could finally return to normal teaching.

After leaving Nuoding City, the three followed the main road onward.

Half an hour later, they left the broad highway and reached a high hillside outside the city.

The ground was open, covered in knee-high grass.

From the top of the hill, they could look out over the rolling mountains and vast plains in the distance.

The breeze swept by, rippling the grass like waves and lifting the skirts of Tang Wu and Xiao Wu.

Su Yu stopped and turned to face the wide world.

Their time at Nuoding Academy had come to a complete end. Next, they had to choose an advanced Soul Master Academy.

That choice would determine not only the cultivation resources available to them in the future, but also the course of Su Yu's upcoming Hunting Plan.