Tang San secretly circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill, ready to strike at any moment and kill the person playing tricks.
But after he looked around, he saw only the few children playing in the water nearby. They were all ordinary people without any strength.
Besides, although he wasn't close to those children, he knew they were all villagers.
"This world really isn't simple. There are actually experts in a tiny village?"
Tang San had lived for nearly thirty years in his previous life, after all, so he quickly realized what was going on.
The fact that he couldn't sense where the person was meant that they were far stronger than him.
Since the owner of this mysterious voice hadn't killed him, they probably wouldn't harm him now, either.
Thinking this, Tang San said softly, "Senior, please show yourself!"
His voice was quiet, but he knew this mysterious senior could hear him.
"Aren't I right in front of you?"
The voice turned into words, forming a light screen that only Tang San could see. It appeared before him.
"What is this?"
What he saw was already beyond Tang San's understanding, further confirming that this senior was an unparalleled expert.
Moreover, this mysterious person knew that he was cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill. Could they also be from the Tang Sect, and had they once spied on him while he cultivated?
Thinking this, Tang San knew that resisting would be pointless, no matter what he did.
Perhaps this senior actually meant him well?
He really was troubled by the fact that he couldn't break through with the Mysterious Heaven Skill, so he simply asked.
"Senior, why can't I break through to the second layer of the Mysterious Heaven Skill?" Tang San asked quietly.
One reason he lived so cautiously was that he was too weak, with little inner energy and no stockpile of exquisite Hidden Weapons.
Only by advancing the Mysterious Heaven Skill to a higher level would he feel safe.
"If you want to know, bind this system!" A line of text appeared on the light screen.
These were the words of Douluo Continent. The village school had taught them, and whenever Tang San had free time, he would go learn by peeking through the school's windows.
"What is a system?" Tang San asked.
"You can think of a system as a treasure, a divine artifact. After binding with it, the system will help you grow!"
"They say divine objects have spirits. Could the voice speaking to me be the spirit of that divine artifact?" Tang San thought.
He voiced what he was thinking, and sure enough, more words appeared on the light screen.
"You can think of it that way!"
Tang San glanced around and saw that the children were still playing in the water. They hadn't noticed anything unusual about him.
"Divine artifacts really are amazing. It seems like nobody else can sense it?" Tang San thought.
He didn't know whether the children truly couldn't sense it or had noticed and were pretending not to.
If it was the latter, then they deserved to die.
"Never mind. I'll let the divine artifact recognize me as its master first, then watch to see whether those children noticed."
Thinking this, Tang San said softly, "System, I want to bind with you!"
[Matching a system to the host!] [Tang Sect Revitalization System, Title Cultivation System, Fatherly Kindness and Filial Piety System...] ...
Line after line of text dazzled Tang San.
Fortunately, he cultivated the Purple Demon Eye, which had strengthened his mental power and given him decent eyesight. He could quickly pick out the information he needed.
"Title Cultivation System? So the powerful people in this world are called Titled?"
As for the Tang Sect Revitalization System and all the other assorted systems, he barely glanced at them before dismissing them.
"I already repaid the Tang Sect for raising me in my previous life with my life. Wasn't that enough?"
"Besides, as long as I become powerful, founding the Tang Sect will be as easy as turning my hand."
If he could choose, Tang San would have picked the "Title Cultivation System" without hesitation as the system's theme.
[System match successful. The "Fatherly Kindness and Filial Piety" System has been bound!] [Congratulations, host! You have received a beginner's gift pack. Please claim it!]
Seeing that the divine system had recognized him as its master, Tang San calmly went into the kitchen to make a meal for his drunken father.
"What is the Fatherly Kindness and Filial Piety System?" Tang San felt somewhat speechless.
He wanted to become powerful! Could it be that the spirit of this divine artifact hadn't noticed what he truly wanted?
"Well, I can only make do with this!"
As he started the fire and cooked rice porridge, Tang San opened the system and inspected it.
[Congratulations, host! You have received a beginner's gift pack!] [Beginner's gift pack opened successfully. Congratulations, host! You have received Introduction to Martial Soul Theory and Life Background!]
"Martial Soul Theory Fundamentals? What is a Martial Soul?"
"And my life background—could there be more to it than I know? Is this why the divine artifact matched me with the Fatherly Kindness and Filial Piety System?"
Tang San set Life Background aside and hurriedly opened Introduction to Martial Soul Theory to inspect it.
"So people in this world cultivate Soul Power instead of inner energy?"
"To cultivate a Martial Soul, you have to absorb a Soul Ring to break through bottlenecks."
"Because my Martial Soul hasn't awakened and I haven't obtained a Soul Ring, I can't break through to the second layer of the Mysterious Heaven Skill?"
"To keep cultivating, I have to awaken my Martial Soul. Looks like I need to ask around and find out how to awaken it!"
Because he had lived for more than thirty years, he was wary of this world.
So he hadn't asked about it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been unaware of the annual Martial Soul Awakening ceremony.
After reading Introduction to Martial Soul Theory, Tang San had gained some understanding of how people cultivated in this world.
"As expected of a divine artifact. Its reward perfectly fills the need I have!"
Next, curiosity got the better of him, and he wondered about the background of the body he now inhabited. He opened the book Life Background.
Before long, he had finished reading about the bizarre background of this body.
"So my mother was actually a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast who had taken human form, and my father deceived her into giving herself to him."
"Tang Hao's goal was Mother's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"
"Did Tang Hao expose Mother's identity, draw the attention of powerful people, and then force her to sacrifice herself for him?"
"And did Tang Hao eventually bring disaster upon himself by accidentally killing the Pope of Spirit Hall, bringing calamity upon the sect, and forcing himself to hide here?"
Tang San felt deeply sorry for what had happened to his mother. When he thought about Tang Hao's current predicament, he felt a little vindicated.
"No wonder he's so harsh to me, his son. It turns out he never considered me his son at all!"
"No, Tang Hao is a Titled Douluo, one of the most powerful people in this world. Could he have already seen through that something about me was wrong?"
At this thought, Tang San panicked. A Titled Douluo was someone he could never defeat.
"Yes, he must have seen through who I really am and realized that I'm not his son."
"But he never liked the son he had with a Soul Beast in the first place, so he turned a blind eye to it?"
Tang San felt that he had seen through everything. Then he looked again at the system's theme: "Fatherly Kindness and Filial Piety."
"So that's what it means. The divine artifact really does have a spirit!"
"But what else can this system do?" Tang San wondered.
Just then, several more lines of text popped up on the system screen.
[As long as the host completes system tasks, you will receive the corresponding rewards. Matching a beginner's task for the host!] [Task: Get back at Tang Hao by adding something to his breakfast!] [Task description: Tang Hao is the murderer of your mother, and he has abused you for six years. This hatred is irreconcilable. But you are too weak right now, so you can only get back at Tang Hao in a small way.] [Task reward: Martial Soul Meditation Method (Spirit Academy Edition)]
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