Home

After a day of travel, they finally returned to Holy Soul Village in the afternoon. From far away, Wang Xiaofei saw Old Jack waiting for him at the village entrance. Xiaofei had long since informed Old Jack by letter of when he would be returning to the village for his break.

Xiaofei sprinted toward Old Jack, nearly summoning his Martial Soul. When he reached the village entrance and saw Old Jack's aged face, tears nearly welled up in his eyes. "Grandpa, I'm back."

"It's good that you're back, good that you're back. Studying at school must have been hard. Let's hurry home. I stewed a chicken at home, so you can have a good meal and build yourself up."

Old Jack kept grabbing Xiaofei and checking him over, looking here and there, afraid that Xiaofei might have been injured or undergone some other physical change. After all, he knew something of the cruelty of the Soul Master World.

A little later, Tang San and Xiao Wu also arrived at the village entrance.

"Little San is back too!"

"Grandpa Old Jack, is my father at home now?" Tang San asked.

Old Jack fumbled around on himself for a while, then pulled out an envelope and handed it to Tang San. "Little San, your father isn't at home right now. He left a letter for you and said to give it to you when you returned to the village."

"Oh, right. Your father has been gone for quite some time. Your home hasn't had a fire going in ages, and I don't know whether there's any food left. Come to my place and have a meal first."

Tang San could not help nodding. He opened the letter and read it carefully several times. Suddenly, tears streamed down his face, and he unconsciously kept calling, "Dad... Dad..." None of them knew what to say. In the end, Xiao Wu comforted him for a while, and Tang San and Xiao Wu followed Xiaofei and Old Jack to Old Jack's home.

Perhaps knowing that Tang San would be joining them for dinner, Old Jack had prepared an especially lavish meal. After the meal, Tang San thanked Old Jack once more before taking Xiao Wu back to his own home.

That night, when only Xiaofei and Old Jack were together, Old Jack looked at Xiaofei with a strange expression that made his scalp prickle. Xiaofei asked nervously, "Grandpa, did something happen at home? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Old Jack said, "Little San went to school with you, and after only one year, he's brought back such a beautiful girl. Why did you come back alone? Next time, remember to bring a pretty girl back too. If you're still by yourself, you'd better not come back at all."

Old Jack's words that night left Xiaofei speechless. Xiao Wu was that old pervert rabbit; if he got together with a girl like that, he would really feel uncomfortable about it. Being single was happier. Of course, Xiaofei did not dare say any of that aloud and hurriedly agreed with Old Jack.

Next, Xiaofei took out several packages he had brought back for Old Jack, especially a few sets of clothes, and had Old Jack try them on. Wearing the new clothes, Old Jack looked invigorated, and a nonstop smile hung on his face.

At the same time, he scolded Xiaofei, "You're studying alone in Nuoding City. The pressure of studying is high, and there are many places to spend money. Why are you spending so freely to buy things for me? Everything at home is fine. Save more money and use it to marry a wife." Hearing this, Xiaofei was speechless again. How had it somehow circled back to the matter of marrying a wife?

Over the next period of time, aside from training and meditating, Xiaofei spent all his time helping Old Jack with various tasks, including hoeing the fields and tidying the house. He even hunted a wild boar in the back mountains to improve the family's meals. Sometimes, Xiaofei felt that perhaps this was what a home felt like. Across both his lives, this was the warmest period he had ever experienced.

Time passed quickly, and it was soon nearly time for school to begin again. That day, Xiaofei, Xiao Wu, and Tang San left Holy Soul Village together. Old Jack stood at the village entrance the whole time, watching the three of them depart.

As Xiaofei walked along the road and the village was about to disappear from view, he turned back for one last look at Old Jack. After thinking for a moment, he turned around again and, with Tang San and Xiao Wu waiting for him, left the village without looking back.

After returning to school, Xiaofei resumed his previously busy life. Because of the Evil Fire, he intensified his training. He personally forged two wrist guards, two ankle guards, and an iron vest from high-density Heavy Silver, weighing around one hundred kilograms in total. Aside from bathing, Xiaofei basically never removed the weights. Because of the burden and his busy routine, he exhausted himself almost every day, and the Evil Fire had little effect on him.

One day, the Principal suddenly summoned him to the office. Xiaofei was immediately baffled. Why does the Principal want to see me for no reason?

When he arrived at the office, he saw that both the Principal and Yu Xiaogang were there. Yu Xiaogang's physical condition and overall demeanor were clearly much better than they had been at the start of the previous school year. He looked full of vigor and was no longer gloomy. Xiaofei thought to himself, Could the Principal have called me here because of Yu Xiaogang?

Sure enough, the Principal introduced him. "This is Yu Xiaogang, known as Grandmaster. He is recognized in the Soul Master World as unmatched in theory. He has some questions he wants to ask you."

Xiaofei hurriedly replied, "Hello, Grandmaster. What would you like to ask me?"

Yu Xiaogang nodded and asked, "You are Wang Xiaofei, correct? Your first Soul Ring came from a Blazing Lion King that was close to six hundred years old. Could you tell me what you felt when you absorbed the Soul Ring? Based on the various data and theories I compiled before, the maximum age limit for a first Soul Ring is 423 years. Those who exceed that limit basically die from exploding bodies. Yet your physical condition is so good now. I would like to understand why."

Xiaofei felt speechless. Your theories were based on data gathered by Spirit Hall. They might suit the vast majority of ordinary people, but they were probably not applicable in certain special cases.

Although Xiaofei was somewhat dissatisfied, Yu Xiaogang was the Principal's friend, and the Principal had helped him hunt this Soul Ring. While some of Yu Xiaogang's theories were rather rigid, they were indeed helpful to commoner Soul Masters. Moreover, following his theories could reduce cases of people dying from failed Soul Ring absorption. It could be said that Yu Xiaogang had made some contribution to the Soul Master World, though the source of his theoretical knowledge might not have been entirely proper.

Thus, Xiaofei still answered politely, "When I first absorbed the Soul Ring, I felt as though my body was about to explode, as if countless flames were burning through it. At the time, it felt as though my body could collapse at any moment. I could only grit my teeth and endure it. I felt that if I gave up, my body might suffer irreversible damage."

Xiaofei kept describing some of the sensations he had experienced while absorbing the Soul Ring. Naturally, he did not reveal a single thing about his Twin Martial Souls or External Soul Bone. After hearing Xiaofei's explanation, Yu Xiaogang nodded repeatedly. He also asked Xiaofei some questions about his training.

When he heard that Xiaofei now lived in the Blacksmith Shop and meditated there every night, Yu Xiaogang nodded and said,

"The Blacksmith Shop is indeed a good choice. It is like a fiery Simulated Environment. For a Fire Element Martial Soul like yours, it can indeed speed up your cultivation. It seems you have your own ideas about cultivation."