Tang San, Who Is Severely Lacking Love

As for the goal of a high-level soul master academy.

If he could go to the Heaven Dou Royal Soul Master Academy, Lin Mo would naturally want to go there.

For one, the faculty and cultivation resources of the Royal Soul Master Academy are quite abundant.

Although Lin Mo cannot make much use of those simulated cultivation environments, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy is backed by the imperial family, and its other types of cultivation resources are also significantly higher than those of other academies.

Of course, the main reason for setting his sights here is the immortal herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

If he wants to make contact with Dugu Bo and seek out immortal herbs, the Heaven Dou Royal Soul Master Academy is undoubtedly the most suitable stepping stone.

However, for Lin Mo, it is best to let things take their natural course.

After all, he possesses neither the inheritance of the Mysterious Heaven Record nor any knowledge of immortal herb catalogs.

Under these circumstances, if he were to rashly point out that Dugu Bo is poisoned without being able to provide a reasonable explanation, the consequences of blurting out such information would be no different from suicide.

As for the other reason he is not insistent, it is that the students recruited by the Heaven Dou Royal Academy are basically children of the nobility.

Like Yu Tianheng, who comes from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and Dugu Yan, who has a Title Douluo for a grandfather...

They do not really recruit commoner students.

Therefore, for Lin Mo, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy is a "go if I can, but I don't mind going elsewhere if I can't" situation.

The greatest advantage of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy is that it possesses a vast number of simulated cultivation environments, covering almost every type of martial soul.

But the crux of the problem is that his martial soul is a Body Spirit, which does not have high requirements for simulated training environments.

Before Lin Mo could say anything, Tang San, who was standing to the side, grabbed his arm, his tone suddenly becoming hurried as he asked subconsciously:

"Lin Mo, if you are only doing this to advance your studies and learn more knowledge related to soul masters, isn't it enough to stay here with the teacher?"

Tang San gripped him tightly; Lin Mo could feel the force of his fingers through his clothes.

"The teachers at the academy may not be able to teach you anymore, but my teacher certainly can! There is no need to be in such a rush to advance!"

Tang San spoke much faster than usual, and there was even a sense of panic in his voice that he himself had not noticed.

Hearing Tang San's urgent words, Lin Mo was momentarily stunned, not knowing why Tang San was reacting this way.

He looked down at the hand Tang San had tightly gripped onto his arm, then looked back up at Tang San.

Tang San's brows were slightly furrowed.

What Lin Mo did not know was that after this trip back to Holy Soul Village, Tang San's mindset had undergone a major shift.

During this holiday back at Holy Soul Village, Tang San did not see his father at home, but only found a letter his father had left behind.

The content of the letter merely encouraged him to cultivate diligently and not to seek him out deliberately.

That day, Tang San stood in the empty wooden house for a long time, clutching that piece of letter paper in his hand.

His father's departure had dealt Tang San a significant blow.

Now, learning that Lin Mo, with whom he had a good relationship, was also planning to graduate and leave after this school year, his state of mind became unbalanced.

After all, for Tang San, during the past year of life at Notting Academy, Lin Mo had been like an older brother who looked after him in every way, showing him great care.

Whether it was Lin Mo's formidable strength in the Soul Hunting Forest or the way he had helped him and shown concern for his well-being throughout the year...

All of it had made Tang San feel the warmth of a home.

For Tang San, who had not experienced much familial affection or care, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he felt the warmth of home from Lin Mo and Xiao Wu for the first time.

And now, Tang Hao was gone, and Lin Mo was leaving too.

Tang San suddenly felt a sense of abandonment, even though he knew this feeling was irrational.

But he simply could not suppress it.

Lin Mo looked at Tang San and remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"You don't want me to leave?" Lin Mo's tone was strange.

"That's not it."

Tang San let go of his arm, realizing that his previous attitude had been somewhat uncomposed, and pulled his hand back.

"It's just that it was hard enough to find two friends like you and Xiao Wu at Notting Academy, and now that you are about to leave, I just feel a bit reluctant to let you go."

"Besides, if you could stay, we could continue to spar with each other. In the process of sparring and fighting with you and Xiao Wu, my rate of progress has been quite fast."

Tang San said, his words not matching his true thoughts.

Hearing Tang San's words, Lin Mo's expression became even stranger.

He had more or less guessed the reason behind this—is this a case of being too starved for affection?

Thinking of this, Lin Mo could not help but recall his year of life at Notting Academy.

Since he, Tang San, and Xiao Wu were the only first-year students among the work-study students in Seven Dorm, it was only natural that the three of them were a bit closer.

However, if his memory served him right, his attitude toward Tang San should have been no different from his attitude toward the other students.

Take sparring, for example; if Wang Sheng and the others asked to spar with him, Lin Mo would always gladly accept.

He had never intentionally favored anyone, nor had he gone out of his way to look after anyone.

He treated everyone the same; he would answer whoever came to ask questions, and he would agree to whoever came to spar with him.

That was all there was to it.

Lin Mo felt increasingly puzzled.

Yet, when Lin Mo recalled Tang San's attitude toward Tang Hao, he felt a sense of relief.

If he remembered correctly, during the six years Tang San and Tang Hao lived in seclusion in Holy Soul Village, Tang Hao had only barely taken care of Tang San during the first three years when the boy was unable to cook for himself.

Once Tang Hao realized that Tang San could cook on his own in the following three years, the adult Tang Hao had actually become the one being provided for by the three-year-old Tang San in terms of daily living.

Judging by Tang Hao's six years as a father, he was well-deserving of the title "biological father," and in the most literal sense at that.

A three-year-old child had to stand on a stool just to reach the stove, yet he was responsible for cooking for his own father.

In such a childhood, how much fatherly love could one possibly feel?

Viewed in this light, whether it was Tang San, who was raised as an assassin in the Tang Sect in his past life, or Tang San, the son of Tang Hao in this life, both were quite starved for affection.

In his past life in the Tang Sect, he was raised as a tool.

In this life in Holy Soul Village, he still had not received much warmth.

No one had taught him how to get along with others, and no one had told him what love was.

So, when Lin Mo treated him just like an ordinary friend, Tang San felt it was a tremendous warmth, simply because he had never received such things before.

Realizing this, Lin Mo shook his head helplessly in his heart, feeling a sense of clarity at the same time.

He finally understood why Tang San had been so agitated just now.

For Tang San, he and Xiao Wu were likely the first true friends he had ever had in all his years across two lifetimes.

And for the affection-starved Tang San, the departure of a friend was just like his father's silent disappearance—a form of abandonment.