Xiao Wu Wasn't Going to Notting City

Paragraphs of text appeared before Duan Fan's eyes.

Tang San was still swinging a great hammer in the blacksmith's shop, working very hard.

Seeing Tang San work so "diligently," Duan Fan felt that the food on his plate had become even more delicious.

"Right, just like that. You've got to keep it up."

"How can a Soul Master with Innate Full Soul Power waste time cultivating? Blacksmithing is obviously much more cost-effective."

Duan Fan ate as he silently encouraged Tang San in his heart.

Two and a half months had passed, yet Tang San's Soul Power Level was still stuck at level eleven.

The main reason was that Tang San had very little time to cultivate each day; he spent most of it working as a blacksmith.

Tang San wasn't short of money at all. After all, he received a Spirit Master Subsidy, but he had still chosen this way of life.

Duan Fan was naturally delighted to see it.

After taking a couple more bites, Duan Fan stopped using Tang San's daily routine to spice up his meal. With a thought, he began to alter Tang San's fate.

Lately, Duan Fan had been trying to alter Tang San's fate frequently. Even though every attempt had ended in failure, he had never given up.

There was no helping it. Notting City Elementary Spirit Master Academy was about to start its new term.

Someone who could influence Tang San's future was about to arrive.

That person was Xiao Wu.

She was the point Duan Fan planned to use to alter Tang San's fate.

Xiao Wu had traveled all the way from Star Dou Forest to Notting City. There was something unreasonable about that in the first place.

Duan Fan planned to change that unreasonable detail into something reasonable.

Notting City was too far away. Xiao Wu wasn't going.

Since Duan Fan could only see Tang San's present circumstances and had no way of knowing what was happening on Xiao Wu's side,

all he could do was keep trying to make changes, so he wouldn't miss this rare opportunity.

After making a series of changes, Duan Fan soon received a notification from the system.

[Modification failed! Please make a reasonable change!]

Duan Fan was already used to it. He planned to try again later.

Over the next few days, he would only make changes more frequently.

He firmly believed he could succeed.

As long as he succeeded, he would receive a generous reward.

Tang San would also suffer a heavy loss.

Even if he failed, he wouldn't lose anything. It would only cost him a little time.

After dinner, as Duan Fan was leaving the dining hall, he caught sight of Wen Xiyue on the first floor.

She seemed to have just finished eating too, and was carrying her tray toward the collection point.

After thinking back for a while, Duan Fan had recalled some of the background of Wen Xiyue's Black-Striped Ghost Leopard martial soul.

In Spirit Hall, one of the elders had a Black-Striped Ghost Leopard martial soul. His title was Ghost Leopard, and he was known as Ghost Leopard Douluo.

It was hard not to wonder what connection Wen Xiyue had to Ghost Leopard Douluo.

When Duan Fan was bored, he had thought about looking into the matter. But whenever he saw Wen Xiyue's icy expression, he changed his mind.

Back in his dormitory, Duan Fan took out his pen and paper as usual and drew firearm components, adding notes and specifications.

Spirit Hall Academy had one day off every month.

Duan Fan had enrolled at the beginning of the month.

He had already had two days off, and there were still ten days until his next one.

During those two days, Duan Fan had visited all the blacksmith shops in Spirit City to learn more about them. He had also already begun carrying out his plan to build a gun.

At first, Duan Fan had planned to make a smoothbore gun, since its design was very simple.

But after firing one shot, a smoothbore gun had to be reloaded, which made it rather inconvenient to use.

After giving it some thought, Duan Fan decided to make a pistol first.

A pistol packed quite a punch, and was easy to carry.

The pistol Duan Fan ultimately settled on was the Browning M1910.

The M1910 was a semiautomatic pistol with a seven-round magazine, giving it a decent capacity for sustained fire.

It used a simple blowback mechanism, with no complicated locking system. Its only core moving parts were the slide, barrel, recoil spring, and firing pin.

The whole gun came apart into just a few major components. It had fewer than fifty parts in total, making it one of the simplest modern semiautomatic pistols around.

Duan Fan had drawn up blueprints for every part of the gun in advance. During his first break, he had gone to different blacksmith shops and commissioned them to make the parts, giving each shop only a few to work on.

During his second break, Duan Fan had gone to collect them.

About sixty percent of the parts on the M1910's list were finished.

The easy-to-make parts—the grip, firing pin, and magazine casing—were all done.

The barrel and slide had been made too, but their quality was nowhere near the required standard.

These two core components couldn't be handled carelessly.

It wasn't enough to simply get their exterior shapes right; their precision and strength had to meet the mark.

Otherwise, even if the gun was assembled, it wouldn't be usable.

Duan Fan estimated that it would take at least another two months to get satisfactory versions of those two parts.

If the M1910 was built successfully, its power at close range would be no weaker than the Godly Zhuge Crossbow's, and it would be much easier to carry.

Against Soul Ancestors who weren't maintaining a constant defense, three or four rapid shots would be enough to kill.

If his aim was good, he could finish the job with one headshot.

After drawing firearm components for a while, Duan Fan read for nearly half an hour, then went to bed and began cultivating.

His Soul Power was getting closer and closer to level eighteen. He should break through in the next few days.

As long as he kept progressing at this rate, Duan Fan was confident he could obtain his Second Soul Ring within the next two months.

And by then, he would still be only six years old.

As it turned out, hard work paid off.

Hard work backed by talent paid off even more.

The next day.

At dawn, Duan Fan woke up.

The first thing he did was try to alter Tang San's fate again.

This time, he finally didn't receive a notification that the modification had failed.

[In the early morning, the thin mist had yet to clear from the outskirts of Star Dou Forest. Xiao Wu stood at a fork in the road, hesitating.

Notting City lay to the left.

White Stone City lay to the right.

Xiao Wu, of course, had never heard of either human city.

She was lost and had no idea where she should go.

She glanced back at the boundless sea of trees behind her, then finally set off.

She walked to the right.]

[Modification successful! Xiao Wu won't go to Notting City. Tang San loses his Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring!]

[Reward obtained: Diamond Skill; Modification Attempt *1!]

"It finally worked! My persistence all these days has paid off!"

When Duan Fan received the system notification, he thought the modification had failed again.

But when he saw that it had succeeded, he was so excited he nearly jumped up.

"Quick, let's see what the system rewarded me with!"

"This Diamond Skill should correspond to the Mysterious Heaven Skill Tang San has."

"I wonder what it does?"

Just as Duan Fan was thinking this, a new memory suddenly appeared in his mind.

It was information about the Diamond Skill.

Duan Fan quickly learned what the Diamond Skill did.

It was a body-tempering technique.

It could train the body to its utmost limits.