"You shouldn't just focus on training your Martial Soul from now on. You should learn more about daggers, swords, and the like, too. It'll do you good."
As she considered this, Bibi Dong's tone softened a little, and she said a few more words.
"Given the nature of your Martial Soul, you'll most likely become a control-type Spirit Master. When your Soul Power Level is low, relying on outside tools can make up for your lack of damage."
"In the future... I'll take you somewhere... Once you get there, what you learned today will be very useful..."
As she spoke, Bibi Dong's brows furrowed tighter and tighter, her expression growing increasingly strange.
Habits really were a frightening thing.
She seemed to have genuinely started getting used to this life. How had she gone from talking to actually considering this little brat's future? Bibi Dong's thoughts were a tangled mess, and she fell silent.
Unaware of what was going through her mind, Naruto simply nodded in agreement.
Slaughter City.
He still remembered that important dungeon.
After they finished talking, Naruto bent his head and set about tidying the courtyard. Their relationship was truly bizarre now. By unspoken agreement, the negotiation they had put on hold had become Schrödinger's cat.
But Naruto wasn't in a hurry.
Given enough time, the cat in the box would turn out the way he wanted.
After checking the time, Naruto put away his Spirit Hall certificate and prepared to head out.
"You're going to school?"
Bibi Dong asked with a frown. Naruto had already thought of an excuse. "Things like judging a Soul Beast's age and the history of the two great empires are basic knowledge I need to learn eventually. Would you be willing to teach me? With guidance from Your Holiness the Pope, I'd surely make rapid progress!"
"You're not my disciple."
Bibi Dong folded her arms and snorted, then added, "Those boring facts are the same whoever teaches them. Go read books on your own."
"I knew you'd say that."
Naruto sighed in feigned disappointment and walked out of the Jiang Family's gate.
"I asked around. Going to this junior academy won't interfere with my cultivation. They only have a few culture classes in the morning. Most of the rest of the time is given back to the students for independent training."
After asking about Notting Academy, Naruto felt much less resistant to the idea.
On Douluo Continent, strength reigned supreme. A junior Spirit Master Academy was still, after all, a Spirit Master Academy. Cultural studies made up only a small portion of the curriculum; cultivation was the main focus.
As for whether these six-year-old children, left almost entirely to their own devices, could understand the importance of cultivation, that wasn't something the academy needed to consider.
With that settled, all Naruto had left to look forward to was the system's reward.
"Sixth-level Innate Soul Power?"
At the gates of Notting Academy, the monkey-faced gatekeeper exclaimed as he held the certificate, staring in surprise at the six-year-old child in front of him with a little shoulder bag.
"That's right. It even has the Spirit Hall's seal on it," Jiang Naruto said loudly.
Seeing the gatekeeper's tooth-baring expression, Jiang Naruto knew exactly what he was thinking. He rolled his eyes without thinking. Careful, lest your next move be your last. You don't want an arrow through your throat.
A few seconds later,
the gatekeeper truly couldn't find anything wrong with the certificate.
He could only suppress his jealousy. He didn't dare ask for a tip, either, and his face blossomed into an ingratiating grin as he turned and pointed behind him.
"The certificate's fine. Go in this way, turn right at the end, and you'll see a red-brick building. That's the school's Academic Affairs Office. You can register there."
"Thank you."
Taking back his certificate, Naruto passed the gatekeeper and walked straight into the academy.
There weren't many people registering right now. Naruto had deliberately waited until the last minute. His wings weren't fully grown yet, and he didn't want to run into Tang San.
[For thousands of years, Asura and Indra had continually reincarnated in the Ninja World, writing different legends. And, by some twist of fate, they would always meet—unstoppably, inevitably!]
A stiff electronic voice suddenly rang out. Naruto stopped, his brows knitting together. What was this system going on about?
The electronic voice continued.
[In Konoha Year 54, the Child of Prophecy, Naruto, enters the Ninja Academy, beginning his life as a ninja.]
[And on this very day, fate intertwines once more. He meets the best friend of his life, and his strongest rival—Uchiha Sasuke!]
No way.
Naruto's tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed. A terrible thought flashed through his mind, and he whipped around to look at the academy gates.
The moment he turned, the gatekeeper's mocking, flippant voice had already rung out.
"What Holy Soul Village? And Innate Full Soul Power? You think I'm a fool?"
The monkey-faced gatekeeper stood with one hand on his hip, leisurely fanning himself with a Spirit Hall certificate. The shabby old man in front of him was red-faced with anger, cursing nonstop. The thin, dark boy he held by the hand said nothing, merely fixing the gatekeeper with a sharp gaze. His throat was targeted!
"Tang... San..."
Naruto murmured to himself.
"What did you say!?"
Bibi Dong cried out anxiously from the Sealing Space, looking through Naruto's eyes at the thin boy!
There was no mistake!
Notting Academy?
Bibi Dong had long since banished this junior academy, built in some remote corner of the continent, to the back of her memory. Only now did it abruptly come back to her: Notting Academy! Tang San!
She had almost forgotten what Tang San looked like before his Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul awakened, but she could still see his resemblance in this boy's face.
He was Tang San!
And right now, he was only... Level 10!
Bibi Dong's lips curled into a vicious smile!
A gift from heaven!
"Hmph!"
The bone-chilling snort from the Sealing Space jolted Naruto back to his senses. His pupils shrank.
Not good!
"Caw—!"
A piercing bird cry rang out. Flocks of birds across all of Nuoding City took wing at once, like a rolling bank of clouds. Tens of thousands of wings beat and rustled, casting mottled shadows over the city.
People on the streets stopped and looked up at the strange sight.
Quite a few of them instinctively rubbed the backs of their necks, their movements almost perfectly synchronized.
"Hey? What month is it? Why's a cold wind blowing?"
"..."
Someone muttered under their breath, voicing what everyone was thinking.
They chalked it up to a cold wind from the south, and Nuoding City returned to normal in an instant. Only a very few people knew what had just happened.
"You penniless bum! This cup's an antique! Golden-thread nanmu! Pay up!"
In a shabby little roadside tavern, the gold-toothed owner stared heartbrokenly at the old wooden cup shattered across the floor and grabbed the collar of a disheveled, burly man who reeked of poverty.
The people around them watched, amused.
That man was in for trouble. The owner was so obsessed with money that there was no way he'd let him off easily.
But it was the man's fault, too. If he wanted to drink, fine, but he'd suddenly leaped to his feet and overturned the table and chairs in front of him, frightening everyone in the tavern.
Laughter rang out.
But the gold-toothed owner froze in place.
Something was wrong!
The muscles in his arm bulged, but the burly man before him stood as still as a mountain!
He was a Level 16 Spirit Master!
He had no time to react. A shadow suddenly appeared before him, and a huge, rough palm settled over his face without haste!
Crack!
The crisp sound of breaking bones traveled straight through his skull to his brain. The gold-toothed owner's pupils trembled. "My lord! I was wrong! I'll pay for—"
Bang!
The shabby burly man crushed the gold-toothed owner's entire head with his palm. Red and white splattered across the ground. The tavern fell silent. The remaining patrons stared wide-eyed, trembling in their seats, not daring to move.
Tang Hao paid no attention to these ants.
His right hand remained half-curled, surging Soul Power ready to erupt at a moment's notice. His gaze was fixed on the direction from which that Soul Power had just come.
What sinister, terrifying Soul Power!
At least Titled Douluo-level!
The Spirit Hall? Impossible. I'd only just left Holy Soul Village today. Even if they were gods, they couldn't have gotten here so fast!
A wandering Douluo passing by?
Tang Hao weighed the possibilities, but the other person's Soul Power had already withdrawn. Tang Hao had never been good with spiritual power, and he couldn't find the other person's location at all.
Better safe than sorry.
I'll stay around the academy for the next few days. If the Spirit Hall really hasn't given up, I'll use the Clear Sky Hammer to paint the place red with blood!
At the thought, Tang Hao's killing intent spilled out. The patrons around him immediately clutched their throats, unable to speak. Then blood ran from their seven orifices, and they dropped dead on the spot. More than a dozen people had been slaughtered by the casually released killing intent.
He casually set a fire.
The blaze roared. The nearby residents saw it and hurriedly shouted for help. The tavern burned to bare ground, leaving no trace behind. No one would ever know that the legendary Clear Sky Twin Stars had once appeared there.
At the entrance to Notting Academy,
Tang San narrowed his eyes and looked up at the scattered flocks of birds.
He raised a hand and rubbed the back of his neck, where his hair had inexplicably stood on end. Tang San shook his head. A flock of startled birds was an unsettling omen. A good time to kill!
Tang Sanzang's Hidden Weapons in his sleeve clicked into position!
Not far away,
"Calm down! Calm down!"
Jiang Naruto's expression was grim as he shouted inwardly.
Beneath his pale skin, unsettling black chains had begun crawling up his cheeks, too!
Inside the Sealing Space, the golden Runic Chains stretched to their limit, shrieking as they bound the demon-like Bibi Dong tight!
"You naturally evil Tang Brat! I'll personally—"
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