Tang San of the Same Village, Possesses a Monstrous Talent!

The alarm blared throughout the library, and students poured out from every corner, panicked and disoriented.

Su Mo quickly organized the evacuation: "Don't run! No pushing! Keep order and move downstairs quickly!"

His voice was surprisingly calm as he directed the students toward the exit.

The smoke grew thicker, and visibility dropped sharply.

He counted the heads while recalling the library's layout.

Three floors, eight partitioned zones, two emergency exits.

Most of the students had already evacuated, but the fire grew increasingly fierce, sealing off the east staircase.

Su Mo covered his nose and mouth with a wet cloth, searching through the thick smoke for anyone else trapped inside.

"Teacher Su! Lin Xiaowu hasn't come out yet!" a girl cried out from the exit.

Su Mo's heart tightened as he looked toward the east side, now swallowed by flames.

That was the direction Lin Xiaowu had gone!

"You all go! I'm going to find her!" Without waiting for a reaction, Su Mo charged back into the inferno.

A wave of heat hit his face, scorching his exposed skin.

Bookshelves collapsed into the fire with a deafening crash.

Su Mo crouched low, moving forward as he searched.

Finally, in the spot where he had been talking to her earlier, he found Lin Xiaowu lying on the ground.

Her left leg was pinned under a collapsed bookshelf, and her consciousness was fading.

"Lin Xiaowu! Wake up!" Su Mo pushed the bookshelf away with all his might and lifted the girl up.

Lin Xiaowu opened her eyes, her gaze unfocused: "Teacher... I'm sorry..."

"Don't talk, save your strength." Su Mo looked around, his heart sinking.

They were surrounded by fire!

The only way out was that glass window.

But this was the third floor!

The flames closed in from all sides like hungry wolves, the high temperature baking the air and making every breath agonizingly difficult.

There was no time to wait for rescue!

Su Mo looked out the window, then down at Lin Xiaowu in his arms.

He made up his mind!

He hadn't lived in a good era, but perhaps, he could let her reach one!

"Lin Xiaowu, listen to me." He pulled the girl tightly into his embrace. "We'll be fine, but I need you to cooperate. Close your eyes, hold onto me, and don't be afraid."

Lin Xiaowu nodded weakly and closed her eyes as told.

Carrying Lin Xiaowu, Su Mo used every ounce of his strength to crash into the window.

The glass shattered!

He adjusted his posture to ensure his back would hit the ground first.

In mid-air, time seemed to stretch.

He looked at the sky, stained gray by the thick smoke.

He saw the crowd gathered below.

He saw the flashing red lights of the fire trucks...

Then, came the violent impact.

The world turned pure white, blindingly bright.

He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the lights above the operating table were harsh and cold.

"Patient has multiple fractures, internal bleeding... blood pressure is dropping steadily..."

"What about that girl?"

"Minor concussion and abrasions, she's out of danger..."

The voices sounded like they were coming from underwater, muffled and distant.

That's fine, he thought.

At least Lin Xiaowu could continue to sit in the classroom, could still have the future full of possibilities he had once imagined for her.

It's just that he would break his promise; he wouldn't be there to cheer for her during the college entrance exam...

Oh well, this was enough.

The alarm of the monitor stretched into a monotonous straight line, ringing out like a single, flat note.

"Su Mo, stop sleeping!"

Old Jack's voice boomed like a brass gong.

The Big Black Ox was not pleased by his shouting.

Having an old man yelling right by its tail would not make anyone happy.

Unless, of course, it was a heifer.

It jerked its rear end up, and the Demon Eye locked gazes with Old Jack.

As the saying goes, when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you...

Su Mo, who had been on its back, was launched into the air and jolted awake.

Before his eyes even opened, his hands moved by reflex to hold on tight.

They grasped nothing.

Only then did he belatedly remember that he was no longer a teacher.

He was just a six-year-old child.

Let the past be the past.

Su Mo relaxed, letting his body fall freely.

Thud!

Unexpectedly, the Big Black Ox did not catch him, and his head collided hard with the ground.

Bump~

Lumps rose one after another, making him look like a Buddha.

Su Mo looked at the Big Black Ox with a reproachful glare.

The Big Black Ox simply pointed its horns toward Old Jack, who stood there with a face full of black lines.

It was hard to tell if it was gazing into the abyss or gazing at Su Mo.

"V-Village Chief Grandpa, morning," Su Mo said with a sheepish grin.

"Hmph, it's not morning anymore, we've all been waiting for your awakening!" Old Jack retorted irritably.

Hearing this, Su Mo's dazed mind cleared rapidly as he sorted out his current situation:

Today was the day of the Spirit Awakening, the only chance for a commoner to change their destiny.

And he had to obtain the only work-study student quota for Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy.

Because only in this way could he, coming from a poor family, become a Spirit Master and have the ability to earn money to cure his mother's illness.

Su Mo jumped off the ox's back and scrambled to gather the scattered books, tying them back up with hemp rope and hanging them on the ox's back.

In his haste, one book wasn't secured properly and fell to the ground.

He had no time to care.

He hurried to the end of the line, right behind Tang San.

"Sorry, I'm late," Su Mo said softly.

Tang San turned his head slightly, his eyes—which did not match his age—meeting Su Mo's gaze.

He nodded but did not speak.

Su Mo felt a chill run down his spine.

In the original story, Tang San was already hiding three newly crafted sleeve arrows on his person at this moment, ready to take a life at any time.

At only six years old, he already possessed the air of a psychopathic killer.

Terrifying...

The awakening ceremony began.

Su Yuntao was on the platform, explaining the basic knowledge of spirits.

For Su Mo, who had read the original Soul Land novel, binged the manga, and even finished the anime, this was all already etched into his mind.

He was more concerned about what kind of spirit he would awaken.

To that end, he had made every effort, even going so far as to sneakily learn Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill, nearly getting caught and becoming one of those who had "already invited the path of death."

After that, he became even more cautious, and fortunately, his comprehension was good enough that he actually managed to learn a few basics.

Coupled with his extreme diligence, awakening a spirit shouldn't be a difficult task.

But the real problem lay in the figure standing in front of him.

Tang San!

The child of destiny from the original story, born with full Spirit Power!

He was the strongest rival in the competition for the quota!

His only chance lay in the fact that the sixth-ranked Tang San liked to hide his true strength, showing only the "Blue Silver Grass," that trash martial soul, to outsiders.

As long as he could awaken a slightly better martial soul and possess soul power, he would have a fighting chance.

"Hoo." Su Mo exhaled.

To be honest, if it weren't for his mother's illness, he truly wouldn't want to have any interaction with this protagonist who was always ready to kill at the drop of a hat.

Seeming to sense the gaze behind him, Tang San whipped his head around.

Su Mo was prepared, flashing the friendly smile he had practiced several times.

Su Mo: ⌓⌣⌓ (Menacingly kind)

Tang San: O_o

The awakening ceremony proceeded step by step.

Most of the children awakened farming tools like sickles or hoes, and none possessed soul power.

That was until Tang San stepped forward.

"Blue Silver Grass?" Su Yuntao frowned, his voice filled with disappointment. "A standard trash martial soul."

But when the crystal ball touched Tang San's hand and erupted with a brilliant radiance, both Su Yuntao and Old Jack were stunned.

"In—innate full soul power!" Old Jack's voice cracked.

Su Yuntao sighed, "But this martial soul... alas!"

The two of them shook their heads and sighed, filled with regret.

Everything was just as he remembered from his past life, and Su Mo sighed as well.

Yet, perhaps because of Su Mo's arrival, a butterfly effect had been triggered in this world.

Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer martial soul had become extremely unstable.

There was a faint tendency for it to spiral out of control.

Because of this, Tang San's body trembled.

Clang!

A hammer fell to the ground.

Tang San laughed awkwardly:

"Everyone, don't be nervous. I'm a blacksmith by trade, and this hammer is what I use for forging iron."

"It's quite reasonable, right?"