Two Months Later! The Night Before Soul Hunting

Time passed quickly.

Before one knew it, the horizon was already tinged with a pale, fish-belly white, as the pitch-black night gave way to the first light of dawn.

Deep in the forest behind the academy.

At this moment, Lin Yan's skin was completely coated in a layer of black filth, emitting a foul stench that felt entirely out of place in the morning air, which was otherwise filled with the scent of dew and fresh grass.

Wen Ruan, standing nearby, had retreated as far away as possible; if not for those dozen or so gold soul coins, she likely would have fled long ago.

Fortunately, although the young girl felt deeply humiliated and disgusted, she still possessed a sense of professional integrity and had stubbornly stood guard over Lin Yan for the entire night.

"Haa~"

A long, drawn-out exhale suddenly broke the silence. Wen Ruan, who had been nodding off from exhaustion, looked up and realized that Lin Yan had slowly opened his eyes.

On the boy's filth-covered face, a pair of clear, limpid eyes shone with an extraordinary brilliance.

"Ugh, it stinks!"

The moment Lin Yan regained consciousness, he caught the stench coming from his own body and couldn't help but retch.

"You know it stinks? If I didn't know better, I'd think you..."

She didn't finish the sentence, as she felt it wouldn't be very ladylike for a delicate, fragrant girl to say such things.

However, after a moment of thought, she added, "Don't come to me for this kind of thing again. The money I earned isn't enough to cover my emotional damages."

With that, she turned and left without looking back, clearly not wanting to spend even a second longer in that place.

Lin Yan didn't say much in response; the truth was that he was indeed foul-smelling, and even he found himself repulsive.

I didn't expect that taking whale glue for the first time would purge so many impurities from my body.

That was right! Knowing the effects of whale glue, Lin Yan understood that the black, stinking substance covering him was simply the accumulation of impurities that had built up in his body over the years.

Throughout the entire night, he had refined nearly ten small-to-medium-sized century-old whale glue pieces, completely flushing out the toxins that had been trapped within him since his youth.

Now, aside from the unsightly filth on his skin, his entire body had been thoroughly renewed.

Previously, he had appeared thin and small due to malnutrition, but he had now transformed into a sturdy physique with clearly defined muscles, and even his height, which had been around one meter, had increased by ten centimeters.

In the clearing, Lin Yan stood up and clenched his fists, a natural sense of power surging within him.

He threw two sharp punches into the air.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two sounds of breaking wind signaled the ferocity of his strength, which was already far beyond that of his peers.

"Awesome!"

"The physical improvement gained in just this one night is enough to compensate for half a year of hard training for an ordinary person."

Lin Yan's eyes were filled with excitement.

It had to be said that the thrill of taking a shortcut to increase one's strength was truly addictive.

Unfortunately, whale glue had a tolerance threshold; if he were to take century-old whale glue again now, it would likely have no effect on him.

However, he was fortunate to still have a few pieces of thousand-year, or even ten-thousand-year, quality whale glue in his possession.

He imagined that the more potent medicinal power should, to some extent, bring him further improvements.

Thinking this, Lin Yan couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips upward.

The morning sun rose, casting a hint of warmth over the cold, damp forest.

Beside the small stream behind the academy.

"Hongjun, the water in this stream is famously clear. Sometimes, you can even run into beauties bathing here~"

"No way, really? Then I'm going to come and stake it out every night from now on."

It had to be said that Flender and Ma Hongjun were truly a pair of "kindred spirits in filth," both possessing similarly lecherous personalities. It was no wonder that in the original story, Ma Hongjun was taken to the brothels by Flender at such a young age.

"Eh? Why does the river water smell a bit foul today?"

Flender smacked his lips, savoring the taste that didn't belong in the stream.

"Could it be that we've had some bad luck today..."

Hearing this, Ma Hongjun's small eyes lit up. Recalling what Flender had just said, he immediately looked upstream along the path of the creek.

Flender also displayed an excited expression at this moment, looking into the distance, where there was indeed a pitch-black figure upstream.

"What the hell? That kid over there!"

Flender was furious. He had been wondering why the water tasted so strange while he was brushing his teeth; he had thought a beauty was bathing upstream, but instead...

He covered the distance in a few strides and immediately spotted Lin Yan, who was just starting to look "human" again.

"Lin Yan? You're bathing at this hour? And upstream, no less?"

"Uh, it's not really upstream, is it? Isn't this where we usually wash up?"

Lin Yan looked at the water droplets on the master and disciple's faces and immediately guessed the reason for Flender's anger. Adhering to humanitarian principles, although he wanted to laugh, he felt it was necessary to look a bit guilty.

At this moment, Ma Hongjun suddenly noticed the main point.

"Huh? Did you have a growth spurt? How come you feel taller? And..."

Because Lin Yan was currently bare-chested, Ma Hongjun couldn't help but glance twice at his waist. Just from that one look, an inexplicable sense of inferiority instantly welled up in his heart.

Flender also noticed Lin Yan's abnormality at this time, his originally angry gaze gradually becoming complex.

"You... you haven't already started consuming whale glue, have you?"

"..."

Two months later.

Ma Hongjun and Wen Ruan finally reached their bottlenecks one after another, gaining the qualifications to obtain a spirit ring.

As for Lin Yan, over these two months, he had completely fused with the medicinal power of the whale glue he had absorbed, and his physical strength had been greatly improved.

It was just a pity that, according to his estimations, a few century-grade whale glues should not be enough to allow him to directly absorb a millennium-grade first ring, so...

At dusk, he once again arrived in front of Wen Ruan's dormitory door.

Tomorrow was the day to head to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for spirit rings, and he needed to refine all the remaining whale glue tonight, including the ten-thousand-year-grade one.

Under the bright moonlight, Lin Yan knocked lightly on the door, and before long, Wen Ruan opened the door and stepped out.

The young girl was wearing loose pajamas, clearly already preparing for bed.

"What is it? Why are you coming to find me so late?"

"Little Senior Sister, could I please ask you to help me one more time, just like before?"

Wen Ruan recalled that night two months ago; the scene at the time had made her feel fearful, so she immediately refused.

"No! You have no idea how foul the smell on your body was..."

"Here are 50 gold soul coins."

Before Wen Ruan could finish her sentence, Lin Yan had already pulled out a money bag and pressed it heavily into her hand.

This was still the student loan he had applied for from Flender.

Wen Ruan opened the money bag, and the glittering gold soul coins instantly reflected in her beautiful eyes, turning them into the shape of coins.

"Yes, yes, I will!"

"When do we start?"

Lin Yan nodded with a faint smile.

"Now. I'll wait for you at the usual spot."

"Don't worry, this time it won't make you as uncomfortable as before."

As soon as these words left his mouth, he suddenly felt that saying it this way could easily lead to misunderstandings, so he added an explanation.

"I mean the smell won't be as foul."

Wen Ruan's pretty face flushed red. "Who... who asked you!"

Saying this, she closed her door, looking as if she had gone to change her clothes.