First Encounter with Tang San, a Fateful Exchange of Gazes

Yun Chen curled his lip, his eyes full of disdain. He directly pulled out a cloth sack resembling a treasure pouch and gave Ah Yin a light sweep with it. Even the potted plant was sucked inside.

This was the living-creature storage Soul Tool Qian Renxue had bought for Yun Chen before: the Ruyi Treasure Pouch.

"What a nuisance."

"If she weren't still useful..."

"I'd have killed her long ago."

Yun Chen snorted coldly and slowly walked toward the cave entrance. He had spent several hours absorbing the soul bone, and night had already fallen.

Yun Chen stomped hard against the cliff face and leaped out, landing nimbly on the ground before vanishing into the moonlight.

As he traveled, Yun Chen was also considering the Blue Silver Emperor's future uses. After all, she was that little punk Tang San's mother—she was extremely useful.

After thinking it over, Yun Chen concluded that the most important thing was to keep this generation's Blue Silver Emperor alive. That alone would block off little punk Tang San's path to advancement.

After all, the Blue Silver Emperor could only have one emperor. If Ah Yin remained alive, then little punk Tang San would not be able to naturally awaken the Blue Silver Emperor.

As for little punk Tang San going to the Blue Silver Forest and having that Blue Silver King help him awaken it, that was even more impossible, because the Blue Silver King had long since kicked the bucket.

Yes, that was right. Yun Chen had not been idle these past years. While cultivating, he had also been thinking about how to deal with Tang San. He had already eliminated opportunities like that for him in advance.

"This will greatly slow Tang San's cultivation speed."

"And weaken his combat power in the early stages."

As the saying went, pull one hair and the whole body moved. If Tang San lost many of the opportunities from the original story, then his growth would definitely slow down.

After all, wasn't that how protagonists grew?

Fortuitous opportunities helped raise their strength and cultivation, and once they had strength and cultivation, they turned around and obtained even greater opportunities.

If Tang San's growth path in the original story were laid out in order, then it began with the Mysterious Heaven Skill, which gave Tang San Innate Full Soul Power and faster cultivation speed.

Then there were the Twin Martial Souls: the Clear Sky Hammer and Blue Silver Grass.

After that came the Eight Spider Soul Bone. It later became one of Tang San's greatest cheats and was also an essential factor in his victories over many powerful teams.

Then came the most crucial opportunity of all: the immortal herbs.

Later, there was the head soul bone obtained from the Soul Master Tournament, followed by Xiao Wu's sacrifice, his biological mother's soul bone, the Blue Silver Emperor's second awakening, and the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.

The opportunity after that was naturally using the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud to initiate the Sea God's Nine Trials.

Looking at it this way, I can snatch many of Tang San's opportunities for myself.

As Yun Chen hurried along, he continued calculating which of Tang San's opportunities he could take and which he could not.

In the end, he realized that aside from the Twin Martial Souls and the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he could take all the rest.

He had even already gotten his hands on many of them, and Yun Chen could barely keep himself together.

Little punk Tang San, little punk Tang San—for the sake of my grand plan to become a god, I can only make you suffer a little more.

Night fell, and Yun Chen had already checked into a hotel in Notting City. Directly across from him was Notting Junior Soul Master Academy, where the love story between their little punk Tang San and spicy rabbit began.

"Tsk..."

Early the next morning, Yun Chen slowly finished cultivating and stretched lazily. Looking at the faintly rising sun outside the window, he suddenly felt an impulse.

"Hmm... how about taking a stroll around Notting City?"

Once the thought appeared, it was like a vine climbing a wall—impossible to stop. Yun Chen quickly washed up, got dressed, and headed out.

Notting City's buildings were nowhere near as luxurious as those in a great metropolis like Heaven Dou City. It did not even compare to small cities like Azure Cloud City and Windlai City.

If he had to describe it, Notting City was roughly equivalent to some obscure little county town from his previous life.

"Kid, you're really good at smithing."

"Oh, right. Here's yesterday's pay. Take it."

A rough, booming voice caught Yun Chen's attention. Following the sound, he saw a blacksmith shop.

The tall, burly man shouting at the top of his lungs as he handed out wages seemed to be the owner of the smithy.

The one smiling as he reached out to receive his pay was a child. He looked to be about one and a half meters tall, with slightly dark skin and fairly regular features. There was nothing particularly remarkable about him.

Yun Chen carefully examined the child, and the more he looked, the more something felt off.

Damn it, could this kid be Tang San?

The more Yun Chen thought about it, the more certain he became. Even if a child that young was desperately short of money, few would come to work in a place like a blacksmith shop.

Wasn't Tang San the only one who worked as a blacksmith in the original story?

Yun Chen casually walked over and began picking through the ironware in the shop. In truth, however, his gaze kept falling on Tang San beside him.

And Tang San was indeed Tang San. That extraordinary sensitivity of his was far beyond what ordinary people possessed.

Tang San almost instantly noticed Yun Chen's repeated glances. He stopped hammering and looked at Yun Chen with some curiosity.

This person... is kind of handsome.

That was Tang San's first thought. Yun Chen's skin was fair, but it did not have the delicate quality of a child's. Instead, it possessed a heroic sort of beauty.

At only nine years old, Yun Chen was already one meter seventy tall.

(Note: children on Douluo Continent matured quickly, especially protagonists like this one. Haven't you seen those baby-faced, well-endowed types? And Oscar's birth, too.)

Why was he paying such special attention to me? There seemed to be something strange in his eyes. Pity, and...

Tang San frowned. Yun Chen's gaze made him deeply uncomfortable. Killing intent had already risen in his heart, and he silently sentenced Yun Chen to death.

But he could hardly make a move so suddenly in public. No matter what, Notting City was now the base of his life, and he certainly could not casually shatter this peaceful existence himself.

"Handsome boss, what would you like to buy?"

Seeing Yun Chen pick through the goods for ages without finding anything he liked, the shopkeeper approached him with a welcoming smile.

After all, he could tell that Yun Chen was definitely rich. That sort of bearing could only be cultivated with money—old money, at that.

"I'm just looking around... Do you have any special ironware here?"

Yun Chen asked. His expression was perfectly calm; he had merely asked casually, and by "special," he meant normal special.

Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper reacted rather unusually. He glanced around, lowered his voice, and wore a slightly teasing smile.

"Hehe... brother... no need to beat around the bush. I understand... We have that kind of thing too."

Yun Chen was still somewhat confused. What is this boss talking about? How does he know what I want? Besides, I haven't asked for anything.

"You do?"

"Of course we do! Brother, if you trust me, come to the back with me. I guarantee it'll open your eyes. There are things you've never even seen before."

The shopkeeper's words stirred Yun Chen's curiosity, and he nodded.

Just as the shopkeeper was about to lead Yun Chen inside—

"Oh, right. You employ child labor here? The Heaven Dou laws clearly state that children can't do this kind of work. And have you made the wages clear to him?"

Yun Chen casually teased, steering the conversation toward Tang San.

"Oh, little brother, you can't say that carelessly. This child is only apprenticed here. I pay him a bit of wages. The poor kid works while studying."

Yun Chen nodded. He had now basically confirmed that the person before him was Tang San.

"That's good. By the way, when you sell ironware here, does the maker get a commission?"

"That's right, little brother."

Watching Tang San focus on his smithing, Yun Chen gave a faint smile. Pointing at the ironware Tang San had forged, he said, "Wrap up two pieces for me. Consider it a little sponsorship for the kid."

It was not because Yun Chen was especially kind or particularly considerate toward the little runt. He had mainly just snatched the guy's mother, so he was offering a few copper coins as compensation.

Enough to dismiss a beggar.