Delivered Right to His Door

"I never expected that I wouldn't even need to go looking for Dream Iceworm—it came to me and fused with me on its own. Well, that's good too. It saved me quite a bit of trouble."

"I even got Electrolux. Unfortunately, Electrolux is nothing more than a wisp of a remnant soul right now, and he's in very poor condition. It looks like Living Gold will have to be added to the plan as well."

Originally, Jiang Yue had intended to see whether he could claim Dream Iceworm for himself once the story began. However, before the story started, there was simply no way to determine Dream Iceworm's exact location.

If Jiang Yue and Huo Yuhao were placed together and Dream Iceworm had to choose between them, then as long as Dream Iceworm had any sense, it would choose Jiang Yue. After all, compared to Huo Yuhao, who possessed only rank-one innate soul power and had only just reached rank ten at the age of eleven, Jiang Yue's talent utterly crushed his.

But plans could not keep up with changes. Jiang Yue had never expected that, while heading to the Star Dou Forest to obtain his second soul ring, he would encounter Dream Iceworm in the mixed zone and claim the greatest opportunity of the Unrivaled Tang Sect era before the story had even begun.

Aside from obtaining Dream Iceworm and raising his first soul ring's cultivation to the thousand-year level, the greatest gain from this soul hunt had been Electrolux.

As a powerful existence from the Holy Magic Continent of the neighboring Throne of Seal, the powers and knowledge Electrolux possessed were far beyond anything on Douluo Continent.

The problem now was that Electrolux was merely a wisp of a remnant soul. He was not even conscious, and could only try to recover within Jiang Yue's sea of spirit. Never mind how long it would take him to awaken—even if his remnant soul did not dissipate and his condition did not worsen, Jiang Yue would already be thanking the heavens.

In the original work, Electrolux entered Huo Yuhao's sea of spirit after arriving on Douluo Continent. It took only a year before he encountered the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife, purified it, and restored it to the Living Blade.

Yet several years still remained before the story began. Jiang Yue truly could not guarantee that Electrolux would remain fine during that time.

As for finding Living Gold to help Electrolux recover? That was simply not something Jiang Yue could accomplish at present.

Only three pieces of Living Gold appeared in Unrivaled Tang Sect. Whether it was the massive piece beneath the Lake of Life in the Star Dou Forest or the piece inside the belly of the hundred-thousand-year Golden Turtle, neither was something Jiang Yue could obtain right now.

The easiest one to acquire, the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife, most likely had not yet been delivered to the Starlight Auction House at this point in time. Not to mention, purchasing it would require one hundred thousand gold soul coins.

Although the old man had left Jiang Yue ten thousand gold soul coins before departing, and he barely needed to spend money on food, clothing, or lodging at Maple Leaf City Junior Soul Master Academy, that did not mean Jiang Yue had no other expenses.

Jiang Yue did not have a single gold soul coin coming in right now. Forget one hundred thousand—even taking out one thousand gold soul coins would make his heart ache terribly.

Money really could stump a hero. Jiang Yue felt that he needed to find a way to earn some gold soul coins in the future. Otherwise, if he could only watch the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife slip away before his eyes because he lacked enough money, he would probably wake up in the middle of the night and slap himself twice.

Beyond the matters of Living Gold and Electrolux, there were still other things Jiang Yue needed to consider.

Jiang Yue definitely had no use for the blank ice martial soul provided by Dream Iceworm. The best approach was to use its ice-attribute origin to help himself condense the Unfeeling Ice Heart more quickly, allowing him to unleash the Unfeeling Sword's true power earlier in the future.

The soul rings required by the Unfeeling Sword were simple. Aside from extraordinarily rare time- and space-type soul beasts, with the support of its defense-ignoring ability, only raw offensive power suited it best. He merely needed to absorb the soul rings of soul beasts with powerful attacks. Ice Empress and Snow Empress were both such soul beasts, as were Bear Lord and Di Tian within the Star Dou Forest. All of them were highly suitable soul rings for the Unfeeling Sword.

Ice Empress and Snow Empress ranked among the strongest on the continent in terms of offensive power, so they were naturally very suitable as soul rings for the Unfeeling Sword. Snow Empress in particular, the continent's third-ranked ferocious beast, was the best possible choice for the Unfeeling Sword's seventh soul ring apart from Di Tian, with her seven-hundred-thousand-year cultivation.

Of course, suitable was one thing. Leaving aside the fact that Dream Iceworm had already fallen asleep, even if it remained awake, Jiang Yue had no intention of going to the Extreme North at rank thirty.

The Extreme North was one of the largest soul beast gathering grounds in the world and a true forbidden zone for humans. Even Title Douluo faced immense danger upon entering; one careless mistake could cost them their lives. The frigid temperatures there alone would be more than enough for Jiang Yue to endure.

Going to the core region of the Extreme North at rank thirty was basically no different from charging into the Lake of Life at rank thirty. Both were suicide.

And who knew when or where a rank-nine soul engineer might inexplicably spawn in the Extreme North's core region, as though waiting for prey to walk into a trap.

Jiang Yue was not afraid of death, but that did not mean he would rush headlong to seek it. Placing every hope of success on someone as unreliable as Dream Iceworm would be far too nerve-racking. He would never be able to rest easy.

Those ferocious beasts only responded to force, not persuasion. Rather than hoping Dream Iceworm could convince them, Jiang Yue might as well place his hopes on Electrolux in the future.

In any case, he did not need to fill the blank ice martial soul and add another martial soul like Huo Yuhao had, completely overturning his fate. Jiang Yue could wait for a more suitable opportunity before going there. Ice Empress would remain in the Extreme North and would not go anywhere else.

Ice Empress was no more capable of running away than the Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Ice Cavern beneath Dragon City Earth Dragon Gate. Since those opportunities would not flee, there was no need to rush so desperately. One could not grow fat in a single bite.

Given the current situation, it was impossible to seize Snow Empress's embryo at the Starlight Auction House on the spot. Under normal circumstances, he only needed to obtain Ice Empress before the Body Sect headed to Mingde Hall to steal Snow Empress's embryo.

He could only make rough plans for the future. There were simply too many variables, and Jiang Yue did not believe that he, a butterfly, would fail to influence the development of this world.

The most obvious change would be Huo Yuhao's fate. The greatest opportunity of the Unrivaled Tang Sect era, the starting point from which Huo Yuhao defied fate with his rank-one innate soul power, no longer existed. His destiny would certainly change.

Perhaps Huo Yuhao, as a child of fortune, would still encounter a decent soul beast for his first soul ring. Perhaps he would still meet Bei Bei and Tang Ya, join the Tang Sect, and enter Shrek Academy.

Or perhaps he would encounter someone from the Body Sect, enter the Body Sect directly to study its secret techniques, and restore the body that had been depleted by long-term malnutrition. Who could guarantee how the future would unfold?

There was only one person Jiang Yue was truly concerned about now: the one in the heavens.

When Dream Iceworm had been fleeing its natural enemies as a juvenile, it fell into the Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Ice Cavern and gained unrestricted access to ten-thousand-year mystic ice marrow. A soul beast at the very bottom of the food chain had somehow grown all the way to a million-year cultivation without ever suffering a heavenly tribulation. This abnormal fortune itself constantly proved Dream Iceworm's heaven-defying luck.

To a certain extent, even the fortune carried by the Emperor Auspicious Beast Three-Eyed Golden Lion might not have been as exaggerated as Dream Iceworm's.

It was difficult to judge whether Huo Yuhao or Dream Iceworm was the true child of fortune, but one thing was certain: Sea God Tang San could not possibly have failed to notice Dream Iceworm, a million-year soul beast that had grown within the Douluo Continent he regarded as his private garden.

Perhaps Tang San had not initially paid attention to Jiang Yue, who was merely someone with outstanding talent. After all, Tang San had shielded the Douluo plane, and saying he covered the sky with one hand would not be an exaggeration.

But after Jiang Yue fused with Dream Iceworm, perhaps Tang San had noticed him as well? Who knew?

Not much time remained until Huo Yun'er's death. In the original work, Tang San had taken Huo Yun'er's soul away very early on. This series of events also indirectly showed that Tang San had long since determined Huo Yuhao to be the child of fortune of the Douluo plane, so his attention would naturally be focused on Huo Yuhao.

If he noticed Jiang Yue, it would most likely be because of Dream Iceworm, this million-year soul beast.

Even if he had noticed, it did not matter. Jiang Yue had no weakness, and he was not afraid of death. But everything had only just begun—how could he possibly flip the table already?

For now, regardless of whether Tang San had noticed Jiang Yue, Jiang Yue felt that he had to spend some time at Shrek Academy. According to what the old man had said before, Shrek Academy should possess the Distraction Control Technique Jiang Yue needed, as well as the most comprehensive soul master-related knowledge on the continent.

Perhaps Shrek Academy truly was not particularly impressive in martial soul research, but it had been the holy land in the hearts of soul masters for ten thousand years and a gathering place for genius soul masters. The amount of accumulated information there was beyond counting.

Most importantly, it was the main stage of Unrivaled Tang Sect. With his advantage of foresight, Jiang Yue could only maximize that advantage upon a familiar stage.

He could not possibly go to some entirely new place, could he? If Tang San's attention truly was on Dream Iceworm and he subsequently came up with a whole series of twists that never existed in the original work, what then?

Known dangers could still be guarded against. Unknown dangers were the deadliest.

Even if Shrek Academy was a dragon's pool and tiger's den, Jiang Yue had to go and see what it was really like.

The next day, thanks to the Maple Leaf City Lord's remarkable speed, he quickly brought Jiang Yue back to Maple Leaf City Junior Soul Master Academy. Before returning to the City Lord's Manor, he did not forget to remind Jiang Yue that if he had any questions about cultivation, he could come ask him anytime. He was always free.

In particular, he told Jiang Yue to make sure to inform him once he broke through to level thirty, promising that he would choose a suitable soul beast for Jiang Yue when the time came. After that, he left the academy.

After returning to his dormitory and locking the door, Jiang Yue summoned the Joy Sword and Anger Sword. The two swords hovered behind him like guards.

Using his spiritual power to control one of them individually was easy enough for Jiang Yue, but controlling both at the same time while also fighting left him somewhat stretched thin.

What Jiang Yue wanted to know more was what would happen if an enemy was struck by both swords at once. Would they feel joy or anger? Or would they be overwhelmed by both emotions until they finally suffered an emotional breakdown?

He would have to slowly explore such matters in the future. His first soul ring had given him the Joy Sword, while his second had given him the Anger Sword. Jiang Yue felt that perhaps every soul ring he absorbed from now on would grant him a sword formed from an emotion.

The problem was that Jiang Yue still did not know exactly which seven emotions his Seven Emotions referred to.

Were they the philosophical joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire? Or the joy, anger, worry, contemplation, grief, fear, and shock related to the human body in traditional Chinese medicine? Of course, they might also be the joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, love, loathing, and evil of the Douluo universe.

He would only know for certain after obtaining his third or even fourth ring. Jiang Yue definitely hoped it was not the last set. Even now, he had not figured out what the difference was between joy and happiness.

Mastering similar, or even identical, powers was not what Jiang Yue wanted.

Spring passed into autumn, and cold gave way to heat. More than a hundred li away from the Star Dou Forest stood a soul hunting town, a transit station that had gradually formed to provide supplies to soul masters hunting soul beasts.

There were not only shops stocked with all manner of goods, but also quite a few inns and all kinds of soul hunting teams.

However, the place was a mixed bag, and one had to be careful in all things. It was not only soul beasts one had to guard against, but also the humans nearby. Otherwise, one careless mistake could leave you in the Star Dou Forest forever.

A small, thin figure entered the soul hunting town, his frail body completely out of place among the people around him.

The boy looked exceedingly weak, obviously malnourished at a glance. He wore simple gray cloth garments and carried a small bundle on his back. Perhaps it was hereditary, but he was rather handsome. Still, because of his build, few people paid attention to such a scrawny boy.

The only thing that set him apart was his pair of deep-blue eyes. At that moment, those eyes were filled with vigilance and a hint of bewilderment.

He glanced at the price of information on spiritual-attribute soul beasts, then immediately turned and left when he saw how many gold soul coins it cost. The little money he had could not buy soul beast information, much less hire a soul hunting team. For a moment, he felt rather defeated.

But in the end, he still decided to enter the Star Dou Forest himself and try his luck.

In the outer region of the enormous primeval forest in the distance, a rabbit half the size of an adult sensed the danger behind it. Its body flickered, and it instantly vanished from where it stood, reappearing five meters away in the next moment.

A sword mark was strikingly visible where it had just been standing. The soil around the mark showed no signs of having been disturbed, as though the gap had not been cut open, but that patch of ground had simply vanished on its own.

Just as the Soft-Boned Rabbit was startled and prepared to use its teleportation skill again to flee, its eyes suddenly turned scarlet. It lowered its body, panting heavily as it stared toward a patch of grass, looking utterly consumed by rage.

A tall youth of about eleven or twelve emerged from behind the grass, a silver longsword in his hand. The most eye-catching feature was his heterochromatic eyes, one silver and one blue. Three soul rings—one yellow and two purple—floated beside him along with three swords, one red, one cyan, and one brown.

More than three years had passed. Jiang Yue was now eleven years old, and his soul power had reached level thirty-six, making him a Soul Elder. This time, he had left Maple Leaf City to report to Shrek Academy.

But naturally, Jiang Yue could not report in that early. What if he got assigned to Class One? Going by the order of things, the later he reported, the less likely he would be assigned to Class One.

Moreover, over the past few years, Dream Iceworm had stuffed quite a few high-level soul masters to death. After those soul masters died in the Star Dou Forest, the things on them naturally became ownerless.

There were also quite a few good things within the Star Dou Forest. Heavenly treasures were rare, but medicinal herbs and the like could still be found.

The thousand-year Soft-Boned Rabbit before him was naturally Jiang Yue's meal for the day. As for why a Soft-Boned Rabbit dared bare its teeth at Jiang Yue despite the vast gap in their levels, that was naturally because of the Anger Sword behind him.

In Jiang Yue's eyes, the Soft-Boned Rabbit had indeed used teleportation to evade his attack just now. However, Jiang Yue had infused that slash with a trace of emotional power. The rabbit had inevitably been tainted by some of it, which was why it had become so enraged.

If one looked carefully, they would notice waves of deep-cyan spiritual power still rippling across the Passionate Sword. It was unmistakably the power of the Anger Sword.

If it had been a high-level soul beast, casually enraging it would clearly have been unwise. But this was merely a thousand-year Soft-Boned Rabbit.

A thousand-year Soft-Boned Rabbit could not develop much intelligence, and its resistance to spiritual power was nearly zero.

Even rabbits bit when driven to desperation. With its mind completely consumed by rage, the Soft-Boned Rabbit kicked off with its hind legs and activated teleportation once more, its sharp incisors aimed at Jiang Yue's neck as it lunged in to bite.

Crack!

Its intent to attack was far too obvious. Jiang Yue did not even need to dodge. He merely raised his sword beside his neck and blocked the Soft-Boned Rabbit's teeth. The blade met its incisors, and the rabbit's teeth snapped at once.

There was not the slightest sensation of resistance as the sword light cleaved through the Soft-Boned Rabbit's body, splitting it in two. Its corpse fell to the ground, blood suddenly bursting forth. Its flesh still retained vitality and continued twitching, while its two eyeballs rolled without cease, yet all they could see was mud stained red by their own blood.

Yet not a single trace of blood could be seen on the Passionate Sword. It still gleamed with a piercingly cold light.

Jiang Yue picked up the Soft-Boned Rabbit that had been cut in half and headed toward his temporary camp. This was the outer region; as long as he remained careful, there would be no danger to him.

"Hm? What's this?"

The moment he returned to camp, Jiang Yue noticed tracks where the grass had been crushed by something long and slender. His tent had also been knocked flat, clearly indicating that an unwelcome guest had arrived.

Setting down the Soft-Boned Rabbit in his hand, Jiang Yue immediately summoned the Passionate Sword and the three emotion swords, warily preparing for danger that might attack at any moment.

Rustle—

An incredibly faint sound of leaves brushing together, carrying a trace of killing intent, was caught by Jiang Yue's spiritual power. The Joy Sword and the brown Sorrow Sword abruptly shot out behind him, stabbing toward the uninvited guest.

The Sorrow Sword was the emotion sword Jiang Yue had condensed after absorbing his third soul ring. While it increased Jiang Yue's combat strength, it also made him understand which seven emotions he would most likely wield in the future.

The other party had not expected to be discovered without making any sound. Faced with the sudden attack, it immediately twisted its body to evade, but no matter how fast it was, it could never be faster than flying swords.

Seeing that it could not shake off the flying swords and that the threat of death still loomed over it, it immediately swung its body and used the defense of its scales to knock away the closer Joy Sword. But it could not evade the Sorrow Sword.

"Hiss!"

A pained snake hiss rang out. At the same time, a severed pale-pink snake tail, still writhing and carrying a faint sweet fragrance, fell from the tree.

"A Datura Snake? Judging by that color, it isn't even two thousand years old. Spicy strips delivered right to my door!"