Work-study student dormitory.
Tang San looked at Xiao Wu's bed in the corner. Her pink little bundle was still there, which gave him some comfort.
So what if Meng Chen had been flirting with Xiao Wu in class? Like him, Xiao Wu was only a work-study student and could only live in the work-study student dormitory. She still had to come back to sleep.
The one closest to the water got the moonlight first. He had an advantage Meng Chen did not.
"Sister Xiao Wu!"
Wang Sheng's shout caught Tang San's attention. He turned toward the door and saw Xiao Wu returning, delight flashing in his eyes.
He had said it—Xiao Wu would definitely come back.
Yet the moment his joy surfaced, it was snuffed out by Meng Chen, who was following behind Xiao Wu.
"Why is this guy following Xiao Wu too?"
A trace of displeasure rose in Tang San's eyes as he silently cursed Meng Chen for being impossible to shake off.
When the work-study students in the dorm saw Xiao Wu return, they all called out to Sister Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu raised her little chin, clearly enjoying the feeling of being the big sister.
"Xiao Wu, you're back."
Tang San stepped forward to greet her, expecting an enthusiastic response. But Xiao Wu merely nodded, then walked to her bed and picked up her pink little bundle.
Seeing Xiao Wu take the bundle, Tang San grew anxious and reached out to grab one corner of it.
"Tang San, what are you doing?!"
Thinking Tang San was trying to snatch her things, anger appeared on Xiao Wu's little face. She raised her leg and kicked at him. Tang San dodged aside and let go of the bundle.
Seeing this, Meng Chen stepped forward as well and stood in front of Xiao Wu. Xiao Wu held the bundle tightly to herself and watched Tang San warily.
Realizing Xiao Wu had misunderstood, Tang San hurriedly explained, "I—I wasn't trying to do that, Xiao Wu. I just wanted to ask where you were going with your luggage."
"What does where Xiao Wu is going have to do with you?"
Before Xiao Wu could speak, Meng Chen shot back first, staring coldly at Tang San.
Xiao Wu nodded in agreement. "That's right. What does where I'm going have to do with you?"
Seeing Meng Chen and Xiao Wu acting like a loving couple, Tang San nearly broke down and urgently said:
"How is it none of my business? Xiao Wu, you're the boss of Dorm Seven. If you leave, what will happen to our Dorm Seven?"
"That's right, Sister Xiao Wu. Where are you going?"
"Sister Xiao Wu, you're not moving out, are you?"
"Sister Xiao Wu..."
Tang San's words resonated with the other work-study students, and they all began asking Xiao Wu where she was going.
Since her little brothers had all asked, Xiao Wu did not hide it from them.
"Mm, I really am moving out. After all, I'm a girl, and it isn't good for me to live with so many boys."
"But since you call me Sister Xiao Wu, I won't abandon you. If you run into trouble at the academy or someone bullies you, come find Sister Xiao Wu. I'll beat them up for you!"
After thinking it over, Wang Sheng and the others felt Xiao Wu had a point. The adults in their village had also said that once boys grew older, they could no longer sleep in the same room as girls.
Before leaving, Xiao Wu gave Tang San one final look. There was no reluctance in it, only distance and wariness.
She seriously suspected that Tang San was the lolicon Meng Chen had mentioned.
Tang San stood where he was, once again watching Xiao Wu leave with Meng Chen, yet unable to do anything.
Even more useless than an incompetent husband.
"Meng Chen! Don't think you've won just because of this. Just wait—once I obtain my first Soul Ring, I'll take Xiao Wu back!"
Tang San gritted his teeth. Flames of anger burned in his eyes, incinerating his reason as he forced the words out through clenched teeth.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.
Meng Chen had adapted to life at Notting Academy.
During the day, he attended classes and fed Xiao Wu snacks along the way.
At night, he meditated and cultivated, accumulating Soul Power.
Although his cultivation was still stuck at level ten, all the Soul Power he cultivated was stored away and would automatically be released once he broke through.
On another rest day, someone knocked on the dormitory door, and Meng Chen opened it.
Xiao Wu's petite figure came into view. She wore the white dress he had bought for her, along with white short socks on her calves. She was as playful and adorable as ever.
"A-Chen, it's a rest day. Why didn't you ask me out to play?"
Xiao Wu pouted in displeasure, and even her rabbit ears stood straight up.
Seeing that, Meng Chen pinched Xiao Wu's puffed-up cheeks and gently explained:
"Don't be angry. It's not that I didn't want to play with you. I have something to do today and need to travel somewhere far away. I might be gone for several days."
"Travel somewhere far away? What are you going to do, A-Chen?" Xiao Wu hurriedly asked upon hearing that.
Meng Chen said, "You know I have Innate Full Soul Power. I can obtain my first Soul Ring as soon as my martial soul awakens. My teacher sent me a letter yesterday, telling me to take leave today and go soul hunting with her so she can help me obtain my first Soul Ring."
"A teacher? A-Chen, you have a teacher?" Xiao Wu was startled. Meng Chen nodded. "Mm, I took her as my teacher before enrolling."
"Alright, then. A-Chen, go early and come back early."
Xiao Wu was not too disappointed. It was the perfect chance for her to condense her first Soul Ring as well.
After patting Xiao Wu's head again, Meng Chen watched her leave.
Afterward, Meng Chen went to find Director Su and requested ten days of leave.
Director Su asked what he was going to do, and Meng Chen said he was going to hunt for his first Soul Ring. Director Su did not ask further and directly approved the leave.
After leaving Notting Academy, Meng Chen did not hurry to the Star Dou Great Forest. Instead, he returned to Xiahe Village.
When the village chief grandpa saw Meng Chen return, he was both surprised and delighted.
"Chen boy, why have you come back?"
"Village Chief Grandpa, I took ten days of leave from the academy. My teacher is taking me soul hunting, and once I obtain my first Soul Ring, I'll be a Soul Master."
Meng Chen explained softly.
When the old village chief heard that Meng Chen was about to become a Soul Master, he was overjoyed. He hurriedly called for his daughter-in-law to kill a chicken and insisted that Meng Chen eat at his home.
As Meng Chen ate, he told stories about the academy that made the old village chief laugh heartily, his eyes full of gratification.
After eating, Meng Chen returned to his little home, and Ye Xishui appeared.
"Little fellow, I couldn't find the Soul Bone you wanted, but I managed to get a piece of ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber."
Meng Chen was somewhat surprised. "You couldn't find the Soul Bone?"
Ye Xishui nodded slightly. "Mm. There was no waterfall behind Saint Soul Village, nor was there any Soul Bone."
Meng Chen fell silent.
After recalling the original novel, he cursed.
"Fuck! Fanfiction misled me!"
Only then did Meng Chen remember that the original novel had never mentioned the Blue Silver Emperor or her Soul Bone being hidden behind Saint Soul Village.
The Blue Silver Emperor's true location was among a stretch of mountains. Tang San cultivated there for two years before going to the Blue Silver Forest. After awakening the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline, he then went to Slaughter City.
The claim that the Blue Silver Emperor was hidden behind Saint Soul Village was all nonsense made up by fanfiction!
"No matter. If it isn't there, it isn't there."
Meng Chen felt a little regretful, but he did not care too much. It was only a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
Then Ye Xishui took out the piece of ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber.
Ye Xishui said, "Let's begin."
Meng Chen nodded. A ball of scorching golden flame ignited in Ye Xishui's palm, wrapping around a piece of Whale Rubber. Under the searing Phoenix flames, the Whale Rubber gradually began to change.
Gradually, a strange fragrance wafted from the Whale Rubber. The scent was extremely rich, yet it remained condensed instead of dispersing, lingering only within roughly a one-meter radius around Ye Xishui's hand.
A faint golden glow began radiating from the Whale Rubber, turning it a strange dark gold.
As the heat intensified, it also began to soften into a gelatinous substance.
Whale Rubber had a strong fishy taste when it entered the mouth, but that taste soon turned into a stream of heat flowing into the stomach.
Not only that, after entering the stomach, a faint fragrance would instead rise and drift out through the nostrils. The sensation was truly rather strange.
After eating just the first piece of Whale Rubber, Meng Chen felt warmth rise in his chest and abdomen.
The warmth gradually became scorching hot, and Meng Chen felt surging currents of heat flowing through every limb and bone in his body.
Soon, sweat began seeping out of his body, as though it were slowly expelling the impurities within him.
Before long, Meng Chen had eaten an entire large piece of Whale Rubber.
Meng Chen's skin flushed red, and even his sweat was a faint reddish-brown. It quickly dyed his clothes a dark red.
Although reddish-brown sweat was flowing from him, Meng Chen's vitality at that moment surpassed even that of an adult...
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