Talking Su Yuntao into It

A slender bamboo tube pierced through the window paper.

Chen Xuan did not move. The Wind Eagle Crossbow was already in his hand.

A faint wisp of white smoke drifted in through the bamboo tube, carrying a sickly sweet scent.

Sleeping incense.

The Water Armor Shield within Chen Xuan's body trembled slightly. A dark blue glow circulated through his meridians once, instantly purifying every trace of the incense he had inhaled.

He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and pretended to be dead asleep.

The person outside waited a moment. Seemingly convinced that the drug had taken effect, he reached out to fiddle with the window latch.

Just then, Old Jack's cough as he got up in the middle of the night came from the neighboring courtyard, followed by a low bark from the village chief's big yellow dog.

The movement outside abruptly stopped.

The person seemed somewhat wary. He immediately withdrew the bamboo tube and slipped out of the courtyard with extremely light footsteps.

Chen Xuan opened his eyes.

Using sleeping incense in the middle of the night against a six-year-old child?

He rolled out of bed. Instead of using the door, he silently pushed open the window and climbed out as nimbly as a cat.

His eleventh-level soul power, combined with the physique forged through years of blacksmithing, made his movements incredibly light.

Under the moonlight, a string of faint footprints stretched across the dirt, leading toward the village's back mountain.

With his hands in his pockets, Chen Xuan followed at an unhurried pace.

The forest behind the mountain.

The night wind rustled the leaves.

Chen Xuan hid behind a thick camphor tree, watching the figure pacing back and forth across the clearing.

The man wore fitted white clothing, with a conspicuous character for "Soul" embroidered on his chest.

He was also holding a crystal ball that emitted a faint blue glow.

Su Yuntao.

This Spirit Hall deacon from Notting City had come to Saint Soul Village in the middle of the night to pull this kind of sneaky stunt.

"This is really strange." Su Yuntao irritably raked a hand through his hair and muttered to himself, "Innate ninth-level soul power—how could it possibly come from a few worthless stones without the slightest fluctuation? If I report this, the chief deacon will definitely scold me."

Su Yuntao waved the crystal ball through the air twice.

"There must have been too many people that day, and the crystal ball was disturbed. That kid definitely hid his martial soul's true form. As long as I can detect something unusual and recruit him into Spirit Hall, this year's evaluation will be secure."

Leaning against the trunk, Chen Xuan curled his lips.

So it was all for performance ratings.

The people of Spirit Hall really were obsessed with geniuses.

Since you wanted to test me, I might as well play along.

Chen Xuan deliberately stretched and snapped a dead branch beneath his foot.

Crack.

The crisp sound was especially piercing in the night.

"Who's there?!" Su Yuntao spun around, reacting swiftly.

A white and a yellow soul ring instantly rose beneath his feet. His body grew taller, his muscles swelled, and his Lone Wolf martial soul possessed him directly.

Chen Xuan slowly emerged from the shadows and let out a huge yawn.

"What are you yelling about in the middle of the night?" Chen Xuan rubbed his eyes, looking as though he had not fully woken up.

Su Yuntao froze.

Seeing the child before him, who only came up to his waist, he hurriedly withdrew his martial soul. The soul rings vanished as well.

"Chen... Chen Xuan?" Su Yuntao's eyes widened. "Why are you here? Didn't you inhale my sleeping incense?"

Chen Xuan put on a blank expression.

"What incense? I got up to take a leak and saw someone sneaking toward the back mountain. I thought it was someone from the neighboring village coming to steal chickens, so I followed to take a look." Chen Xuan looked Su Yuntao up and down. "So it's Master Su. Did you come to our village in the middle of the night to steal chickens?"

Su Yuntao's face darkened.

A dignified Great Soul Master, mistaken for a chicken thief.

But he quickly realized something. This kid had followed him all the way here and had not been affected by the sleeping incense at all?

"Enough nonsense!" Su Yuntao stepped forward and held the crystal ball out before Chen Xuan. "Since you're awake, perfect. Put your hand on it. I'll test your soul power again."

Chen Xuan took half a step back, keeping both hands in his pockets.

"You already tested it. Ninth level. Master, did you come all the way here in the middle of the night just for that?"

Su Yuntao gritted his teeth, his expression turning serious.

"I don't believe your martial soul is just a few stones. Innate ninth-level soul power is rare even in the history of Douluo Continent. It absolutely cannot be a useless martial soul." Su Yuntao stared at Chen Xuan. "As long as this test reveals something and proves your martial soul has potential, I'll immediately recommend you to join Spirit Hall."

Su Yuntao threw out what he believed was his most enticing offer.

"Join Spirit Hall, and you'll have the best teachers and the best cultivation resources. You'll eat well, drink well, spend gold coins however you like, and never have to forge iron in this shabby village again. What do you say?"

Seeing Su Yuntao's eager expression, Chen Xuan found it amusing.

Spirit Hall?

Yu Xiaogang?

Tang San?

Why did all these people love forcing their own standards onto others?

As long as something did not fit within their theoretical framework, they insisted it must be hiding something or mutating somehow.

"Fine. Test me, then." Chen Xuan sighed and extended his right hand.

He had just broken through to the eleventh level, and he had done so without absorbing a soul ring.

If Su Yuntao discovered that, Spirit Hall's higher-ups could surround Saint Soul Village tomorrow and drag him back to dissect him as a lab rat.

The Five Elements cycle within Chen Xuan's body quietly began to turn.

The gentle power of the Water Armor Shield spread through his meridians.

Force Dissipation.

This was a technique he had developed over the past few years of blacksmithing. Using the Water Armor Shield's properties, he locked his soul power deep within his dantian.

The instant his palm touched the crystal ball, Chen Xuan severed the connection between the meridians in his hand and his dantian.

Su Yuntao's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the crystal ball.

One second.

Two seconds.

The crystal ball lit up.

An extremely faint point of blue light flickered once at the very center of the crystal ball, like a dying candle in the wind.

This light was far dimmer than it had been during his awakening in the village half a year ago.

Forget ninth-level soul power—he could barely even be considered to have first-level soul power.

Su Yuntao was dumbfounded.

"H-How is that possible?!"

Su Yuntao snatched the crystal ball back, rubbed it vigorously against his clothes, then held it out to Chen Xuan again.

"Touch it again! Put some force into it!"

Chen Xuan cooperatively touched it once more.

It was still that faint glimmer.

Su Yuntao completely broke down. Holding the crystal ball, his face was filled with disbelief.

"How could it be getting weaker and weaker? Could those stones really be useless martial souls, and are they even draining your soul power?" Su Yuntao tugged irritably at his hair and paced back and forth.

Chen Xuan withdrew his hand and looked at him innocently.

"Master, I told you I'm destined to be a blacksmith." Chen Xuan shrugged. "Over the past half year at the academy, I couldn't even settle down to meditate. I swing a hammer in the blacksmith shop every day, so all I've gained is strength. Maybe soul power just isn't meant for me."

Su Yuntao stopped and looked at Chen Xuan's arms, which were a full size sturdier than those of children his age. He let out a heavy sigh.

"It's over. Completely over."

Su Yuntao's face was full of regret, and his voice carried nothing but disappointment.

"I must have eaten too much to come out in the middle of the night and test a useless martial soul! I even wasted a stick of sleeping incense!"

He stuffed the crystal ball back into his clothes and headed down the mountain without looking back.

"Hurry back and sleep! Don't tell anyone about me coming here tonight. It's too embarrassing!"

Su Yuntao's back soon disappeared into the night, his footsteps growing more distant.

Chen Xuan stood where he was, watching the direction Su Yuntao had left in, his lips curling slightly.

Those lofty soul masters only ever believed what they saw.

As long as you appeared ordinary enough, they would consider even a second glance a waste of time.

The surroundings fell quiet once more.

The night wind swept through the forest, carrying a hint of late autumn chill.

Chen Xuan turned around, preparing to return to the village by the same route and get some sleep.

The instant he took his first step.

The system panel in the lower-right corner of his vision suddenly popped up.

Without any warning, the entire panel began flashing wildly.

On the previously calm translucent interface, a dense yellow glow representing the earth attribute flared brilliantly, nearly spilling out of the screen and illuminating the surrounding night for an instant.

[Warning! A powerful earth-attribute fluctuation has been detected!]

[This fluctuation is resonating with the Light-Shadow Stone!]

[Tomorrow's lottery pool has locked onto a specific reward!]

Chen Xuan stopped.

He looked at the bold red text on the panel, and his eyes lit up.

An earth-attribute fluctuation?

Flame Bow, Water Armor Shield, Wind Eagle Crossbow.

Fire, water, wood.

Only earth and metal remained among the Five Elements.

"Is the fourth weapon coming?" Chen Xuan rubbed his chin.

He turned his head and swept his gaze over the pitch-black back mountain.

This lousy place had nothing but a few wild rabbits and some old trees. There was not even a ten-year soul beast to be found.

What exactly was hidden underground that it could trigger such a powerful resonance from the system and even directly lock tomorrow's lottery pool?

Chen Xuan crouched and pressed his palm against the dirt.

His eleventh-level perception spread through the ground.

Far below, an extremely obscure yet extraordinarily dense power pulsed slowly.

Like a heart buried for tens of millions of years.

Chen Xuan stood and patted the dirt from his hands.

"Interesting."

He glanced at the countdown on the system panel.

There were less than two hours until midnight.

Chen Xuan found a thick tree trunk, leaned against it, folded his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes.

"Then I'll wait and see what treasure is buried beneath this ground."