Holy Soul Village Soul Sage's Notes

Xiao Wu successfully shared a bed with Tang San, using the same blanket.

Jiede thought to himself, As expected of a pair of hooligan spouses—one's a perverted child-lover, and the other is domineering and unreasonable.

Their little episode did nothing to affect Jiede's mood. He lay on the bed and slept soundly.

The next day, classes officially began in the morning after the opening ceremony.

Jiede absorbed knowledge quickly. Whenever he had no classes in the afternoon, he buried himself in the library to study martial soul theory.

Though Notting Academy's library was small and could not compare to the collections of Spirit Hall or the major sects, it had everything it needed and was enough for Jiede to study for quite some time.

At one bookshelf, Jiede picked up a book.

<Recommendations for Food-System Soul Master Soul Rings>

Jiede flipped through it. Most of its contents recommended supportive soul skills that boosted strength, speed, or recovery.

He did not want to take the pure support route. Oscar was an example—after absorbing a Mirror Beast, he had gained a certain degree of combat ability.

A Mirror Beast was a good choice, but Jiede was not qualified to hunt one in the early stages. He could consider it later.

What should Mystic Pellet's first soul ring be?

That truly was a difficult problem.

"Could I really only follow Oscar's path?"

As Jiede sank into troubled thought, a deep voice suddenly came from behind him.

"You might as well listen to my advice. Prioritize poison-attribute soul beasts and obtain a poison-type soul skill. Poison attributes are highly sought after among soul masters."

Yu Xiaogang leaned against the wall, lowering his head as he flipped through the book in his hands. Without even looking up at Jiede, he spoke on his own, with the air of one lecturing on grand affairs.

"Poison? Poison my ass!" Jiede cursed inwardly.

Poison attributes ranked at the very bottom in Jiede's mind, and he had good reason for it.

Dugu Bo was a Titled Douluo with terrifying poison arts.

And what came of it? Wasn't his strength still near the bottom?

Because of his poison attribute, his entire family had even been reduced to just a grandfather and grandson.

Porcupinefish Douluo also had a poison attribute, but did he have any impressive accomplishments to show for it?

Even when Bibi Dong used poison-attribute soul skills, she rarely achieved sufficiently outstanding results. She could not kill enemies in a single strike.

As for Tang San using Yama's Invitation to kill Shi Nian in return, that was entirely protagonist plot armor, with an excessive amount of bullshit involved.

In high-level battles, poison attributes could hardly become the great path.

Mystic Pellet was a food-system martial soul. Who was he supposed to feed a poison pellet to?

It might even further degrade the quality of his martial soul. Luo Sanpao was a precedent.

Jiede put the book back where it belonged and left the library without looking back.

Having his dignity slighted by a little brat, Yu Xiaogang's expression turned incomparably ugly.

"A country bumpkin from the countryside really doesn't know what's good for him."

He picked up the book Jiede had been reading, then froze. "Jiede's Stinking Pellet Martial Soul is a food-system martial soul?"

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible."

"Who would eat something that stinks that badly?"

"His martial soul must be like mine, a malignant mutated martial soul. He was merely lucky enough to possess innate full soul power."

Yu Xiaogang wanted even more to take Jiede as his disciple. He desperately wanted to find answers from him and study the mysteries of martial soul mutation.

Notting Academy did not have mandatory boarding. Jiede could actually have chosen to commute, but his home was outside Notting City's outer ring, and traveling back and forth would waste too much time.

At this moment, Jiede walked along the road home, planning to rest at home that night.

He truly did not want to have too much contact with Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang was a little thief who stole knowledge. Jiede feared that he might inadvertently reveal something and allow Yu Xiaogang to benefit from it and gain inspiration.

Jiede made up his mind. In any case, he would stay as far away from him as possible in the future.

An hour later, Jiede returned home.

In the courtyard, Jiede's mother, Liu Yun, was picking vegetables beside the well in preparation for dinner. Upon seeing Jiede return, she excitedly pulled him into her arms.

"Little De, did you come back by yourself?"

Jiede struggled free with muffled whimpers and poked his head out.

"Mm-hm, Mom. I ran back, so I could treat it as physical exercise."

"You child, what if bad people kidnapped you?"

Liu Yun tapped Jiede's forehead and scolded him affectionately.

She still vividly remembered how her parents had been killed by evil soul masters, and she feared that her son might encounter danger as well.

"From now on, have your father pick you up after school, understand?"

"No need. I completed the boarding procedures at the academy. When my studies become demanding in the future, I won't come home."

Hearing that her son would not be able to return home every day, Liu Yun felt reluctant to part with him, and her eyes reddened.

Jiede comforted her. "Mom, don't worry. When my studies are easier, I'll come home and stay here."

"Alright."

Liu Yun wiped away her tears and instructed, "Little De, I'll go buy you something tasty..."

"Mom, I want roasted sweet potatoes."

"Alright. Go inside. Your grandfather is sleeping in the inner room right now."

After Liu Yun left, Jiede entered the house.

Old Jack was a light sleeper. Sensing the footsteps, he opened his eyes.

"Oh, Little De is back."

"Grandpa, did you bring back the things I tinkered with?"

"Don't worry."

Old Jack got up, took a snakeskin sack from the cabinet, and handed it to Jiede.

"I kept it all properly."

Jiede put away the refined saltpeter powder and stored it in his room. Then a shout rang out from the courtyard. "Son, Dad's back!"

A smile appeared in Jiede's eyes. He ran out and threw himself into the man's arms.

Jie Yuan held his son and grinned. "Did you miss Dad?"

"Mm-hm, I missed you so much."

Jiede spoke from the bottom of his heart. Though he was a transmigrator, he genuinely liked this family.

This adoptive father of his practically granted every request. If he wanted soul beasts, he got soul beasts; if he wanted books, he got books; if he wanted snacks, he got snacks.

Jiede had lived a remarkably comfortable life in the countryside for the past year.

"Your mom went to buy groceries. She'll be back soon. We're having a feast tonight!"

Jie Yuan was a merchant who sold low-level soul beast meat, and his income was decent.

The dinner was exceptionally lavish. A basin of low-level soul beast ribs was brought to the table, its fragrance filling the air, accompanied by four dishes and a soup that were perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

Three generations and four family members sat together in happy harmony, chatting and laughing.

After eating and drinking their fill, Jiede was about to return to his room to rest when Liu Yun suddenly said, "Little De, wait a moment. Mom has something to give you."

Jiede stopped, not knowing why, but he obediently waited.

Liu Yun took a brocade box from the deepest part of the cabinet and solemnly handed it to Jiede.

"This is something passed down from my ancestors. Now I'm passing it on to you. Little De, you must keep it safe."

Jiede's eyes lit up. Had his maternal ancestors once been wealthy too?

He unwrapped three layers of brocade before finally seeing a wooden box.

"So mysterious?"

Jiede became even more curious.

Opening the wooden box, he found a yellowed, untitled book.

Jiede subconsciously asked, "Mom, this is?"

Liu Yun smiled. "Do you know how our Holy Soul Village got its name?"

"Mm." Jiede nodded.

"This book contains the cultivation insights left behind by that Soul Sage back then."

Liu Yun explained, "It is a treasure passed down through my family generation after generation.

None of our ancestor's descendants ever gave birth to a soul master with innate soul power, so this book was passed around until today.

Now that you are a soul master, I hope these cultivation insights will be useful to you."

Though Notting Academy had a large number of books, it did not have even one rare item like a Soul Sage's cultivation insights. This book was immensely precious to him.

"Thank you, Mom. I'll definitely cultivate diligently."

Filled with joy, Jiede hugged the cultivation notes and returned to his room.

Opening the first page, he found none of the narcissistic autobiographical content he had expected.

It went straight to the useful material.

This Soul Sage had been a food-system soul master, and he had chosen a strengthening-type soul skill for his first soul ring.

Because of his own strength and the lack of teammates, he had chosen a ten-year Mighty Baboon for his first soul ring.

The beginning was still fine, but as he read further, Jiede became more and more shocked.

[Looking back, I discovered that I chose my first soul skill incorrectly. Beginning with a ten-year soul ring set my starting point too low and limited my potential for advancement.

I also chose the wrong soul skill.

I should have chosen a Pale Blue Jellyfish as my first soul skill...]

Just as Jiede was engrossed in reading, Jie Yuan walked in.