Missing Home!

"Xiao Lin, don't go too far!"

A crisp child's voice suddenly rang out.

Xiao Lin turned around and only then noticed a little boy standing in the corner. He looked about six years old, Bai and clean-cut. At that moment, he was glaring at Xiao Lin angrily, his tiny fists clenched tight.

Tang San.

Xiao Lin recognized him at a glance.

"How was I going too far?" Xiao Lin raised an eyebrow. "I was telling the truth."

"The truth isn't allowed either!" Tang San stepped forward and stood in front of Yu Xiaogang, his small body held ramrod straight. "He's my teacher! Insulting him is insulting me!"

Xiao Lin froze for a moment, then could not help laughing.

Well, damn. This master and disciple pair really were cut from the same cloth. Yu Xiaogang had taken Tang San as his disciple, and Tang San had acknowledged Yu Xiaogang as his teacher. Put these two together, and they were simply a perfect match... one loved putting on airs, while the other loved kissing his ass.

"Fine, you believe him. I'm not stopping you." Xiao Lin stood up and dusted off his knees.

"But let me give you a word of advice too. Don't listen to everything he says. Only a few of his theories are useful; the rest is all nonsense. If you swallow it all wholesale, you'll suffer for it sooner or later."

Xiao Lin knew perfectly well how badly the master would lead Tang San's Blue Silver Grass astray.

Blue Silver Entanglement, Blue Bud Prison, Blue Silver Thrust Array...

Why would Blue Silver Grass take the control route? Wasn't control already something it possessed naturally?

Tang San relied almost entirely on the Clear Sky Hammer in the later stages. His Blue Silver Grass martial soul was practically useless.

And his son from a later generation, Tang Wulin, had also proven that using Blue Silver Grass for control was utter garbage.

"You—"

"Enough!"

Yu Xiaogang sprang to his feet. He moved so violently that he knocked over his chair with a loud crash. Pointing at the door, his finger shaking as if he had Parkinson's, he shouted:

"Get out! Get out right now! I, Yu Xiaogang, have never seen a student as stubborn and incorrigible as you in my entire life! Rotten wood cannot be carved! A wall of dung cannot be plastered!"

Xiao Lin shrugged and turned toward the door.

When he reached it, he suddenly stopped and looked back at Yu Xiaogang. "Master, before I leave, let me give you one more sentence."

"What sentence?"

"That saying of yours, 'There are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters'—I think it would be more fitting if you changed it to, 'There are no useless martial souls, only useless theory masters.'"

After saying that, he did not wait for Yu Xiaogang's reaction. He pulled open the door and walked out.

Behind him came the sound of a teacup shattering, followed by Yu Xiaogang's hysterical roar. "You'll regret this! You'll definitely regret this!!"

Xiao Lin walked through the corridors of Nuoding Academy and took a deep breath. The air was filled with the scent of grass and earth, refreshing his mind.

Regret?

A smile curled at his lips.

Whatever Xiao Lin did, he never regretted it.

The Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute and the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron—these two great martial souls would surely shine with unprecedented brilliance in his hands.

The path of music was his true road to becoming strong.

As for Yu Xiaogang's theories...

Let them rot in the garbage heap of history alongside that self-righteous "master."

The night was like water, the moonlight like silk.

After leaving Yu Xiaogang's office, Xiao Lin wandered aimlessly along the academy's stone paths.

The night breeze carried the fragrance of grass and trees across his cheeks, bringing a hint of chill that dissipated much of the anger Yu Xiaogang had stirred in him.

He raised his left hand and opened his palm.

An ancient three-legged cauldron quietly appeared, its entire body a dark bluish-black. Intricate patterns were engraved across its surface, faint streams of light flowing through them as it exuded a heavy, ancient aura.

The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, his second martial soul and his greatest trump card.

Xiao Lin stared at the little cauldron for a long while before finally clenching his fist and withdrawing it.

He was only six years old, and his Soul Power was merely Level Nine, just one step away from Level Ten.

At this stage, revealing his Twin Martial Souls would be no different from inviting disaster through a valuable treasure. After all, the number of Twin Martial Soul possessors on the entire Douluo Continent could be counted on one's fingers. Once exposed, who knew how many covetous eyes it would draw?

So, he decided that in the early stages, he would focus on cultivating the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute. Once he was strong enough, he would reveal the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron to the world.

But now, there was an awkward problem.

He only had Level Nine Soul Power, and he did not know how to cultivate because he lacked a basic meditation method.

Nuoding Academy would issue new students basic cultivation methods, but that would only happen after school officially began. There were still three days until then. He could not possibly just sit around and wait for three days, could he?

"Forget it. Things will work themselves out when the time comes." Xiao Lin sighed and looked up at the moon.

Tonight's moon was round and bright, like a piece of warm Bai jade hanging in the deep blue sky, surrounded by sparse stars.

Moonlight poured down, coating all of Nuoding Academy in a silver-Bai glow.

Xiao Lin suddenly felt inspired.

He did not want to return to the dormitory so early, nor did he want to stare blankly at a wall. He found a small grove behind the academy, sat cross-legged beneath an old locust tree, and drew out the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute from his waist.

The flute was cool in his hand, its entire body a jade-green color. Nine phoenixes poised to take flight were carved upon it, glimmering faintly beneath the moonlight.

Xiao Lin's fingers gently stroked the flute, feeling that familiar texture as an indescribable emotion suddenly welled up within him.

He missed home.

Not the home that was Nording Orphanage, but his home from his previous life.

The home with takeout, internet, air conditioning, and phones. The home where he had practiced "Guangling Melody" until late at night, until his hands cramped.

The home where, in the very last second before he died from overwork, he had still been thinking, This rhythm is wrong. One more time.

Xiao Lin brought the flute to his lips, took a deep breath, and slowly began to play.

The mournful flute melody rose, plaintive and sorrowful, drifting through the silent night.

He played "Prelude to Water Melody."

When did the bright moon first appear? I raise my cup and ask the blue sky.

I do not know, in those heavenly palaces, what year tonight may be.

I wish to ride the wind back there, yet fear the jade towers and jeweled halls, where the heights are too cold to bear.

Dancing with my clear shadow, how could it compare to being among men?

The flute melody was gentle and lingering, carrying a faint melancholy and longing as it echoed through the woods.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, casting mottled shadows upon the ground. They swayed softly in the night breeze, as though dancing along with the flute.

Xiao Lin closed his eyes, completely immersed in the world of music.

He did not know how other transmigrators eased their homesickness after arriving in this world. As for him, he only wanted to play a tune and blow away all the tangled emotions in his heart.

The moon turned past red towers, dipped through silk-curtained windows, and shone upon the sleepless.

It should bear no resentment, so why was it always full when people parted?

People knew sorrow and joy, reunion and separation; the moon knew clouding, clearing, waxing, and waning. Such things had been hard to perfect since ancient times.

May we live long and well, though a thousand miles apart, sharing the moon's beauty.

PS: Some people complained that the protagonist did not have Innate Full Soul Power. Xiao Xiao from The Unrivaled Tang Sect only had Innate Level-Eight Soul Power.

I set the protagonist's Soul Power at Level Nine, which is already higher than in the original work. Also, Level Nine fit better with the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute and the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.

And there will be an explanation later...

His talent really is top-tier, brothers!