Three Soul Rings, Choose One: I Choose Paddi the Lazy Goat

A thought had barely crossed Xu Peinian's mind when a virtual pop-up appeared before him, lines of text slowly unfolding across it:

[Request received. Continuing selection now.]

[Choose one of three soul rings.]

1,

[Jiao Tailang:

Soul Skill: Whale Swallowing Sea Sucking (consuming large amounts of food can increase the rate at which Soul Power improves, up to a maximum increase of 50%).

Passive: Frequently feels hungry and requires ample food supplies, or there may be a risk of starving to death.]

2,

[Paddi the Lazy Goat:

Soul Skill: Dreamland Gravity (all enemy units of the same level within range fall into "drowsiness," reducing speed by 50% and attention by 50%. The stronger the opponent is compared to the user, the weaker the effect becomes).

Passive: Emperor Luck Constitution (seeks fortune and avoids misfortune, turning danger into safety. After the ring age surpasses one hundred thousand years, it can evolve into "Child of Destiny," providing a slight bonus to the user's faction while reducing the luck of enemies).]

3,

[Pretty Goat:

Soul Skill: Song of Purification (removes all negative effects and provides a slight healing effect. This is a group Soul Skill that can affect allies. The higher the ring age, the more targets it can affect and the faster the recovery).

Passive: Descent of the Beauty Goddess (increases charm and greatly enhances attraction toward the opposite sex; at times, it may also have a certain attractive effect on the same sex).]

[All of the above soul rings are growth-type soul rings and will automatically adjust to the highest age you can withstand. No deliberate enhancement is required.]

[Please make your selection. The remaining options can be locked and preserved for your next selection.]

Come on, why are they all creatures from Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf? So this Qili Belt's Qili came from Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.

After grumbling for a moment, Xu Peinian began to think carefully.

He first eliminated option one. Jiao Tailang's Soul Skill was not particularly useful, and its passive even came with a debuff.

As for options two and three, both were quite good. It really was difficult to choose.

Paddi the Lazy Goat's Soul Skill in option two was fairly standard, a soft-control skill. But Paddi's passive was extremely tempting. With Emperor Luck Constitution, opportunities would come pouring in endlessly, and every danger could be survived without disaster. It was practically the standard setup for a protagonist.

Pretty Goat's soul ring passive was merely average. Xu Peinian was already handsome and charming enough, but that Soul Skill was truly overpowered. Removing all negative effects meant immunity to poison and ineffective control. It was unquestionably a god-tier support skill.

Xu Peinian's gaze shifted back and forth between options two and three.

In the end, Xu Peinian made his decision:

"I choose option two, Paddi the Lazy Goat. Help me lock option three for my next selection."

[Option three has been locked. The first soul ring has been issued.]

As the pop-up vanished, a pale yellow soul ring swept from Xu Peinian's head to his feet before quietly circling around his abdomen.

"So this is a soul ring?"

Xu Peinian's eyes widened slightly as he watched the strange sight. He slowly reached his right hand toward the pale yellow soul ring, but his fingers passed straight through it without any tangible sensation.

After sensing it briefly, Xu Peinian discovered that the Qili Belt's first soul ring was a little over a hundred years old.

Xu Peinian was not surprised. He was a six-year-old child who had grown up eating meals from every household in a small village. Without the Mysterious Heaven Skill, the internal cultivation method recorded in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, absorbing a hundred-year soul ring was already a miracle. At first, he had thought it would be no more than a white soul ring of a few decades.

In any case, the soul ring's age could increase along with his own strength, so Xu Peinian was not worried at all about the future development of his second martial soul's soul rings.

If the Qili Belt's future Soul Skills all lacked offensive power, then he would need to put more thought into the Netherworld Blade's first soul ring and find a better one.

If there was truly no other way, he could only join Spirit Hall.

Notting Academy.

Today was the annual day when new students began school. People streamed in and out of the academy gates, making the place extremely lively.

Xu Peinian stood before the gates, his thoughts churning as he looked at this academy whose name was familiar but whose surroundings were strange.

There was no suitable Soul Master Academy in Dink City, so Xu Peinian could only come to the nearby Notting Academy as Dihun Village's sole work-study student.

Who would have thought that, by a twist of fate, he had arrived at the place where Tang San and Grandmaster were? He just did not know what stage the story had reached.

"Go on in."

After checking that Xu Peinian's documents were in order, the gatekeeper stopped blocking him, allowing Xu Peinian to enter the academy smoothly.

Following the registration process, Xu Peinian arrived at the dormitory assigned to him.

Looking at the dormitory door bearing the large words "Dorm Seven," Xu Peinian could not help frowning slightly. The number felt familiar somehow, yet he could not remember where he had encountered it before.

Unable to figure it out, Xu Peinian stopped dwelling on it and pushed the door open.

When he saw a little girl with rabbit ears on her head and a black-haired boy beside her whose eyes held a maturity far beyond his age, Xu Peinian finally realized why Dorm Seven had sounded so familiar.

This was clearly the dorm where Tang San and that hundred-thousand-year-old pink-haired rabbit lived.

It seemed they were freshmen in this year's class as well and had only arrived to register not long ago.

However, judging from their somewhat disheveled appearances, they had probably already fought. And according to the original plot, Tang San had lost to the pink-haired rabbit.

Seeing a newcomer enter, the pink-haired rabbit immediately skipped over. She stopped in front of Xu Peinian and revealed her signature sweet smile.

"Hello, my name is Xiao Wu. Wu as in dancing. I'm also the newly appointed boss of Dorm Seven."

"Uh... hello. My name is Xu Peinian."

After coming back to his senses, Xu Peinian introduced himself.

However, Xu Peinian did not know whether it was just his imagination, but he felt that Tang San's calm gaze from afar concealed a trace of displeasure.

I just said hello. Does that mean I already deserve to die?

Xu Peinian was speechless. He immediately put some distance between himself and Xiao Wu, then went to his bed to unpack his luggage. He did not want to get involved with these two, or he might not even know how he died.

"Xu Peinian, I forgot to tell you. Dorm Seven has a rule: new work-study students must show the boss the strength of their martial souls. So, let's have a spar."

Xu Peinian was not some child who knew nothing. He knew that beneath her harmless, sweet smile hid a hundred-thousand-year-old rabbit skilled in grappling techniques.

Although Tang San had lost to her because of lust and underestimating her, the fact that she had made a reincarnated Tang Sect expert like Tang San suffer proved that Xiao Wu had genuine skill.

Old hag pretending to be young... Xu Peinian could not expose her identity right now, so he could only nod along.

"Fine. I hope you'll go easy on me, Xiao Wu."

"Hehe, don't worry. Your boss will go easy on you."

With that, Xiao Wu assumed a fighting stance, and Xu Peinian raised his fists as well.

"I'm starting!"

Before Xu Peinian could react, Xiao Wu had already bent her right knee. Her toes suddenly snapped out, kicking straight toward his chin.

Xu Peinian narrowly dodged the attack. Xiao Wu's toes brushed past the loose strands of hair on his forehead. Fortunately, Xiao Wu was wearing pants. If she had been wearing a skirt, Xu Peinian might have seen quite a sight.

Before he had time to think further, Xiao Wu had already adjusted her posture and sent a right roundhouse kick sweeping toward him.

Xu Peinian had never undergone any proper training in the village. At most, he had roughhoused with a group of little kids.

He was no match for Xiao Wu right now, so Xu Peinian promptly called out, "Xiao Wu, I surrender."

Her long, straight leg swept past Xu Peinian's chest. Xiao Wu then lowered her leg and stood there prettily.

"Then from now on, I'm your boss," Xiao Wu said with a giggle.

"Uh, okay."

Xu Peinian glanced over casually and saw Tang San staring at him. His eyes were as still as dead water, devoid of even a trace of warmth.

Just as expected of you, Tang "Double Standards, Mommy Obsession, You Already Deserve to Die" San.

Xu Peinian did not want to provoke him. He only wanted to cultivate as quickly as possible and improve his strength. No matter where one was, only great strength could bring peace of mind.

But some people were like flies, always buzzing their way over and making themselves unbearable.