Whale rubber, strengthening the body!

However...

Just as Li Yan's hand was about to touch Qian Renchuan's collar...

A flicker of impatience crossed Qian Renchuan's eyes.

He did not even get up. Still sitting on the bed, he merely raised his right hand casually.

Thud!

His seemingly effortless punch met Li Yan's outstretched palm head-on.

There was a dull impact.

Li Yan's expression changed drastically.

He felt a terrifying force surge up his arm.

In an instant, his eyes widened in utter disbelief.

How was this possible?!

Was this really the strength of a six-year-old child?

He did not even have time to react.

The punch sent Li Yan flying backward, and he slammed heavily into the dormitory's hard wall.

Pfft!

"Aah!"

Only after letting out a scream did he slide down the wall.

He landed in a heap on the floor, howling in pain.

The sight...

Left Zhao Mang completely stunned.

He stopped dead in his charge toward Qian Renchuan, one foot still in the air.

He looked at Li Yan, who could not get up, then at Qian Renchuan, who had not even shifted on the bed.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

"Y-you..."

Zhao Mang's voice trembled. He was utterly shocked.

How was this possible?

He could argue that Qian Renchuan had merely gotten lucky in practical class.

But what about now?

Neither side had used a martial soul.

In other words, Qian Renchuan was nothing more than a six-year-old child right now.

How much strength could a six-year-old possibly have?

Yet he had sent Li Yan flying with a single punch?

What the actual fuck???

Just then, Qian Renchuan lazily turned to look at Zhao Mang.

"What?"

"Weren't you going to teach me the rules?"

"Come on, then."

Zhao Mang swallowed, forced himself to muster his courage, and roared,

"You're just a little stronger, that's all! I refuse to believe you can do whatever you want without using your martial soul!"

With that, Zhao Mang gritted his teeth and swung his fist at Qian Renchuan again.

Qian Renchuan shook his head.

His figure blurred, and he vanished from the bed in an instant.

A second later...

When he reappeared, he was already standing before Zhao Mang, lashing out with a vicious roundhouse kick.

Thud!

Zhao Mang felt as though he had been struck by lightning.

The next moment, that tremendous force sent him flying too, straight into Li Yan, who had only just gotten up.

The two instantly tumbled into a heap, their faces bruised and swollen as they hissed repeatedly in pain.

Now they had both been thoroughly beaten into submission!

Here...

They were not allowed to use their martial souls.

That made Qian Renchuan's physical strength of 360 an utterly overwhelming advantage!

Never mind a pair of ten-year-olds.

Even a teenage Soul Elder would be no match for Qian Renchuan in a contest of physical strength alone.

Tap, tap, tap...

Just then...

Qian Renchuan strolled over to the pair and looked down at them.

"Now..."

"Who's the dorm leader?"

At his voice, Li Yan and Zhao Mang trembled all over, their faces filled with terror. Not a trace of their earlier arrogance remained.

They nodded repeatedly, their voices shaking.

"You are!"

"Eldest Young Master, you're the dorm leader!"

"We were blind not to recognize your greatness! Please stop hitting us!"

Qian Renchuan nodded in satisfaction.

"Good."

"From today on, all the cleaning in this dorm is your responsibility."

"Sweep the floor spotless."

"Scrub the chamber pot three times a day."

"If I catch even a whiff of anything foul, I'll stuff you both into it."

"Understood?"

The two frantically bobbed their heads again.

"Understood!"

"Rest assured, Eldest Young Master! We'll make everything spotless!"

"Then get over there and start cleaning."

"Yes, yes, of course."

The pair scrambled away in a hurry.

They were terrified that lingering even a moment longer would earn them another beating from Qian Renchuan.

Watching them hurry off to fetch a broom and rags...

Qian Renchuan nodded in satisfaction, yawned, and climbed back into bed before giving another order.

"Oh, and bring me my food when it's time to eat. Got it?"

Li Yan and Zhao Mang exchanged a glance.

Then they hurriedly nodded as hard as they could.

And all of this...

Had been witnessed by Huo Yuhao, who was pretending to cultivate on the opposite bed.

At that moment, a storm of shock surged through Huo Yuhao's heart.

That strength... that speed...

He didn't use his martial soul at all. He instantly took down two Soul Grandmasters above rank twenty with physical strength alone!

An ordinary skin martial soul could never do that!

Just how much strength is Boss hiding?

It looks like I absolutely can't provoke him without being completely certain of victory.

Although he had already guessed that Qian Renchuan would defeat those two again, he had never expected it to be so easy.

After all, neither side had used their martial souls.

That proved one thing.

Even Boss's raw physical strength was formidable, far beyond anything he had imagined.

Still, although Huo Yuhao was somewhat wary...

That was all he felt.

When it came to their long-term development, he was still fully confident that he could surpass Boss overwhelmingly.

After all, this was the Douluo Continent!

Soul skills and martial souls were what mattered.

Besides, in this era, no one seemed to know that whale rubber could be used to temper the body.

In other words, surpassing Boss physically would be easy too.

He just had to find enough whale rubber!

That was right.

Huo Yuhao set himself another little goal.

Find whale rubber.

Craft soul tools.

Find Brother Sky Dream.

Find Qiu'er.

Kill Tang San.

Kill the Evil Soul Masters of Spirit Hall.

After setting those little goals, Huo Yuhao's eyes flashed, and he stopped circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

No, time is running out. I have to finish making the Fixed-Installation Soul Tool as soon as possible.

With that trump card, my plan to escape Spirit Hall will have a better chance of succeeding.

He turned to glance at Qian Renchuan, who was still fast asleep on his bed, and his lips curled into a mocking smile.

Boss is such an idiot.

All he ever does is sleep.

I don't need to hide anything from him.

Soul Guidance Technology from ten thousand years in the future—how could an idiot who doesn't even understand cultivation possibly make sense of it?

Huo Yuhao promptly took a large pile of metal materials and a Carving Knife out of his Storage Soul Tool.

He set them on the small table in front of his bed.

Then, acting as though no one else was there, he began engraving the Fixed-Installation Soul Tool's Core Magic Array.

Scritch, scritch, scritch.

The Carving Knife moved rapidly across the metal surface, producing a faint, rhythmic scraping sound.

Hearing that soft scraping...

Along with Huo Yuhao's thoughts constantly echoing in his mind, Qian Renchuan reluctantly opened one eye.

He glanced at Third, who was intently engraving a metal disc, and felt utterly speechless.

This Third...

He really does take me for an idiot.

Even if I've never seen a soul tool from ten thousand years in the future, you're openly making contraband in the dorm. Do you seriously think I'm blind?

Whatever. Do what you like, as long as you don't disturb my sleep.

Qian Renchuan instinctively rolled over, settling into an even more comfortable position as he prepared to drift back to sleep.

Just then, the system notification sounded in his mind again.

[Ding—]

[Detected bonded target "Huo Yuhao" engraving a soul tool core with intense mental concentration. Tenfold return triggered.]

[Congratulations, host! Obtained: mental control +1...]

[Ding—]

[Detected bonded target "Qian Renxue" undergoing weight training beyond her limits. Tenfold return triggered.]

[Congratulations, host! Obtained: physical body enhancement +1...]