Heading to Soul Master Academy

"All right. Until your Soul Power reaches level ten, follow this plan. Remember, no slacking off. Your first Spirit Ring depends on it."

"But I don't even know the basics of being a Soul Master yet, sis..."

"That's something you need to study on your own outside training. Don't tell me you expect me to teach you that too."

Su Xianling cut Chu Heng off and stretched. The movement showed off her curves right in front of him.

"What are you looking at? You're too young for that..."

She promptly rapped him on the head, making him clutch it in pain.

"I'm leaving now. Follow this plan every day from here on out. Sunday is your day off, though, so you can relax."

Seeing Su Xianling take a step away, Chu Heng hurriedly asked,

"Sis, how do I find you?"

"I'll come by once a week to check your progress. If you run into trouble the rest of the time, ask a Spirit Hall official. They'll help you."

Su Xianling spoke as she walked, giving Chu Heng a wave before she left.

All right, then...

Chu Heng went over the training plan Su Xianling had made for him. Most of it consisted of basic exercises to strengthen his body, nothing particularly profound. He had done some of them before, but he had never known how far to push himself. He was afraid overtraining would interfere with this body's normal development. Now that Su Xianling had arranged everything, he had a clear direction.

Except...

Chu Heng opened his clenched fist. An Image-Recording Stone lay in his palm. According to Su Xianling, it contained a set of martial arts techniques.

Low-level Soul Masters often lacked the Soul Power to use enough soul skills to defeat or kill an enemy. When that happened, close combat became unavoidable. Anyone with better martial arts skills would naturally have the advantage.

Chu Heng knew his Martial Soul was a Gun Soul, so he would most likely fight from a distance. But if an enemy got right in his face, he still needed to be able to fight. He was no Tang San. Tang San had been a master in the Bashu World in his previous life and knew all kinds of moves. Chu Heng was just a transmigrator with novel ideas in his head. In a real fight, he might not even measure up to a local child his age.

He considered the martial arts techniques essential. For now, though, he would follow Su Xianling's plan and build up his body.

Ten days later, Chu Heng's Soul Power finally reached level nine. Thanks to the Mysterious Heaven Skill and Su Xianling's training plan, he could clearly feel that his body had grown stronger.

"Not bad. Your Soul Power reached level nine so quickly. That means you still have untapped potential."

That Wednesday, Su Xianling came to check Chu Heng's progress for the second time and discovered his breakthrough.

Chu Heng, however, was troubled by something else.

He had already missed two of the system's plot check-in missions. For the next one, the system had notified him a full week in advance and even supplied the exact time and place.

But the next event was "First Meeting with Xiao Wu," and it was happening on a Monday. He had no chance to get to Soul Master Academy.

Yet if he kept ignoring the plot check-ins, there was no point in having this advantage. Without the rewards from the previous two minor plot events, he probably would not even have reached level eight Soul Power, let alone level nine.

"What's wrong, little Chu Heng?"

Chu Heng had tried to hide his thoughts, but Su Xianling was powerful and still young, with a keen sense for other people's emotions. His brief failure to respond to her praise was enough for her to notice that something was bothering him.

Now that Su Xianling had asked, Chu Heng saw no reason to hide it. He would need her approval to solve the problem anyway, so he told her what he wanted.

"Sis, can I move my day off this Sunday to next Monday?"

"Oh? Did something happen? Tell me about it, and I'll help you."

Realizing he was genuinely having trouble, Su Xianling stopped teasing him and asked what was wrong.

"It's nothing serious!"

Chu Heng scratched his head sheepishly.

"It's just... I found a pastry shop that only sells a certain pastry on Mondays..."

Su Xianling smiled at the explanation.

"So that's it? You can take a little time that day to buy it. If you can't get away, ask an official to pick it up for you..."

"That won't work, sis. I want to take it to a friend at Soul Master Academy."

Su Xianling raised an eyebrow.

"You have a friend at Soul Master Academy?"

"Yeah. He's from the same village as me. Because of his Martial Soul, Soul Master Academy was his only option."

Su Xianling thought for a moment. Chu Heng was only six, after all, and happiness and friendship were part of growing up. She agreed to his request.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye, and Monday arrived.

Unsure whether Su Xianling was keeping an eye on him, Chu Heng went to a pastry shop first and bought two portions. Only then did he head for Soul Master Academy in the western suburbs.

When he reached the academy gate, the newly appointed gatekeeper saw him walking along without any hurry and stepped forward to stop him.

"Which class are you in? You're already late."

"Sir, I'm not a student here. I've come to see a friend."

As he spoke, Chu Heng took his Spirit Hall identification from inside his clothes.

The gatekeeper accepted it with a puzzled look. One glance made his expression change. He did not know exactly what status the document represented, but he knew he could not afford to offend anyone connected to Spirit Hall.

"Which year and class is your friend in?"

The gatekeeper returned the identification and waited for an answer.

"Uh..."

Chu Heng thought for a moment.

"My friend is a Work-Study Student in Dorm Seven. I don't know which class he's in..."

"A Work-Study Student? You've come early, so they probably haven't started classes yet. You can check their dormitory."

After a moment's thought, the gatekeeper pointed him in the right direction.

Unlike regular students, Work-Study Students had to work to cover their tuition. They had no morning classes and were assigned various jobs instead.

Chu Heng headed toward the Work-Study Students' dormitories. From a distance, he saw several children around his age going the same way. They had likely just finished their work.

Among them, he spotted someone with blue hair.

"Tang San!"

Chu Heng called out and strode toward him.

Hearing the familiar voice, Tang San turned and saw Chu Heng approaching.

"Chu Heng!"

Tang San quickened his pace to meet him.