Soul Hunting Ends, Farewell to Nuoding City

To make sure the Bloodthirsty Wolf could not fight back, Tang Shan spread his hands again. With arms that had briefly reached the realm of Seeing the Divine, he crushed its limbs to pulp and let it howl in agony.

"Big brother, you finish it."

Once he was certain the Bloodthirsty Wolf could no longer resist, Tang Shan stepped back, his expression calm.

Su Yuntao nodded. He stepped forward and swiftly killed the Soul Beast.

His hands trembled faintly. Invisible force darted beneath his skin, and with a light flick of his fingers, every drop of blood flew off. Within a few breaths, his hands were clean and unblemished again.

Not a feather could settle on him, nor a fly alight.

This was the essence of Transformed Force. At this stage, a fighter's strength permeated his entire body. He could control even his ears at will and unleash considerable power through them. Blood or water that landed on him could be repelled through his precise control of his strength and bodily functions, never truly clinging to him.

A fine horse galloped ahead, pulling a spacious carriage behind it.

With the Soul Ring secured, they no longer needed to hurry and rode leisurely back in the carriage.

Su Yuan had left early on urgent academy business, leaving only Tang Shan and his family in the carriage.

"Dad, I want to travel the continent on my own."

After a moment of silence, Su Yuntao made his request to Su Haichao, determination in his voice.

Su Haichao did not seem surprised. He turned to Tang Shan. "Shanzi, what do you think?"

Tang Shan recalled his earlier conversation with his big brother. After a moment's thought, he gave his support. "Dad, I think we should let him go out and see the world. There's no need for him to stay confined to little Nuoding City."

"I've earned enough merit in Spirit Hall to qualify for a transfer, and it should come soon. Shanzi, do you have any thoughts on that?"

Rather than answer Su Yuntao at once, Su Haichao shifted to his own future assignment.

Tang Shan's eyes brightened. "Dad, could you transfer to Heaven Dou City? You know Bishop Salas there, and I was planning to go there anyway."

"That should be possible. But Shanzi, are you sure your plan will work? Grandmaster may be famous across the continent now, but that doesn't mean Spirit Hall will take him seriously." Su Haichao could not help worrying.

"It'll probably be fine. I only need a stable place to cultivate in Heaven Dou City. I haven't decided whether to attend school yet, but finding somewhere to stay shouldn't be hard with my status as 'Grandmaster's disciple.'"

Tang Shan's gaze deepened as he wondered whether the Martial Soul Theory he had organized had helped that "angel lady." If it had, being "Grandmaster's disciple" might prove more useful than he expected.

As for Grandmaster himself, he had already "tragically passed away." As his disciple and the bearer of a rare Body Martial Soul, Tang Shan should be enough to draw Spirit Hall's attention.

"Then we'll do it your way."

Su Haichao nodded, then looked at Su Yuntao. "Yuntao, come with us to Heaven Dou City first. We'll see if Bishop Salas can do us a favor and get you a Travel Pass. It'll make your journeys across the continent easier."

Su Yuntao immediately understood what he meant. "Thanks, Dad!"

"Don't thank me. Thank Shanzi. I don't have the pull to persuade a Spirit Hall bishop. What might sway him is Shanzi's status as 'Grandmaster's disciple.'"

Su Haichao spoke with mock irritation.

Su Yuntao turned to Tang Shan, threw an arm around his shoulders, and thumped his chest. "Little brother, I'll bring you back something good from my travels!"

"Big brother, just take care of yourself out there. Stop worrying about that." Tang Shan pushed him away in exasperation and leaned back against the carriage seat.

The faint fluctuations of Soul Power around Xue Qinghe subsided. Two pairs of radiant wings dissolved into specks of light and sank into his body.

"Level thirty-five. Not a bad pace."

Xue Qinghe nodded in satisfaction, ended his cultivation, and returned to his study to continue learning palace etiquette and the art of governance.

In a dark corner of the study, two newly advanced Titled Douluo whispered to each other.

"The Young Master’s talent is truly extraordinary. He’s only ten and already a Soul Elder. Barring any surprises, reaching Soul Ancestor before thirteen should be easy for him."

"Of course. And that’s without the Young Master focusing solely on cultivation. His first two Soul Rings were both thousand-year rings, and he had reached level twenty-eight by the time he became a Soul Elder. Then he came to the Heaven Dou Empire to work undercover. After just a year of cultivation, he advanced again and gained a Soul Ring just shy of ten thousand years old. No one on the continent can match that talent."

"Exactly. With his third Soul Ring already so close to ten thousand years, obtaining a ten-thousand-year fourth ring is practically certain..."

If Tang Shan had known what the two Titled Douluo beside Qian Renxue were thinking, he would have laughed. Her start had been far better than in the original story, yet she had still gone down the same old path.

After all, it had taken Tang San nearly six years to rise from level thirteen to twenty-nine. Even accounting for faster cultivation at lower Soul Power Levels, after Level 20 he had gained roughly one level every four months, a normal pace. Besides cultivating Soul Power, he had spent time with that "rogue rabbit," forging Hidden Weapons, and studying under "Grandmaster." He had hardly devoted himself entirely to cultivation.

Yet that "angel lady" had gained only two levels in a year. It showed just how much time and energy she had sacrificed for her "grand plan."

At a second-floor window, Tang Shan gazed over the broad fields beyond the city and sank into thought.

"That way's Holy Soul Village, isn't it? Little brother, we rested on that hill outside the village last time." Su Yuntao had come to stand beside him at some point, his voice tinged with mixed feelings.

"Big brother, when you awakened Martial Souls in Holy Soul Village last time, did any of the children have Soul Power?" Tang Shan asked, suddenly curious.

"Not one. They all had ordinary Martial Souls, and quite a few had Trash Martial Souls. Not a single child had Soul Power," Su Yuntao replied, shaking his head.

That was the reality of the Douluo Continent. With Soul Power, one could become a respected Soul Master and begin a new life. Without it, one would likely spend an unremarkable life with no chance to rise.

"Oh, right." Su Yuntao seemed to remember something. He shook his head, displeasure filling his voice.

"When I went there for the awakenings, I ran into a drunk with a child who couldn't have been a year old. If the village chief hadn't seemed to be looking after the child, I'd have taught that drunk a lesson."

Tang Shan's hand twitched. He cleared his throat, suppressed his shock, and feigned curiosity. "Big brother, what did the drunk do for a living?"

"I think he was a blacksmith. Didn't smell of iron, though. Just booze." Su Yuntao rubbed his chin and answered after a moment's recollection.

That confirmed Tang Shan's suspicion and made him surer of his decision. Whether or not the Martial Soul Theory he had organized would anger "Tang Hao," the mere thought of a Titled Douluo with a blood feud against Spirit Hall living in Holy Soul Village was enough to keep him awake at night.

His father was a Spirit Hall branch master. If that terrifying man ever came after him, something could happen, and Tang Shan did not want to see that.

Besides, his big brother really was brave to think of teaching that drunk a lesson. If the man had not fought back, it might have become the greatest upset in the history of the Douluo Continent.

"By the way, big brother, how are things between you and Sisi?" Tang Shan asked, changing the subject.

In the original story, the two had been among fiction's earliest examples of hopeless one-sided devotion. He wondered how things would turn out now.

Besides, a clean break was better than prolonged pain. If things were going badly, he might as well help Su Yuntao see the truth early and move on.

"I don't know either." Su Yuntao's voice was full of mixed emotions. "I told her I planned to travel. She said she wanted to stay in Nuoding City, where she grew up. Maybe she'd wait for me here, or maybe she'd find someone to marry."

Su Yuntao waved a hand, his voice low. "Forget it. What would a little kid like you know about love?"

Tang Shan stared for a long moment before grabbing Su Yuntao's arm. "Big brother, wait. Did she really say that to you?"

Now that Su Yuntao had faced his own feelings, his spirits were low and his face dejected.

Tang Shan was at a loss for words. He had been single in his previous life too, full of theories about romance but with no practical experience. Even so, he could hear how outrageous her words were.

"Big brother, come here. Let's go through this carefully."

Su Yuntao was skeptical. However mature his little brother seemed, he was still seven years old. What could he know about love? Still, Su Yuntao patiently waited to hear him out.

"Big brother, if she says she wants to stay in Nuoding City, doesn't that mean she doesn't want to travel the continent with you?" Tang Shan asked bluntly.

Su Yuntao nodded, then tried to explain. "She was born and raised in Nuoding City, after all..."

Tang Shan quickly cut him off. Did wolf-type Martial Souls make people prone to hopeless devotion?

"Forget the excuses. Didn't you grow up in Nuoding City too? That was just her excuse for refusing. But even if we set that aside, let's look at what she said next." Tang Shan's expression grew increasingly strange. "What does 'maybe I'll wait, maybe I'll marry someone else' even mean? Think about it. She's saying she'll either marry or she won't. Those were already the only two possibilities after you left. The second half was empty talk to string you along. There wasn't a shred of sincerity in it."

Su Yuntao's expression froze. For a long time, he could not speak. He might be earnest and straightforward, but he was no fool. After years of exposure to Tang Shan's way of thinking and acting, he could already be considered clever by the standards of the Douluo Continent.

He possessed no extraordinary wisdom. He had simply learned to see things from different angles and think a little more deeply.

He had been too close to the matter to see it clearly. Tang Shan's words made it click at once.

"Shanzi, Yuntao, have you packed everything? It's time to go," Su Haichao called from outside.

Tang Shan patted Su Yuntao's shoulder. "Big brother, there are plenty of other flowers in the world. Why cling to just one?" With that, he hurried downstairs and climbed into the waiting carriage.

Su Yuntao stood alone by the window. He took a deep breath, then went downstairs and got into the carriage too.

Once Su Haichao had boarded and confirmed they had everything, he signaled the driver to set off.

Tang Shan leaned out for one last look toward Holy Soul Village, then drew back and settled into his seat.

If I can't take him on, I can at least stay out of his way.

Heaven Dou City, here I come. Time for a bigger stage!

P.S. We're leaving the starting village! Please bookmark, send monthly and recommendation votes, comment, and keep reading. This humble author thanks you all.