Sunflame Dawn

Held back by poverty, Lu Yang trudged out of the pharmacy with his head hanging.

When he read novels in his previous life, when had he ever seen a protagonist fretting over a lack of money? Yet he had been living in poverty ever since transmigrating, and his circumstances still hadn't improved. He was really struggling to keep his composure.

"Looks like body tempering will have to wait. I need to make some money first. But how am I supposed to make money on the Douluo Continent?"

As Lu Yang headed back to Nuoding Academy, he passed the Spirit Hall Branch and ran straight into Su Yuntao, who had just returned from outside.

"Yang, where have you been? I just got back from your academy. I was looking for you."

"Brother Tao, what did you need me for?"

Ever since Su Yuntao had taken Lu Yang Soul Hunting, the two had grown much closer. Lu Yang no longer addressed Su Yuntao so formally, calling him Brother Tao instead.

"Good news, of course! Come on, let's go inside first. I'll explain everything." Su Yuntao draped an arm over Lu Yang's shoulders and led him into the Spirit Hall Branch.

"Yang, remember how I told you Master Ma Xiunuo had reported your situation to the higher-ups? This afternoon, word came back from the Spirit Hall Branch in Heaven Dou City. They're going to send someone to take you to Heaven Dou City so you can receive a better education," Su Yuntao said.

Hearing this, Lu Yang didn't look pleased. Instead, he seemed puzzled.

If the higher-ups at Spirit Hall valued his talent, shouldn't they take him to Spirit City and enroll him in Spirit Hall Academy? But Heaven Dou City? Did Spirit Hall have a Soul Master Academy directly under its control there? Surely they weren't sending him to Heaven Dou Royal Academy? Would that be training talent for Spirit Hall or for the Heaven Dou Empire?

"What's wrong, Yang? Aren't you happy?" Su Yuntao asked in confusion when Lu Yang didn't respond.

"No, no. I'm just a little stunned," Lu Yang said.

"There's no need to be so surprised. Spirit Hall has always placed great importance on nurturing geniuses. You'll understand once you get to Heaven Dou City," Su Yuntao said.

After dinner at the Spirit Hall Branch, Su Yuntao escorted Lu Yang back to Nuoding Academy. The whole way there, Lu Yang kept thinking about being sent to Heaven Dou City.

In the end, Lu Yang arrived at one possibility: the little golden-haired angel hiding in Heaven Dou City might have intercepted the information about him before it reached Spirit City. That would explain why the message instructed him to go to Heaven Dou City rather than Spirit City.

Lu Yang didn't particularly mind. Not going to Spirit City was actually a good thing for him. Although neither Bibi Dong nor her daughter Qian Renxue was a lamp that burned little oil, in a certain sense, Qian Renxue was still easier to handle than Bibi Dong.

What Lu Yang didn't know was that the decision to send him to Heaven Dou really had come from Qian Renxue. However, his information hadn't been intercepted before reaching Spirit City. Rather, after Nuoding City submitted the report and Bibi Dong learned about him, she had felt a pang of compassion and ordered that Lu Yang not be brought to Spirit City for the time being.

Under the influence of the Rakshasa God's evil thoughts, Bibi Dong was now filled with resentment over her past experiences. They had also led her to regard her former lover, Yu Xiaogang, as the white moonlight of her past.

Because of what had happened to her, she considered herself filthy and unworthy of Yu Xiaogang. So even though she knew he was in Nuoding City and desperately wanted to stay by her beloved Xiaogang's side forever, she had taken no action.

Moreover, Bibi Dong understood Yu Xiaogang well. She knew that his greatest wish in life was to prove himself through his "ten core competencies of Martial Soul." That was why she had made that choice upon reading Lu Yang's information.

In Bibi Dong's view, if Yu Xiaogang could personally instruct Lu Yang, a genius with innate full soul power, he would surely be able to prove himself sooner. And with Yu Xiaogang's intelligence, teaching Lu Yang would be more than within his capabilities.

Little did she know that when her orders reached Heaven Dou City, Qian Renxue learned of them. Already dissatisfied with many of Bibi Dong's decisions, Qian Renxue saw that she was actually leaving a genius with innate full soul power to drift outside their ranks and immediately ordered someone to bring Lu Yang to Heaven Dou City.

Upon returning to Nuoding Academy, Lu Yang had barely stepped into the dormitory when Tang San stopped him.

"Lu Yang, Xiao Wu and the others said your first soul ring is purple. Is that true?" Tang San asked eagerly.

"It is. Why?" Lu Yang asked in return.

"But Grandmaster told me the age limit for a first soul ring is four hundred and twenty-three years. How were you able to absorb a thousand-year soul ring as your first?" Tang San pressed.

"Tang San, that's none of your business, is it?" Tang San's repeated questioning was getting on Lu Yang's nerves. His air of insisting that Lu Yang owed him an answer was especially irritating.

"I... sorry." Shut down by that reply, Tang San was left speechless. He stammered for a while before finally offering those words and returning to his bed.

Having sent Tang San away, Lu Yang lay down on his own bed as well. Because of his Martial Soul, he never cultivated at night, sleeping soundly instead.

Early the next morning, Lu Yang had just left the dormitory when Xiao Wu caught up with him.

"Lu Yang, I'm challenging you again today!" Xiao Wu looked brimming with confidence.

Lu Yang gave her a puzzled glance, then led her to the sports field without saying much.

"Lu Yang, I won't hold back this time. Take this!"

"Martial Soul Possession!"

"First soul skill, Waist Bow!"

Late the previous night, Xiao Wu had secretly slipped out of the dormitory to condense her first soul ring. After obtaining it, she had challenged Lu Yang again.

Once Xiao Wu activated her first soul skill, she could put her grappling techniques to better use, making her attacks even harder to fend off.

As soon as they exchanged blows, Lu Yang was forced onto the defensive. One careless moment was enough for Xiao Wu to coil her scorpion braid around his neck and send him flying with a kick.

"Well, Lu Yang? Do you give up? If you do, call me Sister Xiao Wu, and I'll have your back from now on!" Xiao Wu declared haughtily as she watched Lu Yang climb to his feet.

"That first soul skill of yours is pretty underhanded," Lu Yang grumbled.

"What did you just say?! Sister Xiao Wu kicked you flying fair and square! How is that underhanded?" Xiao Wu shouted angrily.

"All right, stop shouting! Since you've used your soul skill, I'll get a little more serious too." Lu Yang waved a hand, soothing Xiao Wu before her fur stood on end.

"Hmph, all talk. Just watch Sister Xiao Wu beat you into submission!" Xiao Wu thought Lu Yang was merely being stubborn, but she had forgotten that he had never once used his soul skill during their sparring matches over the past few days.

"First soul skill, Sunflame Dawn!" After completing Martial Soul Possession, Lu Yang unleashed his first soul skill, Sunflame Dawn.

This soul skill boosted all of Lu Yang's attributes by one hundred percent, while also increasing the power of his fire attribute by one hundred and fifty percent and his LIGHT attribute by one hundred percent. It also allowed him to directly control the flames and light of The Winged Dragon of Ra.