A First Shift in Mindset

As Ning Fengzhi's only daughter, Ning Rongrong was doted on beyond measure. No matter who it was, everyone was terrified she might bump into something or scrape herself, and even the slightest broken skin would leave several people distressed for quite a while.

That was also what left Xu Yang helpless. If he was even a little careless and let Ning Rongrong get hurt, Ning Fengzhi and his wife would not say anything, but Sword Bone were different. They would directly give Xu Yang a Practical Combat Class—or rather, it should be called a simple beating—and even dress it up as giving Xu Yang a little experience fighting high-level Soul Masters.

Though those two were very careful with their limits, it still hurt!

But Ning Rongrong, who was only nine months old, could already walk, and she was especially lively. Often, the moment someone failed to pay attention, she would crawl from one end of the bed to the other. Once, she had nearly fallen off the bed.

Luckily, he had reacted in time and caught her.

Ning Rongrong, who had not been hurt by a fall, did not feel afraid at all. Instead, she found it fun, and she often walked back and forth, wanting to jump down from the bed.

With no other choice, Xu Yang could only stand guard beside the bed, using Heart Separation Control to cultivate Soul Power on one side while playing with Ning Rongrong on the other, keeping her from getting hurt or falling.

That day, after playing for two hours, Ning Rongrong might have finally grown tired, and she fell into a deep sleep right away.

Xu Yang let out a breath of relief beside her, covered her with the little blanket, then sat to one side with both hands propping up his cheeks, pondering whether he should choose Slime or Light Sacred Beetle for his Second Soul Ring. Because after he reached Soul Grandmaster, he would have to attend Heaven Dou Royal Academy, so he was somewhat torn over whether he should first choose the Light Sacred Beetle, a soul ring that could increase his combat power.

However, that conflicted with his original plan. His original idea had been to choose Slime for his Second Soul Skill and obtain the Splitting Soul Skill, allowing his own Martial Soul to split, thereby achieving the effect of one becoming two, two becoming four, and four becoming eight.

And precisely because of the soul skill's effect, as long as the core origin of his Martial Soul was not split off, no matter how many times those split-off parts exploded later, they would not affect him. But with his current cultivation, his control over his Martial Soul was still not enough. Even if he added the Second Soul Ring, he still would not be able to make his Martial Soul self-detonate.

So after adding that soul skill, his practical combat ability would not increase by much. And without combat strength, trying to gain a foothold in a noble academy would be extremely difficult.

That was why he was thinking of lowering the Light Sacred Beetle, which had originally been planned as his Third Soul Ring, to his Second Soul Ring. It could increase part of his combat strength during the Soul Grandmaster stage, while Slime would become the choice for his Third Soul Ring.

"Yang Er, Rongrong fell asleep?" Just then, Madam Ning walked in from outside. At a glance, she saw Ning Rongrong sleeping soundly on the bed, drool trickling from her mouth, and said with a smile.

"Mm, Master's Wife! She just fell asleep!" Xu Yang replied with a smile, then continued to stare blankly into space.

Seeing Xu Yang like this, Madam Ning was startled and somewhat curious. She had never seen Xu Yang act this way before. In her impression, Xu Yang had always been an extremely mature child with strong independent ideas.

"What, do you have something on your mind?" Madam Ning sat down beside Xu Yang and asked with a smile.

"Mm! I'm thinking about the choice for my Second Soul Ring!" Xu Yang nodded.

"Oh? Hadn't you already planned out the choices for your Second and Third Soul Rings, and even chosen your Fourth Soul Ring?" Madam Ning was curious.

They knew their own family matters best. Xu Yang had never hidden his Martial Soul plans from Ning Fengzhi and the others. At first, Ning Fengzhi and the others had felt that Xu Yang's soul ring choices leaned too much toward functional soul skills—splitting, shaping—none of which directly provided combat power. Without combat soul skills as support, how could he count as a Power Attack System Soul Master?

But after hearing Xu Yang's explanation, the few of them immediately approved, because Xu Yang's soul skill choices were not traditional direct-attack soul skills, but combination-type soul skills. A single soul skill's effect was not strong, but when combined with one another, it was not as simple as one plus one being greater than two.

The simplest example was that when Xu Yang's planned Second and Third Soul Skills were combined, they became a great killing weapon. Imagine Xu Yang activating the two soul skills, his Sun Martial Soul splitting into dozens of suns. Part of them transformed into weapons and armor, held in Xu Yang's hands and worn on his body. That way, he could ensure both defense and attack, equivalent to carrying multiple kinds of Soul Tools by himself.

One must not forget that the Sun Martial Soul was a Tool Spirit. It could not undergo Martial Soul Possession like a Beast Spirit and grant him his Martial Soul's abilities. He could only release soul skills through the Martial Soul. But once he wore the Martial Soul on his body, he could directly release flames through his hands, feet, and every part of his body. Using his Martial Soul this way was far more controllable than simply using the Martial Soul to release soul skills, and it could greatly enrich his methods against enemies.

As for the remaining portion of Martial Souls suspended above his head, they could harass the enemy and coordinate with Xu Yang in battle. When necessary, he could directly throw the split-off Martial Souls out and use them to attack directly.

One had to know that Xu Yang's Martial Soul was the sun, and it was itself close to Ultimate Fire. Its attack power could be imagined.

"Master's Wife, after I finish hunting my Second Soul Ring, won't I be going to Heaven Dou Royal Academy to study? But the original Second Soul Ring won't provide much attack power. If I'm ostracized at school, I won't have much ability to fight back. I might even damage the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's reputation!" Xu Yang scratched his head and voiced his worries.

Through accompanying Ning Fengzhi to all kinds of gatherings over the past year or so, he was very clear on the nature of Heaven Dou's nobles. These people were extremely exclusionary toward non-nobles, and they even bullied classmates. Although he was Ning Fengzhi's disciple, he himself was not a noble.

Moreover, Ning Fengzhi, who stood behind him, supported Xue Qinghe. It was inevitable that other princes might arrange for noble forces behind them to make trouble for him, or even force him to drop out. Such things were all too common in power struggles.

As an adult, he himself did not care about being ostracized by those nobles, but those people would definitely use all kinds of reasons to make trouble for him, even during his cultivation. If he did not beat them into pain all at once, he would probably find it very hard to cultivate normally at school.

"So even our little genius has troubles of his own!" Madam Ning covered her mouth and laughed softly. She had not expected Xu Yang to think so much. It seemed Fengzhi's guidance during this period had not been wasted. She rubbed Xu Yang's head, then said, "Actually, you don't need to worry too much about this. You're overthinking it a little. Most of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's students are useless good-for-nothings. Even if your first two soul skills don't have much combat power, with their strength, they couldn't possibly be your match."

"As for the rest, they are basically descendants of great nobles. Their family heads are all shrewd people, and they simply won't let their children get involved in imperial family struggles."

"Besides, my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is not just for show. Before they try anything, they'll have to weigh whether they can withstand the revenge of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

Looks like I got too used to being a bottom-rung workhorse in my past life. The habit of thinking things over again and again before doing anything still hasn't changed!

Hearing Madam Ning's words, Xu Yang's expression froze. Soon after, a bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. In this life, he was no longer a bottom-rung workhorse, but the personal disciple of the Sect Leader of one of the continent's top forces. He had enough margin for error; there was no need to keep looking ahead and behind before doing anything anymore.