Tang San's Challenge (Please Vote!)

More than a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Over that month or so, Lin Ye's daily life had basically followed a fixed routine.

In the morning, he trained in the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill, Phoenix Dance Six Illusions, and Nine Swords of Dugu at the edge of the forest.

Then, he used Phoenix Dance Six Illusions to hunt deep within the forest behind the mountain. In the evening, he reviewed what he had gained that day.

Ever since he began hunting deep in the forest behind the mountain, with ample meat to replenish himself, Lin Ye's progress in the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill had once again advanced by leaps and bounds.

Now, even without the enhancement of Nine Yang True Qi, Lin Ye's pure physical strength had reached the level of swinging a thousand jin with one arm.

Yet his progress in the first level of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill had only just reached one-tenth. Once he completed the first level, wielding ten thousand jin of force with one arm would be no problem at all.

After Lin Ye began hunting, aside from gaining an ample supply of meat, the pelts of some beasts he hunted also brought some income to the household.

And the income was quite substantial, at least compared to what most villagers in Holy Soul Village earned.

According to Old Jack, he would not keep this money for himself.

Instead, he would give it to Lin Ye in three months as his living expenses for the Junior Soul Master Academy.

This day.

In the morning, the sky was a clear, brilliant blue. The rising sun had just emerged, and the fiery red morning glow still lingered in the eastern sky.

At that moment, deep within the forest, in a dense woodland.

The vast forest stretched endlessly. Towering trees rose from the earth, their thick canopies overlapping and casting mottled shadows across the ground.

Amid the dense trees, Lin Ye stood atop fallen leaves, a sharp longsword in hand, confronting a ferocious beast with a solemn gaze.

It was a wild boar nearly three meters long, like some enormous monster.

Its entire body was knotted with muscle and looked incredibly sturdy. Its thick hide was covered in a layer of dried mud, as though it wore a suit of armor, while black bristles like steel needles stood erect through that armor.

Though the boar did not have a mouthful of fangs, the two curved tusks jutting from its mouth, combined with its massive build, muscular body, and savage eyes—

This boar posed no less threat to humans than predators such as lions, tigers, or bears! "Hmph~"

"Hmph~"

Its savage eyes fixed fiercely on Lin Ye. The boar gave low growls from its throat while repeatedly pawing at the ground with its front hooves, as if warming up—or perhaps remaining on guard.

But if Lin Ye did not move, neither did the boar dare attack rashly.

Having hunted for over a month, Lin Ye's prey had long since progressed from herbivorous animals to carnivorous predators.

Even fierce beasts like lions, tigers, leopards, and bears would not be spared if Lin Ye encountered them and was confident of taking them down.

As a result, Lin Ye had long developed a murderous aura, one born from slaughtering countless wild beasts.

This murderous aura might affect even people, but wild boars were especially sensitive to it.

Thus, even this boar, which had long ruled this forest with brute force, did not dare let down its guard in the slightest before Lin Ye.

But as a beast, the boar's patience was ultimately limited compared to a human's. It could not remain patient like a human could.

So after facing off for some time, the boar finally could not endure any longer.

Roar!

As the standoff dragged on, the boar continued kicking at the ground while its patience gradually wore away. Its already bloodshot eyes grew redder and redder.

In the end, the boar completely lost its patience. After a furious roar, it stomped its front hooves heavily against the ground and charged forward, ramming viciously toward Lin Ye.

Yet in the face of the charging boar, there was not the slightest fear in Lin Ye's eyes. Instead, he remained unnervingly calm.

Amid the boar's enraged roars, when it was less than three meters away from him—

Lin Ye suddenly activated Phoenix Dance Six Illusions and leaped over five meters into the air from where he stood.

Because Lin Ye evaded it, the boar immediately crashed into a large tree behind him and staggered from the impact.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Ye shifted in midair and swiftly descended. He circulated Nine Yang True Qi, unleashed the full force of his body, and drove his sword into the boar's back.

Then, Phoenix Dance Six Illusions activated once more. Lin Ye suddenly darted to the boar's side, gripped his longsword, and pulled down violently with the force of gravity.

The sharp longsword followed Lin Ye as it sliced down from the boar's back, passed through its belly, and emerged on the other side, almost cleaving the boar's body completely open.

Blood mixed with the boar's internal organs immediately began spilling continuously from the wound in its abdomen.

The sudden, agonizing pain made the boar let out a miserable shriek.

Although the boar possessed exceptionally tenacious vitality, Lin Ye's attack had been too swift and the wounds too severe.

Thus, the boar's screams abruptly stopped almost at once. Its massive body, stripped of life, crashed heavily to the ground.

"This boar should be enough to eat for several days, right?"

Pulling out his longsword, Lin Ye looked at the boar lying on the ground. The blood flowing from its abdomen had already pooled amid the fallen leaves. Muttering to himself, Lin Ye placed a hand on the boar.

Then, with a flash of light, the boar was directly stored inside the jade pendant.

Though Lin Ye had grown immensely strong through training and carrying the boar would not have been a problem—

Hauling such a heavy boar all the way from deep in the forest back to Holy Soul Village would still have been far too difficult.

Since the jade pendant had storage space, naturally, it had to be used properly.

Having caught the boar, Lin Ye ended his day's hunt. He activated the Phoenix Dance Six Illusions movement technique and once again returned from deep in the forest to Holy Soul Village.

By a small river outside Holy Soul Village, Lin Ye cleaned the boar and roughly butchered it before bringing it home.

By noon, Old Jack had finished his farm work in the fields and returned home.

When he saw the hall piled high with boar meat, Old Jack's eyes widened in shock.

"Little Ye, where did you hunt such a huge boar?"

"I ran into it while practicing swordsmanship on the back mountain, so I brought it back with me."

Lin Ye calmly replied as he wiped down his longsword.

"There are so many wild beasts on the back mountain now?"

Thinking of how Lin Ye had frequently encountered all kinds of wild beasts lately, Old Jack was somewhat surprised, but he did not suspect anything.

After all, it had only been one morning at most. How far could Lin Ye have gone? "Ah! It seems Little Ye truly is meant to be a Soul Master!"

Old Jack swept his astonished gaze over the already butchered boar on the ground and could not help sighing in amazement.

Such an enormous boar could probably only be hunted by the legendary Soul Masters.

His own grandson, with merely Innate Full Soul Power, could hunt such a fierce beast. He was a born Soul Master!

So what if he had a Trash Martial Soul?

With his child's Innate Full Soul Power, even if his Trash Martial Soul lacked combat ability, couldn't he abandon it and practice swordsmanship instead?

"Little Ye! Such a large boar is more than our family can finish. Bring some over to Little San's family. You managed to hunt such a huge boar, and though I hate to say it, that sword Tang Hao made for you was quite useful too."

As if remembering something, Old Jack said this.

"Mm, I understand."

Hearing Old Jack's words, Lin Ye nodded and returned the longsword to its sheath.

Then, he casually selected two large chunks of boar meat from the floor, tied them with hemp rope threaded through the bones, and carried them toward Tang San's house.

He made his way to Tang San's home.

Inside the blacksmith shop, Tang San was still forging while Tang Hao was nowhere to be seen.

Hearing footsteps outside, Tang San turned around just in time to see Lin Ye enter.

"Tang San, this is boar meat from the one I hunted today. We can't finish it all, so I brought several pieces for you and Uncle Tang Hao."

Entering the blacksmith shop, Lin Ye placed the boar meat on Tang San's table and spoke.

"No, no! You and Grandpa Jack have already helped us enough. This boar meat is far too valuable!"

Seeing what Lin Ye was doing, Tang San hurriedly put down his forging hammer, picked up the boar meat from the table, and prepared to return it.

But at Lin Ye's insistence, and after learning that Lin Ye had even more boar meat at home, Tang San ultimately accepted it.

"Lin Ye, thank you and Grandpa Jack so much!"

Looking at the boar meat on the table, Tang San sighed. His eyes were filled with complicated emotions as he looked at Lin Ye.

He had thought this playmate before him was merely an ordinary child, one with determination and perseverance beyond what ordinary people could ever match.

But Tang San had never imagined that Lin Ye possessed such terrifying strength as well.

With such a large piece of boar meat, its owner must have been an enormous beast.

Lin Ye could hunt such a massive boar. Combined with the bear meat, tiger meat, and other things he had given them before, Tang San suddenly felt a little discouraged.

Seeing the strange look in Tang San's eyes, Lin Ye was somewhat puzzled. "Tang San, what's wrong?"

Hearing Lin Ye's words, it was as if Tang San suddenly came to a decision.

Tang San drew a deep breath and said to Lin Ye with complete seriousness, "Lin Ye, I want to challenge you!"