The end of the story

A dull tune drifted over from the distance. The approaching figure was none other than the owner of the pig farm.

He was a man of about forty.

Still lying on the ground questioning his life, Yu Xiaogang panicked when he heard the singing.

He scrambled to his feet and frantically scanned his surroundings.

"Damn it, where are my clothes!"

Yu Xiaogang turned the pigpen upside down but still couldn't find his clothes.

The light drew closer and closer. With no other choice, Yu Xiaogang grabbed a few handfuls of dry grass to cover himself and hastily fled in the opposite direction.

In his frantic escape, Ganzi accidentally kicked over an iron bucket.

Clang! The iron bucket crashed to the ground, its grating noise especially clear in the night.

The noise instantly alerted the man in the distance.

"Who's there? Come out right now!"

The hand holding his oil lamp shook violently, but the man still barked defiantly at his surroundings.

The light alone hadn't been much of a threat, but that clear shout made every hair on Yu Xiaogang's body stand on end.

Not caring whether he had been spotted, he held the grass in one hand and broke into a mad sprint!

Without any major movement in the darkness, there would have been little to fear, but Yu Xiaogang's sprint let the man unmistakably catch sight of a figure flashing past.

"What was that? Don't tell me it was some unclean spirit!"

The man muttered to himself in fright.

But then he remembered that every pig here represented his glittering Gold Soul Coins.

Disregarding everything else, he took a deep breath to bolster his courage. With the lamp in his left hand and the manure fork he carried in his right, he steeled himself and slowly advanced.

When he reached the pigpen and saw the chaotic scene before him, the man's eyes rolled back in fury.

Every pig lay exhausted on the ground. As an experienced pig farmer, how could he not know what had happened?

"My pigs! My poor pigs! All my hard work!"

"That damned beast! I've only raised them for three months, and you wouldn't even spare them!"

The man bawled in fury.

Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang sprinted all the way, terrified that the man behind him would give chase.

After running for who knew how long, Yu Xiaogang leaned against an earthen wall, exhausted and gasping for breath. He would never have stopped if his lungs hadn't felt about to burst.

By this hour, some residents and vendors in Nuoding City were already getting up to begin their work.

A light suddenly came on in a house beside the earthen wall. Having barely rested, Yu Xiaogang could only resume his flight.

As more and more people appeared, Yu Xiaogang's figure was inevitably spotted.

He ran faster and faster, shaking loose the dry grass covering his lower body.

After who knew how long, the gates of Nuoding Academy finally appeared before him. Tears of excitement filled Yu Xiaogang's eyes.

He instantly turned into a gaming-addicted teenager and climbed over the gate.

His climb was spectacularly unlucky: the last of the dry grass covering his lower body caught firmly on a hook on the gate.

Intent on getting back to his residence, Yu Xiaogang never noticed, leaving the grass hanging on the gate.

Had Li Mingzhu known, he would surely have laughed hard enough to eat two extra bowls of rice.

Once inside the academy, Yu Xiaogang followed the familiar paths and stealthily crept back to his residence.

Fortunately, his door wasn't shut, or Yu Xiaogang wouldn't even have been able to get inside!

After entering the house, Yu Xiaogang hurriedly shut the door, then slumped weakly against it.

Ganzi slowly let out a breath of relief. The security of his room allowed his panic to settle.

Perhaps the night had taken too much out of him, for Ganzi fell asleep without warning.

Most of the afternoon had passed by the time Yu Xiaogang slowly woke. His weariness lingered, however, and only when a foul stench invaded Ganzi's nose did he become fully awake.

"Urgh, why does it stink so badly?" Ganzi said, rubbing his nose.

Feeling the cold floor, Ganzi jolted upright and examined his body.

"It was real? How could it have been real!"

Yu Xiaogang pounded his head and sobbed. He still couldn't believe what had happened yesterday.

Whether he had exhausted himself crying or could no longer bear the stench on his body, Yu Xiaogang dragged his tired, weak frame into the bathroom to wash.

Yu Xiaogang picked up a washcloth and scrubbed his body for all he was worth.

Perhaps because of his psychological obsession with cleanliness, even after scrubbing off the surface layer of his skin, Yu Xiaogang still felt unclean.

This might have been the longest bath Ganzi had ever taken in his life.

Only when the bright moon hung overhead did Yu Xiaogang emerge from the bathroom.

Without bothering to dry himself, he lay straight down on the bed and began thinking over what had happened.

"What's going on? Where's my Soul Tool!"

Now that he had calmed down, Yu Xiaogang finally showed some intelligence. After looking himself over, he at last remembered that his Space Soul Tool was missing.

"My theories, my knowledge...!"

Snow piled atop frost. Already devastated psychologically, Yu Xiaogang now had to weep over his knowledge and treasures as well.

After all, he had painstakingly copied all that knowledge during his time at Spirit Hall.

At that same moment, Li Mingzhu was in his room, in an excellent mood.

He had everything he had been missing, and he had put that fellow in his place. How could he not be delighted?

Looking at his spoils now, Li Mingzhu had to thank his top donor, Yu Xiaogang, for his generous gifts.

"Ah! After what I put him through, he should behave himself for a while, right?"

"I'll keep an eye on him later and see whether Ganzi is still up to any tricks."

Li Mingzhu sat on his bed, talking to himself.

As for now, it was time for him to take the whale rubber!

He took the refined Evil Spirit Orca whale rubber out of the Domain Space. Looking at the two portions, one large and one small, Li Mingzhu felt a pang of heartache.

He couldn't help inwardly cursing Ganzi for being useless and making him waste a twelfth of the whale rubber for nothing.

Li Mingzhu quickly adjusted his mindset. What was gone was gone; improving himself was what mattered now.

He put the larger portion of whale rubber into his mouth. The medicinal effect it released upon entering his mouth was completely different from before.

Feeling the immense medicinal power within him, Li Mingzhu had a strong premonition that refining it would bring a major improvement.

And so, using his soul power as a guide, Li Mingzhu inhaled and exhaled rhythmically, smoothly carrying the medicinal effects throughout his body.

A quarter of an hour later, a muffled boom sounded inside him. Li Mingzhu slowly opened his eyes, clenched his fists, and punched the air.

"Haha! I never expected my physical strength to improve so much, or my soul power to make such a big leap!"

Li Mingzhu was very pleased with the change in his strength.

And his soul power?

That was right. After taking the whale rubber, Li Mingzhu's soul power had reached level seventeen!

Reflecting on the increase in his soul power, Li Mingzhu couldn't help marveling at how quickly taking drugs let him level up.

He wasn't even seven yet, and little of his soul power had come from his own cultivation.

Absorbing Soul Rings beyond his level and raising his soul power with whale rubber had propelled him far beyond his peers.

Of course, the more drugs he took, the higher his resistance became. Taking whale rubber again in the future would no longer give Li Mingzhu such a dramatic improvement.

"Ah! Looks like whale rubber from anything under ten thousand years old won't be much use anymore!"

Li Mingzhu sighed. He already knew whale rubber wouldn't do much for him in the future!

Still, Li Mingzhu wasn't too upset. He turned his gaze to the remaining whale rubber, thinking it should still help him gain another level. After all, Evil Spirit Orca whale rubber was anything but ordinary!