Tang Hao seemed to catch the enticing, roasted aroma.
But the next second...
His inexplicable pride as the "Clear Sky Douluo" seized the high ground again.
An indescribable awkwardness lingered inside him.
"I'm not hungry."
Tang Hao coldly turned his head aside and continued swigging his cheap ale.
"Eat that stuff yourself."
He refused.
In the past, Tang Tian might have felt disappointed.
But now, Tang Tian merely shrugged indifferently.
Then he promptly stuffed the chicken wing into his own mouth.
"Delicious."
"Your loss."
[Blue Silver Grass (swallowing)]
[Mmm... smells so good...]
[Even though I can't eat meat... feeling how happily Master is eating makes me feel full too!]
[Is this what they call a feast for the eyes?]
Watching this, Tang San sighed inwardly.
This family was so strange.
Dad was as cold as a rock, and his big brother was as free as the wind.
And then there was his own miserable self!
Over those three months...
None of the neighboring villages had any children awaken with soul power that year.
So, through Old Jack's efforts, their precious Work-Study Student slots were given to Holy Soul Village.
Old Jack could hardly wait to deliver the good news.
He had been worrying that only one of the two brothers, Tang Tian and Tang San, could go.
Now everything was settled. Both could attend Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy!
Seeing how happy Old Jack was...
Tang Tian could not help marveling that Holy Soul Village really did depend on Old Jack!
As village chief, he truly worried himself sick over everything.
Once Tang Tian earned some money, he would have to repay him properly.
"Little San, remember this."
Tang Tian patted his younger brother's shoulder, pointed at Old Jack's retreating back, and said quietly:
"Once we make something of ourselves, don't forget Grandpa Jack."
Before his memories had awakened...
Old Jack had provided him and Tang San with considerable support.
Otherwise, the two brothers might well have starved to death.
After all, Tang Hao was far too unfit to be a father!
Tang San nodded in wholehearted agreement.
On the day they set out...
The weather in Holy Soul Village was pleasant.
Old Jack had specially changed into a new set of cloth clothes he normally could not bear to wear.
Even his beard had been meticulously combed.
All along the way, Old Jack kept fussing over every sort of precaution.
"Listen to your teachers once you get to the academy..."
"Don't fight with the city children. We're Work-Study Students, so you must be tolerant..."
"Make sure you eat enough. If you run out of money, write to the village..."
Tang San listened attentively, nodding in response now and then, the very model of a well-behaved child.
And Tang Tian?
His mind was nowhere near Old Jack's nagging.
Whenever they passed a slightly unusual wildflower beside the road...
Tang Tian would stop.
"Little Blue, look at this morning glory. Its color is vivid, but its roots are too shallow. One tug and it breaks."
"It's not tough like you."
[Blue Silver Grass (feeling touched): Master praised me again. Hehe!]
Along the way...
Tang Tian would stroke some tree bark one moment...
Then pass judgment on the roadside brambles the next.
All the while, he kept muttering to himself.
His strange behavior left Old Jack thoroughly puzzled, and even a little worried.
Has this child... lost his mind?
Old Jack glanced at Tang Tian and sighed inwardly.
It must be because of that old drunk Tang Hao! Drinking every day, he's even made the child simple!
Once he gets to the academy and spends time around normal people, he should get better!
At last, they reached Nuoding City.
Compared with the tranquility of Holy Soul Village...
This place was quite prosperous.
Tang San, who had never traveled far from home, found it all very new.
He looked this way and that like a curious baby.
The three soon arrived at the entrance to Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.
A towering archway and two extravagantly luxurious iron gates made for an imposing sight.
However, just as they were about to enter...
The classic villain NPC gatekeeper respawned right on schedule.
"What are you here for? What are you here for?"
The gatekeeper was a burly man in his thirties.
His face was brutish, and his eyes held the calculating air of someone who treated people according to their status.
He sized up the old man and the two children.
Especially when he saw Old Jack's homespun clothes...
He made no attempt to hide the contempt in his eyes.
"Country folk visiting the city? You've come to the wrong place, haven't you?"
The gatekeeper waved a hand as though shooing away flies.
"This is a Soul Master Academy, not a vegetable market! Go beg somewhere else!"
Having lived a lifetime, Old Jack valued his dignity above all else, and his face instantly flushed red.
Still, he swallowed his anger and offered an ingratiating smile.
"Young man, please don't misunderstand."
"We're from Holy Soul Village. These are this year's two Work-Study Students. I'm here to bring them to enroll."
As he spoke, he carefully handed over the certificate Su Yuntao had issued.
"Holy Soul Village?"
The gatekeeper reacted as though he had heard some enormous joke.
He slapped the certificate out of Old Jack's hand.
Smack!
The crumpled sheet fluttered down onto the dusty ground.
"Listen, old man, you really know how to spin a tale."
The gatekeeper sneered sarcastically:
"That place where even birds won't shit hasn't produced a Soul Master in years, and now it suddenly has two slots? For Work-Study Students, no less?"
"I bet this certificate is forged! Trying to sneak in and steal things?"
Old Jack was so angry that his beard trembled.
"You're talking nonsense!"
"Master Su Yuntao of Spirit Hall issued this personally! How could it possibly be fake?"
"Don't try to use Spirit Hall to pressure me! Even the king of heaven himself would have to follow the rules!"
Seeing that the old man actually dared talk back...
The gatekeeper immediately felt that his authority as a city dweller had been challenged.
He impatiently reached out to shove Old Jack away.
Old Jack was elderly and failed to react in time.
Tang San's gaze turned cold, and his left hand was already reaching toward his waist.
He was ready to give this gatekeeper an eye-opening experience with his Silent Sleeve Arrow.
But Tang Tian was a step faster.
He immediately used Blue Silver Grass Entanglement.
It was too fast!
Before the gatekeeper could even see what it was, he felt something tighten around his ankle.
Tang Tian said leisurely, "Up!"
The next second, a tremendous pulling force struck.
"Aah!"
Accompanied by a wretched scream...
That burly man, weighing over a hundred jin...
Was hoisted upside down by that single strand of Blue Silver Grass!
Just like cured meat hanging from a tree...
He swayed back and forth in midair.
The sensation of weightlessness filled him with terror, and his hands flailed wildly in the air.
"Let me go! I work for the academy! How dare you..."
The gatekeeper was still shouting threats.
Tang Tian gently curled a finger.
Little Blue understood at once.
The vine abruptly tightened, instantly making the gatekeeper wet his pants.
"Shut up."
Tang Tian spoke flatly.
"Say one more word, and I'll let you experience what bungee jumping feels like."
The passing students and pedestrians all stared, dumbfounded.
A child, with what everyone acknowledged to be a trash martial soul, Blue Silver Grass, at that...
Had actually strung up a burly adult man to beat him?
That defied science!
And that technique, that proficiency...
Had this child been a kidnapper before?
Just then, a somewhat hoarse, stiff voice came from behind them.
"Stop."
"This is the academy entrance. What sort of conduct is this?"
Tang Tian turned around.
He saw a middle-aged man with a buzz cut and an unshaven face walking over.
His hands were clasped behind his back, giving him quite the air of an expert!
His gaze carried a measure of arrogance and scrutiny.
It was none other than the renowned Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang.
Grandmaster glanced at the gatekeeper dangling in midair and frowned slightly.
He looked at Tang Tian.
"Put him down."
"Although he was in the wrong first, for someone so young to strike so ruthlessly is going too far."
"A Soul Master's power is not meant for bullying the weak."
Before you continue