Nuoding Academy

With Jiang Che's current strength, hunting Soul Beasts or Soul Masters would clearly mean he had grown tired of living.

"Looks like I can only earn Skill Points once I'm strong enough."

Jiang Che's gaze swept over the goods in the shop.

His eyes passed over the pair of nun-style stockings before finally settling on the Lucky Fishing Rod.

[Lucky Fishing Rod: fish in any lake or river of your choice for unexpected results.]

The Lucky Fishing Rod tempted Jiang Che, but unfortunately, he had no Skill Points.

Open the beginner gift pack! Jiang Che said silently.

[Congratulations! Obtained: 50 Skill Points, Soul Ancestor Trial Card (30 minutes)]

????

"That's it?"

Silence. Deathly silence.

Jiang Che's face darkened.

His gaze fell on the goods whose prices started at a hundred Skill Points, and he cursed inwardly.

In his mind, shouldn't a beginner gift pack have given him some Titled Douluo trial cards?

His demands weren't high. At the very least, it ought to casually toss him an anti-materiel sniper rifle, right? TVT.

"Forget it. A Soul Ancestor Trial Card isn't bad either."

Jiang Che held out his right hand, and a blade of grass with blue veins emerged from his palm.

A few slightly larger blue leaves hung from the Blue Silver Grass's slender stem. Looking at the frail little blue plant, he suddenly thought of the Blue Silver Emperor in the hills behind Holy Soul Village and the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone.

If Tang San was the same age as him, he felt he could make an attempt at obtaining that Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone.

The Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone was undoubtedly an excellent match for Jiang Che's Blue Silver Grass. It might even upgrade his Martial Soul to the Blue Silver Emperor.

But even with ten times the courage, Jiang Che wouldn't dare take that Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone right now.

Tang Hao was certainly keeping an extremely close eye on that hundred-thousand-year Right Leg Bone, but he would leave Holy Soul Village for a while during Tang San's time at Nuoding Academy.

Perhaps he could seize that window and swipe the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone.

Yet the risk was still enormous. He wasn't sure when Tang Hao would leave. If Tang Hao suddenly returned while he was swiping the Soul Bone, he would have no choice but to cosplay a meat patty.

He would have to plan this carefully over the long term.

Time flew, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Over that month, Jiang Che had gained a clear understanding of his system.

The Daily Shop System let him earn Skill Points to buy goods from the shop, and the shop's stock refreshed randomly every day.

As a result, Jiang Che had seen many tempting items over the past month, but though his heart was willing, his balance was insufficient.

Sitting beside his bed, Jiang Che took out a coarse burlap sack worn shiny with use.

It held eighteen Silver Soul Coins and a hundred Copper Soul Coins in total.

These were what his parents had left him before their deaths, along with a large portion raised by the villagers of Lanhe Village.

On the Douluo Continent, currency conversion was straightforward:

One Gold Soul Coin = ten Silver Soul Coins = one hundred Copper Soul Coins.

Just then, a familiar voice called from outside, "Little Che, are you awake?"

Jiang Che hurriedly tucked the money pouch into his clothes and jogged over to open the door.

Beneath the old locust tree outside the courtyard, Grandpa Old Gavin had already been waiting for quite some time.

A cargo ox cart stood beside him. Sitting on its shaft was Zhang Daniu, the strongest man in the village. This farmer, who traveled to and from Nuoding City year-round, always wore an honest smile on his dark face.

"Grandpa Village Chief! Uncle Daniu!" Jiang Che jogged over, the bundle slung over his shoulder swaying with his steps.

Grandpa Old Gavin quickly beckoned. "Get on! We need to reach Nuoding City by noon. We can't let you miss your registration time."

The old man's wrinkled face brimmed with unconcealable joy.

Zhang Daniu strode forward and took Jiang Che's luggage. "Good lad! Our village will be counting on you from now on."

His rough, large hand patted Jiang Che's shoulder, his eyes holding both envy and gratification. "You're not like us rough folk, spending our whole lives working the yellow earth."

Once everything was ready, the ox cart slowly set off, rolling over the yellow dirt road at the village entrance.

Jiang Che and Grandpa Old Gavin sat side by side on the cart bed piled with hay, while Zhang Daniu hummed a tune as he drove up front.

Jiang Che gazed at the little wooden house where he had lived for six years as it gradually blurred into the distance. Droplets from last night's rain still clung to its thatched roof, and the doorframe bore marks recording his height year after year.

He stopped looking at the house and turned toward the azure sky ahead. The road before him was brilliant and unknown.

At noon, the ox cart finally rattled to the outskirts of Nuoding City.

Zhang Daniu stayed outside the city to tend to the animal, while Grandpa Old Gavin led Jiang Che through the bluestone city gate.

The clamor of the city rushed at them, and its bustling prosperity gave Jiang Che more sights than his eyes could take in. But the old man had a clear destination and soon learned where Nuoding Academy was.

When the magnificent building appeared before him, Jiang Che couldn't help holding his breath.

At a glance, the gate was enormous, over twenty meters wide and more than ten meters tall, its iron doors made of black iron.

However, Jiang Che soon noticed an old man and a boy standing in front of it.

The plainly dressed old man was arguing with the gatekeeper about something, while the ordinary-looking, skinny little boy beside him wore a dark expression.

Jiang Che focused more of his attention on the little boy. If his guess was right, this was Tang San.

The gatekeeper was leaning crookedly against the doorframe, scraping the sole of his shoe against the threshold again and again.

He lazily took the Recommendation Letter Old Jack offered with both hands.

"Blue Silver Grass? Innate Full Soul Power? Beggar, what do you think this place is?"

Old Jack hastily wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Sir, this Recommendation Letter was written personally by Lord Soul Master Su Yuntao."

"To hell with you!" The gatekeeper abruptly turned hostile and flung the Recommendation Letter straight back at Old Jack's chest. "A man of Lord Su Yuntao's standing would write a certificate for beggars like you?"

He pointed at Old Jack's coarse cloth jacket, spittle flying. "Look at you, a pauper covered in patches upon patches, and you dare come here to make a spectacle of yourself!"

Old Jack fumbled to catch the Recommendation Letter. His throat bobbed, but he couldn't get a single word out.

"Grandpa," Tang San, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke. "A dog blocking the road can't understand human speech."

The gatekeeper froze, then grabbed Tang San's collar with one large hand. "Say that again, you little bastard!"

Tang San stared straight at him with dark eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. "I said-"

Before he finished speaking, his right hand darted like a nimble snake, locking onto a vital pressure point on the gatekeeper's wrist.

The gatekeeper felt his entire arm go numb. Before he could work out what was happening, a deft force sent him stumbling forward.

Following the motion, Tang San lowered his shoulder and bent his knee, driving it squarely into the gatekeeper's vulnerable ribs.

With a muffled thud, the gatekeeper curled like a shrimp and collapsed beside the threshold, clutching his stomach.

Tang San released him and stepped half a pace back, his voice flat. "That was to teach you to respect people."

In that lightning-quick instant, a barely audible click came from the child's sleeve.

Jiang Che had been watching Tang San's every move from a distance, and this detail had clearly not escaped his deliberate scrutiny.