Blue Silver Grass—Not Even Dogs Would Eat It!

"Illusion Transformation, Treasure Seeking talent... Hmm. My martial soul should mainly possess a spiritual attribute, with a trace of spatial attribute. Spatial attributes are undoubtedly insanely powerful, but where am I supposed to find a Soul Beast with a spatial attribute?! The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger seemed to be the only one I might have a chance to find and kill later on." Thinking of this, Zhu Wu felt deeply troubled.

"With my limited abilities, a Dragon-type Soul Beast for my first soul ring is probably impossible, let alone one with spiritual or spatial attributes. If all else fails, I can only lower my standards first and try my best to match my primary spiritual attribute. But spiritual-attribute Soul Beasts are hard to find too! Damn it, this martial soul is way too difficult."

The potential of a spiritual attribute was quite good as well. Huo Gua was an example, a ready-made reference.

Should he take a trip to the Star Dou Great Forest when the time came? See whether Sky Dream Ice Silkworm would come to him on its own?

The question was, would he have that kind of luck?

More likely, he would try it and die. He would probably get killed!

"I'll take it one step at a time." Zhu Wu shook his head helplessly and lowered his gaze to his martial soul, sighing inwardly.

The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was undoubtedly a good place, but only if he could sneak in safely. Right now, he simply could not do that. Setting aside Dugu Bo, the Dual Polarity Qi within was not something he could withstand at his current level.

As for the Star Dou Great Forest, as the largest Primitive Forest on the continent, it surely contained plenty of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Yet accompanying them were equally endless dangers.

After all, the Star Dou Great Forest was also the continent's largest gathering place for Soul Beasts. Even the outer regions had thousand-year Soul Beasts.

"Ah, forget it." He shook his head again. "What I need most right now is to learn about Soul Beasts and Soul Masters, then reach level 10. Everything else can wait."

"Little guy, I'll call you Little White from now on." As he spoke, he held his martial soul in his hands and quickly walked out of the house.

Whether a martial soul could grow and evolve by eating had to be tested... Reaching the backyard, he plucked a Blue Silver Grass from a corner and held it before his martial soul, nodding slightly.

"Little White, time to eat!"

Little White immediately shook its head from side to side, transmitting a disgusted emotion to Zhu Wu as though saying:

Blue Silver Grass—not even dogs would eat it!

"Is it because ordinary Blue Silver Grass has no cultivation, or because it has no medicinal properties?" Zhu Wu wondered. His eyes flicked toward the herb garden nearby. Tossing aside the Blue Silver Grass in his hand, he strode over.

Bending down, he painfully pulled out a Black Haired Root he had raised for a long time, planning to eat it only when he got married someday, and held it before Little White. "Crunch, crunch." Little White leaned over and began chewing it noisily.

"I have a feeling that what I awakened wasn't a Treasure Hiding Beast, but a Gold Devouring Beast. A picky one, at that. Also, judging by this, Little White can't directly absorb Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures through its stomach space." Zhu Wu's mouth twitched as he strode back into the house.

"After the New Year, I'll have to go into the mountains to look for herbs again."

Muttering to himself, he returned to his bedroom, placed the Black Haired Root and Little White on the table, and quietly observed.

Little White was too small and ate very slowly. It took quite a while to chew off a small piece. A little later, it stopped eating.

It raised its head to look at Zhu Wu. Seeing him nod slightly, it happily lowered its head. The seven-colored scale on its forehead flashed, and the palm-sized Black Haired Root before it instantly vanished.

"So that's how it stores things." Zhu Wu raised an eyebrow, then a question came to mind. "Come to think of it, can my External Martial Soul merge with me for combat?"

It seemed Yu Xiaogang had never merged with Luo San Pao in the original story. He did not know whether all External Martial Souls were incapable of it, or whether Yu Xiaogang's martial soul had simply degenerated too severely.

"I can only wait until I obtain my first soul ring to find out." He sighed inwardly and stopped dwelling on the matter.

"There are still three months until the academy opens. I need to cultivate hard during this time and strive to break through to level 10 as soon as possible. As for Little White's food, judging from its current state, its appetite doesn't seem very large. It's probably still too weak and can't digest too much medicinal power. Once it finishes this Black Haired Root, I'll go into the mountains and search again. With Little White's help now, finding herbs should become a little easier."

"Besides that, Little White might be able to help with the explosives. Hmm, I need to specially train Little White over the next few days, such as turning into a small bird and entering houses to place things."

There were birds even in winter. He had heard magpies calling outside the door just yesterday.

With that thought, he called Little White back and continued practicing his techniques.

That afternoon, Old Jack arrived with several burly men following behind him.

"Squeal! Squeal! Squeal!" Miserable cries soon rang out from the pigsty beside the courtyard.

Although Zhu Wu's awakened martial soul had level 6 Innate Soul Power, it was, after all, a publicly acknowledged useless martial soul. It was happy news, but also somewhat awkward. Village Chief Old Jack and the villagers understood this as well. Thus, after the pork had been prepared, they each came to buy a portion to share in the good fortune, offered simple congratulations, and then left. There was no need to hold a feast or anything of the sort. Zhu Wu was happy to have the peace and quiet, politely seeing each of them off.

Only Old Jack's family, who had helped them the most, and the Old Wang Family, whose daughter-in-law had breastfed Zhu Wu, were asked to stay for dinner.

After the meal, Zhu Wu tidied up and plunged straight into his bedroom.

"Little White, this is the slag outlet of the furnace. You need to fly in and stick the thing in this blind corner..." Zhu Wu placed Little White on his shoulder and carefully explained, patiently instructing it while facing the clay model of Tang Hao's forging furnace on the table.

Logically, sticking the item in a blind corner of the air vent would make it easier to detonate, since blazing charcoal fire lay directly beneath it. But considering Tang San's short height, if it exploded at the air vent, the blast wave and flying stones might pass right over his head. Or Tang San might react quickly and escape simply by lowering his head a little. Placing it in the blind corner of the slag outlet near waist height would avoid that problem.

For no other reason than to ensure a wide enough area of effect.

As for placing several lumps, there were too many hidden dangers.

If one or several failed to explode, even an idiot would know it had been deliberate. Tang Hao was a Titled Douluo, and it was hard to say he would definitely be killed by the blast. If he survived and flew into a murderous rage, that would be bad.

So, to be safe, he could only place one lump.

He planned to wrap it in multiple layers of clay mixed with hard carbon slag. Its power might be weaker, but it would leave fewer traces. After all, the slag furnace in Tang Hao's blacksmith shop was built from piled mud, with a layer of carbon slag accumulated at the bottom. The materials were exactly the same.

And with the power he anticipated, the outer layer of clay would definitely be pulverized into dust, making it impossible to distinguish.

As for the smell of gunpowder, Tang Hao did not know anything about gunpowder!

Of course, it was unrealistic to completely prevent Tang Hao from suspecting that the explosion had been man-made.

I just hope nothing goes wrong.

"Since I only awakened my martial soul today, I should wait a few days before carrying it out, just to be safe." Thinking this, he continued instructing Little White.

Soon, the night grew deep and quiet, and Zhu Wu began practicing the movements of the Longevity Exercise.

He had not yet learned the Meditation Method used by Soul Masters for cultivation, nor had he figured out the circulation route of his techniques. For now, he could only cultivate by practicing the movements.

Two hours later, he roused his spirits and went to bed.

Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, he got up to practice the Vajra Power Exercise. Whenever he grew tired, he rested and helped his grandfather, Zhu Gang, with the household chores. Once he was done, he resumed training. After all, the movements he had learned did not exist in this world. To avoid making Tang San suspicious if he saw them, Zhu Wu had always practiced in his bedroom over the years. With the window facing the open space, there was nowhere for Tang San to hide, so he was not worried about being watched.

Only the poisonous herbs he brought back from the mountains each time, he did not dare grow indoors.

There was no other reason. He was a little worried that Tang San might break in at night, wake his grandfather, and be "forced" to silence him forever.

It was not that he was overthinking it. Tang San in the original story was truly good at finding reasons to kill people, and that famous line about having a path to death had left a deep impression on him. Better safe than sorry. For the sake of his family and his own life, he felt there was nothing wrong with being cautious.

Besides, did it make any difference whether medicinal herbs were planted indoors or outdoors?

Whether fences or gates, they had always kept out gentlemen, not petty men. Against a professional thief, no defense would truly work.

That evening, he continued reinforcing Little White's training.