"Am I having bad luck today? How did I awaken two trash Martial Souls with Soul Power in a row?"
Su Yuntao glanced at Tang San, who had innate full Soul Power but whose Martial Soul was the worthless Blue Silver Grass.
Then he glanced at Yang Xingchen, who was admiring his own Martial Soul. This boy had innate Soul Power of rank six, and his Martial Soul was a fishing rod.
After a long internal struggle, Su Yuntao left Village Chief Jack with these words before departing.
"Although Blue Silver Grass is a trash Martial Soul, with the support of innate full Soul Power, its prospects are definitely better than those of someone with rank-six innate Soul Power."
With those words from Su Yuntao, most of Village Chief Jack's indecision immediately vanished. The village had only one work-study student quota.
The work-study quotas of the other villages were all shared. Borrowing one would require discussing it with several villages; otherwise, they could only wait until next year's Martial Soul Awakening.
So Village Chief Jack came to talk Yang Xingchen around, asking him to voluntarily withdraw from the competition for the work-study quota.
"It's just a work-study quota. Who cares about that!"
Although he said that, as Yang Xingchen lay on the hillside, recalling what Village Chief Jack had told him still left him feeling somewhat indignant.
"Forget it. I'll go fishing first and see whether fishing with my Martial Soul feels as good as using those few treasured rods from my previous life!"
Unable to be bothered dwelling on such vexing matters, Yang Xingchen got up, shouldered his fishing rod Martial Soul, and strode toward the pond behind the village.
Yang Xingchen had been the same in his previous life. Whenever something upsetting or troubling happened, he would go fishing for a while to relax.
Every time he saw a fish take the hook, much of the gloom and anger in Yang Xingchen's heart would wash away.
"A fishing rod that's a Martial Soul really is different. As long as I spend Soul Power, I can adjust the lengths of both the rod and the line."
Yang Xingchen had figured out this function while Su Yuntao was awakening Tang San's Martial Soul.
After settling on the rod's length, Yang Xingchen baited the hook with a free earthworm from the roadside and cast it into the water.
"The crucian carp I caught in this pond last time tasted pretty good. Let's see if I can catch a few more this time."
Watching the ripples spreading across the water, a trace of uncertainty rose in Yang Xingchen's heart.
He had only recovered his memories of his previous life a few months ago, on the day he learned of his biological father's death.
When he first recovered those memories, Yang Xingchen had tried to get on good terms with Tang San. After all, Buddha Ancestor Tang had so many fortuitous opportunities coming his way.
If Yang Xingchen could just seize the benefit of the immortal herbs, even if he failed to become a god in the end, he could at least land himself a position as a Titled Douluo later on.
Unfortunately, Tang San looked down on a little brat like him and had no need for his hastily offered friendship.
Just as Yang Xingchen was lamenting that his memories had not returned soon enough, the fishing rod in his hand suddenly stirred. A fish had taken the hook.
"Everything else can wait. Landing this fish takes priority!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Yang Xingchen tossed his uncertainty aside, gripped the rod with both hands, and began a contest of strength with the fish.
What a joke. This was the crucial moment in fishing. Who had the attention to spare for all that nonsense? If a moment's delay let the fish escape, wouldn't that be a crushing loss?
"Whoa, this fish is strong! Judging by that pull, it's got to be at least eight jin!"
One convenient thing about having a fishing rod as his Martial Soul was that Yang Xingchen did not have to adjust the line by hand. He could control it with Soul Power to reel it in or let it out.
What Yang Xingchen had never expected was just how strong the fish on his hook would be. He played it for over ten minutes before he felt its pull weaken.
"You little punk, trying to take me on? I was the champion of my district's thirty-fifth fishing competition!"
Ready to welcome his first big fish in another world, Yang Xingchen had only just walked over when the thing on his hook stunned him.
"Wait, why did I catch this thing?"
Staring at the dark-gold metal sphere before him, densely engraved with all sorts of runes he could not understand, Yang Xingchen was momentarily at a loss.
Logically speaking, Holy Soul Village did not look like the sort of place with ancient ruins. Why would something like this be underwater?
While Yang Xingchen was still considering what to do with the metal sphere before him, a powerful chill suddenly erupted from within it.
"Oh no, it's a bomb!"
Sensing trouble, Yang Xingchen was just about to fling it off his fishing rod when a blue-and-white figure shattered the metal sphere on his hook from the inside in the blink of an eye.
Yang Xingchen had only just witnessed the metal sphere explode and had not even had time to see what the blue-and-white figure looked like before it charged toward him.
Immediately afterward, Yang Xingchen's eyes closed, and he lost consciousness completely.
When Yang Xingchen regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he was astonished to discover that he was inside a golden space.
"Stop looking like you've never seen the world. This is your Spiritual Sea."
Yang Xingchen looked toward the voice. A woman dressed in white appeared before him, her pure-white hair reaching her feet and her eyes a sky blue.
"If this is my Spiritual Sea, what gives you the right to come in?"
Upon learning that this was his own Spiritual Sea, Yang Xingchen immediately grew much bolder and retorted bluntly at the woman before him.
"The fact that I am the Snow Empress, foremost of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, with seven hundred thousand years of cultivation!"
Yang Xingchen: Guys, I've offended the Snow Empress, ranked third among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, right at the start. Do you think I'll live to see tomorrow's sun?
"Why aren't you talking now? Weren't you so bold a moment ago? Humans really are all the same, bullying the weak and fearing the strong!"
Seeing Yang Xingchen suddenly fall silent, the Snow Empress mocked him, disdain in her eyes.
"So? Should I praise you and give you an award?"
Already thick-skinned, Yang Xingchen was completely immune to the Snow Empress's mockery and shrugged at her indifferently.
Seeing Yang Xingchen act like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, a trace of anger appeared in the Snow Empress's eyes. A human sneak attack had already left her trapped in the God Sealing Platform.
"Human, watch your attitude when speaking to this empress! If you truly anger me, beware of losing your little life."
"So what? What of it? If you could really kill me, would you still be here talking to me so calmly?"
From the Snow Empress's reaction to him and what she had said, Yang Xingchen immediately deduced her current situation.
For the moment, Yang Xingchen could not understand why his Martial Soul had been able to fish the Snow Empress, sealed within the God Sealing Platform, out of the water.
But since the Snow Empress had not chosen to kill him immediately upon breaking the seal, instead appearing within his Spiritual Sea...
Yang Xingchen could boldly predict that the Snow Empress now had to rely on him to survive!
"Indeed, whether strong or weak, you humans are all equally displeasing to this empress."
Watching the smug Yang Xingchen before her, a trace of disgust rose in the Snow Empress's heart.
Perhaps she should have chosen to self-detonate and perish together with this wretched brat earlier!
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret sold in this world.
The instant the Snow Empress had instinctively chosen to survive when her surroundings suddenly changed, her fate had already been sealed!
"Um, Snow Empress, may I ask what state you're in right now?"
The moment he learned the Snow Empress's identity, Yang Xingchen had become very interested in her current state.
He was different from Huo Yuhao ten thousand years later. Huo Yuhao's Soul Power had already broken through to rank ten then, allowing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm to exist by becoming his Soul Ring.
But the problem now was that his Soul Power was only rank six. He did not meet the requirements for absorbing a Soul Ring at all.
Thus, Yang Xingchen was especially curious about what method the Snow Empress could come up with to allow her soul to appear within his Spiritual Sea.