A Debt of Kindness He Could Never Repay

Finally, it was done!

Su Lin plopped down on the ground, gulping down great breaths.

Thunderbolt Mode disengaged on its own, and a tide of exhaustion washed over the swift, powerful perception he had just possessed. He felt as though he had been drained of every last ounce of strength after an all-out sprint, leaving only the aching soreness of fine electrical currents coursing through his body. The muscles from his upper arms to his calves trembled faintly.

Pikachu scampered over from beside him and nuzzled the back of his hand, resting its little paws on his knee, its golden eyes filled with concern.

Scooping Pikachu up, Su Lin brought it to his face and took a deep, vigorous sniff before relaxing. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

After resting for a while and recovering a little strength, Su Lin began admiring the fruits of his battle with satisfaction.

Nine months ago, he had hesitated for ages just to jump down from a tree. Today, he had actually taken down a two-hundred-year-old carnivorous Soul Beast head-on with his own hands. The process had been a little messy and the expenditure rather steep, but he had won fair and square.

He let out a breath, braced his hands on his knees, and stood up, rolling his still-aching shoulders. Just as he was about to head to the river to wash his face, a swift yet steady rush of wind suddenly sounded through the woods. A dark figure bounded several times along the branches amid the treetops and landed before him. It was Sean.

His gaze swept over the unconscious Wind-Patterned Cheetah on the ground. Taking it for Pikachu's handiwork, he showed not the slightest surprise before turning to Su Lin.

"Young Master Little Lin!"

"What is it, Uncle Sean?" Su Lin asked curiously.

After nine months together, their relationship had long since ceased to resemble the master-and-servant arrangement of the beginning. They were more like an elder and a junior, and the trust between them had already grown so close that unnecessary courtesies and explanations were entirely unneeded.

Especially over the last three or four months, seeing that Su Lin acted prudently and his combat strength was steadily improving, Sean had felt comfortable letting him train alone in the three-hundred-year area while he kept watch around the perimeter. He rarely approached to disturb him, so his coming over specifically now presumably meant something had happened.

Sean took a letter from inside his clothes. The envelope was made of fine white hemp paper, its flap stamped with a dark purple wax seal bearing the outline of a bat with spread wings.

"It's a letter from Lord Grant." He held it out to Su Lin. "It just arrived from the post station in town."

Su Lin took the letter. As the pad of his finger brushed the slightly raised dark purple bat-shaped wax seal, a strange feeling stirred in his heart.

Over these nine months, Uncle Grant had occasionally visited him in Rhode Town during the first few months, spending half a day with him before hurrying back to Wealth Village to handle business. Yet since spring began, he had not seen Grant for nearly an entire season, and even their correspondence had grown noticeably less frequent.

Su Lin had not thought much of it at the time, assuming village affairs kept Grant too busy to get away. But this letter's sudden arrival today, complete with a wax seal, did carry an unusual air of solemnity.

He picked open the wax with his fingertips and drew out the mulberry-bark paper inside. Grant's familiar running script covered it, the strokes broad and flowing, with his usual crisp directness between the lines and little unnecessary ceremony.

The letter was not long, filling only a little over half a page from beginning to end. Su Lin's eyes moved down the lines. The opening sentences offered the customary greetings and concern before getting down to business.

Su Lin read it from beginning to end and could not help raising his eyebrows, his expression rather peculiar.

"What did my lord say?" Seeing something off in his expression, Sean hurriedly asked.

"Uncle wants us to get ready and leave for Heaven Dou City immediately." Su Lin folded the letter and put it into his storage pouch, a measure of surprise in his voice.

"Heaven Dou City?" Sean froze for a moment at those words, then seemed to think of something. He slapped his forehead in realization. "Oh! Then it must be about your enrollment, Young Master Little Lin."

"Enrollment?" Su Lin frowned and asked in puzzlement, "Even if I'm continuing my schooling, shouldn't I attend an intermediate Soul Master Academy in Fasinuo Province first? Why jump straight to Heaven Dou City?"

Sean smiled and explained patiently, "There's something you don't know, Young Master Little Lin. Heaven Dou Royal Academy has an affiliated intermediate academy."

By this point, Su Lin had already understood most of it. "So Uncle Grant hasn't visited much these past few months because he's been busy arranging my enrollment?"

Sean nodded, drawing his chin in slightly, his expression growing more serious than before. "Most likely. I've followed Lord Grant for close to twenty years. I know his temperament-when he says nothing, it often means he's got his head down working on something big."

"Almost certainly." Sean nodded, a hint of wistfulness entering his expression.

He had followed Grant for nearly twenty years. No one knew better than he did what was on Grant's mind.

Back when Grant underwent his Martial Soul Awakening, he had possessed innate level-five Soul Power. Among ordinary people, that talent was already quite good, but it could hardly be called exceptional. He had clawed his way forward and endured countless hardships just to reach the Soul King realm. Without some extraordinary fortuitous encounter, the very most he could achieve in this lifetime was to touch the threshold of Soul Emperor.

His own talent was even worse: innate level-three Soul Power, with a middling Beast Martial Soul like the Iron-Spined Cheetah. Whether he could ever break through to Soul Elder in this lifetime was still unknown. Most likely, he would spend his whole life hovering somewhere in the twenties.

Su Lin alone was different.

Innate level-nine Soul Power, a Poké Ball Martial Soul unique across the Douluo Continent, and already a level-fifteen Soul Master at such a young age.

He had the hope of going farther and seeing a vaster world.

The students at Heaven Dou Royal Academy Affiliated Intermediate Academy were either wealthy or noble-either children of the empire's aristocracy or geniuses selected from various regions.

If Su Lin could get in, he would not only receive the most systematic advanced education but also begin building connections early. His horizons and outlook could open up completely. The benefits to his future were immense.

It went without saying that Grant must have poured in every connection and all the wealth he had accumulated over the years to secure this one exceptional admission slot.

Otherwise, a mere Soul King, in Heaven Dou City where experts gathered like clouds, was-

Su Lin fell silent for a moment and sighed softly in his heart.

How could he not understand? Ever since the day of his Martial Soul Awakening, Grant had never cared for him as merely an ordinary orphan.

He gave him the best food, clothing, and daily necessities, found the most reliable teacher for his early education, and even arranged every aspect of his training, terrified that he might suffer the slightest grievance or encounter the slightest danger.

Now, for the sake of his future, he had spared nothing in calling on all his connections to send him into Heaven Dou Royal Academy. How was this nurturing a junior? He was clearly raising him as his own son.

I could never repay this kindness...