Early that morning, Chen An was the first to get up.
Dark circles ringed his eyes, and he felt exhausted in both body and mind.
Had he known, he would never have indulged in that loser's dream. Now his image had taken a serious hit in Xiao Wu's eyes.
The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. As he walked, Chen An silently prayed.
"Grandpa, bless me! Please don't let me have ruined all her affection for me!"
"I, Chen An, swear that from now on, I'll be an upright, kindhearted gentleman!"
While Chen An stood in a daze, Tang San suddenly appeared behind him.
He patted his shoulder. "Xiao An, I need to talk to you!"
"Whew..." Chen An jumped. The instant he saw Tang San, he could not help thinking of last night. "Don't tell me... it's Xiao Wu again?"
Tang San shook his head.
His expression was as calm as still water, as though he did not care at all about what had happened last night.
"No!"
"I forgot to tell you yesterday. Teacher told us to visit Spirit Hall!"
Chen An frowned and asked tentatively, "You mean to register as Soul Masters?"
Tang San nodded.
"Yes. Once we officially register with Spirit Hall, we can collect a monthly allowance, and we won't have to be work-study students anymore!"
Chen An readily agreed.
Whatever else might be said about Spirit Hall, this was a pretty humane thing to do.
"Ah, what a pity!"
When he had first transmigrated here, Chen An's plan had been to join Spirit Hall and help Bibi Dong defeat Tang San.
After all, having transmigrated, it would hardly be right not to do something big.
Besides, he liked scripts that defied the usual tropes.
Perhaps one day he might see that Qian Renxue still retained her charms and switch sides on the spot. That would be perfectly reasonable, wouldn't it?!
But.
Everything hinged on one person.
That was Xiao Wu, the only goddess in Chen An's heart!
At first, he had not been sure how deep the bond between Tang San and Xiao Wu ran, or whether he could win in a fair competition.
Now things looked different.
Chen An was very confident, though there was nothing he could do if this damn system failed to pull its weight.
So he wanted to cultivate as quickly as possible, strive to break through level twenty, and unlock an even more hidden, even more badass Easter egg.
"Halt!"
"This is Spirit Hall. No unauthorized entry!"
Tang San and Chen An had barely reached Spirit Hall's entrance when the guards stopped them.
"Hello, we're first-year students at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy. Our teacher told us to come here to have our martial soul levels assessed!"
Tang San politely pointed to the academy crest on his uniform.
After a brief check, the guard waved them through.
"Master Su Yuntao!"
From far across the reception hall, Tang San spotted Su Yuntao chatting and laughing with a tall woman of above-average looks.
Only when the two boys came close did Su Yuntao notice them.
The female Soul Master beside him looked a little surprised. "We have children this young at Spirit Hall? Are they some noble young masters here for their martial soul awakening?"
Su Yuntao did not recognize them at first. There were simply too many children undergoing martial soul awakening, and both boys were dressed neatly and cleanly, without the slightest trace of shabbiness.
"You are?"
Seeing Su Yuntao's confusion, Chen An rushed to explain, "Master, my name is Chen An, and he's Tang San. We're the two children whose Blue Silver Grass and Lone Bamboo you awakened with innate full soul power in Holy Soul Village last time!"
"Oh!"
"So it's you two! What brings you here?"
Innate full soul power was extremely rare, especially with trash martial souls like Blue Silver Grass and Lone Bamboo.
Strictly speaking, Lone Bamboo should have been much stronger than Blue Silver Grass, but no one in the entire Soul Master World had ever heard of an expert whose martial soul was Lone Bamboo.
What could bamboo do?
Other than serving as firewood and being hard, what other strengths did it have?
Chen An's first thought had been to develop its hardness, turning it directly into a staff imbued with elemental power.
Or, once his soul power level rose, he could simply direct his resources toward his second martial soul, the bamboo flute.
Surely he could not really rely on pole-vaulting to dodge a Titled Douluo's attacks?
Tang San answered, "Teacher told us to come to Spirit Hall for an advancement assessment and have our soul power measured while we're here!"
"You already have your first soul rings? As expected of the best academy in Nuoding City. Your teachers really are responsible!"
Su Yuntao noticed the academy uniforms they wore and felt somewhat shocked.
The female Soul Master beside him was a little displeased. "Yuntao, aren't you going to introduce us?"
Su Yuntao gave her an apologetic smile and hurriedly explained, "Sisi, have you forgotten? These are the two children with innate full soul power I mentioned before. Unfortunately, their martial souls aren't very good. Otherwise, their futures would be limitless!"
The female Soul Master nodded.
She said nothing, but her expression visibly turned cold.
"Master Ma Xiunuo, I've brought the children for their assessment!"
The old man slowly opened the door and grumbled, "Yuntao, Soul Masters must focus on their cultivation. Otherwise, you'll end up like me, unable to cross the threshold of level thirty no matter what!"
Chen An froze at those words.
He inwardly muttered, Isn't that the same problem Yu Xiaogang has? Could this old man have an extraordinary background too?
"Yuntao, are you sure these two children are here for an assessment?" Ma Xiunuo still found it a little hard to believe.
Su Yuntao said impatiently, "Yes, yes... of course. I awakened their martial souls myself. How could I be mistaken? They're the children I told you about, the ones with innate full soul power but Blue Silver Grass and Lone Bamboo as their martial souls. That's all. Sisi's still waiting for me!"
"Immature men will come to grief over women sooner or later!"
Watching his departing figure, Ma Xiunuo shook his head helplessly.
"Hello, Master Ma Xiunuo?" Tang San was growing a little anxious.
Ma Xiunuo waved a hand. "Child, there's no need to call me master. With my cultivation, how could I deserve that title?"
Understanding what the old man meant, Chen An greeted him with a smile. "Hello, Grandpa Ma Xiunuo!"
"Come along. I'll take you for your assessment, you sweet, polite children!"
Ma Xiunuo led them to the martial soul laboratory, a place dedicated to assessments.
"Tang San, you go first!"
"Release your martial soul and first soul ring!"
Ma Xiunuo first gave them a brief introduction to Spirit Hall, then began the assessment.
Thick blades of Blue Silver Grass surged out, drooping to the floor in the blink of an eye. A hundred-year yellow soul ring slowly rose from beneath Tang San's feet.
"This... this is Blue Silver Grass?"
Ma Xiunuo looked dazed, somewhat taken aback.
Tang San rubbed his head and asked in confusion, "Is something wrong, Grandpa Ma Xiunuo?"
Ma Xiunuo rubbed his eyes, once again confirming that what stood before him was indeed the trash martial soul, Blue Silver Grass.
He did not rush to answer. There was still another child, and perhaps another great surprise awaited.
"Yes, not bad!"
"Level thirteen soul power. You've already surpassed most people!"
Ma Xiunuo restrained his excitement. This was truly a monster. A trash martial soul, Blue Silver Grass, yet his first soul ring was a hundred-year one, and his soul power had jumped two levels in succession.
Could the other child's talent be even greater than Tang San's?
"Your name is Chen An, right?"
"Come, show me your martial soul and first soul ring!"
At that moment, Chen An was still immersed in how terrifying God King Tang's luck was.
He wondered whether he really might be unable to beat Tang San.
"So soon?"
A striking stalk of bamboo appeared in Chen An's hand, and a white soul ring immediately rose beneath his feet.
"Hiss... that shouldn't be!"
"A ten-year soul ring? Could the academy's teachers have chosen the soul rings according to their martial souls' characteristics?"
"Or did they only find one hundred-year soul beast?"
Ma Xiunuo could not think of any benefit to pairing innate full soul power with a ten-year soul ring, no matter how hard he racked his brains.
Logically, if Tang San could do it, this boy named Chen An should have been able to as well.
"Wait, this bamboo seems a little different?!"