Xiao Xuan's face flushed red with excitement. Several days of living on tenterhooks transformed into overwhelming elation in that instant!
Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Xuan darted forward and decisively released his Two-Star Lone Bamboo Martial Soul!
Buzz!
Lone Bamboo appeared in his right hand, glowing faintly gold. Xiao Xuan thrust both hands forward.
His two small palms pressed firmly against the thick stalks of the two hundred-year-old Lone Bamboo plants, while his mind locked onto the tier-three Red-Patterned Alloy Ore in his arms in an instant!
"Three-in-One Fusion of All Things!"
Boom!
The instant his words fell, a violent gale suddenly whipped up in the air!
Under the system's immense power, the two thick Lone Bamboo plants before him, each a century old, disintegrated in an instant. They transformed into two immense, surging streams of verdant life essence that roared into Xiao Xuan's Martial Soul!
At the same time, the Red-Patterned Alloy Ore in his arms vaporized into a scorching scarlet fleck of metallic light and slammed imperiously into the core of the green radiance!
Emerald green, pale gold, scarlet!
The three violent lights mingled and tempered one another in Xiao Xuan's palm. The already exceptionally hard Lone Bamboo underwent another earth-shaking transformation!
[Ding!] [Three-in-One Fusion of All Things complete! Main materials successfully fused! Extraction of auxiliary material "Red-Patterned Alloy Ore" properties complete. Perfectly applying them now!] [Congratulations, host! Martial Soul Fusion and star upgrade successful. Obtained: Three-Star Lone Bamboo!]
It worked!
The change in his Martial Soul was nothing short of a complete transformation.
The Three-Star Lone Bamboo's stalk had now turned a dark green like black jade and refined steel, while fine, domineering blood-red metallic patterns encircled its joints!
But in the next instant!
Rumble!
A terrifying surge of energy like rolling thunder erupted from the depths of Xiao Xuan's dantian!
"Ngh!"
Xiao Xuan grunted. The level-three Innate Soul Power that had occupied his body shot forward as though riding a rampaging rocket, smashing everything in its path!
Level three... broken through!
Level four, level five... he broke through two barriers in succession, unstoppable as a blade splitting bamboo!
Level six... level seven...
The Soul Power inside him churned like boiling water. The violent blast even swept the loose hair on Xiao Xuan's forehead sharply upward. Only after smashing through yet another barrier did it reluctantly begin to subside!
Xiao Xuan hurriedly closed his eyes and concentrated, sensing the fluctuations of Soul Power within him.
The next second, his eyes flew open. He sucked in a sharp breath, and his mouth stretched into an outrageously wide grin.
Innate Soul Power... a full level eight!!
From a rock-bottom level-one good-for-nothing at his awakening, he had jumped seven levels in just a few days, reaching the monstrous tier of innate level eight!
"Level-eight Innate Soul Power! I'm finally a little competitive!"
Happy as he was, Xiao Xuan hadn't forgotten the old tradition: a practical combat strength test.
His gaze swept quickly around the mountain hollow and soon settled on a giant blue-gray basalt boulder nearby. More than half a person's height, it jutted diagonally out of the soil.
This kind of boulder was extremely dense and heavy, several times denser than ordinary granite. If an ordinary low-level Soul Master hacked at it with a regular Tool Martial Soul, they would at most leave a few white marks. They could forget about making even a notch.
Xiao Xuan carried the Three-Star Lone Bamboo over at a brisk pace.
Once again, he didn't use the slightest trace of Soul Power. Relying solely on his trained forearm muscles and the brute strength of his arms, he spun the bamboo like a spear in one hand. His gaze abruptly turned cold, and he drove it fiercely toward the center of the boulder!
"Boom!!"
A sharp crack suddenly rang out in the air.
Like a hot knife through butter, the Lone Bamboo plunged all the way to its base into the hard, cold boulder!
Immediately afterward.
Amid a series of sharp cracks, seven or eight terrifying fissures spread madly from the point of impact like a spiderweb!
The entire boulder, half a person tall, split apart on the spot and collapsed with a crash into fragments scattered across the ground!
As for the Three-Star Lone Bamboo, a faint red light glowed at its spear tip, and its stalk showed not the slightest tremor or scratch.
"Hiss..."
Even though Xiao Xuan had been mentally prepared, he couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.
"Good grief! It smashed a giant basalt boulder to pieces?! If I stabbed an ordinary Soul Master with this, it could probably run right through them on the spot!"
The sturdiness of the Gold Crystal Ore, combined with the hardness and toughness of the Red-Patterned Alloy Ore, had completely transformed Xiao Xuan's Lone Bamboo Martial Soul.
It certainly didn't lack hardness now. Perhaps he could consider other aspects for the next fusion.
With that thought, Xiao Xuan withdrew his Martial Soul in satisfaction, dusted off his hands, and strolled down the mountain toward home.
Happy days always flew by.
In the blink of an eye, more than half a month slipped quietly away, and the day Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy officially opened for the term finally arrived.
According to the original plan, his father, Xiao Wuyong, was supposed to take Xiao Xuan to register at the academy himself.
But plans couldn't keep up with changes. On the evening before the term began, the Soul Hunting mercenary group Xiao Wuyong belonged to received an urgent, high-value commission at short notice. The pay was too generous to refuse.
Faced with the pressures of life and family, Xiao Wuyong had no choice but to leave the city with the group that very night to earn the hard-won money.
Early the next morning, Xiao Xuan got up and packed his modest belongings.
His mother, Li Ya, was still a little worried, but Xiao Xuan had lived two lives, and his mental age was far more mature than that of children his age.
He thumped his chest and assured her he could manage, then shouldered his bundle and strode off alone toward Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.
Before long, the semicircular archway of Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy appeared before him.
At the entrance, two uniformed gatekeepers stood guard, bored out of their minds, occasionally casting critical looks at the new students passing by.
Xiao Xuan wore a clean, neat short robe of coarse cloth. Though it was no fine or splendid garment, it was tidy and presentable.
His bearing was also steady, neither servile nor overbearing, so naturally there was no idiotic scene of the gatekeepers throwing their weight around like watchdogs.
"Hello, uncles. I'm a new student here to register."
Xiao Xuan politely handed over the Spirit Hall certificate Su Yuntao had issued him.
The gatekeeper took the certificate and glanced at it: [Martial Soul: Lone Bamboo, Innate Soul Power: level one].
Although a flicker of surprise crossed the gatekeeper's eyes when he saw those talents, the Spirit Hall's red seal couldn't be faked. He didn't make things difficult, simply making a mark in the register and stepping aside to let Xiao Xuan through.
"All right, kid. Go in and turn right. The registration desk is at the academic affairs office. Head over there yourself."
"Thank you, uncle."
Xiao Xuan thanked him politely and stepped onto the campus.
Registration at the academic affairs office went quite smoothly.
Because he had paid the full tuition and boarding fees out of his own pocket, Xiao Xuan didn't need to sweep floors and do odd jobs every day to reduce his expenses like a work-study student.
Instead, he received the treatment given to paying students: a private single room!
Before long, Xiao Xuan arrived with his key at the single room on the sunny side of the dormitory building.
With a click, he pushed open the door.
The room was about ten square meters. Though not particularly spacious, it was arranged neatly and cleanly.
It had everything he needed: a single wooden bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. A faint woody fragrance filled the air.
What pleased Xiao Xuan most was the large, bright window.
He walked over and gazed into the distance. Not only could he take in the flower beds and playground across most of Nuoding Academy, he could even see everything happening at the school gate clearly.
Just as Xiao Xuan was leaning against the windowsill, enjoying the breeze, his gaze suddenly sharpened slightly.
At the academy gate, an old man and a youngster had appeared at some point.