"It's getting late."
Seeing that the sun was about to rise, Yu Longyue walked Huo Yuhao to the door and handed him a document pouch.
"What's this?"
Huo Yuhao took it, looking slightly puzzled.
"There's a Soul Tool communicator inside, for contacting people. It doesn't have an encryption function, so when you contact me, be careful what you say. Be a little discreet."
Yu Longyue explained in an even tone.
"There's a card inside with ten million Federation Coins on it. Enough for you to live comfortably."
Huo Yuhao stared at Yu Longyue in astonishment.
"Don't thank me just yet." Yu Longyue raised a hand to interrupt his spellcasting. "Since we're partners, of course I want you to hurry up and improve your cultivation, surpass Tang San, and give him a good beating. So consider this a better starting point. Of course, you do have to pay back the ten million Federation Coins."
"Also, you owe me a favor." Yu Longyue's abacus clattered loudly; he was plainly setting himself up as an angel investor.
"Besides, I can get you a recommendation letter from any elementary academy. As for secondary academy, go wherever you want."
For the young sect master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, these things were child's play. Even the ten million Federation Coins were pocket money.
It was all an investment in Huo Yuhao.
He knew what kind of person Huo Yuhao was: he always repaid kindness.
Now he only had to wait for Huo Yuhao to repay him in the future.
"Thank you." Huo Yuhao bowed to Yu Longyue with utmost sincerity.
This was far more than a better starting point.
It was a perfect opening hand.
Compared to the start he'd had in his last life, this was almost too smooth.
A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring.
Huo Yuhao silently committed it to heart.
"Then I won't see you any farther. Good luck." Yu Longyue nodded, then turned and left without looking back.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath. Feeling that his Soul Power was currently only level three, he smiled faintly.
All he had to do was start over. How hard could that be?
Within one day, he would charge to level eleven and become a Soul Master!
Unlike Huo Yuhao, who was full of fighting spirit thanks to the help of Yu Longyue, the clan's young master, Tang San had gotten off to a very rocky start.
Unlike Huo Yuhao, who had returned to his childhood, Tang San didn't know if he was just terribly unlucky, but he had actually transmigrated into the body of a nine-year-old child.
His Martial Soul was still Blue Silver Grass.
His Innate Soul Power was level four!
Since his Martial Soul Awakening, he had cultivated for three whole years and only barely reached level ten. It was garbage talent.
He also had a lazy, gluttonous father who loved to drink and didn't have a single Federation Coin in the house.
This setup was exactly the same as when he had first transmigrated to Douluo Continent.
Most importantly, his Twin Martial Souls were gone, and so was his Innate Full Soul Power.
Tang San frowned deeply.
He could only rely on himself to slowly recover the power of his two Martial Souls, the Blue Silver Emperor and the Clear Sky Hammer, later.
Compared with Huo Yuhao's start, Tang San's could only be described as a complete disaster.
One had a perfect opening hand, while the other had a disastrous start. Their treatment was as different as heaven and earth.
But what worried Tang San even more was that the present-day Douluo Continent was nothing like the one he knew.
Normally, to advance from level ten to level eleven and become a proper Soul Master, all one had to do was hunt a Soul Beast and obtain a Soul Ring.
But...
Soul Beasts were now on the verge of extinction.
Where was he supposed to find one to hunt?
To become a Soul Master and recover his power, he first needed to obtain his first Soul Spirit.
Tang San had to go to a Spirit Pagoda branch and buy a Soul Spirit suited to him before he could become a Soul Master. That presented another problem.
His first Soul Spirit wasn't free!
Outrageous!
Back when the Spirit Hall was still around, people received sponsorship when they became Soul Masters, along with benefits such as free Martial Soul Awakening.
But his family was so poor they didn't even have enough Federation Coins to buy a ten-year Soul Spirit.
A random draw cost at least thirty thousand Federation Coins, while buying a ten-year Soul Spirit cost seventy thousand. A hundred-year one was out of the question; it cost at least a million.
Where was he supposed to find that much money?
There wasn't even a benefit providing free ten-year Soul Spirits. Wasn't that depriving commoner Soul Masters of their right to grow stronger?
The Spirit Pagoda already had a way to die!
Tang San gritted his teeth. Speaking of the Spirit Pagoda, wasn't it created by his own son-in-law?
Yet his current plight was entirely Huo Yuhao's fault.
Once he recovered his strength and returned to the Divine Realm, Huo Yuhao, you already have a way to die.
Unfortunately, Tang San had long since lost his strength as a God King. Huo Yuhao had beaten him until only a sliver of his divine consciousness remained; the fact that he could still possess a child's body was a blessing amid misfortune.
As he pondered, Tang San couldn't help looking at his drunken father lying on the bed. His gaze was complicated as he cautiously approached and asked his father for the bare minimum of thirty thousand Federation Coins.
His drunken old father was so furious that he got up from the bed and kicked him straight out of the house.
"I don't have money, just this one life. Thirty thousand Federation Coins? Do you know how much wine that could buy me? If I had that kind of money, would I give it to you? Get lost."
Tang San brushed the dust off his clothes, sat down on the steps outside the house, and sighed.
He didn't blame his father. After all, raising him until now had been no easy feat.
"I'll cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Skill first, then find somewhere to forge my Hidden Weapons."
But Hidden Weapons had been completely rendered obsolete by Soul Tools ten thousand years ago.
Finding a place now would be harder than climbing to heaven.
With neither money nor connections, Tang San was rejected by countless blacksmiths in the city and fell into utter confusion.
It was as if someone from ancient times had found himself in a modern metropolis, at a loss for what to do next.
"What should I do?"
Should he use the last sliver of his divine consciousness to contact his parents for help?
No, he couldn't. Once it was used up, he would vanish completely. That divine consciousness was the only thing keeping him alive.
Besides, until he recovered his strength, this child's body didn't have Tang Hao and Ah Yin's bloodline at all.
"I can only rely on myself. It's just a lack of money."
Tang San gritted his teeth and made up his mind.
Whether he had to steal or rob, he would scrape together thirty thousand and get a Soul Spirit.
Otherwise, he really wouldn't be able to become a Soul Master, and he'd never return to the Divine Realm.
Aolai City.
Early in the morning, a middle-aged man in a black suit appeared before Yu Longyue, who had just finished washing up.
Yu Longyue wiped his face. "Hey, Uncle Song, you're back?"
Uncle Song was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's steward, as well as a Titled Douluo sent by Yu Longyue's father to look after him.
His cultivation was above level ninety-five, he was a Three-Word Battle Armor Master, and his Martial Soul was the Shadow Dragon. It could be said that as long as they didn't run into a Limit Douluo, he could keep Yu Longyue safe.
It was said that his family line had always served as stewards to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. His father had been responsible for looking after Yu Longyue's father, while he was responsible for Yu Longyue.
"Young sect master." Though he was a Titled Douluo, Uncle Song respectfully handed Yu Longyue a Soul Tool communicator, every bit the steward. "I have reported your situation over the past three years to the sect master, but he still has something he wishes to say to you."
Yu Longyue froze for a moment and took the Soul Tool communicator. As soon as he listened, an angry roar came from it:
"Three years! I let you run around outside, eating and drinking to your heart's content for three whole years! Even if you've become a Soul Ancestor and haven't fallen behind in your cultivation, get your ass back here!"
The words went in one of Yu Longyue's ears and out the other as he lounged there carelessly.
"It's only been three years. I haven't had enough fun yet. How about this, Dad? Give me another three years, and I'll definitely come back. What do you say?"
"Another three years? Three years after three years-what, are you planning to go undercover somewhere and refuse to come back until you become the boss? I just don't understand. What's wrong with the clan sending you straight to Shrek, giving you a clear path into the inner court, and getting you into Sea God Island as the pavilion master's personal disciple?"
"How many people dream of an opportunity like that, and you just turn it down?"