Registering and collecting money

At last, they left the Star Dou Great Forest and saw signs of human habitation.

Xiao Yao stretched, actually feeling as though a lifetime had passed.

"Oh, right, Xiao Wu, where were you planning to go next?"

Xiao Wu's cheeks were flushed with excitement:

"I already asked around. Human Soul Masters my age all go to a Soul Master Academy to study."

"I can slip into a nearby village and use their work-study quota to attend school."

"They won't mind. They'll actually be delighted, because producing a Soul Master is a great honor for the whole village."

Understanding dawned on Xiao Yao. So that was how Xiao Wu had entered Nuoding Academy.

But this time, with him here, he would not let Xiao Wu do that.

When he read Douluo fanfiction in his previous life, so many protagonists attended Nuoding Academy, beat up Tang San, and stole Xiao Wu that it left him speechless.

Did they not even look at who was hiding in the shadows? Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao, someone whose combat strength ranked among the top ten across the entire Douluo Continent.

Most importantly, there was his personality: brutal, protective of his own, and unreasonable.

Just look at Zhao Wuji. It had been a perfectly normal spar between teacher and students, and he had even been the one who lost out.

Even so, Tang Hao still dragged him out and gave him a thorough beating.

What made you think Tang Hao would spare you just because you were Tang San's age? He might even erase you as a threat to Tang San.

With Xiao Yao's personality, once he had tremendous potential, he ought to develop steadily and safely.

He could occasionally snatch Tang San's opportunities first. If Tang San came knocking, he would not mind stepping on him a couple of times for a change of pace.

Once his cultivation reached great heights in the future, whether he turned back and crushed Tang Hao and his son with a single finger or slowly tormented them, would it not all be up to him?

If he and Xiao Wu were not so young that traveling was inconvenient, Xiao Yao would even have wanted to take Xiao Wu straight to one of the three imperial capitals. Those were the places with good environments for cultivation.

"Being a work-study student at a Soul Master Academy means doing dirty, exhausting work and dealing with a bunch of little brats. There's really no need."

"Then where are we going?" Xiao Wu did not insist. Right now, she listened to Xiao Yao about everything.

"Follow me."

Asking people for directions along the way, Xiao Yao brought Xiao Wu to Spirit Hall in Nuoding City.

"What are we doing here? Joining Spirit Hall? I don't want to." Xiao Wu looked utterly resistant.

Xiao Yao gently stroked Xiao Wu's head. "Silly girl, I know about your relationship with Spirit Hall. How could I make you join them?"

"We're here because Spirit Hall has a rule. As long as you're a Soul Master and register with Spirit Hall, you can collect Soul Coins every month."

"We're One-Ring Soul Masters, so we can collect one Gold Soul Coin. With money, we can rent a place of our own here in Nuoding City."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry inside." Xiao Wu ran inside excitedly.

There were few people inside Spirit Hall, only some people dressed as servants doing the cleaning.

Xiao Yao led Xiao Wu farther inside and happened to see a man and a woman.

The man chattered incessantly, much to the disgust of the young woman in a nun's habit.

"Hello, where can we test our Soul Power and register to collect Gold Soul Coins?"

Pretty, adorable, well-behaved children were always welcome.

Seeing the lovely pair that Xiao Yao and Xiao Wu made, the young Spirit Hall nun spoke very gently:

"Little ones, Spirit Hall's Soul Power testing equipment is for full-fledged Soul Masters. You can just use your academy's own Soul Power orb."

Clearly, she had mistaken Xiao Yao and Xiao Wu for students of Nuoding Academy.

The man beside her spoke in a thoroughly unpleasant tone:

"Yun Yun, there's no need to be so polite to them. I bet they haven't even awakened their Martial Souls yet. They're just using this Soul Power test as a pretext to use our Spirit Hall's awakening equipment for free."

The young nun, Yun Yun, could not hold back her anger. "Su Yunhao, can't you learn from your older brother? Have you even forgotten Spirit Hall's guiding principles?"

Then she looked at Xiao Yao and Xiao Wu and said apologetically, "I'm sorry for frightening you. I'll take you to test your Soul Power."

Xiao Yao shook his head. "It's fine. You weren't the one in the wrong."

Su Yunhao said angrily, "Are you saying I was wrong?"

Xiao Yao answered him directly with action.

His Heavenly Book Martial Soul manifested, lying in his hand as a wordless Heavenly Book that exuded an ancient air.

Along with it appeared a deep yellow Soul Ring.

"A hundred-year Soul Ring!" Su Yunhao cried out in surprise.

That was a hundred-year Soul Ring! Even within Spirit Hall, not many people had one.

Xiao Wu had also heard Su Yunhao's disdain for them, and she revealed her own Soul Ring as well.

"Another hundred-year Soul Ring!" Su Yunhao was so astonished that even his voice changed.

Without so much as glancing at him, Xiao Yao said to the young nun:

"We've both obtained our first Soul Rings and broken through to become Soul Masters. Please take us to test our Soul Power, big sister."

The young nun was no less shocked than Su Yunhao, but she was much more composed. She only froze for a moment. "All right."

Once the three had gone far away, Su Yunhao gave himself several hard slaps:

"That'll teach you to run your mouth! That'll teach you to run your mouth! Now you've caused trouble."

"Could they be the children of some important figures from another city? No, I have to discuss this with my big brother."

He immediately went upstairs and found his older brother, Su Yuntao, in Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo's room.

Beside him were Sisi, the beautiful Soul Master his older brother had been pursuing, along with Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo and a little boy.

Seeing his younger brother suddenly appear and look about to make a racket, Su Yuntao hurriedly gestured for him to be quiet.

Su Yunhao listened to his older brother more than anyone and immediately shut his mouth. He heard his brother say:

"This child has innate full Soul Power and has obtained his first Soul Ring. Master Ma is assessing his rank. Don't disturb them."

"Innate full Soul Power!"

Su Yunhao's mouth fell open. The two children he had just encountered were not very old either, yet they had already obtained Soul Rings, hundred-year Soul Rings at that.

Now another child with innate full Soul Power had appeared.

Were geniuses sold wholesale these days?

Just then, the little boy undergoing the test with his eyes closed suddenly opened them, a faint blue light shining in his eyes.

A yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet.

Su Yunhao could barely breathe. How was it another hundred-year Soul Ring?

Wait, his Soul Ring did not seem as dark as those two children's? Did that mean it was not as old as theirs?

At that thought, he let out a sigh of relief.

But soon, he wanted to slap himself again.

You don't even have a hundred-year Soul Ring. What the hell are you comparing yourself to them for?

Just then, Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo opened his eyes, making no attempt to hide his astonishment. "Rank thirteen. It's actually rank thirteen."

"A normal Soul Master should be rank eleven after obtaining a Soul Ring, yet you're rank thirteen. Tang San, you must have obtained quite an extraordinary Soul Beast."

Tang San said calmly, "A Mandala Snake."

"It was actually a Mandala Snake, the most troublesome of the low-level Soul Beasts?"

Gasps rose one after another throughout the room.

Only Su Yunhao curled his lip. So what if it was a Mandala Snake? Isn't his still less yellow than theirs?

Once his surprise had passed, Su Yuntao finally remembered that his younger brother should not be here at this time and asked why he had come.

Su Yunhao hurriedly recounted what had just happened...