Spirit Hall surrounded Holy Soul Village
The thin morning mist had yet to fully disperse.
On the hillside behind Holy Soul Village, Tang San, not yet six years old, sat cross-legged on a bluestone,
facing east, his eyes slightly narrowed.
A sliver of fish-belly white had just appeared on the horizon when an extremely faint strand of Purple Qi from the east flashed through the morning light.
The purple in Tang San's eyes deepened slightly as he drew that strand of Purple Qi precisely into them.
After a long while, Tang San slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and withdrew the purple light in his eyes.
He examined himself inwardly. The internal power of his Mysterious Heaven Skill remained at the peak of the first level,
and no matter how he circulated it, an invisible barrier seemed to stand in the way, preventing the slightest progress.
In his previous life, this would still have made him anxious.
But now that he was living his life again, not the slightest ripple stirred in Tang San's heart.
He knew better than anyone that this was a restriction imposed by the laws of the Douluo Continent.
He only needed to wait a little longer, awaken his martial soul at six, and obtain his first Soul Ring,
and the bottleneck in his Mysterious Heaven Skill would naturally yield like bamboo before a blade.
At the thought of his Martial Soul Awakening, the corners of Tang San's mouth unconsciously curved upward.
Even though he had inexplicably returned to childhood just before ascending to the Divine Realm, he had never lost his greatest assets.
The Tang Sect Secret Arts, the Hundred Solutions to Hidden Weapon, and the complete memories in his mind of how the coming decades would unfold.
As long as he followed the path that had worked in his previous life, proceeding step by step,
he could still attain dual godhood,
and he could make up for his past regrets, living this life even more perfectly.
Besides, he would soon leave this run-down little village for Nuoding Academy.
Once there, he would see Xiao Wu again.
Xiao Wu, how have you been? I miss you so much!
The morning breeze swept over the hillside, but Tang San was in no hurry to descend.
Instead, he sat on the bluestone, following his thoughts of Nuoding Academy as he continued making plans.
Once he reached Nuoding Academy, the first person he could not avoid would be Yu Xiaogang.
Should I still take him as my teacher in this life?
The moment this thought surfaced, Tang San swiftly weighed it in his mind.
At present, he was young and weak, while his father spent his days lost in a drunken stupor and could not be relied on at all.
If he entered the academy as an ordinary work-study student and wanted to enter the Soul Hunting Forest without complications,
and once again secure that four-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake as his first Soul Ring,
then following the course of his previous life and having Yu Xiaogang lead the party was undoubtedly the safest, easiest approach.
Looking further ahead, although Yu Xiaogang's own Soul Power was meager and he could offer little help with cultivation,
the connections behind him were highly useful.
Leaving Flender and Zhao Wuji aside, the old romance between Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong alone would prove immensely useful later.
Once they reached Heaven Dou City, he would still need to rely on that connection
to have Liu Erlong willingly offer up Blue Tyrant Academy, just as she had in his previous life,
renaming it Shrek Academy outright and making it the foundation upon which the Shrek Seven Devils established themselves in Heaven Dou City.
If I give up that teacher-disciple relationship, what if there's some butterfly effect...
Better to play it safe.
After going over all the gains and losses in his mind, Tang San's gaze gradually grew gentle yet firm.
A teacher for a day was a father for life.
In his previous life, Grandmaster's kindness toward him had weighed as heavily as a mountain. Even if he knew every future opportunity in this life,
how could he become a villain who tore down the bridge after crossing the river and betrayed his teacher?
Yes, he, Tang San, had decided to take Yu Xiaogang as his teacher,
not because he coveted any convenience, but to uphold the righteousness in his heart and the bond between teacher and student!
Having reasoned this through, Tang San felt clear and bright at heart.
He brushed the grass clippings from the hem of his clothes and stood, about to head down the mountain, only for his steps to stop abruptly.
Boom!
Far away at the foot of the mountain, a muffled shock wave suddenly rumbled through the air.
Tang San's expression changed slightly. He immediately focused, activated his Purple Demon Eye, and looked toward Holy Soul Village.
Above the little village, where cooking smoke had been curling into the air, several immensely powerful surges of Soul Power were now churning.
That was absolutely not a disturbance an ordinary Soul Master could create!
What's going on?
Intense wariness and doubt rose in Tang San's heart.
Holy Soul Village was a remote backwater. Ordinarily, the most important visitor it received was a Spirit Hall deacon coming to preside over the awakening ceremony.
Why would powerful figures be fighting here?
Tang San dared not delay. Shifting his footwork, he darted down the mountain beneath the cover of weeds and trees.
He had just reached the entrance to Holy Soul Village.
Tang San saw a large crowd of villagers huddled behind a distant earthen slope,
each deathly pale and trembling, not even daring to breathe loudly.
The little village, quiet for decades, had never seen such a spectacle.
Everyone had been scared witless and only dared to watch in terror from far away.
Tang San lowered himself, crouching behind a half-collapsed low wall, and cautiously peeked toward the open ground in the village.
A single glance made his pupils constrict sharply.
On the open ground before the smithy, more than a dozen elite Soul Masters wearing matching close-fitting uniforms
had spread into a fan formation, sealing off the entire area so tightly that not even water could seep through.
Seven Soul Rings pulsed around each of those dozen-odd people, their lights intermingling.
It was an elite squad composed entirely of Soul Saints!
And at the very front of those Soul Saints, two figures stood side by side.
Neither had revealed his Soul Rings, yet the terrifying presence they exuded
was even more suffocating than all the Soul Saints behind them combined!
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, Ghost Douluo Gui Mei!
Spirit Hall!
Cold sweat instantly seeped into Tang San's palms, and even his breathing stopped for a moment.
His experience across two lives allowed him to firmly suppress the instinct to rush out.
He knew very well that, with his current body of a five-year-old child,
never mind fighting two Titled Douluos,
even a casual breath from any one of those Soul Saints could easily take his life.
Yet towering waves surged through his mind.
Why had Chrysanthemum and Little Ghost brought Spirit Hall's elites charging into Holy Soul Village?
Could they be here for Dad?
But Dad has lived in seclusion in Holy Soul Village for years, never revealing his abilities. How exactly was his whereabouts exposed?
While Tang San wavered between shock and uncertainty, someone kicked open the smithy's battered wooden door from inside.
Tang Hao staggered out.
His coarse linen clothes were covered in wine stains, and his disheveled hair hung over his shoulders.
Even from far away, the pungent stench of cheap liquor reached them.
Clearly, he had gotten thoroughly drunk again last night; even now, his gaze was unfocused.
Yet the instant the Spirit Hall group's presence locked onto him,
a terrifyingly fierce light suddenly erupted in Tang Hao's clouded eyes!
Boom!
An enormous pitch-black hammer covered in intricate dark patterns materialized out of thin air,
and he held it in one hand.
The savage pressure of a Titled Douluo swept outward like a tangible hurricane,
sending sand and stones flying all around.
Several Soul Saints standing near the front paled and were actually forced half a step backward in unison!
At the sight of that black hammer, the ease on Yue Guan's and Gui Mei's faces vanished instantly, replaced by utter solemnity.
The two of them knew Tang Hao's fearsome reputation better than anyone.
Back then, the previous Pope, Qian Xunji, had personally led two Titled Douluos and a host of powerful Soul Saints to encircle and kill Tang Hao,
only for it to end in the disastrous outcome of two dead and one wounded.
Even though the Tang Hao before them looked like a hopelessly drunken sot,
neither dared show the slightest overconfidence before that Clear Sky Hammer.
The two secretly gathered their Soul Power without rashly seizing the initiative,
instead watching Tang Hao's movements intently, trying to gauge his true condition.