According to the original story, Tang San and his father, Tang Hao, should currently be living in Holy Soul Village.
Holy Soul Village lay south of Nuoding City in Fasinuo Province on the Douluo Continent and belonged to the Heaven Dou Empire. It was a small village with just over three hundred households.
Yu Tianheng rode a swift horse there alone.
It took him nearly half a month to arrive, but he did not enter Holy Soul Village directly. Instead, he stayed in Nuoding City.
Nuoding City was not considered a major city in Fasinuo Province. It was only a small city, with one Soul Master Academy: Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.
It was worth mentioning that, according to the original story, Yu Xiaogang should be sponging off that academy right now.
After his Martial Soul Awakening, Tang San would come to this Soul Master Academy to study for six years. When his cultivation reached rank 29, Yu Xiaogang would recommend that he continue his studies at Shrek Academy.
But because of Yu Tianheng's interference, Yu Xiaogang had not come to Nuoding Academy. Presumably, he was currently somewhere on the continent, diligently cultivating the Martial Dao.
After arriving in Nuoding City, Yu Tianheng immediately headed for Nuoding Academy in the city center.
Clad in close-fitting black clothes and wearing a conical bamboo hat that concealed his face completely, he strode through Nuoding Academy's gates, his posture straight. Inside the academy, students gathered in twos and threes, chatting or playing around, and his appearance instantly drew everyone's attention.
Yu Tianheng paid no heed to the curious gazes cast his way. He walked straight toward the teaching building, but on the way, a man who looked like a teacher stepped forward to stop him, his expression wary. "Who are you? Why have you barged into the academy?"
Yu Tianheng raised an eyebrow slightly, and the Soul Power around him instantly surged. Three Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, and purple-rose from beneath his feet, shining brilliantly. In an instant, an uproar broke out around him. The students cried out in amazement, and the teacher's eyes widened, his face full of shock.
A three-ring Soul Elder!
This man was actually a three-ring Soul Elder! With that level of cultivation, he could practically walk sideways through Nuoding City. Even the dean of Nuoding Academy and the city lord of Nuoding City were only at that level, and their third Soul Rings were merely Hundred-Year Soul Rings, far inferior to this man's Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Yu Tianheng withdrew his Soul Rings and spoke calmly. "I want to see your dean. I have an important matter to discuss with him." His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority. The teacher came to his senses and nodded hurriedly. "P-please wait a moment. I'll go inform him right away." With that, he hurried off toward the office building.
Before long, the teacher returned at a brisk pace and said respectfully, "Please follow me. The dean is waiting for you in his office." Yu Tianheng nodded slightly and followed, silently considering how to broach the subject when he met the dean.
As he pondered, the dean of Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy arrived. He was a slightly plump middle-aged man with a small mustache in two tufts.
"I am Li Nuo, the current dean of Nuoding Academy. May I ask how I should address you?"
Li Nuo's manner was very respectful.
Yu Tianheng lowered his voice. "Dean Li, I came here hoping you could do me a favor."
"Oh? What favor?" Li Nuo asked.
Yu Tianheng said, "Before long, a student named Tang San will come to Nuoding Academy to study. His Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass. Although the quality of his Martial Soul is poor, his talent is considerable. I hope your academy will nurture him well. However, it would be best not to be too deliberate about it at first. Don't let him notice anything amiss."
"After his six years of study are over, I hope your academy can introduce him to an intermediate or advanced Soul Master Academy over in the Star Luo Empire."
Through his recent observations, Yu Tianheng had discovered that Nuoding City was close to the border with the Star Luo Empire and was one of the starting points for trade between merchants of the two great empires. According to the plot of the original story, Tang San would remain within the Heaven Dou Empire after his six years of study. Now, Yu Tianheng had to find a way to get Tang San over to the Star Luo Empire.
Listening to Yu Tianheng, Li Nuo looked troubled and was just about to say something, but Yu Tianheng acted first.
Yu Tianheng took a gleaming gold card from his robes and idly turned it in his hand. "Dean Li, rest assured, I won't ask you to help for nothing. There are ten thousand Gold Soul Coins on this card. As long as you agree to do me this small favor, it's yours."
Hearing "ten thousand Gold Soul Coins," Li Nuo's pupils contracted sharply, and his breathing quickened. Ten thousand Gold Soul Coins was no small sum. He had worked himself to the bone saving for most of his life and had only managed to amass five or six thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Now, all he had to do was agree to the request of the man before him, and he would get ten thousand for nothing.
To be honest, he was a little tempted.
Li Nuo thought it over carefully and realized it was not a difficult task. Wasn't it just nurturing a student? Within the academy, wasn't that something he could accomplish with a single word? He nodded and agreed. "All right, I'll instruct someone to take care of it."
"Very good." Yu Tianheng nodded in satisfaction and handed Li Nuo the gold card.
Then he rose to take his leave.
Suddenly, he remembered that after dealing with Tang San, there was still Xiao Wu. She also seemed to have studied at Nuoding Academy in the original story.
So he added, "Oh, right, there's one more thing. A girl named Xiao Wu will also come to your Nuoding Academy. Her Martial Soul is the Soft Bone Rabbit. If she comes, please notify me immediately. Here is my address." As he spoke, he told Li Nuo where he was staying in Nuoding City.
Li Nuo agreed at once.
Yu Tianheng then left the academy and returned to his residence in Nuoding City to await the result.
Several days later, Li Nuo sent someone to deliver a message: the person he was looking for had arrived.
Yu Tianheng went over immediately.
By now, the protagonist Tang San had completed his Martial Soul Awakening and joined Nuoding Academy as a work-study student. His cultivation was still very weak; he had not even obtained his first Soul Ring. If Yu Tianheng wanted to, he could crush him to death as easily as an ant.
But Yu Tianheng could not do that, because Tang San was no ordinary person. He had a powerful backer behind him.
Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao's cultivation was at least above rank 96, and his ninth Soul Ring was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. His combat strength was formidable. Even Yu Yuanzhen, Yu Tianheng's greatest backer at present, could not defeat Tang Hao right now.
Presumably, Tang Hao was hiding in the shadows at this very moment, secretly watching Tang San's every move. Anyone who dared make a move against Tang San would be finished.
Although Yu Tianheng badly wanted to kill Tang San, this child of fortune of the Douluo Continent, right now, reap a huge number of Heavenly Mandate Points, eliminate his fated enemy, and claim all the future glory for himself, he could not do it. If he did, he would die.
So Yu Tianheng could only act as though Tang San did not exist at all and went to the dean's office to meet Xiao Wu.
Inside the dean's office at Nuoding Academy, a little girl in a pink dress sat on a leather sofa, without the slightest trace of panic in her eyes.
Yu Tianheng pushed open the doors to the dean's office and finally met the heroine of the original story.
"Hello, Xiao Wu!" Yu Tianheng sat down opposite Xiao Wu and spoke first.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" A puzzled look appeared on Xiao Wu's face.