Heading to Nuoding Academy, Encountering Tang San from Holy Soul Village on the Road

"Innate Full Soul Power!"

Old Jack's voice carried from afar before he had even reached the village entrance.

"Our Holy Soul Village has produced a child with Innate Full Soul Power this year!"

The smile on Iron Bamboo Village's old village chief's face froze.

He had just been telling the Li Family Pharmacy's coachman about the strange phenomenon when Dong Jian awakened his Martial Soul, only for Old Jack to shout "Innate Full Soul Power" loudly enough for half the village to hear.

"What's so great about full Soul Power?"

The old village chief straightened his back.

"Our Iron Bamboo Village's Dong Jian shattered the Spirit Hall's crystal during his test!"

Old Jack stopped in his tracks.

"The Soul Power crystal shattered?"

"That belongs to the Spirit Hall. How could it just shatter like that?"

"Plenty of people saw it with their own eyes!"

"Maybe the crystal was already broken."

"If someone with Blue Silver Grass from your Holy Soul Village can have Innate Full Soul Power, why can't our Iron Bamboo Village produce someone even more special?"

The two gray-haired old men seemed decades younger the moment they met, standing at the village entrance and arguing until their faces were red.

Dong Jian did not join in.

His attention remained fixed on the boy beside Old Jack.

Tang San wore cloth clothes washed pale, carried a small bundle on his back, and had shoes with obvious mending marks.

On the outside, he looked little different from an ordinary village child.

But his breaths were long and steady.

With every step, the center of gravity of his body barely rose or fell.

That was not a habit a six-year-old could naturally develop.

Tang San was observing Dong Jian as well.

His gaze swept over Dong Jian's shoulders and hands before settling on his feet.

Dong Jian made no deliberate effort to conceal his steps.

But after completing the first two trials of the Divine Dragon Secret Realm, he had begun instinctively minimizing unnecessary movements when he walked.

His feet landed first.

His knees stayed relaxed.

His body weight shifted smoothly.

Even standing on the uneven dirt road, he barely swayed.

"Have you trained in martial arts?"

Tang San asked suddenly.

Old Jack and Iron Bamboo Village's chief stopped arguing.

Dong Jian looked at Tang San.

This was the first time the two had formally spoken.

"I've spent a few years working iron with my dad."

"Working iron can train your footwork?"

"If you can't stand steady, swinging a hammer will send you toppling."

Dong Jian answered naturally.

It was not exactly a lie.

Dong Shan had indeed taught him basic stances.

But Center of Gravity Perception and Circular Force Redirection had not come from the smithy.

Tang San nodded and asked no further questions.

But the suspicion in his eyes did not completely disappear.

A child trained by an ordinary blacksmith could not have such a stable lower body at the age of six.

Unless Dong Jian's father was no ordinary blacksmith at all.

"It's getting late."

The Li Family Pharmacy's coachman reminded them:

"We still have to reach Nuoding City before dark."

The carriage the Li Family Pharmacy had prepared was not very large.

It was already somewhat cramped with three children inside, so Old Jack and Iron Bamboo Village's chief had to sit up front, squeezed in with the coachman.

Dong Jian sat near the door.

Tang San sat across from him.

Li Man put her medicine chest by her feet, opened her record book, and continued organizing Dong Jian's Soul Power data from the past few days.

The carriage left Iron Bamboo Village.

But the two village chiefs' argument did not end.

"Our Little San's Martial Soul may only be Blue Silver Grass, but he has Innate Full Soul Power."

"Once he obtains his First Soul Ring, he'll be able to become at least a Soul Elder someday!"

Old Jack's voice was full of pride.

Iron Bamboo Village's chief refused to be outdone.

"Even the Spirit Hall's deacon had never seen a bear Martial Soul like Dong Jian's."

"The less anyone's seen it, the more impressive it must be!"

"Maybe no one's seen it because it's a Martial Soul nobody wants."

"Blue Silver Grass is everywhere, though. Why don't you have the grass by the roadside become Soul Masters?"

The two grew louder as they argued.

The coachman could only pretend not to hear.

A trace of helplessness flashed across Tang San's face.

Dong Jian, however, did not laugh.

Old Jack's words seemed like mere boasting, but they confirmed one thing for him.

Tang San had already revealed his Innate Full Soul Power in public.

So once Yu Xiaogang met him, he would very likely, as in the original story, guess that he had Twin Martial Souls from the contradiction between Blue Silver Grass and full Soul Power.

Although the story had changed because of his appearance, it had not yet completely strayed from its original course.

"Why would Blue Silver Grass have Innate Full Soul Power?"

Li Man suddenly looked up.

The carriage fell silent for a moment.

Tang San looked at her.

"Martial Souls and Innate Soul Power don't necessarily correspond perfectly."

"Some ordinary Martial Souls can also have relatively high Innate Soul Power."

"Are there any cases?"

Li Man asked.

Tang San frowned slightly.

"The continent is so vast. There should be."

"'There should be' doesn't count as a case."

Li Man turned to a fresh page in her record book.

"Blue Silver Grass is one of the most common plants on the continent."

"If ordinary Blue Silver Grass could frequently have high Soul Power, the Spirit Hall would surely have complete records of it."

"In your case, either it's a rare mutation."

"Or your Martial Soul isn't ordinary Blue Silver Grass."

Tang San's gaze sharpened slightly.

His right hand moved subconsciously toward his left wrist.

The movement was slight.

But it did not escape Dong Jian's notice.

From the contradiction between his Martial Soul and Soul Power alone, Li Man had already come close to the conclusion Yu Xiaogang would reach in the future.

The difference was that Yu Xiaogang would immediately conclude that Tang San had a Second Martial Soul.

Li Man, however, had only listed two possibilities, drawing no absolute conclusion without evidence.

"My Martial Soul was awakened by a Spirit Hall deacon in person."

Tang San said calmly:

"I don't know yet whether it's a Mutated Martial Soul either."

He did not admit it.

Nor did he offer any further explanation.

Li Man wrote a line in her record book.

Tang San, Blue Silver Grass, Innate Full Soul Power, source of energy in doubt.

Tang San saw her write down his name, and his frown deepened.

"Are you recording information about me?"

"I'm only recording the question."

"It's not very appropriate to record information about someone's Martial Soul without their permission."

"Grandpa Old Jack has already said it three times."

Li Man looked up.

"It's not a secret."

Tang San was at a loss for words for a moment.

Leaning against the carriage, Dong Jian nearly laughed aloud.

Li Man usually did not say much.

But whenever research and logic were involved, she never changed her conclusions just because the other person was unhappy.

The carriage continued onward.

After they left the village area, the road gradually grew bumpy.

At noon, the coachman chose a shortcut across a hillside.

On one side of the sloping road was a rock wall, and on the other was a slope with a drop that was not too high.

Just as the carriage passed a protruding rock, its wheels suddenly jolted violently.

Bang!

The medicine chest by Li Man's feet bounced up.

Its unfastened lid flew open.

Several medicine bottles rolled out of the carriage, falling toward the slope.

"My Soul-Revealing Liquid!"

Li Man immediately reached out.

But the bottles had already left the carriage floor.

The bottle farthest ahead was about to smash against a rock.

Tang San's right hand was hidden beneath his sleeve, his five fingers curling slightly.

A faint force reached across the air and struck the side of the bottle.

The bottle's downward trajectory suddenly changed, shifting an inch toward the carriage.

Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon.

Dong Jian had long been prepared.

He hooked his left foot around the edge of the carriage and leaned out in the direction it tilted.

He did not try to snatch the farthest bottle by force.

Instead, he slapped a palm against the carriage floor.

Using the rebound from the jolting carriage, he extended his upper body another half foot outward.

His right hand caught the bottle just as it changed direction.

Then he lowered his shoulder and twisted his waist.

His whole body rolled back into the carriage with the momentum.

The bottle landed securely in his palm.

Li Man and Tang San caught the other bottles between them.

"None of them broke."

Dong Jian handed the bottle to Li Man.

Li Man checked it and visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"This bottle of Soul-Revealing Liquid is worth five Silver Soul Coins."

"It costs more than Purple Leaf Root?"

"It's more troublesome to make."

Li Man put the bottles away again and carefully fastened the medicine chest.

Tang San, however, was not looking at the chest.

His gaze rested on the carriage floor where Dong Jian had pressed his hand.

Dong Jian's movements looked like nothing more than a quick reaction.

But Tang San knew full well that an ordinary six-year-old could not control his center of gravity so precisely with most of his body leaning out of the carriage.

Dong Jian also looked at Tang San's right hand.

The medicine bottle he had caught had been about to strike a rock.

Yet it had suddenly changed direction in midair.

The wind would not have pushed just one medicine bottle.

Sure enough, Tang San could already use Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon proficiently.

Their eyes briefly met.

Neither exposed the other.

"Thank you for what you did."

Tang San spoke first.

"You helped too."

Dong Jian said.

Their voices were outwardly calm.

But both grew more wary at the same time.

Tang San had thought that, among the nearby villages, he alone had a cultivation foundation far beyond that of his peers.

Dong Jian's appearance had shattered that assumption.

Dong Jian, too, confirmed it once again.

He could never treat the Tang San before him as merely a six-year-old child.

Tang San had memories of his previous life, the Tang Sect Secret Arts, and judgment approaching that of an adult.

Even without a Soul Ring, he remained a dangerous opponent.

By evening, the walls of Nuoding City had appeared at the end of the road.

The two village chiefs had argued all the way, and their voices had grown somewhat hoarse.

As the carriage passed a stretch of woods, a person suddenly appeared ahead, lying by the roadside.

He was a man around thirty years old.

His leather armor was damaged, and three distinct bloody marks ran across his left shoulder.

Hearing the wheels, the man lifted his head with difficulty.

"Help... help me."

The coachman hurriedly pulled on the reins.

"He looks like a Soul Master."

Old Jack prepared to get down and check on him.

But Li Man caught him by the sleeve first.

"Don't go over there."

Old Jack was taken aback.

"He's hurt."

"There's something wrong with the wounds."

Li Man stared at the three bloody marks on the man's shoulder.

"Wounds from a Soul Beast's claws should go from deep to shallow."

"His three wounds are almost the same depth, and the edges are too neat."

"They look like they were made with a tool."

The pained expression on the man's face stiffened slightly.

Only for an instant.

The next moment, he was lying weakly on the ground again.

"I ran into a Netherworld Wolf..."

"I barely managed to escape."

Tang San's right hand had already slipped quietly toward his waist.

Several iron pieces he had prepared before leaving Holy Soul Village were hidden there.

Dong Jian did not immediately release his Martial Soul.

His gaze fell on the man's left cuff.

When the man had raised his hand earlier, a silver badge had been exposed beneath his torn sleeve.

Black and white arcs circled its center.

In the middle was a vertical eye.

The Eye of Liangyi.

Li Man had seen the symbol too.

The last trace of hesitation vanished from her face.

"He's no ordinary Soul Master."

"He's here for us."

The man on the ground slowly raised his head.

His once-feeble gaze had turned icily cold.

"Li Ze's daughter is every bit as troublesome as her father."

As his words fell, his bloodstained right hand slammed against the ground.

A pale Yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet.

At the same time, a flurry of footsteps sounded from the grass on both sides of the road.