The constant feeling of being watched is unnerving, especially when you don't know if the observer intends to kill you.
Dawn had just broken on the eastern horizon, slipping through the gaps of the dense trees behind Nuoding Academy's forest. Morning dew still hung heavy on the leaves, soaking the ground with a bone-chilling cold. Silence enveloped the area, broken only by the rustle of wind occasionally stirring dry twigs. This was the location where we previously tested our strength with Grandmaster—a wide open area surrounded by trees, secluded enough that almost no students came here.
I quietly observed the blue plant I had just created using Shroud Flora, pondering what made Tang Hao suspect me.
Manipulating Tang Hao should have been an easy job, considering I am his son and his only hope to return to the clan and avenge himself. Did I underestimate the instincts of a Titled Douluo? Or was there an unexpected reaction that triggered his old wounds?
I glanced at the HUD. I had 24 credits. That amount was enough to buy a tier 5 companion, but it wouldn't be sufficient to face a Titled Douluo. How did I know? Because all Titled Douluo in the catalog were listed at tier 6. To buy a tier 6 item, I would have to sell some Talents—a desperate measure, as the selling price was only ninety percent of the purchase price.
Suffering an unrecoverable loss is frustrating. No, selling Talents must be the last resort. Besides, Tang Hao wouldn't kill me that easily. The original Tang San had behaved strangely since childhood, yet Tang Hao ignored it and continued to regard him as his son. All of that was due to his own ambition for revenge and restoring his name to the Clear Sky Clan. As long as I didn't threaten his ambitions, he wouldn't kill me.
Once that thought became clear, the pressure in my chest eased slightly. I let out a long breath, then looked back at the Blue Silver Grass, now almost unrecognizable aside from its blue color. This was a Blue Silver Tomato I made using Shroud Flora. Genetically, it might be ninety percent the same as Blue Silver Grass, but physically it was very different.
I plucked a red fruit directly from the plant. If you ignored the blue leaves and stem, you would think it was an ordinary tomato. Without a second thought, I ate the fruit raw. The taste was a bit vile but acceptable, far better than the withered tomatoes I got from the kitchen.
Incredible. I thought it would take longer, but Inspired Inventor proved to also help me understand how plants work. With Shroud Flora, I could create any plant I wanted as long as it was a common variety. For spirit plants or natural treasures, greater effort was required.
I threw the half-eaten tomato onto the ground, where it quickly took root, grew into a new plant, and bore fruit. Only then did I move to leave, abandoning a field now filled with blue plants, from ordinary Blue Silver Grass to beautiful blue and white flowers.
Under the shade of the towering old trees, the expanse of blue plants seemed to glow softly in the dawn light. The air felt fresher, carrying a faint sweet scent from the flowers. The scene looked like a blue oasis in the middle of a wild forest.
At this hour, the original Tang San would definitely be on the roof absorbing Purple Qi from the morning sun. However, I didn't need to do that, so I had plenty of free time. After returning to the dormitory, I saw Xiao Wu still fast asleep.
Her small face looked peaceful, her messy long hair covering the pillow. Her nose twitched occasionally, reminding me of a dreaming rabbit. The blanket was already piled up at the foot of the bed, proof of how restless she was when sleeping.
I approached and shook her shoulder gently.
"Xiao Wu, wake up. The sun is high."
She groaned slightly, pulling the pillow to cover her face, trying to ignore my call for a few extra minutes in dreamland.
I pulled the blanket piled at her feet. "Xiao Wu, if you don't wake up now, we'll be late for breakfast."
She finally lowered the pillow, looking at me with half-closed eyes still heavy with sleep. "San-ge... it's still too early," she mumbled in a hoarse voice typical of someone just waking up. She yawned widely, sitting up slowly while rubbing her eyes.
I suppressed a smile. "If you don't get up, you'll miss breakfast."
Hearing the word 'breakfast', Xiao Wu's eyes suddenly flew open. "Breakfast? Why didn't you say so earlier!"
She jumped out of bed with incredible agility, as if her drowsiness had evaporated instantly. Without caring about her still messy hair, she grabbed her toiletries.
"Wait for me, San-ge! Don't you dare leave without me!" she shouted while running towards the bathroom.
I could only shake my head at her behavior. Even though she was a transformed hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beast, her childish nature sometimes made me forget her true identity.
A few minutes later, after telling Wang Sheng that we were leaving early, we walked towards the canteen. The fresh morning air greeted us as we crossed the dormitory corridor. Xiao Wu walked lightly beside me, occasionally skipping.
"San-ge, will Grandmaster give more training today?" she asked, turning to me.
"I don't know. Yesterday Teacher said he was going to look for help to hunt for spirit rings." Xiao Wu's face scrunched up, but she didn't comment further.
The academy atmosphere was still shrouded in thin mist creeping between the sturdy stone buildings. The cold dawn air greeted my skin, bringing the scent of wet earth and fresh dew. In the distance, some senior students began to appear, doing light physical exercises on the field. The sound of their rhythmic footsteps broke the morning silence. The golden light of the sun began to peek from behind the horizon, illuminating the dew drops on the green grass along the path, making the whole academy area look calm but starting to pulse with new life.
I wanted to continue enjoying this peace, but the sound of footsteps behind us made me sigh. Xiao Wu also realized their presence and immediately turned around. Her previously cheerful face instantly turned sullen.
Xiao Wu immediately dropped into a stance. "You guys again? Wasn't yesterday enough? Don't expect me to spare you like San-ge!"
Liu Long raised both his hands. "Wait!"
However, Xiao Wu didn't give him a chance. Her body shot forward with a speed difficult to follow with the naked eye. Before Liu Long could finish his sentence, Xiao Wu's foot had landed squarely on his chest, sending him bouncing back and crashing into his friends.
"Ouch! Wait, we came to apologize!" shouted Liu Long, clutching his tight chest with a face grimacing in pain.
Xiao Wu landed gracefully, but her eyes still flashed sharply. "Apologize? After what you did yesterday? Don't expect it to be that easy!"
She moved again, delivering a spinning kick that knocked down two others before they could react. The sound of thuds and groans of pain filled the previously quiet corridor.
I stepped forward and held Xiao Wu's shoulder before she really sent them to the infirmary. "Stop, Xiao Wu."
Xiao Wu snorted, then crossed her arms over her chest. "San-ge, they deserve it!"
Liu Long, who was now sitting on the ground trembling, hurriedly turned to the boy behind him and nodded a signal. "I... I really apologize! My behavior yesterday was inappropriate for a noble like me. This is a Hundred Year Ginseng, very suitable for increasing spirit power and body strength. It's a gift from my father."
The boy behind him stepped forward, holding out a wooden box. Xiao Wu glanced at the box and her anger subsided slightly.
So he really came to apologize? I glanced at the HUD, making sure I was really in Douluo Dalu, not another world. I breathed a sigh of relief seeing the location indicator still showing the Douluo Continent.
Before I could say anything, Xiao Wu had already snatched the box and opened it. Her drool almost dripped seeing its contents.
I patted Xiao Wu's head, then glanced at Liu Long and his friends. "Convey my thanks to the City Lord. Meet me this afternoon. Now leave."
"Sure! We understand!" Liu Long and his friends immediately got up and ran away in a hurry, ignoring the pain in their bodies.
Watching them leave, Xiao Wu turned to me with a question mark. "Why do you want to meet them again?"
I looked into her eyes. "Xiao Wu, you have to remember this. The greatest quality of a human is the ability to change and adapt. If we want to survive in this world, we must learn to adjust to the environment and the people around us." I glanced at the escaping children.
Some of my plans needed to be executed much earlier than the original schedule because of Tang Hao's unexpected actions. However, the final goal hadn't changed. I just had to use what I had at the moment.
Xiao Wu nodded in understanding, then looked at me with a questioning gaze. "So, what will we do now?"
I took the box from Xiao Wu's hands. "Let's go to the canteen kitchen. We can ask the school chef to cook something for us with this." Honestly, I didn't care much about a ginseng only hundreds of years old.
We walked along the stone path that split the academy area towards Grandmaster's residence. The increasingly warm morning sunlight began to evaporate the remnants of the mist, creating a brighter and more vibrant atmosphere. Along the corridor, we passed lines of students walking hurriedly towards the canteen. The sound of footsteps and their light chatter broke the morning silence. Xiao Wu walked beside me with a cheerful step, occasionally glancing at the wooden box in her hands with a twinkle in her eyes that couldn't be hidden.
Nuoding could barely be called a city. Its location on the border made both the kingdom and the empire reluctant to pay attention to it. Plus, although the Fasinuo Province bordered the sea, there were no maritime trade routes because in this world, the ocean was the most dangerous zone full of high-level spirit beasts. Calling this city a backwater wasn't wrong.
However, this city was clearly far more advanced than an ordinary medieval city. All of that was thanks to the fact that everyone could awaken a Martial Soul. Even if someone had no soul power and couldn't cultivate, just having a Martial Soul made life easier. Someone with a knife Martial Soul could become a butcher, an owner of an axe Martial Soul could become a carpenter, and an owner of a hoe Martial Soul could become a farmer.
Later, after Spirit Hall is destroyed by the Sea God, only then will the common people truly suffer. That is what happens in the canon timeline twenty thousand years later, where awakening a Martial Soul can only be done by nobles because the cost for awakening is too expensive for commoners.
A child in a Nuoding Academy uniform was walking on a stone path in the middle of the city. An ordinary sight, if not for his striking appearance. However, he didn't care about the people around him.
As people were drawn to his presence, in an unseen corner, a light blue plant began to grow. The same thing kept repeating on every road he passed. The entire city was secretly being mapped by Blue Silver Grass without anyone realizing.