Chapter 23: The Soul Master Academy that Only Recruits Monsters
Chapter 23: The Soul Master Academy that Only Recruits Monsters
Su Mo was quite fortunate. When he arrived at the blacksmith shop where Tang San worked, Tang San happened to be there.
"Tang San!"
Su Mo walked up to Tang San's forging table.
"Su Mo, what brings you here?"
Tang San looked up and, seeing that it was Su Mo, asked in surprise.
"I'm here to order a spear, and I didn't expect you to be here, Tang San!"
"Since we're classmates, I'll place my order with you. It's a way of supporting a fellow student!"
Su Mo smiled as he spoke to Tang San.
Regardless of whether Tang San wanted to take on Su Mo's order, hearing Su Mo's words made Tang San feel a greater sense of camaraderie. "What kind of spear do you want? I'll do my best to make it for you!"
"I want a spear, and I want it forged using the best materials you have here."
"As for the design, just make it look like my current Soul-Hunting Spear."
After stating his requirements, Su Mo also summoned his Soul-Hunting Spear.
"Using the best materials, huh?"
"This shop does have a bit of Xuan Iron, but not much. It can only be used to forge the spearhead, and the spear shaft will have to be made of refined iron."
"But if we do it this way, the price will be relatively high—it'll cost 5 gold soul coins!"
Tang San immediately replied after hearing Su Mo's request.
"No problem. How long will it take to complete?"
Su Mo responded without hesitation.
It seemed that there really weren't any good materials available in Nuoding City, which actually suited Su Mo just fine—better materials would have been beyond his budget.
"You can pick it up tomorrow!"
Tang San confidently replied.
And so, Su Mo ordered a spear from Tang San.
The next day, when he received the finished product, Su Mo was quite taken with it. Compared to his previous iron spear, it was indeed much stronger.
After fusing the Soul-Hunting Spear with it, its power significantly increased.
A spear that could integrate with his martial soul was the weapon Su Mo was most satisfied with.
Su Mo had a theory about why the power of his previous iron spear decreased after it completely fused with his martial soul.
The original iron spear was likely absorbed by the martial soul, promoting its evolution and becoming part of it.
And the martial soul, at its core, is just a manifestation of soul power, not a tangible object, which weakened its power or penetration.
Only when soul power reaches the level of soul armor does it no longer need to fuse with a physical weapon.
For example, the Sea God's Trident left by the Sea God—that was manifested from the Sea God's soul power as armor, and no metal material could surpass it.
After obtaining the Xuan Iron Spear, Su Mo finally set off for the Soul-Hunting Forest.
Given the option to hunt in the Soul-Hunting Forest, Su Mo still didn't want to venture into the wild spirit beast forests.
However, spirit beasts in the forest controlled by the Spirit Hall with a thousand years of cultivation were relatively rare, so whether or not he could find one would depend on luck.
"Su Mo, have you thought about where you want to go after graduating from the primary soul master academy?"
On the way to the Soul-Hunting Forest, Bibi Dong emerged from Su Mo's body and casually asked him.
Hearing this, Su Mo glanced at Bibi Dong. She wasn't calling him "little one" anymore?
He also wondered in his heart, why was Bibi Dong asking this?
"Goddess Sister, I haven't really thought about it. I'm not even sure if I want to continue studying at a soul master academy!"
"Because I've realized there's not much the academy can teach me. With you guiding me, that's more than enough!"
Not understanding why Bibi Dong asked this question, Su Mo answered casually.
This was indeed one of Su Mo's thoughts—he was somewhat reluctant to continue at a soul master academy.
However, he was also a bit eager for the Soul Master Tournament that would take place in a few years. Who wouldn't want to showcase themselves?
Let's not forget that Su Mo was a big influencer in his previous life!
If he didn't join a soul master academy, he wouldn't be able to participate.
"Of course you need to enter a soul master academy!"
"Only by entering a soul master academy can you participate in the Soul Master Tournament in a few years, which is the aspiration of every soul master!"
"I know of an academy you could consider checking out!"
Hearing Su Mo's response, Bibi Dong immediately said, "Shrek Academy."
Su Mo's heart stirred, and he pretended to be curious as he asked further, "What kind of academy is that?"
"Shrek Academy is a soul master academy that only recruits monsters. Ordinary students aren't accepted there—the admission criteria are extremely stringent!"
As expected, the answer Bibi Dong gave was exactly what Su Mo had guessed.
Why would Bibi Dong want him to join Shrek Academy? Was it to preemptively kill Tang San and nip him in the bud? Or was it simply to have more opportunities to see Yu Xiaogang again?
Based on Bibi Dong's past behavior, Su Mo thought the second possibility was more likely.
After all, Bibi Dong, who resided within him, had never shown any intention of preemptively killing Tang San. Instead, her desire to pursue Yu Xiaogang was more evident.
In the first few years, Su Mo hadn't noticed Bibi Dong sneaking out of his martial soul space. But three years ago, after Su Mo advanced to a soul master, he began to sense Bibi Dong's consciousness secretly leaving his side.
Su Mo had simply chosen not to expose her.
"Is there really such an academy?"
"Then I must go and see it for myself!"
After realizing what was going on, Su Mo outwardly displayed a keen interest.
Going to Shrek Academy was also one of Su Mo's original plans.
He wanted to intercept the immortal herbs; if he couldn't take them himself, he would at least stop Tang San from obtaining them.
In Su Mo's view, the biggest cheat in the Douluo world was actually those immortal herbs.
Without those herbs, the Shrek Seven Monsters wouldn't have achieved the feats described in the original story.
Whether Tang San could even undergo the Sea God's inheritance trials would also be in doubt.
It's important to remember that Tang San was chosen by the Sea God not just because of his unexpected acquisition of the Sea God's Heart, but also because the immortal herbs had elevated his talent to its peak.
Therefore, Su Mo wanted to seize those herbs for himself.
Even though Su Mo had now found a way to evolve his martial soul through weapon fusion, who wouldn't want those immortal herbs if they could get them?
Why go through the pain of struggling when you could comfortably enhance your power?
However, intercepting the herbs seemed difficult to Su Mo.
Poison Douluo wasn't someone easy to approach, especially given Su Mo's current lack of strength.
But if intercepting wasn't feasible, stopping Tang San from obtaining the herbs would be much easier, Su Mo thought.
Joining Shrek Academy and finding a way to prevent the Shrek Seven Monsters from encountering the Heaven Dou Imperial Team in the Battle Arena would do the trick.
But that wasn't entirely foolproof. After all, they might still meet during the Soul Master Tournament later on, which could cause Dugu Yan to become curious about Tang San.
So the solution Su Mo thought of was to dispel Dugu Yan's curiosity.
Simply teaching Dugu Yan a small trick, like burning realgar wine to dispel snake venomous mist, would suffice.
As long as Dugu Yan didn't become curious about Tang San, Poison Douluo wouldn't pay attention to him, and the situation where Poison Douluo kidnaps Tang San wouldn't arise.
If Tang San wasn't kidnapped, he wouldn't discover the immortal herbs, which would remain under Poison Douluo's control.
Su Mo just needed to wait until he was strong enough to find a way to obtain them from Poison Douluo.
Until then, no one else should get them.
Su Mo didn't need Tang San to gather all the immortal herbs and then offer him one.
Su Mo had also considered going to Spirit Hall, but later decided against it because he was afraid.
With his talent, unless he revealed his self-created techniques, he wouldn't gain attention in Spirit Hall.
And he also feared meeting the current Pope, Bibi Dong. Who knew what would happen if the Bibi Dong within him encountered the Pope Bibi Dong?
Bibi Dong might ask the Pope to help her separate from him. If it was a peaceful separation, that would be fine, but what if they decided to kill him to achieve it?
Even if they later realized that killing him wouldn't work, who could guarantee that the Pope wouldn't feel insulted by the idea of her future self being bound to Su Mo, leading her to kill him and destroy the Bibi Dong within him?
A crazy woman—no one could predict what she might do.
...
(End of the Chapter)
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