3 - Leaving the village

Su Yuntao felt embarrassed to be there at that moment. After saying his goodbyes, he went straight out and planned to return to Notting City. His father and mother naturally went out to see him off politely, while Ye Zhen smiled and ignored them, sitting down on the floor to start thinking.

He was more interested in the three system prompts. What caused such a large gap in negative sentiment values? His parents only had 6 points, Tang San had 66 points, but Su Yuntao had 266 points. Was it because of strength? Ye Zhen furrowed his brow. Judging by the limited information at the moment, this was the only conclusion he could draw.

If that was the case, he needed to find a powerful soul master to acquire their negative emotions to ensure high efficiency. However, there was a risk that he might get slapped to death in the process.

At that moment, Ye Zhen suddenly had a bold and somewhat reckless idea. But being 18-19 years old (in his past life), he didn't think much and decided to act on it.

At noon, after Ye Zhen had lunch, he heard a "Dong!" sound coming from the door next door. If he remembered correctly, Tang Hao was currently teaching Tang San the Mantle Hammer technique.

How could he miss this opportunity? Ye Zhen rushed to the door next door, considering if it was possible to learn the technique.

Tang Hao, the big, fat sheep, didn't show up often, spending most of his time sleeping late or getting drunk. Ye Zhen had to seize the opportunity. He opened the broken wooden door of Tang San's house. As expected, Tang Hao and Tang San were both in front of the casting table at that moment.

Tang San was wielding a hammer and pounding a piece of raw iron the size of a human head, sparks flying everywhere. At this moment, Tang San was not using the Xuan Tian Gong, so he looked a bit tired, sweat dripping from his forehead, and his face was grim.

"Hey, Xiao San, the sun is shining outside and the breeze is nice, how can you waste such a great time hammering iron? Come out with the old man and have some fun." Ye Zhen pretended to be ignorant, teasing Tang San while pulling his shoulder, disrupting his practice.

Tang San:...

Tang Hao:...

[Negative emotion value of Tang San +66...]

[Negative emotion value of Tang Hao +966...]

"Ye Zhen, my father is teaching me blacksmithing skills, I'm busy..." Tang San said helplessly.

Ye Zhen pretended to just notice Tang Hao and said, "I didn't expect Uncle Tang Hao to be here. I wasn't paying attention. Uncle Tang Hao, are you thirsty? I'll get you some tea..." After speaking, Ye Zhen rushed to the table where there was a teapot.

However, it was empty inside. Ye Zhen discovered this as soon as he picked it up but still pretended to pour it out a couple of times, then smiled at Tang Hao with an embarrassed expression on his face.

[Negative emotion value of Tang Hao +966...]

Tang Hao's face was a bit gloomy, but it wasn't easy to get angry with Ye Zhen; even a dignified Title Douluo could endure this level of embarrassment.

Tang Hao could only pretend to be indifferent and said coldly, "No, I'm not thirsty..."

"Oh, oh..." Ye Zhen nodded obediently and then ran back to Tang San, watching with interest.

Tang San began to swing the hammer forcefully, forging the raw iron on the casting table.

The task his father gave him was to forge this large piece of raw iron into a big fist, and he couldn't use his soul power.

This was undoubtedly a difficult process, but Tang San could manage it. The iron was struck with great force, and his small hand holding the hammer trembled slightly from the impact after a long time of forging. The "clang" sound continued for more than ten minutes before Tang San lowered the hammer, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and began to rest.

Ye Zhen waited for ten minutes and finally found an opportunity. If Tang San wasn't looking for negative emotions, it wouldn't make sense.

"Why are you working so hard?" Ye Zhen asked seriously.

Tang San was surprised. Yes, why should he work so hard? Since childhood, he had been diligently practicing the unique learning of the Tang Sect and never stopped. Even now, he was eager to improve his strength.

His father never encouraged him to practice; he was learning everything on his own initiative.

What's the purpose of working so hard? Do you want to revive the Tang Sect in this world? Tang San fell into contemplation for a moment.

Tang Hao was also very interested in this question. He wanted to see how his son would respond but still maintained an indifferent expression.

"I... don't know." After a long time, Tang San shook his head and replied. In fact, Tang San had a goal in his heart, which was to rebuild the Tang Sect on the Douluo Continent. However, it was obviously impossible for him to say such things.

Tang San's words made Tang Hao frown; he was not very satisfied with his son's response.

If it were before, Tang Hao wouldn't have cared about such things. But after Tang San awakened the two spirits of the Clear Sky Hammer and the Blue Silver Grass and planned to embark on the path of a soul master, Tang Hao's attitude changed.

Because of his hostility toward the Spirit Hall, once Tang San's identity was revealed, the road ahead would be difficult. Therefore, Tang Hao hoped that his son could become a powerful soul master at this moment, have his own goals, and work hard to achieve them.

Ye Zhen smiled at the corner of his mouth and said thoughtlessly, "Little San, not knowing what to work for is fine. I know a great man named Lu Xun who once said that hard work might not lead to success, but it will be easy if you don't work hard... Come, come play with me, experience a relaxed and happy life..."

[Negative emotion value of Tang Hao +966...]

[Negative emotion value of Tang Hao +3...]

[Negative emotion value of Tang Hao +5...]

[Negative emotion value of Tang Hao +4...]

....

The system prompt interface continued to roll, and Ye Zhen was surprised to see how many points he had accumulated. The negative emotion value could still be collected like this; it suddenly made him a bit confused, as if he were playing a high-stakes game. Judging by the negative sentiment values, Uncle Tang Hao seemed extremely angry... I hope he doesn't suddenly give me a hammer blow...

"Ye Zhen, this great poet named Lu Xun might not be reliable." Tang San rubbed his forehead. He remembered that Ye Zhen wasn't like this before and shook his head in confusion.

Ye Zhen nodded in agreement but was secretly pleased. Checking the balance, it was a bit over 3400 points.

It looks like I need to keep working hard and accumulating more points.

Ye Zhen's goal is to buy Shukaku, the one-tailed beast from the system shop, to improve his foundation.

Shukaku, one-tailed beast: Can be automatically converted into soul power cultivation base to help the host improve their soul power level. When the soul power reaches a critical value, the energy is used to nourish the body. During battle, if the soul power is exhausted, use its energy as a reserve.

In Ye Zhen's understanding, this was a powerful cheat device. So, undeterred, he continued with his plan to annoy others.

"Xiaosan, didn't you see how vigorous your iron strikes were the other day? What if you end up deficient in calcium!"

Tang San: ???

What is calcium?

"Using soul power and not using soul power has different effects," Tang San explained carefully to Ye Zhen.

"Oh, Xiao San, are you planning to turn into a muscular man like Uncle Tang Hao? That way, you might not have any girls around in the future..." Ye Zhen kindly advised, as if giving the year's best advice.

[Negative emotion value of Tang Hao +966...]

[Negative emotion value of Tang Hao +88...]

[Negative emotion value of Tang Hao +66...]

...

Tang Hao's face was dark, with veins bulging on his forehead. He wanted to give this shameless boy a good beating and show him why flowers were so red. What does it mean that a muscular man like me doesn't like girls? What do you know?

Fearing Tang Hao's anger, Tang San quickly glanced at him and saw his father's face calm, as if he hadn't heard anything. However, if he could hear what he was thinking, he would reconsider staying calm, fearing that his friend might get hammered to death.

Deciding not to risk it, Tang San said, "Ye Zhen, it's better for you to go back now. I need to focus here, so I hope you understand."

Ye Zhen smiled and nodded.

Before leaving, still secretly admiring the situation, he thought that if Tang San were a bit quicker, he would see his father's face nearly exploding with anger. Good luck, Xiao San. If it weren't for you, I'd be leaving here all red-faced.

Upon leaving the village, Ye Zhen observed the accumulation of negative emotions and, soon, his points.

After the initial 88 hours, the accumulation began to decline slowly, indicating that Tang Hao's anger was continuing to weaken as Ye Zhen left.

Balance: 4869...

4924...

4968...

4998...

5010...

"Good job!" Ye Zhen applauded when the balance finally reached 5000. Tang Hao, the big fat sheep, did not disappoint. The negative sentiment value of over 5000 was mostly contributed by him.

"Buy Shukaku." (This book does not calculate the power of the tailed beasts but only the energy contained within their bodies. The more tails, the stronger the energy, and the higher the price.)

NOTE: Dantian is a place where cultivators 'store/accumulate' their energy.

With the deduction of 5000 points, Ye Zhen felt a light ball suddenly appear in his dantian, floating in the center, emitting a soft light. The energy radiating from it made Ye Zhen feel warm, and his entire body seemed to have boundless power.

He felt his foundation improving as Shukaku stabilized within him. He was now innately at a level 20 spiritual power. Without the spirit ring, his spiritual power could not break through. The remaining energy of Shukaku had nowhere to go and was nourishing his body.

Ye Zhen groaned comfortably, feeling as if the cells in his body were like hungry grains of sand, frantically consuming this endless flow of energy to strengthen themselves. The Sharingan, which was originally closed, also opened without him realizing.

Ye Zhen's scarlet pupils, with one tomoe, slowly turned, and next to it, a tiny second tomoe appeared, soon aligning parallel to the first.

At this moment, Ye Zhen felt that his vision had suddenly improved greatly, seeing with more clarity and distance than before. Birds flying high in the sky, he could clearly predict their trajectory, and insects crawling in the grass were visible down to the tiny barbs on their legs.

This is the enhancement of dynamic vision. This ability allows Ye Zhen to more easily capture the trajectory of his opponent's movements in battle, enabling his body to respond in advance.

Ye Zhen had experienced this situation once before, when the Sharingan awakened. Soon realizing this, he ran to the riverbank and looked at his reflection in the water. There had been only one tomoe in his pupil before, but now there were two. They seemed to follow a certain pattern and were rotating slowly, giving an indescribable sense of strangeness.

His martial soul is the Sharingan; originally, Ye Zhen thought he would have to spend points to enhance it. But it seems that as it has become a martial soul, with the enhancement of his body, it naturally 'evolved.' Thus, it is predictable that as his physique grows stronger in the future, he might not need to go to the system shop for upgrades, and the Sharingan could naturally upgrade as it just did.

Of course, if there are enough points, Ye Zhen naturally would not wait like a fool for natural upgrades. In a world like the Douluo Continent, where the strong have everything and the weak have nothing, the faster he reaches the top of the world, the more at ease he can be.

After sitting cross-legged on a large rock outside the village, Ye Zhen began to feel the spiritual power in his body. Although he had an innate level 20 spiritual power, he didn't know how to use it, as all these things were given to him by the system.

Ye Zhen's current state was like a person from his previous life who suddenly got a top-of-the-line car but never had a driver's license. He might have a great advantage but didn't know how to use it.

Ye Zhen was in this strange state. He was full of spiritual power but didn't know how to use it.

This soul power in your body, to master it, you still need to rely on yourself to become familiar with it slowly. At this point, the system cannot assist you.

Ye Zhen attempted to sink his consciousness into his dantian. This step was quite easy. Anyone with soul power in their body could do it effortlessly.

The Dantian Sea, filled with tiny, colorful, granular bodies of light, gathered into a river of starlight, which should be the soul power that Ye Zhen possessed.

At the center was Shukaku, with several 'threads' connecting it to the rest of the dantian. The channels and veins were widening, and the internal organs were becoming more resilient, which Ye Zhen could perceive.

Although the process was slow, the changes over time would be substantial.

Looking at the small, colored points of light, Ye Zhen tried to guide them into the meridians of his right hand with his mind. These tiny points of light were very obedient and quickly penetrated.

Ye Zhen's right hand began to glow, as the spiritual power was visible to the naked eye.

At this moment, Ye Zhen felt his right hand brimming with power, and this power made him want to test how strong and resilient it had become.

Ye Zhen's eyes couldn't help but focus on the flat stone beneath him. He then shaped his right hand into a blade-like form, made a movement, and struck vertically towards the stone.

"Boom!!!"

....

...

....

Time flies, and three days pass. Today is the day Ye Zhen and Tang San head to Junior Notting College.

At the entrance of Soul Sacred Village, Ye Zhen and Tang San carry a small amount of luggage, containing a change of clothes. Behind them, Ye's father and mother accompany them. Liu Qingqing touches Ye Zhen's little head, a bit sad, with red eyes.

"Little chick, you need to be obedient at school and not be mischievous, okay? If you don't have enough money, remember to write a letter home, and I'll send you some."

Ye Zhen looks at Tang San's strange eyes, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Ye Zhen really doesn't need to worry about money; if he needs it, he can just gamble with the college's nobles. With their arrogance, it's easy to make a profit.

"Don't worry, Mom, your son will be fine…" Ye Zhen smiled brightly, not wanting the farewell to be too sad. Soon, the village chief, Jack, arrived.

Today, the old village chief Jack is dressed in a new set of clothes and looks much more presentable.

"Don't worry! These two children are smart. Let's just hope they don't intimidate others at Notting College." Old Jack waved his hand to Ye's parents in farewell.

"Let's go," Old Jack called to Ye Zhen and Tang San.

Tang San looked back at Soul Sacred Village with a slightly sad expression.

"Little San, don't look back. Your drunk father is probably still asleep and won't come to see you off… Let's go." Old Jack gave another order and moved forward.

Ye Zhen sighed lightly, dragged Tang San to follow, and waved goodbye to his parents behind him. The soft sunlight bathed the three of them.

In the distance, a burly figure sat on a thick tree branch, silently watching the three of them. As the three walked along the road, Tang San turned his head and looked at the village from time to time, but in the end, he didn't see the figure he had hoped for.

"Little San, don't worry about your drunk father. He'll be fine and might even become more responsible now." Old Jack patted Tang San's head with a smile.

"Maybe…" Tang San answered quietly.

"You have to learn from Xiaozhen. Look at him; he's like a dog seeing a piece of meat." Old Jack pointed at Ye Zhen beside him, smiling and stroking his beard.

Ye Zhen rolled his eyes upon hearing this. You're the dog. Your whole family is dogs. Have you ever seen a dog as handsome as me?

"I really envy Zhen. His parents are so kind to him…" Tang San expressed his true feelings and felt a bit uncomfortable thinking about Tang Hao.

Ye Zhen raised the corner of his mouth, patted Tang San on the shoulder, and said, "Little San, you shouldn't envy such things. In fact, don't look at how my parents are kind to me…" Ye Zhen suddenly stopped, tilting his head as if in memory.

Tang San was curious. Were Zhen's parents not good to him? After all, I've seen him getting beaten several times.

"And…?" Tang San asked.

Ye Zhen was secretly pleased. "So? In fact, secretly… my parents are even better to me! They secretly stuffed some silver coins in my pocket just now."

Ye Zhen deliberately took out some Silver Soul Coins and tossed them, shaking his head pretentiously. "My parents are really good parents!"

Tang San and Old Jack, the village chief, both looked somewhat envious—one of the parents and the other of the money. The unexpected show was really worth it.

[Added 66 to Tang San's negative emotion value…]

[Added 6 to Jack's negative emotion value…]

Looking at Ye Zhen's ostentatious appearance, not only did Tang San want to hit him, but even Old Jack, a seventy-year-old village chief, felt an itch in his right hand at that moment and wanted to meet Ye Zhen's smiling face.

But after Ye Zhen's display, the sadness of the farewell diminished significantly. The atmosphere along the way became much more lively, and Tang San's mood gradually returned to normal.

"Little San, Little Zhen. Let me tell you about the school so you understand when you get there." Old Jack adjusted his clothes and stroked his beard, also looking wise.

"Before I say that, Zhen and San, you both have to thank Master Su Yuntao. Originally, there was only one study and work student from our village. Master Su Yuntao saw that Zhen was well rewarded, so he helped our village with an extra spot."

"Grandpa Jack, what is a study-work student?" Tang San asked suspiciously.

Old Jack smiled, "Study-work students are exempt from tuition and accommodation fees and only need to pay for their own meals. After all, many poor people like us can't afford the college tuition. This is a preferential policy for us common folk at these schools. Of course, study-work students also need to do some simple work at the college to pay, like cleaning the classroom."

Tang San nodded after hearing this.

Old Jack continued to explain: "The academy is divided into junior, intermediate, and senior levels. To graduate from junior academy, you need to have spiritual power of level ten and obtain the first spirit ring. So, I'm not worried; both of you are monsters with innate soul power. Graduating from the Junior College should be easy. As for the Intermediate Soul Master College, the graduation requirements are much tougher."

Old Jack held up two fingers: "You need to reach level 20 of spiritual power, obtain a second spirit ring, and achieve the title of Grandmaster Spirit to graduate."

Ye Zhen thought, 'Maybe it was really difficult before the system, but now? I could do it with my eyes closed.'

"And what about the Senior Soul Master Academy? What are the graduation requirements?" Tang San asked.

"Advanced?"

Old Jack was stunned and sighed: "The Senior Soul Master Academy is not something that ordinary people like us can handle. It's very difficult to get in, and I don't know much. I only know that the teachers are all geniuses sponsored by various forces, and our Sky Dou Empire also grants them noble titles." Saying this, Old Jack looked a bit nostalgic.

Ye Zhen smiled disdainfully. What use is that? It's nothing more than a blank check given by the empire to attract talent. None of these powerful people take aristocratic matters seriously.

On the Douluo Continent, strength is supreme. The rest is just talk.