Chapter 3

Eyes closed, then opened—the next day arrived.

Wang Xiaofeng, still lying in bed, had no idea that danger was quietly approaching.

"Ahh!"

A sudden chill crept into Wang Xiaofeng's body from his neck.

"What the hell? (?д??)"

Still groggy, his body reacted before his brain did—he instinctively jumped up from the bed.

Crack!

He fell straight onto the floor.

"Hahaha (?w?)" Wang Daniu wiped the water off his hands onto his clothes, his face full of excitement from a successful prank. "Xiaofeng, get up! Time for training."

"Father, it's not even daylight yet..." Wang Xiaofeng rubbed his aching backside and looked at Wang Daniu with a speechless expression.

The sky outside the window was still dim, but a faint light was emerging. It seemed that the villagers, who were preparing for a day of chopping wood and plowing the fields, were already making breakfast.

"Didn't you promise to start training today?" Wang Daniu ignored Wang Xiaofeng's resentful look. "Since it's your first day, we have to start strong!"

"Get up quickly. We'll leave after breakfast." He patted Wang Xiaofeng on the head before walking out of the room.

Wang Xiaofeng muttered, "If he keeps patting my head like this, what if I never grow taller?" But he quickly tidied up his room and went to the living room for breakfast with his parents.

After breakfast, Wang Xiaofeng pushed a small cart that was supposedly passed down from his ancestors, following behind Wang Daniu toward the village entrance.

The village entrance was bustling, with over a dozen people already gathered there.

"Daniu, are you starting your ancestral training method again this year?"

"Da Niu, I keep telling you—your training method is useless! You got those two century-old soul rings purely by luck."

As soon as the middle-aged villagers saw Wang Daniu and Wang Xiaofeng pushing the small cart, they immediately started shouting.

Annoyed, Wang Daniu snapped back, arguing that becoming a soul master wasn't just about luck—it required strength! His words, though, quickly became an incoherent mix of explanations and bragging, filling the air with laughter.

Wang Xiaofeng, standing to the side, was utterly confused. He really had no idea how his father got those two century-old soul rings. Every time he asked, Wang Daniu would change the subject, and eventually, Xiaofeng just stopped asking.

But now, curiosity gnawed at him again. With Wang Daniu busy arguing, Wang Xiaofeng secretly turned to a middle-aged man who was watching the commotion.

"Uncle Wang, what exactly is up with my dad's soul rings?"

Uncle Wang, still enjoying the scene, chuckled. "Oh, it's nothing special. It's just that your father's soul rings were purely a stroke of luck."

"His first soul ring? He got it while helping the village reclaim land. He just happened to dig up a century-old Blue Silver Grass with his hoe. Since he was stuck at level 10, everyone encouraged him to absorb it."

"The second one? Same thing! There was a bamboo forest to the east of the village, and we were cutting bamboo to clear land. He happened to chop down a huge stalk, and boom—a century-old soul ring appeared!"

Uncle Wang looked envious. "Just at that time, your dad had reached level 20, so he absorbed the soul ring and became a Great Soul Master."

Wang Xiaofeng stared at his father in shock. This man must be the protagonist of a novel or something... otherwise, how is his luck this ridiculous?

Meanwhile, Wang Daniu finally shooed away the villagers. "Alright, alright! I'm obviously strong! Luck was only a small part of it!" He turned to Wang Xiaofeng. "Let's go. They're coming to the woods too."

As the sun gradually rose, Wang Xiaofeng followed the group to the edge of the forest.

"This is... insane," he muttered, looking up at the towering trees—more than ten meters tall, so thick that two adults together could barely wrap their arms around them. And this was just the outer area!

Then he looked at his tiny cart.

Wang Daniu laughed at his son's expression and ignored his exasperated eye-roll. "Alright, let's get started!" he called out to the group before turning to Xiaofeng. "Your goal today is to collect three catties of firewood." He handed the boy a hatchet.

Wang Xiaofeng looked at the hatchet—almost half his height—and fell silent. ?_?

"I'm only three years old, barely a meter tall... How am I supposed to chop three catties of firewood? I don't even have the strength to carry it back!"

But a problem always has a solution!

Since the goal was simply to transport three catties of firewood and not necessarily to chop it himself, Wang Xiaofeng quickly came up with a plan. (づ￣? 3￣)づ

He wandered through the woods, picking up small branches and sticks here and there. Within no time, he had gathered three catties of firewood—without even breaking a sweat.

Wang Daniu was delighted. "Smart! A soul master needs brains, too. It's tough for simple-minded people to survive in Douluo Dalu."

But since it was still early, there was no point in heading back just yet. "Since you have free time, help the uncles stack their firewood. It'll make it easier to carry later," he said from atop a fallen tree.

Wang Xiaofeng, who had just finished loading his three catties onto the cart and was ready to relax, froze. He turned to his father with deep resentment.

But Wang Daniu was immune to Xiaofeng's death glare, so the boy had no choice but to obediently start stacking firewood. ?^?

As the sun climbed higher, the temperature rose. The cool morning breeze was gone, replaced by sweltering heat.

"It's about time. Everyone, pack up! Let's head back," Wang Daniu finally called out.

A group of villagers gathered, hoisting firewood onto their backs, and started the journey home.

At the rear of the group, a small figure struggled to keep up.

Wang Xiaofeng felt like his arms were going to fall off. Even though he had slacked off while stacking firewood, he was still a three-year-old child dragging a three-catty cart under the hot sun.

His whole body screamed at him to stop. "Just let go of the cart! Take a break already! ヽ(≧Д≦)ノ"

Of course, that was just exhaustion talking.

A tall figure cast a shadow over him. "Are you sure you can keep going? If not, I'll carry you back."

Wang Xiaofeng snapped back to reality. "You just want to laugh at me, don't you? I—I can do it!"

Only then did he notice that Wang Daniu was holding several large, rooster-sized rabbits.

"Those are... Bouncy Rabbits?" Wang Xiaofeng's eyes widened as he looked at the creatures bound tightly with Blue Silver Grass.

"Yep, that's the Bouncy Rabbit you always eat. Even though it's not strong enough to provide a soul ring, it still technically counts as a soul beast," Wang Daniu explained.

"My first soul skill, Entanglement, lets me control the Blue Silver Grass to restrain things. Unfortunately, it's too weak to activate Gourd Vines... But on the bright side, it barely consumes any soul power."

...

In the end, Wang Xiaofeng never made it home on his own—he fainted along the way.

But Wang Daniu was proud. A three-year-old with this much perseverance? Maybe, just maybe, Hulu Village would one day produce a Soul Sage.