After all the other children at the Spirit Hall branch completed their Martial Soul Awakenings, only two of them—aside from Tai Chu—possessed Innate Spirit Power. The number was pitifully small.
Once everything was finished,
Master Ma walked over.
"Xiao Chu, I've already filled in your information. It'll be reported to Spirit City—Wuhun City," he said slowly. "Although the grade of your Martial Soul isn't high, with your Innate Full Spirit Power, there shouldn't be much trouble getting into the Spirit Academy."
"I understand, Grandpa Ma,"
Tai Chu nodded in response.
Reporting Awakening data was a mandatory procedure for all Spirit Hall branch halls, sub-halls, main halls, and sacred halls. After being passed up layer by layer, officials in Wuhun City would conduct a unified review, searching for any overlooked talents before deciding which children would be sent to the Spirit Academy for focused training.
"With my nephew's talent, getting into the Spirit Academy will be effortless,"
Su Yuntao said confidently.
No matter what, he had absolute faith in Tai Chu.
"Let's hope so,"
Master Ma didn't say much more. The Spirit Academy's admission standards were extremely strict, and there were simply too many Spirit Masters across the continent. Even with Innate Full Spirit Power, Tai Chu's Martial Soul grade was too low—it might not be easy to pass.
Su Yuntao, however, had already decided to take Tai Chu out for a big meal to celebrate.
…
Several days later.
Wuhun City.
Supreme Pontiff Palace.
Seated upon the supreme throne, Bibi Dong finished reading the intelligence report in her hand.
Bang!
The contents made her explode with rage.
"Issue the order," Bibi Dong said coldly. "The Spirit Academy is not to recruit possessors of trash Martial Souls—even those with Innate Full Spirit Power. Also, that white-robed deacon from Notting City, Su Yuntao, who assaults others at will, has severely damaged Spirit Hall's image. Send him to the Angel Hunting Squad for three months of missions."
Her icy voice echoed through the hall.
The moment the order was given, Yue Guan knew someone was in serious trouble.
Though he didn't personally know Su Yuntao, he knew very well that there was someone in Notting City whom the Supreme Pontiff cared about deeply. For her to go this far meant that person had offended that useless man.
As for the trash Martial Soul with Innate Full Spirit Power?
That was merely collateral damage.
A trash Martial Soul…
Even so, with proper cultivation, Spirit Hall could still gain another Spirit Saint in the future.
What a pity. Truly a pity.
"This subordinate obeys,"
Yue Guan replied.
As Yue Guan and Gui Mei departed, the Supreme Pontiff Palace fell into silence.
"An arrogant little brat—how dare you refuse Xiaogang's offer to take you as his disciple, and even mock him,"
Bibi Dong sneered as she looked at the name Tai Chu on the report.
"In that case, stay in Notting City for the rest of your life and rot as a nobody."
Then her gaze shifted to another name on the page—Tang San, who clearly possessed the trash Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass, yet had Innate Full Spirit Power.
"You'd better know your place."
…
Time passed quickly.
Notting City.
Inside a large courtyard, Tai Chu used intense flames to melt whale glue. A pungent, fishy stench spread through the air. Without the slightest hesitation, he swallowed it in one gulp, the scalding substance sliding down his throat.
Gulp—!
Despite the awful taste, he sat down cross-legged and began circulating his meditation technique to refine it.
At that moment—
Creak—
Su Yuntao pushed the door open and walked in. The strong smell immediately hit his nose. His gaze fell on his nephew, who was still cultivating, and he went over to sit on a stone chair nearby.
He waited quietly.
Half an hour later, Tai Chu finally finished refining the whale glue.
"Xiao Chu! I really ought to thank you properly,"
Su Yuntao's sarcastic voice rang out the moment Tai Chu opened his eyes.
"Thanks to you, I've become a celebrity in Notting City. This is the first time in my life I've received this kind of 'treatment'!"
"Uncle… was it because Sister Si Si rejected you again?"
Tai Chu asked, confused.
Don't let Su Yuntao's Lone Wolf Martial Soul fool you—he was a complete simp. He'd been chasing Si Si for over a year, yet they were still stuck at the hand-holding stage.
"You've got the nerve to say that?!"
Su Yuntao snapped darkly.
"When you bought that whale glue, did you use my name?!"
"Uh…"
Tai Chu blinked. He hadn't expected his uncle to find out.
But when buying whale glue, a six-year-old couldn't exactly say it was for himself—so borrowing his uncle's name had seemed like the only option.
"I only used your name to buy a little whale glue, Uncle,"
Tai Chu said, pinching his thumb and index finger together to indicate "just a bit."
"You little brat!"
Su Yuntao exploded.
"You bought hundreds of ten-year whale glue pieces, nearly a hundred hundred-year ones, and dozens of thousand-year ones! You wiped out ninety percent of the shop's stock! And you call that 'a little'?! That's a mountain of it!"
He slammed the table furiously.
"Because you used my name, more than half of Notting City now believes that I, Su Yuntao, suffer from severe kidney deficiency and need massive amounts of whale glue to recover!"
"Because of that, when I tried to hold Si Si's hand today, she actually pulled away! Just that tiny movement hurt me so badly—my heart is shattered!"
Thinking of Si Si's reaction, Su Yuntao felt as though his heart had been ruthlessly carved apart.
Hearing this, Tai Chu was mortified.
This kind of misunderstanding really was devastating for a man.
"Uncle, look on the bright side,"
he hurriedly said.
"What bright side is there to this humiliation?"
Su Yuntao glared at him.
"For example… Uncle, don't you like being in the spotlight?"
Tai Chu said carefully.
"This time, more than half of Notting City knows who you are. Isn't that enough attention?"
"Attention my ass!"
Su Yuntao roared.
"This brat is deliberately sabotaging his uncle!"
Tai Chu could only smile awkwardly. He hadn't expected that buying some whale glue would personally launch Su Yuntao to the top of Notting City's gossip charts.
Sigh…
Su Yuntao's anger faded into a long, melancholy sigh.
"Spirit Hall sent a notice. The Spirit Academy rejected your admission—saying they don't recruit trash Martial Souls, even with Innate Full Spirit Power."
There wasn't the slightest surprise on Tai Chu's face.
After all, the Supreme Pontiff sitting in the palace was Yu Xiaogang's ex-girlfriend. Revenge was only natural.
"It's fine, Uncle,"
Tai Chu said calmly.
"These past years, I've already read all the materials in the branch hall. Whether I attend an academy or not doesn't really matter."
Did they really think he'd wasted his time since transmigrating? The knowledge stored in the Spirit Hall branch was even more comprehensive than what Notting Academy taught.
"Yeah… you've always been smart, so school isn't that important,"
Su Yuntao nodded, then lowered his voice.
"But… Spirit Hall also said that I've seriously damaged their image. They want me to join the Angel Hunting Squad for three months of missions."
"What?!"
Tai Chu's expression changed instantly.
The Angel Hunting Squad!
The name might sound unfamiliar, but if one mentioned the Shrek Academy hunting team that was wiped out by the Death God Envoy during the Douluo II era, it became much clearer. The Angel Hunting Squad specialized in eliminating Evil Spirit Masters—or rather, Fallen Spirit Masters, as they were now called.
What terrified Tai Chu was this:
The Angel Hunting Squad's mission fatality rate was as high as thirty percent, and the minimum requirement to join was Spirit Elder—Rank 30.
And his uncle was only a Rank 20-plus Spirit Grandmaster.
This was revenge.
Pure, blatant personal revenge.
"Damn you, Bibi Dong!"
Tai Chu growled through clenched teeth.