Chapter 108: The Beginning

Tie Li saw the girl walking toward him, and was not fooled by her pitiful appearance.

While cultivating in Baidi, Tie Li spent long periods meditating under mental pressure, making him highly sensitive to danger.

The soul power fluctuation emitted by the girl was weak, at most that of a great Soul Master, and she was an auxiliary-type great Soul Master.

Yet she carried an extremely strong aura lock, a force Tie Li had never seen, more terrifying than the unknown Soul Beast deep in Baidi.

Tie Li did not hesitate at all and turned to run.

The girl was stunned for a moment, never expecting Tie Li to react that way.

Seeing him was like seeing some dreadful monster.

"You… wait."

The girl removed her disguise and chased after Tie Li from behind.

Fortunately, Tie Li's physical condition far surpassed hers, and in the blink of an eye he shook her off.

"I should hurry back to the academy." A large wet patch already covered Tie Li's back.

The girl realized she had lost Tie Li and grew even more depressed.

"Damn, how did he discover it?" The girl thought her scheme had been uncovered and wondered where she went wrong that led to his detection.

……

Tie Li returned to the Tian Dou Royal Academy, tidied his dormitory briefly, and went to the academy's library.

His knowledge reserve was still insufficient; during earlier training in the deep Tian Dou Plains, he didn't know which parts of many Soul Beasts were valuable.

This point required extra attention.

Few students studied in the library, but each was very diligent and quiet.

Occasionally checking the time, when he felt enough time had passed, Tie Li would get up and head to the cafeteria.

Zhao Laoshi did not come to find him for the second‑stage training, so Tie Li continued his normal academy life.

Yet for the next month and a bit, Tie Li saw no sign of Zhao Tianhe.

"Team Leader, I heard something."

Tuo Yu knew Tie Li's usual habits; he was either in the library or the cafeteria.

Today he deliberately waited for Tie Li in the library.

"What's up?"

"I'll keep it brief: Teacher Qin Ming graduated from an academy called Shilake, and now the academy wants to absorb Shilake's teachers and students. I heard there are several prodigies in Shilake."

Tie Li's pupils contracted; the timeline seemed to have shifted—Tang San should be only eleven now, right?

In the original timeline, Tang San was still at Nuo Ding Soul Master Academy at this time, and didn't go to Shilake Academy until he was twelve.

He arrived in Tiandou City at about thirteen; that's a full two years earlier.

According to this period, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing had not yet joined Shilake Academy.

Is it because he once went to Nuo Ding City to steal the Chaos Cloak Hammer Method, causing a deviation in the timeline?

Tie Li thought carefully and considered this possibility very likely.

He had originally been calculating Tang San's travel time to Suotuo City; when Tang San went to Suoding City, Tang Hao would definitely follow, and then he could obtain the ten‑thousand‑year Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone.

Tie Li could not guess whether Tang Hao had stayed by Tang San's side, so he dared not act rashly.

The only point he could be sure Tang Hao was beside Tang San was during Tang San's stay in Suotuo City.

But now the timeline had changed, and he lacked the nerve to go after the Blue Silver Emperor's soul bone; he might run into Tang Hao the moment he appeared nearby.

"An eleven‑year‑old Control-type Soul Elder—if Teacher Qin Ming hadn't told me, I wouldn't have believed it was real."

Tuo Yu's expression turned bitter; when he broke through the Three Ring Soul Honorable, he was already seventeen, so the gap was considerable.

Hearing Tuo Yu's words, a figure flashed in Tie Li's mind.

A Soul Power Level stronger than in the original timeline.

Yet on second thought, it seemed normal.

Having left the blacksmith shop early, he had more time to cultivate and could naturally reach level thirty faster.

He just didn't know whether his Third Soul Ring was still the Human‑Face Demon Spider.

But his Third Soul Ring should have been obtained with Shilake Academy's help; the master and the dean of Nuo Ding Academy couldn't have secured the ideal Soul Ring for him.

At the wrong time point, could he still obtain the External Attached Soul Bone Eight Spider Spear?

Why did Tuo Yu tell him this?

Tie Li was first puzzled, but quickly caught on; combining Zhao Laoshi's recent silence, Tie Li cleared his doubts and roughly guessed the situation.

"So, it leans more toward them, right?" Tie Li said.

Seeing Tie Li react so quickly, Tuo Yu was taken aback, then nodded.

"Pretty much. With your strength, Old Man, you'd still be a main team member, but compared with their Control-type Soul Masters, I'm far behind," Tuo Yu said with a wry smile.

"They might not be accepted by the academy."

Tuo Yu took Tie Li's words as self‑comfort; with such powerful faculty and absolute prodigies, how could the academy possibly give up?

Even if they made him a Committee Member, everyone would know what to do.

Tie Li asked Tuo Yu more questions, such as when they would come to the Tian Dou Royal Academy, each member's Soul Power Level, martial soul, etc.

Knowing the latter roughly, asking another question would seem more natural.

"That part, Teacher Qin Ming didn't detail; maybe it's within these few months."

"By the way, what have the five of them been up to lately?"

Changing the subject, Tie Li shifted topics; during this period he'd been shuttling between the library and cafeteria, missing many things.

"Gu Qi and Ning Ning have already returned to the Qibao Liuli Sect, Mu Wei's family summoned him back, Jue Dun usually stays at the Great Soul Arena in Tiandou City. As for Zhang Xiaohe, he's been staying with the Snow Avalanche Prince."

Mentioning Zhang Xiaohe made Tuo Yu's face slightly uneasy.

Xuebeng is a prince of the Empire; in the academy there are many offspring of great nobles, and when they see Xuebeng they keep a respectful distance, daring not to be disrespectful, yet also daring not to get too close.

To many nobles, the future ruler of the Empire will only be the outstanding Big Prince, not the unambitious, pleasure‑seeking Fourth Prince.

Keeping one's own offspring at a distance from the Fourth Prince is not only a family stance but also a statement toward the Big Prince.

Zhang Xiaohe's family is a great noble house of the Tiandou Empire; given his status, he should, like other noble offspring, keep away from the Fourth Prince, but he is different—he constantly mingles with the Fourth Prince, and in many eyes Zhang Xiaohe is Xuebeng's lapdog.

The current Tiandou Empire royal family is a massive vortex; anyone drawn into it is unlikely to meet a good end.

Tuo Yu's earlier view of Zhang Xiaohe was the same as that of others at the academy, but after they jointly endured the Tiandou Plain training, he realized Zhang Xiaohe's temperament is more emotional than rational.

What puzzles Tuo Yu is what personal charisma an arrogant, overbearing prince could possess to make Zhang Xiaohe work so hard for him.

 The collision between the main plot and the original plot really needs groundwork, otherwise the subsequent story can't flow smoothly and reasonably; it's truly not filler! You have to trust me, trust me!

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(End of Chapter)