Chapter 10: Departure

After harvesting a Soul Ring, Zhou Yi returned to Nuoding Academy; he planned to stay for a while longer before leaving.

A two-ring Great Soul Master is actually already a backbone force in the Spirit Master world; there is absolutely no problem with traveling the Continent with this level of strength. For instance, Dai Mubai and Zhuqing both came to Heaven Dou from Star Luo alone when they were at this level of strength.

What's more, Zhou Yi's strength is not limited to that of a Great Soul Master; he has more than enough power to defeat a Soul King if he unleashes his full potential.

One must know that besides the restraint of martial souls and external cheats like soul bones, there are two other factors that can influence the outcome of a duel between Spirit Masters:

1. The power of the Soul Ring. For example, in the original story, Tang San relied solely on a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring to beat his peers to a pulp during the Spirit Master Tournament.

2. The suppression of soul power levels. When other factors are not considered, the person with the higher soul power level has a greater probability of winning. This is because the amount of soul power required for everyone to level up is the same.

But Zhou Yi is different. Comparing Soul Rings, many Soul Kings' Soul Rings are not as strong as his; comparing soul power levels, his Spiritual Power, which is ten times that of a Great Soul Master's soul power, is also higher than a Soul King's. Even against a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring, his self-created skills can defeat it.

——

Outside the gates of Nuoding Academy, Zhou Yi bid farewell to the Grandmaster, Tang San, and Xiao Wu.

"Grandmaster, you have already been squeezed dry by me. I am going to travel the Continent; the tiny Nuoding City can no longer contain a great Buddha like me."

The Grandmaster's face darkened: Does this kid know how to talk?

Tang San was also full of helplessness, then patted Zhou Yi on the shoulder.

"Brother Yi, we shall meet again if fate allows. I believe we will all leave behind resounding reputations in the Spirit Master world."

"That goes without saying. Laozi's goal is to defeat everyone under the heavens and become number one!" As he said this, Zhou Yi extended his thumb and pointed at himself.

"Brother Yi... wouldn't it be better to stay and be with me and Brother San?" Xiao Wu's eyes were watery, appearing very aggrieved.

Unexpectedly, the one most reluctant to see Zhou Yi go was Xiao Wu. It seems that although Zhou Yi often teased her, Xiao Wu truly regarded him as a brother with a wicked heart.

Zhou Yi waved his hand and said to Xiao Wu:

"Staying is impossible, but I will give you a piece of advice: even if you are addicted to love, don't lose your intelligence."

"What do you mean? Are you trying to say I'm stupid?"

"Hehe, I've already thought it out for you. There will definitely come a day when you two encounter danger, and Xiao San protects you and wants you to run first, and then you will say, 'Woooo—I'm not leaving... if we go, we go together.' And then you both perish together."

Hearing these words from Zhou Yi, for some reason, neither Xiao Wu nor Tang San could laugh.

"Alright, everyone take care. We shall meet again if fate allows in the jianghu."

"Wait—Xiao Yi, if one day you are tired and want to find a place to settle down, you can go to Shrek Academy in Soto City. Xiao San will also go there after he graduates."

The next Continental Youth Spirit Master Tournament will begin in about 5 years. The Grandmaster clearly does not want to miss such a genius; with Zhou Yi's addition, his dream will be even easier to realize.

Zhou Yi waved his hand, said nothing, shouldered his pack, and left.

——

After parting ways with them, Zhou Yi did not leave directly; he still had to see someone.

In a corner of the street, he suddenly spoke to the empty surroundings.

"Uncle Hao, Zhou Yi has a request; can you come out and meet me?"

The surroundings remained silent, but after a while, a man wearing a tattered cloak that covered his entire body walked out.

"How did you discover me?"

"Uncle Hao, don't forget, for over a year now, I have spent most of my time in the sky. I can see everything that happens on the ground clearly. I am aware of the fact that someone has been secretly guarding Xiao San from the shadows."

"You know my identity?"

"This is actually not hard to guess. Xiao San's Twin Spirits and his surname, plus the fact that you, Uncle Hao, never hide your real name. So it is very easy to guess."

"……You are very smart. To have such a temperament at such a young age—tell me, what is the matter?" Tang Hao's heart, however, was not as calm as his appearance. With such temperament and talent, as long as he does not die, his future achievements will surely surpass his own.

"Uncle Hao, to tell you the truth, I am about to travel the Continent, but I am not certain if my true strength is enough to protect myself on the Continent. I would like to ask Uncle Hao to help me test it."

"……Very well, let's go to the forest outside the city. I am also very interested in your current strength."

That's right, the person Zhou Yi wanted to find was Tang Hao. Although he was extremely confident in his own strength, he was not quite clear about the specific extent of that strength. By letting Tang Hao test him, he would know whether to fight or run when encountering people of certain levels in the future. Do not think that Zhou Yi is just a fool who only knows how to fight; he still wants to ensure the safety guarantees he should have.

As for whether Tang Hao would be detrimental to him, not to mention his relationship with Tang San and his father, Tang Hao himself is not stupid. He can distinguish who is a friend that can be won over and who is a potential enemy. Moreover, looking at the whole story, he never laid a hand on the younger generation.

Having watched the original story, one knows that although Tang Hao is rough on the outside, he is actually meticulous and possesses some wisdom. Although he was a very incompetent father before Tang San was 6 years old, he had been silently guarding him since he awakened his martial soul. In this way, Tang San's temperament would be tempered without falling into danger. In such an environment, even if Tang San did not have his past-life memories and grew up normally, he would still be a calm and rational person.

When Tang San later joined Shrek Academy, he saw the strength of Flender and Zhao Wuji and felt he could entrust Tang San to them. Beating up Zhao Wuji at night was ostensibly to find a way to stand up for his son, but in reality, it was to let them know Tang San's importance and background, so they would protect Tang San with all their might and help him avoid some unnecessary trouble.

Furthermore, his son would gain a group of sincere brothers, and none of them are simple; they either have strength or background. Having experienced the pain of losing his wife, he understands best how important various connections are.

The one who also understands this point is the Grandmaster. Without strength, the reason he can thrive on the Continent is his connections.

Of course, he relies most on Bibi Dong. Although this person is a loser and his martial soul theory is just leftovers from his predecessors, he is just capable of living off a woman.

There are plenty of such people in the past life as well. How many fame-seeking old academic tyrants were there in the past life? At the very least, the Grandmaster still has some substance; he will research and understand things he does not comprehend. Those academic tyrants of the past life would not try to understand things they did not comprehend, but instead would desperately slander and suppress them.

It seems that on the second day after Tang San joined Shrek, feeling that he was temporarily safe, Tang Hao left and did not return until the tournament began. After all, Tang San encountered the Titan Giant Ape and the Poison Douluo in the meantime, and Tang Hao never appeared.

However, these things have nothing to do with Zhou Yi. He just wants to have a fight with a Title Douluo to see his own weight. Anyway, Tang Hao will not kill him; he will just obediently be his sparring partner for once, just like Tang San.

It is probably only him who would dare to challenge a Title Douluo at the Great Soul Master realm.