As the only daughter of Ning Fengzhi, Ning Rongrong was showered with affection. Everyone was extremely cautious around her, fearing that she might get hurt; even the slightest scratch would cause a flurry of concern.
This was also a source of frustration for Xu Yang. If he accidentally let Ning Rongrong get hurt, while Ning Fengzhi and his wife wouldn't say much, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo would definitely give Xu Yang a practical lesson—essentially just beating him up under the pretense of helping him gain experience against high-level soul masters.
Although they were careful about it, it still hurt!
At just nine months old, Ning Rongrong had already learned to walk and was particularly lively. She often crawled from one end of the bed to the other without anyone noticing. Once, she nearly fell off the bed.
Fortunately, Xu Yang reacted quickly and caught her.
Not realizing she hadn't been hurt, Ning Rongrong found it amusing and frequently tried to jump off the bed.
Thus, Xu Yang had no choice but to stay by the bedside, distracting himself by cultivating soul power while playing with Ning Rongrong to prevent her from getting hurt or falling.
That day, after playing for two hours, Ning Rongrong finally got tired and fell into a deep sleep.
Xu Yang let out a sigh of relief as he covered her with a small blanket. He then sat beside her, resting his chin on his hands while contemplating whether to choose a Slime or a Holy Light Beetle as his second soul ring. Since he would be attending classes at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy after becoming a Great Soul Master, he was conflicted about whether to prioritize the Holy Light Beetle for its combat enhancement.
However, this conflicted with his original plan. He initially intended to select the Slime for its splitting ability as his second soul skill, allowing his martial soul to split into two, then four, and so on.
Thanks to this skill's effect, as long as the core essence of the martial soul wasn't divided out, any splits would not affect him regardless of how many times they exploded afterward. However, his current cultivation level wasn't sufficient for controlling his martial soul; even with an added second ring, he wouldn't be able to self-destruct his martial soul.
Therefore, adding this soul skill wouldn't significantly enhance his combat ability. Without combat strength, it would be very difficult for him to establish himself at the noble academy.
This was why he considered demoting his originally planned third soul ring—the Holy Light Beetle—to the second position. This way, he could increase his combat power during the Great Soul Master stage and keep the Slime as his third choice.
"Yang'er, Rongrong has fallen asleep!" At that moment, Madam Ning walked in and immediately spotted Ning Rongrong sleeping soundly on the bed with drool on her face. She smiled and said.
"Yeah, Madam! She just fell asleep!" Xu Yang replied with a smile before returning to his thoughts.
Seeing Xu Yang like this surprised Madam Ning; she had never seen him in such a state before. In her impression, Xu Yang was always an extremely mature child with strong independent thoughts.
"What's on your mind?!" Madam Ning asked as she sat down beside Xu Yang with a smile.
"Hmm! I'm thinking about my choice for the second soul ring!" Xu Yang nodded.
"Oh?! Didn't you already plan out your choices for your second and third soul rings? You even have your fourth one picked out!" Madam Ning asked curiously.
Being family members meant they were aware of each other's matters; Xu Yang had never hidden his plans regarding martial souls from Ning Fengzhi and others. Initially, they thought that Xu Yang's choices leaned too much toward functional soul skills like splitting and shaping—skills that didn't directly provide combat power. Without offensive soul skills as support, what kind of strong attack-type soul master could he be?
However, after hearing Xu Yang's explanations, they quickly agreed because Xu Yang's choices weren't traditional direct attack-type skills but rather combination skills. While individual skills might not be powerful on their own, when combined together, they could yield results far beyond simple addition.
The simplest example was how Xu Yang planned to combine his second and third soul skills into a devastating weapon. Imagine if Xu Yang activated both skills; his Sun Martial Soul could split into dozens of suns—some transforming into weapons and armor that he could wield or wear—ensuring both defense and attack capabilities akin to having multiple soul tools at once.
But don't forget that the Sun Martial Soul is a tool-type martial soul; unlike beast-type martial souls that allow one to gain abilities through possession, it can only release its skills through its form. However, once he donned his martial soul armor, he could release flames directly from his hands, feet, and body—making it far more controllable than merely using the martial soul to unleash skills. This greatly enriched his means of dealing with opponents.
The remaining portion of the split martial souls hovering above him could create distractions during battles; if necessary, he could throw them out directly to attack using those martial souls.
It's important to note that Xu Yang's martial soul was the sun itself—its attack power was unimaginable!
"Madam, after I hunt for my second ring, I'll be going to attend classes at Heaven Dou Royal Academy! But if my original second ring doesn't provide much offensive power there, I might face exclusion at school without much ability to resist—even risking damaging the reputation of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School!" Xu Yang scratched his head as he voiced his concerns.
After spending more than a year accompanying Ning Fengzhi to various gatherings, he understood very well how aristocrats in Heaven Dou operated; these people were extremely dismissive towards non-nobles. Even if he were Ning Fengzhi's disciple—he still wasn't part of nobility himself.
Moreover, since Ning Fengzhi supported Xue Qinghe behind him—there would inevitably be other princes arranging noble factions behind him to cause trouble or even force him out of school. Such occurrences were all too common in power struggles.
As an adult now—he personally didn't care about those aristocrats' exclusion—but these people would surely find all sorts of reasons to make things difficult for him. Even during training sessions—if they didn't hurt him enough in one go—it would be challenging for him to cultivate normally at school.
"It seems our little genius also has worries of his own!" Madam Ning chuckled softly while covering her mouth in amusement; she hadn't expected Xu Yang to think so deeply about these matters. It seemed that Fengzhi's teachings during this time had not been in vain. She rubbed Xu Yang's head and said: "Actually, you don't need to worry too much about this. You're overthinking it; most students at Heaven Dou Royal Academy are just empty-headed fools. Even if your first two soul skills lack combat power—they won't stand a chance against you given their abilities."
"As for those remaining students—they're mostly descendants of major noble families whose heads are all quite shrewd; they wouldn't let their children get involved in royal disputes."
"Furthermore," she continued confidently, "our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School isn't something anyone can mess with easily! Before they consider taking action against you—they'd better weigh whether they can handle our school's retaliation."
"It seems I've grown accustomed to being cautious from my past life as a lowly worker; I still can't shake off that habit!"
Upon hearing Madam Ning's words, Xu Yang was momentarily taken aback before revealing a bitter smile. In this life—he was no longer that lowly worker but rather a direct disciple of one of the continent's top sect leaders—with enough backing that allowed him not to hesitate or overthink when taking action anymore.
(End of Chapter)