Phew… without realizing it, a whole month has passed. It's about time to head back to Eastsea Academy.
It had been more than ten days since the Soul Guidance Train attack. Right now, Nan Fusheng was cultivating in a small inn in Sun Moon City.
The rescue mechas and support troops from Sun Moon City had only arrived nearly an hour after the incident—something that made Nan Fusheng inwardly complain: Seriously? You people didn't come to save lives, you came to clean up the mess.
In truth, when the attack began, Fu Huaian and the others had already secretly contacted Sun Moon City's mecha forces. Unfortunately, the Evil Soul Masters had chosen their ambush spot right in the middle stretch between Rising Sun City and Sun Moon City, making a rapid response from Sun Moon City impossible.
Nan Fusheng and the survivors had been escorted back by the mecha unit, given treatment, and asked for their identities and accounts of the attack.
Some survivors even recognized Nan Fusheng, claiming he had killed an Evil Soul Master and saved their lives. This led to the defense troops questioning him more closely. Luckily, perhaps because he had indeed slain one Evil Soul Master—and because of how young he looked—the staff was surprisingly considerate of his mental state. They didn't exactly roll out a feast, but they still treated him well, even saying they wanted to have his academy award him a "little red flag of honor." Nan Fusheng, however, solemnly refused.
After that, he stayed in Sun Moon City to recover from the dizziness caused by overusing his powers.
He also used the time to start absorbing the soul power, vitality, and mental energy he had sealed inside himself.
Soul power: Level 25.
Physical strength: Reached Soul King standards.
Spiritual power: At least above 1,000.
The sealed energy had shot his soul power up by three whole levels, and his physique had jumped to Soul King-tier.
As for spiritual power, that was harder to measure. He had already surpassed 1,000 when he fully digested the "Dream Stealer" potion. Now, after absorbing this pure spiritual energy, it had improved again, though he didn't know by how much exactly. He only knew he had become stronger.
"This still isn't my limit. That sealed energy alone is enough to push me to the Soul King realm. But you can't get fat in one bite—it has to be absorbed slowly."
He sighed. Having a mountain of treasure right in front of you but being unable to grab it all at once… the itch in his heart was unbearable.
But there was no helping it. If his soul power suddenly shot up to Soul Ancestor or higher, people would start asking questions.
"You can cultivate this fast—you must be an Evil Soul Master!"
"What? He's not an Evil Soul Master, but he can still cultivate this fast? And he hasn't even eaten any rare heavenly treasures? Tie him up and torture him until he spills his secret!"
He admitted these were paranoid thoughts—but his wings weren't yet fully grown, and he wasn't about to put his life in someone else's hands.
He didn't trust human hearts, but he did trust the evil side of human nature. If Tang Hao or Ah Yin ever noticed him, that would be trouble—though realistically, they had no reason to pay attention to a mere Great Soul Master.
A three-level jump was still easy to explain away. Worst case, he could just say his martial soul mutated.
"Only when I reach Sequence 4—'Half-God' level—will I truly have the qualification to roam freely."
Clenching his fists, he reminded himself that his strength was still lacking. At least the gains from this trip were decent. His soul power would likely keep rising for a while, so it was time to return to Eastsea Academy.
He boarded the Soul Guidance Train back. The trip was uneventful, and he spent most of it meditating.
When he returned to Eastsea City, seeing the familiar high-rises all around, his first thought was: Beautiful. One day, I'm going to buy a whole building.
…Wait. What kind of corporate drone thought was that?
Shaking his head, he wondered if seeing too many cities had made him soft—or maybe his brain was still fried from overusing his powers.
Houses? Money? Women? With enough strength, all of that comes naturally! …But wait—money?
Money???
Oh crap. His eyes widened. He finally realized what he had forgotten.
Back then, he had been so focused on testing his powers that he completely forgot to loot the corpses, especially those two Soul Saints and two Soul Emperors!
Given the way they died—having their time stripped away until they aged to dust—their battle armors had also been affected, turning to ash. Their storage soul tools probably didn't survive either.
Damn it! The thought of all that wealth turning to nothing made his heart ache. There were also the three Soul Kings and several Soul Elders—
Even if they didn't carry much Federation coin, their storage soul tools were worth a lot. And if they had soul tools inside? Even better!
"Wait… could it be that the reason those defense troops treated me so well was because… they embezzled my spoils? You've chosen death, you bastards!"
Nan Fusheng clutched his chest, the pain almost physical. He was so broke right now he didn't even own a storage soul tool.
His Federation coins had also dropped to around 160,000 because of a month of traveling and leaving Star Worm markers everywhere.
At this point, even if he reached level 30, he could only afford a 10-year soul spirit. Was the real reason he hadn't rushed to level 30 because, deep down, his spirituality was protecting his wallet?
…What a tragic omen.
The new semester began. After a quiet month, Eastsea Academy was lively once again, with students streaming through the gates.
Only Nan Fusheng looked like a walking corpse, stumbling forward absentmindedly.
Seeing him like that, even classmates who used to know him from Class 5—no, Class 1 now—didn't dare greet him.
What on earth happened to him…?