NOVEL WEB Chapter 799: Education
The tall man saw the food in the lunchbox and directly took it from Tang San's hands, devouring it in large mouthfuls.
"Tang Hao!"
Jack's tone intensified. If it weren't nighttime and worried it might disturb others, his voice would have been louder.
Clearly, it was meant for Xiao San, but this shameless father, Tang Hao, took it without saying a word... Is Tang San really Tang Hao's son?
It seemed like Tang Hao blamed some of his mistakes on Tang San, don't you think?
Could it be that Tang Hao thinks Tang San isn't his biological son?
Reflecting on his previous suspicions, Jack felt there might be a possibility. But Tang San was already as thin as a stick. Even if it was true, why torture such a sensible child?
"It's alright, Grandpa Jack, let dad eat first. He'll leave some for me." Tang San held Jack's trembling arm and whispered, after all, if he spoke too loudly and attracted other villagers, his father would lose face.
Although Tang Hao already had little face in the villagers' eyes, as a child yearning for familial affection, Tang San still wanted to protect his father.
Moreover, he was more interested in those two soul masters Grandpa Jack mentioned.
He too desired to learn about the outside world.
But raising this topic while his father was eating might make him upset.
After Tang Hao finished eating, he got up and returned to the back room, leaving only a small piece of rice and a single vegetable, the two pieces of meat all eaten by Tang Hao.
Jack was trembling with anger, but Tang San quietly ate his meal without a word of complaint, leaving Jack frustrated without a target to vent on, "Ah, you are a sensible and good kid. It's just your father's irresponsibility. If it weren't for that wet nurse I arranged, you would have starved to death at that time."
Tang San didn't say a word. Being precocious, he remembered things from long ago and naturally knew this was true.
But Tang Hao...
was his only kin.
There must be reasons for his father becoming like this, and he must understand. Otherwise, he might lose his father. He even felt that without him, his father might commit suicide.
Thinking of this, Tang San lost interest in asking Jack about the two soul masters, simply focusing on his meal, chewing the vegetables, hoping to savor the flavor a bit longer.
After finishing the meal, Jack picked up the lunchbox and said, "By the way, Xiao San, in seven days the soul master from the Martial Soul Hall will come to awaken the martial souls of eligible children. You are six now, it's time for your awakening, do your best then."
Even though Jack knew that children from poor families usually awakened useless martial souls without soul power, as an elder, he still wanted to encourage them, avoiding a blow to their confidence.
At least encourage them before they grow up, to prevent losing confidence in life in the future.
"Martial soul?"
Tang San's eyes showed anticipation as he escorted Jack out of the smithy, returning inside, blowing out the candle, and carefully lying next to the snoring Tang Hao in the back room.
However, he didn't fall asleep immediately; instead, he sat cross-legged against the wall, beginning to circulate the energy within him, cultivating, planning to quickly digest the food he ate.
Tang Hao opened his eyes, watching Tang San, who was practicing soul power, a flash of murderous intent passed through his eyes, hesitant in his heart: "Is this really my son?"
On the other hand, returning to the room arranged by Jack, Sun Ming observed the behavior of the big and small at the smithy, finding it amusing: "The son has soul power cultivation methods, but they aren't taught by the father, and the father even doubts the son isn't his. The murderous intent flickered and disappeared... truly bizarre."
"However, Tang Hao, Hao Tian Douluo?"
Sun Ming had naturally heard of Hao Tian Douluo, who for some reason became an enemy of the Martial Soul Hall, severely injuring the previous pope, leading to his untimely death...
But during the process of helping Bibi Dong create the three elixirs of essence, spirit, and soul, Sun Ming came to understand that the pope should have ultimately died at Bibi Dong's hands. Within her, she harbored a trace of the original power of a six-winged angel martial soul, which was also the primary cause of her chaotic soul power.
After Tang Hao escaped, he was expelled by the Haotian Clan and wanted by the Martial Soul Hall, yet they didn't seem to pursue him specifically. Though they conducted searches for half a month, they stopped afterward, only continuing the warrant without excessively posting Tang Hao's wanted notice.
It's likely the Martial Soul Hall reached some agreement with the Haotian Clan.
However, when Tang Hao escaped at the time, he did destroy many branches of the Martial Soul Hall in his fury, injuring innocents... The Martial Soul Hall might also worry that plastering Tang Hao's image everywhere would drive him insane, going on a rampage smashing branches of the Martial Soul Hall.
"The domineering nature of the Haotian Hammer is a cold domineering." Sun Ming saw through some of it, knowing that Tang Hao didn't care about Jack's care at all.
As a Titled Douluo, residing in a house you arranged, eating food you provided, it's your honor!
Sun Ming could surmise that even if Tang Hao was in despair, deep down, he likely harbored such thoughts... and not just Tang Hao, most soul masters in the soul master world held similar views.
In contrast, while some soul masters from the lower tiers of the Martial Soul Hall might have a nouveau riche mentality, they do seem to understand gratitude more compared to the disciples from major clans.
Of course
this applies to only a few.
On the second day, Sun Ming began to organize and document his experiences along the journey, composing the "Hundred Crafts Theory," which discussed various skills among common people and how to make the work more effortless while training the body; he also wrote "Environment and Livelihood," describing how the differing environments of the two Great Empires affect the lives of the populace and the distinctions in local customs.
Besides that, he expanded his previous writings on "Martial Soul and Soul Power Cultivation Theory" and "Martial Soul Strengthening Theory," enriching them with more cases of Martial Soul evolution to enhance their credibility. Thе М|V|LЕ&МРYR tеаm wоrkеd hаrd оn this сhаptеr.
Dugu Yan, witnessing Sun Ming's writing, also started to take out paper and pen, documenting her travels and naming it "Dugu Yan's Travels Across the Continent."
In addition, she wrote a book on "Agricultural Tools Improvement Theory."
During their travels, she and Sun Ming often worked in the fields, gaining substantial insights into the use of farming tools, and frequently discussing with Sun Ming on ways to improve these tools to make them more durable.
Sun Ming would craft the tools, test them, and pass them on to the local villagers, yielding quite a number of cases.
In this way, both of them were engrossed in writing, spending five days to organize and complete their works.
Afterward, Sun Ming stepped out and saw Jack's three sons heading to the fields for weeding, so he decided to help, with Dugu Yan joining them.
The three were amazed by the weed-clearing actions of the two soul masters, and Sun Ming generously taught them how to better swing a hoe, how to cut grass more swiftly, how to fetch water more effortlessly, etc.
Accompanied by field-opening songs, the "Weeding Tune," and water-fetching melodies, the men of Holy Spirit Village became much more cheerful, with many even showing artistic talents by altering lyrics and words in current tunes, turning them into a range of love songs.
Two days later, the soul master sent by the Martial Soul Hall to aid in awakening the souls of Holy Spirit Village had yet to enter the village when he heard a series of songs. Though the lyrics weren't refined, the melodies were lively, which surprised him somewhat.
"Could it be that Holy Spirit Village has produced a rural poet?"
With doubts in mind, this soul master walked into Holy Spirit Village, following Jack, who had long been waiting at the village entrance, toward the center of the village where the Martial Soul Hall was located—a clean little wooden house built on a rather spacious open ground.
Clearly, it was regularly swept.
"Old Village Chief, what's going on in your village? It wasn't like this in previous years. Could it be there's a poet residing here?" As he listened to the catchy music, the soul master's mood improved considerably.
"Master Soul Master, this has happened in the past few days. Our village welcomed two young soul masters who stayed for a few days, taught us better farming methods, and even taught us to sing, greatly improving our mood." Jack spoke honestly, not daring to conceal anything.
"Is that so? Where are those two soul masters?" Su Yuntao intended to meet them, possibly recognizing them.
"They're at my house. Follow me." Jack led Su Yuntao to his home and knocked on the door, "Young masters, the soul master from the Martial Soul Hall is here."
The wooden door opened, revealing Sun Ming's face.
Su Yuntao's pupils contracted, lips trembling, "You...you are!"
Sun Ming's portrait was widely circulated within the Martial Soul Hall, but the Pope knew he didn't like being disturbed, so he ordered Martial Soul Hall members not to spread the portrait outside.
And every time Sun Ming visited a Martial Soul Hall stationed by a Sect Hierarch, he would disguise his appearance to avoid disturbance.
But in such a small village, he wouldn't disguise himself.
"Hello." Sun Ming signaled the other not to reveal his identity and slightly bowed as a sign of respect.
After all, such people tirelessly travel to every remote village to awaken the Martial Souls of eligible children, and it's free, giving them the chance to awaken their Martial Souls.
However, free offerings are sometimes the least appreciated.
Initially, when the Martial Soul Hall implemented this policy, perhaps the citizens were very grateful, but over time, people became assured.
Just like those gifted civilians able to cultivate becoming soul masters and then claiming subsidies from the Martial Soul Hall felt it was right, few truly appreciated the Martial Soul Hall.
Most civilians with insufficient talent choose to join the Martial Soul Hall after becoming soul masters, while those talented are recruited by major clans and the two Great Empires.
The Martial Soul Hall, despite its good policies, lacks relevant publicity, and with such development over the years, people's fear of soul masters outweighs gratitude (also because it's a fact that most soul masters now disregard civilians). Therefore, Sun Ming has reason to believe that even if one day the Martial Soul Hall were obliterated, the children of civilians could no longer awaken their Martial Souls for free, not many among civilians would care.
Providing free offerings for long inevitably leads to people taking it for granted, and once they stop, they might face criticism.
This requires education to change.
But in this era, even in such remote and agriculturally predominant villages like Holy Spirit Village, people are merely struggling for subsistence, so how can there be talk of education?