NOVEL WEB Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Three Years Later
Chapter 16: Three Years Later
Three years later.
In the back mountains of Nuoding Academy, a black-haired youth sat quietly in meditation.
Buzz—
Suddenly, a wave of soul power rippled from the youth's body, and he opened his bright black eyes.
"Level 10… After three years, I've finally reached level 10!"
Su Mo, now fully awake, couldn't hide the excitement in his expression.
After three years of relentless cultivation, Su Mo had finally advanced from level 2 to level 10 in soul power.
Reflecting on how he had spent these past three years, Su Mo felt a mix of emotions.
It might seem impressive that he managed to raise his soul power by eight levels in three years, nearly catching up to the rate of progress of geniuses like Tang San and Xiao Wu. However, only Su Mo knew the true hardships he had endured.
He spent nearly every moment either cultivating or on his way to cultivate.
Raising his soul power by eight levels in three years wasn't something that happened consistently each year—it was a gradual process.
As Su Mo's self-created cultivation technique matured and his physical conditioning improved through daily training, the effectiveness of his new method also increased.
During these three years, Su Mo barely attended classes.
Most of his learning was done through self-study in the academy's library.
He spent about an hour each day in the library, absorbing knowledge—a time he considered a rare moment of relaxation.
When he thought about the immense amount of time he had to invest just to barely keep pace with geniuses like Tang San and Xiao Wu, Su Mo couldn't help but feel a bit of heartache.
His ability to keep up was solely due to the new cultivation method he had created. Other students with average talent like his wouldn't even be able to come close.
And even then, Su Mo was only managing to keep pace with Tang San's progress.
While Su Mo had just broken through to level 10, Tang San had already become a level 21 Grandmaster.
Instead of narrowing the gap, Su Mo had fallen further behind.
However, after so many years, Su Mo had grown accustomed to the inequalities brought on by different talents. While it saddened him, he didn't dwell on it or curse his fate.
Su Mo believed that human effort could overcome destiny.
If he could create a new cultivation technique, he was confident that he could eventually catch up.
"Tomorrow, I'll finally hunt for my first soul ring!"
Su Mo smiled to himself before heading back to the academy to get a good night's sleep.
…
The next day, instead of heading straight to the nearest spirit beast forest outside Nuoding City, Su Mo first made his way to a blacksmith's shop in the city.
"Boss, is the order ready?"
Su Mo asked as he entered the shop, addressing the blacksmith who was busy at work.
"Oh, it's you! Yes, your order is ready. Let me get it for you!"
The blacksmith looked up and recognized Su Mo, smiling broadly. A few days ago, Su Mo had placed an order with him, and the blacksmith had worried Su Mo might not return. Seeing him now, the blacksmith was relieved.
The blacksmith then placed a bag on the counter in front of Su Mo. "Here are the items you requested. Take a look."
Su Mo opened the bag and inspected the contents, nodding in satisfaction when he saw that everything he had ordered was there.
"And my weapons?"
Su Mo inquired next.
"They're ready too!"
"Here's the bow and spear you ordered."
The blacksmith quickly retrieved two items from beneath the counter: a bow and a long spear.
The bow was a compound bow, with pulleys at both ends, exactly as Su Mo had requested. It looked very different from traditional bows, with an unusual design.
The spear was crafted to resemble Su Mo's martial soul, the Hunting Soul Spear. It was an exact replica.
Su Mo tested the bow and spear in his hands, feeling satisfied with their quality and balance.
After paying the remaining balance, the blacksmith generously threw in a quiver of arrows as a bonus.
With his new gear in hand, Su Mo rented a carriage and set off for the Soul Hunting Forest, located four hundred miles away.
He had already taken care of obtaining the necessary certification from the Spirit Hall to enter the Soul Hunting Forest.
Hunting for a soul ring was a complicated process, especially when dealing with low-level soul beasts. These lower-level forests were managed by the Spirit Hall, making them relatively safe, as they were free from high-level soul beasts.
Of course, a soul master could choose to venture into the wild, untamed forests, but safety was far from guaranteed in those places.
Since Su Mo had only just reached level 10 and lacked any soul skills, he didn't dare to risk going into a wild soul beast forest.
While he wasn't afraid of ten-year or hundred-year soul beasts, encountering one with a cultivation of over a thousand years was a different matter. His safety couldn't be assured.
Yes, Su Mo wasn't even afraid of hundred-year soul beasts.
In fact, his goal this time was to hunt a soul beast with at least a hundred years of cultivation.
To prepare for this, Su Mo had thoroughly studied every piece of information he could find about soul beasts with less than a thousand years of cultivation. This way, he could act with precision and knowledge.
The compound bow and long spear were also part of his preparations.
He planned to use the bow for long-range attacks and the spear for close combat.
Technically, Su Mo's martial soul was already a spear, so he didn't need to forge another one. However, Su Mo didn't agree with that line of thinking. At this point, his Hunting Soul Spear was not as strong as a well-forged physical weapon.
Back when Su Mo watched the anime, he didn't understand why speed-focused soul masters, like those from the Minzhi Clan, didn't carry a weapon to convert their speed advantage into offensive power.
Even a small knife, if wielded with enough speed, could be a deadly weapon.
After being reincarnated into the Douluo Continent and spending years here, Su Mo finally understood.
In this world, soul masters who could use their martial souls held a deep disdain for using physical weapons.
Most soul masters believed that weapons were tools only for ordinary people and soldiers who couldn't summon martial souls.
It wasn't until Tang San introduced hidden weapons that the people here began to see that there were tools more refined than ordinary weapons, which they started to consider more seriously.
On this point, Su Mo disagreed. Humans are stronger than beasts because they learn to use tools. In the early stages, when a martial soul's power is limited, there's no shame in using a weapon.
Outside of the rules of the Soul Master Tournament, which prohibited all external objects, there was no rule against using weapons in any other situation. So why not use them?
Yu Xiaogang was quite pragmatic in this regard.
Tang San's first soul beast, the Datura Snake, was killed with a short sword given to him by Yu Xiaogang.
Despite being a level 29 Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang couldn't defeat the Datura Snake with soul skills alone, yet a single short sword managed to kill it. This demonstrated that the weapons of this world possessed considerable power.
At least, they were very effective against weaker soul masters.
"With this bow and spear, I'm confident I can hunt down a soul beast with a hundred years of cultivation!"
Gazing at the weapons he had prepared, Su Mo was filled with confidence.
However, confidence didn't mean recklessness. Once he arrived at the Soul Hunting Forest, Su Mo planned to practice on weaker soul beasts first before taking on more challenging prey.
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