The battle between Tang San and Xiao Wu was about to erupt.
Unlike his fight with Zhou Qing, Tang San relied on his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, darting left and right with an elusive and unpredictable footwork. He effortlessly evaded Xiao Wu's punches and kicks.
Rather than a duel, their clash resembled a chase.
Tang San ran.
Xiao Wu chased.
Eventually, Xiao Wu couldn't hold back her frustration, came to a stop, and snapped, "Why are you running? Isn't your spirit Blue Silver Grass? Why are you so fast?"
"Exactly because it's Blue Silver Grass, I have to be good at running." Tang San answered matter-of-factly. Since he had promised Tang Hao not to expose the Clear Sky Hammer, he couldn't let others think he was developing as a Battle Spirit Master.
Being good at running was only natural.
Xiao Wu was left speechless. It really was a bit much to expect a Blue Silver Grass spirit master to go toe-to-toe with her in close combat. But when she looked up at Tang San, who was a head taller than her, his reasoning didn't sound convincing at all.
"Fine, fine. Let's call it a draw. We'll fight again another time." Xiao Wu gave up, but those pink gem-like eyes still flashed with unwillingness.
As a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in human form, Xiao Wu didn't fully understand humans, but she knew enough to recognize that ordinary Blue Silver Grass could never provide such a boost to agility.
This Tang San… and that Zhou Qing, who almost forced her to reveal her soul ring and soul bone—neither of them were simple.
"Well, that works out just fine," Tang San breathed a sigh of relief. If he had defeated Xiao Wu and become the head of Dorm Seven, he would probably have had to spend a lot of time dealing with others. He didn't have that kind of leisure right now.
"Speaking of which, I'm a little hungry. Do you know where we can get something to eat?" Xiao Wu rubbed her stomach—it still hurt a little from what Zhou Qing had done to her earlier. She gave him a fierce glare, silently vowing to one day beat him until he couldn't tell east from west.
"I'll take everyone," Wang Sheng immediately said. "To celebrate Dorm Seven having three bosses now, it's my treat!"
"Yay!"
The other working students cheered.
On the way to the cafeteria, Zhou Qing walked up to Wang Sheng and quietly asked, "Can you actually afford that? Maybe we should each pay our own share."
"It's fine."
Wang Sheng patted his chest, pretending to be generous. "I'm graduating next year. There's a chance I can reach Rank 10… Once I get a soul ring with the help of the academy teachers, I'll join the Notting Guild and become an adventurer. I can start taking jobs to earn money."
Tang San also came over and asked, "Can you tell us more about the Notting Guild?"
"It's not exactly a secret…"
The Notting Guild was jointly managed by Notting City's Spirit Hall branch and the city lord's estate. Originally, it had been run solely by Spirit Hall, but over the past two centuries, as soul beasts became scarcer in the surrounding forests and more villages sprang up, missions to eliminate soul beasts dwindled. To maintain sufficient operations, the guild had to begin cooperating with the local authorities to get more commissions.
Most current missions involve capturing bandits and thieves, assisting spirit masters in hunting soul beasts, or temporarily serving as patrols and enforcers for Notting City and the Spirit Hall.
If one performs well, they may even be recruited by Spirit Hall or the city lord's estate.
"I heard this is one of the ways the city lord and Spirit Hall recruit talent," Wang Sheng added. He took a breath and continued, "Most of the spirit masters who join the guild can't continue their studies at intermediate academies. Although Spirit Hall provides subsidies to spirit masters under thirty, the resources needed for cultivation are immense. For those who want to stay independent and crave freedom, joining the guild and registering as an adventurer to take on tasks and earn pay is a solid option."
"I see," Xiao Wu, who had unknowingly joined the conversation, nodded enthusiastically. "I've decided—I want to become an adventurer too!"
Zhou Qing asked, "How do you become one?"
"You need to register your Spirit Master credentials with Spirit Hall."
Wang Sheng pulled out his Spirit Master certificate and showed it to them. "As long as you have one of these and possess a soul ring—meaning you're a proper Spirit Master—you can go to the guild and register as an adventurer."
Tang San nodded slightly. He realized that if he ever ran out of money and Spirit Hall's subsidy wasn't enough, he could register as an adventurer, take on missions, complete them, and earn rewards—
It was quite similar to how things had worked in his previous life with Tang Sect. And even after joining the guild, he would still be considered a free agent—not affiliated with any specific power.
"The guilds in big cities must be even larger, right?" Xiao Wu asked.
"They should be." Wang Sheng wasn't entirely sure, but he still nodded.
"The bigger the city, the closer it is to a major soul beast forest. These cities thrive off resources from the forest. Guilds there often have standing missions related to studying soul beast species, exploring forest territories, and so on. I remember a teacher saying that many parts of the continent remain unexplored by spirit masters. There are still many unknown soul beasts that haven't been discovered or documented. In some remote, expansive soul beast habitats, local adventurer guilds even take on jobs like hunting or clearing out surrounding beasts."
"Hunting soul beasts… is that for soul rings?" Xiao Wu's expression dimmed slightly.
Zhou Qing noticed but didn't comment.
Tang San, meanwhile, was considering whether he could one day go to such places to obtain rare materials from soul beasts—materials useful for developing hidden weapons or researching soul tools.
"I'm not sure… but probably," Wang Sheng replied uncertainly.
"In places like ours, soul beasts can't be hunted recklessly anymore. Kill one, and that's one fewer. But those remote areas are a different story," Zhou Qing offered his own thoughts. "Humans need space to survive, which means squeezing other creatures out. Those unexplored soul beast territories are vast. If humans want to thrive, expansion is inevitable."
"That's far too cruel!"
The idea that people hunted soul beasts in remote areas not even for soul rings, but to expand human territory—Xiao Wu found it unbearable.
"But that's reality. It's for future generations—to give them more land and a safer life. What, should people stop having children for the sake of soul beasts?" Zhou Qing's words left her without a rebuttal. In truth, he had said it to gauge her stance toward soul beasts.
"Hmph!"
Xiao Wu turned her head away, sulking. But once they arrived at the cafeteria and the aroma of food hit her, she immediately forgot her frustration—
What's the point in overthinking?
Might as well fill her belly first!
After all, she came to the human world to find the one who killed her mother.
As for the future of soul beasts—
Why should a Soft Bone Rabbit like her worry about that?
Let those giant beasts who took over her home in Star Dou Forest worry about it!
That being said, the tension between humans and soul beasts… was something Xiao Wu quietly etched into her heart.