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Chapter 4 - Chapter 4

Sasuke wandered the forest alone for a while, moving silently through the undergrowth. When a soul beast lunged at him, he activated his Sharingan and trapped it instantly in an illusion, freezing it in place. He studied it carefully, noting the way soul power streamed constantly from the ring on its head, coursing through its body in a steady loop.

From what Ye Zhiqiu had told him, once a soul beast's body lost its vitality, its soul ring would separate from the body on its own and dissipate after a certain period of time.

Sasuke raised his hand."Sealing Technique — Absorption Seal."

It was one of the Rinnegan's abilities, capable of drawing in any form of energy through physical contact — chakra, senjutsu, it didn't matter. If it had a source, Sasuke could drain it. With the cursed seal, the Sage of Six Paths' senjutsu chakra, and his Indra bloodline, controlling different types of energy was second nature to him.

Instead of killing the soul beast and claiming its ring the normal way, Sasuke pressed his hand to its head and pulled directly at its core. He watched with clinical detachment as the glow of the soul ring dimmed, then dulled entirely. He repeated the process with another beast… then another… and another.

By the twelfth, he stopped."Pointless," he thought.

Compared to senjutsu chakra, this "soul power" was crude and thin; compared to the tailed beasts' chakra, its volume was laughable. Hunting weak creatures in the outskirts of the forest was a waste of time.

Leaving the Soul Hunting Forest behind, he followed the faint scent trail Ye Zhiqiu had left, which led him to a hotel in a nearby town.

The moment Sasuke entered the room, Mu Qing darted toward him. Now dressed in Canghui Academy's moon-white uniform, she seemed even more striking."Brother Sasuke," she said with a pout, "there are bad people here."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but didn't speak, taking a seat beside Ye Zhiqiu. At the table sat Ling Yun, Ling Xue, Bai Cha, Mu Qing, and four other students. Two more were still away and hadn't returned.

It didn't take long for Sasuke to see exactly who Mu Qing meant. At a table nearby sat seven soul masters, laughing boisterously. One of them — a short, chubby youth with flaming red hair — was leaning far too close to Ling Xue, telling crude jokes that made his companions roar with laughter.

Ling Yun slammed his palm on the table and called out, "Teacher!"

Without opening his eyes, Ye Zhiqiu replied evenly, "Sit down. Anger clouds the mind. Without extraordinary talent, you must cultivate an extraordinary heart. Don't let trivial insults dictate your actions."

Grinding his teeth, Ling Yun obeyed, but the red-haired youth only smirked wider.

"What's so impressive about a run-down place like Canghui Academy?" sneered another boy at the table — a blond youth Sasuke recognized immediately. He had been there at the Shrek Academy admissions office, harassing a farmer and his son.

Sasuke quickly assessed their strength. The purity of their soul power far outclassed Ling Yun and his classmates. These were not opponents the Canghui students could handle.

Ye Ling'er, standing beside Ling Xue, was seething. But with Ye Zhiqiu unwilling to give the order to act, her eyes slid toward Sasuke. His face, however, was unreadable.

Seeing that, she leaned toward Mu Qing and whispered something. The two girls exchanged a glance, then Mu Qing hopped down from her chair and strode to the rival table. She pointed straight at the red-haired youth."You. Apologize."

The Shrek group blinked in surprise. One boy chuckled. "Little sister, you don't even have a soul ring. Go sit down before you hurt yourself."

But the fat redhead waved him off. "No, no — you're wrong, Xiao San. Look at her uniform. Tsk, tsk… Canghui won't even give their little sister a soul ring? You should come home with me. I'll get you one… personally." His fingers twitched obscenely as he reached toward her.

The blond boy leaned back, propping his boots on the table. "What's wrong? Are there no men left in Canghui? Or are all your martial spirits just cowards? Maybe you should rename it Turtle Academy!"

Their table erupted in laughter again.

Ling Yun and the others avoided looking at Ye Zhiqiu. As a Soul King whose martial spirit was the Black Tortoise, that insult was walking straight into dangerous territory.

That was when a white blur cut across the space.

In the blink of an eye, Sasuke was standing in front of Mu Qing. His tone was calm, almost cold. "Everything has limits. You'd better remember that."

The red-haired youth snorted. "What? You gonna make me?"

"Apologize," Sasuke said simply.

"Quit talking and move—" the boy began, reaching out to shove him.

Crack.

The sound echoed like a whip crack through the hall, followed by the fat man's scream of pain.

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