Douluo Continent: A Thousand Miles of Cultivation

As the saying goes, even farting too much can make you feel exhausted. Feeling my senses return, I quickened my pace a bit.

The events outside the city did not discourage Qian Shui too much. "Thinking about it carefully, separating is the safest option. If Hammer Brother is discovered, he can just run away with his son, while his wife can stay in some remote corner where no one will know where she is."

But all of this wasn't without its benefits; at least his surveillance range expanded to the entire city of Nottingham. Although it wasn't full coverage, by following just one line of the markings to probe and sense, he could reach the very edge of his mental power, even extending to remote places like Holy Soul Village.

The drawback is that it consumes too much soul power, and the more you choose, the greater the consumption. Also, because the mark is too thin, it is a consumable and will quickly dissipate without the maintenance and support of soul power, but this depends on Qian Shui's own soul strength.

But that's not enough. If you can't find anyone in the dark, the most effective way is to become a lighthouse yourself.

Relying on his newly developed disguise technique and culinary skills, setting up a stall became an excellent bait for attracting customers.

To attract attention, Qian Shui hired several cooks, saying that he had bought too many carrots that he couldn't sell and wanted to set up a stall here to sell them as his family's traditional dishes. He would leave once he sold out of this batch.

Watching Detective Conan is pointless if you don't know how to counter-surveillance. Chisui's goal is to create the illusion that the rabbit has never appeared in this area.

In fact, Qian Shui had been gradually sourcing carrots from various places over the past six months, accumulating a large quantity. In addition, he had been making small-scale purchases and stockpiling in recent days, preparing enough for more than a month's supply.

It's all about planning ahead and building a reputation.

Therefore, his soul tools were piled up almost like a mountain, and the entire space was almost yellowish-green.

With disguise, a street stall, and superhuman perception, a net has been cast, waiting for the rabbit to take the bait. And the most crucial day is when Tang San enrolls in school!

……

"Secret recipe carrot juice, stir-fried carrots with meat, stir-fried carrots, steamed carrot cake! Cold shredded carrot salad! Stir-fried chicken with carrots!"

Prices were clearly marked, vendors shouted out the names of the dishes, and chefs stir-fried dishes on the spot. This kind of night market atmosphere in China was something that even the people of Douluo Continent had never seen before.

It's a food maze made up of little carts, so tempting that the people of Earth can't resist. And that's why this novelty has become famous far and wide.

"Today is the day Su Yuntao heads to Holy Soul Village. At the fastest pace a six-year-old can walk, he should be there soon."

At this moment, Qian Shui, who was cooking, routinely asked Su Yuntao about his schedule early in the morning. In Master Su's eyes, this was a leader caring about his subordinate. The simple-minded Su Yuntao did not notice that Qian Shui only asked him.

'If I remember correctly, Tang San set off for Notting City to enroll in school the day after his martial soul awakened. The rabbit should have been nearby by now. We need to hurry…'

Qian Shui was somewhat anxious. Spreading such a large area of ​​soul imprints would definitely be unusual in the eyes of those who could sense it. He could ignore those that dissipated on their own, but once Tang San came out, Tang Hao would definitely concentrate. He wasn't sure if Tang San could discover his trick, so he could only plan for the worst.

Just as Qian Shui was keeping a close eye on every move in Notting City, a clear voice came from the checkout counter, "Uncle, I'd like a carrot juice and some cold carrot salad!"

'What?! How is this possible?!'

He was very confident in his Soul Imprint skill, but suddenly a pink-clad girl with a rabbit headdress appeared. Her 'scorpion tail braid' was so obvious, yet he actually missed it under the dense Soul Imprint camera.

He stopped cooking and called to the waiter to take over, "Excuse me, I need to use the restroom." "Sure thing!"

Now is not the time to dwell on things; achieving our goals is the most important thing. There's still a lot to do.

The little rabbit sitting to the side looked on with great curiosity. Not to mention the folding stool and folding table and chairs she was sitting on, she had never seen this kind of stall setting before.

'The human world is so much fun~'

"The little girl is all alone?"

After changing her clothes and face, Qian Shui came out and plopped down next to her.

"Hey, uncle, you look scary!"

Qian Shui stared intently at her, making her feel uneasy. 'I've heard there are such perverts among humans, I can't possibly end up like that!'

In reality, someone was merely using their mental power to observe the 100,000-year-old soul beast in human form. 'Goodness, although I can't discern much, this inhuman aura, this wild beast's unique scent—it's so strong! Even a Soul Saint with a discerning eye would likely sense something's amiss. This rabbit is truly audacious!'

The stealth skill was activated silently, enveloping the two, and those around them began to ignore their presence.

Without anyone noticing, two people were missing from the stall.

"Young lady, the dishes you ordered, Cheng Hui... Where is she?"

After an unknown amount of time, in a cave in an inconspicuous hill near Nottingham, a lewd man and a little girl who was hanging up and had her mouth gagged appeared.

"Heh heh heh! Scream all you want! No one will come to save you no matter how loud you scream!"

The lewd man let out an extremely perverted laugh, laughing unrestrainedly at the little girl. "Cough cough cough... Ouch, I laughed so hard I almost choked. It's so perverted, I want to slap myself."

Ignoring the little rabbit's frightened expression, he patted her head and said, "Don't be afraid, I won't do anything to you. Go to sleep, I'll be right back."

After saying that, Qian Shui knocked the rabbit unconscious without hesitation. "Sigh, if I didn't know you were hundreds or thousands of times older than me, I really wouldn't have been able to do it."

After saying that, he added a few more chains to the rabbit, put a hood on its head, and left only after making sure everything was safe.

On the way back to Nottingham, Qian Shui collected the extra marks and signed a transfer agreement with the staff. Thus, Qian Shui had completed his rabbit-catching mission.

"Then it's time to go and meet that so-called 'master'."

Chapter 95 Great Soul Master

On the way to Notting College, Qian Shui analyzed the character Yu Xiaogang in detail again.

The incompetent rich young master encountered problems he couldn't control or solve, and ultimately chose to run away.

If he had read Douluo Continent during his early adolescence, he would have utterly despised such people. But after being toughened up by society for a few years, he even felt some sympathy for them.

After all, in a different context, this kind of person would be the kind of person who is prepared for trouble.

'Alas, the easiest way to ruin a person is not to kick them out, but to put them in a position they are not capable of taking, and then let them perish. That way, they will be completely ruined.'

He himself might even feel that he was just being played by fate.

Yu Xiaogang was precisely the NPC who was placed in that position, and what truly tormented him was so-called fate.

The solution is simple: either acquire the necessary skills or withdraw from the current situation before anything happens.

At least before anything happened, Qian Shui was indifferent to this so-called 'master'. After all, he was no different from the gatekeeper who was taken from the path to death. With him around, this person might not even have made it onto the stage of the times.

He's not Tang San, who would kill someone out of respect and not just chop up such an insignificant person.

'I don't know which type Bibi Dong likes, that's really too much to ask; that's her own problem.'

With his hands in his pockets and an indifferent expression, he saw the tall archway on the west side of the city, completely out of place for a small border town, and that's when he arrived at Notting College.

"This level of productivity feels like it's on par with the Industrial Revolution..."

The school gate alone is over ten meters high. The key point is that without industrialization, how could the steel production be so high that even the gate of a primary soul master academy is made of high-quality 'refined iron'?

From Qian Shui's perspective in his previous life, the cost of just this school gate alone would be hundreds of thousands, and taking kickbacks would easily amount to millions, let alone in this era without large-scale steel production.

Seeing Qian Shui staring blankly at the school gate, and not being dressed in fancy clothes, the gatekeeper came over and said, "What are you looking at? This is a Soul Master Academy, not a place for commoners like you to look around, understand? If you have nothing to do, get out of here."

Upon hearing this, Qian Shui raised an eyebrow. People who say whatever comes to mind are indeed annoying.

'No wonder Tang San, who comes from an assassin organization, was tempted to kill; I almost wanted to punch him myself.'

Qian Shui generally doesn't like to talk much with people he doesn't know well; in short, he's socially awkward. He ignored the doorman and slipped straight into Notting College.

Only the gatekeeper remained, scratching his head, unaware of what had happened.

As darkness fell, it didn't stop Qian Shui from searching for someone. Unleashing his senses and ignoring the student area and dormitories, he walked straight to a middle-aged man and asked him directly, who appeared to be a school teacher.

"Hello." He subtly emitted fluctuations of soul power to reveal his identity as a soul master. "I'm looking for Yu Xiaogang."

"Yu Xiaogang?"

The person in front of him repeated Qian Shui's question, which was somewhat unusual. Logically, one should either give directions directly or ask who the person was.

This prompted Qian Shui to take a closer look at this middle-aged man who exuded a sense of decadence.

'No way, what a coincidence?'

Keywords: middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, average appearance, and soul power level 20 or so.

These points almost all fit Yu Xiaogang's characteristics, although this is generally true for middle-aged people.

"This name hasn't been mentioned for many years." The man's eyes seemed lifeless, yet filled with sorrow. "I am Yu Xiaogang. May I ask who you are?"

"What a coincidence! My name is Qian Shui, and my master is Bibi Dong!"

Upon hearing this, the man's pupils dilated sharply, and his previously dejected gaze turned into one of disbelief.

Qian Shui, now in her true form, had her hair simply tied in a ponytail and wore a blue robe, giving her a somewhat江湖客 (jianghu kè kè, a wandering swordsman) air.

Yu Xiaogang knew Qian Shui. In his imagination, Qian Shui was a handsome and proud young man. But the one in front of him was so ordinary, as if he would be lost in a crowd.

Since they were outdoors, Yu Xiaogang had no intention of talking there and led Qian Shui to his office.

After settling down, Yu Xiaogang became somewhat anxious, unlike his previous stagnant silence. "Bibi Dong... how is your teacher... lately?"

"very good!"

Qian Shui gets angry just thinking about that slap, and he doesn't have a nice tone when he brings it up now.

"Then, I wonder, what...what did she want with you?"

In Yu Xiaogang's memory, Bibi Dong had so resolutely driven him away back then. Given the gap between them, he thought he would never see her again in this life, but he never expected that his first love's disciple would come looking for him.

Seeing that Yu Xiaogang was being presumptuous, Qian Shui didn't mince words, "Don't misunderstand, I came to see you myself." 'I asked you to help me justify catching the rabbit!'

"Oh?"

Yu Xiaogang hadn't expected this at all. How could a prodigy like Qian Shui possibly come to him, an unknown nobody? Shouldn't he have never even heard of her? So he subconsciously thought that Bibi Dong must have sent her disciple to deliver a message, or something else entirely.

"Let's get straight to the point! Please keep what happens next a secret!"

Qian Shui had run out of patience. With a casual gesture, her soul power fluctuations spread throughout the room, effectively blocking conversations within.

Yu Xiaogang is just a tool; going back to play with rabbits is the real business.

"Qian Shui, Martial Soul - Primordial Spirit! Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda! Level 50 Twin Martial Souls Battle Soul Sect!"

Before Yu Xiaogang could react, the configuration of the yellow, purple, and black super-limited spirit rings and the two martial souls appeared at the same time. Qian Shui also introduced himself without any hesitation, which made Yu Xiaogang both troubled and shocked.

"Master Yu, the purpose of my trip is—to find a way to break through the limits of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaogang understood, because this was also a problem that had been troubling him.

He will probably never be able to break through the level 29 bottleneck in his entire life.

After a moment's hesitation, he could only answer truthfully, "I'm sorry, I can't help it. You are a disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, so..."

Qian Shui waved his hand to interrupt Yu Xiaogang. He didn't expect the guy to have an answer at all; coming here was just a routine matter to justify his behavior.

"Since there's no other way, let's just forget about it."

After saying that, he got up, dusted himself off, and prepared to leave.

"Why...why do you trust me so much? Twin Martial Souls..."