Thinking about his martial soul.
Ye Qiu postponed his plan to scavenge a free meal until the evening.
Watching Old Jack and Tang San leave, Ye Qiu cheerfully made his way back home.
Along the way, he kept studying his martial soul.
He looked at the little tadpole on his fingertip.
It really was tiny.
It was hard to figure out what its purpose was—no wonder Su Yuntao had judged it as a useless martial soul.
As soon as he got home...
Ye Qiu went straight to the water tank by the door and tried to perform Martial Soul Possession.
Under his gaze, the tiny tadpole...
Smeared itself onto his fingertip.
Like black fibers or yarn, it rapidly spread across Ye Qiu's body.
Ye Qiu could feel power surging throughout his entire body.
He looked toward the water tank—
And then a sharp, hoarse cry of shock escaped him.
"What the—?!"
Ye Qiu stared in disbelief at the 'monster' in the water tank.
Its entire body was pitch-black, the dominant color, with thin strands of white fiber.
The most striking feature was the two white patches over its eyes.
When it spoke...
Ye Qiu could even see a full set of sharp fangs in its mouth and a long tongue!
"You've got to be kidding me..."
Ye Qiu stumbled two steps back.
He touched his face, then looked at his now-muscular arms.
Of course he recognized the thing clinging to his body.
His heart pounded wildly.
"My martial soul is... Venom?!"
He spoke hoarsely, uncertainly.
Ye Qiu took a deep breath. The smooth, black material over his head retreated like a tide.
It was as if he had been wearing a tight leather suit.
He slowly walked toward the water tank.
"Holy crap! Crap, m-my head! Where's my head?! Don't mess with me like this!"
Ye Qiu looked at the headless reflection in the water tank.
Utterly panicked.
He grabbed wildly at his neck, trying to pull his head back out.
If a villager happened to walk by right now...
Even in broad daylight, they'd be scared to death.
Fortunately, it was just a scare.
Ye Qiu's head successfully grew back—the black substance re-wove into his head.
His face was a little pale, clearly frightened.
But immediately after...
Ye Qiu's pale face blossomed into a bright smile.
He had a bold guess in his heart!
Ye Qiu hugged the water tank.
Half of his face began to boil and churn, turning into Venom.
A hoarse but childish voice rang out.
"I understand now."
"I... am Venom, right?"
As the words fell
Ye Qiu noticed a strand of spider silk hanging in front of him, with a small spider dangling from it.
The white parts of Venom's eyes contracted.
Ye Qiu slowly raised his hand and gently poked the spider with a finger.
"Wanna give it a try?"
Gurgle!
Ye Qiu's body started to surge like fluid, flowing toward the spider.
"Oh crap! I'm gonna die—it's stuck, it's stuck!"
"..."
"Yes! It worked!"
Three months passed in the blink of an eye.
Ye Qiu had grown much stronger physically.
After using Martial Soul Possession, he could scale walls and run on rooftops, and even wove himself a hammock.
From time to time, he amused himself.
He performed feats like chopping bricks with bare hands, smashing bricks with his head, and even, boldly,
tested a brick on his crotch!
After several rounds of testing...
Ye Qiu was now full of confidence and hope for the future.
Although there were obvious weaknesses—
No one else knew about them, and as long as he worked to compensate beforehand, it would be fine.
Fearing high temperatures and such wasn't a big deal.
The sun was bright.
Ye Qiu simply packed up his things.
With a wine gourd hanging from his waist, he followed Old Jack to Tang San's house.
In the village, people born with soul power were extremely rare.
It was easy to snag a leftover student spot from another village.
"Tang Hao, I'm here to take Tang San as we agreed."
Old Jack called out.
He led Ye Qiu into the blacksmith shop, and was immediately met with heat waves and the stench of alcohol.
The corners of the room were filled with piles of scrap metal and empty wine bottles.
"Yo! Morning, Little San—and Uncle Haozi!"
Ye Qiu smiled and greeted Tang Hao and Tang San, then pulled out some candy to offer Tang San.
"Little San, want some candy?"
"No, thanks."
Tang San shook his head, his tone a bit better than usual.
Ye Qiu shrugged helplessly.
Tang Hao, who sat by the dining table drinking soup with a messy beard, ignored them.
He only lifted his eyelids briefly to glance at Ye Qiu—his cloudy eyes unreadable.
But Ye Qiu wasn't about to let him ignore him.
Smiling, he stepped forward and uncorked the wine gourd at his waist.
"Uncle Haozi, want some wine?"
"Pour it!"
A hoarse, unpleasant voice rang out as Tang Hao casually poured out his rice soup.
He placed the empty bowl on the table.
"You got it!"
Ye Qiu immediately filled the bowl for Tang Hao.
The wine was a clear green, with a few strands of Blue Silver Grass residue floating in it.
No one else bought this wine.
Only Tang Hao liked it, and even that was by chance.
Splash!
Tang Hao shoved his blackened, foul-smelling hand into the bowl, stirred it, and dumped it again.
Then he slapped the "cleaned" bowl back on the table.
Ye Qiu didn't mind in the slightest.
He simply poured him another bowl of his special homemade wine.
"Uncle Haozi, how about some candy too?"
Tang Hao took a sip, savoring it like fine tea.
He looked at the colorful candies Ye Qiu offered.
Tang Hao glanced at him...
Then gave a slight nod, and with one big hand, scooped up all the candy into his palm.
Ye Qiu's smile grew even brighter.
He rubbed his hands together and blinked his big black eyes, looking quite scheming.
"Uncle Haozi, I'm heading off to school. So, about the..."
Before Ye Qiu could finish
Tang Hao waved him off impatiently.
"Don't bother. I don't have money."
"Haha, no worries. Little San is so capable—he'll have money in the future."
Ye Qiu didn't mind at all.
The tab Tang Hao owed for the wine was nothing to a soul master.
Hearing this...
Tang San didn't respond, but looked toward his scruffy father.
"Little San, you don't need to pay for his wine."
Tang Hao said casually, tossing a few candies into his mouth without even looking at Ye Qiu.
"Got it, Dad."
Tang San nodded seriously.
"What?!"
Ye Qiu's face changed slightly.
Even if that wine was just waste water he rinsed from wine bottles with a bit of Blue Silver Grass...
He'd never forced anyone to buy it.
That was his hard-earned work!
"Uncle Haozi, how could you do this? Isn't this bullying an honest man?!"
Old Jack, who was helping Tang San pack, also noticed the commotion.
He couldn't help but step in:
"Tang Hao, don't you think you're going too far? Snatching a kid's stuff too?"
"What's the noise? I just ran up a tab for some wine and grabbed a handful of candy. My mouth's been bland for days."
Tang Hao didn't even turn around.
He crunched on a few herb-flavored candies, paired with the special grass wine made just for him.
His eyes showed a look of bliss
As if that wine contained his wife.
"Sure, it's flavorless—but it's clean. I brewed it myself!"
Ye Qiu frowned.
He'd gathered plenty of bottles, even distilled the wine—absolutely clean and hygienic!
This is the mighty Clear Sky Douluo—how can he be so shameless?!
---
Wishing everyone a great day!