thefictionvixens 72. The journey begins
72. The journey begins
After leaving the training camp, Ling Bingtian and his two companions did not linger. They borrowed three fast horses from the camp and returned to Jibing City that same day.
After resting for a few days at the Ling family home and relaxing, Ling Bingtian, along with Wang Dayu and Yuan Chao, embarked on their journey to the number one academy in the world, under the reluctant gaze of Ling Jun, in order to fulfill the promise they made five years ago.
Strictly speaking, the Ling family is not actually that far from Shrek Academy. If they travel at full speed, with their cultivation levels, the three of them can reach Shrek City in less than three days.
Shrek Academy was established on the Lima Plain, in the southeast of the Tianhun Empire. To its southeast lies the famous Star Dou Great Forest, to its east is the Douling Empire, and to its south is the Xingluo Empire. It is an academy that was truly built in the core area of the original Douluo Continent.
The Ling family's city, Extreme Ice City, is located at the northernmost tip of the entire Heavenly Soul Empire. Therefore, Ling Bingtian and his companions' journey will almost traverse the entire Heavenly Soul Empire.
Fortunately, they had plenty of time. According to the news from Shrek City, Ling Bingtian and his group had a full two weeks before the start of the school term when they set off.
Even without using their martial spirits to travel, they could reach Shrek City before the start of the school year simply by walking.
Therefore, according to Ling Bingtian's plan, the three of them will slowly head to Shrek Academy, and along the way they can also visit some scenic spots and taste some delicious food.
It's a chance to finally relax the nerves that have been stretched out for the past three years.
Wang Dayu and Yuan Chao naturally wholeheartedly supported Ling Bingtian's plan.
Needless to say, Wang Dayu, although he later mastered the Heavy Water Technique given to him by Ling Bingtian to the third level of perfection, did not evolve his martial soul, but his talent improved again.
He continued to train diligently in the training camp until he was promoted to the Heavenly Battalion and began to go out to fight with the team.
Yuan Chao was in an even worse situation. For the most part of the three years, he was trained one-on-one with a high-ranking officer in the Extreme Ice Army, and was even more strictly controlled.
Having a period of rest before embarking on a new journey is something both are highly desirable.
Since they were traveling, the three of them naturally wouldn't choose to simply walk. They picked up three common yellow horses from the Arctic Army and began their journey.
After leaving the Ice City, the more south they went, the more noticeable the temperature around them began to rise.
Ling Bingtian was alright; with his life experience from his previous life as a foundation, he didn't find these things strange.
But Wang Dayu and Yuan Chao, two children who have never left the area of Extreme Ice City since birth, find everything strange and wonderful.
They can talk about even the temperature changes for a long time.
Ling Bingtian didn't stop them, and listened to their chatter as they walked, which was a kind of relaxation for him.
Before long, the three of them had left the territory of Extreme Ice City and arrived at the territory of another main city of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
This main city is different from the Ice City. The most famous people in the city are not families, but two sects.
One is called Tianlongmen, and the other is called Dilongmen.
Therefore, this main city is also known as Dragon City.
Dragon City is located in the northeast of the Heavenly Soul Empire. Its most famous specialty is similar to that of Extreme Ice City: strong liquor.
In Arctic City and Dragon City, people generally prefer to drink strong liquor to keep warm due to the cold climate.
Over time, this gave rise to all kinds of spirits. After thousands of years of competition and elimination, what still exists today are absolutely the best spirits.
These are all materials collected by Wang Dayu, who is also the only one in the three-person team who particularly enjoys drinking.
Wang Dayu fell in love with this thing the first time he saw it. Unfortunately, drinking alcohol was strictly prohibited in the training camp, which made him really pent up.
A few days ago at the Ling family's house, he drank until his nose turned bright red every day before going to sleep in a daze.
He was the most excited about this trip to Dragon City. Ling Bingtian had seen that expectant, silly grin on his face more than once.
Shaking his head helplessly, Ling Bingtian looked at the smoke rising slowly in the distance.
It was already afternoon. The three people, who had set out early in the morning and were slowly strolling along the way to enjoy the scenery, were starting to feel a little hungry.
Having cooked countless meals during their combat careers, the three clearly didn't want to cook again while on vacation.
Now that we've seen the smoke rising from the chimneys, it wouldn't hurt to try some food from other places occasionally.
"Let's go, there's smoke coming from a chimney ahead. Let's see if there's anything good to eat there," Ling Bingtian said lazily, leading the horse by the reins.
"Okay." *2
After finalizing their plan, the three of them stopped their leisurely stroll, tightened their reins, and began to head towards the direction from which the smoke was coming from.
……
In Yuquan Village, a group of villagers gathered around a table at a distance. Regardless of age or gender, they all looked tense and knelt facing the table.
On the table were several dishes that looked incredibly delicious. There was fish, chicken, duck, and vegetables; they didn't look like the kind of food that people in Yuquan Village usually ate.
Beside the table sat a young man dressed in a yellow robe, who appeared somewhat nonchalant.
Among all the villagers, only two people stood: the village chief of Yuquan Village and the famous chef of Yuquan Village.
At this moment, both of them stood by the table, their faces filled with fear and covered in cold sweat, watching the young man on the table casually tasting the food on it.
The young man took a bite of every dish on the table, then put down his chopsticks, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped his lips in a manner befitting a nobleman, before speaking casually.
"Village Chief Xie, I really can't be satisfied with these dishes. It seems like you didn't put any effort into them at all."
Upon hearing the young man's words, the village chief Xie, who was standing beside him, trembled and knelt down, banging his head on the ground. His voice trembled as he said, "Soul Master, this is truly the best dish our village can offer. Please, have mercy and awaken the martial souls of the children in our village."
To everyone's surprise, after hearing these words, the young man's previously nonchalant expression quickly turned sour.
He looked at Village Chief Xie, who was kneeling on the ground and banging his head on the ground, and said coldly, "So you mean, I deliberately refused to awaken your martial souls? It's all my fault?"
Upon hearing this, Village Chief Xie, who was already trembling, shook even more violently. He hurriedly explained, "Of course not, of course not. A person as great as the Soul Master would never make a mistake; it must be our fault."
As he said this, Village Chief Xie took out a small cloth bag from his pocket and handed it to the young man in front of him with trembling hands, a clear look of heartache showing deep in his eyes.
The young man's gloomy expression improved slightly after he saw Village Chief Xie take out a cloth bag.
Thinking about the nobles' actions, Qing cleared his throat twice, reaching for his cloth bag as he said, "Rules are rules. Since I've set the rules, if you don't follow them, that's your problem, not mine. Be more careful next time."
After taking the cloth bag from Village Chief Xie and weighing it in his hand, the young man's face darkened again.
"This weight..."
The young man cast another gloomy glance at the village chief kneeling before him, and said coldly, "You dare to give me this meager offering? Hmm?"
As he asked the question, two spirit rings, one white and one yellow, rose from beneath the youth's feet. A faint wisp of blue light emanated from the center of his brow, traveling upwards and entering his hair bun.
The youth's originally black hair instantly turned gray and rapidly grew longer, with the same color appearing on his bare hands. At the same time, his body swelled up, instantly becoming incredibly muscular. His eyes turned a ghostly green, and sharp, gleaming claws emerged from his ten fingers, appearing extremely razor-sharp.
A Grand Soul Master with a Lone Wolf Martial Soul!
His actions and imposing manner once again frightened the trembling Village Chief Xie, who could only answer the young man's question with trembling hands, despite his best efforts.
"Great Soul Master... it's really not that we... don't want to offer any more! This year's harvest is just too bad, we... we really have no more offerings."
The old man's trembling body and tone did not move the young man. On the contrary, he looked at the old man coldly and said indifferently, "It seems you still don't understand. These words are nothing but excuses. Since that's the case, then I'll teach you lowly commoners a lesson."
After saying this, the young man raised his right hand, about to stab the hand that had grown wolf claws at the nearest chef from Yuquan Village.
"stop!"