“Heavenly Martial Institute?” After hearing this, Yuan Shanshan, Ouyang Ling and Ouyang Shuang showed doubtful faces, especially Ouyang Ling and Yuan Shanshan. Both of them had a look of surprise as well.
“Shaofu, you are going to the Heavenly Martial Institute? Does your father know about this?” Ouyang Ling asked.
Du Shaofu looked at their baffled expression with a strange look. He nodded and said, “That’s exactly where my father wanted me to go. “
Ouyang Ling and Yuan Shanshan looked at each other. Their eyes seemed to fluctuate a little. Then, Yuan Shanshan said to Du Shaofu. “In that case, we won’t stop you from going there. I suppose your father must have made arrangements for you. But Shaofu, Aunt Shan doesn’t want you to leave so soon. How about staying here for a few more days? Although you had been in Lan Ling Prefecture during this time, instead of accompanying Aunt Shan, you were often outside.”
“Aunt Shan, I’ll come visit you often next time.”
Du Shaofu smiled. Every warmth he experienced in Lan Ling Prefecture during this period of time really warmed his heart.
“Sister Shan, this boy wants to go to the Heavenly Martial Institute. If you keep him here for a few more days, I’m afraid that he would only think about that place every single day. Just let him go.”
Ouyang Ling gently placed his hands on Yuan Shanshan’s shoulder, then he turned to Ouyang Shuang and said, “Girl, I think that it’s time for you to return to the Heavenly Martial Institute as well. Why not you go along with Shaofu? At least you will have a companion along the road.”
“Together with him?”
Ouyang Shuang’s lovely face was filled with reluctance, but she didn’t know why she suddenly smiled. Her eyes fell upon Du Shaofu’s eyes in a hostile way. “Okay. I will bring him to the Heavenly Martial Institute. It’s about the time for the new batch of enrollees.”
“So you are from the Heavenly Martial Institute?” Du Shaofu was surprised to learn that Ouyang Shuang was actually a member of the Heavenly Martial Institute.
Seeing Du Shaofu’s surprised expression, Yuan Shanshan said with a smile, “Your Sister Shuang has already been practicing in the Heavenly Martial Institute for three years. She has come home for four months, but now it’s time for her to return to the institute.”
“It’s good that you decided to go the Heavenly Martial Institute. There are a lot of things which you can learn there. Furthermore, your father and I came from that institute.” Ouyang Ling looked over at Du Shaofu and smiled.
“Uncle Ling and my father are both from the Heavenly Martial Institute?” Du Shaofu was surprised again, especially when he learned that his drunkard dad was once a member of that institute.
“Your father and I joined the Heavenly Martial Institute together. We practiced and cultivated together as well.”
Ouyang Ling’s eyes slightly raised as if he was reliving his past experiences. The corner of his mouth curled into a smile, and he looked at Du Shaofu strangely, but his smile was somewhat akin into a wry smile. He said, “You have to be more vigilant when you are in the institute. Remember not to be rash in all things, otherwise you will suffer some hardships.”
“Why?” Du Shaofu eyed Ouyang Ling with a rather strange look. He had a feeling that something wasn’t right.
“It’s because your father has a high and glorious reputation in the Heavenly Martial Institute. He has been ranked second on the Bounty Chart for more than ten years. Everyone in that institute wanted to find your father.” Ouyang Shuang said to Du Shaofu with a smile.
“What’s the Bounty Chart?” Du Shaofu asked in a weak tone, not knowing much about the function of the Bounty Chart of the institute.
Ouyang Shuang didn’t know why she became so delicate and patient this time. She showed a smile on her beautiful face and explained. “Many of those who were listed on the Bounty Chart are evil people who had committed heinous crimes. There were some of them who defied the existence of the Heavenly Martial Institute. There were also some who killed students of the institute. Any student who can capture or kill those people with bounty on their heads would be rewarded with a fixed bounty.”
“Why would my father be listed in the Bounty Chart?”
Du Shaofu was getting more and more puzzled. The Bounty Chart was actually a wanted list. His drunkard father was a disciple of the Heavenly Martial Institute. So how did he become the second wanted person of the institute?
Yuan Shanshan said with a smile, “It was not anything big actually. It was because your father had taken the treasure of the institute named ‘Lightning Dragon’ and has never returned it to them. This Heavenly Martial Institute is a stingy institute.”
“Lightning Dragon, it sounds very familiar to me.”
Du Shaofu frowned. His gaze fluctuated when he tried to recall the things that he saw in his dream. His father’s weapon was a long spear named ‘Lightning Dragon’. The power of the weapon was amazing and it roared like thunder. He didn’t expect the weapon to be a treasure of the Heavenly Martial Institute.
“Mum, Uncle Du has not only taken the treasure of the institute, I heard that he had also used the herbs that were countless of years old collected by the institute and had also taken some other treasures. There was a pill named ‘Royal Extreme Pill’ that took three years and the joint efforts of all the powerhouses of Talisman Institute to concoct. In the end, it was seized by Uncle Du.” Ouyang Shuang darted her mother a glance. She never thought that her mother would view the theft of the Lightning Dragon as an unimportant matter. She was apparently being overprotective of this kid – Du Shaofu.
“About this…”
Yuan Shanshan let out a wry smile and her complexion went scarlet-red from embarrassment. After staring at her daughter for quite a while, she said, “They were just pills, aren’t they made for humans to consume? Who cares if someone took them?”
Ouyang Shuang rolled her eyes looking at her mother, speechless.
“I have never thought that my drunkard father has caused so many troubles.”
When Du Shaofu heard what Ouyang Shuang said, he started to understand the real situation. Suddenly, he questioned himself whether it was wise for him to go to that institute. He slightly raised his head and asked Ouyang Ling in a weak tone. “Uncle Ling, now that my father is on the Bounty Chart, can I still join the Heavenly Martial Institute?”
“Erm…”
Ouyang Ling knitted his brows. He then said, “No one over there knows that you are the son of Du Tingxuan. As long as you don’t reveal it, no one will know about it.”
“That seems to be the only way.”
Du Shaofu smiled wryly. Why would his drunkard father want him to go to a place where he had made a mess? Wasn’t this putting his own son into a predicament?
“The journey from Lan Ling City to the Heavenly Martial Institute isn’t short, but with the Demonic Scale Tiger, it will be a lot quicker. But, you can’t ride that demonic beast when you are travelling the dark forest, it would only slow down your travelling speed. So be careful on your road.” Ouyang Ling said.
“Why can’t I ride the Demonic Scale Tiger while passing through the dark forest?”
“Stupid.” Ouyang Shuang sent an offensive response to Du Shaofu. She then said, “The warriors in the dark forest are extremely powerful. Once the intermediate Mailing Demonic Scale Tiger enters the forest, it will immediately attract the attention of those powerful warriors. After that, either the tiger will be their mount or its arcane bone and blood essence will be gutted out.”
“Girl, this time, you won’t have someone escorting you back to the Heavenly Martial Institute. You must be careful when you are passing the dark forest.” Ouyang Ling said to Ouyang Shuang in a solemn tone.
“I know. This isn’t the first time that I went to the dark forest.” Ouyang Shuang nodded.
After chatting with Ouyang Ling and Aunt Shan for a while, Du Shaofu returned to his room.
Originally, he felt a little excited when he thought about going to the Heavenly Martial Institute, but after hearing the matter between his drunkard father and the institute, he became somewhat depressed. He really didn’t know why his father asked him to go to that institute. If someone found out that he was his son, he could already imagine what the consequences would be.
In the room, after pondering for a period of time, he murmured, “I have to go there. I can’t allow my cultivation to stay stagnant. I have to enhance my strength as quickly as possible.”
After finishing his words, he slowly stretched out his palm and a pill appeared in his hand.
*Hua La La*
Talisman patterns seemed to be flowing out of the pill, as though it was going to spill out at any time. Even the calm atmosphere started to tremble the moment the pill appeared, as though a stone was thrown into a still lake. A sweet fragrance lingered in the air. It was the Pulse Spirit Pill that he had gotten from the Prefecture Lord, Ouyang Ling.
His body moved. He got up on his toes, and immediately sat cross-legged on his bed. His hand was condensing seals. He then looked at the Pulse Spirit Pill in his hand and muttered. “Swallow it to fortify your cultivation base.”
He held the pill between his forefinger and thumb, and slightly opened his mouth. With a proper application of strength, he shot the pill down into his throat with his forefinger.
The pill immediately melted the moment it entered his mouth. Du Shaofu didn’t even have the time to react. The pill then turned into pure energy, diffusing into his body.
The energies spread like thousands of wires all over Du Shaofu’s body.
The energy of the Pulse Spirit Pill seemed like self-aware. Some of them immediately wrapped around the inactivated martial pulse. That kind of feeling was mysterious and wonderful. He could feel a tug from his martial pulse.
“Uncle Ling was right, this was an extraordinary Pulse Spirit Pill.”
Du Shaofu was surprised in his heart. He then settled down and formed hand seals again to start absorbing the pure energy in this pill. He used his mental strength to direct all of the pure energy to wrap around the martial pulse.
*Chi La La*
As the energies wrapped around the martial pulse, he gradually went into a meditative state.
A moment later, his whole body suddenly trembled, like something inside of him had been awakened. Suddenly, a large profound light burst out from his body. Strands of divine light started to leap out of his body, along with a gust of a terrifying aura.
[Come over and support MGC translation in Patreon NSEA Patreon !]
Note:
Certain name of skills will not be capitalized but italicized. Some terms are subject to change when better suggestions are selected.