Yu Xiaogang's future disciple, Tang San, if he hadn't had the Mystic Heaven Skill, his awakened Soul Power would absolutely not have reached innate full Soul Power, and his twin Martial Souls might have even died in the womb.
Tang Hao neglected Tang San from a young age, only caring about drinking to drown his sorrows. After Tang San could walk, he still had to cook and take care of Tang Hao.
Tang San's diet was extremely poor from a young age, likely due to malnutrition. It was only because the Mystic Heaven Skill allowed Tang San to cultivate early and supplement his physical development; otherwise, Tang San would have been ruined by Tang Hao.
It was because Tang San possessed the cheat-like Mystic Heaven Skill, which allowed him to cultivate and absorb Soul Power early, supplementing the nutrients his body lacked, that he was able to achieve innate full Soul Power.
As for the notion that the Mystic Heaven Skill could improve talent, Ye Lan did not agree. Tang San's ability to awaken with innate full Soul Power was solely because his father was the Clear Sky Douluo and his mother was a 100,000-year Soul Beast that had taken human form.
Tang San inherited his parents' talent innately; the Mystic Heaven Skill merely supplemented his acquired nutrition.
If the Mystic Heaven Skill could enable ordinary people to awaken with innate full Soul Power, then the Tang Sect would have unified the continent ten thousand years later.
However, in reality, ten thousand years later, the Tang Sect had declined to the point where it needed the Sea God's arrangements to rise again. Therefore, Ye Lan had no particular thoughts about Tang San's cultivation method.
Perhaps the cultivation speed of the Mystic Heaven Skill could rival the continent's top cultivation methods, but Ye Lan would not rush to curry favor with Tang San for it. A tree lives by its bark, and a person by their face.
Ye Lan would not abandon his self-respect. Most importantly, Ye Lan was not fond of Tang San, only perceiving him as a hypocrite adhering to feudalistic rules.
Yu Xiaogang's voice interrupted Ye Lan's thoughts: "Innate Soul Power level 3 can also cultivate. I hope you become a Soul Master soon."
Afterward, Yu Xiaogang closed his eyes and feigned sleep.
Ye Lan put away his token and no longer paid attention to Yu Xiaogang. He didn't need Yu Xiaogang's guidance and wouldn't rush to acknowledge Yu Xiaogang as his master. Ye Lan walked towards another path, a path Yu Xiaogang couldn't see.
Before long, he arrived at the academic affairs office in the teaching building. A sixty-something-year-old man was receiving the new students. Beside the old man were two young assistants helping with miscellaneous tasks.
Although Notting College was only a junior Soul Master Academy, it was still a cradle for cultivating Soul Masters, so its management system was very complete. The age for awakening a Martial Soul was six. Some children, like Ye Lan, came from remote rural areas, and some of these children couldn't even read.
Therefore, in addition to assisting with cultivation, the junior Soul Master Academy was also responsible for teaching knowledge and looking after their daily lives.
After listening to the old man explain the various matters, Ye Lan's heart began to accept the upcoming student life. Ye Lan's inner maturity and calm demeanor contrasted sharply with the reluctance of other children who had just left their parents.
The old man looked at the calm Ye Lan and said with satisfaction, "If everyone were like you, I wouldn't have so many things to do. This is your student ID. You are a work-study student of the academy. Ye Lan, you will be responsible for the hygiene of the academy's garden and playground. It's 20 copper soul coins a day, which should be enough for your daily expenses."
The currency of the Douluo Continent is divided into golden soul coins, silver soul coins, and copper soul coins. 1 golden soul coin = 100 silver soul coins = 10,000 copper soul coins. The purchasing power of one copper soul coin is roughly 2 yuan in later generations. (The original currency system was too chaotic, so I'm unifying it here. In the original, sometimes 100 copper soul coins = 1 silver coin, and sometimes 10 copper soul coins = 1 silver coin. Prices were also inconsistent, like 5 silver soul coins for a carriage ride and 2 copper soul coins for a bento box.)
Ye Lan was not short of money; the work-study student arrangement was Su Yuntao's idea. Su Yuntao hoped Ye Lan would learn to be self-reliant. Ye Lan also did not refuse; it was just sweeping leaves, after all. This kind of simple work was easy to complete. In fact, this was a welfare benefit given to work-study students by the academy; outside physical labor jobs didn't pay as well.
After buying daily necessities at the academy store, Ye Lan carried a large bag of items and arrived at the academy dormitory before dark.
Ye Lan's dormitory was exactly the Notting College work-study student dormitory, Room Seven.
Ye Lan was carrying a large pile of things, his vision obstructed. Ye Lan could only squeeze through the dormitory door, and from the side, he saw an empty bed. He quickly walked over and put down his bedding.
Just then, a simple, honest voice called out to Ye Lan: "New work-study student?"
Ye Lan sized up the sturdy-looking teenager in front of him, who was half a head taller than himself. He looked about eight years old, with round, bright eyes.
"Yes, I'm this year's work-study student. Just call me Ye Lan."
"My name is Wang Sheng! My Martial Soul is Battle Tiger, a future Battle Soul Master!" Wang Sheng proudly told Ye Lan about his Martial Soul. Then he asked, "What's your Martial Soul?"
"Just Blue Silver Grass, with innate Soul Power level 3." Ye Lan paid no mind to Wang Sheng's desire to show off and replied indifferently.
"Blue Silver Grass can also cultivate? Forget it, no matter what kind of grass you are, you'll have to fight me first. I'm the boss of Room Seven! As long as you defeat me, you'll be the boss of Room Seven. That's the rule of Room Seven." Wang Sheng raised his arm and flexed his muscles.
The rest, who seemed to be Wang Sheng's little followers, also began to cheer, loudly shouting about how many moves it would take Wang Sheng to defeat the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
Facing this boisterous atmosphere, Ye Lan's heart did not ripple in the slightest. Instead, he raised his hands, feigning surrender.
"Wang Sheng, you win. I'm not interested in being the boss of Room Seven."
Ye Lan currently had no interest in playing 'boss' games with a few-year-old child; cultivating as soon as possible was the priority. He then asked, "Wang Sheng, how old are you this year?"
"Tsk, that's no fun. I'm eight years old this year, and my Soul Power is already level 7! What's wrong?" Wang Sheng put away his competitive Spirit and replied to Ye Lan.
"Nothing."
Ye Lan said nothing, but in his heart, he was estimating Tang San's age. Wang Sheng was five years older than Tang San and two years older than himself. That meant he was three years older than Tang San!
Ye Lan exhaled in his heart, relieved. Good, he had caught up to the main Douluo storyline. He also had a few more years of development time than the original protagonist, but due to his innate Soul Power level 3, it couldn't really be called development time, only time to catch up.
Three years wouldn't be enough to catch up to Tang San's awakened Soul Power. He needed to earn money to plan for whale glue and improve his cultivation methods.
Ye Lan pondered various things, and then, through his conversation with Wang Sheng, he also learned about the various aspects of the academy and the disputes with noble students. Ye Lan did not express an opinion on this, but Wang Sheng vouched to look out for Ye Lan.
Ye Lan looked at Wang Sheng, who was acting like a boss, and did not dampen his confidence. Then Ye Lan announced, "I'm covering dinner for Room Seven tonight. My treat, everyone eat as much as you want."
For a few young kids, Ye Lan handled them with ease. After all, for the next few years of dormitory life, a harmonious atmosphere was better than anything else. A good cultivation environment affects cultivation speed. He would have to rely on the people in Room Seven to cover for him in the future when he cultivated, as Notting College's management was quite strict and would check on people from time to time.