The Rift Between Master and Disciple

Tang Hao took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his killing intent.

No matter how inadequate Yu Xiaogang was, he was still a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster.

There was still time for Tang Hao to go deep into the forest and capture a Soul Beast around four hundred years old. With Yu Xiaogang's strength as a Soul Grandmaster, he should be able to deal with it, right?

After all, an ordinary Soul Grandmaster fighting a four-hundred-year-old Soul Beast couldn't be considered very difficult, could it?

Having made up his mind, Tang Hao turned into a trail of black smoke and silently swept toward the heart of the forest.

Below the mountain hollow, Yu Xiaogang seemed to notice the look on Tang San's face.

He coughed to ease the awkwardness, clasped his hands behind his back, and casually added to cover himself:

"Of course, this Lone Bamboo is only a fallback option."

"It's still early today. Let's look farther inside first. If we really can't find a more suitable Soul Beast, it won't be too late to come back for it as a fallback."

Only after hearing that did Tang San's taut nerves relax a little.

Even so, the towering, majestic "halo of a grandmaster" he had built up in his heart yesterday had developed a glaring crack, and instantly lost much of its luster.

The three left the mountain hollow. It happened to be evening by then, but they continued deeper along a forest path.

To salvage the slightly awkward atmosphere from before, Yu Xiaogang didn't stop talking along the way, once again putting on the airs of a master theoretician:

"Little San, you must never underestimate the iron law of Soul Ring age."

"After years of rigorous calculation, I determined that the absolute limit a Soul Master can withstand for his First Soul Ring is four hundred and twenty-three years!"

"Once that limit is exceeded, even by a single year, the Soul Beast's resentment will instantly erode the human body. There is absolutely no chance of survival!"

"Therefore, no Soul Master in the world can ever break through the ceiling of four hundred and twenty-three years for their first ring. Remember this, Little San: it is an iron law!"

Yu Xiaogang walked at the front with his head held high, his tone fervent, as though he were the god who laid down the laws of heaven and earth.

Cai Kun, following behind, had heard it so often that his ears were practically growing calluses. He was impatient all over.

Four hundred and twenty-three years?

Then my thousand-year first ring broke the rules.

Do I need surgery to transplant it out, too?

Looking at Tang San beside him, who was trudging along with a gloomy face, Cai Kun rolled his eyes, and an idea to pass the time immediately popped into his head.

While Yu Xiaogang chattered on nonstop at the front, Cai Kun deliberately slowed by half a step and walked shoulder to shoulder with Tang San.

He raised an eyebrow at Tang San, quietly turned over his right palm, and released a faint trace of Soul Power.

"Hum-"

A thousand-year purple ring of light flashed beneath Cai Kun's feet and vanished!

That single flash brought Tang San to attention on the spot.

Purple?!

A Thousand-Year Soul Ring?!

Didn't Yu Xiaogang say the limit was four hundred and twenty-three years? Why was his a thousand years old?

This was completely wrong!

Tang San stumbled, nearly tripping over his own feet and falling flat.

He immediately stopped and cried out in shock:

"Cai Kun! I saw it! How did your First Soul Ring become a thousand-year ring?!"

Yesterday at the academy, he had seen it perfectly clearly. The Soul Ring Cai Kun had shown was unmistakably a yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring!

How had it skipped straight from yellow to a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring in just one day?!

The piercing shout sounded especially jarring in the silent forest.

Yu Xiaogang, walking in front, jumped in fright and hurriedly turned around, looking back with a deep frown.

Cai Kun had both hands in his trouser pockets and was whistling as he looked at Tang San with a thoroughly puzzled expression. He even reached out and patted Tang San on the shoulder:

"Little San, have you lost your mind? What Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"

"Have you been fooling around with Xiao Wu too much at night lately, not getting enough rest, and seeing things?"

Yu Xiaogang looked around and found nothing unusual. At once, he rebuked him with some displeasure:

"Little San! Stop talking nonsense!"

"I just told you that the absolute limit for a First Soul Ring is four hundred and twenty-three years. How could anyone in the world have a thousand-year ring as their first?!"

"Even if Cai Kun is extraordinarily gifted, if he had forcibly attempted to take a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, he would have been blown apart by its Soul Power long ago!"

Tang San's chest heaved violently, his face flushed red with anxiety as he pointed at Cai Kun and argued:

"Teacher, I wasn't mistaken! A purple ring of light really did appear beneath his feet just now. That was a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Enough!"

Yu Xiaogang's face darkened, and his tone took on a note of severity:

"In scholarship, nothing is more taboo than chasing shadows and letting your mind grow restless! You must have been so tense along the way that you started seeing things. Hurry and compose yourself!"

Seeing Yu Xiaogang listening to only one side and passing judgment, stubbornly refusing to investigate, Tang San opened his mouth, but in the end lowered his head in humiliation.

He turned and shot Cai Kun a vicious glare.

Cai Kun had already turned away and started filming the scenery, completely unaware of the killing intent in Tang San's eyes.

Tang San felt a surge of Evil Fire shoot straight to his forehead. His lungs were practically bursting with rage!

He did it on purpose!

That bastard Cai definitely did it on purpose!

He was showing off! Deliberately provoking me!

What made Tang San feel even more chilled and despairing was that the "peerless master teacher" he had taken as his teacher was walking less than three meters ahead, yet hadn't even noticed a Thousand-Year Soul Ring lighting up behind him!

Not only was he blind and deaf, he had turned around and scolded Tang San with that rigid theory of his!

At that moment, trust between master and disciple split open into an unbridgeable chasm.

"Rustle-rustle-"

Just as the atmosphere grew unbearably tense, the surrounding bushes suddenly stirred without a breeze, making a rustling sound.

Immediately afterward, the foul stench of saliva assailed them on the night wind.

A pair of bloodthirsty eyes glowing an eerie green lit up from behind the grass.

"Awoo-"

A deep growl sounded, and six vicious wolves with slender bodies and bluish-gray fur slowly emerged from the grass, surrounding the three in a semicircle.

Nether Wolves!

At the sight of these uninvited guests, Yu Xiaogang, who had been looking somewhat embarrassed, suddenly brightened.

These six Nether Wolves were still small. At most, they had ten-odd years of cultivation.

Because of the Lone Bamboo and the Soul Ring, his authority before the two children had seemed a little shaken just now.

Now that these beasts had delivered themselves to his door, weren't they perfect for asserting his authority and letting the two little fellows see his methods as a Soul Grandmaster with their own eyes?!

Yu Xiaogang immediately straightened his back, his face once again taking on the bearing of a grandmaster.

He held out an arm to shield Tang San and Cai Kun behind him and shouted in a deep voice:

"They're nothing but a pack of ten-year Nether Wolves. You two stand back and watch how I, the Grandmaster, deal with them!"

With that, Yu Xiaogang planted his feet apart and rapidly formed hand seals before his chest, giving a low shout:

"Come out, Luo Sanpao!"

"Puff-"

A burst of white light exploded in front of him.

Then a round creature covered in purple fur, looking like a mutated fat pig, appeared before everyone on its short little legs, making a silly "luo, luo" sound.

Two bright yellow Hundred-Year Soul Rings pulsed up and down around Luo Sanpao.

Yu Xiaogang pulled a white radish from his robes and tossed it to Luo Sanpao. Pointing his right hand at the wolf pack ahead, he shouted magnificently:

"First Soul Skill: Fart Like Thunder, Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao!"