Gangzi's Obedience Test

Yu Xiaogang lifted his chin in satisfaction, making the green leaves atop his head sway twice. Putting on the airs of an elder, he lectured:

"This Lone Bamboo External Soul Bone of mine is a supreme treasure that an expert bestowed upon me specifically in accordance with my Ten Core Competencies. How could ordinary metal harm it?"

"Since you meant well this time, I won't hold your recklessness against you. If you want to test a move next time, remember to announce it beforehand!" When Yu Xiaogang finished, the way he looked at Tang San changed completely, growing even colder.

"Yes! I will remember your teachings, Teacher!" Tang San answered with his head lowered, concealing the darkness deep in his eyes without a trace.

Cai Kun stood with his hands in his pockets, watching the master and disciple play off each other. He was already laughing his head off inside.

A test?

What decent person testing armor would deliberately strike at the three vital points of the throat, the heart, and the space between the brows?

And there was color on the broken needle tips. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell they had been coated in deadly poison!

Gangzi's torrent of abuse had clearly driven Tang San into a corner, and the boy had decided to kill him to silence him.

But Cai Kun didn't expose him.

The show of dogs biting dogs had only just begun. What fun would it be to flip the table now?

Meanwhile, though Yu Xiaogang spoke of forgiveness, he was already thinking about how to teach Tang San a lesson.

Remembering how vicious and treacherous the angles of those three needles had been, he felt a lingering chill of fear.

If the Lone Bamboo hadn't protected him, he would be a corpse now!

He had only scolded Tang San a few times, and the boy couldn't take it, daring to turn a needle on him in secret. What would happen once his wings had grown strong?!

No!

He had to take advantage of Tang San's present weakness to grind down all his rough edges, smash his pride and rebellious streak to pieces, and keep him firmly in the palm of his hand.

Half an hour ago, he might still have been wary of the person behind Tang San.

But now?

He, Yu Xiaogang, was a genuine level-one-hundred Douluo, a being with one foot across the threshold of godhood!

Under all of heaven, what did he have left to fear?!

My disciple must be molded entirely according to my will. Whatever I say goes!

"Move!"

With power at his disposal, Yu Xiaogang had grown utterly full of himself. Giving Tang San no chance to catch his breath, he shot out his left hand and seized him by the back of his collar!

"Teacher, where are we going?" Tang San asked in astonishment, his feet off the ground and his collar tightening around his neck.

"To get your First Soul Ring!"

Yu Xiaogang snorted coldly, gripped the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo in his right hand, and drove it hard into the ground!

"First Soul Skill, Lone Bamboo Pole Vault!"

"Boing-!"

The seemingly slender bamboo pole bent into an astonishing curve, then released a tremendous rebound!

"Whoosh!"

Carrying Tang San, Yu Xiaogang shot more than ten meters into the air, soaring over layer upon layer of treetops and back in the direction they had come!

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Every time Yu Xiaogang landed, he planted the bamboo pole precisely against the ground. Like a giant grasshopper that had become a spirit, he bounded more than ten zhang through the forest at a time.

Behind them, Cai Kun, who had come along to watch the excitement, stared in amazement.

"Well, would you look at that. A level-one-hundred pole vault, and he's almost as fast as me at level ten."

"But up ahead looks like the place where the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo was born."

Before long.

"Thud!"

Yu Xiaogang came to a steady stop in the mountain hollow where Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo grew thickly.

With a casual swing, he tossed the bewildered Tang San in front of the oldest Lone Bamboo.

Tang San lay on the ground and retched twice. Gangzi's driving was terrible, and the journey had been so bumpy that his small frame couldn't take it.

After finally collecting himself, he looked up to see Yu Xiaogang looking down at him and pointing at the Lone Bamboo before them.

"Little San, there's no need to search any deeper. I've already decided for you."

Yu Xiaogang spoke in a commanding tone:

"For your First Soul Ring, choose this thirteen-year-old Lone Bamboo! Cut it down and absorb it now!"

Tang San's pupils contracted sharply, and he hurriedly scrambled to his feet:

"Teacher! You absolutely mustn't!"

"This Lone Bamboo has only a measly thirteen years of cultivation. Its ring is just a white Ten-Year Soul Ring from the very bottom of the pile!"

"I have Innate Full Soul Power. According to your theory, I can easily withstand a four-hundred-year-old Hundred-Year Soul Ring. If we look farther into the forest, we're sure to find a more suitable Soul Beast. Let's leave this Lone Bamboo for later consideration!"

Was this some kind of joke?!

Cai Kun was also level ten, yet his First Soul Ring was already a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring. With his Innate Full Soul Power, he didn't want to waste a Soul Ring slot on Lone Bamboo!

But when faced with Tang San's resistance, Yu Xiaogang's face instantly darkened.

Tang San's resistance was exactly what he wanted!

The more unwilling Tang San was to do something, the more he had to force him to bow his head and obey, laying down the rules. That was the only way to tame a spirited horse and establish a teacher's authority!

"Nonsense! Who understands Martial Souls better, you or your teacher?!"

Yu Xiaogang cut him off sharply and raised a hand to slap the green bamboo armor on his body, offering himself as an example:

"Little San, there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters!"

"Isn't my Second Martial Soul Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo? Aren't the ten Soul Rings and six Soul Bones on my body all ten-year ones too?!"

"Soul Rings are secondary. What matters is the person. This Lone Bamboo may be only ten years old, but it has a profound foundation, and its toughness is completely comparable to a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!"

"By having you absorb this Lone Bamboo, I'm laying a proven, successful road to the heavens right at your feet. I'm doing all this for your own good, for the sake of our bond as master and disciple!"

Tang San's head buzzed as he listened, and he was almost driven mad. He wished he could kill Gangzi with his own hands right then.

You want me, a level-ten Soul Master, to absorb a thirteen-year-old piece of bamboo, and you say it can compare to a thousand-year one? Do you take me for a three-year-old you can fool that easily?!

"Teacher, even so, my Blue Silver Grass isn't Lone Bamboo, after all..." Tang San gritted his teeth, making one last attempt to resist.

"Smack!"

Yu Xiaogang refused to listen to another word of his nonsense. He pulled the short dagger from his waist, seized Tang San's hand, and forced the hilt into it.

The pressure of level-one-hundred Soul Power crashed down on Tang San's frail shoulders, bending his knees and making even breathing exceptionally difficult!

"I said it: today, your First Soul Ring will be this Lone Bamboo and no other!"

Yu Xiaogang stared fixedly at Tang San through his bamboo-tube helmet, his voice as cold as iron:

"Do it! Don't make me say it twice!"

On a large rock at the edge of the hollow, Cai Kun used his camera to capture [A God's Helplessness]. Watching the master and disciple facing off with swords drawn and crossbows bent, he couldn't help clicking his tongue in wonder.

He really hadn't expected that, once Gangzi got his hands on power, the old fellow's temperament would change so quickly.

He wasn't even bothering to pretend anymore, going straight to an obedience test. It seemed he wouldn't stop until he had Tang San tamed.

Tang San was finished from here on out.

Tang San's right hand trembled violently around the dagger as he stared, eyes bloodshot, at the Lone Bamboo before him, which had only thirteen years of cultivation.

He couldn't accept it!

He was a genius of the Tang Sect's outer sect, the possessor of Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power. How could his First Soul Ring come from Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo?!

"What? You won't even listen to your teacher now?!"

"Little San, what are you hesitating for? How could I ever harm you?"

Yu Xiaogang pressed down slightly with his left hand, and the immense pressure of his level-one-hundred Soul Power grew heavier still!

"Crack!"

The ground beneath Tang San's feet collapsed into two deep pits, and a mouthful of metallic, sweet blood surged straight up his throat.

Crushed by this absolute power, Tang San realized all too clearly that if he dared say so much as half a word of refusal today, this teacher of his, who had become utterly swollen with arrogance and crazed, would cripple him without a moment's hesitation!

A wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him!

As long as the green mountains remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood!

Thirty years west of the river, thirty years east of the river. Don't look down on Tang San for being poor.

Tang San clenched his teeth so hard that blood seeped from his gums, his eyes filled with venom and madness.

Yu Xiaogang!

I, Tang San, will remember this blood debt!

Then Tang San stopped resisting. Wielding the dagger, he viciously hacked at the Lone Bamboo, his heart full of humiliation and rage!

"Crack!"

The crisp bamboo stalk snapped.

A white Soul Ring, nearly transparent, floated up from the severed stalk.

Tang San closed his eyes, his heart dripping blood. He sat cross-legged and, forcibly suppressing his nausea, guided the white Soul Ring onto his Blue Silver Grass.

Seeing Tang San finally bow his head and submit obediently, Yu Xiaogang felt the vanity of having everything under his control deeply gratified.

"Little San, that's right. I knew you were a good boy."

Satisfied, he withdrew his pressure, clasped his hands behind his back, and quietly waited for Tang San to finish absorbing it.