Tang San Licked His Wounds Alone; Setting Out to Hunt for Soul Rings Days Later

Then there was [Swordsmanship Mastery]!

His various Ninjutsu skills, combined with the Swordsmanship Mastery the system had given him and some of the practical combat experience that came with the Sasuke template...

Even without a Soul Ring, Lin Yan could probably fight an entry-level Soul Elder through sheer skill.

After all, the natives of the Douluo Continent relied far too heavily on Soul Skills, and their personal combat skills were sorely lacking.

Otherwise, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track alone would never have stood out like a crane among chickens and let Tang San show off.

Next was the [Limit Douluo Experience Card].

Such a life-saving measure was indeed miraculous. Three cards were stored in Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness.

He could feel that he could draw on the power within them with a single thought.

This trump card was precisely why he had dared to act so outrageously arrogant today.

Otherwise, faced with Yu Xiaogang, the terrifying expert who had broken through to Soul Grandmaster at fifty, and Tang San, who had Tang Hao protecting him, he really would have had to steer clear of their edge.

Last were [Divine Inheritance] and [Soul Tool Proficiency].

Lin Yan had no particular feelings about the former. He didn't know whether the deity simply hadn't come looking for him yet, but he had the uncanny feeling that he somehow had a little more confidence to fall back on.

Lin Yan was quite interested in the latter, but putting it into practice would require a great deal of rare metal, so he had set it aside for the time being.

"Right!"

Lin Yan was weighing his present circumstances in the tub when he suddenly seemed to remember something, and a faint light flashed in his eyes.

"The Sharingan can see the path of a target's Chakra flow. Does that mean I can now see the circulation route of Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill too?"

Once the thought sprouted, it grew like wild weeds.

"If it really works, then I can copy not just the Mysterious Heaven Skill, but also the Purple Demon Eye, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and Mysterious Jade Hand."

"Especially the Purple Demon Eye."

In the world of Douluo I, methods of cultivating spiritual power were few and far between. Of the handful that existed, the Purple Demon Eye was the most efficient.

Lin Yan now possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan. If he could get his hands on the Purple Demon Eye cultivation method as well, it would truly be like adding wings to a tiger.

The more Lin Yan thought about it, the more excited he became.

The Mangekyō Sharingan, twin Martial Souls with Ultimate Attributes, methods for crafting all kinds of Soul Tools, and foreknowledge of the entire continent...

Put all of that together, and he had practically gotten the template of a male protagonist in a wish-fulfillment novel!

Before this, he had envied Tang San for having a powerful background and a deity backing him. Now, he had only one thing to say:

Little Scumbag, things are going incredibly smoothly for your big brother.

The corners of Lin Yan's mouth silently curled up.

"But the most urgent thing is still to add a Soul Ring to my Martial Soul."

For a major life event like Martial Soul Awakening, Lin Yan had already used a special way of making money to max out his tolerance to Whale Rubber.

With the training he had put in year after year, a thousand-year first ring would definitely be no problem!

"Mm, I'll ask the academy head to help me hunt for a Soul Ring tomorrow."

Lin Yan dried himself off and lay back down on the soft, spacious bed. Breathing in the sun-soaked scent of the bedding, he felt utterly at ease.

"I'm really starting to look forward to life on the Douluo Continent, aren't I?"

Meanwhile.

In the work-study students' dormitory.

In contrast to Lin Yan's comfort, Tang San was sitting alone with his legs crossed on a hard wooden plank bed in the farthest corner.

Xiao Wu wasn't sleeping with him.

There was no other reason: after what had happened that day, Tang San reeked of shit.

Every child around him found him repulsive.

And whether it was just in their heads or not, even though Tang San had nearly scrubbed a layer of skin off, the other work-study students still thought he smelled wrong, and he felt unclean himself.

As the boss, Xiao Wu had simply snatched the brand-new bedding and claimed it for herself.

Thus, Tang San had no choice but to sleep alone... well, sit alone on the wooden plank bed in the farthest corner.

"That Lin Yan! He already has a way to die!"

"It would be one thing if he'd only made Yu Xiaogang look like a fool in public, but he dragged me into it too."

Tang San's eyes burned with anger.

There was hatred for Lin Yan in them, frustration with Yu Xiaogang for failing to live up to expectations, and even bitter regret over his own decision to take Yu Xiaogang as his teacher.

No one knew what he had endured that day. Even he didn't want to remember it.

When Yu Xiaogang went mad, everyone else had only suffered the aftereffects, but he, Tang San, had been right in the middle of it!

The thin, small Tang San was just tall enough to reach Yu Xiaogang's waist.

It was easy to imagine how much harm his young soul had suffered.

However, compared with the harm Yu Xiaogang had done him, Tang San was now more wary of Lin Yan's strength.

"How exactly did that guy use his skill? Why did it work on me even though I've cultivated the Purple Demon Eye?"

"And..."

"We both have Innate Full Soul Power, and we're both orphans, so why does he get to live in a luxurious single room?"

"While I have to squeeze in with these ordinary people in a communal dormitory."

"They even took my blanket!"

"Why?! Why!"

Tang San's chest was filled with resentment, jealousy, hatred, grievance, and all manner of negative emotions tangled together, making his already less-than-handsome little face look like that of a vengeful ghost.

From a thick tree outside the dormitory, Tang Hao took in every detail of Tang San's expression.

A trace of hesitation flashed across his stubbled old face.

"Little San, ah..."

Several days later.

The uproar over Yu Xiaogang spraying shit in public had more or less died down. After receiving a storage belt, Tang San had also reluctantly forgiven this [fucking idiot].

He had no choice! He was the one who had kowtowed and called him teacher back then. What else could he do but accept it?

He had already betrayed the Tang Sect once in his previous life. In this life, he didn't want to continue bearing the disgrace of betraying his teacher and ancestors.

At noon, the blazing sun hung overhead.

At the entrance to the Soul Hunting Forest.

Yu Xiaogang gently tapped a length of emerald-green bamboo in his hand and looked up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.

"Little San, this is a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo. It's known for its toughness and is very well suited to your Blue Silver Grass."

At this point, Tang San had only a sketchy understanding of Soul Beasts. All he knew was that only by successfully absorbing a Soul Ring could he break through his bottleneck and continue cultivating.

He was truly impatient, eager to break through the first level of the Mysterious Heaven Skill as soon as possible. He immediately said excitedly:

"Teacher, should I absorb it as a Soul Ring now?"

Tang San's eyes shone with eagerness and a little admiration.

Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang really wanted to agree on the spot so he could continue basking in that glory.

Fortunately, however, he had at least a little conscience. He sighed softly and said:

"No! Let's keep looking. If we really can't find anything suitable, we'll come back and choose it."

Tang San's eyes dimmed when he heard that. "Oh, all right then!"

In the end, the two passed over the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo and set off deeper into the forest.

On the way, Tang San asked Yu Xiaogang:

"Teacher, what type of Soul Ring should my Blue Silver Grass absorb? What path should I take in the future?"

"Well..."

"According to my Martial Soul Mimicry Theory, plant Martial Souls can absorb beast-type Soul Rings too."

"As for your Blue Silver Grass... I suggest you absorb a snake-type Soul Ring. Not only will that improve the Blue Silver Grass's toughness, it can also add some other attributes, such as poison!"