Xiao Wu's Disgust

"Who?"

Walking alone along the academy streets, Zhao Ming suddenly sensed a trace of danger. Since becoming a Soul Master, his body's senses had greatly improved. Especially after obtaining the Ancient Immortal Bird Martial Soul, his physical constitution had been enhanced once more.

Particularly his ability to sense danger.

Even Zhao Ming could not explain how this ability worked. But it objectively existed.

Sure enough.

A figure emerged from a slightly dark corner.

The newcomer wore Nuoding Academy's uniform, with an exquisite black belt at his waist.

"Tang San?" Zhao Ming asked in surprise. He knew that Tang San had followed Grandmaster to obtain a Soul Ring over the past few days and had not appeared at school. It seemed he had returned today.

And he came looking for him as soon as he got back?

"Looks like that useless Yu Xiaogang got you a pretty good soul skill. What? You want to teach me a lesson?" Zhao Ming said disdainfully, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

Yu Xiaogang? Was that his teacher's name? Tang San frowned slightly.

"Grandmaster is my teacher. I will not allow you to insult him." Tang San clenched his fists and said coldly.

"Tang San, not that I should say it, but Yu Xiaogang is nothing but trash. He'll never break through to the Soul Elder realm in this lifetime. He only got into this school through connections with the headmaster. To put it bluntly, he's just freeloading. Look around—besides you, who else in this school treats him like some treasure?" Zhao Ming said.

"Shut up! How could you possibly understand my teacher's level?" Tang San's face darkened as he angrily shouted at Zhao Ming.

A teacher for a day, a father for life. To Tang San, that was not merely something said aloud. Since he had taken Grandmaster as his teacher, he respected him from the bottom of his heart.

"Are you thinking that Grandmaster's theories are invincible?" Zhao Ming said calmly. "You can't explain ice to a summer insect. A Soul Master whose cultivation hasn't even reached the Soul Elder realm probably hasn't even experienced something like a Martial Soul Avatar, let alone the realm of unity between man and heaven possessed by Titled Douluo. Tell me, where did a Soul Grandmaster get all these theories?"

"You!" Tang San's expression changed, his eyes filled with hostility as he looked at Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming watched Tang San's reaction. It seemed his plan to drive a wedge between Tang San and Grandmaster had fallen through. Tang San was an ancient man; the ideals of respecting teachers and honoring the Way were ingrained in his bones.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for triggering a mission: Let Tang San learn what despair means. Time-limited mission: seven days."

"Mission reward: one random character Summoning Card."

The sudden mission caught Zhao Ming off guard.

Make Tang San despair? This mission would probably not be easy to complete.

Beating Tang San up would be easy enough, but given Tang San's character, he would probably only grow more courageous with every battle!

"System, what exactly does this mission mean?"

"The Host may use any means necessary to make Tang San feel despair."

Any means necessary?

Just as Zhao Ming was about to ask more, Tang San made his move and interrupted him.

In his fury, Tang San immediately released his Martial Soul. A pale yellow Soul Ring lit up beneath him, and his aura surged sharply. However, he did not use his Soul Ring, instead throwing a punch at Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming noticed white energy gathering around Tang San's fist. Then, Tang San's fist turned jade-white. Having cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill since childhood, the power of this punch was definitely considerable.

Want to go head-to-head with me?

Zhao Ming instantly released his Martial Soul, but he had no intention of using Flame Spirit Princess against him.

After obtaining the Ancient Immortal Bird Martial Soul, even though he had yet to acquire a Soul Ring and wield its true power, his body was still being transformed by this Martial Soul.

He threw out a punch as well, without any fancy moves.

The two fists collided in midair with a bang. Zhao Ming and Tang San both staggered back two steps.

Feeling the faint numbness in his hand, Zhao Ming was surprised. Having cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill since childhood, Tang San's punching strength was certainly not weak. It was no less powerful than that of an ordinary Level 11 Battle Soul Master. If he had not obtained the Ancient Immortal Bird Martial Soul, he would never have chosen to clash head-on with Tang San.

Tang San was even more shocked. He had once analyzed Zhao Ming's Martial Soul with Grandmaster. Zhao Ming could summon powerful puppets through soul skills to fight for him. Such a powerful Martial Soul was practically unheard of, but it had a weakness: the user's own strength was too weak.

Grandmaster had once analyzed it for him. Zhao Ming's own strength was definitely not strong. As long as he bypassed the puppets protecting Zhao Ming and attacked him directly, he could claim victory.

It was precisely because of this belief that he had dared to challenge Zhao Ming. The first soul skill of his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul was Binding. In his view, as long as he quickly bound and restrained Zhao Ming's puppets, he could use the time they were immobilized to easily defeat Zhao Ming with his Tang Sect Techniques.

But now, it seemed that everything had been wrong.

Zhao Ming himself was already powerful enough.

Tang San calculated all of this in a flash.

But Zhao Ming would not wait for him. Soul Power wrapped around his lower leg as he viciously swung it down at Tang San. Tang San traced a circle through the air with both hands, drew them inward, then swiftly pushed them outward, knocking Zhao Ming away.

The battle continued. Tang San had not taken the initiative to use a soul skill, so naturally Zhao Ming would not use one before him.

"Zhao Ming, what are you two doing?" Just as Zhao Ming and Tang San were locked in an intense battle, a voice stopped them.

Xiao Wu?

Zhao Ming froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up as though he had thought of something.

Taking a palm strike from Tang San, Zhao Ming swiftly fell backward. Blood seeped faintly from the corner of his mouth. Then he fell into Xiao Wu's arms.

"Zhao Ming, what's wrong?" Xiao Wu's face went pale as she looked at the injured Zhao Ming, checking his body with some distress.

"I'm fine." Zhao Ming wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I must have distracted you just now." Xiao Wu said reproachfully, mist gathering in her large eyes. She had seen it clearly just now. Zhao Ming had been evenly matched with the person before them and had even held a slight advantage. But the moment she called out and distracted him, he had lost focus and been injured.

"Who are you? Why did you hit him?" Xiao Wu looked up, her face full of fury. The days she had spent with Zhao Ming had been the happiest time since her mother's death. Ever since she had agreed to be Zhao Ming's girlfriend, he had become the person closest to her in this world.

Now that he had been hurt, of course she was unhappy.

"My name is Tang San." Tang San frowned. He couldn't understand why Zhao Ming had been injured when he clearly hadn't used much strength just now.

"Tang San?" Xiao Wu frowned.

Zhao Ming knew that, due to a series of coincidences, this was still Xiao Wu and Tang San's first time meeting.

"Tang San is also a classmate in our class. He's the one who didn't come to class on the first day," Zhao Ming reminded her at the right moment.

Xiao Wu nodded. Her disgust toward Tang San deepened by several degrees.

He had skipped class on the first day.

And the moment he arrived at school, he injured her boyfriend.

Those two points drove Tang San's impression in Xiao Wu's mind straight to rock bottom.