Tang San's Ruthlessness, Attacking the Heart

Tang San's thinking was simple.

Judging by the strength Li Yu had displayed, she was indeed far beyond the scope of an ordinary four-ringed Soul Ancestor.

With Dai Mubai absent from the team, it seemed as though they were merely down one person.

But in truth, what they lacked was a Martial Soul Fusion Skill!

In Tang San's view, the Hell White Tiger was capable of going head-to-head with Li Yu.

And now—

His face was full of rage, but inwardly, he sneered.

He only needed to wait a little longer for the poison he had mixed into the crossbow bolts to take effect!

Then, Li Yu would learn what it meant that there was always someone stronger!

And he could naturally obtain the secret behind Li Yu's ability to absorb Soul Rings beyond all reason.

At that point, he would no longer need to keep up appearances with Yu Xiaogang, who had neither cultivation nor talent.

As for Yu Xiaogang's earlier hint, Tang San had merely smiled.

Once he obtained the secret of the Soul Rings, he certainly would not share it with Yu Xiaogang!

What a joke!

He was merely a two-ringed Soul Grandmaster. What could he possibly research even if he grasped such a secret?

For all Tang San knew, he might even leak the secret someday. Then what would have been the point of Tang San fighting so desperately to obtain it?

As for the other members of the Seven Devils—

If they could all obey his commands, there was no harm in telling them a little.

After all, in this foreign world, he still intended to rebuild the Tang Sect. These people were all quite talented and could become considerable help.

But if they betrayed him—

Heh heh, betrayal was what he hated most!

Tang San was already considering what to do after obtaining Li Yu's Soul Ring secret. As for failure, it had never crossed his mind.

He had absolute confidence in the Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons and poisons.

Even if some unexpected complication arose, he still had Blue Silver Grass, the Eight Spider Lances, and even the Clear Sky Hammer. So long as he could obtain Li Yu's Soul Ring secret, he would not hesitate to reveal the Clear Sky Hammer ahead of time.

"What's this?"

Tang San suddenly frowned.

His gaze remained fixed on Li Yu within the water bubble, wanting to see pain and panic on her face.

But there was nothing.

Li Yu looked at Tang San with a faint smile, her lips moving slightly. "What... are you waiting for?"

"N-No, impossible!"

Panic finally flashed through Tang San's heart. How could Tang Sect poison fail!

"Could it be that the crossbow bolts I fired weren't poisoned, and I made a mistake?"

The thought flashed through Tang San's mind, only for him to dismiss it immediately.

He understood that with his cautious nature, it was absolutely impossible for him to make such a mistake.

So there was only one answer.

"You're also proficient in poisons?"

Tang San's voice was actually somewhat hoarse.

"Heh heh."

Li Yu gave a contemptuous smile. "With the garbage you came up with, I don't even need to be proficient."

He possessed 60% Poison Element Affinity. The poison Tang San had applied to the crossbow bolts posed no threat to him whatsoever; calling it garbage was not an exaggeration in the slightest.

Besides—

In truth, he had not specifically paid attention to whether Tang San's crossbow bolts had been poisoned.

The moment the poison on the bolts invaded Pure Water Defense, Ying Yu had already sensed it. With a single thought from Li Yu, Devouring Fang had already extracted every trace of poison.

Naturally, his Soul Power had increased somewhat through the poison's energy, but the amount was too small for such growth to be worth mentioning.

"You!"

Tang San's face turned livid.

Faced with Li Yu's repeated disdain, even with all his scheming, he was finally somewhat enraged.

Li Yu could question his strength or his talent.

But he absolutely could not deny the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons and the path of poisons that Tang San had painstakingly stolen and learned!

That was denying the value of what he had risked his life to obtain, and also denying the decisions he had made in the past!

"You're courting death!"

Tang San's anger surged as he finally released his Martial Soul!

The first Yellow Soul Ring flashed, and Entanglement was unleashed in an instant.

Deep-blue Blue Silver Grass Vines burst from the ground and rapidly spread toward Miss Li Yu.

"Oh, Mom Entanglement?"

Miss Li Yu was deeply shocked and stared closely at the approaching Blue Silver Grass.

She made no attempt to stop it, allowing the Blue Silver Grass to draw near and even enter the water bubble.

Then—

The "unstoppable" Blue Silver Grass suddenly came to a halt.

Miss Li Yu raised a hand and pinched a section of Blue Silver Grass, intending to tear off a piece for closer study.

Yet after tugging at it with force, she discovered that this Blue Silver Grass was extraordinarily tough!

"Tsk, it seems I still underestimated him!"

Miss Li Yu muttered inwardly. Then, without changing expression, she ran the newly grown "Nail Art" across the vines.

Absorption was activated at the same time.

In an instant, faint Poison was absorbed, while the vine snapped apart beneath the swipe of the "Nail Art."

"Tsk!"

Examining the section of vine in her hand, Miss Li Yu still felt rather moved.

If she were to tell Tang San now, "Would you believe me if I said this is your mother?" then not only Tang San, but everyone present would probably think she had lost her mind.

Yet that was, in a sense, the truth.

After all, without Ah Yin's bloodline, Tang San would not possess this Martial Soul, and she naturally would not be holding a piece of it in her hand for inspection.

After taking a careful look and finding nothing unusual, she tossed it aside.

But right then—

Having watched everything unfold with a dark expression the entire time, Tang San curled his lips into a smile. "Parasite!"

And so—

The piece of Blue Silver Grass Vine that Miss Li Yu had just been about to throw away, along with all the vines that had reached or entered the water bubble, began to grow wildly in an instant!

In the blink of an eye, the water bubble vanished from everyone's sight.

In its place stood an enormous sphere of vines!

At the same time, the giant vine sphere contracted frantically inward, seemingly trying to break through the defenses of Pure Water Defense by force.

"Holy crap, it's just Blue Silver Grass. It can actually be used like this?"

"Th-this Blue Silver Grass must have mutated, right? Otherwise, how could it possibly be cultivated to such a level?"

"That must be it! But Tang San is really ruthless. To defeat Miss Li Yu, he doesn't even care about the two teammates trapped inside the water bubble!"

"Exactly! Didn't we just hear those two calling him 'Third Brother'?"

"Sigh, what a pity. Two such beauties ended up with a 'brother' like that. How tragic!"

"Exactly! If it were me, I'd risk my life to protect two sweet little sisters!"

"..."

The spectators were abuzz with discussion.

On the Soul Arena, everyone wore a different expression.

"Third Brother, will Xiao Wu and Zhu Qing really be all right?"

Ning Rongrong was somewhat worried.

Tang San had already retreated by now, with all his Spiritual Power focused on controlling the two soul skills, Parasite and Spider Web Restraint.

Hearing Ning Rongrong speak, he grew a little impatient and gave a perfunctory reply. "Xiao Wu is in there too. How could I possibly hurt them?"

Ning Rongrong felt somewhat relieved upon hearing that.

Tang San treated Xiao Wu differently from everyone else.

In her heart, Tang San might hurt anyone, but he would never hurt Xiao Wu!

So, to her, the words "Xiao Wu is in there too" were highly convincing, and she stopped worrying so much.

Meanwhile—

Inside the Pure Water Defense, wrapped in vines—

Miss Li Yu watched the vines that had just begun to grow madly over her body, trying to Entangle her, only to be instantly restrained.

The corners of her lips rose slightly. "I'll let you gloat for a while first!"

Then she narrowed her eyes, her attention already shifting elsewhere—

"Mom, don't leave me, Mom!"

"Mom, where are you? Sob sob~"

"Humans... despicable humans! I'll make you pay!"

"Sister Xiao Wu, the human world is full of treachery and deceit. None of us are comfortable with you going. How about you reconsider?"

"Sister Xiao Wu..."

"Stop trying to persuade me. I've made up my mind! If I want revenge, I must first find my enemies and understand humans! Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated!"

"Sigh, Sister Xiao Wu, take care!"

"..."

Scene after scene replayed before Xiao Wu's eyes.

At first, she was bewildered. Then came pain, followed by fear. Finally, she gradually calmed down.

Her bewilderment came from not knowing why this was happening.

Scenes from the past were actually replaying before her eyes, yet just a moment ago, she had clearly been at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Soul Arena!

The pain came from the scenes before her dredging up one painful memory after another, torturing her heart over and over again.

Her fear came from suddenly realizing that this should not have been possible!

As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast reborn as a human, her Spiritual Power was exceptionally powerful, and her knowledge naturally far surpassed that of ordinary people.

After only a brief moment of thought, she realized that everything before her was an Illusionary Realm!

Unfortunately, after being reborn as a human, everything she possessed had been sealed away!

If she forcibly broke the seal, she would inevitably expose herself. At that point, escaping from this human imperial capital would be harder than ascending to heaven!

Furthermore, doing so would cause all her efforts to come to nothing, and she would suffer severe backlash as well.

Yet what truly frightened her was not any of that, but another question—

As the creator of the Illusionary Realm, could Li Yu really be unable to "see" what happened within it?

The answer was undoubtedly no!

In other words, as long as Li Yu was not an idiot, Xiao Wu's identity had already been exposed!

If Li Yu revealed everything that had happened within the Illusionary Realm, Xiao Wu would surely die!

But in the end, she still calmed down.

She did not know how much time had passed since she entered the Illusionary Realm. Within an Illusionary Realm, time was the most useless measure.

However, she did know that the agony playing out in her heart required time as well.

Yet during that time, Li Yu had not exposed her!

That ignited hope in her heart and gave rise to several guesses.

First, Li Yu wanted to keep her all to herself!

Xiao Wu had already come to understand human desire.

If they could keep something for themselves, they naturally would not share it!

And since Li Yu had been able to go with Prince Xue Xing to the Education Committee, and had even called Heaven Dou's Fourth Prince, Xue Beng, her little brother, her identity and background were self-evident.

Behind her stood a force capable of monopolizing Xiao Wu!

Her second guess was that Li Yu, too, was a Soul Beast reborn as a human!

The reason for this inference mainly lay in Li Yu's Soul Ring configuration.

She did not believe that a human could absorb a Soul Ring produced by a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast when they only had four rings.

Humans did not know this, but as a Soul Beast, she understood clearly that once a Soul Beast reached the ten-thousand-year level, its Spiritual Power would have already attained a certain level of mastery.

And a Soul Ring was the condensation of a Soul Beast's entire cultivation and Spiritual Power!

It would inevitably contain the Soul Beast's will.

A four-ringed Soul Master's Spiritual Power was absolutely insufficient to contend with the Spiritual Power of a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast!

Yet Li Yu had done it.

Either her talent was astonishing, or the Soul Rings had not been born from Soul Beasts at all, but had been generated by Li Yu herself!

The former possibility was very slim. With such talent, given her age, it was impossible for her cultivation to be only at this level.

Of course, a special opportunity could not be ruled out, but that possibility was even smaller.

Therefore, Xiao Wu still leaned toward the latter—that the Soul Rings had been generated by Li Yu herself.

The only explanation for that seemed to be that Li Yu was a Soul Beast reborn as a human.

Of course, this was merely the basis for her second conjecture.

Between the two possibilities—that Li Yu wanted to "have her all to himself," or that he was of her kind—she was more willing to believe the former.

It was at that moment.

Footsteps suddenly rang out, and the scene before her abruptly changed.

The illusory scenes that had flashed past like a carousel transformed into a lake beneath the moonlight.

And she was standing atop the lake's surface.

"Lake of Life!"

Xiao Wu recognized it at a glance. This was the lake at the center of the Star Dou Great Forest, where Da Ming, Er Ming, and she had long lived!

Her heart stirred. Could this Li Yu truly have been a soul beast reborn as a human? He had even managed to recreate the Lake of Life.

With that thought, her gaze fell upon Li Yu, who was slowly approaching.

Countless thoughts churned in her heart, yet she said nothing.

"A soul beast reborn as a human... What a stroke of luck for me!"

Li Yu chuckled, but no one could tell what he was truly thinking.

Xiao Wu's heart sank. Did he really intend to claim her for himself?

"What do you want?"

Xiao Wu clenched her fists and stared fixedly at Li Yu.

"Oh, what do I want?"

Li Yu looked surprised. "Shouldn't you be thinking carefully about how to make me let you go?"

"Let me go?"

Xiao Wu was somewhat surprised, even less able to understand what this woman meant.

Unable to figure it out, she suddenly asked, "Are you a soul beast too?"

"No."

Li Yu answered concisely.

"Then why..."

Xiao Wu was confused. Since Li Yu was not a soul beast, why was he willing to give her a chance to live?

Li Yu slowly said, "You trust Tang San a great deal?"

Xiao Wu opened her mouth but said nothing. She did not understand why Li Yu had suddenly asked that.

"Heh heh."

Li Yu chuckled, then raised a hand and waved. A scene from outside the Illusionary Realm appeared—naturally, only the scene within Pure Water Defense.

At the sight of that scene, Xiao Wu's pupils contracted slightly before she quickly recovered. "That was only to fight the enemy. It was already the best possible method!"

After a pause, as though feeling her words lacked conviction, she added, "Besides, Chief Meng Shenji was there. If we really encountered danger, he would have stepped in to save us!"

After speaking, Xiao Wu unconsciously tightened her already clenched fists.

"Heh heh."

Li Yu chuckled without arguing.

Instead, he waved his hand and dispersed the image again, saying faintly, "You've met Tang San's father?"

"What does that have to do with you?!"

Xiao Wu was even more bewildered as to why Li Yu would ask such a question. Was this some parent interrogating her?

Why was he meddling so much!

Li Yu saw Xiao Wu's impatience and smiled again. "Then do you know that his father, Tang Hao, is the Titled Douluo renowned across the continent—the Clear Sky Douluo!"

Xiao Wu's pupils shrank, and her body trembled slightly.

"Heh heh, his ninth Soul Ring is a red Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Do you know where such a Soul Ring comes from?"

Xiao Wu had a bad feeling. She was even more nervous than when she had learned that Tang Hao was a Titled Douluo.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring could, by all reason, only come from a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!

And there did not seem to be... that many Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts!

"Where does it come from?"

Xiao Wu's body shook, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.

"Heh heh, don't be nervous. It wasn't your mother."

Li Yu shook his head, then said something that made Xiao Wu sigh in relief—only to fill her with even greater terror—

"His wife, Tang San's mother, was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Grass..."

After a pause, he corrected himself. "Oh, no. I should say... the Blue Silver Emperor!"