Mandala Snake

The rest of the journey was somewhat silent. Tang Ya was in a very poor mood because the two of them had not joined the Tang Sect.

"Xiao Ya, watch out!" Beibei's expression suddenly changed. He charged toward Tang Ya and pulled her into his arms. Tang Ya flicked her delicate hand, sending out a hidden weapon that struck a black shadow in midair, before Beibei carried her rushing to the side.

The black shadow landed, making a "hiss—hiss" sound as it spat out a sweetly fishy breath toward Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao was still somewhat stunned, but Xu Jie had already reacted. He rushed in front of Huo Yuhao, and his Martial Soul abruptly appeared in his hand. A yellow soul ring rose from beneath Xu Jie's feet. He did not use a soul skill; instead, the volleyball-sized Sun Martial Soul in his hand rapidly grew until it was as tall as a person, blocking the way before him.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The poisonous gas spat out by the black shadow was continuously burned away and purified by Xu Jie's Martial Soul.

Even so, some of the poisonous gas passed beyond the Martial Soul and entered Xu Jie's body. His head spun, and a bluish-green tint began appearing on his face. His Martial Soul automatically returned to his body, and Xu Jie hurriedly began circulating the Nine Yang Divine Skill.

Seeing Xu Jie's Martial Soul return to his body, Huo Yuhao hurriedly drew the White Tiger Dagger and stood in front of him. "Brother Jie, are you okay?!"

Xu Jie did not reply immediately. The Nine Yang Soul Power within him circulated at high speed, and the bluish-green color on his face gradually faded. He summoned his Martial Soul again and replied, "I'm fine."

By then, Beibei had already brought Tang Ya to safety. Seeing that Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao were unharmed, he summoned his Martial Soul and charged straight at the black shadow. Only then did the two of them see that it was a large, peach-red snake over three meters long, with a small flower-shaped protrusion on its forehead.

"Wow, a Mandala Snake! A thousand-year one! Beibei, I want this one!" Tang Ya shouted from the side. As she spoke, she summoned a long blue vine, and two yellow soul rings rose from beneath her feet.

Beibei, who had stepped forward, lit up his first soul ring. A blue-purple dragon claw made of condensed lightning, roughly the size of a basketball, struck toward the Mandala Snake under his control.

Thunder Dragon Claw, Beibei's first soul skill.

Tang Ya also controlled her Martial Soul to attack the Mandala Snake.

The Mandala Snake flicked its tail and leaped from the ground, slipping through the gap between the two attacks. At that moment, a massive fireball exploded directly toward it.

Bang! With a loud explosion, the Mandala Snake had nowhere to push off in midair and could not evade. It was struck directly by the fireball and blasted through the air.

"Nice one!" Seeing the Mandala Snake get blasted away, Beibei shouted. Then his second soul ring lit up, and several blue electric currents shot from the dragon claw on his right hand, weaving into an electric net that instantly trapped the Mandala Snake in midair.

This was the electric net formed by Beibei's second soul skill, Thunderous Might.

"Xiao Ya!" Seeing the Mandala Snake trapped in the electric net, Beibei shouted toward his back.

Tang Ya heard him and stepped forward with strange footwork, instantly arriving before the trapped Mandala Snake. A Flying Dagger pierced its eye socket, ending the Mandala Snake's life.

A purple soul ring slowly rose from the Mandala Snake's corpse. Tang Ya did not immediately absorb it. Instead, she first said to Beibei, "Protect me."

Then she turned to Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao. "Hehe, wasn't my footwork amazing? If you want to learn it, join the Tang Sect and I'll teach you." She then drew over the soul ring, sat down, and began absorbing it.

Beibei stood beside Tang Ya without retracting his Martial Soul. He showed the Purple Demon Eye to the two again and said, "The Tang Sect's ultimate arts are truly remarkable. The Purple Demon Eye in particular is extremely suitable for little brother Yuhao."

Xu Jie nodded but said nothing, watching Tang Ya absorb the soul ring. What was Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track compared to that? Had they ever heard of Wudang Cloud-Ascending Skill? Once mastered, you could step on your own left foot with your right foot and fly straight into the sky. Could Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track do that?

Even setting aside Cloud-Ascending Skill, just the Gecko Wall-Climbing Skill that came with his Nine Yang Divine Skill could turn him into Spider-Man once mastered. Could Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track do that? A lightness skill with a bit of Phantom effect—how could it compare to his two martial arts?

Huo Yuhao, meanwhile, was only a little interested in the Purple Demon Eye. Truly, only a little, because Xu Jie had long since taught him the Wudang Eye-Brightening Skill, and its effects were excellent. Brother Jie had said that trying to learn too much would only leave one unable to master anything.

Seeing that neither of them spoke, Beibei asked again, "By the way, I saw both little brother Xu Jie and little brother Yuhao use soul skills just now. Little brother Xu Jie's Fireball Spell was so powerful that he may possess an Ultimate Martial Soul. And what is little brother Yuhao's soul skill?"

As he said this, Beibei could not help but feel regret. One was suspected to have an Ultimate Martial Soul, while the other was exceptionally suited to the Purple Demon Eye. It was truly a pity that they would not join the Tang Sect.

Xu Jie said, "Possibly." He was not entirely sure himself. His Sun Martial Soul probably was not merely an Ultimate Martial Soul, but he had not figured it out yet, so he did not know either.

Huo Yuhao directly released his soul skill for Beibei to experience. It was something they would definitely learn sooner or later anyway, so there was no need to keep it hidden.

As the soul ring beneath Huo Yuhao's feet rose, Beibei's body suddenly trembled. Under his gaze, the flow of time seemed to slow. Information about everything within a hundred-meter radius appeared in Beibei's mind—leaves, insects, even the wind were all mapped out in his mind.

A mere ten-year soul ring actually had such an effect. Beibei was utterly shocked. Were spiritual mutation attributes really that powerful?

Thinking of this, Beibei could not help asking, "Are you really not joining the Tang Sect?"

Huo Yuhao and Xu Jie shook their heads again. Huo Yuhao then withdrew his soul skill.

Because of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill and the Wudang Eye-Brightening Skill, his body and eyes were considerably stronger than in the original story. The range of his Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing had already reached roughly a hundred meters in diameter, and he could share his detection ability with up to eight targets at once.

"Hoo..." Tang Ya let out a long breath and slowly opened her eyes. Her entire spirit had improved significantly. She then leaped up from the ground, and two yellow soul rings and one purple soul ring appeared around her. The purple soul ring looked far more noble than the other two yellow ones.

Since Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao, as well as Beibei and Tang Ya, were all headed for Shrek Academy, the four of them simply traveled together.

During the first two days, Tang Ya kept pestering Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao to join the Tang Sect. But then she discovered that Huo Yuhao's eye-training method was no weaker than the Purple Demon Eye and was not even restricted by the environment. She also knew nothing of the two's origins. When she asked them about it, Xu Jie gave vague answers and brushed her off, so Tang Ya assumed that they must have their own sect.

After that, she stopped bringing up joining the sect. When Tang Ya and Beibei were cultivating the Purple Demon Eye, Xu Jie went over to ask about the cultivation requirements for the Purple Demon Eye. The two did not hide anything and directly told him the requirements for cultivating it.

Half a day after they explained the conditions, Xu Jie used his Martial Soul to imitate the clear purple qi produced when the sun had just risen. After the three of them tested it, they found that it was effective for their cultivation of the Purple Demon Eye.

After letting the two use it for free three times, Xu Jie began charging them. Tang Ya was somewhat upset when she saw Xu Jie charging money, since she had no money. Beibei, however, said nothing and directly gave him one hundred Gold Soul Coins to reserve several sessions for himself and Tang Ya. He knew that Shrek Academy's enrollment fee was not low, and the two indeed appeared short of money.

Moreover, in his view, the wondrous effects of Xu Jie's Martial Soul might be worthless to others, but for the Tang Sect, even ten Gold Soul Coins per session was an extremely favorable price. For Tang Sect members, an improvement in the Purple Demon Eye brought comprehensive enhancements, especially in the use of hidden weapons.

After witnessing the marvels of the two's Martial Souls, Tang Ya and Beibei could not help inviting them again, only to be refused once more.