Rich Second-Gen's Twentieth Day

The Asura God kept talking about things like, "Although gods of the dark side don't sound as nice as gods of the light side, our strength is the greatest." But Tang San's mind was filled with the word the Asura God had just used: "only."

Tang San felt offended, not just for himself, but for Sui Sui as well.

He knew how harsh the world could be toward women. Even on the Douluo Continent, where strength reigned supreme, there was no shortage of idle busybodies who spent all day fixating on such trivial gossip.

His feelings for Sui Sui had always been those of a brother toward a sister, along with admiration.

He thought guiltily.

He only felt that she was like the rising sun in the morning, always able to pierce through the lingering mist of the night—lively, free, riding the wind and stepping on clouds as she brought sunlight before him, into his heart.

When his father and uncle had appeared for the first time to take him away, what he remembered most was how bright her eyes were, as though she had grown up in sunlight. Bathed in that ray of sunshine, it felt as if all his exhaustion had vanished, along with the resentment from his previous life, dissolving silently beneath the light.

She remembered that Fragrant Spear Water was his favorite. She found him the best places to cultivate his Purple Demon Eye, and she was the battle partner most in sync with him.

When she learned of the hardships he had suffered as a child, she did not pity him. She only praised him. She knew what she wanted, and she had always been like that.

Who wouldn't want to keep that ray of sunlight in their palm forever?

He couldn't think like that. Sui Sui was still young. He could not betray his aunt and uncle.

But another voice rang out in his heart. "Come on, Tang San. She's already a Soul Master, not a child. You aren't related by blood, and you're the perfect childhood sweethearts. Can you really bear to hand her over to someone else in the future?"

Hand her over to someone else—to some stranger whose background he did not know, who did not understand her, and who would very likely be weaker than him?

A nameless fury ignited within him.

"Then why can't it be you?" that voice asked again.

There was no reason it couldn't be. Tang San finally faced his unwillingness, his desires, and the ugliness he had hidden so well.

"What do I have to bear?" After a long time, Tang San raised his head and stared into the Asura God's eyes.

"I like the way you face your desires." The Asura God bared his teeth, but there was no trace of a smile in his eyes. "When you are strong enough, I will come find you again."

"Next is the Asura Divine Temple's welcome for you." A crack opened beneath Tang San's feet, and he fell into it.

Outside the temple, everyone watched the two enter with great concern. Before they could worry for long, they too were swept away by white light. A strange voice told them this was a gift bestowed by the gods. Then they were separated, each placed alone in a space where time stood still. Within that space were opponents equal to their own strength. After fighting came cultivation, then more fighting, repeating endlessly.

Ming Sui and Tang San received the same treatment. It was not that the two gods refused to give them special advantages, but that their strength was too weak. They still needed to solidify their foundations, so they could only be force-fed through this method of intensive training.

During this inhuman cycle of battle and cultivation, both Ming Sui and Zhu Zhuqing broke through and needed to absorb their Second Spirit Rings.

The Asura God and the Goddess of Life sat together again, a screen of light before them displaying everyone's performances in real time. When Ming Sui broke through, the Goddess of Life smiled, took out a round pearl, and tossed it into Ming Sui's space.

While cultivating, Ming Sui heard the Goddess of Life's voice. "One God-bestowed Spirit Ring. After absorption, it will become a spirit ring at the maximum age your body can withstand. It will also produce the most suitable spirit skill according to the nature of your martial soul."

A spirit ring obtained without any effort? What a bargain.

Ming Sui calmed herself and focused on absorbing the spirit ring. Powerful energy crashed down on her like a torrential rainstorm. Remembering what the Goddess of Life had said, she decided that no matter what, she had to endure a little longer.

Even though forcing herself to hold on was agonizing enough to make her teeth ache.

The powerful energy coursed through every part of her body. It seemed dissatisfied with this barely passable body, so it began remodeling it without restraint. Ming Sui only felt as though her body was being smashed apart by Soul Power and then glued back together. The key was that this remodeling process was not happening all at once. Could such powerful Soul Power only support one construction crew at a time? Ming Sui grumbled inwardly.

The pain from the next area being remodeled and the numb itching from the previous area filled Ming Sui's body. From her head, to her torso, and then to her limbs, who knew how long passed before only one part of her body still tingled. That sensation gradually faded, turning into a warm current.

"Ding."

The Second Spirit Ring had been absorbed.

Ming Sui released her martial soul. Around the Staff of Life, at the position of the Second Spirit Ring, was a purple spirit ring. Though its color was somewhat pale and it was only twelve hundred years old, it was still a purple spirit ring!

Life Bind. Vines could appear anywhere within a certain range. Once they entangled the opponent, they could absorb the opponent's Soul Power. The stronger the opponent, the less Soul Power could be absorbed. It was ineffective against opponents more than twenty ranks stronger.

Before Ming Sui could think further, her opponent arrived again.

"Yours is pretty good." The Asura God spun the cup in his hand.

Before the Goddess of Life could respond, Zhu Zhuqing broke through as well and received the same treatment.

"Hmph. You really are generous. You give spirit rings to everyone who comes in." The Asura God did not know what had gotten into him.

"Yes, I am very generous. Quite a few people here have just obtained new spirit rings, so I've decided that if they fail to break through in the training space, I'll let them take God-bestowed Spirit Rings out with them to use." The Goddess of Life shot back directly.

The Asura God said nothing. He merely stared at Tang San's screen of light, his grip nearly crushing the cup in his hand.

"Oh? This little girl is actually a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast cultivating in human form." The Goddess of Life looked at Xiao Wu. "I should contact the Beast God and let her take a look."

Not long after, a wild aura descended. "If I had known he was here, I wouldn't have come." A woman of peerless beauty looked at the Asura God and complained.

"I didn't call you here to argue. There's a very impressive little one here." The Goddess of Life beckoned the Beast God to sit down.

"Indeed. Not only is she impressive, her luck is also exceptionally good." The Beast God looked at Xiao Wu, considered for a moment, then plucked a ray of divine light and sent it through space into Xiao Wu's body. "I have matters to attend to, so I'll leave first. Thank you, A'luo."

"Hmph. Not thought through at all." The Asura God muttered quietly. "This is far more hasty than my choosing an inheritor."

The Goddess of Life could not be bothered with him.

Because Nian Nian emerged after accepting the Emerald Angel's inheritance.

The Goddess of Life's surging Life Aura and warm presence made Nian Nian very friendly toward her. But when Nian Nian saw its friends on the screens of light before them, it anxiously meowed at the Goddess of Life.

"It's all right, little darling. They're cultivating."

Nian Nian understood. It sat before the Goddess of Life and watched everyone fight or cultivate with rapt attention. After gaining intelligence, Nian Nian understood that everyone had come here chasing after it.

When the time was about right, the Goddess of Life sent everyone out, then summoned Ming Sui back. The Asura God also returned to his own temple.

When Ming Sui returned to the temple, all the negative conditions on her body had been cleared away. She was still a little dazed, but the instant she saw Sui Sui, she snapped back to her senses. She said in delight, "Nian Nian, you've grown up!" Then, realizing herself, she hurriedly thanked the Goddess of Life.

The goddess was truly generous. There was already a golden stripe on Nian Nian's body.

"Once your companions return, you can leave to find your other companions. This place will disappear after you leave. Whether we meet again will depend on fate." The Goddess of Life propped her chin on one slender hand, smiling mysteriously and mischievously.

Tang San's experience in the Asura Divine Temple was not as comfortable as Ming Sui's or everyone else's outside.

Unlike the normal training on the Goddess of Life's side, the trials Tang San received in the Asura Divine Temple were all fights to the death. In other words, to avoid dying, he could only kill his enemies over and over again.

"I'm liking you more and more." The unhurried Asura God was still playing with the cup he had taken from the Life Divine Temple.

The Asura God was still as irritating as ever, Tang San thought.

"As the candidate inheritor I like most, I've decided to give you a little gift." Icy divine power enveloped Tang San, followed immediately by intense pain.

"When you absorbed that little spider's spirit ring last time, you also absorbed the External Soul Bone it gave you. It seems you still haven't tamed that stubborn soul bone. Let me help you." The Asura God's voice drifted through the air.

Large beads of sweat rolled down Tang San's pale face. His teeth ground loudly, mingling with the sounds of bones breaking inside his body and the unwilling roars of a Soul Beast.

Asura God Power crushed the External Soul Bone attached to Tang San's ribs, then used itself as adhesive to knead the fragments together, forming a black skull and a left palm bone.

"One becoming two—you've truly struck it rich. The Asura Judgment Skull will make you forever immune to mental attacks. As for its spirit skill, I can only say that you are not strong enough yet. The other is the Asura Void-Breaking Claw, which can be used together with that hand spirit skill of yours." The Asura God spoke slowly.

The unbearable pain in Tang San's body made him exceptionally clear-headed. He could probably only continue down the path of inheriting the Asura God now. The flavor of Asura God Power had already taken root deep within the soul bones fused with his body. It continued to seep into his Soul Power, flowing through his meridians into the two martial souls in his hands, especially the Clear Sky Hammer that was also in his left hand.

Tang San lowered his head and looked at his left hand, where the External Soul Bone had manifested. That hand, trained in Mysterious Jade Hand, was now wrapped in black armor and held a source of destruction within it. His gaze grew resolute.

The Asura God saw what Tang San was thinking and chuckled. He could fight, he was clear-headed, and he knew how to adapt to circumstances. The Asura God truly liked him more and more.