Joining the Friendly Tournament: The Moon Shines Brightly in the Twelve Towers
"Zhou Qing, should we participate?"
Xiao Wu was eager to try.
It wasn't for the prizes, it was purely for the chance to fight.
"I think I can participate."
It was Tang San who spoke.
He didn't care about the opportunity to become a nobleman, because he was already aware of the darkness within the nobility and felt a little lost, wondering if he too would fall into its clutches...
But!
What about the Storage Soul Tool?
Why not take it if it's free!
With such a simplified set of rules, there were no restrictions on the use of weapons. Tang San was certain that once he used Soul Tool Hidden Weapon —no, just Hidden Weapon! Not to mention these Soul Master, he was confident he could kill even the official members of the Star Luo Royal Academy Team!
Zhou Qing had no doubt about this. After all, in the original novel, Tang San could kill Soul Master of a higher level after using Hidden Weapon. He, a Soul Master, killed Shi Nian, a Soul Saint-level, with the Soul Ancestor 'King Yama's Post.
Killing and dueling are two different things for Tang San, and the former is simpler and easier.
Although Tang San is currently unable to create the King Yama's Post, after researching the Soul Tool Core Formation, he has even created the Soul Conductor Godly Zhuge Crossbow. Surprise attack would be enough to wipe out a full-fledged member of the Star Luo Royal Academy Team.
"You haven't even thought of a name for that Storage Soul Tool, have you?" Zhou Qing asked suspiciously.
"Well, I have a Soul Tool, which I can use to display the Soul Tool Hidden Weapon I've forged." Tang San thought this was a practical consideration. "However, I'll still keep my share of Gold Soul Coin with you."
"Why?" Zhou Qing was somewhat moved.
"Only six cubic meters? That's too small. There's simply no way to fit all those Gold Soul Coin." Tang San was very realistic.
Zhou Qing: "..."
Six cubic meters is indeed not enough to hold 1.5 million Gold Soul Coin.
Stored in the Adventure Card —
We also need a suitable reason that won't cause trouble for them, so that they can openly and legitimately take out and use the three million Gold Soul Coin.
"So, what name did you give to that Storage Soul Tool that will soon belong to you?"
"The Moon Shines Brightly in the Twelve Towers."
When Tang San uttered the name, his tone was filled with nostalgia, and his eyes were slightly deep, but this was fleeting, replaced by a resolute expression.
Zhou Qing remained silent.
This line of poetry comes from Wen Tingyun's "The Jade Zither's Lament" in the Tang Dynasty. Compared with the original line "Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges" from Du Mu's "To Han Chuo, Magistrate of Yangzhou" in the Tang Dynasty, it has less of the nostalgia for the past and more of the carefree attitude to face the future.
So, was Tang San influenced by me and changed, or did he simply name the Soul Tool Zhong Dingxiu brought out using a different line of poetry?
Although I had doubts, but—
Zhou Qing was willing to believe it was the former.
So he said, "Okay, then let's participate. But there are only four of us, we're still short three people."
"How about finding Wang Sheng?"
Xiao Wu pulled Wang Sheng, who was not far away, over. "His Soul Power hasn't reached level ten yet, but I see that most of the Soul Master here are around level ten or so. The difference isn't that big, so it's negligible."
Wang Sheng was somewhat at a loss.
"Okay, that's him. Now we have five people." Zhou Qing was a little helpless, but Wang Sheng had been pulled over by Xiao Wu, and it wouldn't be appropriate to push him away now.
In fact, he preferred to find three powerful Soul Master in the Nuoding Guild, since he, Tang San, and Xiao Wu couldn't reveal their Soul Ring in this situation.
Romantina's "Secondary Soul Ring Refinement Theory" is far from being published, and it's not even finished being written yet!
"Wang Sheng, would you like to join?" However, Zhou Qing still asked Wang Sheng's opinion. "As long as you protect yourself on the field, we will give you one-seventh of the price of that Storage Soul Tool as a reward."
However, Wang Sheng suddenly looked up and said to Zhou Qing, "Qing Ge, I can also help. Please believe me, I can definitely hold off one of our opponents!"
He was summoned here simply to make up the numbers, but he didn't just want to be a filler; he also wanted to fight against real Soul Master.
"You'll graduate next year, right?"
Zhou Qing could see Wang Sheng's desire. With his talent for cultivating Soul Power, it would be difficult for him to reach level ten and obtain a Soul Ring before graduating next year, thus becoming a true Soul Master. Moreover, his Soul Master learning career would end there, and he could only enter the real Soul Master society.
Wang Sheng himself was aware of this, so when Xiao Wu pulled him over, he was a little scared. But after Zhou Qing said that as long as he protected himself, he felt looked down upon, which hurt his self-esteem. He wanted to show himself as much as possible and prove that even if he couldn't get into the intermediate academy, he could still have the courage that a true Soul Master should have!
"Yes."
Wang Sheng didn't understand why Zhou Qing suddenly asked that question.
"If you get injured, it might delay your usual time for cultivating your Soul Power," Zhou Qing tried to persuade Wang Sheng indirectly.
"No problem."
However, Wang Sheng was determined to stick to his idea. "My Innate Soul Power is only level two, and my Soul Power speed is already very slow. It's no big deal to waste a little time. It's just that... I'm afraid that if I really enter the Soul Master World in the future, I will give up cultivation directly because of setbacks. So I thought I might as well take this opportunity to experience real Soul Master battles and see if I will give up in the future."
"What if we give up?" Zhou Qing asked.
"Then I'll go home and farm, or learn a trade in Nuoding City." Wang Sheng's words were rather ambiguous, clearly indicating that he was not quite sure what he wanted to do in the future, but Zhou Qing could see the determination in his eyes.
Wang Sheng, this work-study student, from the moment he awakened his Martial Soul and possessed Innate Soul Power, his family taught him one principle:
Becoming Soul Master means becoming a superior person.
After entering Nuoding Academy, most of the teachers who guided him in learning the basics of becoming Soul Master said the same thing.
Before Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu Nuoding Academy, Wang Sheng and the other work-study students were often deceived—he learned his first lesson: to avoid being bullied, you have to fight back. Even if you're constantly on the receiving end of a beating, you have to fight back, otherwise the bullying will only intensify.
Despite his thoughts, Wang Sheng was constantly being beaten, and he could only endure it with sheer willpower. He was beginning to feel a sense of fear, though he himself was unaware of it, about what the Soul Master World would be like after he became Soul Master.
Having gone to school, he already knew one thing: the strength of Martial Soul's innate nature and the level of its Innate Soul Power determine a Soul Master's highest achievement.
If he enters the Soul Master World in the future, he might be the one who gets beaten up all the time!
After Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu Nuoding Academy, Wang Sheng had another idea in mind: that powerful Soul Master could also be the ones upholding justice, rather than just being the "boss" protecting the weak.
He also wanted to become a true and just strong person like Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu!
but--
With his Innate Soul Power level being extremely low, he felt that he didn't even have the chance to follow them.
Even so, he still wanted to try and see if he was really suited to the path of Soul Master!
The poem "On the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges" is followed by the line "Where is the beautiful maiden teaching the flute?" The whole poem is a remembrance of the past. Without reading the analysis, it sounds light and cheerful, but the overall tone is desolate and gives people a sense of sadness.
The latter, "The Moon Shines Brightly in the Twelve Towers," is the last line of the Jade Zither's Lament. Even with a thousand grievances, they melt away in the moonlight! Suddenly enlightened, facing the future head-on.