Successfully Led Astray

Seeing that Qian Chaoguang was still cultivating, Beibei took the opportunity to whisper with Tang Ya for a while.

Of course, they only thought they were whispering.

The moment Beibei opened his eyes, Qian Chaoguang had already half-awakened from cultivation, ready to hear what they had to say.

After a bout of nauseating flirting, Tang Ya finally brought up the real matter.

"...By the way, do you think little brother Chaoguang can hold on at the academy? After all, his cultivation is really..."

Beibei glanced in Qian Chaoguang's direction and lowered his voice. "If Soul Power cultivation were not a factor, he would absolutely be the most dazzling among the new students."

"Even without using his martial soul, his Blade Art and strength alone make it impossible for an ordinary Soul Grandmaster to contend with him. While you were asleep yesterday, I secretly examined his physical condition. The surging vitality and strength in that body were astonishing, nearly comparable to a soul beast of the same level. He could be called a humanoid soul beast."

Tang Ya was startled and lowered her voice as well.

"Could little brother Chaoguang be a soul beast that took human form?"

Beibei laughed speechlessly. "Teacher Xiaoya, what are you thinking? When soul beasts take human form, they only retain Origin Power; their vitality is no different from that of humans. Besides, when ferocious beasts become human, their martial souls are their own bodies. If Chaoguang really were a soul beast, could he be a Light Element spirit?"

At that, Tang Ya burst out laughing too.

Beibei continued explaining, "So Chaoguang is definitely human. That freakish strength of his... I suppose he is simply exceptionally gifted? I just don't know whether what he said before about the grudge between his family's ancestor and the first hall master of our Tang Sect's Strength Hall ten thousand years ago is true."

Tang Ya shrugged, utterly unconcerned. "It doesn't matter whether it's true or not. How bad could our Tang Sect possibly have been? As long as Chaoguang bears us no ill will, he is family. Don't forget, he even recommended his own sister to join us!"

"She is a Body Martial Soul master with Innate Soul Power Level Nine. Even the Body Sect would treasure her. As for the ancestral teachings he mentioned, I think they are probably real. After all, even the academy has no records of Senior Titan's name or the Tang Sect's organizational structure from four thousand years ago. If he did not have deep ties to us, he could not possibly know those things."

"That's true."

Beibei nodded.

"Little brother Chaoguang's family must once have been an immensely powerful Hidden Family. Otherwise, it would be impossible for someone with such a formidable physique and strange martial soul to be born. And his Forging Technique is unbelievably impressive as well. That longsword on his back seems alive somehow. Only that could explain it."

"Ah... We are both wanderers at the ends of the earth. Little brother Chaoguang's background is far more tragic than mine. At least I witnessed some of the Tang Sect's lingering glory when it was powerful, but he has never even met his parents..."

Tang Ya rarely reined in her lively temperament, and her eyes held a trace of tenderness as she looked at Qian Chaoguang.

People always empathized with those whose fates resembled their own.

As he listened to the two of them work together to lay out the "whole story" of his background so clearly, Qian Chaoguang felt warmth in his heart—and also breathed a sigh of relief.

Their train of thought had finally extended in the direction he had anticipated.

Tang Ya was easy enough to deal with. Beibei was the main concern.

As Mu En's great-grandson, a future Sea God Pavilion Member, and the partner of the Tang Sect's sect master, his status and influence were truly maxed out.

If he began to suspect Qian Chaoguang's identity and origins...

Then, to be safe, he might have had no choice but to take Huo Yutong and make a swift escape, heading to the Body Sect to try his luck.

Fortunately, none of that happened.

After Qian Chaoguang pretended to awaken from cultivation, the three set off and raced westward.

Taking a route around the Star Dou Great Forest to reach Shrek Academy was only around a thousand li. If they were not in a hurry, three days would be enough to arrive.

Along the way, the physical prowess Qian Chaoguang displayed gave Beibei and Tang Ya a new understanding of him.

At first, Tang Ya and Beibei were afraid Qian Chaoguang would not be able to keep up, so they deliberately slowed down.

Yet to their surprise, Qian Chaoguang had no intention of using Soul Power at all. He simply ran on foot, and was even faster than the two of them.

Refusing to believe it, Tang Ya kept accelerating. Even after reaching her own limit, Qian Chaoguang still looked completely unbothered, running with ease.

Thus, the three traveled at the speed of Soul Elders.

By the time Tang Ya had exhausted all her Soul Power and needed to rest, Qian Chaoguang, who had been running solely on physical strength, was perfectly fine. He had barely even broken a sweat.

"I say, little brother Chaoguang, just how did you grow this body of yours? Aren't you tired after running for so long?"

Tang Ya leaned against a tree trunk without the slightest concern for her image, gasping heavily.

Qian Chaoguang smiled. "My talent for cultivation is poor, so I can only put more effort into training my body. Besides, I have always relied on forging to earn rewards, so my physique is just a little stronger than ordinary people's. It is nothing."

After saying that, he sat down cross-legged as well and began cultivating while Tang Ya rested.

Tang Ya pursed her lips but said nothing more, using the time to rest.

Over the next few days of travel, Beibei also introduced Qian Chaoguang to Shrek Academy's current situation and several related matters.

When Qian Chaoguang mentioned that he wanted to become a Soul Engineer, Tang Ya showed intense hostility toward Soul Tools, believing they were the culprits that had destroyed the Tang Sect.

Hearing that, Qian Chaoguang could only shake his head repeatedly in his heart.

Did Soul Tools cause the Tang Sect's decline?

Perhaps they were somewhat related, but that was not the main point.

The Tang Sect had become complacent and stagnant. It had refused to make progress, blindly worshiping the things Tang San had left behind ten thousand years ago and treating them as standards and absolute truth. That was the primary reason for the Tang Sect's downfall.

Tang Ya had just said that Tang Sect Hidden Weapons were absolutely superior to Soul Tools in intricacy and ingenious design.

That was even more ridiculous.

Countless Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire had poured out their hearts and blood for tens of thousands of years, advancing one after another, constantly innovating. Could their designs truly be less intricate than a mechanical structure that had not improved in ten thousand years?

Wasn't that complete nonsense?

The Buddha Fury Tang Lotus, ranked first among Tang Sect mechanical hidden weapons, could at most instantly kill an unprepared Soul Saint or severely injure a Soul Douluo who had not activated their Martial Soul True Body. What did it have to compare with high-level Soul Tools?

Never mind strategic Level Nine Soul Tools—even an eighth-level Fixed Soul Cannonball could reduce a Buddha Fury Tang Lotus to nothing in an instant, and that thing was easier to manufacture.

Based solely on Tang Ya's attitude toward Soul Tools and her blind faith in hidden weapons, Qian Chaoguang had reason to suspect certain things.

Before Douluo Continent collided with Sun Moon Continent, technology had not advanced at all over six thousand years. The Tang Sect had definitely been interfering behind the scenes.

An organization that monopolized "technology" was especially terrifying.

Such things had appeared countless times throughout Blue Star's vast history.

However, Blue Star people everywhere would break through the shackles restricting technological development in a short time, attempting to seek a better tomorrow.

Mm...

Except for certain Lazy Dogs who were too lazy even to farm their land.

Author's Note

Thanks to Miracle 8, All Good IDs Taken, and Don't Forget Your Original Intention for their rewards.