Next Skill: Mana Drain!

Tang Hao ultimately couldn't bring himself to hit Tang Jiu. Tang Jiu had just gone through a major battle, and he was afraid he might not control his strength and injure him. In the end, he merely snorted with a dark expression.

"Hand over the money. I'll keep it safe for you! Your Third Brother doesn't even have money for tuition and still has to be a Work-Study Student. Don't you feel guilty spending all this?"

Tang Jiu rolled his eyes. "So I really am not your biological son! You're way too biased!"

"Bastard!"

Tang Hao was nearly furious to death. How did he have the nerve to say that? Hadn't everything always been given to him? Xiao San often wondered whether he was Tang Hao's biological son.

Tang Hao grabbed Tang Jiu by the neck and forcibly confiscated all his belongings. Then he left behind a card worth two thousand Gold Soul Coins and handed it to Tang Jiu. "This is enough for you!"

This rotten old man was truly wicked.

Tang Jiu knew there was no hope of getting the money back. When parents held onto money for you, it usually never came back!

So, he lifted his hammer and smashed several large words into the bluestone ground.

"The killer: the Clear Sky Sect's number one genius!"

Tang Hao's mouth twitched. He snorted. "What are you trying to do?"

"Isn't this shifting the blame? Then Spirit Hall won't come looking for trouble with me. I still want to continue living a leisurely life at the academy." Tang Jiu grinned.

Tang Hao really wanted to hammer this brat to death. Who the hell shifted trouble onto their own sect? If this were his biological son, Tang Hao would have broken his legs!

"Little Jiu, you still want to stay at the academy? Keep dreaming! Don't you love making trouble? Go train in the Star Dou Great Forest. You are not allowed to come out before you're eleven!"

"Why? I'm not going!" Tang Jiu shook his head. He liked exploring the wilderness, but there were still so many girls in this world waiting for him to save them. Only an idiot would go play Tarzan alone!

"Who told you to make such a huge mess? You don't know how to hide your abilities and insist on showing off! If you keep staying among people, Spirit Hall will soon discover how extraordinary you are."

"There are thieves who steal for a thousand days, but no guards who stay on watch for a thousand days! If your identity is exposed, with your strength, you'll soon be assassinated!

"You must disappear for five years and let Spirit Hall's attention die down! You don't have even a fraction of Xiao San's composure and calmness. You brought this upon yourself!"

Tang Hao said coldly.

Tang Jiu was completely out of temper. He couldn't exactly ask Tang Hao to be his personal bodyguard. Even if he did, Spirit Hall could still gather enough people to wipe them out.

"Fine!" Tang Jiu finally accepted Tang Hao's suggestion. Turning to Flender, he said, "Give me a flight—no, take me to the Star Dou Great Forest!"

Flender rolled his eyes. You screwed me over this badly, and you expect me to take you there?

"Not even if you beat me to death!"

"One trip, two thousand Gold Soul Coins. And I won't ask for the money you owe me either!" Tang Jiu waved the card in his hand.

With a whoosh, Flander snatched the card and stuffed it into his pocket. He gave a light cough.

"If it weren't for Haotian Your Excellency's sake, I wouldn't agree to it!"

Seeing how greedy Flender was, even Master's mouth twitched. He really wanted to pretend he didn't know him.

Tang Hao's mouth twitched as well. Had Flender led his son astray?

Watching Flender take Tang Jiu away, Tang Hao frowned at the words on the ground. In the end, he simply altered them into:

"The killer: Tang Heizhi, son of Tang Hao!"

That was right. Tang Hao regretted naming Tang Jiu Jiu. He had originally hoped Tang Jiu would become a �-Ring Titled Douluo, but now he felt Tang Heizhi was a better name. A lowly name was easier to raise!

Tang Jiu was simply too good at causing trouble!

Half a year later.

At the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, inside a treehouse.

Tang Jiu slowly opened his eyes. After a year of cultivation, his Soul Power had risen from � level to � level.

He discovered that after his body had been strengthened, his Soul Power cultivated faster than before. But likewise, after his body had been strengthened, each level required more Soul Power to advance.

Tang Jiu estimated that without the powerful energy of Soul Rings, at his current speed, reaching � level would probably take at least three or four years.

"Forget it. I should obtain Soul Rings first!"

Back then, after Tang Jiu absorbed two Thousand-Year Soul Rings, his physical condition had become sufficient to absorb a Three-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. After the battle at Nuoding City Lord's Mansion, his strengthened body should have no problem absorbing a Soul Ring of around seven thousand years.

Then, with the enhancement of the Heavenly Curse Seal, he was fully capable of absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!

In the Star Dou Great Forest, he had also found some Soul Beasts skilled in mental attacks and had long since filled the Heavenly Curse Seal with energy.

"If I obtain one Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, my Soul Power should directly rise to � level. If I obtain two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings, then I'll be � level. Wouldn't my cultivation speed become even faster?"

Tang Jiu jumped down from the treehouse, tugged at the Beast Hide clothes on his body, and headed deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.

He needed to select suitable Soul Beasts and obtain the second Soul Rings for both his Spirits.

There was no need to say much about the Bullet Ant Spirit—it would still follow the burst-damage route.

But he had to think carefully about the Spirit Ring Spirit. There were actually many options. Based on the direction of amplification, they could be divided into Power Type, Soul Power type, attack type, defense type, and all-attribute type. They could even be elemental type or mental type.

Tang Jiu considered all the directions he needed to amplify, then finally decided that his second Soul Ring would be a Soul Power type! In other words, it would amplify Soul Power.

Given the special nature of the Spirit Ring Spirit, using it on himself would amplify Soul Power, while placing it on an enemy would drain their Soul Power. In online games from his previous life, it had a special name: mana drain, or dispel mana.

Just imagine it: the enemy had powerful Soul Skills at the ready, yet lacked the Soul Power to unleash them. There was no greater sorrow for a Soul Master!

Tang Jiu actually knew of a Soul Beast perfectly suited to become his second Soul Ring: the Azure Carved Demon Statue!

It was a kind of Soul Beast with stone-like skin and blue fluorescent light shimmering all over its body.

This Soul Beast possessed an especially unique skill: Soul Power Amplification. It was the favorite of Support Type Soul Masters.

Killing it gave a one hundred percent chance of obtaining a Soul Skill that amplified Soul Power.

Tang Jiu had long picked out a Ten Thousand Year one for himself. It was deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, and Tang Jiu advanced toward his destination like a nimble ape.

Soon, he found that �-meter-tall Azure Carved Demon Statue with an exceptionally punchable face!

It seemed to have spotted Tang Jiu as well. A trace of anger flashed through its blue eyes, as though it were saying, What did I ever do to you? Why does every human want to kill me?

The instant it saw Tang Jiu, it fled without the slightest hesitation. Its vast Soul Power surged like the sea, allowing it to use its skills without restraint as it flew away into the distance.

Damn it, the blue buff could actually run away on its own!

Wasn't it supposed to stand there and fight me to the death? Then after I killed it, it would give me a Soul Skill to restore mana?

Tang Jiu couldn't help complaining. Thinking that this blue daddy wasn't playing by the rules, he flashed forward in pursuit.

The Azure Carved Demon Statue's escape caused a huge disturbance, throwing the surrounding Soul Beasts into turmoil. The disturbed Soul Beasts all became hostile toward Tang Jiu, making his pursuit extremely difficult.

At that moment, a flying Soul Master in the sky saw the scene and immediately descended to the ground.

On the ground, a handsomely dressed, handsome child asked with cold eyes, "What did you find?"

"Saintess... no, Young Master! This subordinate discovered a Ten Thousand Year Azure Carved Demon Statue. It is extremely suitable to become your First Soul Ring!"