Tang San's Sleeve Arrow, the Porridge He Couldn't Have

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering dappled patches of light.

After their sparring session, they rested for a while to recover their Soul Power.

Li Yue called Tang San along, intending to hunt a ten-year soul beast in the forest to nourish him.

Martial arts training was not just about practice; nutrition had to keep up as well. Otherwise, it was not training, but ruining one's body. That was why people always said scholars came from poor families while martial artists came from rich ones.

Circulating the Xuanxin Gong, Li Yue used the surrounding Blue Silver Grass to sense every movement in the wind and grass. Before long, he found his target: a wild mountain goat.

Drawing upon the Soul Power of the Blue Silver Grass in the forest, Li Yue unleashed his Self-Created Soul Skill, Grass Knot, silently winding it around the wild mountain goat's legs.

Li Yue immediately charged out, while Tang San circled around from the other side.

Startled, the wild mountain goat tried to flee, only for the grass knot to entangle it and send it tumbling to the ground.

By then, Li Yue and Tang San had already rushed to the goat's side.

Li Yue used the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear Technique, thrusting straight at the wild mountain goat's vital point.

Tang San used the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, bringing the Fire Stick down on the wild mountain goat's head in a savage barrage.

How could the wild mountain goat possibly survive? Li Yue's thrust left it motionless, and Tang San finished it off with a single blow.

A white soul ring floated up from its body. It was clearly a specialty of the Douluo Continent: a ten-year soul ring.

"This wild mountain goat is rather big. It probably won't be easy to roast through."

Looking at the goat, Li Yue felt it would be better to take it home and stew it.

"That's fine. We can cut off some meat, skewer it on branches, and roast it," Tang San suggested.

He knew a thing or two about food. Li Yue never cooked himself and at most offered suggestions. In his previous life, all the game they caught in the forest had been prepared by Tang San.

"Little San, your drool is practically dripping. Wipe it up. You really are hungry."

Li Yue found Tang San's lack of restraint rather amusing. Seeing his eyes shine at the sight of the goat, he even felt a little sorry for him. It seemed Tang San had truly been starved badly in this life, drooling the moment he saw meat.

"Brother Yue, you'd be hungry too if you had porridge every day," Tang San said resentfully.

Brother Yue was a well-fed man who did not understand the hunger of the starving. This life had truly been miserable for Tang San. He had drunk that watery porridge for a full six years.

If not for Li Yue helping him hunt after they met, and occasionally having the servants bring over food, Tang San did not know how he would have endured.

"This goat is yours. Take it back and stew it in an iron pot."

Li Yue casually decided who would get the goat, paying little attention to the wild mountain goat. Unlike Tang San, he had not been driven by poverty to the point of nearly wanting to gnaw on people.

"Thank you, Brother Yue." Tang San was so moved that tears nearly fell.

With an entire wild mountain goat, he could eat for several days—provided his father did not see it. But that was impossible.

Once the goat was cleaned and stewed in an iron pot, even if its fragrance would not carry for ten miles, it would certainly reach several neighboring households.

How could Tang Hao possibly fail to smell it? He would lift the lid and start eating immediately. After a few mouthfuls, more than half would likely be gone, leaving Tang San to eat whatever remained.

"Speaking of which, the village has one work-study student slot that exempts the tuition fees."

Li Yue brought up school. In a few months, they would be heading to Nuoding Academy.

"This time, only the two of us in the village have Innate Soul Power. I spoke with Village Chief Old Jack. That slot will go to you."

"What about you, Brother Yue?" Tang San asked worriedly.

"As for me, I can buy a work-study student slot from a nearby village, or just pay the tuition directly," Li Yue replied.

His family was nothing like Tang San's, with nothing but bare walls.

As the largest landowner in Holy Spirit Village, even though Li Father had died and the monthly one Gold Soul Coin subsidy was gone, the family still had a steady stream of Gold Soul Coin income from their fields.

"Then I'm relieved." Tang San let out a breath.

It would have been bad if Brother Yue could not attend a Soul Master Academy.

Now, they could both go to a Soul Master Academy and become classmates. They might even attend lessons in the same classroom. Just thinking about it felt wonderful.

"Brother Yue, this is for you."

Tang San took out a Sleeve Arrow. He had forged it from the Iron Mother Li Yue had given him earlier, while wearing the other one himself.

"Good stuff."

Li Yue accepted the Sleeve Arrow Tang San gave him and strapped it onto his arm, immediately feeling his sense of security soar.

As an Inner Disciple of the Tang Sect, he specialized in hand-thrown Hidden Weapons, but that did not mean he rejected or looked down on mechanical Hidden Weapons.

Mechanical Hidden Weapons were like firearms. Even a child could use one to kill an adult. How could Li Yue possibly dislike something so useful?

In fact, his purpose in bringing Tang San through time had been these mechanical Hidden Weapons.

Li Yue could not help praising him. "Little San, your craftsmanship hasn't gotten rusty."

Although it was the most ordinary type of mechanical Hidden Weapon, the Sleeve Arrow's exquisite appearance showed that Tang San had put a great deal of thought into it.

The Sleeve Arrow consisted of three arrows and a sleeve tube. Tang San's version even had a safety mechanism, preventing accidental injury.

Li Yue test-fired it at a distant tree.

Its effective range exceeded thirty meters—and that was its effective range. Ordinary Sleeve Arrows had a range of only fifteen meters.

"Not at all. It's enough that you like it, Brother Yue." Tang San modestly brushed it off, though he had always taken pride in his skill at crafting Hidden Weapons.

And he had every reason to be proud. The Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus, ranked first on the mechanical Hidden Weapon list, had been recreated by him.

If one were to ask who in the Tang Sect had studied mechanical Hidden Weapons most deeply, there was no doubt it was Tang San himself.

When they returned home, the fragrance of rice porridge greeted them.

The porridge clearly had not been cooked by Tang Hao, but by Tang San before he left.

He sliced off some wild mountain goat meat into thin pieces and added them to the porridge.

After rolling in the porridge for only a moment, the meat changed color and was soon ready to eat.

"Dad, the porridge is ready. Come eat," Tang San called toward the inner room.

Hearing his son's call, Tang Hao, who had been sleeping soundly in the inner room, immediately woke up, still somewhat hungover from drinking.

He lifted the curtain and walked out of the inner room, bringing a strong smell of alcohol with him.

Tang San had already sat down at the table and begun drinking the porridge. With wild mountain goat meat added, it was much more delicious, making him want another bowl after finishing the first.

But Tang Hao had already poured his own bowl into his stomach. He lifted the iron pot's lid, grabbed a spoon, and began noisily gulping it down.

Fine. Getting another bowl had become nothing more than a luxury. Even if any were left, Tang San would not want it anymore.

"Little San, what did you use that Iron Essence from before to forge?" Tang Hao asked casually between great mouthfuls of porridge.

"I made it into a weapon and gave it to Brother Yue," Tang San answered. The reason Hidden Weapons were called Hidden Weapons was because they were not known to others.

Thus, only Brother Yue knew that Tang San had made the Sleeve Arrow. Including himself, there would only be two people who knew. There was no need to let a third person find out.

"Mm." Tang Hao responded without probing what sort of weapon Tang San had made. He did not care about such things. He had only asked in passing.