"Because Luo Sanpao is too weak, and you're too weak too."
Lin Ming kept going.
"What do you know?"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes darted about. He let out an anxious, low growl.
But when he realized they were in the library, he hurriedly lowered his voice.
"My strength lies in theoretical research. Combat isn't my specialty!"
"Then how are you going to help me hunt a Hundred-Year Soul Beast?"
Lin Ming shot back.
"By running your mouth?"
Yu Xiaogang was left speechless, but soon regained his composure.
"I have Tang San. He has Hidden Weapons. He can definitely help you hunt a Hundred-Year Soul Ring!"
Yu Xiaogang said this with absolute conviction, confidence rekindling in his eyes.
Although he had been poisoned and passed out while hunting the Mandala Snake, Tang San had already absorbed the Soul Ring by the time he woke up.
The strange footwork, the mysterious Hidden Weapons, and the Second Martial Soul, the Clear Sky Hammer.
Yu Xiaogang understood that Tang San was definitely capable of hunting a Hundred-Year Soul Ring on his own.
Lin Ming only smiled, his expression full of scorn.
"Grandmaster, are you joking with me, or have you managed to fool yourself too?"
"You and I aren't related in any way, and Tang San and I aren't even friends."
Lin Ming looked Yu Xiaogang straight in the eye.
"What reason does he have to risk his life hunting a Hundred-Year Soul Beast for a stranger?"
"Because..."
Yu Xiaogang tried to answer in a hurry, but the words caught in his throat.
"Because you asked him to?"
Lin Ming finished for him.
"Because he took you as his master, so he has to obey you?"
"Grandmaster, you've only been his master for a few days, and you're already making life-and-death decisions on his behalf?"
"I..." Yu Xiaogang was at a loss for words.
"Besides..." Lin Ming's voice grew colder.
"Do you really think someone like Tang San would risk his life for a stranger's future?"
Yu Xiaogang froze.
He thought back to the time he had spent with Tang San over the past few days.
The boy really was far too mature for his age. He was meticulous in his thinking, cautious in his actions, and even a little cold.
Aside from the respect he showed his teacher, he seemed to have no particular feelings for anyone else.
Would someone like that really take a risk to help a classmate?
"He... he'll listen to me... He said that once a teacher, a father for life..."
Yu Xiaogang's voice trailed off.
"And you took him at his word?"
Lin Ming shook his head.
"Besides, obeying you doesn't mean he'll sincerely help me. If we run into danger during the hunt, he won't protect me."
Yu Xiaogang couldn't answer.
Because he knew the answer.
Given Tang San's personality, Lin Ming was completely right.
"So what exactly are you proposing?" Lin Ming summed up.
"Sending a six-year-old boy, armed with his Hidden Weapons, to hunt a Hundred-Year Soul Beast he might not even be able to handle."
"If it works, fine. But if it doesn't, Tang San could get hurt or even die, and I might not make it out alive either."
He paused, his voice full of scorn.
"Grandmaster, your scheme is so loud I could hear it all the way back in Holy Soul Village."
Yu Xiaogang's face turned completely pale.
Lin Ming had left him speechless. Every calculation and excuse had been peeled away, layer by layer, exposing the cold truth underneath.
"I... I didn't mean it that way... I just wanted to help you..."
Yu Xiaogang struggled to explain.
"Help me?" Lin Ming laughed.
He turned to leave, then stopped.
"And about Detached Martial Souls, you really should reconsider your position."
"What do you mean?"
"Luo Sanpao is weak not because it's a Detached Martial Soul, nor because it's the result of a defective mutation."
Lin Ming looked back and spoke one last time.
"A Martial Soul is part of its Soul Master. Its weakness has something to do with you."
With that, Lin Ming didn't linger. He walked out of the library with his books in his arms.
Sunlight streamed in through the doorway, stretching his shadow long across the floor.
Yu Xiaogang stood alone among the bookshelves, staring blankly at the figure disappearing into the distance.
"It's weak... because I'm weak?"
He murmured the words again, then lowered his head and looked at his trembling hand.
For decades.
He had studied Martial Souls for decades.
He had always thought he was searching for the truth.
But now a child had told him—
The most fundamental reason Luo Sanpao was weak was because of him.
"Impossible... Absolutely impossible..."
"Luo, luo..."
At some point, Luo Sanpao had appeared.
This time, instead of rubbing against his leg as usual, it stood a few steps away, gazing at him with its round eyes.
Yu Xiaogang looked at it.
At the Martial Soul that had been with him for decades.
For the first time, he didn't immediately feel disgust.
"You..." Yu Xiaogang's voice was hoarse. "Can you really do no better than this?"
Luo Sanpao sensed its master's turbulent emotions. It hesitated, then slowly approached and gently nudged Yu Xiaogang's hand with its nose.
Warm, and just a little damp.
Yu Xiaogang's hand trembled.
He didn't pull away at once, as he usually did.
For a moment, the library was so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat.
After a long while, Yu Xiaogang closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, they were cold.
"No. It can't be my fault."
He spoke softly.
"I'm a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. I'm the clan leader's son."
"Luo Sanpao is the weak one."
He recalled Luo Sanpao back into his body.
As he left, his steps were firm, as though that brief moment of doubt had never happened.
Once certain obsessions took root, they could never be pulled out.
After their conversation in the library, Yu Xiaogang indeed stopped appearing in front of Lin Ming.
Lin Ming was glad to have the peace and quiet, and devoted all his energy to cultivation and studying Soul Beasts.
Wang Sheng returned, and, just as expected, he had a white Ten-Year Soul Ring.
His Martial Soul was a War Tiger. After gaining a Ten-Year Soul Ring, its strength and defense had both improved slightly.
But in Lin Ming's eyes, the improvement was negligible.
Wang Sheng himself was quite satisfied. He smiled at Lin Ming.
It seemed like he was either mocking himself or accepting his fate.
"With this Soul Ring, I'm a real Soul Master now. I'll get one Gold Soul Coin a month from now on, so my family won't have as much to worry about."
Lin Ming's heart stirred, but he didn't say anything.
Time flew by as he cultivated.
The holidays at Nuoding Academy arrived once again.
This time, Lin Ming didn't stay at the academy, nor did he go with the others to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain a Soul Ring.
His Soul Power had long since recovered to level ten.
He needed a Soul Ring—a Hundred-Year Soul Ring worthy of Lei Yi.
The best he could do by staying in Nuoding City was pay a level-twenty- or thirty-something Soul Master to hunt a weak Hundred-Year Soul Beast.
Then absorb a barely acceptable Soul Ring.
That wasn't what he wanted.
"Star Dou Great Forest..."
Lin Ming studied the map he had borrowed from the library, marked with dangerous areas.
His finger came to rest on the vast, mysterious forest.
Only there would he find enough powerful Soul Beasts with lightning attributes.
Risk and opportunity went hand in hand.
Before you continue