"Let's go."
Tang Yuan seemed to have lost interest. He waved a hand.
"Another second in this place, reeking of sour pedantry, makes me sick."
At Tang Yuan's command, hundreds of fully armed imperial elites put away their weapons in unison.
Tang Yuan settled back onto his throne without so much as another glance at Tang San.
The throne rose slowly into the air, with Shui Bing'er and Ying Qi close behind.
The army withdrew like a receding tide, leaving only wreckage and the lingering weight of its suffocating presence.
Deathly silence returned to the forest.
Only Tang San remained, along with Yu Xiaogang, who was still raving on the ground.
The wind blew past.
It swept up the powder that had once been the Ten-Year Lone Bamboo and scattered it across Tang San's face.
Some got in his eyes.
Tang San stood there for a long time without moving.
Cold sweat had soaked his back. The wind sent a chill through him.
He looked at the powder on the ground, fear rising belatedly in his chest.
Just now.
He had come so close.
If that mysterious powerhouse had not appeared.
If he had listened to Yu Xiaogang and absorbed that Ten-Year Lone Bamboo.
Then his First Soul Skill would have been a worthless ability with only ten years of power.
His Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul was already weak. If he had taken a wrong step at the very beginning, his whole life might truly have been ruined.
Twin Martial Souls, Tang Sect Secret Arts—before an utterly worthless Soul Ring Configuration, all of it would have become a joke.
Tang San turned and looked coldly at Yu Xiaogang, who was still drawing circles on the ground and muttering, "My theory is invincible."
At that moment, the last trace of respect for his teacher vanished from Tang San's heart.
In its place came deep revulsion and killing intent.
This man had nearly ruined him.
The third principle of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record's general precepts: once an opponent was confirmed as an enemy, if he had earned death, there was no need to show mercy.
Yu Xiaogang might have been his teacher in name, but to Tang San, misleading a student and nearly destroying his future was no different from murder.
That was reason enough for death.
If you could treat me without mercy and use me as a test subject for your garbage theories...
Then don't blame me for turning my back on you.
Tang San drew a deep breath. His gaze turned utterly indifferent.
He did not help Yu Xiaogang up. He did not even say a word.
From that day on, the bond between teacher and student was severed with a single stroke.
Tang San turned and strode out of the forest without looking back.
He walked quickly, as though trying to shake off something filthy.
Behind him, Yu Xiaogang's shrill, unwilling howls still echoed faintly through the empty forest, sounding all the more desolate and absurd.
Nuoding City, Junior Soul Master Academy.
By the time Tang San returned to the academy, night had fallen completely.
He looked a mess, his clothes covered in dirt and bits of grass from his journey through the forest.
His stomach growled, and exhaustion weighed on every part of him.
But he had no time for any of that.
He walked to the flower bed below the dormitory and summoned his Blue Silver Grass in the moonlight.
The pale blue grass swayed in his palm, looking so weak and helpless.
Tang San stared at this Trash Martial Soul, a profound sense of helplessness filling him.
He had thought becoming Grandmaster's disciple would give him a shortcut to strength.
Instead, the man was a fraud.
He still had no First Soul Ring, and the theory had been proven wrong.
The road ahead was shrouded in uncertainty.
Was I really doomed to be a Waste Soul Master for the rest of my life?
Was I really going to spend my whole life accomplishing nothing in little Nuoding City?
Tang San clenched his fist until his nails dug deep into his palm, yet he felt no pain.
Just then.
A rush of footsteps broke the stillness of the night.
"Oh! Isn't that Tang San?"
A voice rang out, brimming with delight and fawning warmth.
Tang San froze, dismissed his Martial Soul, and turned warily.
The Dean of Nuoding Academy was hurrying toward him with the director of instruction and several teachers who usually ignored him or even mocked him.
Their faces bloomed with smiles as bright as chrysanthemums.
There was something so ingratiating about those smiles that it raised goosebumps on his skin.
"Tang San, you're finally back! We were worried sick!"
The Dean rushed ahead of the others and reached to clasp Tang San's hand, then seemed to think better of it. He stood to one side, rubbing his hands and grinning from ear to ear.
"Yes, yes! You haven't eaten yet, have you?"
The director of instruction went even further, producing an exquisite food box from behind his back as if by magic.
"This is a premium Soul Beast meat banquet specially prepared by Tianxiang Tower. It's still hot—eat while it's warm!"
Not to be outdone, a teacher beside him pulled out a heavy pouch and pressed it into Tang San's arms.
"Tang San, this is the academy's... ah, scholarship for outstanding students! Five hundred Gold Soul Coins! If you need more, just tell me!"
Tang San was completely bewildered.
He looked at the weighty pouch of Gold Soul Coins, then at the food box wafting its delicious aroma.
Was this the same Nuoding Academy that had made him sweep floors and eat leftovers because he was a Work-Study Student?
Had these people lost their minds?
"Dean, teachers, what is all this...?"
Tang San frowned and instinctively took a step back, one hand settling on the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges Night at his waist.
When people fawned over you for no reason, they were after something.
Teacher Wang, the worst snob of them all, who was always currying favor with the city lord's son, now approached Tang San with an expression that said he understood everything. Lowering his voice, he said:
"Young Master Tang San, there's no need to pretend."
"My, you kept your cards close to your chest! Who would've thought our little Nuoding Academy was hiding someone as important as you?"
Tang San's frown deepened.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Teacher Wang chuckled and declared with outrageous emphasis:
"You're Lord Blue Silver King's own younger brother!"
"With a status like that, why didn't you tell us sooner? If we'd known, we wouldn't have dared put you in a place like Dorm Seven, not with a hundred times the nerve!"
At those words, something seemed to explode inside Tang San's head.
"Blue Silver King? Younger brother?"
Tang San went still.
Teacher Wang mistook his expression for speechless joy and went on, his face alight with excitement:
"Yes! This very afternoon!"
"Lord Blue Silver King, whose might shakes the world, personally led the Royal Knights straight into Nuoding City in a grand procession!"
"What a spectacle! What majesty!"
"I heard Lord Blue Silver King marched his army through the night for your sake, crossed the entire Heaven Dou Empire, and sealed off the whole Soul Hunting Forest and Nuoding City!"
"All to find you!"
"What devotion! What brotherly love!"
The Dean chimed in, sounding so moved he was nearly in tears:
"Exactly, Tang San... no, Young Master Tang San."
"We've all heard that Lord Blue Silver King was so furious and went to such lengths because he was afraid that... that fraud Yu Xiaogang would harm you!"
"They say Yu Xiaogang spread lies and tried to ruin your future with a garbage Soul Ring."
"Thank goodness Lord Blue Silver King arrived in time!"
Before you continue