Humiliating Yu Xiaogang! Tang San's Elder Brother Was Like a Father!

"Let's go."

Tang Yuan seemed to have lost interest. He waved his hand.

"Staying even one second longer in a place reeking of sour rot makes me want to vomit."

At Tang Yuan's command, several hundred fully armed imperial elites simultaneously put away their weapons.

Tang Yuan returned to his throne without even sparing Tang San another glance.

The throne slowly rose into the air, with Shui Bing'er and Ying Qi close behind.

The army retreated like a receding tide, leaving behind only devastation strewn across the ground and the lingering, suffocating pressure.

The forest returned to its deathly silence.

Only Tang San remained, along with Yu Xiaogang, who was still on the ground, babbling madly.

The wind blew past.

It swept up the powder the Ten-Year Lone Bamboo had turned into and flung it against Tang San's face.

It stung his eyes a little.

Tang San stood there without moving for a long time.

His back was already drenched in cold sweat. When the wind blew, it sent chills through him.

He glanced at the powder on the ground, fear rising in his heart.

Just now.

He had been so close.

If that mysterious expert had not appeared.

If he had truly listened to Yu Xiaogang and absorbed that Ten-Year Lone Bamboo.

Then his First Soul Skill would have been a useless skill with only ten years' worth of power.

His Blue Silver Grass martial soul was already at a disadvantage. If he had taken the wrong first step, then his entire life might truly have been ruined.

What Twin Martial Souls? What Tang Sect Secret Arts? Before an utterly trashy soul ring configuration, they would all become a joke.

Tang San turned his head, his gaze icy as he looked 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 Tang San held for his teacher vanished completely.

In its place rose a deep disgust and killing intent.

This man had nearly ruined him.

Article Three of the Tang Sect's Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record: Once an opponent was confirmed to be an enemy, so long as they had earned death, there was no need to show mercy.

Though Yu Xiaogang was his teacher in name, Tang San saw this act of misleading a student and nearly destroying his future as no different from murder.

This was a path to death.

Since you showed me no mercy and treated me as an experiment to verify those garbage theories of yours.

Then don't blame me for showing you no loyalty.

Tang San took a deep breath, and his expression became utterly indifferent.

He did not help Yu Xiaogang up, nor did he offer a single word of farewell.

From this day onward, the bond between master and disciple was severed cleanly.

Tang San turned around and walked out of the forest without looking back.

His pace was swift, as if he were trying to shake off something filthy.

Behind him, Yu Xiaogang's shrill and unwilling howls could still faintly be heard echoing through the empty forest, sounding especially desolate and ironic.

Nuoding City, Junior Soul Master Academy.

By the time Tang San returned to the academy, night had fully fallen.

He was a mess, his clothes covered in mud and grass clippings from his earlier journey through the forest.

His stomach growled, and his body was exhausted to the limit.

But he had no time to care about that.

He walked to the flower bed below the dormitory building and, by the moonlight, summoned his Blue Silver Grass.

The pale blue grass swayed in his palm, looking so weak and helpless.

Tang San looked at this useless martial soul, his heart filled with a profound sense of powerlessness.

He had thought that by taking a Master as his teacher, he would find a shortcut to becoming stronger.

Who would have thought he was a fraud?

Now, he still had no First Soul Ring, and the theory had been proven wrong.

The road ahead was shrouded in uncertainty.

Could he really only be a Waste Soul Master for the rest of his life?

Could he really only live out an unremarkable life in this tiny Nuoding City?

Tang San clenched his fists, his nails digging deeply into his flesh, yet he felt no pain.

Just then.

A flurry of hurried footsteps shattered the night's silence.

"Ah! Isn't this Tang San?"

A voice brimming with surprise and flattery rang out.

Tang San froze for a moment, withdrew his martial soul, and turned around warily.

He saw the Dean of Nuoding Academy, accompanied by the head of academic affairs and several teachers who usually ignored him—or even mocked and ridiculed him—hurrying toward him.

Their faces were covered in smiles as radiant as chrysanthemums.

Yet those smiles carried a fawning quality that made goosebumps rise on his skin.

"Tang San, why are you only coming back now? You had us worried sick!"

The Dean rushed over first, seemingly about to grab Tang San's hand. Yet he appeared afraid to overstep, merely rubbing his hands together as he stood to the side, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes, yes! You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

The head of academic affairs was even more exaggerated, pulling an exquisite food box from behind his back as though by magic.

"This is a premium Soul Beast meat feast specially ordered from Tianxiang Tower. It's still hot—eat it while it is!"

A teacher beside him refused to be outdone. He pulled out a heavy pouch and tried to force it into Tang San's arms.

"Tang San, this is the academy's... ah, scholarship for outstanding students! A full five hundred Gold Soul Coins! If it isn't enough, just tell your teacher!"

Tang San was completely dumbfounded.

He looked at the heavy Gold Soul Coins in his hands, then at the fragrant food box.

Was this still the Nuoding Academy that had made him sweep the floors and eat leftovers just because he was a Work-Study Student?

Had these people taken the wrong medicine?

"Dean, teachers, what is this...?"

Tang San frowned and instinctively took a step back, one hand resting on Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges Night at his waist.

Unsolicited kindness was either treachery or theft.

Teacher Wang, who had always been the most snobbish and constantly sucked up to the city lord's son, now wore an expression that said, "I understand, I understand everything." He leaned close to Tang San and lowered his voice.

"Young Master Tang San, stop pretending."

"Ah, you really know how to keep a low profile! Who would have thought that our little Nuoding Academy was hiding such a great figure as you!"

Tang San's brow furrowed even tighter.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

Teacher Wang chuckled and said in an extremely exaggerated tone:

"You're actually Lord Blue Silver King's younger brother!"

"With status like that, why didn't you tell us sooner? If we'd known, even if we had a hundred times the courage, we wouldn't have dared let you stay in a place like Dormitory Seven!"

At those words, Tang San's mind boomed as though something had exploded inside it.

"Blue Silver King? Younger brother?"

Tang San was stunned.

Seeing his expression, Teacher Wang assumed he was dumbstruck with joy and continued animatedly:

"That's right! This very afternoon!"

"That mighty Lord Blue Silver King personally led the Royal Knights into Nuoding City in grand procession!"

"What a spectacle! What magnificence!"

"I heard that Lord Blue Silver King, for your sake, led his army through the night and crossed the entire Heaven Dou Empire, directly sealing off the entire Soul Hunting Forest and Nuoding City!"

"All just to find you!"

"What importance! What deep brotherly affection!"

The Dean echoed him from the side, so moved that tears nearly welled up in his eyes.

"Yes, Tang San... ah, no, Young Master Tang San."

"We all heard that the reason Lord Blue Silver King became so furious and caused such a huge commotion was because he feared you had been harmed by that... that swindler named Yu Xiaogang!"

"I heard that Yu Xiaogang spread lies and tried to ruin your future with a trash soul ring."

"Thankfully, Lord Blue Silver King arrived in time!"