Tang Ya's Formal Invitation! Offering the Position of Sect Master!

"Who said he could leave?"

Tie Xiong's voice sank as he raised a hand and grabbed for Huo Yuhao's shoulder.

The instant his hand came down, it caught nothing but air.

At some point, Huang Fei had already shifted sideways, shielding Huo Yuhao behind him.

Tie Xiong's gaze turned cold. "Freshman, do you know what you're doing?"

Huang Fei looked up at him, his tone flat. "I do."

Tie Xiong spoke icily. "Then you still dare to stop me?"

Huang Fei scoffed. "I stopped you. So what are you going to do about it?"

Who was Huang Fei?

Was he supposed to be afraid of this big lump?

Things were different now!

Tie Xiong laughed in rage. "Good. Very good!"

Soul Power surged around him as the phantom of an Earth Violent Bear roared toward the heavens. He drove a fist straight at Huang Fei's face!

The fist howled through the air, carrying fierce force!

He had used seventy percent of his strength in this punch. An ordinary Level 20 Soul Grandmaster would be bedridden for at least three days after taking it.

Then he saw the light beneath Huang Fei's feet.

One purple.

One black.

The black Soul Ring gave off a deep, ghostly glow in the dusk, like ink seeping into a frigid pool, chilling everyone to the bone.

Tie Xiong's pupils constricted sharply, and his fist came to a forced halt in midair.

"...A purple Thousand Year ring?"

"A black... Ten Thousand Year ring?"

His voice was dry, as though someone had seized him by the throat.

The two lackeys behind him stared wide-eyed, their faces full of disbelief.

The surrounding crowd instantly exploded into uproar.

"Holy shit! A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!"

"A Ten Thousand Year Second Soul Ring! He—he's Huang Fei from Class Nine, First Year!"

"That monster who took on three teams alone at the Training Ground yesterday!"

"Fuck, it really is him!"

The knuckles of Tie Xiong's clenched fist turned white, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He had never met Huang Fei, but he had heard the rumors about yesterday's battle at the Training Ground.

At the time, he had dismissed them as exaggerations by lower-year students—a Ten Thousand Year second ring? How could that be possible?

When had this guy broken through to become a two-ring Soul Grandmaster?

But now, that pitch-black Soul Ring hung right before his eyes, and the vast Soul Power fluctuations it emitted could not be faked.

What unsettled him even more was that Huang Fei had not even tried to dodge his seventy-percent punch.

He simply watched him quietly, the Soul Rings beneath his feet slowly rotating.

That calmness was more oppressive than any counterattack.

Tie Xiong's throat bobbed. He could neither withdraw his fist nor throw it.

The Sharp-Mouthed Student behind him whispered, "Brother Xiong, he... he has Old Song behind him..."

Tie Xiong's face turned even paler.

He could disregard a First Year freshman, but he could not disregard a Sea God's Pavilion Elder, a Level 97 Super Douluo.

It seemed this Sharp-Mouthed Student had quite the information network.

He even knew information that had not been made public.

Watching the changes in his expression, Huang Fei finally spoke. "Do you still want the Venue Fee?"

Tie Xiong gritted his teeth. After a long moment, he squeezed out two words through clenched teeth. "No... need."

Huang Fei nodded and turned to Huo Yuhao. "Let's go."

Huo Yuhao picked up the grill and followed behind him.

The two passed through the crowd, their backs gradually fading into the distance.

Tie Xiong stood where he was, his face livid, his clenched fists cracking loudly.

Yet in the end, he did not chase after them.

By the time they left the Commercial Street, dusk had deepened.

Huo Yuhao carried the grill, his steps somewhat sluggish.

After a long silence, he said quietly, "Thank you."

Huang Fei shook his head. "It was nothing."

After a moment of silence, Huo Yuhao added, "You actually didn't need to reveal your Soul Rings."

"With your Combat Strength, beating him shouldn't have been difficult."

Huang Fei did not deny it.

He glanced sideways at Huo Yuhao, his tone mild. "Showing my Soul Rings was faster."

After a pause, he added, "And more useful."

Huo Yuhao froze, then gave a bitter smile.

Yes, in this world, strength was the hardest truth.

Once a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was revealed, there was no need to say anything or do anything.

The other side would retreat on their own.

He lowered his head and looked at the grill in his arms, whispering, "When will I be able to become like you...?"

Huang Fei's steps paused slightly.

He did not turn around, and his voice remained calm. "How long have you been enrolled?"

"I cultivated for four years before reaching where I am today."

"You'll get there too."

Huo Yuhao raised his head and looked at the figure ahead of him, a back that was not particularly broad.

Under the moonlight, that figure remained composed, those steps as steady as ever.

He said nothing more.

He only held the grill in his arms a little tighter.

That night, news of the conflict on the Commercial Street spread throughout the Outer Academy.

Unlike yesterday's fight at the Training Ground, this time everyone heard the confirmed news that Huang Fei's "Second Soul Ring was Ten Thousand Year."

Some doubted it, some were shocked, and some found it impossible to believe.

But no one dared provoke him in person again.

Because everyone knew—

That Blue Silver Grass Soul Master from Class Nine, First Year was not someone to be messed with.

The news spread faster than the wind.

The next morning, Tang Ya was flipping through the Hidden Weapon Manuals left behind by the Tang Sect in her Dormitory when the door was suddenly shoved open.

Beibei strode inside, his expression complicated. "Have you heard about Huang Fei's Soul Ring configuration?"

Tang Ya looked up, her eyes bloodshot from a sleepless night. "...A Ten Thousand Year second ring?"

Beibei nodded.

Tang Ya fell silent.

She put down the yellowed manual in her hand, rose to her feet, and walked to the window, gazing toward the distant Training Ground.

Through the thin morning mist, a few students could vaguely be seen doing Morning Exercise.

"Do you know, Beibei?"

Her voice was very soft.

"I thought about it all night."

"About what?"

"About my father, my grandfather, and the Tang Sect."

Tang Ya lowered her gaze.

"Before Father died, he passed the position of Sect Master to me and said the Tang Sect would depend on me from then on."

"But after all these years, what have I done?"

Beibei said nothing.

"My Martial Soul is only Blue Silver Grass, my cultivation talent is mediocre, and I can barely even get started with the sect's Secret Skills. Revitalizing the Tang Sect... I say those words every day, but even I don't believe I can do it."

Tang Ya turned around, a faintly self-mocking smile in her eyes.

"But Huang Fei is different."

"His Martial Soul is also Blue Silver Grass, yet he has taken another path."

"Not poison, not control, but life and evolution. A Thousand Year first ring and a Ten Thousand Year second ring."

She paused, her voice dropping even lower.

"Perhaps... the Tang Sect's future should never have been placed on my shoulders."

"How can I revitalize the Tang Sect like this? How can I avenge the Tang Sect's disciples, Father, Mother, and the others?"

Beibei's pupils shrank slightly. "Tang Ya, what are you planning to do?"

Tang Ya did not answer.

She walked straight toward the door. As she passed Beibei, her steps paused briefly.

"Get Xu Sanshi. We're going to see Huang Fei."

A quarter of an hour later, in the corridor outside the Class Nine, First Year classroom.

Huang Fei was leaning against the window, reading a copy of Basic Configuration of Soul Tools, when hurried footsteps reached his ears.

He looked up, and the Three Figures had already arrived before him.

Tang Ya led the way, her expression solemn.

Beibei followed close behind, his brows tightly furrowed.

Xu Sanshi trailed behind them, looking as though he was enjoying the show.

Huang Fei closed his book and said calmly, "What is it, Seniors?"

Tang Ya took a deep breath. "Huang Fei, on behalf of the Tang Sect, I formally invite you to join us."

Huang Fei was about to politely decline, but Tang Ya cut him off.

"Don't be so quick to refuse."

She raised her eyes to meet Huang Fei's gaze, speaking each word distinctly.

"As long as you are willing to join the Tang Sect and lead it back to glory, I am willing to give up the position of Sect Master."

The corridor abruptly fell silent.

Beibei's pupils constricted sharply. "Tang Ya!"

The amusement on Xu Sanshi's face instantly froze, and he blurted out, "Holy shit, you're going that far?!"

Tang Ya did not turn back. She only stared steadily at Huang Fei.

"I mean it."

"Father entrusted the Tang Sect to me because he didn't want it to end with his generation."

"But I know myself. I'm not cut out for it."

"My talent isn't enough, my strength is lacking, and my vision is too narrow... In my hands, the Tang Sect will only decline day by day."