Jedi Rabbit actually dared to attack Tang San in public. With a cold snort, she leaped up, raised her leg, and kicked him squarely in the chest. Tang San was sent flying several yards before crashing heavily to the ground.
He was like a cooked shrimp, curled up and clutching his stomach as he writhed on the ground. Every so often, he spat out a mouthful of sour water, suffering so badly he wished he were dead.
She had kept at it for quite some time without stopping, and now everyone could see just how powerful Jedi Rabbit's kick was.
Xiao Wu had just arrived at the academy. She had also been present when Tang Qinghe came to Jedi City, and her face was full of disbelief and anger. "Are you even human? Or are you a ghost?"
Tang Qinghe didn't answer. She simply stood there, looking at Xiao Wu and Tang San with an utterly contemptuous expression.
"Pah! You're the ghost! You little brat, with your tiny body and that puny little thing of a martial soul, you actually dare to swagger around in broad daylight and bully people? Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't forget!"
A yellow spirit ring rose beneath Jedi Rabbit's feet. A small, slender snake with scales the color of iron-gray light spun into view. Jedi Rabbit completed her martial-soul possession in the blink of an eye. Her hands turned into claws, and the iron-gray snake coiled around her, its venomous presence unmistakable.
It was clearly the distinctive appearance of a poisonous snake after its martial soul had transformed.
"Spirit Sect!" Xiao Wu cried out in alarm. Her eyes flashed with panic, but when she saw Tang San lying on the ground, she still released her martial soul. A pair of rabbit ears appeared on her head, and a yellow spirit ring shone around her.
Other passersby saw that a Spirit Body was about to fight and hurried away, afraid of getting caught up in it.
Just as Jedi Rabbit was about to attack him again, Tang Qinghe stopped her. "That's enough, Jedi Rabbit. Put your hands down. This is Spirit City. If you kill someone, it'll be hard to explain. Put away your martial soul first. We'll figure out what happened later."
Tang Ritian had been hiding nearby, and Tang San's father was there as well. If Jedi Rabbit seriously injured Tang San and Xiao Wu, he couldn't guarantee that the old man wouldn't lose control.
"Hmph. You're lucky this time." Jedi Rabbit snorted coldly, withdrew her martial soul, and returned to Tang Qinghe's side.
Tang Qinghe walked up to Xiao Wu, looked her over, then glanced at Tang San lying on the ground. With a puzzled look, she asked, "Miss, is that fellow your younger brother? Why did you attack me?"
At that moment, Tang San, who had been writhing in pain on the ground, finally managed to speak. "You bitch! What did you do to me? You know perfectly well!"
Xiao Wu hurried over to him. Like an adult picking up a child, she lifted Tang San off the ground.
"You're really something." Tang Qinghe gave Tang San another once-over, her expression as if she had just smelled something foul.
[Tang San's resentment +2,888,888]
"You bitch, I'm Tang San!" Tang San said, looking at Tang Qinghe as if she were an enemy. His face was red with rage, and he looked as though he could devour her.
If Tang Qinghe hadn't been standing there, and if the Spirit Sect nearby hadn't possessed such a powerful martial soul, he would have gone over and taught her a lesson long ago.
But Tang Qinghe's next words enraged Tang San completely. "Impossible. Tang San and I grew up together. How could you be that little brat? You're definitely not him."
Tang San spat out a mouthful of blood, his anger making him cough it up.
After hearing "little brat" three times, he had finally figured out who Tang Qinghe was. He glanced at the short, slight girl before him. As the saying went, there was no mistaking a face.
He had swallowed his anger in one go, and it had nearly choked him to death.
"Xiao San!" Xiao Wu exclaimed when Tang San spat blood. She had assumed Jedi Rabbit's kick had been so powerful that Tang San had been hit hard. While sending Spirit Power into him to heal him, she shot Tang Qinghe an angry look. "You bastard! Xiao San has turned out this way because of you. And you're the one who hurt him!"
Jedi Rabbit had also been startled. With curiosity, she looked Tang San up and down. If this really was the Tang San that the people from the Clear Sky Clan had been talking about, then he was far too ridiculous. He was supposed to be twelve, yet he looked like a seven-year-old. Even if he hadn't had any accidents, he probably would've been this size anyway. Calling him a living joke was putting it mildly.
[Tang San's resentment +8,888,888]
[Xiao Wu's resentment +188,888]
[Xiao Wu's favorability -20. Congratulations, host has earned a chance to draw twice.]
Tang San had gained over eight hundred thousand resentment points. How had Xiao Wu only gained eighteen? Was she really his little cousin? Tang Qinghe glanced at the translucent screen in front of her and thought to herself, How have I wronged him? She's the one who hit him.
She looked at Xiao Wu, wearing an utterly innocent expression. "You're the one who hit him, aren't you?"
Then she looked at Tang San again, just as innocent. It really did seem as if she knew nothing about what had happened.
"You bastard, I'm Xiao Wu. Third Brother turned out this way because of you. If you hadn't beaten him half to death five years ago and damaged him at the root, he wouldn't have stopped growing."
Xiao Wu ground her teeth as she spoke.
"Oh, so you're Flowing Rabbit. I was wondering why you looked so familiar." Tang Qinghe pretended to realize with a start, then added, "But why are you accusing me? Are you saying Tang San can't grow because of me? Who told you that?"
"That's what the Great Spirit Master said. And he also said I shouldn't call myself Flowing Rabbit." Xiao Wu replied.
[Xiao Wu's resentment +288,888]
"Fine, Flowing Rabbit. Since that's what the fellow said, I won't argue. He's always been fond of taking in foster sons. Tang San's failure to grow must have something to do with his handiwork. Then let's talk about what he did to me."
Xiao Wu froze. "What do you mean?"
Tang Qinghe's lips curled. "I suspect Tang San's first Spirit Essence was laced with poison. It must have been a poisonous spirit ring he absorbed by accident. He absorbed the second Spirit Essence too. Wasn't that also poisonous?"
"Xiao San's first Spirit Essence came from the Man-Faced Demon Spider, and his second was from the Ghost Vine. They were both poison-type Spirit Essences. But what does that have to do with him not growing?" Xiao Wu asked, bewildered.
Tang Qinghe gave a thoughtful sigh. "You're making it sound like nothing, but there's more to it than that. The Man-Faced Demon Spider and the Ghost Vine both contain toxins. With those two poisons combined, who knows what effect they had on his body? Luckily, Tang San has a Tool Spirit Body, not a Beast Spirit Body. Otherwise, with his Spirit Essences attached, he might not just have stopped growing; as he grew stronger, he might even have lost his life. And, to be clear, Tang San's roots weren't damaged by me. It was that fellow who kept using him as a guinea pig. He gave him a Plant Martial Soul and added a poison-type Spirit Essence—one of them even came from an animal. That's what caused this. The fellow must've known exactly what he was doing."
After she finished, Tang Qinghe glanced at Jedi Rabbit, who looked a little stunned.
Xiao Wu heard this and couldn't help feeling suspicious. Seeing Tang Qinghe leave, she had no choice but to carry the dazed Tang San back to the Jedi Academy.
At the same time, on top of a building in Jedi City, one iron-gray figure and one ashen-gray figure stood side by side.
The iron-gray figure was naturally Tang Ritian. But at this moment his eyes and hair had both turned black; only his clothes remained iron-gray.
The ashen-gray figure was Tang Yin Chen. He was wearing that same tattered, disheveled outfit and hadn't taken care of himself for who knew how long. His aura was as vast as the sea.
"So it was you. You're the famous Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Yin Chen. I've admired you for a long time. Why haven't you gone to the Spirit Hall to find that old priest and settle the score?" Tang Ritian asked.
Because Tang Ritian disliked the hustle and bustle of the city, he hadn't entered it. Instead, he had spoken with Tang Qinghe and Jedi Rabbit outside the city. He would have acted if Tang Yin Chen made a move, but he hadn't considered entering Jedi City. Tang Yin Chen had stopped him.
"You old poison, what do you want?" Tang Yin Chen snorted coldly, not bothering to answer.
"Looks like the old man's gone somewhere. I might as well ask you, then." Jedi Rabbit gave a cold laugh, and five black spirit rings rose from under her feet. Her Spirit Power surged to an astonishing level of 94.
Ninety-fourth rank!
Tang Yin Chen's expression turned grave. Jedi Rabbit also had five black spirit rings, but the Spirit Power she released was even higher than his own by a full level.
If Tang Qinghe had seen this, she would have been shocked. Tang Yin Chen's ninth Spirit Essence was black, not red.
"That rabbit is off-limits," Tang Yin Chen said, looking up at the mountain.
Jedi Rabbit glanced at Xiao Wu, who was carrying Tang San toward the Jedi Academy. "Call her what you like, but you can't touch my daughter."
His Spirit Power had reached rank 94. He was no longer the weak, half-blind Clear Sky Douluo he once was. He could naturally tell that Xiao Wu was a hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beast in human form.
But Tang Yin Chen's Spirit Power was one level higher than his. He could not take him on.
Even if he tried, he wouldn't do any good. He would only wear himself out and put his daughter and Tang Qinghe in danger.
"My daughter?" Tang Yin Chen was taken aback.
"The one your son tried to force himself on—the one you call Tang Qinghe." Jedi Rabbit pointed at Tang Qinghe, who was chatting and laughing with Jedi Rabbit.
Tang Yin Chen's lips twitched. So it was that brat. Why had the girl seemed familiar?
Back then, that brat had beaten his son half to death. After learning what had happened, Tang Yin Chen had wanted to kill the girl at the first opportunity, but then she disappeared.
Only later did he learn she had returned to Jedi City. Word had spread about the matter with Jade Little Sister's father, and his son had apparently been sneaking around with someone's wife.
In the end, he had personally gone to the Jade family to warn them to stop spreading the story.
He hadn't expected that brat to dare return to Jedi City—and to provoke him again by trying to seduce his old poison.
"Call her whatever you want." After a moment's hesitation, Tang Yin Chen finally answered. Since the old poison was now a 94th-rank Titled Douluo, and he was one too, killing him wouldn't be easy. If he tried to take him out, he might drive him to desperation and put his son in danger, or even bring disaster upon everyone in Jedi City.
Other people could live or die for all he cared, but his son Tang San was his only hope. Nothing could happen to him.
As for Tang Qinghe, she was merely an ordinary person with third-rank innate Spirit Power.
Even if she had full innate Spirit Power, she still couldn't compare with his precious son Tang San, who possessed the divine Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul.
Tang Ritian said heavily, "I hope you can keep her in check. After all, she's your daughter. Since you're both children of Clear Sky, this is a dispute between the younger generation. Let them settle it themselves. I don't want to see an elder bullying a junior."
With that, he disappeared from where he stood.
P.S. Second update. Thanks to [Deep Thoughts, Steady Hands] for the 588-book-coin tip.
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