Tang San, You're Dumb as a Pig!

On the training platform, a trace of viciousness flashed in Tang San's eyes. Three soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple—appeared around him as he glared viciously at Xue Ke. If looks could kill, Xue Ke would have died countless times over.

Facing Tang San, who looked ready to tear someone apart, Xue Ke curled her lips disdainfully. She did not release her soul rings, merely making a "please" gesture.

Seeing how little Xue Ke thought of him, Tang San felt deeply humiliated.

Tang San took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the rage in his heart and making himself calm down. His first and third soul rings lit up, and Blue Silver Grass surged toward Xue Ke.

While Xue Ke's vision was blocked by the Blue Silver Grass, Tang San used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and took out the Godly Zhuge Crossbow from his Storage Ring.

"Using that move again? Don't you have anything new?" Xue Ke mocked disdainfully. At the same time, she activated the Child of Reincarnation. The Blue Silver Grass around her instantly burst into flames and was about to burn away completely.

Tang San rapidly closed in on Xue Ke, reaching her blind spot. From twenty meters away, he pulled the trigger of the Godly Zhuge Crossbow.

There came a loud whoosh, followed by a clang. Every hidden weapon Tang San had fired was blocked by Xue Ke's Golden Bell Shield.

Tang San refused to believe it. He swiftly fired Dragon Whisker Needles, Hidden Arrows, Mother-and-Child Soul Chasing Death Galls, and other hidden weapons at Xue Ke in succession, using every trick at his disposal.

"If that's all you can do, then you've lost today," Xue Ke said coldly.

The ground around the Golden Bell Shield was covered with hidden weapons. Under the sunlight, the densely scattered weapons reflected all sorts of colors, clearly indicating that they had been coated with deadly poison.

"Such trivial hidden weapons are nothing," Xue Ke said contemptuously.

Seeing that his hidden weapons had not even touched a hair on Xue Ke's head, Tang San immediately sensed trouble. Using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, he pulled away from her while trying to think of a countermeasure. Yet his mind was completely blank, and he had no idea how he could possibly defeat Xue Ke.

Xue Ke's figure instantly vanished from where she stood. Tang San, who had been driving his Purple Demon Eye at full force, could barely make out a blurry silhouette. He activated Blue Silver Grass to form a wall before himself, but it was instantly burned away. Tang San's pupils contracted as Xue Ke's fist rapidly grew larger before his eyes.

"Pfft—" Xue Ke's punch smashed Tang San's nose flat, sending blood spraying everywhere. But she was not done. She followed up with a left uppercut, launching Tang San into the air with her immense strength.

Tang San felt searing pain on one side of his face, then pain on the other side as well. His body was sent flying again before he finally crashed heavily onto the ground with a bang.

Tang San's mouth was full of broken teeth. Blood welled up in his throat, and he spat it out along with the shattered teeth. His face had swollen into a pig's head.

"Enough, Xue Ke! Stop!" Yu Xiaogang shouted anxiously.

Xue Ke sneered as she looked at Tang San, who had been beaten into a pig-headed mess, and said:

"Tang San, I never expected that after all these months, you'd still be just like you were at the Suotuo City Great Soul Arena. You're still no match for me at all."

"I remember one of the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul taught by your teacher, Yu Xiaogang, was, 'There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Spirit Masters,' right?"

"So, since you've been utterly defeated by me every time, is your Blue Silver Grass the useless one, or are you simply useless yourself?"

"You, you..." Tang San was so enraged by Xue Ke's smug, arrogant expression that he could not speak.

"Are you chicken or what? You're dumb as a pig! You've been fooled by Yu Xiaogang's theory for so long and still don't realize it!"

"You're not allowed to insult my teacher!" Tang San roared himself hoarse.

"Enough, Xue Ke. Let's end it here today!"

Seeing how badly Tang San had been shaken, Yu Xiaogang stopped Xue Ke from continuing. He walked onto the training platform and helped Tang San up from the ground.

With Yu Xiaogang supporting him, Tang San shakily rose to his feet. His eyes were dull, stripped of their former vitality. Clearly, Xue Ke had completely shattered his mindset.

"Princess, you may be a princess of a nation, but the students of Shrek Academy are not so easily bullied."

Flender, who had arrived afterward and witnessed the scene, was instantly consumed by rage. As though he had lost his mind, he released the full force of his Soul Power pressure at Xue Ke.

"How dare you? Do you, a mere academy headmaster, think you can bully the Princess?"

The four Soul Sages responsible for protecting Xue Ke revealed themselves, unleashing their Soul Power pressure as it bore down on Flender like an overwhelming tide.

Liu Erlong and Zhao Wuji, who arrived shortly afterward, came to Flender's side. The three of them jointly resisted the pressure of the four Soul Sages, cold sweat appearing across their foreheads.

Seeing the situation turn increasingly tense, Xue Ke decided that since she had already achieved her purpose today, she said to the four Soul Sages sent by Xue Ye:

"Let's stop here today. There's no need to harm the peace between us."

Hearing this, the four Soul Sages finally withdrew their pressure. They scattered in different directions and hid themselves once more.

"What a pity. It looks like Tang San has given up cultivating the Sunflower Scripture. Still, I gave him a vicious lesson today and vented my anger, so this trip wasn't wasted."

Afterward, Xue Ke gave Yu Xiaogang a meaningful look and left Shrek Academy with Dugu Yan and the others.

Am I really useless? No, I'm not the useless one—the Martial Soul is! But Teacher said there are no useless Martial Souls in this world. Doesn't that mean I'm the useless one...

After returning to his dormitory, Tang San fell into a spiral of wild thoughts and began to deeply doubt himself.

"Little San, may I come in?" Yu Xiaogang's shrill voice came from outside the door.

Tang San opened the door for Yu Xiaogang.

"Little San, do you remember what I told you last time? Your potential is far greater than Xue Ke's. A temporary defeat proves nothing. With Twin Martial Souls, your future still holds limitless possibilities," Yu Xiaogang said earnestly.

"But, Teacher, my Blue Silver Grass has been repeatedly restrained by Xue Ke! According to your theory, there are no useless Martial Souls in this world. Doesn't that mean the useless one is actually me?" Tang San demanded.

"This..." Yu Xiaogang felt extremely awkward. The only reason he had proposed that theory in the first place was to console himself. He had never expected his foolish disciple Tang San to take it seriously.

But Yu Xiaogang was too embarrassed to admit before Tang San that his theory was wrong. That would damage his image of being "invincible in theory." For a moment, Yu Xiaogang had no idea what to do.

"Teacher, if I start cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer, would I be able to defeat Xue Ke?" Tang San asked Yu Xiaogang as he looked at the pitch-black Clear Sky Hammer in his left hand.

Tang San had already learned from Tai Tan that this hammer was the inherited Martial Soul of the Clear Sky Sect, the Clear Sky Hammer. He had realized how extraordinary his second Martial Soul was. Combined with having his mentality utterly broken by Xue Ke today, the thought of cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer immediately arose in his heart.

"No, Little San. If you begin cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer now, you'll waste the talent of your Twin Martial Souls..." Yu Xiaogang then rambled on at length, eventually managing to temporarily dissuade Tang San from cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer.