A six-year-old One-Ring Soul Master with a hundred-year soul ring-nothing like this had ever appeared in the entire history of Nuoding Academy, let alone someone whose Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass, a so-called trash martial soul.
Boss Xiao refused to believe someone like that had no powerful backing.
As the son of Nuoding City's lord, he had grown up absorbing these things and naturally understood whom he could provoke and whom he absolutely could not.
"Are you really a work-study student?" Boss Xiao asked.
Tang San nodded calmly. "Make your move."
Boss Xiao was now riding a tiger with no way to get off, but he kept his wits about him. He planned to hold back and lose to the little squirt before him. Even if he accidentally won, he absolutely could not hurt or humiliate Tang San, much less actually make him wash their socks.
"Boys, get him!"
Having made up his mind, Boss Xiao waved his hand and sent his lackeys in first.
Facing over twenty attackers, Tang San remained composed. Purple light flashed in his eyes, wind rose beneath his feet, and he moved like a phantom, weaving and darting through the crowd as though no one stood in his way.
Whenever an attack came close, he effortlessly neutralized it with a wave of his hand.
Then he knocked the attacker down in return.
Whoosh!
One boy swung his sickle Martial Soul at Tang San. Tang San pressed two fingers together, turning them jade-colored, and easily deflected it. His figure flickered as he drew back, scooping up a pebble and firing it at the boy's wrist.
Tang San's fighting was a spectacle to behold.
He moved through the crowd as though strolling through a quiet courtyard, not a single leaf brushing his clothes.
No one could withstand even one exchange with him.
Seeing Tang San firmly holding the upper hand, the work-study students cheered.
"Boss Xiao, I think you should just admit defeat and spare yourselves a beating. Our Brother San hasn't even used his soul skill yet."
Ignoring the pain from his injuries, Wang Sheng laughed smugly.
Boss Xiao appeared furious at those words, but inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. Losing was good. At least he would not offend whoever stood behind Tang San.
Su Mo had kept his Copying Eye active all this time.
Scanning Tang San's every movement, he successfully copied Purple Demon Eye, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, Mysterious Jade Hand, and his hidden weapon techniques.
Only Mysterious Heaven Skill remained.
Previously, he had not cared much about the other abilities in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record besides Mysterious Heaven Skill.
After all, those moves were too recognizable.
Tang San would notice the moment he used them.
Now that he had acquired the soul skill "Wood Element Control" and needed to develop its applications himself, he could borrow some ideas from the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record.
Then he could use them with a different skin.
"Tch, a rabble."
Seeing over twenty people fail to subdue Tang San, Su Mo was deeply disappointed.
He immediately used Emotion Control to amplify their fighting spirit and diminish their fear, then used his Illusion Eye to direct them into coordinated combat.
In the original storyline, Tang San had helped Wang Sheng cheat.
So there was nothing wrong with him helping Boss Xiao now, was there?
Once caught in the illusion, the fallen lackeys rose again and loosely divided into two groups. Liu Long and Ling Feng each led a group around Tang San's flanks, steadily tightening the encirclement.
At this sight, Tang San's heart tightened.
He immediately put more force into his attacks.
Yet Boss Xiao's lackeys now charged at Tang San like madmen with no regard for their lives. Sprained limbs, bleeding, and even broken bones could not stop their refusal to admit defeat.
Once the encirclement was small enough, they counterattacked.
Those in the inner ring lunged at Tang San, trying to restrain him, while those outside grabbed sand and dirt and hurled it inward, obscuring his vision.
Thud!
In a fleeting instant, someone tackled Tang San to the ground.
Then bodies piled onto him, their weight pinning him so firmly that he could not move, leaving only his head exposed.
In mere moments, the situation had reversed.
Led by Liu Long and Ling Feng, they surrounded Tang San's exposed head and kicked it, soon leaving his face bruised and swollen.
The onlookers could hardly bear to watch.
Boss Xiao was utterly dumbfounded.
Since when were my lackeys this strong? Together, they can actually take on a Soul Master?
Then another thought struck him: Is my family done for?
In fact, Boss Xiao was right. Tang Hao was watching the scene from hiding.
Though it pained him, he did not intervene. This was part of the growth his son had to experience. Little San had been far too overconfident this time; he would let this serve as a lesson.
But he had no intention of letting the matter end there.
Since Xiao Chenyu was still a child, he would simply go teach the boy's father a lesson that night.
"Brother San, we're coming to help!"
Seeing Tang San beaten so badly and still unable to break free, Wang Sheng no longer cared about the contest. He hurriedly called the remaining work-study students into the fray to help Tang San escape.
"Wang Sheng, interfering means you admit defeat! You'll have to wash our socks!"
Liu Long wore a teasing look.
Wang Sheng hesitated briefly, but ultimately chose to help. "Fine, we'll wash them! They're only socks. If it comes to it, I'll wash them myself!"
With Wang Sheng and the other work-study students joining in, Tang San managed to break free.
His face now swollen like a pig's head, Tang San wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. To think that he, a proud disciple of the Tang Sect, had failed to defeat a bunch of brats who did not even have soul rings.
He looked at Wang Sheng and the others, shame written across his face.
Just as he was about to apologize, Su Mo quietly twisted his emotions, turning the apology on the tip of his tongue into words of blame.
"Why did you interfere? I was clearly about to break free, but you had to butt in and make me lose the match."
Wang Sheng: "???"
The other work-study students: "???"
Wang Sheng froze for a moment, then grew angry too. "You've got the nerve to blame us? If you hadn't tried to play the hero and insisted on taking them all on alone, how could you have lost?"
"I get it now. You did it on purpose! You deliberately interfered to make me lose!"
Tang San dumped the blame straight onto Wang Sheng and the others.
Boss Xiao and his companions stared blankly at this scene. Were they fighting among themselves?
But Tang San suddenly turned to Boss Xiao and changed tack. "That match didn't count. Outsiders clearly interfered. Let's do it again."
Wang Sheng: "???"
Boss Xiao: "???"
Everyone was bewildered. What kind of move was this?
But soon, the quicker-witted among them figured out what Tang San was doing.
First, he put on a show of internal strife, then used it as an excuse to discard the previous result and start another round. As long as he was more careful this time, he would not necessarily lose.
Well, damn! So he was playing dirty!
Only then did Wang Sheng catch on. Brother San had been acting just now.
Even Su Mo found it unbelievable.
He had merely diminished Tang San's shame and amplified his shamelessness, without using his Illusion Eye to interfere with his thoughts. He had not expected Tang San to think on his feet and come up with such a brazen ploy.
"Heh, we start over just because you say so? Wouldn't that make me lose face?"
Boss Xiao's tone remained arrogant.
Inwardly, however, he was blooming with joy. All he needed to do next was imitate Tang San's earlier overconfidence, volunteer to fight alone, then pretend he was outmatched and lose the contest naturally. That would settle everything.
This time, nothing could possibly go wrong!