Pig Squeals

"Teacher, you're a master of spirit research. Please guide me."

Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang felt a swell of pride—being acknowledged felt truly good. Without holding back, he began pointing Tang San in the right direction.

"Based on my years of research, the best development path for Blue Silver Grass is the Control System. Control means using your spirit to restrict the enemy, aiding teammates or attacking the opponent.

Grass is soft and highly ductile, able to change into various forms. The simplest use is as a rope to bind an opponent."

"Use it as a rope?" Tang San was stunned, then asked in confusion, "But Blue Silver Grass is too fragile. It's easy to snap. How can it bind anyone?"

Yu Xiaogang said, "That's where the development direction comes in. After attaching spirit rings, your spirit's abilities will be enhanced in all aspects. What we need to do is steer that enhancement toward a specific focus.

My suggestion is that your spirit can develop in two directions: Toughness and Poison. If Blue Silver Grass becomes tough, it won't be snapped by the opponent, allowing you to control them. And if you add a poison effect, it can naturally achieve an offensive capability."

At this point, Tang San was completely clear. Yu Xiaogang's knowledge made him silently admire—truly worthy of the title Master. He hadn't misjudged him; taking him as a teacher was the right choice.

Leaving aside restricting enemies, Tang San strongly agreed with adding poison to Blue Silver Grass, because he was already an expert in poison.

Master and disciple thought alike—was this a meeting of minds?

Yu Xiaogang said, "Oh, right. As your teacher, I haven't given you a disciple's gift yet."

With that, Yu Xiaogang began to undo his belt.

Tang San was startled!

Wait a minute!

Why are you undoing your belt out of nowhere! I'm just a kid!

And I'm a boy! What are you doing!

No, don't!

The next second, Yu Xiaogang handed the belt to Tang San. "This is a Storage Soul Tool. It has no name yet. You can give it one."

Phew, so he was just giving me a belt!

Tang San let out a long breath. Why didn't you say so earlier? You scared me—I thought you were up to something shady!

A name? After listening to Yu Xiaogang's description of the belt, Tang San didn't think twice and blurted out, "How about 'Where to Teach Xiao'?"

"Huh?" Yu Xiaogang was taken aback. "That name—"

"Ah, no, no, I misspoke." Tang San quickly corrected himself. "Let's call it 'Twenty-Four Bridges Under the Moonlight.'"

Tang San was panicking inside. He had clearly meant to say 'Twenty-Four Bridges Under the Moonlight,' so why had he inexplicably blurted out the line after it?

Without a moment's rest, the four-hundred-li journey took over a full day. It wasn't until noon the next day that the master and disciple's carriage finally arrived outside the Soul Hunting Forest.

Stepping off the carriage, Tang San saw a bustling market. Small stalls lined both sides of the path, mostly selling weapons, armor, and food supplies.

"Token needed! Forming a group to hunt Power-type Soul Beasts! Two more spots!"

"Hunting Agile Attack-type Soul Beasts! Seven people, need a token! 10 Gold Soul Coins!"

Various shouts came and went. Tang San looked around, feeling curious—it wasn't what he had imagined the forest to be like.

Just then, Yu Xiaogang began showing off his so-called theories again.

Yu Xiaogang said, "Soul beasts are highly aggressive. Do you think they're easy to hunt? This so-called group hunting is just several people cooperating, each hunting the soul beast they need to obtain a soul ring. It's the most common and safest method on the continent.

But is forming a group really that easy?"

As he spoke, Yu Xiaogang carried an air of 'everyone else is foolish, I alone am wise,' feeling a sense of intellectual superiority.

He looked at the shouting people with utter disdain.

"A truly excellent soul-hunting group must consist of at least five parts: a Food System for supplies, a Support System for buffs, an Agile Attack System for reconnaissance, a Power System for main offense, and a Control System for coordination.

Only a group made up of these five parts can be considered complete. Moreover, mutual understanding takes time to build.

More importantly, group members must trust each other, to the point where they can entrust their backs to their partners."

Tang San nodded cooperatively. Truly worthy of the title Master—every word was a golden maxim.

The two had already purchased all necessary supplies before arriving, so they didn't linger and headed straight for the entrance of the Soul Hunting Forest.

The Soul Hunting Forest was a place specifically for raising low-year soul beasts. To prevent the beasts from escaping and harming people, soldiers were always stationed outside.

Yu Xiaogang handed a token to a soldier. After checking it, the soldier let them pass without issue.

Master and disciple stepped inside. The noise of the market outside gradually faded, replaced by the chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects from within the forest.

This wonderful feeling of nature was nostalgic!

Tang San felt as if he had returned to the Tang Sect in his past life in Bashu. The Tang Sect was surrounded by mountains and forests. Back then, he often walked through the woods searching for herbs to concoct poisons.

"Xiao San, from now on, don't leave my side for even a step. Remember that."

Yu Xiaogang's words pulled Tang San's thoughts back to reality.

"Teacher, I understand."

Yu Xiaogang then steeled himself and summoned his spirit.

"Come out, Luo Sanpao."

As he spoke, a burst of pale purple soul power erupted before him. With a puff—like a fart, and a loud, long, drawn-out, earth-shaking, ear-splitting fart at that.

And within that mass of pale purple soul power, an animal had already appeared.

Tang San stared hard. It was a creature that was neither pig nor dog.

Its body looked largely the same as an ordinary pig.

But the disharmony lay in its dog-like head, and even more jarringly, the ears drooping on either side were like a pig's—as large as palm-leaf fans.

Its build was extremely rotund, a meter and a half in length with a waist circumference nearly the same, making it look like a meatball overall.

This creature—whether pig or dog—trotted over to Yu Xiaogang on short, stubby pig legs, its fat rear wiggling side to side, and rubbed its dog head against Yu Xiaogang's body, acting very docile.

"Teacher, is this your martial soul?" Tang San was astonished. "I thought Beast Martial Souls manifested as possession? Why is it..."

Luo Sanpao seemed to sense Tang San's disdain and let out a series of luoluo pig grunts at him, as if in protest.

Yu Xiaogang's expression turned a bit awkward. "Remember what I told you about Mutated Martial Souls? Sanpao is one."