Hearing Tang San laugh, Yu Xiaogang's face darkened in an instant.
"Tang San, my right arm is broken. Are you happy about that?"
Tang San hurriedly shook his head. "No, no."
"I'm not happy."
"Hahahaha..."
Yu Xiaogang shouted angrily,
"Then why are you still laughing!"
"What are you laughing at!"
Tang San's expression suddenly froze. He didn't know why he'd laughed just then,
It was an uncontrollable laugh, and he'd even felt a little happy from the bottom of his heart.
But now, all of a sudden, he didn't feel like laughing anymore.
His mind raced. "Adoptive father, I laughed because I saved you, and you're all right. I was happy."
Hearing Tang San say this, Yu Xiaogang's expression softened a little, though he clearly wasn't entirely convinced. "Is that so?"
"Of course."
"Never mind. Since it's already happened, I won't say any more about it."
Yu Xiaogang waved his only remaining arm,
"In any case, you did save me,"
"But in my current condition, there's no way I can hunt a high-level Spirit Ring for you,"
"Do you remember the Lone Bamboo we came across when we first entered Soul Hunting Forest?"
At the words "Lone Bamboo," Ye Lin froze for a moment.
He chose the Lone Bamboo?
She'd thought it was just some throwaway character. Now it had become the protagonist's choice?
Tang San recalled what had happened earlier. "You said back then that if we didn't find anything better, that would be the one."
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "Now it's clear we don't have any better options."
"Let's pack up quickly and leave. It's still rather dangerous here."
"All right, adoptive father."
Tang San shouldered all the packs by himself and slowly made his way out of Soul Hunting Forest. He was exhausted, but could only bear it in silence. After all, he was the one who had cut off Yu Xiaogang's right arm,
And there'd been no need to cut it off at all. The scene kept replaying in his mind, like a nightmare.
A day later, the three of them easily found the ten-year-old Lone Bamboo.
"Go ahead,"
Yu Xiaogang said slowly. "The ten-year-old Lone Bamboo's toughness is well suited to your Blue Silver Grass,"
"And it has no real offensive power, so you can just cut it down with your short sword."
"All right, adoptive father." Tang San answered, gripping his short sword as he hurried forward. He swung once, and the tall Lone Bamboo toppled over. It was just like an ordinary bamboo stalk being cut down; it caused no great disturbance.
Soul Power slowly rose from the base of the Lone Bamboo, gathering in the air into a white Spirit Ring.
"Sit cross-legged. Guide the Soul Power and focus your mind on your Martial Soul!"
Yu Xiaogang instructed him in a low voice.
Drawn by Tang San's Soul Power, the white Spirit Ring quickly settled around the Blue Silver Grass on his right hand, and he began to absorb it.
"Sigh."
Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang let out a soft sigh.
He'd been counting on Tang San to prove his theory, but now there was no way to do that.
Still, fortunately, Tang San had Twin Martial Souls. Even if his first Martial Soul absorbed nothing but ten-year Spirit Rings, his Second Martial Soul could still make him a top-tier powerhouse.
Besides, Blue Silver Grass was a Trash Martial Soul to begin with, and he still had Ye Lin as a future disciple.
Although Ye Lin didn't want to take him as her master, he'd make sure she did sooner or later.
Ye Lin had absorbed the Datura Snake's Spirit Ring, so it wasn't a bad outcome after all.
Though Yu Xiaogang was a little dejected, Tang San was thrilled. As long as he could get a Spirit Ring, who cared whether it was a hundred-year or a ten-year one?
The ten-year Lone Bamboo's Spirit Ring wasn't powerful,
And Tang San absorbed it quickly.
In just five or six minutes, he was done. After absorbing the Spirit Ring, the Mysterious Heaven Skill, which had long been unable to advance, finally broke through its first bottleneck.
He was overjoyed. Just as he'd expected, the bottleneck in the Mysterious Heaven Skill was tied to Spirit Rings.
Now he finally understood the way forward for the Mysterious Heaven Skill. As long as he had that and Hidden Weapons, it was enough.
[ Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully changing Tang San's plot and having him absorb a ten-year Lone Bamboo Spirit Ring. Reward: one 500-year Spirit Ring age upgrade card, and 100 points. ]
"That's an unexpected bonus."
A smile appeared on Ye Lin's face, and her chest rose and fell slightly.
Including the 100 points she'd earned when Tang San cut off Yu Xiaogang's right arm, she'd gotten back the 200 points she'd spent earlier.
She hadn't lost anything. She'd even come out ahead,
And gotten an extra 500-year Spirit Ring age upgrade card.
Ye Lin began calculating.
After using both Spirit Ring age upgrade cards, her First Soul Ring would be 1,932 years old. That was still far beyond Yu Xiaogang's theoretical limit!
And a Thousand-Year Soul Ring would greatly increase her strength.
When Tang San let out a long breath, Yu Xiaogang asked him,
"Xiao San, did you succeed?"
"Mm." Tang San answered. Blue Silver Grass unfurled in his right palm. Its leaves now bore a few more green and bamboo-joint patterns, and it was a little wider than before, like a straight bamboo stalk.
A white Spirit Ring rose beneath his feet, proving that he'd become a true Soul Master.
"What's your first Soul Skill?"
Yu Xiaogang asked with some anticipation.
"Blue Silver Entanglement,"
Tang San answered quickly. His First Soul Ring flashed, and the Blue Silver Grass in his right hand rapidly grew.
In the blink of an eye, it became a long, bamboo-shaped vine that wrapped around the thick trunk of a nearby tree.
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "More or less what I expected. It can restrain a target. If you had a Power Attack System Soul Master to work with, your combat strength would increase considerably."
"And the Lone Bamboo is very tough. Unless your opponent is two Spirit Rings above you, there's absolutely no way they'll break free."
His gaze fell on Ye Lin. "You absorbed the Datura Snake's Spirit Ring. I wonder what your Soul Skill is?"
He was curious.
"Blade Thrust,"
Ye Lin said calmly. She reached out with her right hand and gripped the Immortal Sword. A yellow Spirit Ring rose beneath her feet.
Her First Soul Ring flashed. Ye Lin thrust her sword forward, surging ahead. A phantom of a green dragon's head appeared at the pommel of the Immortal Sword and snapped its jaws shut, biting directly into the giant tree Tang San had just wrapped with his vines.
"Rumble!"
A thunderous crash rang out from the tree. Then it cracked down the middle and crashed heavily to the ground, raising a huge cloud of dust.
The birds perched in the surrounding trees were startled and immediately took flight.
In the dust, the Blue Silver Vine Tang San had just released quickly retracted. Its end was cut cleanly through, clearly severed by the sword energy from Blade Thrust.
Yu Xiaogang had just said that nothing less than an opponent two Spirit Rings above him could break free. Now Ye Lin, who also had only one Spirit Ring, had cut through it.
Who could have imagined that he'd be proven wrong so quickly?
Ye Lin held the Immortal Sword and swept it diagonally downward, parting the dust before her and revealing her face.
Before you continue