Tang Hao Leaves

The setting sun cast a fiery red glow across the horizon.

"Knock, knock!" A sudden rapping sounded through the quiet campus.

"Who is it?" asked a middle-aged man, his voice steeped in the weariness of age.

As soon as he spoke, a disheveled figure opened the door.

"You!?" Yu Xiaogang's expression turned to one of utter surprise when he saw the figure standing outside.

But the figure at Yu Xiaogang's door didn't answer. He simply stared at him in silence.

Yu Xiaogang quickly collected himself. The doorway wasn't the place to talk, so he hurriedly stepped aside and gestured for the visitor to come in.

"What brings you here?" Yu Xiaogang asked, his gaze complicated as he studied the figure. Like Yu Xiaogang, the man was dressed in a disheveled manner, but there was a faint sharpness to his bearing.

"I need to leave for a while. While I'm gone, I'm entrusting San to your care." At last, the visitor revealed his identity: Tang San's father, Tang Hao.

"Leave? Heh. It's not as if you've ever been around. In the past two years, you've only shown up once, after San enrolled. Have you been back since? I've been the one looking after him this whole time. You're his father!

"Can you really bear to go two years without seeing him? He's only a child." When Yu Xiaogang heard Tang Hao's words, anger appeared on his face, quite unexpectedly.

"Don't forget, he's your disciple, too." Tang Hao's voice was calm.

Then, as if remembering something, he added, "The master he knelt before and kowtowed to. One day as a master, a father for life."

Hearing Tang Hao's words, Yu Xiaogang didn't know what to say for a moment.

"But you should know that San is about to obtain his Second Soul Ring. Given my relationship with the dean of Notting Academy, there's no way I can get him to help San obtain one.

"But you know my situation, too. I can't handle a Soul Beast of around seven hundred years, and San certainly can't." Yu Xiaogang seemed to deflate. Even his normally straight back bent.

"Don't worry. I'll be back soon. San has only just reached level eighteen, so he still has a while before level twenty. There's no need to worry." Tang Hao still offered an explanation.

"Fine. We'll get San his Second Soul Ring when you return." Yu Xiaogang nodded.

But then he asked, "Can you tell me what you're going out to do?"

After saying that, Yu Xiaogang seemed to realize he'd overstepped and waved a hand at Tang Hao.

"I don't mean..." Seeing Tang Hao's calm gaze, Yu Xiaogang hurried to explain, but before he could finish, Tang Hao spoke.

"A rumor has spread across Douluo Continent: there's a Supreme Immortal Herb in Star Dou Forest. It can not only cause a Martial Soul Evolution but also greatly increase Soul Power." Tang Hao fixed Yu Xiaogang with a dark, penetrating stare.

Tang Hao knew about Yu Xiaogang's situation, of course. He'd brought up the rumor to see how Yu Xiaogang would react.

Sure enough, Yu Xiaogang grew extremely excited when he heard Tang Hao's words.

His lips trembled, but the moment he met Tang Hao's gaze, his excitement faded away.

He knew that although the disheveled middle-aged man before him had been out of the picture for many years, he was still the Clear Sky Douluo of old—the Titled Douluo who had escaped even after being hunted by the previous Pope of Spirit Hall.

"Don't worry. If there are any other Immortal Herbs, I might be able to give you one." Tang Hao knew he'd roused Yu Xiaogang's emotions, so he dangled a tempting promise before him.

Tang Hao was every bit as calculating as Yu Xiaogang. Even with Yu Xiaogang already losing his reason, Tang Hao could easily manipulate him.

Sure enough, when he heard Tang Hao's words, Yu Xiaogang, already half out of his mind, looked at him excitedly. He didn't even consider that Tang Hao had said there might be several Immortal Herbs.

"Mm. I know what you're capable of, and I trust you to teach Tang San. I hope you'll pass all your knowledge on to San." With that, Tang Hao turned and left Yu Xiaogang's room.

But once he'd left the room, the calm expression on Tang Hao's face gave way to scorn.

He looked down on Yu Xiaogang. If he were really so capable, how could he not know that with Twin Martial Souls, the two Martial Souls were usually of comparable rank? A powerful Martial Soul would devour a weaker one. How could someone who believed Tang San's Blue Silver Grass was inferior to the Clear Sky Hammer have any real knowledge?

If Yu Xiaogang weren't from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect and didn't have an ambiguous relationship with Spirit Hall's current Pope, Bibi Dong, how could Tang Hao have allowed him to teach San?

By the time Tang San knelt and bowed before Yu Xiaogang, Yu Xiaogang was already a worthless wreck.

"Having a Plant-type Martial Soul absorb a Beast Martial Soul's Soul Ring—what a ridiculous idea. Soul Masters have existed on the continent for countless years. Do those who became Titled Douluo, or even gods, not know about this?

"Did this piece of trash, who hasn't even reached level thirty, really think he'd discovered something? They simply know that absorbing a Soul Ring of the same attribute can greatly strengthen a Martial Soul's potential.

"According to his theory, didn't my Clear Sky Hammer absorb other kinds of Soul Rings?" Tang Hao looked at the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand and grew even more convinced that Yu Xiaogang was useless.

"As for San, once he awakens the power of Ah Yin's bloodline later on, he'll recover all the potential he's wasted—and might even become the second Blue Silver Grass Emperor.

"It seems Blue Silver Grass really is a lucky star for my Tang family. It gave me a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring, and it can awaken my son's bloodline through his Martial Soul." A mysterious smile appeared at the corner of Tang Hao's mouth.

Of course, Yu Xiaogang knew nothing of Tang Hao's thoughts. At that moment, he was still caught up in the promise Tang Hao had dangled before him and the praise from his idol.

"I'll definitely train San into the strongest Soul Master on Douluo Continent." Yu Xiaogang clenched his fist, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve.

"There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters." Yu Xiaogang recited his famous maxim, not realizing that it plainly described him as useless.

"Although San's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul is a Plant-type Martial Soul, absorbing Beast Martial Soul Soul Rings will definitely strengthen its attributes.

"Then even Blue Silver Grass won't be inferior to other Martial Souls.

"San's first Soul Ring has already proved that." Yu Xiaogang gazed confidently at the materials in his hands.

The materials contained his notes on the Ten Core Theories.

"Once Tang San grows up, let's see who dares question me then." A surge of confidence welled up in Yu Xiaogang's eyes.