A Hope of Reaching Title Douluo!

But if you thought that was the end, you were underestimating Lu Qibin.

Lu Qibin's fifth Soul Ring lit up.

Star Luo Seal!

This soul skill had only three words.

Yet Tai Nuo instantly lost all five senses.

He could not hear anything, could not see the falling boulders, and could not even sense the air around him. It was as though he had been plunged into an airless void of darkness.

Tai Nuo let out a furious roar and could only rely on experience as he swung his steel-like fists.

But Lu Qibin's boulder chess pieces seemed to have eyes, dodging Tai Nuo's fists as they smashed into him one after another.

Tie Xiong shook his head.

Tai Nuo was clearly only a little above Rank 50 as a battle Soul Master, while Teacher Lu was already a Rank 61 Soul Emperor. There was a full ten-rank gap between them.

Tailong, watching from outside the arena, was growing anxious. That ordinary-looking old man was actually a control-type Soul Emperor.

His father was going to suffer.

"Esteemed Soul Emperor, please stop! We admit defeat!"

Tailong said anxiously to Lu Qibin.

"Now that we've beaten your father, is your grandfather supposed to come out next?"

Tie Xiong looked at Tailong with a faint smile.

Tailong looked ashamed and said nothing, because his grandfather might really come.

Still, Lu Qibin spared Tai Nuo.

He slowly withdrew his soul skill.

"Dad, are you okay?"

Tailong ran over and supported Tai Nuo. Tai Nuo looked rather miserable at the moment.

He had been struck by those boulder chess pieces seven or eight times, leaving him bruised and swollen.

But with his reason still intact, he knew the other side had shown mercy.

With a cold snort, he took Tailong and left without looking back.

"You've caused a huge disaster. Sigh! That old Tai Tan will definitely come looking for trouble!"

Yin Shu sighed once again.

Tie Xiong thought to himself, Teacher, your mouth is too accurate. Please stop talking.

"Teacher, could you please bring our three meals a day to our cabin? Is that okay?"

Tie Xiong asked with a grin.

"Fine!"

Yin Shu was still willing to help with such a small favor.

Then he realized what was going on. That kid was crafty—he clearly wanted to hide out with the dean.

Tie Xiong and Lu Qibin bid Yin Shu farewell and returned to the cabin in the forest.

The moment they got back, they saw Liu Erlong with a frosty expression.

Her full figure rose and fell visibly, showing just how angry she was.

"You've already offended the Strength Clan. How are you supposed to learn Iron Forging Hand now?"

After reading Flender's letter, she had immediately gone to learn about Iron Forging Hand, trying to figure out how she could persuade Tai Tan to teach this unique skill to Tie Xiong.

But in less than a day,

Tie Xiong and Lu Qibin had beaten up Tailong and Tai Nuo one after the other.

"Sister, don't be angry. I had a reason for doing this. I saw that Tailong was a Rank 29 Soul Grandmaster and was about to absorb his third Soul Ring, so I planned to trade my Limit-Breaking Soul Ring Absorption method to the Strength Clan in exchange for Iron Forging Hand.

But if the Strength Clan doesn't realize how capable I am, why would they willingly agree to the trade?"

A sharp glint flashed in Tie Xiong's eyes.

Liu Erlong looked at Tie Xiong in disbelief. "You're willing to reveal your Limit-Breaking Soul Ring Absorption method?"

In her view, Iron Forging Hand was merely a technique for increasing hand strength. It was not anything particularly profound.

But Limit-Breaking Soul Ring Absorption was different. That was a true divine skill.

"I, Tie Xiong, risked my life to test this method not merely for myself. I will make it public and let every Soul Master on the continent know about it.

"I'll publicly disclose the medicinal mud our family uses, the methods and routines for training the body at every age, the yearly increases in strength, even the sensations during Soul Ring absorption. Every piece of data will be released!"

Tie Xiong clasped his hands behind his back, raised his head at a forty-five-degree angle toward the sky, and spoke with righteous resolve.

"But you risked your life to test it!"

Lu Qibin, standing beside him, completely ignored his grand pose.

"So what? I have only Rank 5 Innate Soul Power, and my Martial Soul is a Forging Hammer. My goal is Title Douluo!

"I want everyone to know that even a useless Martial Soul has a path toward Title Douluo!

"I want to give those with 0.5 Rank Innate Soul Power, Rank 1 Soul Power, and Rank 2 Soul Power some hope—a hope of reaching Title Douluo!"

Tie Xiong spoke with absolute conviction.

Liu Erlong was completely stunned this time.

As she looked at Tie Xiong's figure, it seemed to overlap with another figure in her mind.

That was Yu Xiaogang, who possessed 0.5 Rank Innate Soul Power and had been forever stuck at the Rank 29 Soul Grandmaster realm.

Though his strength was meager, he had studied Martial Soul knowledge tirelessly in order to prove himself. He had proposed the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, remained resolute and hardworking, and made those Martial Soul theories public.

And wasn't Tie Xiong so similar to him?

Tie Xiong had Rank 5 Innate Soul Power. Perhaps he would not face a bottleneck in breaking through from Soul Grandmaster to Soul Elder, but if he wanted to cultivate all the way to Title Douluo, the bottlenecks he encountered would certainly be no less difficult than those Yu Xiaogang had faced.

Yet Tie Xiong had already begun preparing for the future, absorbing Soul Rings beyond his rank at every level.

He had even come to Heaven Dou City to learn a unique skill like Iron Forging Hand, which could strengthen his hammer techniques and increase his power.

Wasn't it all to gain a few more possibilities?

At that moment, Liu Erlong felt that she understood Tie Xiong very well. The look in her eyes softened considerably.

She recalled Tie Xiong's background mentioned in Flender's letter: he came from a commoner family.

To reach this point and absorb an eight-hundred-year Blood Demon Berserk Bear as his first Soul Ring could not have been easy. She even found him somewhat pitiful.

"Sister, why are your eyes red?"

Tie Xiong did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Were my words really that moving?

In truth, Tie Xiong knew that his ability to absorb Soul Rings beyond his rank could not be hidden forever. He might as well make himself seem more broad-minded.

Hmph, what do Yu Xiaogang's theories even count for!

Yu Xiaogang himself is useless!

My theory of absorbing Soul Rings beyond one's rank is the truly well-founded one, backed by successful experience. From now on, everyone can worship me!

Liu Erlong came back to her senses and only then noticed the tears in her eyes.

She did not know whether they were tears shed from missing Yu Xiaogang or from pitying Tie Xiong.

With a movement of her Soul Power, the tears evaporated completely.

"Little Monster, since you've already thought it through, when that old Tai Tan comes, I'll put on a show with you!"

Liu Erlong said cheerfully.

"But we still need to discuss how we're going to act!"

Tie Xiong said with a grin.

"How do you want to do it?"

Tie Xiong immediately explained his idea bit by bit.

Liu Erlong and Lu Qibin stared wide-eyed.

Lu Qibin felt that he still did not understand this Little Monster well enough!

Liu Erlong poked Tie Xiong on the forehead. "How did that brain of yours grow so many twists and turns?"

"Hehe, no matter how much I think, I still need Sister's help. Thank you, Sister!"

This time, Tie Xiong's address carried much more sincerity.

Hearing Tie Xiong's voice, Liu Erlong secretly thought, This brat is far too practical!

And here I was, pitying him just now and thinking he was miserable.

I'll find an excuse to beat him up again someday.

With that thought, she gave Tie Xiong several more ill-intentioned looks.

They made Tie Xiong's scalp tingle.

"Sister, I was injured fighting Tailong today. I'm going back to cultivate now. Goodbye, Sister!"

Is this Mother Tyrannosaurus thinking of beating me up again? Tie Xiong hurriedly ran back to the cabin.

Behind him, Liu Erlong smiled smugly. There would be plenty of chances later!

Tie Xiong calmed his mind and began meditating.

Cultivating in Blue Tyrant Academy's Mimicry Environment, he would be able to level up in at most another two months.

Thinking of that, he felt highly motivated to cultivate and quickly began meditating.