Tang San: That Damn Tang Hao Has Already Earned His Death!!

"Such a shame, such a shame!"

Su Yuntao shook his head repeatedly, his face full of rueful regret.

"Two consecutive children with Innate Full Soul Power! That's never happened before in Nuoding City's history!"

"But your Martial Souls... one is Blue Silver Grass, and the other is some unknown mutated hand-type Martial Soul. This..."

Although Su Yuntao didn't continue, Tang Yin understood what he was thinking. He probably felt that they were both wasted potential.

Still, after a moment's thought, Su Yuntao decided to try recruiting Tang Yin and Tang San.

"Children, would you two be willing to join the Spirit Hall?"

Tang Yin and Tang San both politely declined.

Su Yuntao didn't press them. He took two certificates from his chest, quickly filled them out, and handed them to the brothers.

"These are your Martial Soul certificates. Keep them safe."

"If you change your minds, you can use these certificates to find me at the Nuoding City Martial Soul Branch Hall."

With that, Su Yuntao put away his things and left the Spirit Hall Branch.

After Su Yuntao had left, Tang San looked eager and excited as he asked,

"Big Brother, do you... have another Martial Soul?"

Tang Yin's heart gave a lurch.

"How did you know?"

"When you awakened just now, a purple light flashed in your eyes. It was quick, but I saw it."

Tang San's eyes shone brilliantly.

"Were they... purple?"

Realizing he couldn't hide it, Tang Yin could only nod, feeling a little uneasy.

This little San took the Tang Sect Secret Arts very seriously.

I awakened the Mysterious Jade Hand and Purple Demon Eye.

Could this kid think I secretly learned his Tang Sect techniques and want to kill me?

I am his real older brother, after all.

Knowing Tang San's personality, he probably wouldn't go that far, right?

"Big Brother, can you show me your Martial Soul?"

Tang San's excitement grew, and he hurriedly asked.

Tang Yin didn't hide it from him. He held out both hands, which turned jade-white.

"These are my hand Martial Souls."

Then he activated his Purple Demon Eye Martial Soul, and his eyes turned a hazy purple.

"These are my eye Martial Souls."

Tang San's breathing suddenly quickened.

He stared fixedly at his older brother's jade-white hands, then looked at Tang Yin's eyes, which shimmered faintly purple in the sunlight. His whole body trembled.

Mysterious Jade Hand... Purple Demon Eye...

Tang San clenched his fists, his eyes reddening as excitement surged through him.

It really was the Mysterious Jade Hand and Purple Demon Eye!

Big Brother had awakened our Tang Sect Secret Arts as Martial Souls!

In his previous life, Tang San had been an outer disciple of the Tang Sect, always yearning to become a true member of the sect.

But alas, his bloodline wouldn't allow it!

Now his blood-related older brother had awakened the Mysterious Jade Hand and Purple Demon Eye as Martial Souls!

These weren't the fruits of cultivation. They were innate.

If he returned to the Tang Sect, who could say Big Brother wasn't a direct descendant of the sect?!

Was there any more irrefutable proof in this world that he belonged to the Tang Sect's innermost lineage?

In an instant, a blazing thought erupted in Tang San's heart and began to grow wildly.

Big Brother was living proof!

A living, breathing embodiment of the Tang Sect's true lineage!

My brother, Tang San's older brother, was born with these gifts! This was... this was fate!

It was Heaven's perfect compensation for and answer to the regret I'd carried from my previous life!

As long as Big Brother was here, the Tang Sect's true legacy would live on!

If I helped Big Brother rebuild the Tang Sect in this world...

Then our Tang Sect would be the one true orthodox sect here!

Tang San's eyes burned brighter, his excitement rising by the moment.

As an orphan, Tang San had always treasured family above all else.

In his eyes, both his older brother and his father, Tang Hao, were family he couldn't live without.

But Tang Hao was his father.

So originally, Tang San had certainly considered Tang Hao more important.

But now, he had discovered that Big Brother had awakened the Mysterious Jade Hand and Purple Demon Eye.

All the feelings Tang San had carried for the Tang Sect in his previous life instantly focused on Tang Yin.

That made Tang Yin surpass Tang Hao.

He became the most important person in Tang San's heart!

For a moment, Tang San felt an even deeper closeness and trust toward Tang Yin, along with a profound sense of recognition.

In Tang San's heart now, Big Brother Tang Yin was no longer merely family, someone he depended on for survival.

He had also become the bridge connecting him to the obsession he'd carried from his previous life—the most legitimate and glorious place for the Tang Sect devotion buried deep in his heart.

Seeing Tang San look at him with ever more burning affection, Tang Yin felt a little creeped out.

What was going on with this kid?

That look was seriously unsettling!

"Big Brother, let's go home!"

"We both have Innate Full Soul Power. Let's go home and tell Father!"

"Father will definitely be happy!"

By now, Tang San had calmed down from his excitement and spoke with a smile.

Tang Yin merely pursed his lips.

If you showed him your Second Martial Soul, the Clear Sky Hammer, he'd definitely be happy.

As for me, forget it!

Without the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul, I don't count as one of his own in that man's eyes.

After leaving the shabby Spirit Hall Branch, they saw Old Jack hurry over, leaning on his cane.

"Xiao Yin, Xiao San!"

He looked thrilled and asked,

"Just now... when Lord Su Yuntao left, he said you both had Innate Full Soul Power. Is that true?!"

"Yes, Grandpa Jack," Tang San answered respectfully.

"My brother and I both have Innate Full Soul Power."

"Good! Wonderful!"

Old Jack stroked his snowy white beard, grinning from ear to ear.

"Heaven has opened its eyes! Our ancestors have blessed us!"

"Our Holy Soul Village has produced two promising Soul Master candidates with Innate Full Soul Power at once!"

"Let's see who dares say our village's name doesn't fit anymore! Hahaha!"

But after laughing for a while, Old Jack seemed to remember something. His brow furrowed, and his excitement gave way to worry.

He looked at Tang Yin, then at Tang San, clearly conflicted.

"Grandpa Jack, what's wrong?" Tang San asked curiously, noticing the change in the old village chief's expression.

"N-nothing!" Old Jack shook his head sharply. As if he'd made up his mind, he patted the brothers' shoulders and chuckled.

"You two go on home and tell Tang Hao that... ahem, tell your father the good news! Grandpa... Grandpa has some things to take care of!"

Before Tang Yin and Tang San could respond, Old Jack turned and hurried off.

Tang Yin watched Old Jack's back disappear into the dusk, lost in thought.

Holy Soul Village only had one work-study student spot.

Old Jack had been thrilled at first, but then he'd grown worried.

He must have realized that Xiao San and I both had Innate Full Soul Power and the potential to become Soul Masters.

But the village didn't have enough work-study spots.

So he was planning to find a way to get another one, right?

Before long, Tang Yin and Tang San returned to the blacksmith shop where they lived.

As they pushed open the wooden door, the pungent stench of cheap barley liquor hit them in the face.

The room was unlit. Dim light filtered through a broken window, barely outlining the shabby interior.

Tang Hao was sitting at a wooden table, holding a jug of liquor and drinking himself into a stupor.

The floor was a complete mess.

At the sight of him, a flicker of annoyance and anger passed through Tang Yin.

This drunk was beyond saving!

Tang San saw Tang Hao in his drunken state too, but he remained respectful.

"Father, we're back."

"Hmm?"

Tang Hao seemed only then to notice the two of them. He continued drinking, belched, and asked in a drunken slur,

"Have you awakened your Martial Souls?"

"What Martial Souls did you awaken?"

His tone was indifferent, his voice thick with the nasal rasp of a hangover.

Tang San respectfully replied,

"Reporting to you, Father, I awakened Blue Silver Grass, with Innate Full Soul Power."

"Big Brother awakened the White Jade Hand"—that was the name Su Yuntao had registered for his Martial Soul—"and he also has Innate Full Soul Power."

"Blue Silver Grass... White Jade Hand?"

Tang Hao had barely reacted when he heard about Blue Silver Grass. He had simply kept drinking in his drunken stupor.

But when he heard the name "White Jade Hand,"

his brows immediately drew together in a deep frown, forming a pronounced "川."

"White Jade Hand?"

He repeated the name, his tone laced with undisguised confusion and a lofty air of scrutiny.

He raised his eyes and looked past the paper at Tang Yin.

"What kind of Martial Soul is that? Show me."

His voice was commanding, leaving no room for objection.

Tang Yin was used to this. He calmly held out his right hand.

With a mere thought, a warm jade-white color spread from his fingertips, quickly covering both hands and giving off a faint, lustrous glow in the dim room.

Tang Hao stared hard at Tang Yin's Mysterious Jade Hand, his brows tightly furrowed.

What kind of Martial Soul was this?

It was neither the Clear Sky Hammer inherited by the Tang family nor Ah Yin's Blue Silver Grass.

Instead, it looked like the Self-Created Soul Skill Tang San practiced—the way his hands changed.

But it wasn't the Clear Sky Hammer.

As far as Tang Hao was concerned, whether it was Blue Silver Grass or this so-called White Jade Hand, both were trash Martial Souls!

"Hmph."

Tang Hao let out an undisguised sneer. He threw back his head and drained another large gulp of liquor, letting the cloudy liquid trickle past the stubble at the corners of his mouth.

Then he wiped his lips and glanced bleary-eyed at Tang Yin, his voice filled with contempt.

"A hand Martial Soul can't be used as a weapon, and it can't even be used for Martial Soul Possession!"

"Trash. It's nothing but a Trash Martial Soul!"

"A Trash Martial Soul is a Trash Martial Soul. Giving it some fancy name won't change that."

With that, Tang Hao stood up and walked toward the bedroom at the back of the blacksmith shop, ready to collapse into bed.

Tang Yin wasn't surprised by Tang Hao's judgment.

He knew that, as far as Tang Hao was concerned, anything that wasn't the Clear Sky Hammer was a trash Martial Soul!

He didn't consider Tang Hao his father anyway.

So Tang Hao's judgment had no effect on him whatsoever.

But Tang San, standing nearby, went rigid in an instant.

That damned Tang Hao!

He'd actually called Big Brother's Mysterious Jade Hand a worthless trash Martial Soul!

Tang San lowered his head. His eyes instantly turned bloodred, and he panted like a bull, consumed by fury.

Mysterious Jade Hand... Purple Demon Eye...

Those were Tang Sect Secret Arts! The core inner-sect inheritance that countless outer-sect disciples of the Tang Sect in his past life had dreamed of obtaining, but never could!

They were the most sacred things in Tang San's heart across both his lives, obsessions and totems that must never be profaned!

That man drank himself senseless every day, paid no heed to me or Big Brother, and took no responsibility for us.

Out of gratitude for the life he gave me, I, Tang San, had treated him as my father and shown him the utmost respect.

Yet he dared insult Big Brother and profane my Tang Sect Secret Arts!

That damned Tang Hao. He had sealed his own fate!!