Tang San had originally planned to tell his father, Tang Hao, about his Second Martial Soul after they returned.
But now, the man had dared to insult his big brother and profane the Tang Sect Secret Arts!
What father?
He was nothing but a worthless drunk!
Tang San sneered inwardly and no longer thought of Tang Hao as his father.
In this life, having his big brother was family enough!
From now on, the only person he would protect and support was his big brother, Tang Yin!
Together, he and his big brother would bring the Tang Sect back to Douluo Continent, lead it to the summit, and restore its former glory!
And after declaring that Tang Hao had earned a death sentence and was unworthy of being a father,
Tang San began considering how he could reasonably tell his big brother about the Tang Sect Secret Arts tomorrow.
The next day.
The eastern sky had just begun to pale.
As usual, Tang Yin and Tang San picked up the wooden buckets from home, ready to fetch water from the back mountain.
Along the way, Tang San suppressed his excitement and kept going over what he planned to say, again and again.
Once they reached the back mountain,
he finally felt ready.
Tang San excitedly called out to Tang Yin.
"Big brother!"
"What is it, Xiao San?"
Tang Yin looked at Tang San, puzzled.
Tang San took a deep breath, his expression nervous and solemn.
Lowering his voice, he spoke each word carefully.
"Big brother, I... I have a secret I want to tell you."
"A secret?"
Tang Yin wondered to himself.
What was this kid Xiao San up to?
A secret?
What secret could he have? He'd never mentioned one to me before.
Why bring it up all of a sudden today?
Still, Tang Yin played along and asked, feigning puzzlement.
"What secret?"
Tang San didn't answer right away. Instead, he warily scanned their surroundings, then led Tang Yin to a patch of grass behind a hillside.
It was more secluded here, ensuring no passersby could overhear them.
"It's about your Martial Soul, big brother," Tang San said seriously.
"Actually, I recognize your Martial Soul!"
"Oh?"
Tang Yin's heart stirred. He showed just the right amount of surprise and confusion, though inwardly he felt strange.
My Martial Souls are the Tang Sect Secret Arts, the Purple Demon Eye and the Mysterious Jade Hand.
Is Xiao San suddenly saying he knows my Martial Souls because he plans to teach me the Tang Sect Secret Arts?
Doing this would shatter the countless preconceived notions people have about Douluo fanfiction!
Before, Tang San had never shown any intention of teaching me the Mysterious Heaven Skill or the Tang Sect Secret Arts.
And now he suddenly wants to pass them on.
Tang Yin couldn't help wondering:
Could it be because I awakened the Purple Demon Eye and Mysterious Jade Hand as my Martial Souls?
"Xiao San, you recognize my Martial Souls?!"
Tang Yin feigned utter confusion.
"How could you recognize them? Even Master Su Yuntao didn't know what kind of Martial Souls they were!"
"It's a long story," Tang San sighed, as though his secret were immense.
"Big brother, the Martial Soul in your eyes, which flashed with a purple glow when you awakened, is actually called the Purple Demon Eye!"
"And the Martial Soul in your hands, which can turn as white as jade, is called the Mysterious Jade Hand!"
He stressed each word, enunciating them carefully.
"They're not ordinary Martial Souls at all... They're Martial Souls formed from two incredibly profound cultivation arts!"
"Martial Souls formed from cultivation arts?"
Tang Yin's "confusion" deepened. His brows drew together slightly, as if he couldn't make sense of it.
"Xiao San, explain. What exactly do you mean?"
"What are cultivation arts... and how could they turn into Martial Souls?"
Seeing that his big brother was completely engrossed and had asked the crucial question,
Tang San was quite pleased. He put on an affectedly thoughtful expression, as if lost in memory.
"It's a long story."
"It was when I was a little over three, almost four..."
Tang San began recounting the "chance encounter" he had gone over and polished in his mind countless times.
"Big brother, you know I liked to go play by myself in the back mountain."
"One time, I got carried away playing and wandered deep, deep into the mountain, somewhere almost no one ever went."
"Then, behind a thicket, I saw someone."
"Who?" Tang Yin prompted him again, feigning curiosity.
"A man wearing a tattered gray robe so worn and faded that you couldn't tell what color it had originally been."
Tang San's expression grew more serious. He began describing the scene in detail, doing his best to make it believable.
"He was leaning against a rock, covered in wounds. His clothes were soaked with blood, his face was as pale as paper, and his breathing was so faint you could barely hear it. He looked like he was about to die..."
"When he saw me, his eyes, which had been on the verge of closing, suddenly lit up."
"His lips moved. His voice was hoarse and faint, and he spoke haltingly... 'Child... you and I are fated to meet... the legacy of my lineage... must not die out...'"
Tang San imitated the man's dying voice, then put on a look of lingering fear.
"Then he raised a bloodstained finger and pointed it at the center of my forehead!"
"All I felt was heat in my forehead. Then my whole head went 'boom,' as if countless glowing words, strange pictures, and all sorts of complex sounds were crowding into it at once. It felt like my head was about to split open."
"Then everything went black, and I knew nothing more."
"When I came to, dazed and groggy, the sun was already sinking in the west."
"I was lying beside that thicket, and the strange man... was gone."
"I got up and searched everywhere, but the mysterious man was gone. There wasn't a single trace that anyone had been there. It was as if... everything I'd seen was just an especially vivid, bizarre dream."
"But!"
Tang San's voice suddenly rose, brimming with barely restrained excitement. His eyes burned with fervor.
"From that day on, a cultivation manual called the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record appeared in my mind!"
"It contained a method for cultivating inner energy called the Mysterious Heaven Skill, information about all kinds of medicines, and instructions for forging Hidden Weapons."
"Besides that, there were so many other incredible-sounding techniques!"
"Among them were the cultivation methods for the Purple Demon Eye and the Mysterious Jade Hand!"
"I've been exploring how to cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Skill and the various techniques all these years, and I've made some progress!"
"But I never understood why that mysterious man said we were fated to meet."
"But now, I finally understand!"
Tang San's voice brimmed with excitement and enthusiasm.
"The fate that mysterious man spoke of wasn't about me at all. It was about you, big brother!"
"Your naturally awakened Martial Souls are the Purple Demon Eye and the Mysterious Jade Hand!"
"What does that mean? It means you're the destined inheritor of these arts! Heaven itself, and that senior, chose you to inherit everything!"
"Perhaps I was there in that time and place for the sole purpose of receiving this legacy... and then teaching it to its true master!"
Tang Yin hadn't expected his little brother, Tang San, to actually teach him the Mysterious Heaven Skill and the Tang Sect Secret Arts.
He was filled with excitement and anticipation.
But he still kept up the act.
He drew in a sharp breath at just the right moment and put on an expression of utter shock and disbelief.
"So something like that really happened..."
"Before that mysterious man passed on the arts to me, he also said a few more things, though his words were halting."
Tang San pressed on while the moment was ripe. His expression turned devout, and a blazing fire shone in his eyes.
"He said these arts came from an ancient, great, and proud sect called—the Tang Sect!"
"He passed them on to me without asking for anything in return. He only hoped that if we ever had the chance and the ability, we would rebuild the Tang Sect and keep its name from being extinguished!"
As he spoke the words "Tang Sect," Tang San's eyes blazed with fervor.
It was a sense of belonging and purpose that crossed time itself, so intense it seemed almost tangible.
"Now that you've awakened the Purple Demon Eye and the Mysterious Jade Hand, big brother, this is destiny! The Tang Sect Secret Arts are calling out to their master!"
"So I want to teach you all these arts, everything in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record!"
"In the future, when we brothers have enough strength, we'll build a new Tang Sect of our own!"
"We'll make the Tang Sect's name ring out across this world!"
"Big brother, what do you think?"
Tang San gazed at Tang Yin with fervent eyes as he asked.
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