Tang Sect? Not Even Dogs Would Join!

"Alright, since you've successfully absorbed the Spirit Ring, hurry up and absorb the Soul Bone as well," Xuan Zi reminded him.

Lin Ming quickly took out the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Right Palm Bone. Only when the Spirit Ring and Soul Bone dropped by the same soul beast were absorbed by the same Soul Master could their benefits be maximized.

He placed the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Right Palm Bone against the back of his right hand.

The instant the Soul Bone touched him, it adhered to the back of his hand.

Lin Ming sat down on the ground and began circulating his Soul Power to absorb the Soul Bone.

Absorbing a Soul Bone did not cause spiritual shock, so the process was far smoother than absorbing a Spirit Ring.

Half an hour later, Lin Ming opened his eyes.

"How was it, grandson? What's the Soul Skill?"

Lin Ming raised his right hand. With a thought, five sharp dark-gold claws sprang out.

Then, Lin Ming walked over to a massive granite boulder nearly three meters tall.

He abruptly raised his right hand, and dazzling dark-gold light shone from his five sharp claws. "Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear External Soul Bone Skill, Dark Gold Terrorclaw!"

Five dark-gold energy waves shot forth and slammed solidly into the enormous granite boulder before him.

Boom!

With a thunderous explosion, the massive granite boulder, three meters tall and two meters wide, shattered into rubble.

"Not bad. Now this looks like a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone." Xuan Zi's assessment was fairly restrained, but inwardly, he was already marveling at how the Dark Gold Terrorclaw truly lived up to its reputation.

Lin Ming smiled faintly. "It's not over yet. This Soul Bone isn't just destructive."

He walked over to a large tree whose trunk was as thick as a bowl.

He extended one of his five claws and casually swept it across the tree trunk.

Like a sharp knife slicing through tofu, the claw passed through the trunk with ease.

The tree crashed down. The stump it left behind had a smooth, clean cut without the slightest irregularity.

Sharpness—ultimate sharpness!

This was the External Soul Bone dropped by a top-tier soul beast, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear!

"Hahaha, excellent! External Soul Bones can grow. This old man is truly looking forward to seeing its power after it evolves to one hundred thousand years!"

Before returning, Lin Ming specifically packed the Ten Thousand Year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's corpse into his Soul Tool in portions. The meat of a Ten Thousand Year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was a rare delicacy.

The Taotie Douluo gave him a thumbs-up for such gourmet behavior.

Time passed swiftly, and Shrek's annual school term arrived.

Under Mu En's arrangements, Lin Ming and Beibei were assigned to Class One, Grade One of the Outer Court.

The two were also assigned to the same dormitory, clearly by deliberate arrangement.

There were no classes on the first day of school, as it was meant to help the new students get used to the campus.

The moment Beibei set his bag down by his bed, he rushed out in a flurry.

Lin Ming ignored him and quietly sorted out his own belongings.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

Lin Ming walked over and opened it. A familiar figure stood outside.

"Lexuan, why are you here?"

That's right, the visitor was Zhang Lexuan.

Six years had passed, and Zhang Lexuan had grown even more beautiful. She had completely shed a young girl's innocence and become graceful and poised.

She was now a powerful Soul Saint, hailed as the brightest rising star of the Inner Court.

"Of course I came to see our little Ming!"

Lin Ming had now grown as tall as Zhang Lexuan, so she had no choice but to abandon the idea of patting his head. Instead, she lightly thumped his fairly solid chest with her delicate fist.

"Where's Beibei? Isn't he your roommate?"

Zhang Lexuan walked into the dormitory and found that Lin Ming was the only one there, leaving her puzzled.

"Him? Who knows where he ran off to flirt with female students."

"You really are something. Beibei is truly unlucky to have a bad friend like you." Zhang Lexuan clearly did not believe Lin Ming's words.

Lin Ming smiled without arguing.

In truth, he had not lied. That woman was about to appear, after all. He wondered whether she would still be able to worm her way into Beibei's heart this time.

"Come on. I'll take you around the academy, and we can grab something tasty while we're at it."

The two left the dormitory and leisurely wandered around the academy.

That evening, Lin Ming had just pushed open the dormitory door when he saw Beibei sitting at the table, fiddling with something.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Ming walked over and saw Beibei holding a small arrow along with a pile of metal components, tinkering with them with great interest.

He rubbed his forehead helplessly. It's over. That woman really did show up.

Lin Ming sighed inwardly, but kept a curious look on his face. He intended to probe for information first. He refused to believe that all his efforts over the years had been for nothing.

"What's that thing, Lao Bei?"

Only then did Beibei notice Lin Ming had returned. Excitedly, he said, "Lin Ming, come take a look. This Silent Sleeve Arrow is pretty interesting. A new friend I made today, Tang Ya, gave it to me to play with."

Hearing how he referred to Tang Ya, Lin Ming let out a breath of relief. Good, good. There's still hope!

From the looks of it, Beibei only had a favorable impression of Tang Ya at most. It was far from love at first sight.

Lin Ming breathed a long sigh of relief inwardly, then continued probing.

"Did she give you this without any conditions?"

"No." Beibei continued fiddling with the Silent Sleeve Arrow, then suddenly remembered something and added, "Oh, right. Tang Ya asked whether I was interested in joining her Tang Sect. She said it was founded ten thousand years ago by the Thousand Hand Douluo, Tang San. She said that if I joined, she'd make me the deputy sect master."

As expected. Lin Ming sighed inwardly.

Anyone with eyes could see Tang Ya's intentions. She had simply taken a fancy to Beibei's status as a Celestial Dragon and wanted to use him.

Look at what she had trained Beibei into in the original story. He gave Tang Ya all his cultivation resources and everything else.

Mu En probably did not interfere only because he wanted Beibei to be a little happier.

"Did you agree?"

Beibei shook his head. "Not yet. I told her I needed to think about it. What about you, Lin Ming? Are you interested in joining? Maybe we could even get some high-ranking positions there."

Without even thinking, Lin Ming shook his head. What a joke. He was a Shrek Celestial Dragon; only someone brainless would join that crumbling Tang Sect.

He had been about to persuade Beibei, but the words that came out were completely different. "What Tang Sect? Not even dogs would join it! If you're stupid, then go ahead!"

What Lin Ming had originally wanted to say had not been so extreme. After all, he was afraid the Tang Buddha Ancestor might hear him. Yet somehow, it seemed that someone had made him say those words.

In the God Realm, within the Destruction Temple.

"Don't be afraid, little one. Curse him as hard as you want. There's no need to fear that Tang San fellow!"

Those words had originally been what Lin Ming wanted to say in his heart.

After sensing Lin Ming's fear of Tang San, Destruction immediately gave him a hand.

Beibei looked up at Lin Ming in confusion. "If you don't want to join, then don't. Why are you getting so worked up, Lin Ming?"

"Not only am I not joining, you're not allowed to join either, understand?"

To keep Beibei from being tied down like in the original story, Lin Ming had to crush the idea as soon as possible.