Thirty-Six Sky-Propping Spears!

Two yellow and one purple Spirit Rings appeared beneath his feet.

A green shield appeared in his hand—it was Xu Sanshi's Martial Soul, the Mysterious Nether Turtle Shell Shield, a Martial Soul possessing the bloodline of the Black Tortoise.

A hint of displeasure appeared on Lin Ming's face as the Sky-Propping Spear appeared in his hand.

As four Spirit Rings emerged, a terrifying pressure burst forth, forcing Xu Sanshi back two steps.

"Get lost!"

Lin Ming said coldly.

"Apologize to Nannan!" Faced with Lin Ming's terrifying pressure, Xu Sanshi had already prepared to forcibly awaken the power of his bloodline.

Lin Ming was thoroughly displeased.

I am a Celestial Dragon of Shrek. Who gave you the nerve to provoke me like this?

With Lin Ming's background, even if he killed Xu Sanshi here in front of everyone, nothing would happen. At most, he would receive some superficial punishment.

Just as he was about to make a move and teach Xu Sanshi a painful lesson, a figure flashed over.

"Slap!"

A crisp slap rang out.

Caught off guard, Xu Sanshi's head was knocked to the side by the slap.

A bright red handprint appeared on his face.

"Xu Sanshi! Can you stop being such a shameless rogue?!"

The one who had struck him was Jiang Nannan. She was still covered in injuries, her almond-shaped eyes wide with fury as her entire body trembled.

Because she was still weak, her body swayed precariously even as she trembled.

"Nannan!"

Xu Sanshi was not angry in the slightest after being slapped. Instead, he looked deeply worried when he saw Jiang Nannan in this state.

He wanted to help Jiang Nannan up, but she avoided him.

She turned and left. As she passed Lin Ming, she left him an apologetic smile.

Watching this, Xu Sanshi silently clenched his fists. "Nannan has never smiled at me like that. Why does he get to?!" He raged helplessly in his heart.

As expected of an ultimate little turtle man with the Mysterious Nether Turtle Shell Shield Martial Soul—his focus was truly bizarre.

Lin Ming left directly with Beibei and Tang Ya. As he passed Xu Sanshi, he deliberately rammed his shoulder into him, whispered, "Clown," into his ear, then turned and left.

Watching Lin Ming's departing back, Xu Sanshi clenched his fists. As the young master of a great clan, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

A decision had already taken root in his heart.

Over the following days, Lin Ming's team swept through the competition with unstoppable momentum, easily claiming first place in the Freshman Assessment.

Without question, Lin Ming and Beibei were selected as core disciples of the Outer Court.

Feng Xiu and a number of other outstanding students were also selected as core disciples of the Outer Court.

In previous years, all three members of the champion team would be selected as core disciples and receive preferential access to the academy's resources. This year, however, there was an exception: Tang Ya.

Tang Ya had not been selected. Yan Shaozhe was no fool—Tang Ya had done nothing but coast to victory. How had she contributed even the slightest bit to the team's championship?

Therefore, when drafting the list of core disciples, Yan Shaozhe crossed Tang Ya's name off without a second thought.

Tang Ya was somewhat disappointed by this. After all, she was still a member of the championship team, even if she had not contributed anything to its victory.

Seeing that Tang Ya had failed to receive a core disciple slot, Beibei generously offered to give her his extra resources.

This was not the love-struck behavior from the original story. Beibei simply pitied Tang Ya as a friend and wanted to lend her a hand.

After all, he was the great-grandson of the Sea God Pavilion's master. If he wanted cultivation resources, he only needed to ask and would receive a huge pile of them. The extra resources allotted to core disciples meant nothing more to him than a scrap of meat between a mosquito's legs—tasteless and insignificant—so he might as well give them to Tang Ya as a favor.

Lin Ming was quite satisfied with this attitude. At least his efforts had not been in vain.

That day, Lin Ming asked Li Wei for leave because he had something important to do.

Returning to the home beside the Sea God Pavilion, Lin Ming lifted his foot and kicked the door open. "Lao Deng, I'm back!"

At that moment, Lin Feng was leisurely drinking tea. Having been stuck at the peak of Rank 94 for so many years, he had long since lost his enthusiasm for cultivation.

In his utterly relaxed state, Lin Ming's kick gave him quite a scare, spilling the tea in his hand all over the floor.

"You brat, why are you back instead of attending class?!" He patted the tea leaves off himself, his eyes full of heartache. "My Golden Leaves!"

Leaves from the Golden Tree provided immense benefits to the body when brewed as tea. Even an elder like Lin Feng only received a small amount each year.

He had finally indulged himself today by taking out a few leaves to brew, only for them to be spilled like this.

Lin Ming scratched his head and smiled somewhat sheepishly.

Of course, he knew how precious the Golden Leaves were, so he simply stood there patiently and waited for Lao Deng to finish grieving before discussing business.

A few minutes later, Lin Feng looked at Lin Ming irritably. "You brat, say what you need to say and fart what you need to fart!"

Lin Ming pulled Lin Feng out to the plaza, then summoned his Martial Soul.

"Lao Deng, I fought someone who could create Self-Created Soul Skills some time ago. I copied one move from him. Help me see if there's anything that needs improving."

Naturally, he was referring to the insight he had gained into Feng Xiu's Thirty-Six Gale Demon Wolf Slashes during their fight some days earlier.

"Keep bragging, brat. If Self-Created Soul Skills were so easy to copy, what would be the point of creating them?"

Just like the divine skills Tang Chen had created, such as Ring Detonation, even teaching them hand-in-hand did not necessarily mean many people could learn them.

Yet Lin Ming was telling Lin Feng that he had merely fought someone who knew a Self-Created Soul Skill, watched it once, and then managed to copy it. How could Lin Feng possibly believe that?

"Don't believe me? I'll show you. Remember to hold your jaw up with your hand!"

After saying that, Lin Ming began recalling the insight he had gained into the Thirty-Six Gale Demon Wolf Slashes that day.

His understanding of this Self-Created Soul Skill was to borrow force and return force. However, the force he borrowed did not come from someone else, but from his own previous attack.

Each attack borrowed the power of his preceding strike, producing an effect that grew stronger with every successive blow.

Although Lin Ming was not certain whether this was truly the principle behind the Thirty-Six Gale Demon Wolf Slashes, he had created a move of his own based on that principle.

Lin Ming gave the move an imposing name: Thirty-Six Sky-Propping Spears!

"Lao Deng, defend yourself and be my living target." Lin Feng was speechless upon hearing this, but he also wanted to see what Lin Ming was up to, so he cooperatively moved to stand opposite him.

The Thunder-Roar Spear Martial Soul appeared in Lin Feng's hand, followed by nine Spirit Rings: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black.

"Come on, grandson. Attack me with everything you've got!"

Lin Feng assumed a defensive stance, holding the Thunder-Roar Spear horizontally before him as he shouted at Lin Ming.

Lin Ming began circulating his Soul Power, gripped the Sky-Propping Spear, and unleashed the Thirty-Six Sky-Propping Spears.