While Xue Bingchen was secretly plotting how he would "discipline" this fine adopted son of his in the future, Tang San, held aloft by Soul Power, hesitated before finally asking the question that concerned him most.
"Master..."
Expectation gleamed in Tang San's eyes as he cautiously asked:
"Little San has only just entered the world of Soul Masters and doesn't understand many things.
"May... may I boldly ask what level your Soul Power is at now, Master?"
As the first teacher Tang San had acknowledged in this world, and someone he regarded as a father, he naturally hoped with all his heart that his teacher would be an unparalleled expert capable of shaking the world!
However, before Xue Bingchen could answer.
Yu Xiaogang, who had long been driven mad with jealousy and felt as though he had been cuckolded, instantly sprang out like a cat whose tail had been stepped on!
"What level? Ha! What level could he possibly be?!"
Pointing at Xue Bingchen, Yu Xiaogang sneered in an exceedingly sharp, venomous voice filled with jealousy:
"Tang San, he deceived you! Look at his age—he's barely in his teens! Showing up at the gates of Notting Academy in this remote little town, he must merely be an upperclassman here to study!"
The more Yu Xiaogang spoke, the more flawless he found his reasoning. He sneered coldly:
"The reason he blocked Luo Sanpao's attack just now wasn't because he was powerful! His martial soul simply happened to be some kind of ice-element defensive martial soul, giving him an elemental advantage!"
"A brat of twenty, even if he started cultivating in his mother's womb, would be no more than a Soul Elder in his thirties at best! If you take a Soul Elder as your master, your life is ruined!"
Xue Bingchen did not get angry at Yu Xiaogang's mad barking like a clown.
Even if he were only a Soul Elder, he would still be stronger than Yu Xiaogang.
He merely turned his head slightly toward Yu Xiaogang. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a glacial chill that made one feel as though they had fallen into an ice pit.
In truth, Xue Bingchen had never intended to show off here.
After all, his true identity was the young lord of the Far North.
If he bullied Yu Xiaogang too badly here, causing that mentally fragile trash's Dao heart to collapse and making him hang himself with a rope...
That madwoman Pope in distant Spirit City would probably go insane and hunt him across the world.
He was not afraid of Bibi Dong now, but he did not want to invite such unnecessary trouble. Otherwise, he might have to ask the Snow Empress to intervene.
"However..."
Xue Bingchen sneered coldly in his heart, a frightening glint of frost flashing deep in his eyes.
Since someone insists on shoving his face forward and shamelessly begging me to slap him...
If I don't give him two hard slaps, wouldn't that make me, Xue Bingchen, seem like someone anyone can bully?!
Faced with Yu Xiaogang's mad-dog barking and Tang San's expectant gaze, the chill on Xue Bingchen's face gradually vanished, replaced by the calm assurance of absolute confidence.
Ignoring Yu Xiaogang's frantic antics, he looked down at Tang San, who was kneeling on the ground. His voice was calm, yet it carried a force that struck straight at the soul as he slowly spoke:
"Little San, since you have already taken me as your master, I will give you your first lesson about Douluo Continent today."
"In this world, the cultivation system of Soul Masters has an extremely strict hierarchy.
"Every ten levels, after obtaining a Spirit Ring, a Soul Master breaks through their own shackles and gains a corresponding new title."
Xue Bingchen's voice echoed like a great bell at the gates of Notting Academy:
"Starting with the most basic Soul Scholar, then Soul Master, Soul Grandmaster, Soul Elder, Soul Ancestor, Soul King..."
"Until you reach the very pinnacle of this continent's pyramid—Title Douluo!"
At that, Xue Bingchen paused slightly and looked deeply into Tang San's eyes, which had widened in shock.
"And I..."
The corner of Xue Bingchen's lips rose in a proud arc as he enunciated each word:
"My current cultivation is six rings—a Soul Emperor."
Boom—!!!
To the newly initiated Tang San, the words "Soul Emperor" might have been merely a vague concept. But to Yu Xiaogang, who was pricking up his ears and eavesdropping beside them, they were no different from a megaton nuclear bomb exploding inside his mind!
A Soul Emperor?! Impossible! How old is he? How could he possibly be a Soul Emperor?! Yu Xiaogang roared wildly in his heart, his face filled with disbelief.
However, Xue Bingchen gave him no chance to doubt it.
The next moment!
An utterly terrifying, soul-freezing aura of extreme cold suddenly erupted from Xue Bingchen's body!
The aura was so powerful that even the surrounding air condensed into visible frost!
"Buzz—buzz—buzz—"
Accompanied by waves of heart-palpitating hums, one dazzling ring after another slowly rose from beneath Xue Bingchen's feet, as though a divine miracle had descended!
The first ring was a deep purple!
The second ring was still a deep purple!
The third ring was black, as dark as ink!
The fourth ring was black!
The fifth ring was black!
When these five Spirit Rings, which defied all common sense among Soul Masters, appeared, Yu Xiaogang was completely petrified.
His eyes were locked rigidly on those Spirit Rings, his mouth gaping wide enough to fit a duck egg.
Yet it was not over!
At the instant the sixth Spirit Ring rose, all the light around the gates of Notting Academy seemed to be swallowed by it!
It was a ring... a hundred-thousand-year red Spirit Ring, as glaring as blood and radiating a terrifying pressure that made it hard to breathe!!!
"Purple, purple, black, black, black, red!!!"
Six Spirit Rings rose and fell quietly around Xue Bingchen's body.
At the same time, an incomparably beautiful phantom, as though untouched by the mortal world, slowly emerged behind Xue Bingchen.
It was a woman with long snow-white hair and a flawlessly perfect face.
She wore an ice-blue gown, surrounded by boundless frost and snow. Simply standing there, she exuded an ultimate nobility and coldness that made all things submit!
This was Xue Bingchen's martial soul—the Heavenly Snow Woman!
When the Heavenly Snow Woman's peerlessly beautiful figure appeared, everyone present felt their breathing stop.
If Yu Xiaogang's pig-like Luo Sanpao was the ugliest and most ridiculous martial soul in the world,
Then the Heavenly Snow Woman behind Xue Bingchen was the most beautiful and noble work of art in the world!
No!
Putting Luo Sanpao and the Heavenly Snow Woman together for comparison was the greatest insult to the words "Heavenly Snow Woman"!
This was no longer the difference between heaven and earth—it was the difference between a god and rotting mud in a gutter!
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