"The hundred-year Soul Ring again." The onlookers cried out in surprise.
Everyone present, Tang San included, watched Lan Si and Xiao Wu intently, waiting for them to face off. Their eyes shone with excitement. After all, Soul Master battles were a rare sight.
Tang San looked at Lan Si's Soul Ring, a trace of gravity flashing through his eyes.
He had killed the Black Mamba Snake with the Silent Sleeve Arrow and the Tang Sect Secret Arts. How had Lan Si obtained this hundred-year Soul Ring?
"Come at me." Lan Si looked calm and composed as he beckoned Xiao Wu over.
Xiao Wu bit her red lip with her rabbit teeth, then stamped her right foot against the ground and leaped high into the air, lunging at Lan Si.
Lan Si knew she wanted to use her strongest close-combat skills. He wasn't afraid of her, but why would he let her have her way?
He hurled the Cyan Lotus in his right hand, aiming straight for Xiao Wu's face.
The instant the Cyan Lotus blocked Xiao Wu's vision, Lan Si vanished from the spot.
Xiao Wu hadn't expected Lan Si's Martial Soul to be used just like Tang San's Hidden Weapons. If the Cyan Lotus hit her, she probably wouldn't be seriously injured, but her pretty little face would surely suffer.
She immediately arched backward, flipped twice in midair, and retreated to the ground. When she looked ahead again, Lan Si was nowhere to be seen.
"Xiao Wu, watch your back!" Tang San, who had been quietly observing from the side, suddenly called out.
Hearing him, Xiao Wu hurriedly turned her head to dodge.
The next moment, a fist grazed her ear. Its fierce wind left her eardrum stinging.
"Bastard!"
"First Soul Skill, Waist Bow!"
Lan Si had ambushed her again. Xiao Wu couldn't take it anymore. As her scorpion braid whipped out, she leaped once more, and the Yellow Soul Ring around her lit up.
A smug smile tugged at Lan Si's lips. This was exactly what he'd been waiting for.
As he retreated to avoid Xiao Wu's scorpion braid, the Yellow Soul Ring around him lit up almost at the same time.
"First Soul Skill, Cyan Lotus Assault!"
The Cyan Lotus Martial Soul that Lan Si had thrown into the air split into eight, turning into eight blades that shot toward Xiao Wu.
"Ah!" Xiao Wu shrieked. She had just used her first Soul Skill, and she was still suspended in midair, unable to push off and dodge. Faced with the eight blades thrusting straight at her, she could only shut her eyes in terror.
The watching students' mouths fell open in an O. If those blades hit, she'd be riddled like a sieve.
Could she even survive that?
Tang San's expression was equally grave. As he activated his Purple Demon Eye, both hands slipped toward his waist.
Though he and Xiao Wu hadn't yet sworn to become siblings, nor made the vow, "If anyone wants to hurt you, they'll have to step over my dead body,"
after spending several days together, Xiao Wu's lively and adorable nature had already won him over. He couldn't possibly stand by and watch her die.
Just as Tang San's right hand slipped into his belt, intending to take a Hidden Weapon from the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges and alter the trajectory of Lan Si's Cyan Lotus Blades, his Purple Demon Eye caught the blades suddenly changing course.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
A series of piercing impacts rang out. Xiao Wu was pinned to the grass with her arms and legs spread wide. Her braid and the cuffs of her sleeves had been struck by the Cyan Lotus Blades and nailed to the ground, while the remaining three blades hovered at her throat and in front of her eyes.
At the sight, silence fell. The entire field was as quiet as the grave.
After a long moment, Lan Si was the first to break the silence. "Well, little rabbit, do you admit defeat?"
Xiao Wu had gone deathly pale with fright. When she realized the pain she'd expected hadn't come and heard Lan Si's question, she slowly opened her eyes. The blades were only a hair's breadth from her eyes and throat. Too scared to move, she hurriedly answered, "I admit defeat! I admit defeat! Get these things away from me!"
Lan Si beckoned, and the eight blades flew into the air above his palm, reuniting into the Cyan Lotus Martial Soul.
He gave Xiao Wu on the ground and Tang San, whose expression was still grave, a long look. Without saying more, he recalled his Martial Soul and strode toward the cafeteria. He hadn't eaten all day and was starving.
Watching Lan Si walk away, the students remained silent for a while longer. Finally, Xiao Chenyu couldn't hold back and exclaimed, "Amazing! Who's that new student? He's even stronger than Xiao Wu! Come on, let's follow him. He'll be our boss from now on!"
Now that Lan Si had easily beaten Xiao Wu, Xiao Chenyu stopped calling her Sister Xiao Wu. He led a group of upper-year students after Lan Si, practically skipping along.
Only the work-study students remained, still too stunned to recover.
As for Tang San, he went over to Xiao Wu and, after confirming she wasn't hurt, offered a few words of comfort before turning and running back toward the dormitory.
He needed to ask his teacher, Yu Xiaogang, about it.
Why could Lan Si, an auxiliary-type Soul Master, obtain such a powerful skill?
The question aroused Tang San's intense curiosity.
Tang San even felt that Lan Si's Soul Ring Skill seemed tailor-made for Tang Sect disciples.
Combined with the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons techniques, even he—a genius disciple confident in his mastery of the Tang Sect Secret Arts—wasn't sure he could defend against it.
The academy field wasn't far from the cafeteria. After lunch, Lan Si shook off Xiao Chenyu and the others, who had followed him there, and headed to the academy library.
He already had a plan for the next few years.
At night, he'd cultivate the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art to temper his Soul Power.
During the day, he'd strengthen his body, practice the martial techniques that came with the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art, study Soul Master theory, and work at a blacksmith's shop.
His Second Martial Soul was a hammer, so he needed to master the corresponding hammer techniques. Tang San's Storm Cloak was undoubtedly the best choice.
He could learn it by observing Tang San use Storm Cloak while blacksmithing, then secretly copying him.
But he'd have to wait until Tang San started working at the blacksmith's shop.
Meanwhile, Tang San had already returned to Yu Xiaogang's lodgings.
After helping Tang San hunt for a Soul Ring, Yu Xiaogang had been poisoned by the Black Mamba Snake. He still couldn't move and remained bedridden.
Seeing Tang San return so soon, Yu Xiaogang smiled and asked, "What's wrong, Xiao San? Have you already finished registering as a Soul Master?"
Tang San walked to the table, poured Yu Xiaogang a cup of hot tea, and asked respectfully, "Teacher, I just saw Lan Si's first Soul Skill."
"Oh?" Yu Xiaogang took the tea, blew on it lightly, and asked with complete confidence, "What was it? A Soul Power boost or healing?"
Tang San shook his head. "Neither. It was an extremely powerful offensive Soul Skill. He could turn the Cyan Lotus into eight flying blades to attack his enemies, and they were incredibly fast. An ordinary One-Ring Soul Master would find it almost impossible to block them, unless they were the defensive type you mentioned."
"What color was his Soul Ring?" Yu Xiaogang's face stiffened. He quickly pressed him for an answer.
"A Yellow Soul Ring, a hundred years old," Tang San replied.
Yu Xiaogang's mouth twitched. Remembering how he'd confidently told Lan Si, right in front of Tang San, to absorb the Soul Power Holy Wood with its ninety years of Soul Power, his cheeks began to burn. He felt as if he'd just been slapped in the face.
Damn it. If only he'd known, he wouldn't have taken Lan Si to the Soul Hunting Forest.
***
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