"Grandmaster means for me to use my Sharp-Tailed Swift Martial Soul as a reason to send him to the Speed Clan for training on his own?" Tang Hao frowned as he heard Yu Xiaogang's plan.
The reason sounded perfectly reasonable. If it worked, it would not only separate the siblings and let Third Sister become truly independent and self-reliant, but also greatly benefit Tang Yin's cultivation.
A win-win! The minds of cultured people really were useful.
At the thought, Tang Hao nodded. Apart from his younger sister Yue Hua, their Tang family couldn't scrape together a single brain between their late father, who had been angered to death, and the two brothers.
He had been able to focus on his cultivation back then because he'd listened to the elders' advice and trained methodically.
Even when he'd been too afraid to go home because he was in love with Ah Yin, a human and a beast, it had been on an elder's advice that he'd slept with Ah Yin first and contacted his father afterward.
As it turned out, the elder had been right. His father accepted their union and agreed to let him bring his pregnant wife, Ah Yin, back to the Clear Sky Sect to be acknowledged as family.
Unfortunately, somehow, word had leaked, and the Spirit Hall found out.
Damn the Spirit Hall!
Though things had ended in tragedy, there had been nothing wrong with the plan itself.
So he still agreed wholeheartedly with his father's teachings. And in his eyes, Yu Xiaogang was precisely the sort of professional his father had spoken of.
"Fine, we'll do as Grandmaster says. I'll head back to Holy Soul Village and talk to that boy."
Tang Hao was a man of decisive action. Now that he had a plan, he decided to return to Holy Soul Village at once.
"Bang."
After leaving behind a Pope Token, he shut the door and vanished from Yu Xiaogang's sight.
I never thought the idol I once looked up to would be so easy to manipulate with just a few words. Yu Xiaogang chuckled inwardly. His former idol had crumbled in his heart, replaced by contempt.
Meanwhile, in Holy Soul Village, a little hamlet with no nightlife to speak of, Tang Yin, Tang Sanmei, and Xiao Wu—who had insisted on following them back to the village to have a look—had all finished dinner early and gone to rest.
I finally broke through to level fifteen. Tang Yin slowly opened his eyes as he meditated on his bed, nodding in satisfaction.
Not long after Third Sister had broken through to level sixteen, Tang Yin had finally reached level fifteen that very night.
He had to admit, even though the protagonist's gender had changed, the protagonist was still the protagonist. Despite spending half a year splitting his attention between cultivation and hammering away at the blacksmith's, Tang Sanmei's progress remained astonishing.
Could there really be a difference between people with Innate Full Soul Power?
Tang Yin felt a little helpless. Just as he was about to continue replacing sleep with meditation, his ear twitched. Through the window, he spotted a tall figure sitting beside the broken wooden table in the courtyard.
"Tang Hao?"
Even though the man was covered from head to toe by his cloak, Tang Yin recognized him by the moonlight.
Is he here to protect me personally, or...? No, how could a little Soul Master like me possibly detect a Titled Douluo who wanted to stay hidden?
Tang Yin immediately realized something was off. Tang Hao seemed to be deliberately revealing his presence—and targeting him alone.
Looks like he came here specifically for me! A thought struck him, and Tang Yin got up and went out into the courtyard. The instant he stepped inside, Tang Hao waved his right hand and released a Soul Power barrier, muffling all sounds from beyond the courtyard.
"Not bad. You have Innate Full Soul Power, and yet you've reached level fifteen in just one semester. It shows how hard you've worked at your cultivation." A flicker of surprise crossed Tang Hao's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
No matter how fast Tang Yin cultivated, he still couldn't compare to Third Sister in Tang Hao's eyes. After all, Tang Hao considered himself very familiar with the Sharp-Tailed Swift Martial Soul.
"Didn't you leave? Why come back and seek me out alone?" Tang Yin shrugged at this rare compliment from Tang Hao and sat down opposite him.
It was the first time since they'd come to this world that this father and son had spoken face-to-face.
"I originally planned to leave for a while to take care of something important, but..." Tang Hao glanced at Tang Yin with an impassive expression. "But I suddenly thought of your Martial Soul. I figured there might be a better path for you."
"A better path?" Tang Yin raised an eyebrow, a little surprised.
Aside from his hammer and Ah Yin, and raising Third Sister to take revenge on the Spirit Hall, did this old guy actually have anything else to worry about?
If someone showed you kindness for no reason, they were either a crook or a thief!
Tang Yin knew better than anyone. Tang Hao had obviously just met Yu Xiaogang, and the conversation had definitely involved him. Otherwise, Tang Hao would never have deviated from the original story and returned to Holy Soul Village to seek him out alone.
"That's right. A better path for cultivating your Sharp-Tailed Swift."
"Fine, let's hear it." Tang Yin sneered inwardly, though he showed nothing on his face. He wanted to see what Haozi and Gangzi were up to.
Seeing Tang Yin look interested, Tang Hao's lips unconsciously curled upward. But first, he asked a question. "Do you know where Martial Souls come from?"
Ha, now he's testing me!
"Of course. They're inherited from one's parents or ancestors, though there can also be mutations."
Tang Yin pursed his lips and recited common knowledge from the Douluo Continent.
"Right. This Martial Soul's true name is the Sharp-Tailed Swift. It's the hereditary Martial Soul of your grandmother's family." Tang Hao gave him a look that said he was right, then grew solemn. He planned to reveal a little about his mother's family.
"Your grandmother's family has some renown in the Soul Master World. They're known as the Speed Clan and focus entirely on speed. Though they don't have much combat ability, they play a crucial role in gathering intelligence and carrying out covert missions."
"Oh, I see. So what are you getting at, old man?" Tang Yin put on a shocked expression, though he'd already guessed what Tang Hao was after.
"I mean to send you to the Speed Clan to receive professional, systematic training. With your Innate Full Soul Power aptitude, your great-uncle is sure to give you everything he has. You might even..." Tang Hao paused. His brain, usually as dull as a block of wood, seemed to suddenly spring to life as a thought flashed through his mind.
"He might even see you as the hope of restoring the Speed Clan to its former glory and make you its clan leader." Tang Hao's eyes shone brighter and brighter as he spoke, utterly enthralled by his own astonishing wisdom.
In Tang Hao's bizarre view that blood ties mattered less than Martial Souls, his son Tang Yin was the first Sharp-Tailed Swift with Innate Full Soul Power in history. On top of that, his grandmother was the elder sister of Bai He, the current clan leader of the Speed Clan. Perhaps Tang Yin really could become its clan leader.
And once he did, he could use Bai He to connect with the other three clans, laying the groundwork for bringing the Four Clans back under the Clear Sky Sect's banner.
After all, the Clear Sky Sect really had treated them rather badly back then. It had practically used the Four Affiliated Clans as cannon fodder and abandoned them, shutting its gates and retreating into seclusion without so much as a word of warning. The Four Affiliated Clans had been left to face the Spirit Hall's wrath alone, suffering heavy casualties.
"You have to go to the Speed Clan!" After using up the brain cells of a lifetime, Tang Hao now spoke with an air that brooked no refusal, even though he'd originally meant it as a suggestion.
"Tang Yin, your sister has Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power. She's destined to stand at the peak of the Douluo Continent, and as her older brother, you should support her even more!"
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