Over the next few days, Flender nearly began to doubt his own sanity.
Whenever a thousand-year Soul Beast showed up as an unwelcome guest,
Gangzi and Tang San, the master-and-disciple pair, would light up like flies spotting a crack in a rotten egg.
Then they would have Flender restrain the thousand-year Soul Beast, after which came the whole treatment: an enema followed by a faceful of toxic gas.
Flender couldn't help wondering if he could earn a few Soul Bones by killing the thousand-year Soul Beasts that fled in such a sorry state.
After all, the stronger a Soul Beast's resentment before death, the higher the chance of a Soul Bone forming after it died.
This had led quite a few groups of Soul Masters to make a profit from the practice.
Even so, the odds of a Soul Beast producing a Soul Bone were still painfully low, yet they never tired of it.
If Gangzi and Tang San hadn't shown any intention of taking these Soul Beasts' lives, Flender would have thought they were after Soul Bones.
That was absolutely no way for a human to behave.
A week later, the three of them found the true target of their trip in a mountain hollow.
A Ghost Vine close to 650 years old.
According to Gangzi's theory, the maximum age for a second Soul Ring was around 760 years.
But the two of them had God Trials backing them, so they didn't care about the difference in age at all. The years would be made up once they completed their trials, anyway.
That would also spare them some risk.
Watching Tang San slice through the Ghost Vine's stem with a single blow, Flender let out a breath of relief.
The kid was finally getting down to business.
He'd have to be careful not to let Tang San sneak up behind him in the future. The kid seemed to have a particular fondness for doing that.
Absorbing the Soul Ring went smoothly, and Tang San opened his eyes after just a few hours.
After nearly twenty trials, Tang San's First Soul Ring was now older than his Second Soul Ring.
He didn't care about that at all. Instead, he looked forward to completing his twentieth trial.
At the same time, he was relieved that Flender, a Soul Sage, had accompanied them.
If he and Gangzi had gone Soul Hunting together, how could they have dared pull such a nasty stunt on a thousand-year Soul Beast?
They'd have been lucky not to be chased all over the forest.
"Xiao San, how's the Soul Skill?"
Gangzi cared a great deal about the Soul Skill of his prized pupil. Blue Silver Grass might not be much, but Tang San's talent and a relatively old Soul Ring were enough to guarantee that his Soul Skill wouldn't be too weak.
Gangzi was so full of himself that he didn't have the slightest idea that Tang San's Martial Soul wasn't Blue Silver Grass at all, but the king of its kind, the Blue Silver Emperor.
"Teacher, my Second Soul Skill is Parasite."
"After using it, I can scatter a large number of Blue Silver Grass seeds across the ground and promote their growth."
"Mm, a good control-type Soul Skill. Let's keep moving!"
Hearing Gangzi's assessment, Flender nodded repeatedly.
He was still quite surprised that Tang San's Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass.
His old friend had studied Martial Souls in great depth, and Flender trusted his judgment.
While they were looking for a Soul Beast for Yu Xiaogang, a few more thousand-year Soul Beasts with no sense of self-preservation mistook the three of them for prey.
As expected, the master and disciple gave them a whole therapy session without a hitch.
Counting the Soul Beasts from earlier, the pair had now tormented nine thousand-year Soul Beasts each.
They only needed one more, and the trial would be complete.
"Xiao Gang, what kind of Soul Beast are you looking for, exactly?"
"I thought that Steel Armor Rhino just now looked pretty good."
"Maybe it could even give Sanpao a charge-type Soul Skill or something."
Yu Xiaogang shook his head. If he hadn't inherited the Plague God's legacy and had to break through level 30 on his own strength, maybe he really would have picked a sturdy sort of Soul Ring, just as Flender had suggested.
But now, he'd still chosen to develop his toxic gas.
Giving Sanpao all sorts of attributes was the way to go.
That suited the Plague God's nature, too, didn't it?
He'd taken the words "The gods don't just choose those with exceptional talent; they also choose successors who suit them" as the absolute truth.
"Wind or fire attribute. I won't consider anything else!"
"All right, got it."
Flender didn't try to persuade him further. He didn't think his knowledge of Soul Beasts could surpass Gangzi's, given how diligently his friend had studied them.
Just as the three of them were about to continue onward, a sudden rustling came from the forest not far away.
Then came a huge snorting sound.
"Hrrr...""Hrrr..."
A few seconds later, a wild-boar-shaped Soul Beast with enormous tusks and flames burning along its back appeared in their line of sight.
The wild boar clearly mistook the three of them for prey, too. The moment it appeared, its forelegs began pawing at the ground, readying itself to charge.
Tang San, standing between the other two, perked up at the sight of their target.
"Teacher, it's an Explosive Flame Boar, a fire-attribute Soul Beast. Judging by the color of its flames, it's just over a thousand years old."
At Tang San's introduction, Flender's eyes lit up.
"Xiao Gang, it's fire-attribute, and it's a pig. Perfect for Luo Sanpao!"
Gangzi's excited expression darkened at once when he heard Flender.
He couldn't help feeling that the little brat was taking a jab at him.
What did a pig have to do with Sanpao and me?
This was a dragon, a dragon that hadn't fully evolved yet!
Still, whether he liked it or not, he had to seize the chance when a suitable Soul Ring appeared.
"Flender, that's the one!"
"Got it. Watch this."
Flender was overjoyed. At last, this bizarre Soul Hunting trip was about to end.
It had already been fourteen days since they entered the forest.
All this time, he'd had to stay alert to danger around them while also having his eyes and nostrils assaulted by the master-and-disciple pair. It was pure double torture.
Spreading his wings, Flender reached the skies above the Explosive Flame Boar at terrifying speed. As it stared at him in fear, he knocked it out in one blow and carried it back to Gangzi.
"Done. Your turn, Xiao Gang."
"No rush, no rush."
While Flender stood there, utterly bewildered, Gangzi jerked his chin at Tang San, signaling for him to go first.
Tang San rubbed his hands together and excitedly made his way behind the Explosive Flame Boar.
He began his therapy session.
Flender covered his face with one hand. He never would have thought the master-and-disciple pair could have so little shame.
They wouldn't even spare their own Soul Ring.
He had no doubt that if the Ghost Vine had been built for it, Tang San would have insisted on reaching inside and fishing around.
Tang San's cleanup work slowly roused the Explosive Flame Boar, which began struggling violently.
In the end, Flender had to release his pressure to subdue it.
A few minutes later, Tang San stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow, then nodded at Gangzi.
"All done, teacher. He's a clean wild boar now."
"Mm. Watch me."
Turning to face the wild boar's head, Gangzi started. Flender and Tang San both instinctively took a step back.
As purple-green gas spread around them, the Explosive Flame Boar began convulsing all over.
Its sunken, bloodshot eyes seemed to be saying, How can a human fart smell worse than mine?
Since this was the final target, and the Soul Beast that would provide his Soul Ring, Gangzi had no intention of holding back.
He was determined to release every bit of what he'd stored up on the way here.
As a result, the Explosive Flame Boar began foaming at the mouth.
Perhaps the threat of death made it forget the fear Flender had inspired.
The Explosive Flame Boar launched one final, desperate struggle before death. Its tusks, tens of centimeters long, jabbed hard at the Source of Plague.
"Aaah! Ohohohoho..."
Gangzi's face twisted in pain, with a touch of delirious pleasure. A flicker of sympathy passed through Flender and Tang San's eyes.
A few seconds later, the Explosive Flame Boar struggled to its feet and fled into the distance.
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