In the early morning of the next day, the Magic Academy morning fog had not yet dissipated, and the breeze carrying the aroma of green grass blew through the lawn, blowing the glass wind chimes on the wooden fence, making a crisp tinkling sound.
Tang San was sitting in the pavilion from yesterday, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the edge of the tea cup.
He stayed up all night, replaying every detail of last night in the pine forest over and over in his mind - Tang Hao's ugly appearance of begging for mercy, Tang San's resentful and unwilling eyes, and the warm hand that fell on his shoulder when Bibi Dong turned around.
"Here, here you go."
Gui Mengguan pushed a fist-sized transparent crystal ball in front of him. The crystal ball glowed softly white in the morning light. It was the one Locke used to test his magic talent. "I originally wanted to test it for you yesterday, but then I forgot about it because of too many things. Anyway, I'm here now, so let's try it. What if you have magic talent?"
Qian Gujue leaned against the pillar, spinning coins in his hand, and added with a smile, "If you are really talented, you will be Spirit Hall's first magician. Then the Pope may even open a magic branch for you, and you will be the dean."
"Stop dreaming, boss." Oupai gnawed on the freshly baked bean paste buns and said vaguely, "Magic talent is not so easy to come by. Only one out of five thousand people can come up with it. How can it be our turn? But it's not bad to try, what if?"
Tang San looked at the crystal ball in front of him, with a trace of curiosity flashing in his eyes. When he watched Locke teach children to mobilize magic power yesterday, he was full of interest in this new power system.
He reached out his hand and gently pressed it on the crystal ball.
A cold touch came from his fingertips. Tang San held his breath and concentrated, following the method Gui Mengguan taught him, relaxing his mind and trying to feel the invisible elemental particles in the air.
Time passed by minute by minute.
The crystal ball was still transparent, not emitting any light, not even the faintest glimmer.
"Sure enough, not." Oupai shrugged, not surprised at all, "I'm just saying, we Soul Master's pure destiny, how can we not be lucky enough to learn magic."
Gui Mengguan put away the crystal ball, patted Tang San on the shoulder, and comforted, "It's okay, there is no talent without talent. Although magic is magical, it is not omnipotent. Our Spirit Hall's Soul Master system has been passed down for tens of thousands of years, and we can still reach the top of the continent."
Tang San took back his hand and nodded, with no trace of disappointment on his face.
In fact, he had already had a premonition.
When he pressed on the crystal ball just now, he could clearly feel that an energy completely different from Soul Power was slowly flowing in the air.
That kind of energy is softer, purer, as pervasive as water, and is everywhere. It does not need Martial Soul as a medium, nor does it need the blessing of Soul Ring. As long as it has enough affinity, it can naturally mobilize the elements between heaven and earth for its own use, just like breathing.
I have to admit that in essence, magic is indeed much more advanced than the Martial Soul system.
The Soul Master system relies too much on Martial Soul and Soul Ring. Without a good Martial Soul, you will only be an ordinary person for the rest of your life; without Soul Ring, even if you have the best talent, you will not be able to make progress.
And as Soul Beast becomes less and less, high-end Soul Ring becomes more and more difficult to obtain, and the ceiling of the Soul Master system has been lowered visibly to the naked eye.
But magic is different.
It only looks at talent, not family background, or bloodline. Even if you are the humblest civilian, as long as you have magic talent, you can become a respected magician. Moreover, the power of magic comes from the elements of heaven and earth, which is inexhaustible and will never be exhausted.
"It is indeed a very good power system." Tang San said softly, with a hint of admiration in his tone, "If it can be popularized, it may really change the world."
"It's a pity that the threshold for talent is too high." Qian Gujue sighed, "Otherwise, only more than two hundred people in the entire continent can learn it. And even if they learn it, it is too weak in the early stage. A first-level magician cannot even defeat Soul Grandmaster. If we really want to fight, we Soul Master are more reliable."
Tang San smiled and did not refute.
He's right.
Although the upper limit of magic is high, its growth in the early stage is too slow and too fragile. A magician without any protection is almost at the mercy of others as long as he is close.
As for the Soul Master system, although its upper limit is not as good as magic, it is more stable and has strong early combat effectiveness. Moreover, after tens of thousands of years of development, it has formed an extremely complete training and combat system.
What's more, he doesn't need to envy others.
He has Twin Martial Souls, Clear Sky Sect's inheritance, Bibi Dong's personal teachings, and Spirit Hall's dedication of all his resources. His path is much smoother than that of most people in the world.
Whether he has magic talent or not is not important to him at all.
"By the way," Tang San put down the teacup and looked at Gui Mengguan, "Mother said that the public trial of Tang Hao is scheduled to be held in the big square of Spirit City in three months. At that time, all the forces in the continent will send representatives to watch the ceremony. You three, please go back together."
Guimengka smiled, "We will go back and take a look at that time, there is no rush now."
"Tang San, you don't need to take it too seriously." Tang San said calmly, "He is full of Xiao Wu in his head now, and he won't be able to do anything at all. Soul Master Tournament in two years, I will deal with him personally."
Having said this, his eyes became a little colder.
He still clearly remembers Tang San's rebellious words last night.
If he dared to insult his mother, even his other self would never forgive him.
Two years later, Spirit City, he will use the most straightforward way to completely end this absurd fate.
No wonder the twins were an ominous sign, he finally understood now.
"Don't worry, we will help you keep an eye on him." Oupai said, patting his chest, "If he dares to do anything small, we will beat him up first to vent your anger."
"No need." Tang San shook his head, "I want to defeat him with my own hands. I want him to know that the same starting point and different choices will lead to different lives."
He wanted Tang San to see with his own eyes what kind of life Spirit Hall, whom he regarded as his enemy, and Bibi Dong, whom he regarded as his enemy, gave him.
He also wants Tang San to understand how stupid it is to place all his hopes on a woman who doesn't love him.
At the same time, in the Shrek dormitory building on the other side of the Magic Academy, the atmosphere was particularly depressing.
Tang San was sitting at the table, with a steaming bowl of preserved egg and lean meat porridge in front of him, and a basket of freshly cooked steamed dumplings. He went to the most famous breakfast shop in the east of the city before dawn and waited in line for half an hour to buy these.
But Xiao Wu just glanced at it and pushed it away impatiently. "It's these again, I'm tired of eating them. I want to eat the crab roe buns from the store in the west of the city. Go and buy them for me now."
"But Xiao Wu," Tang San frowned and said softly, "The west of the city is too far away from here. It takes more than half an hour to go back and forth. By the time you finish eating, Dean Locke's class will start. How about you eat this today and I will buy you crab roe buns tomorrow?"
"No!" Xiao Wu immediately pouted and put his hands on his hips and said, "I want to eat crab roe buns right now! Are you going? If you don't go, I will never pay attention to you again!"
"Okay, okay, I'll go, I'll go." Tang San immediately compromised, picked up his coat and walked out, "Just wait, I'll be back soon."
Looking at the back of Tang San running out in a hurry, Dai Mubai shook his head helplessly, and spread his hands towards Ma Hongjun and Oscar: "You see, there is no hope. I was beaten like that yesterday, and today I can still run around to buy breakfast."
"Oh," Ma Hongjun sighed and took a bite of the steamed bun, "If a woman had treated me like this, I would have fallen out with her a long time ago. Only the third brother can endure it until now."
"Tell me, what happened last night?" Oscar lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "After the third brother came back, he has been obsessed with it. He didn't say anything when I asked him. Who else is he? Is it really not his brother? No matter how I look at it, I feel that they look exactly the same."
"It must be." Dai Mubai said firmly, "As for what happened, I really don't know..."
"Then why didn't Third Brother tell us?" Ma Hongjun asked doubtfully, "We are brothers."
"Who knows." Dai Mubai shrugged, "Maybe there is something unspeakable. But no matter what, he is our brother. If that person dares to bully our brother, we definitely can't sit idly by."
Oscar and Ma Hongjun both nodded.
Although they feel that Tang San is too humble to Xiao Wu, after all, they are brothers who have lived together through life and death. No matter what happens, they will stand by Tang San's side.
But they didn't know that what the third brother, who valued love and righteousness in their eyes, was thinking about at the moment was not brotherhood at all, but how to defeat Tang San on Soul Master Tournament two years later and take away everything from him.