A Whetstone? A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring Appears

Hearing Tang San stubbornly refuse to admit fault, even dressing up his sneak attack as some profound "way of hidden weapons," the watching students were stunned at first. Then, the disdain and contempt in their eyes nearly overflowed.

"What the hell is a way of hidden weapons!

A sneak attack is a sneak attack. You're even building yourself a shrine for it? Who are you trying to impress?"

"If you can't win, you resort to dirty tricks. Then you get caught and still force out excuses.

What kind of freak did Nuoding Academy recruit this year?"

"Exactly! You were bragging about being invincible among those of the same rank just now, but you couldn't even take one move from Brother Lin.

You still lost after using underhanded tricks. Do you have any shame at all?"

Each barbed mockery turned into invisible slaps, wildly striking Tang San across the face.

As a Tang Sect elite who had lived two lives, when had he ever suffered the humiliation of being condemned by so many?

From his perspective, he had done nothing wrong. The ones at fault were these ignorant natives of another world!

Listening to the overwhelming denunciations around him, Tang San felt his blood surge in his chest. His entire face turned the color of pig liver at a visible speed, his rage reaching the limit.

He clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging at his temples. His so-called "pure and spotless" image had long vanished, leaving only the impotent fury of someone whose defenses had completely shattered.

Seeing his precious disciple provoke public outrage and nearly get drowned in spit, Yu Xiaogang, who had been standing to the side, could no longer sit still.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to step forward. Putting on the airs of an otherworldly master, he tried to whitewash the matter with sophistry.

"What do you people know! When Soul Masters clash, they should use every possible means.

Xiao San's ability to reasonably make use of the tools he carried precisely proves that he has a flexible combat mind!

All is fair in war. That is true battle wisdom!"

Unfortunately, Gangzi's desperate attempt to save face did not calm the crowd's anger. Instead, it was like pouring a bucket of hot oil onto blazing flames.

Even louder laughter and jeers immediately erupted from the crowd.

"Give it a rest, Master Yu! Save that nonsensical bullshit theory of yours for fooling ghosts."

"You're a Level 29 loser whose martial soul can only fart, and the disciple you taught is a sinister little man who loves shooting cold arrows from behind people's backs.

What is this called? A crooked beam produces crooked rafters!"

"'All is fair in war,' my ass. I'd say it's more like father and son fighting together—an arrogant master-disciple act!

Stop making fools of yourselves here. Hurry back to your dorm and wash up before bed!"

Seeing that the heat was about right and the desired effect had been achieved, Lin Nuo casually raised a hand, stopping the crowd's denunciation of the ridiculous master-disciple pair.

It was best to stop while ahead. Everything needed moderation.

After all, somewhere in a dark corner of Nuoding Academy, that innately evil, filthy-blooded Tang Hao was still lurking who knew where.

Given how the Tang Clan protected their own cubs while having no sense of fair play, if he truly pushed Tang San into social death and a complete mental breakdown today, a several-thousand-jin Clear Sky Hammer might fly out from the shadows at any moment.

As for why Lin Nuo still dared to beat Tang San so badly when he knew Tang Hao, that god of slaughter, was watching from the shadows?

It was very simple.

Tang Hao was, after all, a Title Douluo. As long as Lin Nuo did not go for the kill, no matter how dissatisfied Tang Hao was, he would not stoop so low as to personally deal with a six-year-old child who had only just awakened his martial soul.

Besides, with the arrogance ingrained deep in Tang Hao's bones, he would absolutely believe that his son would one day be invincible among those of the same rank.

After witnessing today's battle, Tang Hao was more likely to go with the flow and regard Lin Nuo as a high-level whetstone for Tang San to gain experience from, rather than lose his mind.

Since you want me to be a whetstone, then I'll step on your bottom line and chip your blade!

If you want to use me as a stepping stone, you'll have to see whether Tang San still has the courage to look me in the eye in the future.

To be honest, with that crappy grass that had not even evolved into a Blue Silver Emperor, it could not merely break through his defenses—it could not even get within three feet of him.

What's more...

A furtive smile curled across Lin Nuo's lips.

The martial soul he had displayed was the Death Spider Emperor. Given the connection between that martial soul and Spirit Hall's current Pope, had Tang Hao's PTSD flared up while watching from the shadows?

Was he scared?

Regarding Ah Yin's sacrifice back then, regardless of whether it really had been a Tang Clan conspiracy as those unofficial histories speculated,

the final result was that the Clear Sky Sect had been hunted across the entire Douluo Continent by Spirit Hall because of Tang Hao. They had been forced to seal their mountain and suffered irreversible damage.

As the Douluo Continent's foremost sect slave, Tang Hao was wracked with guilt.

Before Tang Hao had absolute certainty that he could silence Lin Nuo without leaving a trace, he would never dare act rashly.

Even taking ten thousand steps back, under the rules of the Douluo Continent, a Title Douluo with a higher Soul Power Level could perfectly conceal his aura.

Tang Hao was currently carrying years of old injuries. At most, he only had the combat strength of Level 95.

That old bastard would certainly argue with himself and conclude that a stronger expert with even greater Soul Power was secretly protecting Lin Nuo.

For the sake of his precious sect, for the sake of his promising son who had only just begun his journey, and even more so for his long-term plan to keep the hundred-thousand-year transformed soul beast Xiao Wu as a "reserve Soul Ring,"

as long as Tang Hao had not gotten water in his brain, he could only grit his teeth and swallow this humiliation today, obediently hiding in the shadows!

Just then, Xiao Wu, who had previously gone somewhere secluded to secretly condense her first Soul Ring, came hopping back.

From a long way off, this rabbit who loved joining the excitement spotted a large crowd gathered beneath the dormitory building. She could vaguely hear words such as "Master Yu," "Tang San," and "sneak attack."

Although this silly rabbit had only known Gangzi and his disciple for a few days at most, her initial favorability toward Tang San, this human cub, was genuinely quite high.

There was no other reason. It was simply because the fresh scent of vegetation from Tang San's Blue Silver Grass was so close to nature.

That scent always gave her the warm, familiar feeling of returning to her home in the Star Dou Forest to chew grass. Once she breathed it in, she simply could not stop.

"Wang Sheng! What's going on up ahead? Did Xiao San get into a fight with someone?"

Sharp-eyed, Xiao Wu grabbed several Dorm Seven working students who had just squeezed out from the front line of the spectacle. She curiously perked up the rabbit ears atop her head.

Seeing that it was their boss lady, Wang Sheng hurriedly wiped away his sweat and animatedly recounted everything that had just happened in full detail.

From Tang San's shameless sneak attack with a hidden weapon to Lin Nuo breaking through his defenses with one strike and overwhelmingly defeating him in seconds, he described it all vividly.

"Huh? There's actually a human cub with talent even more monstrous than Xiao San's? And he took him down in one move?"

After hearing Wang Sheng's account, a huge flash of astonishment appeared in Xiao Wu's eyes.

Unable to resist, the silly rabbit stood on tiptoe and looked over the crowd, fixing a probing and curious gaze directly on the casually standing youth at the center of the encirclement—Lin Nuo.

However, the moment she clearly saw what he looked like, her entire body was struck as if by lightning.

Damn it? Could it be...