Crushing Tang San, Future Plans

"He actually turned into a crane?"

Seeing Ling Yun transform into a Flame Crane, Tang San and Xiao Wu both widened their eyes. Moreover, this Flame Crane seemed even stronger than the previous Divine Wood Ape.

"This is bad. Cranes can fly and are incredibly fast. I can't let Ling Yun take to the air, or it will be even harder for us to defeat him. It looks like I have to use my second soul skill."

With that, Tang San immediately condensed his soul power. The second soul ring at his feet lit up, and slender strands of Blue Silver Grass appeared all around Ling Yun, coiling toward him like vines.

"Second Soul Skill: Parasite!"

Just moments ago, while controlling the Blue Silver Grass to entangle Ling Yun, Tang San had scattered seeds of the Blue Silver Grass across the surrounding ground.

At the critical moment, these seeds transformed into individual strands of Blue Silver Grass, binding Ling Yun tightly. Even Tang San hadn't expected to need these seeds so soon.

Seeing dozens of Blue Silver Grass strands attacking him, Ling Yun laughed with disdain: "They are nothing but a pile of weeds. Behold my Fire Spirit Power!"

No sooner said than done, Ling Yun opened his beak and spat out a scorching flame, igniting the incoming Blue Silver Grass and burning them to ash before flapping his wings to soar into the sky.

At the same time, starting from his snow-white wings, a raging fire began to burn across his body. He now looked just like the legendary Fire Phoenix.

Immediately after, Ling Yun flapped his wings and dove straight down, swooping toward Tang San and Xiao Wu.

"Flame Crane Ultimate Move: Fire Crane Sky Fall!"

Feeling the heatwave rushing toward them, Tang San's face turned deathly pale, his heart filled with shock. Xiao Wu, standing beside him, felt the breath of death and couldn't help but close her eyes in despair.

But in the end, considering that Tang Hao might be nearby, Ling Yun did not harm them; he simply flew right over their heads.

He then deactivated his transformation and laughed: "Hehe, I won this sparring match again. You two better pay up."

"I didn't expect your strength to be this great. Even with Xiao Wu and me joining forces, we were no match for you..."

After being defeated, Tang San didn't act like a sore loser. He took ten Gold Soul Coins from the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist, handed them to Ling Yun, and continued.

"But don't get cocky. We will meet again one day. I will challenge you again then, and the one who emerges victorious will definitely be me."

"Then keep working hard. But I'll say it again: those who fall by my hand are never viewed as rivals by me. I will give you time to surpass me, until you can no longer even see my back!"

With that, Ling Yun walked out of the small woods and left Notting Academy.

After Ling Yun left, Tang San sat on the ground, looking dejected, frowning at his Blue Silver Grass.

"Is it not just my strength? Has even my Soul Power Level been surpassed by Ling Yun? And his soul rings—he was actually able to absorb a thousand-year soul ring beyond his limit. Am I really inferior to him?"

"Don't be discouraged, Little San!"

At this moment, Yu Xiaogang walked behind Tang San, gently patted his shoulder, and comforted him: "Ling Yun is not as powerful as you imagine. The reason he was able to defeat you is simply because he relied on two soul skills that rival a Martial Soul Avatar.

Didn't you notice? Every time Ling Yun sparred with you before, he used his soul skills right away. What does that tell you? It means that without using soul skills, he is no match for you at all, and he doesn't even dare to face you head-on."

Yu Xiaogang's comfort did not make Tang San feel relieved; instead, it made him even more distressed.

"But Teacher, aren't soul skills a part of a soul master's strength? One could even say that most of a soul master's power lies in their soul skills. Ling Yun's first two soul skills are so powerful that he was already winning at the starting line."

"You are right, but no matter how good his first two soul skills are, they are only hundred-year and thousand-year skills. Don't forget, you have Twin Martial Souls!"

Yu Xiaogang's eyes shone as he looked at his disciple, filled with excitement, and explained.

"If you can become a Title Douluo, you can attach ten-thousand-year or even hundred-thousand-year soul rings to that Hammer. By then, could your Hammer's first and second soul skills be any worse than Ling Yun's? Would you still be afraid of not being able to beat him?"

Once these words were spoken, Tang San immediately perked up, thinking to himself: That's right, I still have that Hammer! No matter how strong Ling Yun is, he only has one martial soul. I have two. As long as I add ten-thousand-year soul rings to that Hammer, I can defeat Ling Yun.

Seeing Tang San's expression, Yu Xiaogang knew he had recovered, so he immediately revealed a gratified smile and continued.

"Not only that, I have also discovered a huge weakness in Ling Yun."

"A weakness?" Tang San was stunned for a moment and asked hurriedly: "What weakness?"

"His soul ring configuration is clearly problematic!" Yu Xiaogang pointed out.

"Although he can absorb soul rings beyond his limit, his choices are almost chaotic.

His martial soul is a Metal Bracelet, yet instead of adding metal-attribute soul rings, he added wood and fire-attribute ones.

Especially the second fire-attribute soul ring; fire overcomes metal. Attribute conflict will cause irreversible damage to his martial soul, and might even harm his martial soul's origin.

In other words, the higher the age of his second soul ring, the greater the damage to his martial soul, and his own potential will decline as a result."

Speaking of this, the corners of Yu Xiaogang's mouth curled up into a standard "crooked-mouth dragon king" smile, and he said with full confidence.

"That brat doesn't have a master like me to guide him, so he will likely continue to add soul rings randomly. One can imagine that his potential will inevitably continue to decline. By then, you might be able to defeat him with just your Blue Silver Grass."

Hearing this, Tang San felt invigorated and completely recovered.

Teacher is right. Ling Yun has no teacher and just does whatever comes to mind. But I am different; I have a world-renowned teacher like Grandmaster to guide me. What does Ling Yun have to beat me with?

It is a good thing Ling Yun cannot read minds, otherwise, he would have laughed himself to death hearing Tang San's thoughts.

Yu Xiaogang—is he even worthy of the title "Grandmaster"?

After leaving Notting Academy, Ling Yun walked alone down the street, pondering his future plans.

"I've graduated from Notting Academy, so where should I go next? Martial Soul Hall is definitely out, and a third-rate, backyard academy like Shrek is definitely not an option either..."

"Heaven Dou Royal Academy is a decent choice."

Ling Yun thought to himself. Once he goes to Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he might be able to get in touch with Dugu Yan and subsequently obtain the immortal herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

With the immortal herbs, he might be able to surpass the Tang San of the original work and become the youngest Title Douluo in history.

Ling Yun fantasized with delight, but immediately shook his head, muttering to himself, "But the Heaven Dou Royal Academy only accepts children of the nobility. As a commoner, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to step through the academy gates."

In the original work, if Qin Ming hadn't become a teacher at the academy, the Shrek Seven Devils likely wouldn't have been able to enter the gates of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy either.

Even after they finally got in, they were still kicked out by a group of playboys led by Prince Xue Beng.

The only reason Ling Yun would even bother with such an academy is for the chance to get close to Dugu Yan; otherwise, he wouldn't even spare it a second glance.