Tang San's Current Situation

Spirit City, Soul Master Creation Institute, side courtyard quiet chamber.

Tang San sat cross-legged on the bed, his hands forming seals as the internal force of the Mysterious Heaven Skill slowly circulated through his meridians. Soul Power in the air was drawn toward him, seeping into his limbs and bones with each breath before gathering in his dantian as a warm current.

He had already lived here for an entire year.

When he had first followed his teacher to Spirit City, Tang San had been filled with anticipation.

Spirit Hall was the sacred land of Soul Masters across the continent, a place of glory every Soul Master dreamed of reaching.

And his teacher, Yu Xiaogang, had personally been appointed by the Pope as the dean of the Creation Institute, overseeing all research affairs. His position was prestigious, his influence boundless.

For the first few months, everything had indeed gone well.

The Creation Institute had assigned Yu Xiaogang an independent side courtyard as his residence. Benefiting from his teacher's status, Tang San had occupied the best quiet chamber by himself.

He no longer had to squeeze into the work-study student dormitory or share a bed with others. The cultivation resources provided by Spirit Hall were things Nuoding Academy would never have dared dream of: Soul Tools that assisted cultivation, medicinal baths for refinement and purification, and environmental simulations that could not be bought even with money outside.

Tang San's cultivation speed had already surpassed that of ordinary people. With the support of these resources, his progress had become even more astonishing.

A month ago, he had broken through Rank 20.

At the moment Soul Power surged through his meridians and shattered that bottleneck, Tang San had been filled with excitement.

From Innate Full Soul Power to Rank 10, then Rank 20, it had taken less than a year in total. Such speed would have qualified as genius-level throughout the entire Soul Master world.

But that excitement had lasted only a moment.

Because after breaking through, he needed a Soul Ring.

Without a Soul Ring, his realm could not advance.

Continuing to cultivate would only cause Soul Power to accumulate ever more densely in his dantian, yet he would never be able to break through to the next realm.

Tang San knew that his teacher was researching a method for Self-Condensed Soul Rings, and he knew that the entire Creation Institute was working desperately toward it. Over the past year, he had watched Yu Xiaogang go from high-spirited to increasingly gaunt, watched those scholars go from brimming with confidence to wearing faces full of worry.

He did not urge him.

He believed his teacher would definitely find a way.

But a month had passed.

He still cultivated on schedule every day, yet he had no way to advance his realm.

The feeling of clearly being able to grow stronger but having to forcibly stop was even more unbearable than being stuck at the bottleneck itself.

Yu Xiaogang had just finished organizing that Title Douluo gathering that had shaken the continent and had not even had time to catch his breath. On the night he returned, he called Tang San to his study.

The study desk was piled with transcripts compiled during the gathering, more than three hundred pages stacked into a thick pile. A huge new deduction chart had been pasted onto the wall, covered in densely packed formulas and structural sketches. They were the insights of dozens of Title Douluo.

"Little San." Yu Xiaogang sat behind the desk, his eye sockets deeply sunken and his cheekbones sharply protruding. A washed-out white robe hung loosely from his body. His voice was hoarse, yet two stubborn flames still burned in his eyes. "With these materials, your teacher will definitely solve the problem of Soul Ring structure. Then you'll have a Soul Ring and be able to break through!"

Seeing the dark circles beneath his teacher's eyes, Tang San felt a wave of heartache. He wanted to say, "Teacher, you should rest," but the words reached his lips and were swallowed back down.

Because he knew saying it would be useless.

"This disciple believes in Teacher." Tang San smiled.

Although he still could not see any hope of obtaining a Soul Ring.

Spirit Hall and Yu Xiaogang were still the places where he felt he had the greatest hope of obtaining one.

So he would continue waiting.

If he could not advance his Soul Master realm, then he would cultivate the Tang Sect Secret Techniques.

Sunset Forest.

"Su Mo, where are we going now?"

Xiao Wu skipped along behind Su Mo.

With Lovesick Heartbreak Red concealing her aura, she was far more relaxed than before and no longer constantly lived on edge.

"Of course, we're going back!"

"Then we'll keep lying low and cultivating!"

Su Mo said with a smile.

Although he had absorbed an Immortal Herb and condensed his second Soul Ring, he was still far too weak.

He was only a two-ring Soul Grandmaster, still a little rookie among Soul Masters.

And now that he had Fiery Golden Eyes, he could create Self-Created Soul Skills even better. Naturally, he needed to keep watching the battles at the Great Soul Arena!

The two had only left the poisonous miasma surrounding the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well for less than half an hour when Su Mo suddenly stopped.

Because five people had appeared in front of them.

The man who seemed to be their leader fixed his gaze on Su Mo and Xiao Wu, pulling his lips into an ugly grin. "Couldn't find any Soul Beasts, but we ran into two little rabbits instead."

He stuck out his tongue and licked his chapped lips, a lecherous glint flashing in his eyes. "Two tender little rabbits."

"Haha, they are tender. They both look delicious!"

The others also began to laugh.

After being tempered by the Immortal Herbs, Su Mo and Xiao Wu had become even more attractive.

They had clearly caught the eye of a bunch of perverts.

They would not even let Su Mo off just because he was a boy.

"How is there such a fresh little girl in a place like this?" The leader sized Xiao Wu up with his gaze, then turned to Su Mo and looked him over from head to toe. He clicked his tongue twice. "The little brother is pretty handsome too."

Su Mo looked at them expressionlessly. Xiao Wu poked half her head out from behind him, her brows tightly furrowed.

Having lived for so many years, she immediately saw what these people had in mind.

Their gazes were filled with greed, lust, and undisguised malice.

"Little brother, little sister, stop hiding." A triangular-eyed man grinned as he stepped forward two paces, spreading his hands. His tone was like someone coaxing children. "The forest is dangerous. Come with your uncles and sisters, and we'll take you into the city for something tasty."

Su Mo neither moved nor spoke. He merely stood there quietly, his left hand already resting inconspicuously on the hilt of the Dark Silver Longsword at his waist.

He had already seen through their strength. Only the leader was a Soul Ancestor, while the rest were all Soul Elders.

Although they were not weak, reaching such a level at their age clearly meant their talent was nothing special.

So he wanted to test whether he could fight opponents above his level.

If he could not win, he could always use Teleportation to run away.

But he believed that would not be necessary. Xiao Wu alone could probably deal with every one of them.

"Big Brother, why waste words with them? They're just two brats. Can't we just capture them and take them back? I've been holding it in for months. That little girl is mine, and you can split that boy among yourselves!"

At that moment, a bald man stepped out and charged directly at Su Mo and Xiao Wu.

"Xiao Wu."

"We're going in. Kill them!"

Su Mo's voice was as calm as if he were commenting on the weather.

"Understood!"

Before the bald man could rush over, Su Mo and Xiao Wu vanished from where they stood at the same time.

The bald man's pupils contracted. He had not even seen how the two of them disappeared.