Before Hunting for Soul Rings!

The forty-eight gems at his waist had already fused into his body. He couldn't feel a thing, but he knew they were there, quietly accompanying him.

There was no need to control them deliberately, no need to stay on guard, not even any need to think about them.

This was the state he wanted.

When he returned to Dorm Seven, Tang San was still fiddling with his belt.

He had already tested all twenty-four blue gems one by one, and each one held a few things.

Hidden Weapon parts, herbs, and a few books he'd borrowed from the library.

"Done washing?" Tang San looked up at him.

"Yeah." Huang Fei walked over to his bed and sat down, casually tossing the towel from his shoulder aside.

He didn't mention that he had a belt of his own now.

Tang San didn't ask, either.

The rules of this world were simple.

If someone didn't bring something up, don't ask about it.

Tang San had understood that since he was little, and so had Huang Fei.

But Tang San still couldn't help glancing at Huang Fei.

For some reason, after Huang Fei went to wash up and came back, he seemed... more relaxed?

Not the kind of relaxed that came from "I just woke up," but the kind that said, "I've taken care of something big."

Like a cat that had stolen a fish, licking its paws with satisfaction.

"Did something good happen?" Tang San asked.

Huang Fei burrowed under the covers, leaving only his eyes exposed.

"No."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"Am I smiling?"

"You've been smiling this whole time."

Huang Fei pulled the covers up to his chin, his eyes curving into two crescent moons.

"Then I guess... I had a good dream."

Tang San opened his mouth, wanting to ask, "Weren't you just taking a bath? What were you dreaming about?" But he swallowed the question before it came out.

Forget it. Trying to reason with Huang Fei was a pointless exercise to begin with.

He lowered his head and went back to fiddling with his Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges.

Huang Fei curled up under the covers and closed his eyes.

The forty-eight gems at his waist were quietly fused into his body, like forty-eight sleeping stars.

No matter what, he couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from turning up.

Early the next morning, Tang San hauled Huang Fei out of bed.

"Huang Fei! Huang Fei! Get up!"

Huang Fei had been dreaming that he was lying on a cloud, eating grapes, when a merciless hand dragged him down from the heavens and back onto the hard bed.

He blearily opened one eye and saw Tang San's face right in front of him, excitement shining in his eyes.

"Grandmaster agreed to take you along!"

"What?" Huang Fei's brain hadn't booted up yet.

"Your First Soul Ring! Grandmaster said he'd take me to hunt for my First Soul Ring today. I said you had to come too, so you could get one while we were at it. He agreed!"

Tang San said it all in one breath, unable to hold back his grin.

Huang Fei froze for a moment, then slowly sat up.

Tang San making that request had been a little unexpected.

But when he thought about it, it made sense.

Tang San had been used to looking after him since they were little. He would never keep a good thing to himself.

Now that someone had finally agreed to take him hunting for a Soul Ring, the first thing he'd thought of was bringing Huang Fei along.

"What did he say?" Huang Fei rubbed his eyes and asked.

"Grandmaster wasn't too keen at first. He said that taking one person or two was the same, but an extra person meant extra trouble."

Tang San relayed the conversation honestly. "But I said that if you weren't going, then I wasn't going either. He... hesitated for a moment, then agreed."

Huang Fei couldn't help laughing.

Gangzi, oh, Gangzi. You're really willing to endure humiliation for this experimental subject of yours.

After I'd torn into you to your face yesterday, you still managed to tolerate me coming along to hunt for a Soul Ring today.

That patience, all for the sake of the "greater plan"—it deserved a place in the textbooks.

"Fine, I'll go." Huang Fei jumped out of bed and began putting on his shoes.

Tang San paused, clearly not expecting Huang Fei to agree so readily.

He'd thought Huang Fei would say something like, "You guys go ahead. I'm too tired," then roll over and go back to sleep.

"You're not going back to sleep?" Tang San asked tentatively.

"Nope." Huang Fei finished tying his laces, stood up, and brushed off his pants. "How could I miss out on something like hunting for a Soul Ring?"

The real reason he didn't say aloud was this:

If he didn't go, and Tang San got taken in by Yu Xiaogang's poison-control route and hypnotic talk, and ended up absorbing an animal-type Soul Ring like the Mandala Snake, would his system give him the same kind of Soul Ring too—just with a few more years on it?

If Blue Silver Grass went down the poison-control route, its foundation would be crooked. No matter how much he tried to fix it later, it would be too late.

He had to go keep an eye on things.

He had to make sure Tang San's First Soul Ring had a life-force attribute.

As for himself—

As Huang Fei washed his face, he wondered: if Tang San successfully absorbed a Soul Ring with a life-force attribute, would the system give him that same Soul Ring too, as his linked partner?

Or would he have to hunt down a Soul Beast himself?

The system's rule was "always ten levels above Tang San," but it had never clearly explained how Soul Rings were obtained.

Judging by what had happened before, the system seemed to give Huang Fei an upgraded version of the result after Tang San "completed" a particular event.

Tang San awakened Blue Silver Grass; he awakened the Blue Silver Saint Emperor.

His bloodline hadn't awakened yet, but its quality was already superior.

Tang San awakened with Innate Full Soul Power, ten levels; he started at twenty.

Tang San got the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges; he got Forty-Eight Moons Embracing the Stars.

By that logic, when Tang San obtained a Soul Ring, Huang Fei should get a better one directly.

But there was a limit to how many Soul Rings could be stacked.

Under normal circumstances, a Soul Master could add only one Soul Ring at each level.

He was already at Soul Power Level twenty, but had no First Soul Ring. Strictly speaking, his current state was a "defective" one: Soul Power without a Soul Ring.

If the system gave him an "upgraded" First Soul Ring as soon as Tang San obtained his, he should be able to absorb it normally, since his Soul Power Level was far above the minimum threshold.

He'd have to wait and see what happened with Tang San.

Huang Fei finished washing his face, changed into clean clothes, and followed Tang San out of Dorm Seven.

Yu Xiaogang stood at the academy gate, looking displeased.

He wore a dark, close-fitting outfit, with a leather pouch at his waist and boots on his feet. He did look a little like a seasoned hunter.

But the expression on his face visibly darkened the moment he saw Huang Fei approaching.

"Good morning, Grandmaster." Tang San greeted him politely.

"Morning."

Yu Xiaogang nodded. His gaze passed over Tang San and landed on Huang Fei behind him. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but in the end, he managed to squeeze out, "You came too."

"Good morning, Grandmaster."

Huang Fei greeted him with a cheerful smile, his tone so natural it was as if nothing had happened.

"Thanks for your hard work today, taking the two of us to hunt for Soul Rings."

Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath.

He told himself this was an investment.

Tang San was the target; Huang Fei was just an additional condition.

There was no need to argue with this annoying little brat.

There was no need to stoop to the level of a six-year-old child.