Ning Dagang! You Are Already on the Path to Death!

Ning Dagang turned around, a stiff smile plastered on his face that he clearly believed to be kind. "Qian San, you're here. Sit down."

Qian San did not sit; he simply watched him quietly, waiting for what was to come.

"I spent the entire night reviewing data to tailor a future development path specifically for you." Ning Dagang walked to his desk, braced his hands on the surface, and stared at Qian San with burning intensity.

"Your martial soul is the Blue Silver Spider. While it possesses a certain degree of vitality, as a spider, its greatest flaw is its lack of toxicity and lack of formidable offensive power."

Qian San nodded; this was indeed a fact.

Seeing his agreement, a flash of smugness crossed Ning Dagang's eyes as he continued, "According to my theory of the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, plant-type martial souls can absorb soul rings from animal-type soul beasts, and vice versa! Therefore, I have decided to take you to the Soul Hunting Forest to find a plant-type soul beast with potent toxicity, such as a Mandala Poison Vine."

"As long as your Blue Silver Spider absorbs its soul ring, there is a high probability of inheriting its poison attribute! When that happens, your spider will no longer be trash, but a creature of lethal poison that makes others tremble in fear! This is the greatness of theory!"

At first glance, Qian San felt a slight stir in his heart. Plant-type and animal-type interoperability? Using plant poison to compensate for the Blue Silver Spider's flaws? It sounded somewhat logical; if he could truly imbue the Blue Silver Spider with lethal poison, it would indeed be of great benefit to his use of Tang Sect hidden weapons.

However, this thought lingered in his mind for less than a second before he extinguished it.

The image of his father Qian Xunji's unwavering gaze before he left surfaced in his mind. His father had said he would personally find his first soul ring for him, and for his father, Qian San held a near-blind trust.

"Teacher, your theory sounds very ingenious." Qian San bowed slightly, refusing with a calm tone, "However, regarding my first soul ring, my father already gave instructions before he left. He will handle it for me personally."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the office dropped to freezing.

The smile on Ning Dagang's face froze completely, replaced by an irritation at being questioned and defied. The thing he hated most in his life was others looking down on his theories. He had finally taken on a genius with Innate Full Soul Power to prove himself; how could he allow such a variable to appear?

"Your father?" Ning Dagang sneered, his tone dripping with undisguised condescension. "Qian San, you are still young and don't understand the cruelty of the soul master world. Your father is nothing more than a country bumpkin doctor who treats people in a remote village! Does he understand what martial soul mimicry is? Does he understand the limit of soul ring ages?"

Ning Dagang grew more agitated as he spoke, slamming his hand on the desk. "What can he give you? A few gold coins? Or a ten-year-level Piglet Beast? Can he give you the priceless theory that I have poured half my life into? Following him, your talent will only be completely buried!"

"BOOM—"

Almost the instant Ning Dagang's voice fell, a cold, bone-chilling, and tangible killing intent erupted from Qian San's small body without warning!

Qian San snapped his head up, his once clear eyes now replaced by a frigid, icy glare.

A dragon has a reverse scale; touch it and you die.

For Qian San, who was an orphan in his previous life, the father who had raised him in this life—the man who would stand by the stove for hours just to boil a pot of bone soup for him—was the only absolute, untouchable reverse scale in his heart!

"Try slandering my father one more time."

Qian San's voice no longer held any childish innocence; instead, it carried a hoarse, chilling coldness, as if he had walked through a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. He stared fixedly at Ning Dagang, coldly pronouncing a verdict in his heart: You have already invited your own death.

"If you dare to show even half a word of disrespect toward my father again, the bond between master and student ends here today!"

Ning Dagang was so startled by the sudden killing intent that he stumbled back, his lower back slamming hard against the desk. He looked at the six-year-old child in front of him in disbelief, a cold sweat breaking out on his back in an instant.

That was a gaze that had truly seen blood!

How could a country child have such a terrifying look?

"You... you..." Ning Dagang swallowed, forcing down the panic in his heart. His face turned from blue to white, and in the end, he merely flicked his sleeves with a show of bluster.

"Rotten wood cannot be carved! Fine, since you are so stubborn, I will see what kind of incredible soul ring your quack doctor father can find for you! When your martial soul is ruined, don't blame me for not warning you!"

Qian San gave him a cold look, said nothing, turned, and strode out of the office, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

Late that night, in the small woods behind Nuoding Academy.

Qian San was sitting cross-legged on a giant rock, circulating his Mysterious Heaven Skill to calm the anger from the day, when suddenly, a faint sound of air being pierced came from above.

He snapped his eyes open, looking up vigilantly.

A tall, upright figure drifted down silently from the canopy. His long golden hair shimmered in the moonlight; although he looked travel-worn, the composure and majesty carved into his bones remained undiminished.

"Father!" Qian San was stunned for a moment, then an irrepressible joy erupted in his eyes as he leaped off the giant rock.

Qian Xunji looked at his son, a gentle smile appearing on his stern face. He didn't waste words; his right hand brushed lightly over the Soul Tool on his waist. With a dull thud, a strange soul beast the size of a water buffalo, bound tightly by golden light beams, was slammed heavily onto the ground.

It was a Spider.

But unlike an ordinary spider, this one possessed a dark, silvery metallic luster. Its eight long legs were like eight sharp steel spears, refracting a chilling light even under the moonlight. Even though it was bound tightly, some kind of silvery-gray viscous liquid continued to drip from its mouthparts. As the liquid hit the rocks on the ground, it emitted a "hissing" corrosive sound, instantly melting a small pit into the hard stone.

"This is..." Qian San gasped.

"Iron-Eroding Polymorphic Spider, five hundred and seventy years of cultivation."

Qian Xunji brushed the dust off his hands and pointed at the spider on the ground. "This beast is rare even in the Star Dou Forest. It doesn't eat meat; it survives solely by devouring various metal ores. Because of its long-term consumption of metal, its body is as hard as iron, and the silk it produces is a unique liquid metal."

Having said this, Qian Xunji looked at Qian San with deep meaning.

"Qian San, all these years in the village, you have been secretly collecting scrap metal, enjoying tinkering with strange little parts and hidden weapons. And that set of grappling techniques and strange hand movements you practice in the yard—Father has seen it all."