The Tang San Who Was Targeted

Lin Chen stood in midair, looking down at the Purple Gold Thunder Roc. To his surprise, he saw a trace of humanlike shock in its eyes.

Without hesitation, he swung the Sky Thunder Whip again, sending it lashing out.

The Sky Thunder Whip was fast, but it was hardly lightning-fast.

Still, even the swiftest bird became nothing but a chicken on foot once it landed.

The Purple Gold Thunder Roc leaped backward as it beat its wings, trying to dodge.

But the instant it jumped, the long whip had already struck it.

With a sharp crack, the Purple Gold Thunder Roc lost a large swath of its brilliant feathers, and a bloody welt appeared on the flesh beneath.

The whip itself didn't hit very hard, but its force pierced straight into the Purple Gold Thunder Roc, dragging it back to the ground in mid-leap.

Lin Chen followed through with a twist of his wrist, and a purple lightning net surged into being once more.

"Chirp!"

The Purple Gold Thunder Roc tried to use the same trick again, but it had only just struggled to its feet and lifted its wings when the enormous lightning net descended.

The purple lightning net covered the Purple Gold Thunder Roc. Purple lightning coursed over its body, bursting with peals like rolling thunder.

"Chirp!"

The Purple Gold Thunder Roc let out a shrill cry as it struggled with all its might.

It clearly had an exceptionally high resistance to lightning.

At first glance, the seemingly powerful net didn't appear to have hurt it much. It had only restrained it.

But that was enough.

"Die!"

With a sharp shout, Lin Chen flicked his wrist. The pointed end of the whip stabbed straight into the Purple Gold Thunder Roc.

Though the Purple Gold Thunder Roc had high lightning resistance, its defenses were weak.

The pointed whip tip pierced its body in an instant and emerged through the other side.

The Purple Gold Thunder Roc's body stiffened.

Its struggles gradually weakened, until at last it collapsed straight onto the ground.

But no Spirit Ring appeared, showing that its life hadn't yet run its course.

Lin Chen pulled out the long whip and struck again.

The Sky Thunder Whip moved as easily as his own arm, its pointed tip piercing through the Purple Gold Thunder Roc's head.

"Pfft!"

A purple Spirit Ring slowly emerged from the Purple Gold Thunder Roc's corpse.

Lin Chen let out a slight sigh of relief.

Good thing he had the system-rewarded skill, Heavenly Thunder Movement. Otherwise, that first pounce would have killed him.

A thousand-year Spirit Beast was no joke.

Lin Chen reflected on it briefly, then descended from the air.

"Phew!"

He took a deep breath, then sat cross-legged before the Purple Gold Thunder Roc's corpse.

Absorbing a Spirit Ring in a perilous forest without anyone to guard him was extremely dangerous, but these were the circumstances he had to work with.

He had no other choice.

As Lin Chen guided the purple Spirit Ring onto himself, an enormous pressure descended.

But with his physique already at level thirty-three, he could easily withstand it.

Nothing went wrong as he absorbed the Spirit Ring.

Before long, he received feedback on his new Soul Skill.

Thunder Shadow Layers: Swing the whip to unleash a curved blade of lightning that pierces and explodes against enemies in its path. The whip can be swung up to nine times in succession.

At first glance, it seemed like a Soul Skill meant only for clearing out weak enemies.

But he would have to test it to find out how powerful it really was.

At that very moment, Lin Chen finally broke through his bottleneck.

Surging Soul Power welled up inside him.

As he continued to refine it, the purple Second Spirit Ring began to pulse in orderly rhythm alongside his First Spirit Ring.

Lin Chen opened his eyes and summoned his status panel with a thought.

[Name: Lin Chen]

[Martial Souls: Sky Thunder Whip, Sword of Calamity]

[Level: 22]

[Spirit: 22]

[Physique: 35]

[Secret Arts: [Click to Expand]]

Just as when he'd absorbed his First Spirit Ring, the thousand-year Second Spirit Ring had only granted him two levels of Soul Power. His spirit and physique had also each risen by two levels.

"To get a ten-thousand-year Fourth Spirit Ring, I'll have to find a way to raise my spirit too."

Lin Chen murmured to himself.

For Spirit Rings under ten thousand years, a strong enough physique was all one needed to withstand them. But Spirit Rings older than ten thousand years inflicted Soul Shock, which required sufficiently powerful spiritual strength.

As far as Lin Chen knew, there were only three ways to raise his spiritual strength.

A spirit-type Head Soul Bone, the Tang Sect Secret Art Purple Demon Eye, and the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew Immortal Herb from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

The first two were pretty much out of reach, but he might be able to find a way to get the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew.

"Before I reach level forty, I have to find a way to get my hands on the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew."

Lin Chen made up his mind.

"I should head back!"

He stood and surveyed his surroundings before setting off for the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Nuoding Academy.

Tang San stood outside Lin Chen's dormitory, his brow furrowed into a deep crease.

"Three days already. Where did he go?"

He had already decided to trade one of his Silent Sleeve Arrows to Lin Chen for money.

But he hadn't been able to find him for three days straight.

Xiao Wu hadn't spoken to him in three days, which left him unbearably irritable.

"Could he be avoiding me on purpose?"

Tang San never considered that Lin Chen might have gone to hunt for a Spirit Ring. After all, they both had Innate Full Soul Power, so their levels shouldn't be far apart.

Besides, his First Spirit Ring was four hundred years old, almost at the limit his teacher had mentioned. It had raised him straight to level twelve.

Lin Chen's level could only be lower than his, not higher.

The only explanation Tang San could think of was that Lin Chen was deliberately avoiding him.

"Ugh, this can't go on."

"Even if I trade a Silent Sleeve Arrow for money, how long will that cover my expenses?"

"I need to find a way to make money on my own."

Even at this point, Tang San still hadn't considered giving up on Xiao Wu.

Instead, he was thinking about how to make money.

To Tang San, Xiao Wu was already more than just a task from his teacher.

"I'll take a look around the city and see if I can find a job."

Tang San thought it over, then turned and headed downstairs.

Since Lin Chen often helped Tang San out, he hadn't gone to work at the blacksmith's shop like he had in the original story.

After leaving the academy, Tang San wandered aimlessly through Nuoding City.

He didn't notice that a pair of eyes had already fixed on him.

They belonged to a middle-aged man with a round face and a bushy beard.

This Round-faced Bearded Man was the very same flower thief the carriage company owner had mentioned.

He had arrived in Nuoding City three days ago.

For those three days, he had been scouting the area, mainly to find out whether there were any powerful experts in the city. His caution was the reason he hadn't been caught yet.

After three days of scouting, he had reached his conclusion.

The strongest person in Nuoding City was no more than a Soul Ancestor.

They posed no threat to him at all.

Ordinary little boys, meanwhile, couldn't endure his abuse.

So he had set his sights on the students at the Soul Master Academy.

His luck seemed to be good. He had barely reached the area around the academy when he spotted a target.

The boy was ugly, but at least he was young.

The Round-faced Bearded Man didn't make a move right away. Instead, he followed from a distance, searching for the right place and the right moment to strike.

His chance came when the boy turned into a deserted alley.