"Normally, a village can only have one work-study student slot. But Spirit Master seedlings are rare, so you can use the slot from the neighboring village without any Martial Souls."
After saying that, Su Yuntao immediately prepared the certificates for Lin Chen and the other boy.
"Thank you, Grandmaster!"
Old Jack was overjoyed. The tuition at a Soul Master Academy was no small expense.
This had truly solved a huge problem for their village.
Su Yuntao finished the certificates and handed them to Old Jack, then turned to Lin Chen.
"If you've made up your mind, remember to come find me at the Spirit Hall in Nuoding City."
Lin Chen nodded. "All right, Grandmaster Su Yuntao."
At that, Old Jack's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected Lin Chen to be one of the two Spirit Master seedlings. The boy's hard days were finally over.
"All right, I still have other villages to visit, so I'll be going."
Su Yuntao turned and left.
Lin Chen hesitated, but in the end, he forced down the impulse rising in his heart.
Awakening Martial Souls for commoners might just be Su Yuntao's job, but that didn't mean his contribution should be dismissed. Better to let Tang San suffer a little more.
"Xiao San, you should be the other one, right?"
Old Jack only had to glance at everyone's expressions to figure it out.
Tang San nodded. "That's me, Grandpa Jack."
"Ah!"
Thinking of his unreliable father, Old Jack couldn't help sighing.
"Xiao Chen, head back first. I'm going to visit Xiao San's home."
"Okay!"
Though Lin Chen really wanted to see the famous scene, it was never going to play out in front of him.
"Tang San, please wait!"
Tang San had just turned around when Lin Chen's voice suddenly boomed beside his ear.
He turned around with a dark expression.
"What is it?"
The three simple words were practically squeezed through his teeth.
[Disaster Curse on Tang San successful. Obtained 100 Gold Soul Coins.]
Only after Lin Chen saw the black aura sink into Tang San's brow did he point to the corner of his own mouth and say, "Wipe that off. Your father will worry."
Tang San froze, then seemed to remember something. He hurriedly wiped his mouth with his sleeve, cleaning away the traces of blood that had already faded until they were almost invisible.
"Thanks!"
See? He even had to thank us.
Lin Chen smiled faintly, then turned and headed home.
Back home.
Lin Chen stood in the courtyard, eager to release his Martial Soul.
The Sky Thunder Whip appeared in his hand, unleashing a fearsome might that surged through the air.
Lin Chen flicked his arm, and the long whip lashed through the air. The purple lightning coiling around it suddenly burst at the point of impact.
"Crack!"
It was impossible to tell whether it was the whip cracking or thunder roaring, but the sound was sharp and loud.
Lin Chen's gaze settled on a peach tree in the upper-left corner of the courtyard, about fifteen or sixteen meters away. Then he gave the whip a flick.
The long whip shot out like a swimming dragon, rapidly growing longer.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
The Sky Thunder Whip stretched to over ten meters and wrapped tightly around the peach tree's trunk.
Lin Chen yanked hard.
"Boom!"
Purple lightning exploded along the whip, blasting the peach tree clean in half.
Lin Chen flicked his wrist, and the Sky Thunder Whip rapidly shortened.
In the blink of an eye, the whip, which had been over ten meters long, shrank to a little over one meter. It was no longer soft and pliant; its length went taut and straight as a sharp sword.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
Using the whip like a sword, Lin Chen carved streaks of purple lightning through the air, each swing accompanied by a series of sharp, rushing whistling sounds.
"Not bad. As expected of a God-tier Martial Soul."
Lin Chen lowered the whip and stood tall, a faint smile spreading across his face.
Meanwhile.
After driving Old Jack away, Tang Hao was about to head back inside and sleep.
"Dad, I still have another Martial Soul."
Tang San's voice reached him, and Tang Hao suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He turned around sharply.
"What did you say?"
Tang San slowly raised his left hand. A pitch-black hammer appeared in his grasp, its body covered in cracks and as light as a wooden mallet.
"This... This is..."
Tang Hao rushed over to Tang San in a single stride, but when his gaze landed on the hammer, he froze.
It really was the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul. But why was its body covered in cracks?
"Dad..."
Tang San lowered his head guiltily and spoke with a wounded expression.
"I wanted to keep it hidden, but when I tried to suppress it from emerging, I ended up crushing it into this state. Is my Martial Soul ruined?"
Tang Hao: "???"
So it hadn't been like this at first—he'd done this to it himself?
A perfectly good Twin Martial Souls talent, and he'd managed to ruin one of them?
Twin Martial Souls! The third one in all of history! And before he'd even started cultivating, he'd gone and ruined one?
At the thought, Tang Hao's face flushed red with rage.
"Slap!"
Tang Hao suddenly slapped Tang San across the face, knocking him to the ground.
He roared at him, his voice breaking with fury.
"Idiot!"
"Useless!"
"Do you know how much you've lost because of your stupidity?"
"Do you?"
Tang San lay half-reclined on the ground, a trace of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
He stared at his father in disbelief.
His father might not have been very reliable, but he'd never hit Tang San once in all these years.
This was the first time.
But even after being slapped, Tang San didn't feel angry.
Instead, he felt guilty.
His father had never hit him before, yet this time he'd struck him so hard. That showed just how foolish Tang San's actions had been.
"Dad..."
Tang San wanted to explain, but he didn't know where to begin.
"Don't call me Dad. I don't fucking have a son as stupid as you."
Tang Hao was absolutely furious.
That had been Twin Martial Souls.
Once someone with Twin Martial Souls grew strong, they might even have had a chance to destroy Spirit Hall.
And now Tang San had gone and ruined one of them.
Tang Hao had been brilliant all his life. How had he ended up with such a stupid, useless son?
Seeing the utter disappointment in his father's eyes, Tang San was filled with guilt.
"Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"I didn't think it would turn out like this. That Spirit Hall deacon never told me."
At the thought, Tang San clenched his fists.
"Damn Su Yuntao! Why didn't you tell me something so important?"
Seeing Tang San in such a state, some of the anger in Tang Hao's heart dissipated.
At the same time, he felt a pang of guilt.
If he'd gone along, perhaps this tragedy would never have happened.
As for the Spirit Hall deacon not telling him...
Throughout all of history, there had only been two recorded cases of Twin Martial Souls.
How could anyone have warned him?
Not to mention some low-ranking deacon—even Bibi Dong probably didn't know that suppressing a Second Martial Soul could cause it to crack.
This tragedy had been caused purely by his own negligence.
Tang Hao raised his head. His eyes reddened slightly, and his heart was a tangled mess of emotions.
"Ah Yin, I'm sorry. I failed to take good care of our son."
Tang San raised his head, eyes full of unwillingness. He couldn't accept the truth that his own stupidity had turned him into a useless cripple.
"Dad, is there really no way to undo this?"
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