Grandmaster Turns to the Black Market, Tang San Takes the Bait! Tang Sect Hidden Weapon Killing Formation Takes Shape!

Night pressed down over Nuoding City.

The lights in the academy's rear courtyard were dim.

Yu Xiaogang sat inside, with several dismantled old account books spread before him, along with a Contact Talisman left behind by the Black Market Soul Hunting Group.

His expression was awful.

What happened that day—publicly auditing the accounts, publicly tearing apart his theories, publicly exposing Tang San's Twin Martial Souls.

Every step had trampled on his dignity.

What was worse, Di Yao had not been making baseless accusations.

He had the accounts.

He had the receipts.

He had the old Spirit Hall file numbers.

If those things were really brought back to Spirit City, the respectability Yu Xiaogang had maintained all these years as a "theoretical Grandmaster" would be completely destroyed.

Tang San stood beside him, his wrist still wrapped in cloth.

The burn left by the Great Sun Golden Flame had yet to heal.

That flame was difficult to deal with.

The wound clearly was not deep, yet it continued to affect the flow of his Soul Power.

Tang San said quietly, "Teacher, we can't wait any longer."

Yu Xiaogang remained silent.

Tang San continued, "Di Yao is no ordinary Spirit Hall Deacon."

"He doesn't care about saving face. He only cares about evidence."

"The more we explain, the more he can follow our words and find loopholes."

Yu Xiaogang raised his head and looked at the disciple he was most proud of.

"Xiao San, what do you want to do?"

Tang San's gaze was calm.

"Move the evidence."

"Destroy what can't be taken away."

"Make the Spirit Hall Law Enforcement Team make a mistake."

Yu Xiaogang frowned.

"Xiao San, do you know what that means?"

Tang San nodded.

"I do."

"But they've already driven Teacher to this point."

"I can't watch them destroy you."

Yu Xiaogang's lips moved.

He wanted to say that they should not do this.

But the words reached his mouth and were swallowed back down.

Di Yao's words from earlier that day—"using her past indulgence as a get-out-of-death card today"—pierced his heart like a knife.

He had always been unwilling to admit it.

But he had indeed relied on Bibi Dong's past indulgence.

And he had indeed used Spirit Hall's resources to walk his own path.

Now that Di Yao had ripped away that layer of skin, there was no longer any way for him to retreat.

Yu Xiaogang slowly picked up the Black Market Contact Talisman.

"The people from the Black Market Soul Hunting Group can't be trusted."

Tang San said, "We don't need to rely on them."

"As long as they hold back Spirit Hall, we can leave on our own."

Yu Xiaogang said gravely, "Di Yao won't be fooled easily."

Tang San's eyes turned slightly cold.

"That's why I won't set an ordinary trap."

He took several materials from Twenty-Four Bridge Moonlit Night.

Tiny iron tubes.

Poison Needles.

Tripwires.

Mechanism boxes.

And several packets of pale gray powder.

Yu Xiaogang looked at those things, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Xiao San, these are..."

Tang San's tone was steady.

"Tang Sect Hidden Weapons."

"I hadn't wanted to reveal them this early."

"But Di Yao has already seen that my methods are not those of an ordinary soul master."

"There's little point in hiding them now."

Yu Xiaogang was silent for a long time.

"Don't kill innocent people."

Tang San's fingers paused.

He looked up at Yu Xiaogang, his expression still composed.

"Don't worry, Teacher."

"I'll keep it under control."

"I'll only cripple their ability to act."

"As long as they don't force me."

Those words were soft.

Yet they made Yu Xiaogang's heart sink.

As long as they don't force me.

It sounded like restraint.

But its true meaning was that if Tang San was pushed to the limit, he would kill.

Yu Xiaogang suddenly found this disciple before him somewhat unfamiliar.

But he quickly suppressed that unease.

This was the disciple he had chosen.

Twin Martial Souls.

Innate Full Soul Power.

The future proof of his theories.

He could not lose Tang San.

Nor could he lose to Di Yao.

Yu Xiaogang said quietly, "There's an abandoned freight route on the south side of the academy that leads outside through the old Warehouse."

"Those materials can be moved through there."

Tang San nodded.

"I'll set up two layers."

"One in plain sight, for Spirit Hall to see."

"One in the shadows, for Di Yao."

Yu Xiaogang asked, "Do you think he'll definitely discover it?"

Tang San's gaze grew colder.

"He will."

"So I'll make him think he has discovered the real trap."

The room fell silent.

Only the faint sounds of mechanisms being assembled remained.

Tang San's hands were steady.

Every Poison Needle, every Sleeve Arrow, every tripwire was placed in the most suitable position.

He did not like being passive.

That had been true in his previous life.

It was true in this life as well.

Di Yao was strong?

Then Tang San would show him that beyond Douluo Continent's soul master system, there was also the Tang Sect.

Elsewhere.

Notting Branch Hall.

Di Yao sat at his desk, looking over the list of materials sent by the Law Enforcement Team.

Hu Liena sat beside him, her expression somewhat grim.

"The academy's surroundings have bought quite a lot of things over the past two days."

"Iron sheets, thin bamboo, animal sinew, hemp rope, medicinal powder, and several herbs that can numb Soul Power."

After reading it, Di Yao set the list down.

"Tang San is setting traps."

Hu Liena frowned.

"You're sure?"

Di Yao said, "He already exposed his Hidden Weapons during the day."

"If he suddenly used up all these materials at night, it wasn't to repair a roof."

Hu Liena sneered.

"Then let's just arrest him."

Di Yao shook his head.

"If we arrest him too early, Yu Xiaogang will keep pretending to be the victim."

"I want Tang San to prove his own guilt."

Hu Liena's heart stirred.

"You want to turn his trap against him?"

Di Yao nodded.

"Make him think we'll search along the original route."

"If he sets up a killing formation, we'll send a few fake targets into it."

Hu Liena's eyes lit up.

"Force him to make a move."

"Then trace the source of the mechanism materials to uncover the Black Market hideout."

Di Yao glanced at her.

"You've improved."

Hu Liena's mouth twitched.

"Can't you compliment people normally?"

Di Yao said, "That was a normal compliment."

Hu Liena could not be bothered to argue with him.

She looked at another report on the table.

"What about Xiao Wu?"

Di Yao said, "Have people watch her, but don't make a move."

Hu Liena frowned.

"Are you really going to leave a hundred-thousand-year transformed soul beast in the academy?"

Di Yao's tone was flat.

"She's more useful than Tang San right now."

Hu Liena thought for a moment.

"Tang San protects her, and Yu Xiaogang wouldn't dare let anything happen to her either."

"If she panics, Tang San will panic."

Di Yao nodded.

"And she's a soul beast."

"If the Black Market Soul Hunting Group has set its sights on her, that means someone leaked the information."

"That lead is worth more than she is."

Hu Liena looked at Di Yao and could not help saying, "You see everyone as a lead."

Di Yao said, "Anything that can pull something out is a lead."

Hu Liena fell silent for a moment.

"Then what am I?"

Di Yao looked at her.

"You're a teammate."

Hu Liena froze.

Di Yao added,

"A teammate who's useful for now."

Hu Liena was so angry she nearly crushed the teacup.

"Di Yao, your mouth will get you killed someday."

Di Yao lowered his head to read the account ledger.

"That's something for the future."

Just then, Deacon Zhou walked in.

"Lord Di Yao, the dummies and Defensive Soul Guidance Devices are ready."

"As you requested, they've been draped in Law Enforcement Team cloaks."

Di Yao rose to his feet.

"Very good."

"Tomorrow morning, search the old warehouse on the south side of Notting Academy according to the original plan."

Hu Liena asked, "What about us?"

Di Yao looked out at the night beyond the window.

"We'll stand somewhere high."

"And watch how Tang San makes his move."

Early the next morning.

Tang San stood hidden within the academy, watching the Spirit Hall Law Enforcement Team approach the old warehouse.

His gaze was calm.

The mechanisms concealed in his sleeves had already been locked in place.

Di Yao.

No matter how strong you are, you're still from Douluo Continent.

You don't understand the Tang Sect.

And you understand even less that a true Hidden Weapon was never just about the instant it was fired.

It was the environment.

The route.

The mind.

Making the enemy believe they had seen through everything.

Meanwhile, on a high rooftop.

Di Yao stood silently in a black-and-gold coat, watching below.

Hu Liena stood beside him.

"He's waiting for us to step into the trap."

Di Yao said, "Mm."

Hu Liena asked, "Then what are we now?"

Di Yao replied indifferently, "Spectators."

Below, the old warehouse door was pushed open.

The "figures" draped in Law Enforcement Team cloaks stepped into the trap zone.

Tang San's eyes turned cold.

"Move."

The next instant.

The sound of mechanisms rang out all around the warehouse at once.

Dense flashes of cold light erupted in an instant!