Su Hang picked up his teacup and blew across the steaming surface.
"I can."
Xiao Wu tilted her head.
"Why? That Grandmaster doesn't sound all that impressive."
Wang Sheng scratched the back of his head and chimed in.
"Boss Su, you sound so sure. Don't tell me you know Tang San?"
Another work-study student joined in.
"I thought Sister Xiao Wu was acting weird just now, too. Tang San had barely walked in before she ducked behind Boss Su."
"Sister Xiao Wu, have you met him before?"
Xiao Wu immediately set her fruit down on the table.
"Never!"
"I'm not close to him. Not even a little."
Xiao Chenyu leaned against the wall, the ointment on his face not yet dry. At those words, he nodded at once.
"Right, Sister Xiao Wu is close to Boss Su."
The people in the room burst out laughing.
Xiao Wu grabbed a fruit pit and threw it at them.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Keep it up and I'll have Brother Su Hang charge you rent!"
Xiao Chenyu immediately shut his mouth, then picked up the pit and tossed it into the dish.
Wang Sheng stifled a laugh and nudged Su Hang with his elbow.
"Boss Su, Sister Xiao Wu really sounds like the lady of the house."
Xiao Wu's ears turned red. She raised a foot to kick Wang Sheng.
"You're asking for a beating!"
Su Hang couldn't be bothered with them. He got up and headed for the door.
"Enough nonsense."
"Let's go take a look."
Xiao Wu hopped off the bed and followed him, deftly grabbing his sleeve.
"I'm coming too."
Su Hang glanced down at the fabric she was clutching.
"Do you still need to hold on to me when you walk?"
Xiao Wu answered with perfect confidence.
"It's dangerous outside."
Her blunt reply left Su Hang momentarily speechless.
Fine.
A survival-first little rabbit. Her motto was to play it safe.
Night lay heavy outside.
Few people were about in the rear courtyard of Notting Academy. Only a handful of lights remained in the distant teaching buildings.
As Su Hang and Xiao Wu reached the courtyard gate, they saw Tang San standing before Yu Xiaogang beside the stone path ahead.
Yu Xiaogang had his hands clasped behind his back, striking an impressively solemn pose.
Tang San stood ramrod straight, his blue clothes fluttering gently in the night breeze.
Yu Xiaogang flipped through the registration book in his hands and read the information aloud.
"Blue Silver Grass, Innate Full Soul Power."
"There's only one explanation for those two things together."
Tang San looked up.
"What explanation?"
Yu Xiaogang closed the registration book.
"You have another Martial Soul."
Tang San didn't answer right away.
The night breeze rustled through the leaves beside the stone path.
Xiao Wu leaned closer to Su Hang and whispered.
"He really did become his disciple."
Su Hang didn't call out to stop him. He simply stood at the edge of the shadows by the courtyard gate.
"Some teachers teach people how to cultivate. Others teach them how to take the long way around."
His words carried across to the stone path.
Tang San turned and looked toward Su Hang, still standing where he was.
Yu Xiaogang also fell silent, his face tightening.
Tang San walked a few steps closer.
"Do you have a prejudice against my teacher?"
Su Hang leaned against the courtyard gate, his manner calm.
"Prejudice isn't the word."
"I'm just curious how much of his theory he's actually tested himself."
Tang San stopped.
The question was blunt.
Yu Xiaogang prized theory above all else.
With that one sentence, Su Hang had taken his calling card and given it a good rap.
Yu Xiaogang pressed a hand against the edge of the registration book, creasing the pages.
"Su Hang, a young man can be arrogant, but he shouldn't be ignorant."
Su Hang smiled and didn't rise to the bait.
"Then let me ask you something simple."
"What's the age limit for a First Spirit Ring?"
Yu Xiaogang replied in a low voice.
"Just over four hundred and twenty years. That's the conclusion I reached after years of compiling information."
Su Hang lifted his foot. A purple Spirit Ring rose halfway from beneath him.
Its deep violet glow fell across the ground, pressing the surrounding grass flat against the soil.
"How do you explain this, then?"
Yu Xiaogang's words caught in his throat.
Su Hang withdrew his Spirit Ring and continued.
"Compiling information is fine."
"But treating your findings as the truth, then using that truth to judge everyone, is a serious problem."
Wang Sheng and several work-study students had slipped out of the room too. They were hiding by the courtyard gate and listening.
At that, Wang Sheng muttered under his breath.
"Boss Su's tongue hits harder than his fists."
Xiao Chenyu leaned against the doorframe and nodded gravely.
"A fist only hurts for a while."
"Words like those sink in. He'll probably still be thinking about them in bed."
Xiao Wu found that amusing, but quickly stifled her laugh and kept hold of Su Hang's sleeve.
Tang San glanced at the lingering fluctuations of Soul Power beneath Su Hang's feet.
He cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill and understood better than most how important a solid foundation was.
Su Hang's thousand-year First Spirit Ring truly defied common sense.
But Yu Xiaogang had just identified his Twin Martial Souls, earning the teacher a measure of respect in Tang San's eyes.
Tang San fell silent for a moment.
"The fact that Teacher could see my secret shows that his theories have value."
Su Hang looked at Tang San. His tone wasn't harsh, but his meaning was clear.
"So seeing your Twin Martial Souls is enough to make him worthy of becoming your teacher?"
"The road ahead of you is far more complicated than that."
"How to cultivate Blue Silver Grass, how to hide the Clear Sky Hammer, how to match your Spirit Rings, how to obtain a Spirit Bone, how many pitfalls there are in the Soul Master World."
"How many of those can he help you avoid?"
Tang San stiffened at the words "Clear Sky Hammer."
Yu Xiaogang also fixed his eyes on Su Hang.
Tang San had never mentioned this.
Yu Xiaogang had only just deduced that Tang San had a Second Martial Soul. He hadn't even had the chance to ask what it was.
Yet Su Hang had named it outright.
The cloth bag on Tang San's back swayed slightly.
"How do you know?"
Su Hang didn't answer.
The system's rules were clear.
He couldn't admit to being the author of the diary, much less lay all his cards on the table.
So he left them with a vague remark to set their imaginations running.
"This world is bigger than you think."
Xiao Wu immediately nodded along.
"Brother Su Hang knows all sorts of things."
"He's more reliable than some people who only know how to recite information."
Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened further.
He held back once, then again, and finally managed to swallow his anger.
Tang San had only just become his disciple. He couldn't let his student see him lose his composure.
"Facts will prove who's right and who's wrong."
"Tang San, come with me."
Tang San didn't move at once.
He looked at Su Hang. A few moments later, he turned and went to Yu Xiaogang's side.
Yu Xiaogang tucked the registration book into his robes.
"Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to the Soul Hunting Forest."
"Your Blue Silver Grass needs a suitable First Spirit Ring."
Tang San nodded.
"Yes, Teacher."
Those two words settled the matter of his apprenticeship.
Xiao Wu tightened her grip.
Su Hang looked down at his sleeve.
She was practically pressed against his arm.
Only after Tang San and Yu Xiaogang had gone some distance did Xiao Wu speak softly.
"Brother Su Hang, he's going hunting for a Spirit Ring tomorrow. Should we go too?"
Su Hang looked toward the academy gates. In his mind, the Tang San Luck Deprivation Card was already glowing.
Soul Hunting Forest.
Mandala Snake.
The First Spirit Ring for Blue Silver Grass.
In the original story, Tang San had used it to set himself on the path of a control-type Soul Master, while giving Yu Xiaogang a chance to show off.
Now that Su Hang was at Notting Academy, how could he just sit back and watch?
Xiao Wu tugged at his sleeve.
"Are we going or not?"
Su Hang turned and headed back into the room.
"Of course we're going."
"Some opportunities can't be allowed to fall into his hands."
Xiao Wu's eyes lit up, and she ran after him.
"Then what should I prepare?"
Su Hang picked up his teacup and drank the last of his tea.
"Nothing."
"Just follow me tomorrow."
Xiao Wu nodded vigorously.
"Okay!"
Wang Sheng was fired up.
"Boss Su, can we come too?"
Xiao Chenyu also came over.
"I have money. I can hire a carriage and bring provisions, too."
Su Hang swept his gaze over them.
"The Soul Hunting Forest isn't the academy's backyard."
"If you go, you'll only hold me back."
Wang Sheng immediately shrank back.
Xiao Chenyu wisely clamped his mouth shut.
But Xiao Wu was still excited.
"Brother Su Hang, does that mean we're going to cut in tomorrow?"
Su Hang set the empty teacup back on the table. His voice dropped, but everyone in the room could still hear him.
"I may not get any use out of Tang San's First Spirit Ring, but there's no way I'll let him get it without a hitch."
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