Douluo Continent, the Soul Hunting Forest near Nuoding City.
Zhu Shen seemed to have just woken up, his mind still a little hazy.
He looked around. All he could see were lush trees.
A few meters in front of Zhu Shen stood a bamboo stalk, with a little boy beside it.
A jumble of memories flooded his mind, making Zhu Shen's head ache.
[Beep! Congratulations, host, on awakening the Bamboo God Pit-Tang-San System.] [Beginner's reward task triggered: Help Tang San absorb a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo Soul Ring.]
Zhu Shen came to his senses. The mechanical prompt in his mind had cleared his head somewhat.
What the hell? Solitary Bamboo, Tang San, a system?
Did I... transmigrate?
And I've transmigrated to Douluo Continent—and become Gangzi!
Am I done for now or what?!
As he processed what was happening, Zhu Shen looked at the words before him, the corner of his mouth twitching.
He'd never liked following tasks assigned by others, but when you were living under someone else's roof, you had to bow your head. Besides, did this system even seem legit?
"Are you going to assign me tasks all the time?"
[No. Once the host has fully activated the system, he will only receive the final task. Normally, opportunity tasks will only be triggered under specific conditions.]
As Zhu Shen pondered what to do next, a voice beside him interrupted his thoughts.
"Teacher... are you all right?" Seeing Zhu Shen standing there in a daze, Tang San walked over to Grandmaster with concern.
"Ahem... I'm fine." Zhu Shen was troubled. How could he trick Tang San, that scheming old fox who'd lived two lifetimes, into absorbing a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo?
Fortunately for Zhu Shen, according to the original story, Tang San had already knelt and acknowledged Yu Xiaogang as his teacher by this point. He trusted Zhu Shen completely.
Otherwise, Zhu Shen doubted he could trick Tang San into absorbing a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo.
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Shen said, "Xiao San, this Solitary Bamboo is tough and has good defensive properties. It can attack, too, so it's a good fit for your Blue Silver Grass."
"Besides, under my guidance, you could even develop a super mobility Soul Skill beyond anyone else's," Zhu Shen added.
To complete the task in front of him, he had to come up with a reason for Tang San to absorb the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo.
But he wasn't actually lying to Tang San. The Solitary Bamboo really did have those effects; it was just that a ten-year age was quite low for Tang San, a Twin Martial Soul possessor with Innate Full Soul Power.
Thankfully, as far as he remembered, Tang Hao hadn't come to find him yet.
If Tang Hao saw Zhu Shen making his precious son—the hope of the next generation's revenge—absorb a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo, he'd probably kill Zhu Shen.
Tang San looked at Zhu Shen, puzzled. He felt that his teacher was acting strange today.
Tang San was still uneasy, wondering what Zhu Shen was up to. "Teacher, how about..."
"Xiao San, don't you trust your teacher? Hurry and hunt this Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo, then absorb its Soul Ring."
Hearing the slightly forceful tone in Grandmaster's voice, Tang San reluctantly cut down the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo. After thinking it over several times, he began absorbing its Soul Ring.
[Beep! Congratulations, host, on completing the beginner task. You have received your beginner reward.] [Infinite Evolution Add-on System equipped. Beginner's gift pack detected. Open it?]
Zhu Shen felt a weight lift from his heart. At least this system had a conscience; it gave him a reward for completing the task.
"Claim it."
[Congratulations, host. You have received one chance to evolve your Martial Soul. Evolve now?]
Zhu Shen was a little excited. If he kept using that little thing, Luo Sanpao, as his Martial Soul, he'd have a hard time achieving anything. Was he supposed to invent a Fart God divine position?
Besides, after this evolution, he'd surely become much stronger. In the future, when he and Flender and Liu Erlong performed their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, it would definitely be far more powerful.
"Evolve. Hurry up and evolve, my dear system."
The instant Zhu Shen agreed, the sky and earth changed color.
An overbearing power burst from Zhu Shen's body. Then a dragon's roar pierced the sky.
Behind Zhu Shen, a phantom slowly took solid form. It was a dragon, covered in golden scales that reflected dazzling, holy light.
As the phantom grew more solid, Zhu Shen's body underwent a complete transformation. His eyes blazed with golden flames, golden scales like those on the dragon appeared across his body, and dragon claws seemed to emerge from his arms.
At the same time, his Soul Ring turned purple, advancing to a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Zhu Shen looked like an entirely different person, radiating an overbearing righteousness that made it hard to look at him.
[Beginner's gift pack claimed. Congratulations, host: your Martial Soul has evolved from the mutated Martial Soul Luo Sanpao, derived from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, into the king of Soul Beasts: the Dragon God Martial Soul. Current bloodline purity: 20%.]
The restriction that had kept Yu Xiaogang from breaking through level thirty in the original story was shattered. His Soul Power broke through to level thirty.
Zhu Shen felt wisps of overbearing dragon aura rising from his body. He was both shocked and thrilled.
"Looks like this is what the Infinite Evolution System does when it evolves a Martial Soul. Not bad. If I evolve into a complete form someday, maybe even this body of mine, Fei Gang, can become a god."
[Congratulations, host, on fully activating the system.] [System restriction: Tang San can only absorb Solitary Bamboo Soul Rings and Soul Bones.] [Special system reward: You can receive rewards for tricking Tang San, but Tang San must not find out.] [Additional information about the Infinite Evolution System] [The Infinite Evolution System can increase the age of Soul Rings and Soul Bones.]
Looking at the lines of text before him, Zhu Shen felt torn between joy and sorrow. As a pure-hearted, naive college student in his previous life, he might not be able to outscheme Tang San, that crafty old fox.
After getting his emotions in order, Zhu Shen looked at Tang San. A faint white Soul Ring was appearing behind him; it seemed that the absorption was almost finished.
A little while later, Tang San slowly rose to his feet, a white Soul Ring circling him.
Tang San looked at Zhu Shen. "Teacher, my first Soul Skill can summon a Solitary Bamboo. And if I bend it back while gathering strength, then push off the ground, I can launch myself through the air. It's really fast."
Zhu Shen was startled. That seemed like a pretty good effect. If he helped Tang San increase the Soul Ring's age later, this Soul Skill would definitely be powerful.
For some reason, Zhu Shen thought of an interesting thing from his old world.
Suppressing a laugh, Zhu Shen made it up as he went. "This Soul Skill will be called Blue Silver Pole Vault. It's a great mobility Soul Skill, and the summoned Solitary Bamboo can also attack and block."
Tang San listened to Zhu Shen's instruction. Though he was a little confused about what pole vaulting was, he didn't ask.
Actually, Tang San hadn't been sure about it at first, either. He'd thought the bamboo was a decent fit, but its age was too low.
As it turned out, the Soul Skill was unexpectedly powerful. His trust in Grandmaster had never been stronger.
Zhu Shen felt a little miserable. Wasn't the system supposed to reward him for tricking Tang San? It was clearly helping Tang San instead.
At first, Zhu Shen had thought the system was there to help him mess with Tang San. Now he increasingly felt that the system was just making things difficult for him.
He had to trick Tang San into absorbing only Solitary Bamboo, and deal with Tang Hao, that ruthless character. And he couldn't exactly say he was a transmigrator with cheats.
He could only survive in the cracks.
Thankfully, he still got rewards for tricking Tang San. That was the only thing that comforted Zhu Shen a little.
Returning to reality, he put on an air of mystery and said, "Xiao San, show your teacher your Soul Skill."
Tang San nodded. He raised his right hand, and the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo Soul Ring glimmered faintly. A two-meter-long Solitary Bamboo appeared out of thin air.
Tang San leaped up and grabbed the bamboo with both hands. It bent into an astonishing arc, then shot him forward with a whoosh.
Zhu Shen's vision blurred. Tang San had already appeared ten zhang away, moving so fast that a faint afterimage lingered in the air.
"Good!" Zhu Shen couldn't help exclaiming.
This speed was far beyond what the Blue Silver Grass Entanglement could manage. Most importantly, this was only a ten-year Soul Ring! What would happen when it evolved into a hundred-year, thousand-year, or even ten-thousand-year ring?
"Teacher, this Soul Skill..." Tang San landed beside Zhu Shen, a hint of delight on his face. "It's much stronger than I expected."
Zhu Shen coughed lightly, recovering his inscrutable expression. "I told you long ago: there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters."
"Though the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo is low in age, it can still produce astonishing results if used properly."
Tang San nodded firmly, his eyes full of admiration.
As for Zhu Shen, he was thinking about how to trick Tang San.
"For my future—no, for our future—"
I'll just have to make Xiao San suffer a little first.