Reality Was Too Cruel-What Was Wrong with Illusions?

The carriage wheels crunched over the gravel with a squeal.

Principal Fuqi, who had just hurried to the school gate, panted heavily. Seeing the carriage drawing near, he quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead with a silk handkerchief, then turned and glared at the teachers following behind him.

Though displeased, the teachers managed to force smiles as the principal's gaze swept over them.

What a bunch of country bumpkins!

Principal Fuqi cursed them inwardly and shook his head.

These Spirit Masters from backwater places, with Innate Soul Power of only two or three levels, had no idea how famous the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect was. How dare they mock Grandmaster for having a mere 0.5 levels of Innate Soul Power?

That was bad enough, but after getting their fill of taunting him, they'd made Grandmaster take his frustration out on Principal Fuqi, who'd been caught in the crossfire for no reason.

To smooth things over, Principal Fuqi had gone out of his way to bring this group to welcome Grandmaster at the school gate. He'd put on the full show of pomp and sincerity. As for how well it would work, even he wasn't sure.

As he was thinking, the carriage came to a stop in front of the school gate.

Principal Fuqi collected himself and cupped his hands, ready to deliver the flattery he'd prepared. But when he looked at the front of the carriage, Grandmaster was nowhere to be seen. Only Tang San was there.

"Tang San? Where's Grandmaster?"

Seeing the principal's anxious expression, Tang San didn't answer. Instead, he turned and went back into the carriage. A few seconds later, the carriage door swung open, and Grandmaster appeared before them, his face deathly pale as Tang San helped him down.

"Grandmaster, what happened to you?"

Principal Fuqi froze, then stepped forward to help Tang San support him while calling out to the crowd gathered behind him.

"Where's Teacher Liu? Hurry up and treat him!"

A life was at stake.

The whole school gate descended into chaos. Soul Ring light flashed everywhere, drawing passersby and students from inside the school to gather and watch.

"Xiao Gang... is injured..."

At the edge of the crowd, Jiang Naruto had found a spot of higher ground. Peering into the distance, he saw Yu Xiaogang in the middle of the crowd, his face utterly drained of color.

Hearing the doubt in Bibi Dong's voice, Jiang Naruto said quietly,

"Isn't it obvious?"

"A four-hundred-year-old Datura Snake isn't a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo. How could Yu Xiaogang be its match? He's lucky to have made it back alive."

As he spoke, Naruto shook his head.

Grandmaster really had been confident. His actual strength was barely above that of a Hundred-Year Soul Beast. What had given him the nerve to take Tang San to hunt for a Soul Ring in the Soul Hunting Forest?

Weren't there enough people dying in the Soul Hunting Forest every year?

Wasn't he afraid that he and Tang San would die in there?

"No!" Bibi Dong's voice rose sharply. She clearly didn't believe him. "The Tang Sect has plenty of powerful Hidden Weapons! How could Xiao Gang not have any? He must have... just had an accident!"

"That's right... that's all it was!"

Bibi Dong seemed to convince even herself, growing more confident with every word.

"Xiao Gang just lacked combat experience and got hurt by accident. There's nothing strange about that!"

Naruto gave her a complicated look.

Bibi Dong's brows drew together. Before she could coldly demand to know what he meant, the crowd stirred again.

"Grandmaster! How are you feeling?"

Principal Fuqi took Grandmaster's hand and asked anxiously.

Yu Xiaogang had been poisoned by the Datura Snake and fallen unconscious. Tang San had managed to neutralize most of the poison, but he was still extremely weak. Now, after receiving treatment from a Soul Skill, some color had finally returned to his face.

Having regained a little strength, Yu Xiaogang waved away the people trying to help him and slowly rose to his feet.

"I... I'm fine..."

He thought he could hear faint laughter nearby. Yu Xiaogang kept his head down, afraid to meet the crowd's mocking eyes. He didn't even dare look up at the "friend" standing in front of him.

That look of his, as if to say, "If only you'd brought me along, this wouldn't have happened," stung like a needle to the heart.

"Grandmaster, what happened?"

At the question, Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth, but his throat was parched and no words came out.

Just as he considered fainting to escape the situation, Tang San suddenly strode forward and stepped between Yu Xiaogang and the crowd.

"Principal! My teacher took me Soul Hunting. There was a bit of trouble along the way, but thanks to him, I obtained this Spirit Ring!"

As he spoke, Blue Silver Grass appeared in Tang San's hand, and a thick, yellow Spirit Ring rose beneath his feet.

"A Hundred-Year Spirit Ring?!"

One of the teachers cried out. Principal Fuqi's pupils contracted, then his face lit up with joy. "Not just that! This Spirit Ring is around four hundred years old! It's a four-hundred-year Spirit Ring!"

In a small place like Nuoding City,

even a Hundred-Year Spirit Ring as one's first was rare.

Most Spirit Masters had only a Ten-Year Spirit Ring as their first. They could try for a Hundred-Year Spirit Ring with their second. A four-hundred-year Spirit Ring was usually the level of a third.

"Just what you'd expect from someone with Innate Full Soul Power!"

Everyone was envious, and the way they looked at Grandmaster changed, too.

"Xiao Gang, you had this kind of ability? That was a four-hundred-year Soul Beast. Even I, a Soul Ancestor, would have had to put in some effort!" Delighted, Principal Fuqi patted Grandmaster on the shoulder.

But Yu Xiaogang was staring at Tang San, lost in thought.

The next moment,

Yu Xiaogang's eyes reddened, then he smiled in relief and waved a hand. "I wasn't capable of that. Tang San killed the Soul Beast all by himself."

"Huh?"

The teachers around them fell silent in bewilderment. Tang San turned around in alarm.

"Teacher?!"

"My Soul Skill only weakened the beast. It was Xiao San who truly killed it." Yu Xiaogang raised a hand to stop Tang San, then smiled at the crowd and continued, "If Xiao San hadn't displayed such power and carried me out of the Soul Hunting Forest, I'd already be dead."

"No! It was you, Teacher!"

"Without your help, there's no way I could have killed that Soul Beast!"

"..."

Under the baffled gazes of the onlookers, both of them tried to give the credit to the other.

As the pair's almost comical exchange of praise continued, the truth gradually became clear. Had Tang San really killed this four-hundred-year Soul Beast?

The thought flashed through their minds, and many people looked at Yu Xiaogang with growing contempt.

He'd needed his own six-year-old student to save him?

What kind of teacher was he?

And after that contempt?

They were all teachers. Who could help envying someone with a student like Tang San? Seeing the two grow more and more impassioned in their insistence, Principal Fuqi hurriedly stepped between them. "All right! All right! Who did more, who did less—it's impossible to say for sure!"

Bringing the argument to an end,

Principal Fuqi looked at Tang San, then at Yu Xiaogang, who wore a faint smile, and nodded. "Xiao Gang, you really have taken on a fine disciple."

"Yes." Yu Xiaogang nodded. His gaze calmly swept across the jealous, envious faces around him. With his hands clasped behind his back, he smiled. "Since my Martial Soul Awakening, I've never been as happy as I am today."

A cause for celebration.

If this had happened in the original story, it would have been worth writing about in detail.

Tang San was modest, courteous, and respectful to his teacher. Grandmaster had emerged from the shadows—if he couldn't reach the peak of the continent himself, he would teach a disciple who could.

Everyone was winning big. So who had lost?

The Sealing Space was silent and empty, with Bibi Dong standing alone on the water, utterly isolated.

Maybe it was just Naruto's imagination, but the copper pipes on the surrounding walls looked even rustier, and the stagnant water on the floor seemed a few inches deeper.

His consciousness entered the space. Standing on the water, Naruto turned to look at Bibi Dong, who was dejected and couldn't even keep her balance. Through Naruto's eyes, she had seen the entire "exchange of credit" that had just happened in reality.

"No... that... can't... be..."

Bibi Dong murmured to herself. Naruto shook his head and looked away.

This was reality.

Reality was too cruel.

It only made the emptiness inside grow larger. Sometimes it made things go wrong; sometimes it left people no time to react...

But this was reality.