The setting sun stained the grass on the outskirts of Star Dou Forest a tragic orange-red.
A group of people slowly emerged from the forest's shadows.
At the very front, Su Yun remained clad in white as pure as snow, untouched by a speck of dust. He held Xiao Wu's and Zhu Zhuqing's hands, one on either side, while Ning Rongrong bounced along behind them, her face full of adoration.
This scene looked less like they had just returned from a perilous Soul Hunting ground and more like some immortal young master out for a picnic with his family.
Behind them, several surviving attendants from Spirit Hall—whom Su Yun had casually recruited as porters—carried Tang San on a makeshift stretcher. He was unconscious, having suffered the agony of having his bones pulled out.
At that moment, Tang San's face was as pale as translucent paper. His breathing was faint, and the resolute spirit he'd once possessed had vanished, replaced by the dejected air of someone abandoned by the world.
"Look! It's the dean and Grandmaster!"
Ning Rongrong spotted the two figures hurrying toward them and pointed.
Flender beat his green wings and sped ahead, while Yu Xiaogang, several steps behind him, ran with sweat pouring down his forehead. His already stiff, corpse-like face was now even more twisted with anxiety.
"Xiao San! Where's my Xiao San?!"
Yu Xiaogang's hurried, shrill voice reached them before he had even come close.
When he saw Tang San lying on the stretcher, covered in blood and barely breathing, he looked as though he'd been struck by lightning. His legs went weak, and he nearly crawled over to the stretcher.
"Xiao San! Wake up! Don't scare your teacher!"
Yu Xiaogang's hands trembled as he felt over Tang San. The grief-stricken look on his face would have made anyone who didn't know better think his own son had just died.
Flender landed on the ground as well. Seeing his once-proud disciple in such a state, then glancing at Su Yun, who stood beside them looking triumphant, he felt the flesh on his old face twitch violently several times.
He wanted to fly into a rage, but when he thought of Su Yun's unfathomable background and wealth, he could only force his anger back down.
Yu Xiaogang worked for a long while, feeding Tang San medicine and pouring in his meager Soul Power. At last, he confirmed that Tang San had only suffered some superficial injuries. The real cause was a tremendous psychological blow that had caused his emotions to surge and his qi to attack his heart, knocking him unconscious.
Once he was certain Tang San's life wasn't in danger, the arrogance Yu Xiaogang felt as an elder and Grandmaster reclaimed the high ground in his heart.
He sprang to his feet and turned to Su Yun, fury burning in his eyes. Then he roared with feigned authority:
"Outrageous! This is utterly outrageous!"
Yu Xiaogang pointed at Su Yun's nose, spittle flying everywhere.
"Su Yun! Do you know what the inner region of Star Dou Forest is? It's a forbidden zone where even Titled Douluo wouldn't dare claim an easy victory!
"You children went in there without a teacher leading you, and even dared to take Xiao San deep inside?
"If something had happened, who would have taken responsibility? You were murdering the future of the Spirit Master World!"
Flender frowned and chimed in from the side:
"Young Master Su, you really were reckless this time. As students, you should follow the teachers' arrangements."
Listening to their accusations, Su Yun seemed to have heard the greatest joke in the world. He couldn't help chuckling, then laughed louder and louder, his laughter full of scorn.
"A teacher leading us?"
Su Yun stopped laughing and stared coldly at Yu Xiaogang.
"Who were we supposed to count on? That Immovable Wisdom King, Zhao Wuji, whom I beat into a whimpering dog in ten moves and who's still lying in a ditch moaning?
"Or you, the Level 29 Soul Grandmaster who spends all day talking about theory but couldn't beat a village chief in a real fight?"
"You... you!"
Yu Xiaogang's face flushed as Su Yun's words struck him like a resounding slap. Humiliation and fury twisted his features.
"Martial Soul rank doesn't mean everything! I'm invincible in theory! Knowledge is power! Without my guidance, even if you have top-tier Martial Souls, you'll only take the wrong path and end up mediocre!"
He puffed out his not particularly broad chest and struck a pose as if he were directing the world.
"With me as his teacher, Xiao San can reach the full potential of his Twin Martial Souls. You, on the other hand, will only lead them to their deaths!"
"Invincible in theory?"
Su Yun raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
He walked slowly toward Yu Xiaogang. With each step he took, his aura grew stronger.
"Since Grandmaster claims to have seen through the truths of the Martial Soul world, why don't you explain my current condition in front of everyone?"
The moment he finished speaking, golden light blazed around Su Yun!
"Vmmm—!"
A sacred, boundless aura, carrying absolute oppressive force, erupted in an instant.
As Yu Xiaogang and Flender watched in shock, four Soul Rings of proportions far beyond the norm slowly rose beneath Su Yun's feet.
But what astonished them most was the eight golden rifts that suddenly tore open behind him!
Then eight brilliant, sacred Light Wings, covered in fine golden feathers, burst open!
As the wings unfurled, holy flames swirled around them. They illuminated the surrounding forest as bright as day, and a pressure that seemed to purify all evil sent Yu Xiaogang slumping straight to the ground.
"Th-this is an External Soul Bone?!"
Flender cried out. He could feel the terrifying energy contained in those wings.
Su Yun floated in midair, looking down at Yu Xiaogang. His tone was calm, yet his mocking words cut to the bone:
"Grandmaster, didn't you just say your theories were invincible? Then explain this: I just absorbed a gloomy, poisonous, evil Man Faced Demon Spider. Why did it grow into Light Wings that represent holiness and purification?"
Yu Xiaogang was completely dumbfounded.
The Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul he was so proud of clearly stated:
Soul Ring absorption had to match one's attributes, and what a Soul Beast produced would inevitably follow its origin.
How could a Soul Beast as evil to its core as a Man Faced Demon Spider produce sacred, light-attributed wings?
This completely overturned decades of his research. It was as if he were being slapped in the face in front of everyone—eight hundred times in a row!
"Th-this isn't scientific... This contradicts the theory of mutation... The Man Faced Demon Spider's genetic sequence doesn't contain light elements..."
Yu Xiaogang murmured dazedly. His impoverished vocabulary was utterly incapable of explaining the miracle before his eyes.
"Can't explain it?"
Su Yun sneered and slowly descended. The eight wings behind him fluttered gently, and the gust they stirred sent Yu Xiaogang rolling over several times in a sorry heap.
"You don't even understand the basics of mutation and evolution, yet you dare call yourself Grandmaster?
"Your so-called theories are nothing but defective scraps dug out of old books. They might fool an ignorant bumpkin like Tang San, but to me, they're not even worth wiping with. The toilet paper's too stiff."
Su Yun walked up to Yu Xiaogang, bent down, and whispered in his ear:
"Your theories couldn't save Tang San, and they couldn't save you either. Spirit Hall kicking you out was the wisest decision they ever made."
"Because you're nothing but a fraud who's made a mockery of himself."
Yu Xiaogang's face went from red to green, then green to purple. His throat suddenly turned sweet, and he spewed out another large mouthful of blood.
He had spent his entire life cultivating the image of himself as the very embodiment of wisdom. But today, Su Yun had ground his self-respect to dust with nothing but facts.
At that moment, Tang San slowly came to.
The instant he opened his eyes, he saw Su Yun in all his sacred, indescribable glory. He also heard Su Yun say that the Man Faced Demon Spider had grown wings of light.
Tang San's heart clenched violently.
As an experienced master of Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, he could sense that the energy flowing through those wings was clearly a destiny bound to his bloodline—something that should have belonged to him!
That was his cheat!
That was his backbone!
That was the foundation of his original plan to become invincible beneath the heavens!
But now, Su Yun hadn't just stolen his cheat; right in front of him, he'd also verbally blasted his most beloved teacher into a sweet-potato farmer.
"Su... Yun..."
Tang San opened his mouth, wanting to spit out a few harsh words. But when he saw the majestic Light Wings behind Su Yun and thought of how he looked like a chicken that couldn't fly, a feeling of helpless despair and overwhelming humiliation rushed into his mind.
"Ghk—!"
Tang San's eyes rolled back, and a strange sound escaped his throat. Before he could even get a word out, he fainted again.
Su Yun folded away his Light Wings and couldn't even be bothered to look at the pair of master and disciple. He turned and waved casually at Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, who were still staring in shock.
"Let's go. It smells too much like sweet potatoes here. We'll get a good meal in Suotuo City and wash our eyes out."
Beneath the setting sun, Su Yun led the three beauties away, leaving behind two old men shivering in the cold wind and a chosen son of fortune twitching in his unconsciousness.
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