Su Mo suddenly recalled the description of the Sage Confucius in an ancient book: Confucius stood nine chi and six cun tall and could lift a city gate. He was a bona fide powerhouse!
Thus, the Analects recorded:
Confucius said: "You do not speak of the strange, the forceful, the disorderly, or the supernatural."
In other words, the Master was too lazy to waste his breath on you, so he'd use his strange, superhuman strength to beat you senseless.
That showed just how powerful Confucius was.
And in this fantasy world, Confucius was truly powerful by more than just a little. Even the gods of the Divine Realm were nothing before the Sage Confucius.
In the corner, the instant Su Mo's body changed, every muscle in Tang San's body had tensed to its limit. His instincts as a Tang Sect disciple told him he was facing a deadly threat unlike any he'd ever encountered. The oppressive presence radiating from that body even surpassed that of some of the peerless experts he'd faced in his previous life!
No thought. No hesitation.
Driven by an extreme stress response, his hands gave a slight twitch inside his sleeves.
Three almost invisible streaks of cold light shot through the air!
The Sleeve Arrows flew!
They were crude, but with the Mysterious Heaven Skill empowering them, they could easily pierce through a wooden board.
Most importantly—they made no sound!
Su Yuntao didn't notice. Old Jack didn't notice. Neither did the children amid the commotion.
But Su Mo noticed!
In his eyes, the world seemed to slow down.
The trajectories of the three Sleeve Arrows were perfectly clear. Acting on instinct, his body raised its enormous right hand with a lightness utterly at odds with its size.
Smack, smack, smack.
With three soft clicks, he pinched the Sleeve Arrows between his thumb and forefinger, as if catching three pesky mosquitoes.
Su Mo lowered his head, looked at the Sleeve Arrows between his fingers, then turned his gaze toward Tang San, whose pupils had shrunk in alarm.
Confucius said: "A gentleman's revenge is never too late."
In other words, the Master said, if a gentleman wanted revenge, there was still time to get it now.
He flicked his fingers.
He didn't flick the Sleeve Arrows back. Instead, with terrifying strength, he ground them in midair into three tiny iron balls, then snapped his fingers—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The three muffled impacts were almost simultaneous.
Tang San didn't even have time to react. He felt three successive blows to his forehead, his vision went black, and he toppled backward. The back of his head hit the ground with a heavy thud, and he passed out completely.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time everyone reacted, all they saw was Tang San lying on the ground, three bright red bumps lined up neatly on his forehead like the gourds on the Calabash Brothers.
Su Mo had held back.
Not because Tang San was the protagonist of this world, but because of the man behind him—the Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao!
"E-Esteemed Spirit Master!" Old Jack cried in alarm as he lifted Tang San and checked his breathing. "He's alive, just unconscious!"
Su Yuntao let out a long breath and glanced at Su Mo with a complicated look. When he'd just caught the hidden weapon with his bare hand, Su Yuntao hadn't even seen what it was before Su Mo had instantly counterattacked. That display showed extremely refined control.
But...
"His strength seems passable, his speed is good, and his reaction time is incredible," Su Yuntao assessed to himself. "But his attack power... He only managed to knock a child unconscious. This Martial Soul's practical value is probably still limited."
He shook his head, suppressing his regret, and took out the blue crystal ball.
"Child, let's test your Soul Power. Your Martial Soul might be... but you never know!"
Su Mo looked at the crystal ball and extended his enormous right hand. The instant his palm covered it—
Hummm!!!
A light even more brilliant and purer than the one during Tang San's test burst forth! The entire ancestral hall was lit as bright as day. The radiance even streamed through the cracks around the doors and windows, drawing cries of astonishment from the villagers still gathered in the courtyard.
"I-Innate Full Soul Power?!" Su Yuntao's voice trembled. "Another child with Innate Full Soul Power! Two children with Innate Full Soul Power from the same village, in a single day!"
He abruptly turned to Old Jack, his eyes burning. "Your Holy Soul Village... No, your village is going to have to change its name! This is a miracle!"
Old Jack was so overcome that tears streamed down his face. "Our ancestors have blessed us! Our ancestors have blessed us!"
Su Yuntao quickly composed himself.
Blue Silver Grass with Innate Full Soul Power was astonishing, to be sure, but the Martial Soul itself was simply too weak. As for this Su Mo... his Martial Soul's form was strange, and his attack power seemed lacking, but at least his body appeared to have terrifying strength and defensive ability. Combined with Innate Full Soul Power, his potential was enormous.
"Child," Su Yuntao said, looking up at him and speaking as gently as he could, "I'm Su Yuntao, an officer of Spirit Hall in Notting City. You possess Innate Full Soul Power, making you a genius found only once in ten thousand. Spirit Hall has one Work-Study Student spot every year. It can secure you admission to Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy, with all your tuition waived and a living allowance provided. I'd like to give that spot to you."
The ancestral hall fell silent.
Everyone looked at Su Mo. Old Jack hesitated. He glanced at Tang San, then at Su Mo, and finally let out a sigh.
They were both dear to him. He couldn't bear to see either one lose the opportunity.
But Su Mo shook his head.
"Thank you, sir, but... I don't need it."
"What?" Su Yuntao froze.
"Give the spot to Tang San." Su Mo's voice came from inside that enormous body, still bearing a child's innocence. "His Martial Soul needs this opportunity."
It was just an excuse to turn the offer down.
What mattered was that, at the instant his Soul Power had been tested, Su Mo had felt something burning beneath the skin on the back of his right hand.
He looked down.
Through his pale golden skin, he could see the blurry shape of a character slowly emerging. It was another ancient seal script character, its strokes more complex and mysterious than the "Virtue" character on his back.
"Dao."
He could only make out the character's outline, but the aura it gave off made him instinctively realize that it was worth far more than a Work-Study Student spot, Notting Academy, or even most of the opportunities he knew about.
He had found a better path.
So, compared to going somewhere unpredictable, staying in the village and cultivating on his own was safer.
Su Yuntao opened his mouth, then finally let out a long sigh. "All right. Everyone has their own ambitions. But, child, if you change your mind, you can always come find me at Spirit Hall in Notting City."
He put away the crystal ball, preparing to end the day's work. But the instant his fingers touched the testing orb—
Crack.
A faint sound of breaking.
Su Yuntao froze. Slowly, he raised the crystal ball and examined it carefully in the light.
A hairline crack had spread from the core inside the orb, branching out like a spiderweb. Then, to his horror, the testing crystal—issued by Spirit Hall and capable of withstanding a full-force blow from a Soul Grandmaster—
Burst apart with a "pop," crumbling into a shower of glittering powder that sifted through his fingers.
Not a pin dropped in the ancestral hall.
Su Yuntao stared blankly at his empty palm, then jerked his head up toward Su Mo, who had already turned and was walking toward the door. Behind his enormous figure, the character "Virtue" glimmered faintly in the light shining through the doorway.
A chilling thought surged uncontrollably through him:
During the test just now... had the child actually been holding back?!