Tang God King's Gratitude

Zhao Wuji immediately asked Xiao Wu how she had returned safely.

Xiao Wu lied that she had heard a bull's roar. Then the Titan Giant Ape had fearfully set her down.

"After the Titan Giant Ape put me down, I came across several Soul Beasts that had been stunned unconscious. What a coincidence—one of them happened to suit me. So I killed it and obtained my third Spirit Ring." Three Spirit Rings rose beneath Xiao Wu's feet: yellow, purple, and black.

"A ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring!" Zhao Wuji cried out.

"A ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring!" Qin Ming cried out.

"Why is your third Spirit Ring ten thousand years old?" Oscar asked in a strange tone. "The absorption limit for a Spirit Master's third Spirit Ring is one thousand seven hundred and sixty years. How can your third Spirit Ring be ten thousand years old?"

"Who told you that?" Xiao Wu countered.

"The dean said it came from one of his brothers." The dean Oscar referred to was Flender.

Flender trusted Yu Xiaogang greatly. He had read the books Yu Xiaogang wrote and, after founding the academy, had strictly followed the Spirit Ring limits Yu Xiaogang proposed when helping the academy's students obtain Spirit Rings.

"Nothing is absolute." Xiao Wu walked to Lin Hao's side and said, "Lin Hao told me that there were always exceptions to everything. What you said only applies to ordinary people, and I'm no ordinary person. Not just me—even Little San is breaking through his limits right now and absorbing a Spirit Ring with a higher age limit!"

"Lin Hao?" Oscar looked at Lin Hao suspiciously, his eyes full of doubt.

"Lin Hao?" Zhu Zhuqing froze for a moment and looked at him as well. But there was a glimmer in her eyes rather than doubt, and no one knew what she was thinking.

Zhu Zhuqing held an especially strong desire in her heart: she wanted to become stronger.

She was probably viewing him through the eyes of a normal person, stepping outside the blind spot created by his age and reassessing Lin Hao's abilities.

Oscar asked enviously, "Xiao Wu, how are you so outstanding that you can obtain a Spirit Ring with such a high age limit? Do you know that, with a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring, your current strength is already on par with a Soul Ancestor's?"

That statement was highly one-sided.

If one considered only Spirit Ring age limits, then a four-ringed Soul Ancestor might not necessarily be stronger than Xiao Wu. Xiao Wu's total Spirit Ring age was clearly higher than that of a four-ringed Soul Ancestor.

The maximum age for a first Spirit Ring was four hundred and twenty-three years.

The maximum age for a second Spirit Ring was seven hundred and sixty-four years.

The maximum age for a third Spirit Ring was one thousand seven hundred and sixty years.

The maximum age for a fourth Spirit Ring was five thousand years.

The total Spirit Ring age of an ordinary four-ringed Soul Ancestor would not exceed eight thousand years. One of Xiao Wu's Spirit Rings could rival all four of theirs.

That was the gap!

Of course, a four-ringed Soul Ancestor possessed far more Soul Power than a three-ringed Soul Elder.

In that respect, Xiao Wu was at a disadvantage against a four-ringed Soul Ancestor.

Beyond that, the purity of both sides' Soul Power, combat experience, the strength of their soul skills, and other factors were all key to determining victory or defeat.

In short, Xiao Wu now had the qualifications to fight a four-ringed Soul Ancestor.

Xiao Wu smiled smugly and affectionately bumped her shoulder against Lin Hao's. "It's all because I have Lin Hao!"

"Cough..." The simp Oscar flicked his bangs, strutted proudly over to Lin Hao, and asked in a fawning tone, "Brother, are you still looking for brothers?"

Lin Hao laughed. Just as he was about to respond, a pained scream rang out.

"Ah!"

Tang San's bones began to crackle in rapid succession.

A bloody red stain began spreading across the clothes on Tang San's back. Beads of blood were seeping from the surface of his skin.

Tang San, who sat cross-legged on the ground, convulsed violently. His chest suddenly thrust upward, and his upper body arched into a bow. He looked terrifying.

Lin Hao said, "Don't panic, everyone. This is a normal sign of an External Soul Bone emerging. Keep your eyes open and watch closely. It's rare to witness a Spirit Master gaining an External Soul Bone with your own eyes!"

Even with Lin Hao's reassurance, Zhao Wuji, Xiao Wu, and the others still clenched their hearts in worry.

As time passed, four fist-sized bulges rose on each side of Tang San's spine.

Then fine beads of blood emerged from beneath his skin, and Tang San's entire body convulsed violently.

Afterward, the eight bulges burst through his skin and extended outward. Under everyone's astonished gaze, dark purple objects grew to over a meter long in the blink of an eye. They then extended further from their joints, eventually becoming eight purple-black spider legs more than three meters long.

"An External Soul Bone!" Ma Hongjun, who had previously doubted Lin Hao's ability, cried out again. "Fuck, my god, he guessed right again. Tang San really gained an External Soul Bone by absorbing the Man Faced Demon Spider's Spirit Ring!"

"Did he guess?" Xiao Wu asked Ma Hongjun in return.

Ma Hongjun froze, then complained, "That's way too incredible. He's so capable he could be a teacher!"

Zhao Wuji reached out, patted Qin Ming's shoulder, and congratulated him. "Qin Ming, you brought along an excellent student!"

Qin Ming smiled bitterly. "I misjudged him too!"

The ability to tell at a glance that absorbing a Spirit Ring would grant an External Soul Bone was already enough to surpass Qin Ming and Zhao Wuji.

Perhaps... Zhao Wuji and Qin Ming believed that only a few people such as the Grandmaster could compare with Lin Hao in matters concerning Martial Souls.

Tang San opened his eyes and swept his gaze around the area. When he noticed Xiao Wu, he said happily, "Xiao Wu, you're back?"

"Yes, I'm back. Congratulations, Little San, on obtaining an External Soul Bone!" Xiao Wu was sincerely happy for Tang San.

"This is all thanks to Big Brother. Without Big Brother, I wouldn't have obtained an External Soul Bone either!" Tang San looked gratefully at Lin Hao. Every other word out of his mouth was "Big Brother."

Clearly, after Lin Hao's seemingly sincere treatment, Tang San's heart had already begun to lean toward Lin Hao.

If this continued, it was entirely possible that Lin Hao would be able to make Tang San do whatever he wanted in the future.

To Lin Hao, Tang San was like a piece of jade.

He had lacked love in his previous life.

He also lacked love in this life.

If someone treated Tang San "sincerely" in certain ways, it was possible to win Tang San over.

As for selfish motives—well, Lin Hao had always held double standards. He believed everyone had selfish motives, so why couldn't Tang San have selfish motives? Why couldn't he have double standards?

Looking across history, Cao Cao, who liked sleeping with other men's wives; Li Shimin, who took his father's and brothers' women; Li Longji, who seized his son's wife... compared to them, Tang San was small fry.

Besides, Lin Hao had not actually done anything in Tang San's acquisition of the External Soul Bone. He had merely lost a bottle of first-grade pills.

To the Douluo world, pills were priceless treasures.

To Battle Through the Heavens, first-grade pills were nothing special.

With a flip of his empty hand, Lin Hao took out another bottle of Power Accumulation Pills. He divided it into three portions and handed one to Tang San. "Third Brother, this is a first-grade Power Accumulation Pill. At your current level, it can increase your strength by thirty percent for half an hour."