Tang San knelt on the ground, desperately urging the Mysterious Heaven Skill to break free of the control.
But it was no use!
Humiliation.
Utter humiliation.
The surrounding students came to their senses and burst into laughter at Tang San.
"Hahaha! This is killing me! After all that fanfare, I thought he'd be something special!"
"That kneeling pose is even more perfect than last time. No wonder he's Master of Theory's disciple!"
"So much for a Hundred-Year Soul Ring! Is it just there to help him bow down to people?"
The laughter stabbed into Tang San's heart like knives.
His eyes were bloodshot, and he panted like an ox as he glared at Su Chen!
The Way of Seeking Death!!!
Everyone around him was seeking death!!!
"Su Chen! You despicable scoundrel who only knows how to use underhanded tricks! If you've got the guts, lift this spell! I, Tang San, will show you what true strength is! You've chosen the Way of Seeking Death!"
"Sure, I can let you go. But first, there's something good I'd like everyone to see."
He pulled the Memory Crystal from his pocket.
"This is a special Soul Tool that can record what happens."
He held Tang San in place with his right hand, raised the Memory Crystal above his head with his left, and spoke loudly.
"Everyone, Tang San has always touted his master, Yu Xiaogang, as a Master of Theory. As it happens, a few days ago I accidentally recorded some precious footage of the master personally teaching in the Soul Hunting Forest. Would you all like to see it?"
Xiao Wu blinked her big eyes, her face full of curiosity.
Hadn't Su Chen been at the academy all this time? When had he recorded Tang San's Soul Hunting trip?
"Let's see it!" Wang Sheng was the first to shout.
Tang San knelt on the ground, his heart giving a jolt as an intensely ominous feeling washed over him.
Su Chen channeled a thread of Soul Power into the Memory Crystal.
The crystal blazed with light, projecting a clear, lifelike image into the air.
The scene showed a gloomy forest.
The huge corpse of a Mandala Snake lay nearby.
Yu Xiaogang was sprawled in a pool of blood. The clothes over his lower half had been torn into rags, revealing the charred, rotting, unmentionable thing in full view on the big screen.
Yu Xiaogang's face twisted in the image as he let out a hoarse, anguished roar.
"The poison's in my body... If you don't cut it off... I'll die."
"Cut it off... Save my life!"
"For your future... For my theories... I can't die! Do it!"
The next moment, the Tang San in the image gripped a short sword, his face tragic.
His hand rose and fell.
"Shlick!"
A lump of charred, rotten flesh flew out of frame.
As Yu Xiaogang let out a eunuch's shrill, bloodcurdling scream, the image abruptly cut off.
The training ground fell deathly silent.
Everyone's eyes went wide, their mouths gaping enough to fit a fist.
Xiao Wu covered her eyes but peeked through her fingers, her little face flushed red.
After several seconds of silence...
The whole place erupted!
"That useless master cut off his own... thing?!"
"Tang San did it! He castrated his own master with his own hands!"
"How vicious! What a betrayal of his master!!"
As the piercing insults of "eunuch's disciple" and "betrayer of his master" rang around him,
Tang San knelt on the ground, his face turning from red to white, from white to green, and finally to the color of pig liver.
He couldn't even think about how Su Chen had learned of this.
Only one thought filled his mind.
It's over!
The fact that his master had become a eunuch was out!
The fact that the mentor he'd always been proud of had become a eunuch had been exposed to the world!
"Su Chen, you treacherous bastard, you vile scoundrel..."
"Pfft!"
Overcome by rage, Tang San suddenly spat out a great mouthful of blood, rolled his eyes, and passed out.
Su Chen put away his long sword.
With nothing holding him up, Tang San slumped to the ground like a heap of rotten mud.
In Su Chen's mind, system notifications rang out like a string of firecrackers.
[ Ding! Tang San's Dao Heart has been damaged. High-level Abstract Event triggered! ] [ Abstract Value obtained: 5000 points! ]
The system's announcement put Su Chen in a great mood.
He nudged the unconscious Tang San with his foot and turned to Wang Sheng.
"Get two people to take Little San back to the eunuch master."
"Right away, boss!" Wang Sheng eagerly called over two work-study students. They grabbed Tang San by the arms and legs and dragged him away.
Su Chen lay back down in his wicker chair.
Xiao Wu came over, her big eyes full of curiosity.
"Su Chen, was that image real? Did that master really become a eunuch?"
Su Chen opened his mouth and accepted a grape Xiao Wu offered him.
"More real than gold. Stay away from those two from now on. One's a eunuch, and the other castrated him. Neither of them is right in the head."
Xiao Wu nodded solemnly and quietly scooted her chair closer to Su Chen's.
Su Chen closed his eyes and sank into the system panel.
Looking at his Abstract Value balance, which had shot past ten thousand, he began to ponder.
Should he save these points for some high-level fun, or browse the shop for an item that could help the master and disciple keep shining?
Meanwhile.
In the shadows, Tang Hao could no longer suppress his fury.
Having witnessed his son endure such humiliation, spit blood, and collapse, he wanted nothing more than to grab the Clear Sky Hammer and smash that insolent brat into minced meat!
The boy's tricks were sinister. He absolutely couldn't be allowed to live!
Tang Hao took a long look at Su Chen, then slowly disappeared into the darkness.
Inside Yu Xiaogang's office.
Yu Xiaogang was imagining Tang San crippling Su Chen.
A trace of sick pleasure crept across his face.
Suddenly!
A gust of sinister wind swept through.
A black-robed figure appeared beside his bed.
"Who's there!!"
Yu Xiaogang was startled. He had only just twisted around when the movement tugged at his lower-body injuries, making him cry out in pain.
Suppressing the pain, Yu Xiaogang looked at the black-clad figure and asked, "W-who are you?"
"Master, it's been a long time!"
The black-robed man took off his hood, revealing a weathered face.
"Come to think of it, it's been more than twenty years since we last met. No wonder you don't recognize me looking like this."
Yu Xiaogang stopped twitching and stared at the visitor in shock. "Tang... Clear Sky Douluo!"
Tang Hao casually sat down in a chair, pulled the gourd from his waist, and began drinking.
Yu Xiaogang came to his senses as well and gave Tang Hao a complicated look.
The idol he'd admired had fallen this low.
"I knew Tang San was your son as soon as I saw his Second Martial Soul."
"Thank you for taking care of Tang San, but I need you to keep my identity secret. Don't tell him."
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "I understand. After all, Spirit Hall..."
Tang Hao's gaze dropped, sweeping over the crotch of Yu Xiaogang's trousers beneath the thin blanket.
He'd followed them the whole time in the Soul Hunting Forest and seen everything clearly, but hadn't intervened.
As the hope of his revenge, how could Tang Hao let his son go hunting Soul Beasts with a mere Soul Grandmaster of twenty-ninth rank?
As for why he hadn't stepped in, it was because Tang San had said, "Once a master, a father for life," and Tang Hao had heard him.
What kind of standing did a mere Soul Grandmaster have to compare himself to Tang Hao?
So Tang Hao had been more than happy to let Yu Xiaogang suffer a little.
As long as the man didn't die, he could go on teaching Tang San.
Tang Hao pulled a token from his robes and tossed it to Yu Xiaogang.
Yu Xiaogang caught it and took a look.
Six Martial Soul designs were clearly engraved on the golden token!
The Pope Token!
Before Yu Xiaogang could react,
Tang Hao placed a hand on his shoulder. His Soul Power surged, forcibly driving every trace of Mandala Snake venom from Yu Xiaogang's body before sealing the wound.
Even someone as thick-skinned as Yu Xiaogang wanted to find a crack in the floor and crawl into it.
But when he felt the pain in his body lessen considerably, he quickly bowed his head in thanks. "Thank you, His Excellency Haotian, for saving my life!"
A moment later, Tang Hao withdrew his hand.
He waved it dismissively. "I'll personally deal with the boy who hurt Tang San with those strange Soul Skills."
"Remember what I said. Teach Tang San well, and make sure he spends more time with that girl named Xiao Wu."
Before he had even finished speaking, Tang Hao vanished from the room like a phantom.
Yu Xiaogang bowed excitedly toward empty air.
With the Clear Sky Douluo's protection, he instantly felt that the future was full of hope again.
Once Tang San became a Titled Douluo, the name of Master would resound throughout the Soul Master World.
Still dreaming sweet dreams, he had no idea that the footage of him being physically castrated had already spread throughout Notting Academy that very day!