This Is a Ten-Year Lone Bamboo

First of all, as a commoner soul master with a clean background, joining Martial Soul Hall was a major option for Qi Dao.

Moreover, Qi Dao had an advantage: he was also born with a half-rank innate soul power and a malignant mutated martial soul.

Once he began to stand out, it would be easy for Bibi Dong to take notice of him and feel that this child bore a striking resemblance to someone from her past, thus giving him an important position.

But if Bibi Dong investigated his background closely, she would inevitably discover that his relationship with Yu Xiaogang was far from friendly. That might end up backfiring instead.

Besides, Bibi Dong's current mental state was anything but normal.

When dealing with a lunatic like that, the best choice was to keep a respectful distance!

Second, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was also an option.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's direct line possessed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul. Since they lacked the ability to protect themselves, they recruited large numbers of talented disciples from outside the family.

Moreover, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had Sword Douluo Chen Xin.

As the only Titled Douluo in Douluo Continent to achieve unity of man and sword, Sword Douluo's understanding of the sword would undoubtedly be of tremendous help to Qi Dao.

However, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was not without its drawbacks.

That was Martial Soul Hall's soul hunting operation.

Judging by his current cultivation speed, Qi Dao truly had no confidence that he would possess sufficient strength to protect himself by the time Martial Soul Hall launched its soul hunting operation.

Finally, there were the major advanced soul master academies.

The most famous advanced soul master academies in the Heaven Dou Empire were none other than Heaven Dou Academy and the Five Element Academy.

But aside from Skywater Academy, which accepted commoner students, none of the other academies accepted commoners.

(Mentioned in the original work.)

However, Skywater Academy accepted only female students with water attributes.

Therefore, Skywater Academy had to be ruled out as well.

In truth, Blue Tyrant Academy was one of the few advanced soul master academies that both accepted commoner students and possessed a fairly strong teaching staff.

If he joined Blue Tyrant Academy, having Liu Erlong lead him on soul hunts would undoubtedly make things much safer.

But considering the relationship between Liu Erlong and Yu Xiaogang, joining Blue Tyrant Academy would simply be making trouble for himself.

So that option was ruled out as well!

After thinking it over, a name suddenly surfaced in Qi Dao's mind.

Qian Renxue!

No, she should be called Xue Qinghe now!

She might be a good candidate!

First, after seeking refuge with Xue Qinghe, he would no longer need to worry about soul rings.

Second, he could use Xue Qinghe to come into contact with Sword Douluo.

Third, having Xue Qinghe as a connection could greatly reduce the risk of being eliminated before he matured.

After all, both the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Martial Soul Hall had cases of eliminating geniuses from hostile forces.

As for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?

That clan was quite interesting. They were exceedingly arrogant; to put it bluntly, with Qi Dao's innate soul power, they probably would not even give him a second glance.

Once he had made up his mind, Qi Dao sighed.

In that case, he probably would have to leave early, before even finishing sixth grade.

He was currently level nineteen, but he could break through the level-twenty bottleneck within half a year at most.

(There was a bottleneck every ten levels. In the original work, Dai Mubai had once been stuck at the level-forty bottleneck and broke through with the help of the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. Among them, levels thirty, seventy, and ninety were major bottlenecks.)

After breaking through level twenty, the sooner he absorbed a soul ring, the better.

Although he could continue storing soul power without absorbing a soul ring, the soul power stored in a day of cultivation by a level-twenty soul master was not actually equal to that stored in a day by a level-twenty-one Grand Soul Master.

After absorbing a soul ring, both the body and martial soul would be strengthened, so the rate at which one absorbed soul power would naturally be faster than before absorbing a soul ring.

Just as Qi Dao made his decision, Yu Xiaogang led Tang San into a room in the corner of the top floor of the dormitory building.

This was Yu Xiaogang's residence. The room was not large, only a little over thirty square meters, but it was filled with bookshelves.

After entering the room, Yu Xiaogang took out a paper parcel and handed it to Tang San.

A fragrant aroma drifted from the parcel. Tang San opened it and saw two chicken legs and a steamed bun inside.

In an instant, Tang San's eyes grew moist.

His teacher treated him so well, even bringing him chicken legs and a steamed bun.

This was warmth his father had never given him!

For a moment, Tang San felt nothing but respect for Yu Xiaogang. The faint suspicion he had developed toward Yu Xiaogang because of Wang Sheng vanished completely beneath the assault of those chicken legs.

This was practically his second father!

When Yu Xiaogang saw the gratitude written all over Tang San's face, a flicker of delight flashed through his eyes.

This was what a good child should be like!

He knew how to be grateful at a glance!

Once he grew up, wouldn't I be able to live in comfort for the rest of my life?

After Tang San quickly finished eating, Yu Xiaogang smiled and said, "Release your twin martial souls. Let me have a look!"

Tang San nodded, then summoned the Clear Sky Hammer.

The instant the Clear Sky Hammer appeared, Yu Xiaogang's pupils contracted.

"This... this is the Clear Sky Hammer!"

"Tang San, Tang..."

"What is your father's name?"

Yu Xiaogang's voice trembled slightly with excitement.

Seeing Yu Xiaogang's shocked expression, curiosity flickered across Tang San's face, but he still answered, "My father is Tang Hao. He's just a blacksmith from the village!"

After hearing this, Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath. The way he looked at Tang San was filled with both strangeness and enthusiasm.

He had never imagined that Tang San was that man's son!

No wonder he had innate full soul power.

How could an ordinary commoner possibly possess innate full soul power?

That was practically impossible!

Innate full soul power, twin martial souls, and the son of the Clear Sky Douluo!

This was the disciple I had dreamed of!

Yu Xiaogang was overjoyed inwardly, but he maintained a calm expression on the surface as he said gravely to Tang San, "Little San, you must never casually reveal your hammer in front of others in the future. Do you understand?"

Tang San replied solemnly, "Teacher, I understand!"

Yu Xiaogang nodded in satisfaction and continued, "Very good. Tomorrow, I'll take you to absorb your first soul ring!"

Tang San immediately grew excited upon hearing that.

Once he absorbed a soul ring, he could truly be called a soul master!

In the blink of an eye, two days passed. Soul Hunting Forest!

"Teacher, what kind of soul beast's soul ring do you think I should absorb?" Tang San asked curiously.

A faint smile curved Yu Xiaogang's lips. He pointed at a jade-green bamboo stalk ahead and said, "Little San, this is a ten-year Lone Bamboo. Its defining trait is toughness. Its offensive power is not particularly strong, but its defensive power is decent."

"Then should we hunt this Lone Bamboo?"

Yu Xiaogang stroked his chin.

"If we can't find any other soul beast suitable for you, then this Lone Bamboo would be a decent choice for your Blue Silver Grass!"

Yu Xiaogang did not take Tang San's Blue Silver Grass martial soul seriously at all.

In his eyes, Blue Silver Grass was merely a transitional stage. Tang San's primary martial soul in the future would still have to be the Clear Sky Hammer.

So, if they truly could not find another suitable soul beast, then absorbing a ten-year Lone Bamboo would be good enough!

Meanwhile, in a dark corner behind them.

When Tang Hao heard their conversation, his eyes turned bloodshot with rage, and he panted like a bull.

"Damn Yu Xiaogang! If you really dare make Little San absorb a ten-year Lone Bamboo soul ring, I'll twist your neck right off!"

Although he also believed that Blue Silver Grass was merely transitional, he did not want his son's first soul ring to be only a ten-year soul ring!

Especially since Tang San now carried his hopes of returning to the sect.

How could he possibly tolerate Yu Xiaogang making Tang San absorb a mere ten-year soul ring?