Dinner Party 2

Hearing this from the side, Qian Ren Shuang's heart jolted. Based on Ning Rongrong's "little witch" personality back when she was in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he quickly thought of a very reasonable explanation:

When the time comes, Ning Rongrong plans to say, "You clearly like me so much, and you're still asking my family for the final payment? Where's your dignity as a man?"

After all, back then, Ning Rongrong had pulled this kind of sweet-talking plus moral-blackmail routine on Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo, and Bone Douluo plenty of times.

Just as Qian Ren Shuang secretly resolved to have less contact with Ning Rongrong in the future, Xiao Wu pressed on from the other side. "What about the other reason?"

Faced with the question, Ning Rongrong first wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin beside her, then put on a proud look and said unhurriedly, "The most important point: back when we were in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Guilmon was in charge of digging tunnels. After I finished playing a prank, I could quickly retreat through those tunnels."

"Hahahahaha—so that's how the two of you got along." Hearing this answer, Xiao Wu thought of the days she used to spend playing with Da Ming and Er Ming in the Star Dou Forest, and couldn't help laughing.

Feeling a sense of accomplishment at successfully making someone laugh, Ning Rongrong became even more pleased with herself, though on the surface she suddenly put on a solemn expression and said, "Tang San, Xiao Wu, let me tell you two, back when Guilmon and I were in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, we had a duo name..."

The impatient Xiao Wu couldn't stand this kind of suspenseful half-sentence behavior. It was enough to drive a rabbit mad, so she hurriedly asked, "What was your duo called?"

Ning Rongrong did not answer right away. She merely gave them a look that said, "Beg me. If both of you beg me, I'll tell you."

Xiao Wu was so anxious she scratched her ears and cheeks. She tugged at Tang San's sleeve, pointed at Ning Rongrong, and said in an aggrieved voice, "Ge, look at her only saying half of it. Isn't she deliberately trying to drive people crazy?"

In Tang San's eyes, Qian Ren Shuang and Ning Rongrong were the same kind of person. If he made an enemy of Ning Rongrong, that meant making an enemy of Qian Ren Shuang. Wouldn't that ruin the task his father had entrusted to him?

With that in mind, Tang San asked in a curious tone, "What was your duo called?"

Seeing that both of them had asked, Ning Rongrong finally picked up her drink at an unhurried pace, took a sip, and answered, "Our duo was called 'Meeting of the Twin Demons.'"

Qian Ren Shuang explained to Tang San and Xiao Wu, "Guilmon has demonic dragon blood inside him. It just hasn't been activated. As for Rongrong, she was called the little witch in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Doesn't that make two demons?"

After hearing the explanation, the two of them finally understood the logic behind the name.

However, what Ning Rongrong herself had not realized was this: because of one rule in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—direct descendants had to pair with someone who possessed combat ability.

This rule had caused the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's line to be, in a sense, "power-worshippers" by inheritance. That was why Qian Ren Shuang, who possessed the powerful martial soul Guilmon, became more and more pleasing to Ning Rongrong the more she looked at him.

At the dinner table, Tang San followed his father Tang Hao's instructions and praised Qian Ren Shuang and Guilmon whenever he found an opening. "Guilmon, you really have a big appetite. I heard that guys who can eat a lot usually aren't weak. I bet you must be very strong, right?"

As the saying went: flattery could wear through neither armor nor hide.

Before long, Qian Ren Shuang and Guilmon had both been praised until they were floating on air.

Guilmon held his head high and puffed out his chest, even chewing with a few extra traces of boldness. Qian Ren Shuang's lips curved slightly upward, and his mood visibly improved.

Seeing that the effect of his praise had more or less reached its peak, Tang San decided to change the subject.

He put down his chopsticks and assumed a humble, advice-seeking look. "Brother Shuang, what attribute and category is your Guilmon?"

"Its attributes are evil, destruction, poison, and fire. Reptile."

Tang San nodded thoughtfully and brought out his teacher's theory. "Reptile... My master once said that this type of martial soul counts as a sub-dragon."

In order to display his virtue of respecting his teacher and valuing the Dao, Tang San also promoted his master while he was at it. "My master has done very deep research into martial soul theory. These classifications were all summarized by him."

Xiao Wu pouted and complained, "A sub-dragon... No wonder my rabbit martial soul felt a little scared after seeing Guilmon."

Tang San continued asking, his tone carrying the curiosity of a professional. "Brother Shuang, which family's martial soul did your Guilmon mutate from?"

Qian Ren Shuang's motion of picking up food paused slightly. He deliberately slowed down for a few seconds to see whether Ning Rongrong actually knew his specific origins.

Seeing that the scene had gone silent for several seconds, Qian Ren Shuang finally relaxed and made up an identity. "The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. I'm a very distant collateral branch of their family. When they saw my martial soul had mutated into a separated martial soul, they threw me out of the clan without another word."

As the saying went, "When away from home, your identity is whatever you say it is." Qian Ren Shuang spun a miserable backstory without changing expression, his tone as calm as if he were saying the weather was nice today.

"Brother Shuang, your Guilmon has the poison attribute, so you should have added a poison-attribute spirit ring to him, right?" Tang San put down his chopsticks, his eyes carrying a few traces of earnest desire for knowledge. "I also want to add a poison-attribute spirit ring to my Blue Silver Grass. Can you help me think it over?"

Xiao Wu tilted her head, still chewing a carrot in her mouth, and asked indistinctly, "Ge, don't you have Grandmaster advising you on your spirit rings? Why are you asking Brother Shuang now?"

Tang San patiently explained, "After all, Teacher's martial soul doesn't have the poison attribute. As the saying goes, practice is the best teacher. Maybe Brother Shuang has chosen the poison attribute before. Guilmon was raised by his own hands, so his experience must be more practical than theory."

Although Tang San's way of thinking had been made rather extreme by the Tang Sect mercenary organization, his intelligence was indeed still barely online.

Qian Ren Shuang shook his head. "I haven't specifically absorbed any poison-attribute spirit rings. Because the poison inside my Guilmon seems to exist specifically to stimulate its ferocity. So poison isn't of much use to me."

"I see..." A trace of regret flashed through Tang San's eyes, but he quickly followed the topic and asked further, "Then what spirit rings did you absorb?"

"Because my Guilmon belongs to the type that naturally comes with two attack abilities, the spirit rings I chose were all support-oriented."

As Qian Ren Shuang handed Guilmon a fifth meat patty, he said casually, "The first three are attack boost, speed boost, and flight ability. The next two are both temporary evolution."

In the spirit master world, there were two kinds of people: one kind liked to hang the amplification level of their spirit skills on their lips, wishing they could broadcast it with a megaphone, purely to show off.

The other kind quietly made a fortune without making a sound and kept a very low profile. Qian Ren Shuang clearly did not belong to the former.

"Evolution!" When Tang San heard that word, his eyes suddenly lit up like two lamps suddenly switched on in the darkness. His mind spun rapidly: his Blue Silver Grass martial soul was extremely weak. If it could evolve, wouldn't all his problems be solved?

"Brother Shuang, what kind of spirit beast did you choose? What kind allows temporary evolution? Please tell me, I'm begging you—this information is extremely important to my master!" In order to maintain his image as someone who respected his teacher and valued the Dao, Tang San brought out his master at just the right time.

Guilmon's mouth was stuffed full of meat patty as he rushed to answer indistinctly, "Hunting spirit beasts with the ability to store and release bursts of power all have a chance of granting temporary evolution." After speaking, he lowered his head and kept eating furiously, clearly feeling that this topic was not as important as meat patties.

Qian Ren Shuang added a sentence, his tone carrying a slight note of reminder. "However, this kind of spirit beast's storage function generally attracts other spirit beasts to its side—so they're usually the darlings of spirit beast groups." He paused, then gave Tang San a meaningful look. "Weigh the difficulty of hunting this kind of spirit beast yourself."

At this point, Qian Ren Shuang swallowed all the food in his mouth, wiped his lips, and his expression became solemn. "Also, even if you kill the same type of spirit beast and obtain the same spirit ring, it will still change because everyone's martial soul is different. For example, my first spirit ring was based on Blazing Academy's Fire Rain Like Stars. As for the spirit beasts corresponding to my fourth and fifth spirit rings, if they were hunted by a Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda spirit master, then the spirit skills they obtained would be all-attribute amplification..."

At the dinner party, everyone chatted back and forth, raising cups and exchanging toasts, lively beyond measure:

Guilmon buried his head and ate wildly. Xiao Wu hugged a carrot and gnawed on it with delight. Tang San ate while still pondering spirit rings. Ning Rongrong boldly added three more rounds of dishes.

When everyone returned to the academy that night, Flender stood on the training field with both hands behind his back and a stern expression on his face.

Of course he knew that Ning Rongrong had taken the lead—taking Qian Ren Shuang, Guilmon, Tang San, and Xiao Wu to a restaurant to eat and drink.