Dodging Hidden Weapons Stuns Tang San!

Tang San's finger hooked over the trigger mechanism froze in place.

He stared at the pebble Chen Xuan was casually tossing up and down, cold sweat breaking out across his back.

What exactly did this kid know?

Had that remark been aimed at twin martial souls, or was he mocking his teacher's theory?

"Little San! Xuan'er! What are you two dawdling for?!"

Old Jack stopped dozens of meters ahead, turned around, and shouted at the top of his lungs. The old man waved his cane, urging them to catch up.

Tang San suddenly came back to his senses. His thumb moved away from the trigger switch, and the hand hanging at his side slowly unclenched.

"Coming, Grandpa Jack!" Tang San called back.

Chen Xuan tucked the pebble into his pocket, shoved both hands into his clothes pockets, and ambled forward.

The two fell back into step, following behind Old Jack.

The mountain path in autumn was carpeted with withered yellow leaves that rustled beneath their feet. Tall trees rose on both sides, and mottled patches of sunlight fell across the dirt road.

After walking for a while, Tang San finally could not hold back any longer.

"Chen Xuan." Tang San lowered his voice, his gaze fixed on the road ahead. "Last night in Room Seven, were you really asleep the whole time?"

Chen Xuan let out a huge yawn.

"What else was I supposed to do if not sleep? Get up and watch you meditate?" Chen Xuan rubbed his eyes, his voice carrying the sluggish laziness of someone not fully awake. "I've been swinging hammers at the blacksmith shop every day for years. The moment my head hits the pillow, I'm out. What, did you have insomnia last night?"

Tang San turned his head and stared hard at Chen Xuan's profile, trying to find a flaw in that face.

There was none.

Chen Xuan's expression was too natural. That irritation at having his sleep disturbed was not something he could fake.

Could that terrifying time freeze from last night really have had nothing to do with Chen Xuan?

Tang San calculated silently.

That made sense. A power capable of freezing even one's thoughts could only be wielded by an expert at the Title Douluo level. Chen Xuan was merely a child with innate soul power rank nine and a martial soul made of several useless rocks. How could he possibly possess such a method?

He must have been overthinking it.

But yesterday in the hall, Chen Xuan had publicly humiliated his teacher and had even exposed the possibility that he possessed twin martial souls. This could not be allowed to pass so easily.

His teacher's theory was the truth. No one was allowed to trample on it.

A dangerous person like Chen Xuan had to be thoroughly investigated.

"When I was cultivating last night, I felt that the airflow around me was somewhat strange." Tang San continued probing. "You're usually very sensitive to soul power fluctuations. Did you really not notice anything at all?"

Chen Xuan stopped and turned to look Tang San up and down.

"The airflow was strange?" Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Tang San, have you been cultivating so hard lately that you've gone into deviation and started hallucinating?"

Tang San's face darkened.

"I'm perfectly clear-headed."

"If you're clear-headed, stop thinking about nonsense." Chen Xuan waved a hand and continued walking. "With all that spare time, you might as well go pull a few more Blue Silver Grass stalks from the back mountain. Maybe one day they'll evolve into towering trees. After all, your teacher said there are no useless martial souls."

Those words struck directly at Tang San's sore spot.

Tang San clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

This kid never stopped mocking his teacher.

The three walked along the mountain path for more than an hour. Old Jack, who was in front, suddenly stopped and clutched his stomach.

"Ow, I drank that bowl of multigrain porridge too quickly this morning." Old Jack looked around, then pointed at a dense patch of woods beside the path. "You two wait here for a bit. Grandpa needs to relieve himself. Don't run around!"

Leaning on his cane, the old man hurried into the woods.

The mountain path instantly fell silent.

Only the rustling of wind through the leaves remained.

Tang San stood where he was and turned to face Chen Xuan.

The gentleness and politeness on his face vanished completely.

"Chen Xuan." Tang San's voice was low. "At the academy, we've never had the chance to properly spar. Grandpa Jack isn't here today, so how about we have a little practice?"

Chen Xuan leaned against a thick tree trunk nearby and pulled up a blade of grass, placing it between his lips.

"Spar?" Chen Xuan looked at Tang San. "Are you sure you just want to spar, not silence me permanently?"

Tang San's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged.

"We're classmates. It's only a spar, and we'll stop before anyone gets hurt."

Though Tang San said that, his feet had already shifted half a step apart as he assumed the opening stance of a Tang Sect supreme technique.

Today, he had to force Chen Xuan to reveal his trump card. If Chen Xuan was truly nothing more than a stubborn blacksmith's son, then Tang San would teach him a lesson and make him keep his mouth shut in the future. But if Chen Xuan had been hiding his strength...

Tang San's right hand slowly slid toward Twenty-Four Bridges Under Moonlight at his waist.

Then he would cripple him.

Insulting his teacher and prying into his secrets—together, those two offenses were enough to earn Chen Xuan death.

"I don't have time to play with you." Chen Xuan spat out the grass root, straightened up, and prepared to continue forward.

The instant Chen Xuan turned around.

Tang San moved.

His footwork shifted, and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track activated in an instant. Tang San's entire body became an afterimage, directly cutting off Chen Xuan's path.

At the same time, Tang San swept both hands across his waist.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three black flashes formed the shape of a triangle as they tore through the air, shooting toward Chen Xuan's face, chest, and lower abdomen.

Iron caltrops.

One of the Tang Sect's most basic and practical hidden weapons.

The three iron caltrops were not poisoned, but Tang San had infused them with the inner force of the Mysterious Heaven Technique. They were incredibly fast and carried tremendous force. Even a wild boar weighing over a hundred jin would instantly lose its fighting ability if struck by them.

Tang San had calculated it perfectly.

At this distance and speed, Chen Xuan either had to summon those useless rocks to block them or unleash his soul power to force himself backward.

As long as Chen Xuan used his soul power, Tang San would be able to uncover the truth of his abilities.

However.

Chen Xuan did not summon his martial soul. He did not even activate his soul power.

In Chen Xuan's eyes, the trajectories of the three rapidly approaching iron caltrops were terrifyingly clear.

After practicing with the Flame Bow on the back mountain every night, the system had already raised Chen Xuan's dynamic vision to an extremely frightening level. An archer needed sharp eyesight above all else; tracking moving targets was basic training.

Compared to the energy arrows fired by the Flame Bow, these lumps of iron Tang San had flicked out with wrist strength alone were so slow they might as well have been moving in slow motion.

Chen Xuan abruptly shifted his center of gravity to the left.

Without a single unnecessary movement, relying solely on the explosive strength his body had developed through years of blacksmithing, he bent his upper body backward at an incredibly bizarre angle while his feet slid half a meter across the fallen leaves.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The three iron caltrops grazed the edge of Chen Xuan's clothes and embedded themselves viciously into the thick tree trunk behind him, their tails still trembling violently.

Tang San's pupils contracted instantly.

He dodged them?

Without using soul power, without using his martial soul, he had dodged Tang San's hidden weapons through pure physical reflexes?

How was that possible?!

Tang San had absolute confidence in his hidden weapon techniques. That attack just now would have been impossible to dodge for even those Nuoding Academy teachers above rank ten if they had been caught unprepared.

Chen Xuan had not only dodged it, but had done so with extraordinary precision and without the slightest panic.

Chen Xuan straightened and dusted the dirt from his clothes.

"Tang San, is this what you mean by stopping before anyone gets hurt?" Chen Xuan turned toward him and looked at the three iron caltrops buried deep in the tree trunk. "Going straight for someone's vital points—did the Tang Sect... oh, no, did your teacher teach you to spar like that?"

Tang San's face turned livid.

That evasive movement of Chen Xuan's was definitely not luck. That precise grasp of distance and trajectory was no worse than the inner disciples of the Tang Sect in his previous life who specialized in movement techniques.

This person had hidden himself far too well.

He was unquestionably a massive threat.

His teacher's theory could not continue to be questioned by someone like this, and his own secrets could not be allowed to fall into this person's hands.

Killing intent spread completely through Tang San's heart.

"You really have been hiding your strength." Tang San stared at Chen Xuan, his right hand reaching for Twenty-Four Bridges Under Moonlight again.

This time, he did not take out iron caltrops.

With an almost imperceptible flick of his wrist, a long, slender bone-piercing nail quietly slipped into his palm.

The surface of the bone-piercing nail glimmered with a faint blue sheen.

It was Mandala Snake venom.

Yesterday in the Spirit-Hunting Forest, he had not only absorbed his soul ring, but had secretly collected venom and used it to coat his hidden weapons. As long as it scraped even a little skin, the toxin would instantly paralyze the nerves and render its victim unable to resist.

Tang San stepped into Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track once more, lowering his body as he gathered momentum.

"You can dodge an openly thrown weapon." Tang San's voice was low and ruthless. "But what about this?"