You Set the Trap, I'll Take the Bait

The holiday ended quickly.

On the dirt road leading to Notting City, two small figures walked one behind the other.

Tang San walked in front, carrying that gray cloth bundle on his back without saying a word. Ever since Tang Hao had left behind a letter and departed, the boy had become a sullen mute.

Chen Xuan followed a few steps behind, hands in his pockets and a grass stem between his teeth.

Over the past half month, Tang San had trained to the point of obsession. Before dawn every day, he would run to the back mountain, cycling through Purple Demon Eyes, Mysterious Heaven Technique, and Crane Control, Dragon Capture.

Chen Xuan saw it all but said nothing. Tang San had developed a sense of crisis. That day in the forest, his Bone-Piercing Nails had been intercepted, and that jab about an "evolution path" had thoroughly pushed this twin martial soul genius over the edge.

Unfortunately, no matter how crazily Tang San trained, he was still only level ten.

Meanwhile, Chen Xuan had steadily reached level eleven without any soul beast sacrifices.

"Chen Xuan." Tang San, walking ahead, suddenly stopped and turned around.

"What? Sparring again?" Chen Xuan spat out the grass stem and stopped where he was.

Tang San placed a hand on his belt, his fingers lightly brushing the patterns on it.

"Who exactly are you?" Tang San kept his voice low. "What you used in the forest that day wasn't a soul skill at all."

"I'm Chen Xuan, the blacksmith from Saint Soul Village." Chen Xuan spread his hands. "Didn't you investigate my background? Old Jack watched me grow up. Could that be fake?"

Tang San frowned deeply.

He had indeed privately questioned Old Jack, and Chen Xuan's origins had been spotless. But how could a blacksmith's son possess that kind of rule-defying power?

"If you don't want to say it, forget it." Tang San turned around and continued walking. "But this semester, I won't fall for your little tricks a second time."

Chen Xuan watched Tang San's back and curled his lips.

Absolute strength?

Using the foundation of the Clear Sky Hammer to prove the greatness of Blue Silver Grass. This master and disciple pair were both better at self-hypnosis than the other.

Early the next morning, the entire school gathered on the training ground.

The sun was fierce enough to make people dizzy.

The dean gave a brief perfunctory speech, then yielded the stage.

Yu Xiaogang wore a crisp black robe, his hands clasped behind his back as he strode onto the platform with an affected gait.

He cleared his throat, and his voice spread across the training ground through a sound-amplifying soul tool.

"The new semester has begun. As the academy's guest theory instructor, I have decided to hold a practical combat guidance exercise for the new students today."

The students below exchanged puzzled looks.

There had never been such an event at the start of previous school years.

Yu Xiaogang ignored the murmurs below and continued speaking into the amplifier. "A soul master's cultivation requires both theory and practical combat. Today's exercise is mainly intended to show everyone how great an advantage the correct path of martial soul development can bring."

At that point, he paused and swept his gaze across the first-year formation.

"Tang San, step forward."

Tang San walked out of the formation, his back straight as a rod, and stopped beneath the platform.

"Tang San possesses innately full soul power, and his martial soul is Blue Silver Grass." Yu Xiaogang raised his voice several notches. "Many people believe Blue Silver Grass is a useless martial soul. But under my theoretical guidance, he has already found the most perfect path of evolution."

The training ground fell silent.

Quite a few upper-year students whispered among themselves, clearly skeptical of the claim.

Blue Silver Grass? What could that thing do besides feed rabbits?

Yu Xiaogang was very satisfied with this reaction. This was exactly the doubt he wanted, so he could use facts to smash their faces in.

"Practical combat requires an opponent."

Yu Xiaogang's gaze circled the first-year formation before landing precisely on Dorm Seven.

"To let everyone see the difference more clearly, I have specially selected a unique opponent."

Yu Xiaogang pointed toward the back of the crowd.

"Chen Xuan, step forward."

The Dorm Seven students instantly erupted.

Wang Sheng widened his eyes and nudged Chen Xuan beside him. "Brother Xuan, the master called you? What does this old man want?"

Xiao Wu, her scorpion braid hanging behind her, planted her hands on her waist and shouted directly at the platform, "Hey! Mister! There are so many people in the whole school, so why did you have to pick Chen Xuan? His martial soul doesn't even have any offensive power. Aren't you just bullying him?"

Laughter immediately broke out below the stage.

Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened. He glared at Xiao Wu but ignored her, continuing into the amplifier, "Chen Xuan, your situation is rather unusual. You have innately level-nine soul power, but your martial soul consists of several ordinary stones with no practical combat value."

The entire school burst into an uproar.

"Level-nine soul power? A stone martial soul?"

"What a waste of such high talent!"

"No wonder the master picked him. He's a living target!"

Discussion broke out everywhere.

Yu Xiaogang raised a hand and pressed it down, signaling for silence.

"Last semester, during a public lesson, you questioned my theory." Yu Xiaogang looked at Chen Xuan. "You believed that your martial soul did not fit within my theoretical framework."

"Today, I will give you this opportunity."

"Tang San represents the orthodox system of soul master cultivation. You, on the other hand, represent a wild path that abandons martial souls and relies solely on physical strength."

"This exercise will stop at the proper point. I will let every teacher and student in the school see clearly that without proper theoretical guidance, no matter how high one's talent is, it is nothing but brute force."

Yu Xiaogang's speech sounded lofty and righteous.

But anyone who was not an idiot could hear the targeting behind it.

What guidance exercise was this? It was clearly a public execution.

Yu Xiaogang wanted to step on Chen Xuan's face and elevate Tang San onto a pedestal. At the same time, he was taking revenge for Chen Xuan publicly humiliating him last semester.

Tang San stood to one side and turned to look at Chen Xuan.

He said nothing, but his hand had already quietly moved to his waist, his fingertips touching the edge of Twenty-Four Bridges Under Moonlight.

During their clash when they had returned to the village over the holiday, he had not even managed to touch the corner of Chen Xuan's clothes with his hidden weapons.

Today, with the whole school watching and his teacher having built the stage for him, he not only had to win, but win cleanly and decisively, reclaiming all the humiliation from that day.

Everyone's attention focused on Chen Xuan.

They all thought the boy would surely protest, or simply find an excuse to refuse.

After all, no matter how useless Blue Silver Grass was, it was still a proper martial soul. What could a few broken stones do? Throw themselves at people?

Chen Xuan pulled his hands from his pockets, parted the crowd in front of him, and slowly walked forward.

He raised his head and looked at Yu Xiaogang on the platform.

Yu Xiaogang looked down at him from above, waiting for Chen Xuan's anger or retreat.

Chen Xuan suddenly smiled.

He smiled brightly.

"Master, that's quite a big label you've pinned on me." Chen Xuan patted the dust from his pants. "But since you're so eager to guide me, I can't very well refuse your kindness."

He took a step forward and stood opposite Tang San.

"I accept. I'll definitely give it my all."

Yu Xiaogang frowned.

Chen Xuan's reaction was too calm, so calm that it made him feel vaguely uneasy.

But he quickly suppressed that feeling.

What waves could the son of a blacksmith without even a soul ring possibly make?

"Good." Yu Xiaogang nodded. "Two o'clock this afternoon, at the academy's martial arts arena. The entire school will observe."

The martial arts arena that afternoon was destined to host quite a show.

Chen Xuan did not return to the dormitory. Instead, he left the academy and wandered around Notting City for the entire afternoon.

He bought several roast chickens, then went to a blacksmith shop and pocketed two pieces of scrap iron. Only after nightfall did he slowly stroll back to the academy.

He was not nervous in the slightest.

The higher Yu Xiaogang built the stage, the louder he would crash when he fell.

Night descended.

Ten minutes remained until midnight.

The back mountain of Nuoding Academy.

Chen Xuan leaned against an old tree, surrounded by complete darkness.

He closed his eyes and sensed the heavy earth-element fluctuations deep underground.

Those fluctuations were even stronger than what he had felt on the back mountain of Saint Soul Village half a month ago.

The system panel floated in midair, its red countdown decreasing second by second.

"Yu Xiaogang really does bring a pillow just when I'm sleepy." Chen Xuan tore a roast chicken from its oiled-paper wrapping, took a bite, and calculated in his mind.

Yu Xiaogang wanted to use him as a stepping stone and pave the way for Tang San.

Then he would let him pave it.

The higher they climbed, the harder they would fall.

Yu Xiaogang thought he had seen through the nature of the five stones, but he had no idea they were not useless martial souls at all.

The power of the Light-Shadow Stones directly borrowed the five elements of heaven and earth.

There was no need to hunt soul beasts, nor any need for any damned soul rings.

Tang San's treasured Mysterious Heaven Technique and hidden weapons were toys before the weapons of the Five Elements Armor.

Chen Xuan wiped the grease from his hands.

00:00:03.

00:00:02.

00:00:01.

Midnight arrived.

The countdown on the system panel reached zero.

The entire interface was instantly covered by an incomparably heavy earthen-yellow glow.

A roulette wheel appeared. It did not even spin before its pointer locked directly onto the golden square in the very center.

[Ding! A specific area resonance has been triggered!]

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained: Epic-grade weapon—Earth-Splitting Claws!]

[Description: Earth among the five elements, governing defense and heavy strikes. The Earth Shadow Stone has been activated simultaneously!]

A mass of earthen-yellow light burst from the panel and slammed directly into Chen Xuan's right palm.

The light faded.

A pair of dark golden metal claws covered Chen Xuan's hands. Their blades were thick and heavy, radiating a terrifying pressure.

Chen Xuan rose to his feet and suddenly clenched both hands.

A muffled burst of air rang out.

"They're finally here."

Chen Xuan looked at the Earth-Splitting Claws in his hands, then turned toward the martial arts arena.

"Tomorrow, I'll use you master and disciple as the first offering for my new weapon."