Crushing Defeat

"Next time you try throwing something from behind me, I won't just break one of your hands."

Su Chen took two steps forward, snapping a dead branch beneath his foot.

Tang San clutched his right wrist, sweat beading on his forehead from the pain.

His right hand could no longer exert any strength.

"What exactly is that sword of yours? What soul skill is it?"

Su Chen stopped and glanced back.

"It isn't a soul skill."

"Not a soul skill?"

"If you don't understand, forget it."

Tang San's face turned pale.

If it was not a soul skill, that meant the sword could fly after leaving his hand, without relying on Soul Rings or soul skills, and without being bound by the usual methods of Soul Masters.

This had already surpassed every theory Yu Xiaogang had ever taught.

Yu Xiaogang was also staring at the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword, a chill running through his heart.

As a master of theory, Yu Xiaogang understood even better than Tang San what this meant.

Controlling a martial soul after it left the body normally required the support of a specific soul skill. Yet with merely two fingers, Su Chen had made the sword turn in midair, split into afterimages, intercept attacks, and even precisely smash Tang San's wrist from behind.

This kind of control resembled an entirely new cultivation system more than a soul skill.

"Tang San, don't let this affect you."

"Your path isn't wrong. You're only temporarily inferior to him. You have twin martial souls, innate full soul power, and the cultivation path I've devised for you. In the future, you may not be unable to surpass..."

"Surpass me?"

Su Chen looked at Yu Xiaogang.

"With what?"

Yu Xiaogang's throat tightened.

Su Chen continued.

"With that set of theories you copied from Spirit Hall records? Or with the experience you gained after being stuck at level twenty-nine for all these years?"

Yu Xiaogang's expression immediately darkened.

After the Treatise on the Truth of Martial Souls spread across the continent, the most piercing thing had never been outsiders' mockery.

It was the fact that there was truth in that mockery.

"What do you know!"

Yu Xiaogang's voice suddenly rose.

"Theory isn't judged solely by soul power level! Over the years, I've researched martial souls, soul beasts, and Soul Ring combinations. You're just a child—you can't possibly understand what I've devoted to this!"

"Research?"

Su Chen raised an eyebrow.

"Then tell me, why did Tang San need to seek out a Mandala Snake for his first Soul Ring?"

Yu Xiaogang froze.

Tang San answered instead.

"The Mandala Snake is highly venomous and sufficiently resilient. Its Soul Ring can grant Blue Silver Grass Entanglement and paralysis effects."

"That sounds pretty good."

Su Chen looked at Tang San.

"What is Blue Silver Grass's greatest weakness?"

"The main body is fragile, and its offensive power is lacking."

"So if you give it an Entanglement skill, does that solve the problem?"

Tang San frowned.

"Control-type Soul Masters are meant to focus on control."

"Can your Blue Silver Grass bind a Rending Claw Wolf? Can it bind a Spotted Leopard? Against a slightly stronger soul beast, they'll break it with one struggle. What will you rely on then?"

Tang San opened his mouth but did not answer immediately.

Yu Xiaogang said in a low voice:

"Soul Ring combinations must progress step by step. Blue Silver Grass lacks control power, so the first Soul Ring should make up for that. In the future, we can consider poison, resilience, and range."

"You make it sound so easy."

Su Chen looked at Yu Xiaogang.

"You never cultivated it yourself, yet you're using a six-year-old child to test your theories. What happens if you fail?"

"Cultivating as a Soul Master comes with risks."

"Oh."

Su Chen nodded.

"When Tang San uses his own life to prove your theories, that's called risk."

"When someone else writes a book using records that Spirit Hall predecessors traded their lives for, that's called being a master."

Yu Xiaogang's face went from red to white.

Tang San suddenly placed his left hand on Yu Xiaogang's shoulder.

"Teacher, there's no need to waste words on someone like him."

"Let's go."

Su Chen did not stop them.

Tang San supported Yu Xiaogang as they turned around. They had just taken one step when the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword shot across and plunged into the ground before them.

Both of them stopped short.

Yu Xiaogang turned back stiffly.

"What else do you want?"

"You can leave."

Su Chen looked at Tang San.

"Tang San stays."

Tang San's gaze turned cold.

"Do you want to cripple me?"

"Don't you like striking first?"

Su Chen raised his right hand, and the lightning patterns on the sword lit up.

"I'll give you one chance."

"Use whatever ability you have left and take one sword strike from me head-on."

Yu Xiaogang's expression changed drastically.

"No! Tang San's hand is already broken!"

"That's his right hand."

"His left hand can still move."

Tang San pushed Yu Xiaogang away, a fiercer look appearing in his eyes.

"I'll take it."

"Tang San!"

"Teacher, don't stop me."

Tang San took a deep breath.

He raised his left hand, and Blue Silver Grass emerged from his palm.

Thin vines swiftly spread across the ground, winding toward Su Chen's ankles.

"First soul skill, Entanglement!"

Su Chen did not move.

The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword suddenly dropped into his hand.

"Now that's more like it."

He pressed the blade downward.

"Thunder Attraction."

Purple lightning flowed down the blade.

The moment the Blue Silver Grass drew close, the lightning intent blasted it into curling, scattered strands.

Tang San's expression changed. He immediately activated Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step and circled around from the side.

Su Chen did not pursue him.

Once Tang San moved behind him and had just raised his left hand, the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword had already swept out first.

The Sword Qi did not slash toward Tang San.

Instead, it skimmed past his shoulder and struck a nearby tree.

A sword mark split open across the trunk.

Tang San was thrown off balance by the Sword Qi and staggered several steps to the side.

Su Chen sheathed his sword.

"You took that strike."

Tang San froze.

"What do you mean?"

"I never intended to kill you."

"Then why?"

"So you'd know what a head-on fight feels like."

Su Chen looked at Tang San.

"Those little hidden weapons of yours can still bluff people when you hide in the dark. Standing before my sword, you're not even enough to warm me up."

Tang San's face alternated between green and white.

Yu Xiaogang finally could not hold back. Soul power surged from within him.

"Luo Sanpao!"

A ball of pale yellow light emerged beside Yu Xiaogang.

The plump Luo Sanpao landed on the ground, wrinkled its nose, and bared its teeth at Su Chen.

"A fart like thunder, Luo Sanpao shakes heaven and splits earth!"

Yu Xiaogang formed hand seals with both hands.

Luo Sanpao opened its mouth and was about to charge at Su Chen.

Su Chen frowned.

"You release a pig when you can't win?"

A flash of embarrassment crossed Yu Xiaogang's face.

"Luo Sanpao, stop him!"

Luo Sanpao had barely taken two steps.

Su Chen raised his sword.

This time, he neither controlled the sword from afar nor split its light.

He simply swung his sword in an ordinary strike.

The blade sent forth a streak of lightning Sword Qi.

The lightning flashed past Luo Sanpao's side and crashed down before Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang did not even see where the Sword Qi had come from. He only felt a heavy blow in his chest before he was thrown backward.

Luo Sanpao was also sent flying by the aftershock, rolling into the grass with its four legs in the air.

Yu Xiaogang hit the ground, his face deathly pale.

The Sword Qi had not cut open his chest, but the lightning intent had traveled through his soul power and jolted into his body. His meridians went numb, and his legs would not obey him at all.

Even more humiliatingly, one of his pant legs quickly became wet.

The smell of urine spread through the air.

Tang San stood frozen in place.

"Teacher..."

Yu Xiaogang's lips trembled as he hurriedly tried to prop himself up.

But the moment he exerted strength with his arms, he fell back down again.

"Don't look... Tang San, don't look at me..."

Su Chen remained where he was and did not strike again.

"Yu Xiaogang, take your pig and go back."

"Before teaching students again, figure out what little ability you have first."

Yu Xiaogang's face was utterly bloodless. He no longer had the strength to retort.

Gritting his teeth, Tang San crouched down and supported Yu Xiaogang with his left arm.

"Teacher, let's go."

"Tang San, your hand..."

"I can walk."

His right hand was broken, but his left hand remained.

Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step surged to its limit. Tang San's feet flashed repeatedly as he dragged Yu Xiaogang toward the edge of the forest.

Yu Xiaogang staggered along, while Luo Sanpao followed behind, falling over every few steps.

Su Chen did not chase them.

The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword returned to his palm.

In the shadows of the trees not far away, Yue Guan held a cup of fruit tea, unmoving for quite some time.

"Isn't Your Highness's trial causing rather a large commotion?"

Su Chen glanced ahead.

"Elder Ju, have you had your fill of watching the show?"

Yue Guan stepped out from behind the tree, a smile returning to his face.

"I wasn't watching a show. I was protecting your path."

"Then why didn't you come out earlier?"

"Didn't Your Highness say not to show myself unless it was a life-or-death situation?"

Yue Guan lowered his head to look at the broken arrow on the ground, then turned toward the direction Yu Xiaogang had fled.

"Still, that master ran quite fast."

Su Chen sheathed his sword at his waist.

"Tang San ran even faster."

"With one arm broken, he could still drag someone along while running. He's quite the patient one."

"Being able to endure doesn't mean he can win."

Yue Guan narrowed his eyes.

"Your Highness isn't going after them?"

"There's no need."