The Master is Shocked, This Child is Terrifying

Notting City.

Two tattooed men stood among the crowd, watching Yang Ming board the carriage and follow the Master toward the Spirit Hunting Forest, four hundred li northeast of Notting City. They lowered their heads and compared him with the wanted poster in their hands.

The face on the poster bore a seventy percent resemblance to Yang Ming's, except it carried five parts more maturity and six parts more hardship. It looked like a middle-aged man around fifty.

The two tattooed men exchanged a glance and spoke in low voices:

"That's right. He's the descendant of that traitor from the organization. Our years of investigation weren't wasted."

"Should we report this to the organization first?"

"Of course. I reported it long ago. The news should reach headquarters in a few months."

"Should we wait for the organization to send people before making our move?"

"Traitors must die! Their descendants must die too! He's just a brat whose Martial Soul has only just awakened. What is there to fear!"

Having reached an agreement, the two tattooed men each rented a fast horse and trailed the carriage from a distance, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Yang Ming had no idea that while he sat in the carriage, disaster had fallen from the sky.

At that moment, he was happily listening to the system's voice ring beside his ear.

"Ding!"

"Congratulations, Host, for speaking a classic line from Xiao Yan of Battle Through the Heavens. You have received one lottery chance. You now have two accumulated lottery chances. Would you like to activate the lottery wheel?"

"Yes!"

A virtual roulette wheel appeared on Yang Ming's retina once more, purple at its base and edged in gold, magnificent and imposing.

Yang Ming secretly rubbed his hands together. He was nervous, but even more excited, wondering what treasure of the Flame Emperor's he would draw.

However, when the wheel's pointer stopped on the item category, Yang Ming froze.

One pair of Xiao Yan's original-flavor pants.

"Pfft!"

Yang Ming nearly spat blood. He had forgotten that this big shot possessed countless items. This time, his terrible luck had struck—his hands were so black that he had drawn this thing!

If they were Xun Er's original-flavor pants, I might actually like them.

Ah, pfft! I'm not that kind of person!

After wasting one lottery chance, Yang Ming guessed that perhaps his luck had been so bad because this first lottery chance had been left over from the line he had quoted from the movie The Big Shot last time.

Yang Ming gave it another try and used up his final lottery chance.

The pointer spun endlessly, dazzling his eyes.

Just as Yang Ming was beginning to lose patience, the pointer slowed and finally stopped on the item category again.

Fortunately, nothing strange happened this time. What he received was a very good item.

At this moment, the Master felt that Yang Ming was merely a hot-blooded young man and ignored him. Instead, he began teaching Tang San about Soul Beasts and Soul Rings.

"The longer a Soul Beast has cultivated, the stronger it becomes, and the better the Soul Ring it produces."

"The main differences between Soul Rings produced by Soul Beasts of different levels lie in the attribute enhancements they grant Spirit Masters and the power of their skills. To put it quantitatively, if you obtain a ten-year Soul Ring compatible with your attributes, your Martial Soul's abilities can increase by ten. If it is a hundred-year Soul Ring, its abilities can increase by one hundred."

"That is why, whenever they have a choice, all Spirit Masters strive to pursue more powerful Martial Souls."

The road leading out of Notting City was far from smooth, and the carriage's poor shock absorption made it sway slightly.

The Master paused briefly, glanced at Yang Ming, who was listening attentively, then somehow pulled out a belt. It looked quite beautiful, and he deliberately gave it to Tang San in front of Yang Ming.

"Little San, now that you have entered my tutelage, I have nothing much to give you. Take this Soul Tool as a gift."

The belt was entirely black, with dark patterns that could not be discerned without close inspection. Twenty-four milky white jade pieces were set evenly along its length. Each was only the size of an adult thumbnail, round in shape and warm in luster—clearly rare, fine jade.

"Teacher, this is too precious." Tang San hesitated.

Glancing at the surprised expression on Yang Ming's face, the Master assumed that Yang Ming was envious of Tang San's gain. A signature stiff smile appeared on his face as he said generously, almost showing off:

"Little San, just accept it. Consider it a reward for joining my tutelage."

"Thirty years ago, I obtained this Soul Tool. After years of research, I gained some understanding of it. Though it has no offensive capability, its storage capacity is unparalleled. It can be considered one of the finest Soul Tools of the present day. Each of these twenty-four jade pieces provides one cubic meter of storage space, making it convenient for you to store personal belongings."

As he said this, the Master turned to Yang Ming, his gaze burning.

The line Yang Ming had spoken last night—"Heaven has given me talents, and they will surely be of use"—had struck straight into the Master's heart. Moreover, Yang Ming's talent was in no way inferior to Tang San's, perhaps even greater, and the Master had not been able to stop thinking about it.

Half of what he had deliberately said just now was actually meant for Yang Ming. He wanted to make it clear that as long as Yang Ming changed his mind and entered his tutelage, he would not be stingy in the slightest.

Of course, the Master still remained reserved.

Although Yang Ming had refused to become his disciple last time, the Master had not taken it to heart and had even continued thinking of recruiting him. Yet he said nothing, merely stared quietly at Yang Ming, as though the words written across his face were:

Impressive, isn't it? Don't you want one?

However, when the Master saw the surprised look on Yang Ming's face earlier, he had clearly misunderstood.

A ring appeared in Yang Ming's palm. The expression on the Master's face suddenly stiffened, and his eyes widened sharply in shock.

It was a dark blue Storage Ring, faint blue radiance glimmering across it and setting it apart from ordinary low-grade Storage Rings.

The Nethersea Ring.

In the world of Battle Through the Heavens, it had been one of the spoils Xiao Yan obtained after killing Han Feng, the leader of the Black Alliance.

A Storage Ring was, plainly speaking, a spatial ring.

Storage Rings came in different grades. High-grade Storage Rings were extremely rare and could be said to be priceless treasures unavailable on the market.

A high-grade Storage Ring allowed its owner to set a soul imprint. Even if someone else was lucky enough to obtain it, they would have to find a way to erase the soul imprint before they could retrieve its contents. Once that happened, the ring's owner would sense it. This nearly autonomous protective function was unique to high-grade Storage Rings and one of the main reasons their value soared.

A low-grade Storage Ring could hold one cubic meter of items, while a high-grade Storage Ring could hold one hundred cubic meters!

"Yang Ming, th-this... is this a Soul Tool?"

The Master's trembling, shocked voice pulled Yang Ming out of his thoughts and back to reality.

"Yes."

Yang Ming also knew that it would be difficult to explain, so he simply went along with it.

The Master leaned closer, staring at the beautiful ring and clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Yang Ming, what does this ring do?"

"It can store items." Yang Ming knew that someone like the Master, essentially a research-minded person, would definitely get to the bottom of it. Before he could continue asking, Yang Ming added, "Oh, right. Its storage space is at least one hundred cubic meters."

"Gasp!"

The Master and Tang San both sucked in a sharp breath.