After taking Tang San as his disciple, a genius with Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls, Yu Xiaogang lost his former despondency. The rare warmth on his face was no longer so cold, and he no longer looked down on those of low status as he once had. It was as if he had become a different person, his whole bearing becoming far more refined.
In a remote, rundown tavern somewhere in Notting City, the air was thick with a grim killing intent. Even the spiders had stopped spinning their webs and hunting, retreating early into their nests. Within the tavern, only increasingly faint breathing and cries for help could be heard, along with the sound of a drunkard drinking.
The man was extraordinarily burly, standing like an iron tower. His hard face seemed carved by blade and axe, while a chilling aura leaked from his eyes, as though it could freeze the surrounding air. The killing intent exposed around him was so dense it was nearly tangible, enough to make one shudder. His clothes were ragged from head to toe, not a single piece intact, as though weathered by the years. He looked no different from a beggar.
He was the youngest Title Douluo in "shit" history, the legendary figure who had once hammered the previous Spirit Hall Pope to death—Tang Hao. At that moment, Tang Hao held a bowl of wine in one hand and poured it into his mouth like a bull drinking water, as if the liquor were the source of his life. His other hand tightly gripped two letters, two of the three secret letters Gu Hengzhi had written to Spirit Hall.
The first secret letter had exposed in detail that Tang Hao was living in seclusion at the blacksmith shop in Holy Soul Village, Notting City, Fasino Province, as well as Tang San's Innate Full Soul Power and the secret of his two Martial Souls. The other secret letter reported Xiao Wu, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast whom he had only recently begun watching.
Although Tang Hao lived in seclusion in Holy Soul Village, spending his days with wine and appearing indifferent to the world of Soul Masters outside, ever since Tang San had awakened Innate Full Soul Power and displayed two top-tier Martial Souls, he had become more concerned about both his son and the outside world.
To Tang Hao, with Tang San's talent, it would not be difficult for him to grow into a Title Douluo in the future, become an unmatched powerhouse, avenge his mother Ah Yin, and allow himself to return to his ancestral clan. The only obstacle was that Tang San needed time to grow. And to gain that time, he had to find a way to reduce the interference caused by Spirit Hall, his enemy.
Thus, Tang Hao had set out early, arriving in Notting City several days before Tang San and Old Jack. Naturally, his first target was Spirit Hall. After investigating, he had unexpectedly discovered two secret letters among the correspondence about to be escorted back to Spirit City—letters reporting himself and his son, as well as Xiao Wu, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast.
Upon learning this shocking news, Tang Hao immediately strangled it within the Spirit Hall Branch of Notting City. Aside from the first secret letter, which had already been sent out and contained little information, the other two had long since been intercepted by Tang Hao.
Looking at the two secret letters before him, Tang Hao carefully examined them again. Yet no matter how he looked, he could not find the slightest clue. Judging from the envelopes, the paper was the most ordinary cheap stuff, and the two letters were even made from different materials, available in nearly every shop in Notting City that sold such goods. As for the handwriting, the letters were uglier than his great-aunt's. There was even less hope of finding anything from that.
If Gu Hengzhi had known Tang Hao's current expression, he would probably have laughed himself to death. Both letters had been written with his left hand, and he had used two of the most common kinds of ordinary paper. There was even less chance of discovering anything from them.
Tang Hao continued lying in wait at Spirit Hall for several days and investigated throughout Notting City for a long time, yet he never found out who was responsible or what that person's purpose was. He had considered Su Yuntao, the Spirit Hall deacon who had helped his son awaken his Martial Soul. But Su Yuntao's background was far too simple, and he did not even know what Tang Hao looked like. Besides, Tang San had assured him that no one besides himself knew about his Twin Martial Souls.
Then Tang Hao thought of the only person in Notting City with a major background—Yu Xiaogang. As a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, although he had only half a rank of Innate Soul Power and had awakened a pig as his Martial Soul, "Lung Mist," relying on his identity and his former good relationship with the current Pope Bibi Dong, he surely knew some information about Tang Hao. But with only level 29 Soul Power, he could not possibly have discovered that Xiao Wu was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast. Even if he had known, he should have informed the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan rather than Spirit Hall, which had cast him out. Furthermore, Yu Xiaogang seemed intent on doing everything he could to cultivate Tang San, making it even more impossible.
After consecutively ruling out the two most likely suspects, Tang Hao lost his train of thought again. Although his son was more important than all of Notting City, Tang Hao still did not dare slaughter the city. Otherwise, would that not be telling Spirit Hall that he was in Notting City? Besides, he was not sure whether the writer of the secret letters was still in Notting City, nor whether Xiao Wu, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast, might flee in fright and leave his control.
Ever since sending out the three secret letters, Gu Hengzhi had seen no movement from either Notting City or Spirit Hall and had more or less guessed what had happened. Given Bibi Dong's desire for Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, if she had learned that a Transformed Soul Beast had appeared in Notting City, it would have been impossible for there to be no reaction at all. Even if other higher-ups had intercepted the letter, faced with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, they certainly would not have resisted the temptation and would have taken action.
Yet now, nothing at all had happened in Notting City or its Spirit Hall Branch. It was almost certain that the person who had intercepted the secret letters was Tang Hao. Tang Hao was probably still in Notting City, desperately searching for him.
Meanwhile, at Notting Junior Soul Master Academy, in Dormitory Seven...
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