Deep-Night Woodland Cafeteria—Tang Hao Wanted Lin Yan to Be Tang San's Dog?

"Lin Yan?"

Flender froze for a moment. He did not understand why Tang Hao had suddenly mentioned Lin Yan.

But he had no time to think it over. Instinctively, he laid out everything he knew about Lin Yan.

"Your Excellency, Lin Yan is a Healing Soul Master I encountered while traveling the continent. I saw that his Spirit Skill's healing effects were outstanding and that his talent was exceptional, so I..."

"So you forcibly brought him back to the academy."

When it came to forcibly bringing Lin Yan back to the academy, Flender looked somewhat embarrassed.

After all, it was hardly something honorable.

The man had been traveling the continent peacefully, healing the sick and saving lives. Flender had insisted on taking Lin Yan as his disciple, and when Lin Yan refused, he had simply abducted him and brought him back by force. There was no justifying that.

But Tang Hao did not care how Flender had brought Lin Yan back. What concerned him was Lin Yan's identity.

From Tang Hao's perspective, only the Qian family of Spirit Hall possessed an Angel Spirit on the entire continent.

When Lin Yan had used Wish-Granting Angel Martial Soul Embodiment during the day, Tang Hao had nearly gone berserk on the spot!

Fortunately, the Prayer Angel and the Six-Winged Angel looked vastly different. Most obviously, the Prayer Angel had twelve wings and lacked any aggressiveness, radiating the aura of life from every part of its body.

The Six-Winged Angel, meanwhile, had only six wings and possessed an extremely dense aura of light.

"That boy isn't from Spirit Hall?"

Seeing Tang Hao's gloomy expression, Flender finally recalled the grudge between Tang Hao and Spirit Hall. He hurriedly waved his hands in denial.

"No, no! Of course not! I, Flender, swear upon my Martial Soul that Lin Yan is absolutely not from Spirit Hall."

"He is merely an orphan. He has no connection to Spirit Hall whatsoever."

Flender truly feared that Tang Hao would redirect his fury toward Lin Yan.

Lin Yan was the academy's lifeline. What would happen if Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire went berserk without him?

Besides, Flender had forcibly brought Lin Yan here himself. No matter how one looked at it, Lin Yan should not be dragged into this mess.

"You're quite the good headmaster. Knowing my relationship with Spirit Hall, you still dare vouch for that boy."

Tang Hao snorted coldly.

"Tell Xiao San for me that he must build a good relationship with Lin Yan."

Flender looked up. Seeing Tang Hao's serious expression and hearing that he did not seem to be joking, Flender quickly agreed.

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency. I will have Lin Yan take the initiative to grow close to Tang San. Tang San's safety will surely be guaranteed from then on."

"I want Lin Yan to become Tang San's subordinate!"

Tang Hao's gaze sharpened.

"My son, Tang San, is one of only two Twin Martial Souls geniuses on the entire continent. In the future, he will bear the responsibility of destroying Spirit Hall."

"I see that Lin Yan's talent is passable. He can barely qualify as Tang San's capable subordinate."

"What you need to do is guide Lin Yan into recognizing Tang San as his master, just as the Four Single-Attribute Clans once served my Clear Sky Sect."

"Understand?"

It had to be said that Tang Hao possessed at least some foresight.

At the very least, he could see that Lin Yan was highly talented and could support Tang San on his path of revenge, so he wanted to bring him under his control.

Flender was torn inside.

This is the academy I built through blood, sweat, and tears. Every one of these students was recruited through my painstaking efforts.

That bastard treats the students of my Shrek Academy as subordinates for his son Tang San?

The Four Single-Attribute Clans are now no better than stray dogs. No! I absolutely can't let Tang Hao and his son have it this easy.

But... this was not the time to tear all pretenses apart. Flender quietly suppressed his rebellious feelings and answered respectfully instead.

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency. I will guide Lin Yan."

Tang Hao nodded at those words, and a trace of approval appeared in his eyes as he looked at Flender.

"Very good! Flender, you truly are a smart man."

"When Xiao San completes his great revenge in the future, you and Zhao Wuji may not be unable to claim a share from Spirit Hall's ruins."

"Let's leave it at that for today. Remember! Protect Xiao San well!"

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency..."

The next day.

Lin Yan spent the entire day in his room studying his new Martial Soul and the Crafting Bench the system had given him.

By evening, he had finally adapted to everything he currently possessed.

Without question, the new Martial Soul, "Seraph," was a typical assault-type Martial Soul. It possessed three attributes: Ultimate Light, Ultimate Fire, and Holy.

His current four Spirit Skills were as follows:

First Soul Skill: Holy Sword—condensed Soul Power into a longsword for combat.

Second Soul Skill: Holy Light Blessing—continuously consumed Soul Power to provide a 100% boost to attack, speed, and defense.

Third Soul Skill: Flame Light Prison Kill—marked an enemy. Upon casting the skill again, a diamond-shaped barrier of light and fire would form around the enemy, dealing damage and inflicting control effects.

Fourth Soul Skill: Blazing Light Judgment—formed a large light array beneath the enemy's feet. After a brief charge, it dealt massive damage.

All four Spirit Skills were currently at the thousand-year level. Once Lin Yan reached Level 50, the quality of his Spirit Rings would presumably evolve to the ten-thousand-year level as well. By then, the power of his Spirit Skills would surely evolve further.

This was nearly identical to the Prayer Angel Martial Soul.

The only difference was that the Prayer Angel Martial Soul's first two Spirit Rings had initially been yellow hundred-year Spirit Rings. Only after absorbing a large amount of faith power had they evolved into thousand-year Spirit Rings.

He wondered whether the Seraph's Spirit Rings would require similar conditions to evolve.

As for that "Soul Tool Crafting Bench"...

It was very simple!

As long as he put in materials, the interface would automatically display Soul Tools that could be made based on those materials.

For example, if he put in a piece of black iron, items such as small knives and hammers made from black iron would appear on the interface. As long as Lin Yan added the other materials needed to make a knife, the Crafting Bench would automatically produce a finished Soul Tool knife.

Another method was to directly search for the name of a Soul Tool he knew.

For example, if he searched for "fixed-mounted Soul Tool pistol," the interface would display the materials required to make one. Once he put in the materials, it could automatically produce a finished pistol.

This was far simpler than Tang San's method of making Hidden Weapons.

The sole drawback was that he needed to make low-tier Soul Tools first to increase his proficiency before he could make higher-tier Soul Tools later on.

"Damn..."

"I need Level Two proficiency before I can make a Soul Tool Pistol... Looks like I'll need to gather some metal first."

Seeing the system interface's [Insufficient Proficiency] notification, Lin Yan could not help but pull a bitter smile.

"Where am I supposed to get so much Rare Metal in such a short time?"

To increase his proficiency, he needed to mass-produce low-tier Soul Tools. To make low-tier Soul Tools, he needed even larger quantities of Rare Metal.

He was not short on money now, but even purchasing it would take time. At the very least, it would take a week or two.

Lin Yan was already impatient to make a pistol and play with it.

After all, men were boys until the day they died. Who would not want to handcraft a little pew-pew and go hunting birds in the wilderness?

"Eh? I've got it!"

An idea struck Lin Yan, as if he had suddenly discovered the key point.

"Tang San has been at Notting Academy for so many years. He must have accumulated a huge amount of Rare Metal. If I steal his entire stash..."

"Hahaha!"