Tang San: You're Even Stealing My Chance to Show Off?

Tang Wulin worked extremely hard to earn money. Every day, he went to the Forging Room to forge, then took the metals to the Forging Association to turn in tasks. Every day, he was so exhausted that the moment he returned to the dorm, he collapsed onto his bed and lost consciousness.

Was it love?

Was it responsibility?

Perhaps both, but Tang Wulin felt that the core reason was—he was poor!

"Poverty drives progress. What the teacher said in class today really makes a lot of sense."

As he walked toward the Forging Association, Tang Wulin muttered to himself and noticed a call coming in on his Soul Tool Communicator. It was from his parents. Delighted, he answered it.

"Hello, Dad, Mom, are you coming to Eastsea?"

On the other end, Tang Ziran and his wife looked at each other and chuckled softly. Tang Ziran said with a smile, "Wulin, we have a home in Eastsea now. Though we're only renting for the time being, our family already has a place to stay in Eastsea."

"Really?" Tang Wulin was pleasantly surprised. "Where is it? I'll come find you."

Tang Ziran said, "It's at..."

After hearing the location Tang Ziran gave, Tang Wulin realized it was actually a place he had been to before.

It was near that Snack Street he had gone to with Xie Xie!

Mom and Dad must have chosen to settle there because they felt safer with a Four Rings Soul Ancestor guarding the area, right?

Thinking this, Tang Wulin said he would be there right away, put away his Soul Tool Communicator, and happily ran toward Snack Street.

In Eastsea, he had a home too!

"This child really is impatient."

Looking at the disconnected Soul Tool Communicator, Tang Ziran glanced at his wife and smiled helplessly.

"He must miss us a lot too."

Lang Yue smiled.

—Ding-dong!

The doorbell suddenly rang for no reason, making both of them freeze. They looked toward the door in confusion.

Who was it? Had Wulin arrived this quickly?

Tang Ziran frowned, got up, and walked to the door, looking outside through the peephole.

Outside stood a tall, sturdy man in a black cloak. The hood of the cloak covered his face, and only a pair of deep eyes could be faintly seen.

The moment Tang Ziran saw him, he felt a chill run through his entire body, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. The whole room seemed to turn gloomy along with it.

Tang Ziran's pupils contracted sharply. He hurriedly turned back to Lang Yue's side. "We have to go. They're here."

Panic flashed through Lang Yue's eyes, but when she thought of Tang Wulin, she barely managed to calm herself. "If we leave, what about Wulin? What if they go after Wulin..."

Tang Ziran's movements halted, and his expression also grew complicated.

That was right. If they just left, what would Wulin do?

The doorbell rang again and again beside his ears like a death knell, throwing Tang Ziran's thoughts into chaos.

In the end, he took a deep breath, gave up on the idea of leaving, turned around, and opened the door.

"We'll go with you."

A faint smile appeared at the corner of the black-robed man's mouth. He was just about to turn and lead the two away when his gaze suddenly sharpened. He looked toward the shadowed corner, a scepter appeared in his hand, and four soul rings gradually appeared around him.

Two yellow and two purple, with a faint green mist lingering around the outer edges of the soul rings.

"Come out!"

Seeing that he could no longer hide, Guang Long walked straight out from the corner. His entire body was covered in gray scales, and four soul rings in the optimal configuration likewise circled around him. At the same time, a lizard and a giant python soul spirit also emerged, transforming into yellow and purple balls of light that floated beside him.

"Are you rats in the gutter stupid or what? Wearing black robes and wandering around in broad daylight? The nearby residents all came to report you."

Guang Long mocked the black-robed man in front of him, but his gaze was very grave.

That cold, sinister aura—without question, he was no ordinary soul master, but an Evil Spirit Master!

Evil Spirit Masters had strange methods. Even though both of them had four rings, Guang Long could not guarantee he would win, so he could only release his soul spirits to help.

This method was actually not encouraged. Under a Soul Spirit Contract, if a soul spirit died in battle, it would need to recuperate within the soul master's body for a very long time before it could revive. It would affect the power of soul skills and even reflect injuries back onto the soul master. The stronger a soul master was, the less they would choose this method, especially Mecha Pilots and Battle Armor Masters.

But Guang Long was not a powerful soul master, much less a Mecha Pilot or Battle Armor Master. The combat power provided by his soul spirits was not weak and could significantly increase his chances of winning. He had no reason not to use them.

"Captain Guang Long?!" When Tang Ziran saw Guang Long, he was pleasantly surprised for a moment. But after glancing at the Evil Spirit Master beside him, who did not waver at all, he opened his mouth and did not dare say anything more. He only pulled Lang Yue back as far as possible, trying to distance them from the battlefield.

The Evil Spirit Master paid no attention to their small movements. He only sneered at Guang Long. "Iron Armored Dragon Martial Soul? I'd be a little wary if it were your brother. What the hell do you think you are?"

Guang Long said, "Heh. Seeing as you don't have any soul spirits, you couldn't hold back the ability of your Martial Soul before the review and became an Evil Spirit Master, didn't you? No self-control at all. Trash!"

Hearing this, the Evil Spirit Master's eyes suddenly widened. He stared fixedly at Guang Long, his gaze turning utterly dark.

Just as Guang Long had said, he had failed to hold back.

Before obtaining his first soul spirit, he had already used the abilities of an Evil Spirit Master. From then on, there was no stopping it. He became immersed in the pleasure of rapidly increasing his cultivation, and by the time he came back to his senses, things had already reached an irreversible point. He did not dare go to the Spirit Pagoda at all, and naturally lost the chance to receive assistance.

From then on, he lived a drifting life, until he joined the Holy Spirit Cult...

Realizing he seemed to have hit a sore spot, Guang Long kept talking, relentlessly attacking his opponent's state of mind. "Right now, the only place Soul Beasts can gather where you're free to roam is the ocean. Hunting Soul Beasts for soul rings out in the distant seas must feel awful, right? Reaching Four Rings at your age must have taken quite a lot of time, huh?"

"Heh. What do you know? The Holy Church has its own methods."

The Evil Spirit Master drew a deep breath and said in a sinister voice, "You're trying to stall for time, waiting for the Mecha Brigade to arrive, aren't you? Too bad. You miscalculated."

The moment his words fell, a burst of intense green light erupted from his body.

The green light was like smoke, swelling instantly and enveloping the surroundings.

"My Martial Soul can control plagues. How long have you all been staying with me?"

When Guang Long and the couple, Tang Ziran and Lang Yue, heard this, their expressions changed in an instant.

When Tang Wulin happily returned home, what he saw was his parents collapsed on the floor with pained expressions, and Guang Long being held in the Evil Spirit Master's hand. His excited look vanished, replaced by confusion.

What... was going on?

"What a pity. All you waited for was a little brat." The Evil Spirit Master glanced at Tang Wulin and smiled coldly, throwing the green-faced Guang Long to the ground before turning and walking toward Tang Ziran and Lang Yue.

If he had not controlled the intensity, these two ordinary people would have died long ago.

"Let go of my mom and dad!" Tang Wulin glared furiously at the Evil Spirit Master. A yellow soul ring appeared beside him as he charged fiercely at the Evil Spirit Master, but the moment he entered the area around him, he fell flat to the floor, utterly powerless.

"Heh." The Evil Spirit Master glanced at Tang Ziran and Lang Yue. "So you even have a child. How unexpected."

"Please... let Wulin go. We'll... go with you." Lang Yue looked at Tang Wulin as he struggled to come over, and her heart ached as she spoke in a halting voice.

"That won't do. With him here, you'll work more attentively for the Holy Church." An evil smile appeared on the Evil Spirit Master's face as his hand reached toward Tang Wulin.

Tang San's Divine Sense sensed that Tang Wulin was in danger and abruptly woke. After probing the situation outside, his face showed delight.

Good. Evil Spirit Master, well done! But you already have a path to death. Now use your life to help me gain Wulin's trust!

Bang!

A tremendous explosion rang out from nowhere. A black mecha suddenly descended from the sky, kicking up a cloud of dust, and the smiles on Tang San's Divine Sense and the Evil Spirit Master's faces froze at the same time.

Fuck, a kind of plant!