Chen Ling Was Clearly Bullying the Young

"Xiao San, what kind of attitude is that?"

Yu Xiaogang's brows immediately furrowed, his heart filled with surprise.

In his memory, Tang San had always been calm, sensible, respectful toward his teachers, and never once behaved so rudely or defiantly.

Little did Yu Xiaogang know that he had thought too highly of Tang San. His fragile ego could not withstand blow after blow.

It could be said that Yu Xiaogang's remark about an old man toying with a child was the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Before this, Tang San had never regarded Chen Ling as worthy of notice. His heart had been full of contempt and disdain.

He believed that with the Tang Sect's secret arts, exquisite hidden weapons, and his recent breakthrough to Soul Elder, no one of the same rank could defeat him. He had been brimming with a young man's pride and confidence.

Yet it was this seemingly ordinary opponent who had personally crushed all his arrogance and pride to pieces.

The hidden weapons he had been so proud of, the Tang Sect techniques he had cultivated for years, and the Soul Elder soul skills he had only just obtained all became completely useless before Chen Ling, worth less than nothing.

Tang San's mentality completely collapsed. His spirit had crumbled, and he looked utterly lost, like a walking corpse.

Seeing him like this, the little rabbit Xiao Wu immediately began to feel heartbroken for him.

"I'm going to settle the score with that Chen Ling!"

Before she had even finished speaking, Xiao Wu angrily turned to rush out of the infirmary, only for the quick-eyed Yu Xiaogang to grab her.

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang's thoughts began to stir.

On second thought, Chen Ling was so young yet possessed such terrifying strength. He could easily toy with Tang San in the palm of his hand. Even if he was a few years older, he was undoubtedly an exceptionally talented youth with great potential.

Yu Xiaogang had already made up his mind. As long as Chen Ling knelt before Tang San and apologized, then handed over the methods he had used to defeat Tang San and helped restore his disciple's confidence, Yu Xiaogang could make an exception and allow him to join Shrek Academy. He might even consider taking him in as a nominal disciple.

With that in mind, Yu Xiaogang raised a hand and gently patted Tang San on the shoulder. His expression was arrogant, and his tone carried complete confidence.

"Xiao San, there is no need to be discouraged. Your teacher will seek justice for you right away, and while I'm at it, I'll make him hand over every secret technique he used to defeat you."

In Yu Xiaogang's eyes, Chen Ling was merely an eighteen-year-old Soul Elder. Using his few extra years of age to suppress Tang San, who had only just broken through—wasn't that clearly bullying the young? Yu Xiaogang hated seeing such things most, so he decided to treat him in kind.

He would find Flender and Zhao Wuji and have them crush Chen Ling with a difference in level. You bullied the young with age, so I'll bully the young with age too. Fair enough.

At those words, a glimmer of light instantly returned to Tang San's dim eyes, while a trace of malice and viciousness flashed deep within them.

He instantly understood the key. As long as he obtained those techniques that could perfectly restrain hidden weapons and break his own cultivation methods, then thoroughly integrated them, he could in turn improve his Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record and make up for his own weaknesses.

In an instant, all the gloom in Tang San's heart vanished, leaving only intense excitement and anticipation. His gaze toward Yu Xiaogang was full of earnest hope.

"Thank you, Teacher! I lost control of my emotions just now and spoke improperly. Please forgive me, Teacher."

"It's fine." Yu Xiaogang waved a hand, looking calm and composed, carrying himself like a broad-minded master who did not hold his disciple's mistakes against him. "It was your teacher who was too impatient earlier and failed to consider your feelings."

Then he flicked his robe and turned, striding out of the infirmary with the gait of someone who acknowledged no relatives.

This time, the advantage is mine.

Watching Yu Xiaogang's departing figure, Xiao Wu also began to feel restless.

She was no kind little rabbit. How could she stand by and do nothing when her dear big brother had been hurt?

"Third Brother, I'm coming too! I'll definitely teach him a proper lesson and vent your anger for you!" Xiao Wu turned toward Tang San on the bed, her little face filled with righteous indignation.

"Alright. Be careful." Tang San's heart warmed at the sight, and he slowly nodded.

Yet for some reason, as he watched Xiao Wu's hurriedly departing back, a faint sense of unease rose in his heart.

He quickly shook his head and forcibly suppressed the inexplicable feeling, secretly comforting himself: It must be an illusion. With teachers like Zhao Wuji overseeing things, nothing can possibly go wrong.

Tang San shook his head again, then closed his eyes in peace and prepared to rest well. He needed to recover his energy and wait to receive Chen Ling's unique cultivation methods and techniques, allowing his strength to rise another level.

After Chen Ling finished his soul battle, the system's notification sounded in his mind at just the right time.

[Congratulations to the host for completing your first noob-stomping. Reward: Sword Intent: Falsehood-Piercing.]

Chen Ling immediately focused and sensed the new power within his body. After only a moment, he could not help but marvel inwardly at how absurdly powerful it was.

The ability of Falsehood-Piercing was simple. It was essentially the ability to see through weaknesses. The flow paths of Soul Power and the weak points of defensive soul skills would all be marked by Sword Intent. Striking those points would directly ignore defense.

It was the kind of ability that abused game mechanics, though it required some skill to use.

As his understanding of Sword Intent deepened, the range of the marked weak points would continue to expand.

At present, he could only mark a weakness as a thin line. Once his Sword Intent reached perfection in the future, it could become a broad area, allowing every strike to break through defenses and making him unstoppable.

In other words, no matter where he struck, he would break their defense.

After claiming the reward, Chen Ling found a nearby inn to settle down in, intending to calmly examine all the changes within himself.

With a thought, he raised his hand, and a long sword materialized in midair.

During the hurried battle earlier, he had not carefully examined the full appearance of his martial soul. Now that he looked closely in peace, he immediately felt a sense of familiarity.

"Hiss... isn't this Senior Sister Xiao Guang's Qingming Sword?" Chen Ling was somewhat surprised. Wasn't this the weapon of a character from a game in his previous life?

Only then did he see clearly that the sword itself was a translucent dark cyan. The silver-white glow he had seen during battle had merely been sword light formed by Soul Power coating the blade.

This was far stronger than his previous rusty iron sword. Though that sword did have an enchantment effect in a sense—commonly known as the tetanus sword—it was clearly still inferior to this scarlet-white sword light.

It was not just the form of his martial soul. His soul skills had also undergone a complete transformation.

In the past, with no one to guide him, he could only follow the most widely circulated path for ordinary sword martial soul masters on the continent to obtain soul rings, barely imitating the combat system of the Sword Douluo.

However, aside from his first soul skill being somewhat compatible, the rest were vastly different. Even so, they had been the most suitable for his weaker former self.

His first soul skill, which had originally provided only a temporary twenty percent increase in attack power, had directly surged to eighty percent. Moreover, the original boost had become a permanent effect, turning into a layer of silver-white sword light around the blade that constantly enhanced his combat strength.

It also had considerable room for improvement. It could be said that the system had completely remade Chen Ling's martial soul and soul skills.

His second soul skill, Nether Shadow Guard, transformed the Qingming Sword into afterimages that blocked attacks. Those afterimages were essentially divided sword light and could also be used offensively.

Compared to the previous defensive barrier, this had a far higher ceiling. The stronger the defense, the more sword light there would be; the more sword light there was, the higher the damage; the higher the damage, the stronger the defense.

After all, the best defense was offense. Combined with the single-target burst effect brought by his third soul skill, it could only be described as extremely sinister. Of course, none of that mattered, because he would soon have more than just these few soul skills.