Exposing Tang San's Past

Yue Guan and Gui Mei walked out of the courtyard feeling refreshed, with a spring in their steps.

Even a passing dog would have received a chicken leg from them.

After absorbing Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones suited to them the night before, both had broken through to level 93 Soul Power, sparing themselves several years of arduous cultivation at the very least.

After all, the gap between each level of Titled Douluo was vast. The leap from level 95 to 96 was especially enormous, equivalent to the combined gains from level 91 to 94.

On their way to Lin Fan's quarters, they ran into Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong took one look at them and smiled. "You two elders look well today. Full of energy."

"The Saintess noticed." Yue Guan covered his mouth with a laugh. "Thanks to what Lin Fan said and His Holiness the Pope's reward, we each gained a level of Soul Power after absorbing our Soul Bones."

Surprise flashed through Bibi Dong's eyes.

Then she smiled sincerely. "Congratulations, Elder Yue. Congratulations, Elder Gui."

Yue Guan couldn't stop grinning. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm off to visit Lin Fan first thing this morning and bring him a little extra food to thank him."

Gui Mei remained his usual quiet self, but he was no less generous. He brought out a flask of wine from his private collection.

Yue Guan had brought meat—not ordinary meat, but venison from a century-old plum-blossom deer soul beast, one of the best soul beasts for eating.

Looking at the two gifts, Bibi Dong said, "Lin Fan's in for a treat."

"But elders, you know Lin Fan's condition. He has no Martial Soul or Soul Power, while both the meat and wine contain Soul Power. There isn't much, but could it harm him?"

Yue Guan explained, "Saintess, aren't you worrying too much because you care about him? We're Titled Douluo. If we couldn't control something like this, I might as well bash my head against a block of tofu."

"Besides, the amount of Soul Power in them is negligible. It might even help his head injury heal."

Gui Mei spoke up for once. "Rest assured, Your Highness. Sooner or later, his eyes will recover and he'll see this world and have to accept everything here. We're just letting him get a taste of it early, so it won't be too much for him when he opens his eyes."

Qian Xunji came over just then. "Well said. But don't tell him yet. We'll explain once his eyes recover."

"After all, seeing is believing."

"His Holiness is right."

With that settled, the four of them went to Lin Fan's quarters.

Lin Fan had only just woken up. Since he couldn't see anyway, day and night made no difference to him. He simply slept until he woke naturally.

After several days of Bibi Dong describing the layout, Lin Fan had a rough idea of his room. He felt his way to the bathroom and washed his face.

Before he could sit back down on the bed, the four of them came in.

Qian Xunji said, "Xiao Fan, you seem to be getting used to things. When we first met, you were in quite a panic over your eyes."

Lin Fan gave a helpless smile. "Don't tease me, Village Chief. I still have to feel my way around for ages just to use the bathroom. I had to get used to it. I still need to look after myself."

"All right, breakfast first," Bibi Dong said. Alongside the porridge, she set Yue Guan's meat and Gui Mei's wine on the table in front of Lin Fan.

Lin Fan sniffed. "I can smell something delicious already. Breakfast must be quite a spread today."

Bibi Dong explained, "It's all game hunted in the mountains, with wine made from our own fruit. The wine's very mild. It won't stop you telling your story."

"I can hardly wait." Lin Fan dug in.

"Smells amazing," "delicious," and "so good" were about all he said between mouthfuls.

A while later, Lin Fan let out a satisfied burp. "No wonder it's wild game. It's better than any meat I've ever had."

"And after eating and drinking, I feel warm all over. That meal really gave me energy."

Yue Guan said through a mental transmission, "Well, would you look at that. This kid's something else. He's adapted to Soul Power already."

Gui Mei replied, "Even faster than we expected."

Bibi Dong asked curiously, "Does that mean he isn't so different from us after all?"

Qian Xunji didn't dwell on it. "Xiao Fan, now that you've eaten, do you have the energy to tell us more of the story?"

Lin Fan nodded. "Over the last few days, I've told you about Spirit Hall, so you know the basic situation on Douluo Continent. I'll get straight to it."

"Go ahead," Qian Xunji said.

Lin Fan cleared his throat and began. "The protagonist of Douluo Continent, Tang San, had memories from the moment he was born. That was because..."

"He wasn't from Douluo Continent. He was a martial artist from another world, a member of the Tang Sect in a place called the Martial Arts World. He was reborn as a baby on Douluo Continent with his memories intact, and his mother named him Tang San."

"Hold on!" Qian Xunji said in shock. "You're saying this Tang San isn't from Douluo Continent?"

"His body is. His soul isn't."

Qian Xunji gave Gui Mei a look. Gui Mei understood and wrote the information down in the notebook he had prepared.

Lin Fan continued, "When Tang San was three, he sensed spiritual energy in this world, even denser than in the Martial Arts World he came from. He began cultivating with a technique from his old world. After more than a year, he realized this world had special rules: no matter what he did, he couldn't advance from the first stage of the technique to the second."

Qian Xunji couldn't help interrupting. "Xiao Fan, could you explain exactly what abilities Tang San has? Some of this sounds strange to us."

Realization dawned on Lin Fan. "That was my mistake. I'll explain the abilities Tang San brought from the Tang Sect first."

"In his previous life, Tang San was a disciple of the Tang Sect in the Martial Arts World. The sect has a technique for cultivating internal energy—what we'd call Soul Power—known as the Mysterious Heaven Skill. It cultivates at least three times faster than the meditation method Spirit Hall provides on Douluo Continent."

As Lin Fan listed Tang San's abilities, Gui Mei swiftly recorded each one in his notebook.

"But the Tang Sect's specialty isn't cultivation techniques. It's weapons called Hidden Weapons. There are many kinds, including mechanical weapons like Guanyin's Tears and Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus. Some can even threaten the life of a Titled Douluo. Those weapons helped Tang San a great deal in his travels across Douluo Continent."

"One Hidden Weapon described in detail in the book is Yama's Death Notice. It's highly poisonous. If I remember correctly, Tang San used it while he was a Soul Ancestor to kill a high-level Soul Saint who was completely off guard."

Qian Xunji said coldly, "Methods like that certainly have the flavor of another world."

"Of course, with such advanced Hidden Weapons, the Tang Sect has techniques for using them. One is the Purple Demon Eyes, a skill that focuses on the eyes to strengthen mental power. It has four stages. At the third stage, the user can see through illusion skills and withstand mental attacks."

"That was how Tang San saw through a Soul Saint's illusion. He pretended to fall for it, then used Yama's Death Notice to defeat the Soul Saint despite being only a Soul Ancestor."

Lin Fan went on to describe Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and other skills.

Finally, Lin Fan summed it up. "So a martial artist from the Martial Arts World can use Hidden Weapons to defeat the gods of this world. Douluo Continent may be classified as fantasy, but among us, we call it..."

"The absolute bottom rung of Fantasy Novels."