The Secret Behind Their Rapid Rise in Soul Power? Tang Hao Quietly Sides with Lin Xuan!

"You... you two..."

Ning Rongrong pointed at Xiao Wu, then toward the boys' dorm next door.

"A boy and a girl slept in the same room for six years? Didn't your families care?"

"I don't have any family elders, and neither does Lin Xuan. Who was going to stop us?"

Xiao Wu waved it off.

"Besides, sharing a bed kept us warm and saved money. What's wrong with that?"

Beside them, Zhu Zhuqing drew a quiet breath and murmured,

"No wonder you kept holding his hand at the school gate."

Ning Rongrong patted her burning cheeks and decided to skip the mortifying subject.

She switched to a question she cared about more.

"Xiao Wu, when they tested your Soul Power, you were level thirty-three!"

"And Lin Xuan was level thirty-five!"

"How on earth did you two train?"

Ning Rongrong tugged at her hair in frustration.

"I thought I was exceptionally gifted, but I'm only level twenty-six."

"How could you advance so fast at a junior academy in some remote little town?"

Zhu Zhuqing turned toward Xiao Wu too, her gaze fixed on her.

At level twenty-seven, she had trained day and night to grow stronger, even risking her life to escape her family.

Then she arrived at Shrek and found three monsters her own age who had passed level thirty. She wanted to know their secret too.

Hearing the question, Xiao Wu rubbed her chin and pointed next door with a grin.

"That..."

"Ask Lin Xuan. We advanced this fast entirely because of him."

Ning Rongrong froze.

"Because of Lin Xuan?"

"Yep. His Martial Soul is amazing."

Xiao Wu rolled over on the bed and pulled the blanket over her head.

"That's enough talking. I'm exhausted from the fight today. I'm going to sleep."

Ning Rongrong sat on the edge of her bed and looked toward the faint lamplight in the wooden cabin next door.

A support-type Soul Master with a Paper Martial Soul could fight fiercely—and make his teammates cultivate at such an absurd speed?

She had to uncover his secret!

Meanwhile.

Lin Xuan sat cross-legged on his bed, his hands resting on his knees.

Soul Power flowed slowly through his body, coursing along his meridians and into his limbs.

He had used only the Gale Talisman and Frost Lock Talisman against Zhao Wuji, so he had not spent much Soul Power. But he had focused his Spiritual Power for so long that his head felt heavy.

He replayed the day's fight in his mind.

A level seventy-six Soul Sage's defenses were formidable. An ordinary Soul Elder would break a bone taking a hit from the Mighty Vajra Palm.

If the Gale Talisman had not boosted the Godly Zhuge Crossbow's bolts, they would never have pierced Zhao Wuji's skin.

Tools are still just tools.

Lin Xuan considered the problem.

The Godly Zhuge Crossbow was troublesome to load. After one volley, he had to draw it again by hand.

If he used the Fireball Talisman he had kept in reserve and propelled it with wind-attribute Soul Power, neither its speed nor its explosive force would fall short of a mechanical hidden weapon.

Now that he was at Shrek Academy, his opponents would only grow stronger.

Keeping his fire-attribute attacks hidden would just hold him back.

If he found the right pretext to reveal the Great Fireball Talisman as a "Self-Created Soul Skill," no one would question it.

Steady breathing came from the other bed.

Tang San was also circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill to recover.

He had taken the brunt of a Soul Power backlash while fighting Zhao Wuji, leaving his blood and qi churning.

About half an hour passed.

Lin Xuan withdrew his Soul Power and opened his eyes.

He raised his right hand and pressed his index and middle fingers together. Two pale-yellow sheets of Talisman Paper formed at his fingertips.

Green patterns rapidly traced across the paper, giving off a faint, fresh scent of plants.

Lin Xuan pressed one against his brow. It turned into green light and slipped into his mind.

His foggy head instantly cleared, and his mental fatigue vanished.

He stood and pulled aside the curtain.

Tang San sat on his bed, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. His face was a little pale.

"Little San, catch."

Lin Xuan flicked his wrist, sending the remaining Clear Mind Talisman gliding toward him.

Tang San caught it, his fingertips brushing the smooth paper.

"A Clear Mind Talisman?"

"Teacher Zhao's shockwave hit you pretty hard. There's probably still pent-up heat in your meridians."

Lin Xuan returned to his bed and sat down.

"Put it on before you circulate your skill. It'll make things easier."

Tang San accepted it without protest. He pressed the paper to his chest and channeled Soul Power into it.

Cool energy spread from his chest. Most of the blockage in his meridians immediately eased, and the Mysterious Heaven Skill ran more than thirty percent faster than usual.

Tang San breathed out slowly and felt much better.

"Your talismans amaze me every time."

Tang San lowered his hands, sounding impressed.

"Most support-type Soul Masters can only provide boosts in battle. Yours even speed up ordinary meditation. If word got out, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would be jealous."

Lin Xuan smiled.

"Let's get some training in. School starts tomorrow, and who knows what they'll put us through."

Tang San nodded, closed his eyes again, and entered deep meditation.

Lin Xuan closed his eyes too and continued meditating with the Clear Mind Talisman's help.

On Back Hill beyond the wooden cabin.

A tall figure in black stood atop an ancient tree.

Tang Hao looked down at the cabin. He could clearly sense the two currents of Soul Power inside.

He raised a rough hand and rubbed the stubble on his chin.

For the past six years, he had followed Tang San from the shadows.

Tang San spent much of each day forging metal, polishing parts, and making those lumps of iron he called hidden weapons. He had far less time to sit and cultivate than others.

Without the Clear Mind Talismans Lin Xuan often gave him, Tang San's level would never have kept pace with the exceptionally gifted Xiao Wu and Lin Xuan.

Tang Hao had watched Zhao Wuji's trial clearly from the woods that day.

Two Ice Talismans had stuck to Zhao Wuji and forcibly slowed his movements.

An ordinary support-type Soul Master could never have done that.

Tang Hao turned, his brow furrowing.

He thought of Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang was the teacher he had chosen for Tang San. His theoretical knowledge was sound, but he was stubborn, and his strength had stalled at level twenty-nine for life.

Back then, Yu Xiaogang had tried to force Lin Xuan to become his disciple, only for Lin Xuan to reject him on the spot.

Tang San was loyal and held Yu Xiaogang in the highest regard.

But Lin Xuan had nothing but contempt for Yu Xiaogang's "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul."

Little San is too stubborn for his own good.

Tang Hao weighed the matter in silence.

If Yu Xiaogang came to Shrek Academy someday, another clash between him and Lin Xuan was inevitable.

When that happened, how would Tang San choose between them?

On one side was the teacher who had taught him theory.

On the other was the companion who had grown up in the same village, helped him cultivate immensely, and possessed unfathomable strength.

Wind swept through the treetop, rustling the leaves.

Tang Hao's expression hardened.

In the Soul Master world, strength was what mattered in the end.

However impressive Yu Xiaogang's theories sounded, they could not change the fact that he was only a Soul Grandmaster.

Lin Xuan's potential and support abilities, on the other hand, could help Tang San advance faster and more steadily.

"If that day really comes..."

Tang Hao murmured, his words scattering on the night wind.

"If Little San can't decide, then I'll decide for him as his father."