Dragon and Tiger Clash!

Whoosh! An emerald-green figure shot past at astonishing speed, its face filled with terror, as though something dreadful were chasing it.

A white figure appeared beside it in an instant, trailing three afterimages. "You're pretty fast, little fellow. But you're my lunch now. Think you can run after I've set my sights on you?"

The white figure caught the emerald-green one. It was Yang Que, and in his hand he held a small snake, green from head to tail, with watery blue eyes. The snake bore an elegant name: the Bluewater Snake!

Though it was only a Soul Beast a few decades old, it was as fast as a speed-type Hundred-Year Soul Beast. Most Soul Beasts avoided tangling with it for that very reason. But its flesh was delicious, and it had caught Yang Que's eye while he was meditating...

The little snake thrashed in Yang Que's grip, wrapping its supple body around his arm. It bared two sharp fangs and bit down, but no matter how hard it tried, it could not pierce his skin. "Oh, feisty, aren't you? I'll stew you in a bit..." Yang Que gave it a light squeeze, and the Bluewater Snake breathed its last.

Ding! Congratulations! You killed a 67-year-old Bluewater Snake and received 0.5 Gold Coins!

Yang Que had spent three months in the Soul Beast Forest! Apart from returning to the village each evening to let Old Jack know he was safe, he spent all his time there. His Soul Power Level had reached a terrifying level 22—and he was only six! Of course, he owed it to the forest's plentiful herbs and Soul Beast meat. He had lost count of how many Soul Beasts he had eaten, though he had tried at least fifty different kinds. He had also encountered plenty of formidable ones. Yang Que lived by a simple rule: fight if he could win, run if he could not... After all, he was pretty fast at running away!

During those three months, Yang Que had mastered the first stage of the Azure Yang Art, Human Flame, and was only a step from perfecting it. He had also mastered the first volume of the Jade-Suppressing Nether King Body, gaining nearly a thousand jin of strength. He could now smash a Hundred-Year Soul Beast to death with ease. As for the Thunderclap Sword Shadow Steps, he had finally managed to produce three afterimages, just enough to reach the entry level. The depth and mystery of that movement technique were truly something else.

Yang Que called up the Infinite Upgrade System's status panel.

[Host: Yang Que]

[Level: LV22]

[Title: Soul Grandmaster]

[Soul Power: 320/22000]

[Gold Coins: 5667.5]

[Martial Souls: Nine-Headed Demon Lion, Soul-Slaying Sword]

[Techniques: Azure Yang Art, Jade-Suppressing Nether King Body (first volume), Thunderclap Sword Shadow Steps, Dragon-Tiger Roaring Heaven Art (unusable)]

[Weapon: Clearwind Sword]

"Phew! Level 22! With my strength now, crushing Xiao San should be no problem. But if Su Yuntao sees my Soul Power Level, I'll be in trouble! I need a way around that!" Yang Que was not as excited as he had imagined. Instead, he looked grave.

After all, even the finest talents of the Spirit Hall Golden Generation had only possessed innate full soul power at level 20 when they awakened. If someone measured his at level 22, wouldn't they drag him away and dissect him for research?

"Sigh. Sometimes being too much of a genius is a burden!" Yang Que gazed straight up at the sky, his face full of woe.

As he pondered, he drew the Clearwind Sword, infused it with Soul Power, and cut his palm. Bright red blood flowed out. Yang Que took the Golden Egg from the system's pet inventory and let the blood drip onto its shell. In less than three minutes, he sealed the wound with Soul Power. The blood remained on the shell until a flash of golden light swallowed it. Clearly, the little fellow inside had absorbed it...

"Sigh, I've been cutting myself for three months, and still nothing from you? You little bloodsuck—"

That was right: this was the Golden Egg he had won in the lottery. He had fed it his blood every day since, yet it had shown no sign of hatching!

"Sigh, I'll keep feeding you, then! You're bound to hatch someday! For now, I'd better deal with my Soul Power problem!"

Yang Que opened the system panel and selected the shop's hidden-items section:

(Aura-Hiding Ring) Yellow grade, high tier. Price: 5,000 Gold Coins. Function: Anyone below Soul Emperor cannot detect the wearer's exact strength!

...

(Aura-Sealing Talisman) Mystic grade, low tier. Price: 3,500 Gold Coins. Function: Seals Soul Power fluctuations below Soul Emperor level, at a level chosen by the user. Lasts half an hour. A level-98 Peak Douluo can see through it. (Single-use item.)

...

(Heaven-Cloaking Ring) Heaven grade, low tier. Price: 300 million Gold Coins. Function: Conceals heavenly secrets and Soul Power fluctuations. None but a god can see through it!

"Whoa! That Heaven-Cloaking Ring is incredible! It can even conceal heavenly secrets? Forget it, that's nothing to do with me. Nice to look at, though. Given my situation, the Aura-Sealing Talisman makes more sense. I'm going to awaken my Martial Souls, not hide my strength! Sigh, what a waste of money." Yang Que looked heartbroken.

Ding! Purchase successful! One Aura-Sealing Talisman has been placed in your inventory!

"Today's the day I promised Xiao San we'd fight! Can't be late. I still want to give him a thrashing and show him how strong his big brother is! Heh heh heh..." Wearing a wicked grin, Yang Que rushed toward the village's Back Mountain!

At that same moment, Tang San was at home preparing ointment for injuries. He was confident in his strength and worried he might hurt Brother Que, so he made the ointment in advance!

Tang Hao happened to emerge from his room, yawning. He walked over when he saw Tang San preparing the ointment. "What are you making that for?"

Tang San scratched his head sheepishly. "Brother Que challenged me to a fight today!"

"A fight?" Tang Hao looked puzzled!

"Yes! Brother Que wants to see how much we've both improved lately. I'm worried I might hurt him, so I'm preparing some ointment for him..." Tang San scratched his head.

Tang Hao looked at Tang San and recalled Yang Que's startling performance that day. The boy had been training in the Soul Beast Forest ever since. Even though Tang San had learned the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, whether he could beat Yang Que was doubtful...

Forget it. Let him go. It's just children roughhousing. He can use that ointment himself...

"Mm. Go on, then," Tang Hao said solemnly!

Tang San put away the ointment, nodded, and headed for the Back Mountain.

When Tang San arrived, he saw Yang Que standing atop the mountain.

Yang Que wore a pure-white swordsman's robe that fluttered gently in the breeze, with a light sword at his waist. He had never had a haircut, and his tousled locks swayed in the wind. With his head tilted seventy-five degrees toward the sky, he was striking an outrageously showy pose!

Yang Que had bought the robe from the system for 1,000 Gold Coins. It could resize itself and protected against heat, cold, fire, and water. He had cursed the seller as a crook when he bought it, but once he put it on—oh, it was worth every coin!

The system truly sold nothing but the finest goods!

Tang San had one thought: What a fine young master!

Then Yang Que turned his head. That cheeky grin shattered Tang San's lovely impression in an instant!

Tang San's mouth twitched. "Brother Que, I'm here! As promised!"

"Good! Make your move! Let me see how much you've improved in three months." Yang Que gave his robe a flamboyant flick with one hand and crooked a finger at Tang San with the other.

Tang San seemed to understand. Brother Que wanted him to attack first. "Sigh! Brother Que, if I go first, this fight will be over!"

"Enough talk. Come at me!" Yang Que remained utterly composed.

Tang San could only wonder: Has Brother Que grown stronger again?

Tang San chose the crudest approach and threw a punch.

Bang!

Yang Que stopped Tang San's attack with a single finger! "Didn't eat breakfast? Give me everything you've got!" he said calmly.

Tang San's expression turned grave. Brother Que had grown much stronger, not just a little. Looks like I'll have to use all my strength!

Seeing Tang San turn serious, Yang Que got a little serious himself—but only a little!

Tang San suddenly sped up, his figure blurring. "Oh? Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track? Interesting! Want to play at speed? Let's play!" With his memories of his previous life to compare against what he saw now, Yang Que had little trouble recognizing Tang San's signature movement technique.

Whoosh! Yang Que blurred as well, with three shadows following beside him!

"What? What kind of speed is that? He's so fast he's leaving afterimages!" Tang San stared in shock, mistaking the three shadows for afterimages produced by sheer speed!

In that case... Tang San slowly took several pebbles from his robes!

Yang Que noticed the small movement. Going to use Hidden Weapons? Perfect. Let's see them in action!

"Watch out, Brother Que!" Tang San warned!

Yang Que grew wary. After all, according to the original story, Tang San's Hidden Weapons were extraordinarily powerful!

Whoosh! A pebble shot toward Yang Que!

Yang Que swiftly used his movement technique to dodge. That didn't seem so powerful, did it?

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Three more pebbles came flying!

Yang Que dodged them just as easily. "Xiao San, that won't do! Those stones you're throwing don't have enough speed or force!"

Tang San sat down, dejected. "Brother Que, you win. You're too fast. I can't touch you!"

Yang Que clearly did not want to stop there. "How about a contest of strength? We'll trade blows head-on! What do you say?"

"Sure!" Tang San was plainly confident in his strength!

Brother Que, you're bound to lose this time. With my Mysterious Jade Hand, internal cultivation, and force-control technique, there'll be no shame in losing to me... Tang San thought with complete confidence.

Yang Que, meanwhile, thought, Heh, Xiao San. No matter how many tricks you have, I'll break ten thousand techniques with sheer strength!

Whoosh, whoosh! The two figures collided. One was sent flying backward even faster than he had charged in.

Bang! He struck a large tree. It was Tang San who had gone flying; Yang Que, by contrast, remained spotless!

Tang San felt miserable. Losing in speed was bad enough, but he could not match Yang Que's strength either. Now his back was bruised... If Yang Que had not pulled his punch at the last moment, Tang San might not have died, but he would have lost a layer of skin!

"Sigh, I lost, Brother Que. I never expected you to be this strong!" Tang San said gloomily.

"It's fine. Failure is the mother of success. Fail a few more times, and maybe... you'll get used to it?" Yang Que said with an excited grin.

Tang San's mouth twitched. He took out the ointment he had brought, looking as though he might cry!

Yang Que saw it too, and knew perfectly well whom Tang San had meant it for. But man proposes, and heaven disposes!

As Yang Que applied the ointment to Tang San, he laughed. "You knew yourself pretty well, didn't you?"

Tang San could only look miserable, at a loss for words!

Yang Que and Tang San walked back toward the village. Tang San asked curiously, "Brother Que, how did you train? Your speed and strength are terrifying!"

Yang Que blinked. "I just kept training, and here I am!"

Tang San was speechless.

Yang Que smiled. "Weighted training!"

At those two words, Tang San understood at once!

What a mad genius...