"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"My Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, my Tang Sect Secret Arts!"
Cold sweat poured down Tang San's forehead as he forced himself to stand.
Unwilling to give up, he stepped into Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Just as his figure was about to shift unpredictably, the power of his Right Leg Soul Bone activated instinctively.
A steady, downward pull of gravity spread outward from his marrow into his right leg, practically rooting his right foot to the ground.
At that moment, however, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track demanded that his rooted right leg make a sharp turn or slide sideways to dodge.
His body and left leg changed direction swiftly, but his right leg remained rooted to the ground, stabilizing his center of gravity and preventing any sudden turn.
Two completely conflicting forces collided in his right leg, directing all the impact that could not be dispersed into his ankle.
Crack!
The crisp sound of fracturing bone rang out again, and his right leg spasmed violently.
The illusory afterimages vanished instantly as piercing agony swept through his entire body.
Physical pain was certainly terrifying, but the invisible blow to his spirit was the true torment.
Tang San's eyes turned bloodshot as he pounded the ground, panting like an ox.
Why was his life so bitter?
In his previous life, Granduncle Tang Lan had taken him into the outer sect. From then on, he had regarded the Tang Sect as his only home.
Yet the restrictions of his outer-sect status had kept him from ever gaining recognition!
But through his tireless efforts, by the age of twenty-nine, he had already spent twenty years studying the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus!
What did that mean?
It meant he had sneaked into the sect's scripture repository and stolen the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record at nine years old!
Nine!
He had been only nine!
Surely he could not have stolen it on a whim. He must have spent another year or two planning and gathering information about the scripture repository.
In truth, he had probably conceived the idea when he was six or seven!
Setting aside the fact that he had stolen the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, had sneaking into his own home's scripture repository at nine been easy for him?
Unfortunately, the Tang Sect's inner-sect elders refused to hear his excuses. They insisted on hunting him down and ultimately drove him to his death at Ghost-Sees-Sorrow.
After finally making it to the Douluo Continent, disaster still followed him.
First, he had lost his Purple Demon Eye, which had only managed to enter Micro-Perception by refining the Innate Qi present at his birth!
Then Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, which he had cultivated for years, had been ruined!
He had fused with a top-grade Thousand-Year Soul Bone for the first time, and he also had the Tang Sect's secret arts from the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record at his disposal, without having to worry about being hunted down.
Two happy things had come together. Why had they turned into this?
Tang San was undoubtedly falling apart inside. He wanted to go home and pour out his grievances to his father.
"San, are you all right?" His two crutches hit the ground as Yu Xiaogang hurriedly hopped over to Tang San on his left leg.
Watching Yu Xiaogang stand like a golden rooster on one leg, Xu Yuan suddenly thought of the Three-Clawed Golden Toad. The two were inexplicably similar.
Both had inferiority complexes yet craved recognition, and both wanted to become true dragons.
"Teacher, my right leg's... effects conflict with each other. I can't use my footwork anymore!"
Tang San was burning with anxiety and nearly revealed the existence of his Soul Bone.
"Oh? Could there be side effects too? Tell me everything in detail!"
Yu Xiaogang's gaze grew grave as he listened carefully to Tang San's account, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.
After all, a Soul Bone could affect a Soul Master's entire life!
Xu Yuan, Wang Sheng, and the others exchanged glances. Not bothering to eavesdrop, they walked to the edge of the clearing and resumed sparring.
By the time Tang San finished explaining everything, Yu Xiaogang understood.
"You gave your teacher quite a fright. I thought something serious had happened!"
Yu Xiaogang breathed a sigh of relief. So it was merely a footwork technique San had created himself that he could no longer use.
There was nothing wrong with the Soul Bone itself.
"Teacher, do you have a solution?" Tang San asked hopefully.
"What's the big deal? Just stop using it. If that won't do, create another footwork technique."
In Yu Xiaogang's eyes, this really did not count as a major problem.
Tang San was only six and had only just begun receiving the influence of his invincible theories. What top-tier footwork could he possibly have created?
Since he had created one technique, creating a second should not be a problem, right?
"Create one?" Tang San opened his mouth. Following the path of his predecessors was no problem, but creating something himself would be difficult.
Besides, all the cultivation methods in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record were the fruits of painstaking effort and experience from countless generations of Tang Sect predecessors.
To ask him to catch up to countless Tang Sect predecessors all on his own...
Was that not asking too much of him?
"Fine. What can I do? You're my disciple, after all!"
Yu Xiaogang suddenly let out a helpless sigh.
Hope flared in Tang San's eyes. From his teacher's tone, there seemed to be room to salvage the situation.
"Let me use the invincible theoretical knowledge I've accumulated over all these years to devise a footwork technique for you!"
The corners of Yu Xiaogang's mouth lifted slightly, his expression indulgent, as though he simply could not refuse Tang San.
With his profound theoretical knowledge, could the footwork he created possibly be worse than that of a six-year-old child like Tang San?
Would Yu Xiaogang's self-created footwork win against Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track?
Tang San wanted to speak, but he did not know what to say.
Then he spotted Xu Yuan, and his eyes immediately lit up.
"That's right! I still have Xu Yuan's wish-granting tree martial soul!"
"Teacher, I can make a wish to the wish-granting tree martial soul to change the effect or remove it outright!"
Like a drowning man, Tang San clung desperately to this life-saving straw.
"No!" Yu Xiaogang refused without the slightest hesitation.
This Soul Hunting trip had made him realize that the wish-granting tree was still far too dangerous!
Especially when it came to changing a Soul Bone. Who knew how the wish-granting tree would fulfill that wish?
Tang San was the sole practitioner of his martial soul theory. Yu Xiaogang would never allow any mishaps!
"Teacher!" Tang San pleaded.
"San! You must understand that the wish-granting tree martial soul isn't omnipotent!" Yu Xiaogang said earnestly.
Unable to explain, Tang San simply stopped trying.
"Teacher, I'm sorry!"
"Xu Yuan, save next month's Wish Slot for me!"
Other matters were one thing, but when the Tang Sect Secret Arts were involved, Tang San's mind was not so easily changed.
Xu Yuan took a step back from his sparring match with Wang Sheng and said casually, "Sure!"
"Enough!" Yu Xiaogang's tone was exceedingly stern!
He had fallen from Soul Elder back to Soul Grandmaster and lost a leg. It was impossible for Yu Xiaogang not to harbor any resentment.
Unfortunately, Xu Yuan had declared beforehand that he would accept no responsibility!
Yu Xiaogang cared about his dignity too. He did not want to stir up a storm throughout the city and risk exposing that top-grade Thousand-Year Soul Bone.
For that very reason, he had not pursued the matter with Xu Yuan.
But Tang San was his reverse scale, the one thing absolutely no one could touch!
"Xu Yuan, without my consent, your wish-granting tree martial soul is absolutely forbidden from granting San a wish!"
"Otherwise, I will destroy the wish-granting tree martial soul at any cost!"
Everyone present sucked in a breath of cold air at those words.
Even the Dean, who had been observing for some time, was stunned by Yu Xiaogang's imposing manner.
"Sorry, Tang San. It looks like I can't let you make a wish!"
"Otherwise, Grandmaster will destroy me at any cost!"
Xu Yuan kept his little face tightly composed. The lame Yu Xiaogang was going to destroy him, a prospective Soul Elder with a heaven-defying mechanism?
How terrifying!
He certainly did not want to get blasted by Yu Xiaogang's Soul Skill.
Yu Xiaogang nodded in satisfaction, then turned to the Dean. "Dean, sorry for the trouble, but please take San to my dormitory!"
"Starting today, he will no longer attend classes. Instead, he will devote himself to absorbing my invincible theories!"
Yu Xiaogang picked up the two crutches from the ground and spoke without looking back.
He still needed to return to his dormitory first and write a letter of denunciation to Spirit Hall.
Damn plagiarist. Just wait for Spirit Hall to punish you!
"Teacher!" Tang San struggled with all his might, but the Dean was a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. How could he possibly break free of those large hands?
"Xu Yuan, why is it so noisy?" Xiao Wu had just opened her eyes after finishing her cultivation when she saw Tang San being hauled away by the Dean.
"It's nothing. Tang San has plenty of blessings ahead of him!"
Xu Yuan watched Tang San's wriggling figure with a sigh.
Before you continue