Tang San Wept: Yu Xiaogang, You Really Left!

Jin Yang turned around. Sunflower was still swaying with a smile.

A pair of enormous green leaves held the sunlight produced during Jin Yang's cultivation as steadily as two giant hands.

Jin Yang counted five. That meant he had cultivated for a full two and a half hours.

He got out of bed and stretched. His joints crackled, and his whole body felt refreshed.

Jin Yang reached into the leaves and took out two portions of sunlight, about to feed them into Sunflower's mouth as usual.

Only then did he notice something was wrong.

His hands seemed to be glowing in pulses, flickering at the rhythm of his breathing. The light was no more than a faint halo, but it was still quite noticeable.

"Have I turned into a little glowing man?"

Puzzled, Jin Yang put the sunlight back down and examined his glowing hands.

Apart from the glow, nothing seemed wrong.

Was it because I ate the new sunlight? Jin Yang wondered.

He looked around but found nothing he could use to test his strength.

At last, his gaze settled on the desk, and his eyes lit up. A solid-wood desk ought to be heavy enough.

Jin Yang walked over and crouched in front of it, readying himself.

He gave it a sudden heave. Both he and the desk toppled backward, and his tremendous strength sent the desk flying into a corner of the dormitory with a crash.

Everything Jin Yang had kept in the desk spilled out and scattered across the floor.

Fortunately, the desk was sturdy enough that it showed no sign of falling apart.

Otherwise, he would have had to pay the school for a new one.

"Whoa, have I gotten that much stronger?"

Jin Yang stared in surprise.

He was almost as strong as Tang Wulin at the same age. In fact, he was probably quite a bit stronger.

After all, Tang Wulin had only just awakened his Martial Soul at this age. He had not unlocked the Golden Dragon King's first seal.

Even with the Golden Dragon King Bloodline quietly strengthening Tang Wulin's body, he would have had, at most, twice the strength of an adult man.

Jin Yang felt his own strength went beyond even that.

How many days had it been since his Martial Soul Awakening? Half a month? Not even a month?

He had already caught up to Tang Wulin.

His Sunflower was terrifying beyond belief.

His talent of level-two-and-a-half Innate Soul Power was nowhere near worthy of Sunflower.

He was the one holding his Martial Soul back!

With such a boost, he no longer cared that his First Soul Skill was merely a support skill with no offensive power.

Even if he were a blank slate of a soul master, Jin Yang would only say it was all the better.

At that thought, Jin Yang summoned his Soul Ring again.

A yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet. Jin Yang recited his soul incantation and activated the Soul Skill of his First Soul Ring.

"Sunflower sprouts, higher by the node!"

The incantation was short, but saying it aloud still felt faintly embarrassing.

A blush crept across Jin Yang's cheeks. His face felt hot.

As Soul Power flowed out of Jin Yang's body and into his First Soul Ring, its color seemed to deepen.

Before long, he had poured all his Soul Power into it.

A faint purple had appeared in his First Soul Ring. It was pale, but unmistakably purple.

It really works!

He had only meant to test his First Soul Ring's effect. He had not held much hope of stepping on his own foot to spiral up to the heavens.

Yet it had actually worked.

His First Soul Skill really could strengthen his First Soul Ring.

Feeling the effect of his Soul Skill on the ring, Jin Yang nodded in satisfaction.

He had a vague sense that the boost would soon fade and his First Soul Ring's age would quickly drop back to nearly what it had been.

But a small portion of the increase would remain permanently.

That was only natural. He had neither a divine-level Martial Soul nor a divine-level Soul Ring; every pot had its lid. For a Soul Skill from a ring just over four hundred years old to raise a Soul Ring's age permanently was already more than enough to satisfy him.

He had just added roughly 550 years to his ring, though only about five years of that would likely remain.

It might sound like little, but it was actually quite good. This was his first time using the Soul Skill, and Jin Yang was pleased to keep even five years permanently.

That was enough. He only had to keep using the skill on himself.

Sooner or later, his First Soul Ring would reach a thousand years.

There was no limit to how often he could use his Soul Skill, and Soul Power cost nothing. He could use it to his heart's content.

Once the ring passed a thousand years, then ten thousand, the amount his First Soul Skill could preserve might increase further.

Tang San had thought Spirit Hall would only lock Yu Xiaogang up for a few days as punishment.

But when he next asked Su Yuntao about Yu Xiaogang, he learned that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect had taken him away.

Tang San's hands tightened. Turbulent feelings surged beneath the surface. He had thought he could calmly put Yu Xiaogang out of his mind. He had not expected that useless man could still stir him.

Did I hate him? Yes!

Tang San certainly hated Yu Xiaogang, but that hatred had sprung from love.

Half a month ago, he had respected and loved Yu Xiaogang, seeing him as a mentor and a father figure.

Now the words he had spoken—"A teacher for a day, a father for life"—filled him with shame and anger.

He really left!

He didn't even come back to see me one last time!

Yu Xiaogang!

How could you be so heartless!

And to think I considered you one of the most important people in my life!

After leaving Spirit Hall, Tang San's face grew hotter and his breathing more ragged.

He lowered his head. Tears as big as beans rolled down his cheeks, leaving scalding trails that quickly cooled.

The deepest heartbreak did not come with shouting and screaming.

For the first time in his life, Tang San wept bitterly over someone.

"Yu Xiaogang, if you'd just come back, I would have forgiven you. You could still have been my teacher. I would have trained hard, become a Titled Douluo, and covered you in glory."

"But you left..."

"From now on, we're no longer teacher and student. We're enemies..."

Heartbroken, Tang San sprinted all the way back to Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy. From the school gate to Dorm Seven, he felt the complicated looks people cast his way, varied as the segments of a fan-shaped chart. His hatred for Yu Xiaogang deepened further.

"Tang San, where did you go?"

Tang San had slipped away to Spirit Hall without telling Xiao Wu. He did not want her to know he had gone to ask about Yu Xiaogang, so he gave a vague answer.

"Tang San, have you been crying?" Tang San had used the Mysterious Heaven Skill to ease the redness and swelling around his eyes, but Xiao Wu had plenty of experience with tearful crying. She could tell at a glance.

Xiao Wu stepped forward and looked at Tang San with concern.

But wounded as he was, Tang San took her concern for mockery.

"Mind your own business! Stop meddling!"

Tang San snorted, walked past Xiao Wu, and lay down on his bed.

Xiao Wu froze. Tang San had never treated her like that before.

She had no idea what she had done wrong.