Yu Xiaogang Is a Pig! Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui!

Tang Ya lowered her head and thought for a moment.

"None of that seems to prove he's impressive."

"That's why I said he's shameless."

Qian Renxue stood nearby.

She had kept her distance from the two of them since earlier.

Now she raised a hand to cover her nose and mouth.

"Aren't you leaving?"

Tang Ya turned toward her.

"Sister Qian, what's wrong?"

"Yu Xiaogang used his Martial Soul just now."

Qian Renxue glanced toward the end of the long street.

"Didn't you notice?"

Ma Xiaotao froze.

"His Martial Soul?"

Tang Ya looked puzzled too.

"Didn't he summon a pig?"

Qian Renxue fell silent for a moment.

"That's not the point."

"The point is that he used a Soul Skill."

Ma Xiaotao thought back.

After Yu Xiaogang summoned Luo Sanpao, two Yellow Soul Rings rose beneath his feet.

Then Luo Sanpao's body swelled, and it released a blast of air.

The scene seemed to replay before their eyes.

Ma Xiaotao's expression grew strange.

"That was his Soul Skill?"

"I believe so," Qian Renxue replied.

Tang Ya looked at them both.

"But that looked like..."

She trailed off.

Ma Xiaotao and Tang Ya exchanged a glance.

Their expressions changed at the same time.

A moment later, Tang Ya raised a hand to cover her nose and mouth.

"Sister Xiaotao."

"Did I see that wrong?"

Ma Xiaotao shook her head gently.

"You saw it right."

"That pig really did fart."

Tang Ya fell silent.

She looked up at the sky.

In the records from Ten Thousand Years Later, Yu Xiaogang was described as the foremost authority on Soul Master theory.

Tang San was also recorded as the Tang Sect's great ancestor.

Yet Tang San's teacher had only reached level twenty-nine in Soul Power.

His Martial Soul was a pig.

And his Soul Skill was a fart.

Tang Ya rubbed her forehead.

"Sister Xiaotao."

"I'm starting to wonder if the Tang Sect Records got something wrong."

Ma Xiaotao's expression was just as complicated.

"Perhaps the records only covered his contributions to theory."

"They left out his fighting ability."

"But..."

Tang Ya looked in the direction Yu Xiaogang had gone.

"Even if they left out his fighting ability, how could they not mention what his Martial Soul was?"

Ma Xiaotao considered it for a moment.

"Maybe it was too embarrassing."

"So later generations hid it for him."

Tang Ya nodded earnestly.

"That makes sense."

Qian Renxue still stood at a distance.

Her hand had not left her nose and mouth.

"How much longer are you two going to discuss this?"

Tang Ya looked back at her.

"Sister Qian, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang of Shrek Academy just used a fart Soul Skill."

"I saw."

"And his Martial Soul is a pig."

"I saw that too."

Qian Renxue's expression remained unchanged.

"So can you leave now?"

Ma Xiaotao glanced around.

The smell still lingered along the street.

She turned at once.

"Let's go."

Tang Ya hurried after her.

They had taken only a few steps when Tang Ya called back, "Sister Xiaotao."

"Hmm?"

"If we ever run into Yu Xiaogang again, we mustn't stand behind him."

Ma Xiaotao nodded.

"You're right."

"Otherwise, the moment he uses his Soul Skill, we'll have to run for our lives."

Tang Ya corrected her solemnly. "That wouldn't be running for our lives."

"That would be fleeing the pollution."

Ma Xiaotao stopped in her tracks.

She looked at Tang Ya and finally burst out laughing.

"You have a point."

Qian Renxue walked behind them.

She looked toward where the Shrek Academy group had disappeared.

"The grandmaster from the records."

"A level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster."

"Luo Sanpao as his Martial Soul."

"A farting Soul Skill to make his escape."

Tang Ya turned back.

"Sister Qian, what are you saying?"

Qian Renxue shook her head.

"Nothing."

She quickened her pace, putting distance between herself and the middle of the street.

Ma Xiaotao and Tang Ya immediately followed.

The three soon disappeared at the end of the street.

Only the lingering smell remained.

Along with the retreating figures of the Shrek Academy group, still hurrying away.

Elsewhere.

On the outskirts of Heaven Dou City.

Long Xiaoyao walked through the mountain forest with his hands clasped behind his back.

Far from Heaven Dou City, the area showed few signs of habitation.

Mountain peaks rolled into the distance, and vegetation grew thick.

A waterfall plunged from a cliff dozens of yards high. Its roaring waters crashed into the deep pool below, throwing up great clouds of mist.

Long Xiaoyao stopped beside the pool.

He looked up at the Golden Rankings high in the heavens.

The golden light shrouding fifth place had completely dispersed.

Ye Xishui's figure hovered in the sky.

The Blood Soul Demon Puppet and Bright Phoenix stood on either side of her.

Two Soul Cores spun without pause.

A pitch-black tower loomed behind her.

[Douluo Strength Rankings, fifth place: Ye Xishui!]

[Reward: cultivation and strength advance to Second-Level God!]

[Reward: all Soul Rings upgraded to the hundred-thousand-year level!]

[Reward: three Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones!]

Long Xiaoyao's expression shifted slightly as he read the lines.

"Xishui is only in fifth place."

He had known Ye Xishui for many years.

Naturally, Long Xiaoyao knew her strength well.

Twin Martial Souls.

Dual Soul Cores.

A Level 99 Limit Douluo.

And the Level 10 Soul Tool, the Death God Tower.

Even Ten Thousand Years Later, power like hers stood at the very pinnacle of the Soul Master World.

Yet Ye Xishui had only placed fifth.

"The Cult Leader should be among the top four."

Long Xiaoyao looked back at the Heaven Rankings.

"With his strength, first place can only belong to him."

The light on the Golden Rankings gradually steadied.

Once Ye Xishui received her reward, she would advance to Second-Level God.

Upgrading all her Soul Rings to the hundred-thousand-year level would raise her strength even further.

Long Xiaoyao nodded lightly.

"With this reward for Xishui, the Holy Spirit Cult will have another god-level powerhouse."

He looked away, ready to continue toward Heaven Dou City.

Just as Long Xiaoyao turned, he sensed an extremely faint trace of life.

It came from behind the waterfall.

The falling water concealed a cave entrance.

Blue Silver Grass also grew thickly around it.

An ordinary Soul Master coming here would see nothing more than an ordinary mountain valley.

But Long Xiaoyao stopped.

"Two life signatures."

"One comes from the Blue Silver Grass."

"The other is already very faint, but it carries the essence of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

He walked toward the waterfall.

Before the water could touch Long Xiaoyao, an invisible force pushed it aside.

Behind the waterfall, a hidden cave appeared before him.

Its entrance was narrow.

But a larger space lay within.

Long Xiaoyao walked down the passage.

A moment later, a stalk of Blue Silver Grass came into view.

It grew in the center of the cave.

Fine golden lines ran across its slender leaves.

A faint blue glow shone from the leaves, lighting the space around them.

Above the Blue Silver Grass hovered the hazy figure of a woman.

Long blue hair fell down her back.

Her features were soft and beautiful.

A blue-and-gold dress draped her body.

She, too, was looking up at the Golden Rankings.

Though the Golden Rankings floated outside, their golden light had passed through the waterfall and reached the cave.

Ah Yin stared at the description of Ye Xishui, her eyes full of surprise.

"Ye Xishui?"

"Deputy Cult Leader of the Holy Spirit Cult?"

"When did such a powerful force appear on the continent?"

She had spent a long time in this cave.

Tang Hao came here from time to time.

Whenever he visited, he told her a little about what had happened outside.

But Ah Yin had never heard him mention the Holy Spirit Cult.

She had never heard of Ye Xishui, either.

A Level 99 Limit Douluo.

Twin Martial Souls.

Dual Soul Cores.

A Level 10 Soul Tool.

The description on the Golden Rankings alone told Ah Yin how powerful Ye Xishui was.

What held her attention even more were Ye Xishui's rewards.

A breakthrough to Second-Level God.

All her Soul Rings raised to a hundred thousand years.

Three Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.

Any one of those rewards could change a Soul Master's fate.

Ah Yin lowered her gaze to her true body.

It was only a stalk of Blue Silver Grass that had just begun to grow again.

Though she possessed the Blue Silver Emperor's Everlasting Life Origin, she had lost her cultivation and her body when she sacrificed herself years ago.

Who knew how many more years she would have to wait before she could take human form again?

If only I could receive a reward from the Golden Rankings too.

Ah Yin raised a slender hand and gently touched one of her leaves.

Her insubstantial hand passed straight through it.

"If I can recover a hundred thousand years of cultivation, I can come back to life."

"Then I can leave this place."

By now, she knew part of the truth about what had happened back then.

Tang Hao had led the people of Spirit Hall to where she was.

Even as they fled, Tang Hao had never truly shaken their pursuers.

In the end, she had been driven into a corner with no choice but to sacrifice herself.

When Ah Yin first learned this, she could not accept it.

She could not understand why the man she loved had done such a thing.

But she had already died once.

Her long years in the cave had also given her much to think about.

She did not intend to pursue what had happened in the past.

If she could come back to life, she only wanted to leave this place and bring the past to a true end.

She wanted to start her life anew.

And she wanted to repay whoever helped bring her back.

Ah Yin looked up at the sky once more.

"Could the Golden Rankings include me?"

She dismissed the thought as soon as it arose.

All she had left now was a trace of her origin.

Forget entering the Top Four of the Strength Rankings—even an ordinary Soul Master could easily destroy her true body.

"It seems I can only keep waiting."

Ah Yin gave a soft sigh.

Just then, footsteps sounded from the cave entrance.

She turned at once.

A tall figure emerged from the narrow passage into the cave.

Long Xiaoyao looked at the stalk of Blue Silver Grass.

Then his gaze settled on Ah Yin's hazy figure.

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast—the Blue Silver Emperor?"

Ah Yin immediately placed herself in front of her true body.

"Who are you?"

She could sense the aura around Long Xiaoyao.

He had neither released his Martial Soul nor revealed his Soul Rings.

Yet his mere presence had brought the Heaven and Earth Energy throughout the cave to a standstill.

Ah Yin herself had once been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

She had also encountered Titled Douluo of the Clear Sky Sect.

But not one of them had made her feel this kind of pressure.

The man before her was far stronger than an ordinary Titled Douluo.

Long Xiaoyao did not come any closer.

He studied the faint golden lines on the Blue Silver Grass's leaves and soon confirmed his suspicion.

"You really are the Blue Silver Emperor."

"Your origin hasn't completely dissipated."

"It seems you sacrificed yourself once."

Ah Yin did not answer.

Her hazy figure moved even closer to her true body.

If Long Xiaoyao made a move, she would do everything she could to protect her origin.

Even if the power she could wield now was extremely limited.

Seeing her guarded stance, Long Xiaoyao recalled something.

Ten thousand years ago, there had been only one Blue Silver Emperor.

The Blue Silver Emperor of this era should be Tang San's mother.

And the wife of Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao.

"So it's you."

Ah Yin frowned slightly.

"You know me?"

"I know who you are."

Long Xiaoyao said, "Ah Yin, the Blue Silver Emperor. Tang Hao's wife and Tang San's mother."

Ah Yin's expression changed at once.

"How do you know all that?"

Few people knew Tang San's identity.

Even Spirit Hall might not know that Tang San was her child.

Yet this man had only just entered the cave, and he had identified her immediately.

"None of that matters."

Long Xiaoyao glanced at the Heaven Rankings.

"You said you wanted to come back to life?"

Ah Yin did not deny it.

"That's right."

"This stalk is all that remains of my true body."

"Who knows how many years it would take me to cultivate back to a hundred thousand years?"

Long Xiaoyao said calmly, "You don't necessarily need a reward from the Golden Rankings to come back to life."

Ah Yin looked at him.

"You know a way?"

"I don't."

Long Xiaoyao said, "But my master can bring you back."

The cave fell silent.

Ah Yin stared at Long Xiaoyao.

The pressure he exerted was greater than that of any Titled Douluo she had ever met.

And someone so powerful had a master.

What shook her even more was that his master could bring the dead back to life.

"Can your master really do that?"

Long Xiaoyao nodded.

"Restoring your body and awakening the Blue Silver Emperor's origin again wouldn't be difficult for him."

Ah Yin glanced at her true body.

The leaves of the Blue Silver Grass swayed gently.

After waiting so many years, she had finally glimpsed a chance to come back to life.

But Ah Yin did not agree at once.

"Why would he help me?"

"What would I have to give in return?"

Long Xiaoyao did not hide it.

"Join the Holy Spirit Cult."

Ah Yin raised her head.

"The Holy Spirit Cult?"

She looked up at the sky again.

Ye Xishui's description still remained on the Golden Rankings.

The Limit Douluo ranked fifth was the Holy Spirit Cult's Deputy Cult Leader.

This powerful man before her was also from the Holy Spirit Cult.

His master was very likely its Cult Leader.

"And after I join?"

Ah Yin asked, "Do you want my Soul Rings, or my Soul Bones?"

"The Holy Spirit Cult has no shortage of hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings."

Long Xiaoyao said, "And the Cult Leader has no interest in your Soul Bones."

"Once you join the Holy Spirit Cult, you need only follow the Cult Rules. You must not betray the Holy Spirit Cult or harm its members."

"When the Holy Spirit Cult needs you to act, you cannot refuse."

Ah Yin waited a moment.

Long Xiaoyao said nothing more.

"That's all?"

"That's all."

Ah Yin was stunned for a moment.

She had thought coming back to life would demand a terrible price.

She had even prepared herself to lose her freedom.

Yet Long Xiaoyao only wanted her to join the Holy Spirit Cult.

Following an organization's rules was what any member ought to do.

The Holy Spirit Cult had a Limit Douluo like Ye Xishui.

And Long Xiaoyao, standing before her, was so powerful she could not fathom his strength.

For her as she was now, joining such an organization was no bad thing.