A Chance Encounter with Tang San, Teaching Ma Hongjun a Lesson

The next day.

Early morning.

All nine of them gathered before the gates of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Qin Ming led the group, with the remaining eight making up the Imperial Fighting Team's full roster: Ye Han, Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Yu Tianheng, Shi Mo, Shi Mo, Yu Feng, and Osler.

They were also the complete lineup of Heaven Dou Team One, chosen by the academy to compete in the Soul Master Tournament.

There simply were no promising candidates on the second team who met Qin Ming's standards, so the final lineup remained the same.

Qin Ming swept his gaze over them, confirmed everyone was present, and nodded lightly. "Let's go."

The group set off at once, heading out of Heaven Dou City.

They would first take a carriage to the town nearest the Star Dou Great Forest, then enter the forest from there.

Inside the carriage, the atmosphere was much more relaxed than on the academy's training grounds.

Compared to the dull grind of training day after day, this upcoming soul hunting trip filled the young people with anticipation.

Yu Feng leaned toward the window, watching the scenery race past outside, and murmured, "Finally, a chance to get out and breathe. Staying at the academy every day was driving me stir-crazy."

Osler lounged in the opposite seat with his hands behind his head, his tone lazy. "Hopefully, we'll have better luck this time. I'd rather not spend days without finding a suitable soul beast like we did last time."

Yu Tianheng sat near the carriage door, eager anticipation tucked away in his eyes.

He had been waiting for this fourth soul ring for a long time.

During his recent visit to his clan, his elders had offered him plenty of advice. He already had a particular soul beast in mind, and if they encountered it, he could not let the opportunity slip away.

Ye Han sat quietly by the window, gazing outside.

Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan sat beside him, chatting in low voices. From time to time, they turned to glance at Ye Han, faint smiles on their lips.

Qin Ming sat at the front, resting with his eyes closed.

The carriage traveled steadily south toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

With Qin Ming guiding them, the group soon reached the small town neighboring the Star Dou Great Forest.

Though it was called neighboring, it was actually still nearly a hundred li from the forest's edge.

This arrangement was mainly a precaution against soul beasts that occasionally rushed out of the forest.

The town owed its existence entirely to the Star Dou Great Forest, serving as a unique stopping point.

Shops lined both sides of the streets: general stores selling dry provisions and clothing, smithies crafting weapons and protective gear, and apothecaries carrying all manner of potions.

Of course, inns and restaurants where soul master teams could rest were the most numerous.

Compared to elsewhere, everything here cost more than twice as much.

Transporting supplies here already carried considerable risk, so costs naturally remained high.

By the time they reached the town, the sky had darkened.

Qin Ming knew the area well. He led them through the somewhat crowded streets and chose a reasonably clean-looking restaurant where they could stay.

After putting away their luggage, the group went up to the restaurant's second floor to eat.

The second floor was an open dining hall furnished with a dozen or so square tables.

Quite a few guests were already seated, talking quietly among themselves, making the place somewhat noisy.

Qin Ming ordered the dishes, and the group split between two tables and began eating.

The food was nothing refined, but the portions were generous. Just as everyone was eating with their heads lowered, a commotion suddenly broke out in the open space outside the restaurant, accompanied by intense waves of soul power spreading outward.

The disturbance was considerable, clearly perceptible even on the second floor.

"What's happening outside?" Yu Feng looked up curiously toward the window, but the thick darkness made it difficult to see clearly.

"Sounds like someone's fighting." Osler put down his chopsticks as well.

Qin Ming frowned slightly but showed no intention of getting up.

Clashes between soul masters were common in this town. As long as they were not dragged into it, he could not be bothered to intervene.

Ye Han had not paid it much attention either, but when he instinctively focused his gaze through the window on the clearing below, illuminated by torches and the glow of soul power, he abruptly froze.

After his body martial soul had awakened as Spirit Eyes, his eyesight had far surpassed that of ordinary people. Even in such dim surroundings, he could see everything below with perfect clarity.

Eight people were locked in combat in the clearing.

The man surrounded by the others was a short, stout middle-aged man with a gloomy expression. Five soul rings—one white, two yellow, and two purple—slowly floated beneath his feet.

He was unmistakably a Soul King.

Judging by his appearance after Martial Soul Possession, he was precisely the man from Ye Han's memories: Ye Zhiqiu, director of Canghui Academy's Outer Academy, who possessed the Black Tortoise martial soul.

Attacking him were four boys and three girls, seven youngsters around the same age as Ye Han's group, though dressed much more plainly.

Soon, Ye Han's gaze fixed firmly on two of them.

A boy with Blue Silver Grass coiling around him, and a lively girl wearing a long scorpion braid.

Tang San and Xiao Wu.

Compared to when they had met at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy five years ago, the two had matured considerably, but Ye Han still recognized them at a glance.

The time, the place, the people—everything matched.

Ye Han's heart inexplicably skipped a beat, and alarm sounded in his mind.

He knew all too well what would happen next.

The Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming, would sense Xiao Wu's presence and soon emerge from the Lake of Life in the core of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Once the hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape unleashed his oppressive aura, the entire town would be thrown into turmoil.

This was a landmark event during this period.

The food in Ye Han's mouth suddenly became difficult to swallow.

If he could, he would have left the town immediately and put as much distance as possible between himself and the Star Dou Great Forest.

But he could not leave.

He had come here to obtain his fifth soul ring. With no sign of that ring yet, what sense would it make to leave on his own?

He could hardly run to Qin Ming and say, "Teacher Qin, I have a feeling a hundred-thousand-year soul beast will appear on the forest's outskirts. Let's retreat immediately."

He could not possibly say that, and no one would believe him anyway.

The most pressing matter now was to avoid lingering here any longer.

At the very least, he absolutely could not get entangled with Shrek's group.

Otherwise, if they ran straight into Er Ming on his way to fetch Xiao Wu, no one could rule out an accident—even if Er Ming listened to Xiao Wu's pleas and refrained from killing the Shrek group.

Ye Han's brows unconsciously knitted, and his expression shifted slightly.

Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, sitting beside him, noticed his unusual expression.

"Ye Han, what's wrong?" Dugu Yan leaned a little closer and asked quietly, "Those people down there... do you know them?"

Ye Han came back to himself and nodded lightly.

"Yes." He kept his voice very low. "Among those two groups, two people were my classmates at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy."

"Classmates?" Dugu Yan blinked.

"The two classmates with innate full soul power I mentioned before," Ye Han added.

At those words, Dugu Yan's and Ye Lingling's eyes lit up simultaneously.

Ye Han had briefly mentioned those two during an earlier conversation: one with a Blue Silver Grass martial soul, the other with a rabbit martial soul.

At the time, they had remarked what a pity it was to pair a trash martial soul with top-tier talent.

They had never expected to run into them here.

"So it's them?" Dugu Yan looked out the window again with interest.

"Should we go down and say hello?" Ye Lingling suggested softly. "It's been several years since you last met."

Ye Han thought for a moment, then answered, "Sure. Since we've run into them, let's go say hello."

He turned to Qin Ming after speaking. "Teacher Qin, two of my old classmates are downstairs. I'll go see them and be back shortly."

Qin Ming nodded. "Go ahead. Mind your boundaries, and don't get involved in their fight."

"I understand."

Ye Han stood, and Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling followed him downstairs.

The three walked into the clearing outside the restaurant, where the tension had already reached its breaking point.

Just as Ye Zhiqiu was about to exert further pressure and force the youngsters before him back, he abruptly turned toward Ye Han and the two girls.

Ye Zhiqiu's gaze first landed on Ye Han, then swept over Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling behind him.

His eyes finally settled on the black-clad boy.

The boy looked young, yet Ye Zhiqiu sensed a hint of danger from him.

Ye Zhiqiu stopped, watched the three warily, and spoke in a low voice:

"You three, this is a grievance between Canghui Academy and these youngsters. I hope you won't interfere."

Ye Han ignored him and looked straight toward the Shrek Seven Devils.

Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others instantly grew guarded, mistaking Ye Han's group for reinforcements summoned by Canghui Academy.

Only Tang San and Xiao Wu froze the moment they saw Ye Han.

Xiao Wu blinked her large eyes and studied Ye Han for a long while, then quietly tugged Tang San's sleeve. "Little San, that person... looks so familiar."

Tang San frowned slightly and examined Ye Han closely as well.

Over five years, Ye Han's appearance had changed considerably. He had grown much taller, and the childish innocence had faded from his face, leaving him handsome and composed.

Yet that face still overlapped with the boy in Tang San's memories who had wandered everywhere carrying an egg.

"Ye Han...?" Tang San sounded somewhat uncertain.

A faint smile appeared on Ye Han's face, and he nodded lightly to Tang San and Xiao Wu.

"Xiao Wu, Tang San, long time no see."

Hearing that, Xiao Wu bared her teeth at him. "Ye Han, you should be calling me Sister Xiao Wu!"

Ye Han chuckled and shook his head lightly without answering.

Seeing his reaction, Xiao Wu stopped dwelling on the form of address and asked directly, "Ye Han, what are you doing here?"

As Xiao Wu finished speaking, Tang San's gaze also settled on Ye Han. His lips moved, but ultimately, he said nothing.

Back then, Ye Han and Tang San had clashed quite badly.

Ye Han looked at Xiao Wu and answered calmly, "What else? My soul power has hit a bottleneck, and I need a soul beast's soul ring to advance, so I came to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for one."

He spoke openly, concealing nothing.

The smile on Xiao Wu's face faded a little. She pressed her lips together, her voice unconsciously softening. "Couldn't you... avoid killing soul beasts?"

Ye Han shook his head firmly.

"No." His voice remained steady. "To break through a bottleneck, a soul master must rely on the soul rings produced by soul beasts. That's an established rule of this world. There's no way to change it."

Looking at Xiao Wu, Ye Han sighed inwardly.

This little rabbit's thinking was still so naive.

Unless a way could be found to replace soul rings completely, soul beasts would never escape the fate of being hunted as long as soul masters existed.

Even if soul spirits capable of partially replacing soul rings emerged in the future, as long as humanity's thirst for power remained unquenched, soul beasts would still struggle to escape decline and extinction.

These thoughts merely flashed through Ye Han's mind. He did not voice them.

Ye Han's conversation with Xiao Wu soon displeased the others nearby.

Ma Hongjun had long since grown impatient. With his arms folded across his chest, he looked at Ye Han irritably and snapped, "Hey, are you done yet? What exactly did you come here for? If you've got nothing to do, hurry up and get out of the way. Can't you see we still need to teach this old turtle bastard a proper lesson?"

Bam...!

Before Ma Hongjun had even finished speaking, a muffled boom erupted across the clearing.

Ye Han's figure only seemed to flicker. Before anyone present could even follow his movements, Ma Hongjun's bloated body was already flying backward through the air.

Like an old cloth sack hurled away with brutal force, he slammed heavily into the ground several meters away, sending dust billowing everywhere.

The flames that had just risen over his body vanished instantly. On the clothing over his chest, a sharply defined, charred footprint stood out glaringly.

Everyone froze. No one had expected Ye Han to strike so suddenly, without the slightest warning.

The speed of his attack was even more terrifying.