On the training ground at Shrek Academy.
"Hiss..."
Tang San sucked in a sharp breath, his scalp prickling.
It wasn't as simple as a broken hand.
He had fought Dai Mubai before and could beat him as long as Dai Mubai didn't use his third soul ring.
But what about the details?
It certainly hadn't been as simple as using two soul skills!
"What the hell did I forget?!"
Tang San's combat instincts weren't bad. He knew when to dodge and when to block.
But without the accompanying "self-created soul skills," those supposed combat instincts could get him killed!
"San!"
"Brother San!"
Yu Xiaogang and Xiao Wu hurried to Tang San's side, neither looking particularly happy.
"Grandmaster, Xiao Wu, you can't blame me for this."
Dai Mubai spread his hands and continued.
"I don't even know why he did that, or why he couldn't block it!"
He was telling the truth.
Tang San had failed to block the blow and even broken the bones in his hand. Dai Mubai hadn't expected that either.
It wasn't as though he had gotten any stronger lately!
Xiao Wu glared at Dai Mubai but said nothing more.
She also felt that Tang San was acting strangely today.
He was still the same person, but his fighting style had changed.
Yu Xiaogang's face was livid, his gaze complicated as he looked at Tang San.
He had thought Tang San had merely lost his memories concerning hidden weapons. Those memories were no great loss.
Never had he imagined that he had oversimplified things so badly.
"San, did you forget your self-created soul skills too?"
Tang San had quite a few self-created soul skills. Yu Xiaogang knew about them but had never asked too many questions.
Those things might well involve the Clear Sky Sect...
"Self-created soul skills?"
Tang San froze. He had self-created soul skills?
Across thirty thousand years of Douluo history, Tang San really hadn't had any self-created skills that belonged to him.
They were either stolen or "borrowed."
Even the Sea God's and Asura God's skills could be given his name!
That included the Clear Sky Sect's secret arts!
Seeing Tang San's utterly bewildered expression, Yu Xiaogang sighed.
He really had forgotten!
By absorbing his third soul ring beyond his level, Tang San had destroyed his very foundation!
Everyone looked at Tang San in confusion, then at Yu Xiaogang.
Tang San had forgotten his self-created soul skills?
What was going on?
"Focus on recovering for now. I'll think of something."
Yu Xiaogang helped Tang San up and headed toward the dormitories.
He would think of something? What could he possibly do?
His disciple had refused to listen and insisted on challenging the upper limit of "his" theory. Who could he blame now that something had gone wrong?
Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun exchanged looks.
"Boss Dai, this..."
Ma Hongjun looked at Dai Mubai, hesitating.
Strictly speaking, this really had nothing to do with Dai Mubai, but what could he do when Tang San practically threw himself under his wheels?
Now there was even this business of forgetting his self-created soul skills...
"Come on, let's go spend some money in town!"
Dai Mubai waved a hand, paused, then continued.
"And buy Tang San some medicine while we're there..."
After all, they were companions who had faced life and death together. There was no grudge worth carrying overnight.
Judging by how Tang San had looked when he left, he probably hadn't taken it to heart either.
At the mention of spending money, Ma Hongjun's mouth curled, stars danced in his eyes, and his smile bloomed like a flower.
"Boss Dai, you're a real man! So generous!"
Ignoring Ma Hongjun's flattery, Dai Mubai turned to Oscar and asked.
"Oscar, are you coming?"
"Of course! If Boss Dai's treating, I'm coming!"
Oscar rubbed his hands together, his face full of fawning eagerness.
"Then hurry up and shave that beard!"
Giving Oscar a faintly disgusted look, Dai Mubai headed toward the academy gates.
With Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing absent, Oscar really didn't care about his appearance.
With that great bushy beard hanging off his face, he looked like an old man from a distance.
On the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Chu Sheng kept Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing protected ahead of him as he walked at an unhurried pace.
With a blade of blue silver grass between his lips and both hands behind his head, he swaggered as though he owned the world...
Zhu Zhuqing scouted at the front, watching their surroundings with utmost vigilance.
Ning Rongrong stayed in the middle, also moving cautiously.
That "wretched jerk" had said this was training for them!
She knew Chu Sheng would definitely intervene at a critical moment, but she still made a proper effort to learn.
She, Ning Rongrong, was no decorative vase!
The farther they went, the denser the trees became and the worse the visibility grew.
Even at noon, very little light reached them.
"Six hundred-year Gale Wolves, fifty meters ahead."
"Let's go around..."
"A thousand-year Mandala Snake, seventy meters to the left."
"Rongrong, be careful. We'll go right."
Zhu Zhuqing described their surroundings as she scouted, while also taking responsibility for protecting Ning Rongrong...
Ning Rongrong didn't throw any spoiled young lady's tantrums either. She did whatever Zhu Zhuqing told her.
The two worked together fairly smoothly.
Only after about two hours did the three find somewhere to rest.
Chu Sheng gathered some dry firewood and snapped his fingers, successfully setting it alight.
"Wretched jerk, how did you do that?"
Ning Rongrong asked, her face full of curiosity.
Normally, even soul masters with fire-attribute martial souls needed to invoke martial soul possession and use a soul skill to produce fire.
With slightly more advanced control, they could skip the soul skill, but they still had to invoke martial soul possession.
"Talent!"
Chu Sheng hung several Soft Bone Rabbits over the campfire as he explained.
He was telling the truth. It really was talent.
His martial soul was Hạnba. What was strange about being able to produce and control fire?
He could do all that without even using his martial soul.
Of course, with martial soul possession, he could do it even better.
"You freak of talent!"
"Even I'm jealous!"
Ning Rongrong didn't doubt him. The wretched jerk might be wretched, but he never seemed to lie!
His words could be trusted.
"By the way, unless you have a powerful expert leading you, neither of you should copy me and light a fire somewhere like the Star Dou Great Forest."
"It's no different from courting death."
Chu Sheng looked at Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing as he warned them.
He had lit fires in the forest four times in total. The first three times, he had been with She Long, Ci Xue, and Qian Renxue.
With a lineup that absurdly powerful, they had no fear of soul beast attacks.
This was the fourth time!
"Fire can drive away weaker soul beasts, but it also attracts stronger ones. Understand?"
Upon hearing this,
Zhu Zhuqing rolled her eyes, and Ning Rongrong pursed her lips.
"Did it ever occur to you that we already know?"
Neither of them was some savage, much less a commoner.
Their families had taught them this long ago.
Chu Sheng: "..."
Fine, that attempt to show off fell flat!
About an hour later, the fragrance of rabbit meat wafted from the campfire.
Chu Sheng took a few bottles and jars out of his Storage Soul Tool.
A little salt, cumin, chili powder, Sichuan pepper powder...
At once, the aroma drifted for miles!
Numerous eerie lights appeared in the nearby bushes. They were the eyes of soul beasts.
"Brother Sheng, we... I think we're surrounded!"
Zhu Zhuqing stood up, a bead of sweat sliding down her cheek.
What sane person held a barbecue in the Star Dou Great Forest?
And made it smell this good, at that!
What ordinary soul beast had ever smelled anything like this?
"Don't worry. Try this spicy Soft Bone Rabbit first!"
Before you continue