Flender and his companions sought compensation from the owner for the damaged doors, windows, and glass, then hurried out of the hotel like beaten dogs.
Tang Yin and his group remained entirely unaffected and finished their meal with serene composure.
When they went to settle the bill, the owner basked in their reflected glory. "It's an honor to have such distinguished guests visit my humble establishment. How could I possibly charge you?"
"Wonderful! Tomorrow, I'll bring the whole school over for a meal."
Tang Yin slapped a Gold Soul Coin onto the counter, smiling brightly.
The owner shut his mouth and obediently counted out the change.
The surrounding diners watched them leave with awe in their eyes. Some time later, the story of what had happened at this hotel spread throughout the Douluo Continent.
Everyone learned that a few clowns, ignorant of the difference between life and death, had provoked a Titled Douluo, and that the Titled Douluo had let them go after administering only a light punishment.
The mysterious Titled Douluo's tolerance and magnanimity won widespread admiration.
As the tale spread farther and farther, some even turned it into a fairy tale: a king traveled with his prince and princess, encountered the provocation of four dwarfs, and ultimately dismissed it with a smile.
People scorned the dwarfs' arrogance and stupidity while praising the king's tolerance and magnanimity.
Some even dug up the four dwarfs' true identities.
Shrek Academy thus became infamous, turning into the laughingstock of the entire continent.
But that came later; let us set it aside for now.
At this point, Tang Yin and his group officially entered the Star Dou Great Forest.
The hierarchy among soul beasts was even stricter. Soul beasts younger than ten thousand years could only live in the outer region, while those between ten thousand and a hundred thousand years old primarily roamed the mixed region.
The innermost core region was the exclusive habitat of soul beasts over a hundred thousand years old.
With most of his injuries now healed, Tang Hao possessed enough strength to swagger through the outer region almost unhindered.
Others entered the Star Dou Great Forest as though treading on thin ice, terrified of encountering danger. With Tang Hao present, however, the soul beasts were the ones who needed to watch out, lest he casually turn them into a tasty meal.
Tang Hao asked with a smile, "Little Yin, you were the one who asked to come hunt for soul rings this time. I imagine you already have plans for both your own soul ring and your sister's. Why not tell us about them?"
At Tang Yin's earlier request, Tang Hao had already given the siblings some illustrated reference materials on soul beasts to read.
For the illustrious Clear Sky Douluo to entrust his own son's education to someone like Yu Xiaogang, the depth of Tang Hao's theoretical knowledge was easy to imagine.
And to plant Ah Yin's seed inside a dark, gloomy cave, cutting only a single hole in the rock wall for ventilation-such world-shaking wisdom truly made people cry out in terror!
Clearly, this old geezer was only useful as muscle. There was absolutely no counting on him for anything that required brains.
For the sake of his own future and his sister's, Tang Yin could only put more thought into things himself.
"For Little San Niang's martial soul, the Blue Silver Emperor, I've selected two possible soul beasts."
"A seven-hundred-year-old starburst dandelion and a thousand-year-old Jade Spirit Bamboo."
Tang Yin stroked his little sister's head and said gently, "Of these two plant-type soul beasts, the former is renowned for its reproductive ability and vitality."
"The latter excels in toughness and vitality. Once it reaches a thousand years, it also possesses considerable sharpness, making it an excellent choice for Little San Niang's first soul ring."
"Seven hundred years? A thousand years?" Tang Hao looked astonished. "Isn't that a little too reckless?"
"Although absorbing the whale brain and tempering your bodies did greatly strengthen you physically..."
"In recent years, a new theory has been proposed in the Soul Master World: the theoretical absorption limit for the first soul ring is 423 years."
Tang San Niang hugged her brother's arm tightly, her expression filled with resolve.
"I trust my brother's arrangements."
Tang Hao furrowed his brows. This had nothing to do with whether she trusted him.
Tang Yin had not expected Tang Hao to have taken notice of Yu Xiaogang so early, and he seemed to hold Yu Xiaogang's published theories in high regard.
"Old man, there has never been an absolute standard for the absorption limit of the first soul ring, much less a figure as precise as 423 years."
Tang Yin gently patted Tang San Niang's hand and continued, "The factors that determine the maximum age of the first soul ring a Soul Scholar can absorb fall into three main categories: individual talent, physical strength, and control over soul power."
Tang Hao agreed with that much. As a great sect with a long-standing heritage, the Clear Sky Sect had naturally conducted research in this area.
Seeing him nod, Tang Yin smiled and said:
"Considering talent alone, Little San Niang and I both have twin martial souls. There's very little detailed cultivation data on twin martial souls available at present, so how could the person who proposed this theory determine the limit for our first soul rings?"
"Besides, people's physiques can't possibly be lumped together. I heard from Grandpa Village Chief that there's a clan renowned for its physical strength. A faction like that would never make its cultivation data public."
Tang Hao fell silent. No one understood the Strength Clan better than he did.
And it was not just the Strength Clan. None of the Upper Three Sects would disclose even a fraction of their core members' cultivation data to outsiders.
"As for control over soul power, hardly anyone even studies it. Where would they obtain reference data?"
Tang Yin shook his head. "That makes it clear that whoever proposed this theory is someone desperate for quick success and immediate gains. People like that often stop at nothing to gain fame."
"If he had truly studied the soul master cultivation system in depth, he would never have published a theory riddled with so many holes."
After his precious son's explanation peeled back the layers like threads drawn from a cocoon,
Tang Hao felt as though enlightenment had been poured over his head, clearing his mind in an instant!
Good grief! That fellow named Yu Xiaogang nearly hoodwinked me!
I was even planning to entrust both children to him. That was far too close!
I nearly did something stupid again and buried the Clear Sky Sect's future with my own hands.
A wave of lingering fear swept through Tang Hao, followed immediately by deep disgust and anger toward Yu Xiaogang.
Had his son not been so gifted and intelligent, he might truly have fallen into that man's trap.
At the thought, Tang Hao's face turned ashen. He wished he could rush straight to Nuoding Academy and give Yu Xiaogang a savage beating.
And I even thought more highly of him because he came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Who knew he was actually scum who would lead children astray?
What a beast! Yu Yuanzhen, what on earth did you sire?!
Tang San Niang gazed at her brother with open admiration.
Brother was so clever, seeing through a fraud's tricks with such ease.
Even with two lifetimes behind me, I couldn't catch up to that intelligence on horseback.
"Now I understand your arrangements for Little San Niang. What soul beast are you planning to choose for your own first soul ring?"
Tang Hao looked thoroughly convinced, then turned his attention to Tang Yin's choice for his first soul ring.
He could hardly be blamed for placing greater importance on his precious son.
After all, this was the future of the Clear Sky Sect!
Tang Yin gently brushed a fallen leaf off Tang San Niang's head. He always treated his sister with tenderness and patience.
"My martial soul is rather unusual. It can't possess my body like a beast martial soul, nor can it be manifested externally like a tool martial soul. Instead, it exists as part of my body. I call it a body martial soul!"
Tang Hao nodded. The name was indeed very fitting.
"The meridians within the human body intertwine like a spider's web, spreading into every corner of the body."
Tang Yin looked toward a towering tree nearby, its trunk entwined with thick roots like snakes and pythons.
"Just like these aerial roots, intricate yet orderly."
"So my choice for my first soul ring is a three-thousand-year-old Strangling Banyan!"
Hearing this, Tang Hao cried out involuntarily, "Three thousand years?!"
Before you continue