Breakthrough

At the beginning of the year 2639 of the Douluo Calendar, eight-year-old Tang San finally broke through to rank twenty. Grandmaster had already informed Flender that they would take Tang Xuan and Tang San to hunt for Soul Rings the following day.

Tang Xuan had reached rank twenty half a year earlier, but he had not obtained his second Soul Ring, choosing instead to consolidate his Soul Core and continue tempering his physique. And this time, Tang Xuan and Tang San were not the only ones who needed Soul Rings. Grandmaster needed one too.

That was right-Grandmaster had broken through the bottleneck at rank thirty. A year earlier, after successfully forming his Soul Core, Tang Xuan had shared the cultivation method with Grandmaster and Tang San. Throughout that year, Tang Xuan had continually used medicines to nurse Grandmaster's body back to health, improving his constitution. After a year, Grandmaster had finally formed the beginnings of a Soul Core, and his Soul Power had naturally flowed into rank thirty like water into a waiting channel.

When Flender learned that his old brother of many years had broken free of the shackles that had bound him his entire life, he was overjoyed! Thumping his chest, he promised to find Grandmaster the best possible Soul Ring. With Flender leading the way, the four eagerly headed for the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Dean Flender, San and I need relatively old second Soul Rings. Let's hunt a Soul Beast for our teacher first."

"Mm, that works too. We'll hunt a Soul Beast for Xiaogang first, then."

Their luck was quite good that day. Not long after venturing into the forest, the four encountered a Dragon Flame Beast around nineteen hundred years old. This kind of Soul Beast suited Grandmaster very well.

The Dragon Flame Beast had "dragon" in its name, so naturally, it had some connection to dragons. It was a lesser dragon Soul Beast. Although the Dragon Race bloodline within it was pitifully thin, it was still stronger than other Soul Beasts.

Grandmaster's Martial Soul had mutated from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. It had originally had the potential to become a Golden Sacred Dragon, but Grandmaster's Innate Soul Power had been too low, causing the mutation to fail. The power of this Dragon Flame Beast's lesser dragon bloodline might well encourage Luo Sanpao to mutate further. This was the suggestion Tang Xuan had offered Grandmaster: use the bloodline power of powerful Soul Beasts to drive the mutation. Although it could not make Luo Sanpao evolve into the Golden Sacred Dragon originally intended, it could at least increase Luo Sanpao's offensive power and provide a foundation for Grandmaster's future advancement. At Grandmaster's current age and with his constitution, advancing naturally would be very difficult, so he needed to draw on external power.

"Flender, let's take this one! The Dragon Rock Beast's weak point is its abdomen. Be careful."

Although this Dragon Flame Beast was only a thousand-year Soul Beast, anything connected to dragons possessed formidable strength.

"Don't worry, Xiaogang."

"I'll have this Soul Beast bundled up and delivered to you in no time."

"Martial Soul Possession!" Flender released his Martial Soul, and seven Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black-rose one after another from beneath his feet. The pressure unleashed by a Soul Saint made even the surrounding air feel heavy. The Dragon Flame Beast looked toward them with hostility, sensing the approaching danger.

The Dragon Flame Beast instinctively backed away, wanting to flee. But Flender was a high-ranking agility-type Soul Saint. In terms of speed, he could utterly outclass the Dragon Flame Beast.

After activating Martial Soul Possession, Flender resembled a mighty eagle. His talons seized the Dragon Flame Beast's tail, and he repeatedly slammed it into the ground with all his strength. Only after smashing the Dragon Rock Beast's scales apart did he toss it in front of Grandmaster. Flender's flurry of moves had been as fierce as a tiger.

Tang San exclaimed with heartfelt awe, "A Soul Saint's strength is truly terrifying!"

Grandmaster gazed at the Dragon Flame Beast before him with a complicated expression. He had followed Tang Xuan's advice to use a Soul Beast's bloodline power to propel Luo Sanpao's continued mutation, but he had no certainty that it would succeed.

Ah, what do I have to worry about? Because of my Martial Soul, I've already squandered decades. Even if this fails, what is there to regret? Grandmaster suddenly felt his heart open up.

Grandmaster resolutely sat cross-legged on the ground and began absorbing the purple Soul Ring before him.

The Soul Ring's age was an excellent match for Grandmaster's capacity to endure it. Perhaps his long years of accumulation were finally bearing fruit as well, for he finished absorbing the Soul Ring in just over two hours. The purple Soul Ring encircled Luo Sanpao.

Tang Xuan's theory had been correct. The Dragon Flame Beast's bloodline power had indeed encouraged Luo Sanpao's bloodline to evolve further. Scales identical to those on the Dragon Flame Beast grew over Luo Sanpao's body, which became longer and somewhat better proportioned.

After absorbing the Soul Ring, Grandmaster's Soul Power had already reached rank thirty-two, leaving him feeling rather dazed.

"Thank you, Xuan."

Grandmaster spoke from the heart. Without Tang Xuan, he could never have broken through rank thirty, much less attained his current rank thirty-two Soul Power. In truth, he had even come to admire this student of his. Tang Xuan always sparked ingenious ideas, thinking what ordinary people dared not think and doing what ordinary people dared to do. At times, he did not regard Tang Xuan solely as a student, but more as a valued mentor and friend.

Flustered, Tang Xuan bowed to Grandmaster.

"Teacher, you don't need to do this. As your student, this is what I ought to do."

"All right, you two can stop standing on ceremony with each other."

"Xuan, how old a Soul Beast do you need?"

"Dean Flender, my second Soul Ring needs to come from a Soul Beast over five thousand years old. Let's find one for San first."

Hearing this, Tang San hurriedly spoke up.

"Dean Flender, for my second Soul Ring, I'd like a plant-type Soul Beast, a Ghost Vine around three thousand years old." This was the Soul Beast Grandmaster had recommended to him beforehand.

Upon hearing the Soul Beast ages Tang Xuan and Tang San requested, Flender could only call them freaks.

Plant-type Soul Beasts favored damp conditions, so the four headed toward a swamp. It was suitable for plant-type Soul Beasts to grow in, making it easier to find one that suited Tang San. Before they could venture deep into the swamp, they made a discovery just as they entered its outskirts.

"Flender, there's a three-thousand-year Ghost King Vine over there. It suits San very well. That's the one."

A vine roughly thirty meters long grew at the edge of the swamp. The Ghost King Vine was an upgraded version of the Ghost Vine, possessing all of the Ghost Vine's traits while surpassing it in both strength and quality. It had to be said that their luck that day was exceptionally good.

Soul Beasts under ten thousand years old posed little threat to a Soul Saint, much less a rooted thousand-year Soul Beast like the Ghost King Vine. In just a few moves, Flender tore it out by the roots.

The Soul Ring provided by the Ghost King Vine was exactly at the maximum age Tang San could withstand, so he spent a full four hours absorbing it. Afterward, his Soul Power reached rank twenty-two, but his greater gain was his Soul Skill.

Only Tang Xuan's Soul Ring remained, but the goddess of luck seemed to have forgotten them. For two days straight, they encountered no Soul Beast that suited Tang Xuan and met his wishes. Either it was too young, or its attributes were incompatible.

Why is obtaining a Soul Ring so easy for everyone else? Feeling utterly aggrieved, Tang Xuan wanted nothing more than to throw back his head and howl at the sky: Heaven is unjust!