Tang Xuan brought Tang San and Xiao Wu to an upscale restaurant in Nuoding City. Naturally, it was one of Tang Xuan's businesses, and he had reserved lunch here.
Looking at the tall, lavish building before her, Xiao Wu asked timidly, "Xuan, won't this place be really expensive?" She still didn't know that the restaurant belonged to Tang Xuan. Xiao Wu usually spent money freely, but she knew her limits. After all, even as the boss of Nuoding Academy, she was still penniless. Tang Xuan merely smiled without saying anything.
"Xiao Wu, look a little closer. This belongs to my brother," Tang San told her, stepping forward and pointing out a sword-shaped emblem outside the restaurant.
"Wow, it really does! Honestly, Xuan, why didn't you say so sooner? You had me worrying for nothing!" Xiao Wu ran inside cheerfully.
The restaurant manager, who had been waiting in the lobby, immediately hurried over to greet Tang Xuan and the others. Tang San and Xiao Wu followed a server to their private dining room first, while Tang Xuan stayed behind to speak with the manager.
By the time Tang Xuan came upstairs, nearly all the dishes had been served. Unable to resist the food's temptation, Tang San and Xiao Wu had already started eating. Apart from the three plates of carrots Xiao Wu had ordered, every dish on the table contained meat. Holding a skewer of grilled meat, Xiao Wu mumbled between bites, "Xuan... mm... what kind of meat is this? Mm, it smells so good." Tang San nodded in agreement beside her.
Tang Xuan picked up a skewer and said calmly as he ate, "It's soul beast meat. Very nourishing, so eat plenty." His words brought Tang San and Xiao Wu to a halt. Xiao Wu, in particular, had a mouthful of grilled meat that she hadn't swallowed, and it lodged straight in her throat. Her eyes reddened as she choked. After finally managing to swallow it, she immediately slapped the table and sprang to her feet.
"Xuan! How could you slaughter soul beasts indiscriminately! And make them taste so good!" As she spoke, Xiao Wu stole a glance at the food on the table. Then, remembering that she had just eaten the flesh of her own kind, she suddenly felt overwhelmed with guilt and glared at Tang Xuan with even greater anger and resentment.
Tang San earnestly tried to reason with him as well. "Brother, Teacher said that it isn't easy for soul beasts to grow. Killing them indiscriminately won't just leave Soul Masters without Soul Rings in the future, it also offends the harmony of heaven! Brother, we can't run wild just to make money!" Tang San truly didn't want, or wish to believe, that his beloved elder brother would become such a person.
Looking at the two agitated youngsters, Tang Xuan said helplessly, "When have I ever run wild? And when have I slaughtered soul beasts indiscriminately?" He continued eating his grilled meat as he spoke. Honestly, after a whole morning of training, he really was hungry. The meat was so delicious that he didn't even want to stop eating to talk.
Xiao Wu pointed at the dishes on the table and demanded, "Then how do you explain all this soul beast meat?" Both she and Tang San stared fixedly at Tang Xuan, wanting an explanation from him. Faced with their solemn expressions, Tang Xuan was utterly helpless.
"This is the soul beast I killed the last time I went to obtain a Soul Ring. Just that one," Tang Xuan said evenly. Understanding dawned on Tang San and Xiao Wu.
"Brother, I'm sorry. Xiao Wu and I misunderstood you just now." As he apologized, Tang San also felt considerably relieved. His brother really wasn't that sort of person after all.
Xiao Wu apologized too. "Xuan, I'm sorry. I misunderstood you just now." Her voice was muffled, and she felt terribly wronged. Tang Xuan understood the reason for her anger and didn't pursue the matter. Still eating the soul beast meat on the table, he waved dismissively at the two of them.
"It's fine. Hurry up and eat. You don't get this very often." Even as Tang Xuan spoke, his chopsticks didn't rest, busily picking up more food. This was meat from an eighty-thousand-year soul beast, after all. It was worth a great deal and couldn't be wasted. It came from that eighty-thousand-year-old Lie Yan Mad Lion. Tang Xuan had cut off most of its meat and brought it back using a Soul Tool.
Hearing that, Tang San sat down and resumed eating. There was no need for brothers to fuss over such things. Besides, he hadn't eaten his fill yet. As soon as he sat down, he swept through the food like a gale scattering clouds. Xiao Wu sat there glumly without touching her chopsticks, occasionally glancing at the dishes on the table as she wavered.
Just then, the restaurant's servers carried in two lion legs, roasted golden brown and glistening with fat. Nearly two meters long, the legs hung from an iron rack and looked like two small pillars. Their aroma spread through the room the moment they were brought inside. At the sight of those two lion legs, Xiao Wu could no longer hold back.
"I don't care anymore! I don't care! It smells too good!" She hugged one of the legs and started gnawing on it, saying between bites, "It's not my fault. It just smells too good!"
Tang San and Xiao Wu shared one lion leg, while Tang Xuan lifted the other by himself and began eating. A single bite filled his mouth with meat. Mm, not bad. Crisp outside and tender inside. Nicely roasted. Tang Xuan inwardly gave the chef a thumbs-up. They ate half of the Lie Yan Mad Lion's body during that meal, though Tang Xuan consumed most of it. Tang San and Xiao Wu couldn't eat any more after a short while. The meal lasted an hour, and for over half of it, the two of them sat with bulging bellies, watching Tang Xuan eat. Both were baffled. How could Tang Xuan eat more food than his own body weighed?...
After lunch, Tang San and Xiao Wu went to the Grandmaster for lessons. Tang Xuan returned to the training ground to continue training. An iron block over two meters tall and roughly one meter thick stood there, with his newly weighted training clothes lying on the ground. Many more obstacles had also been added to the grounds for training.
Tang Xuan put on the heavier weighted clothes and found them quite satisfactory. With the added weight, they now weighed a full twelve thousand jin. After loosening up a little, he began tackling the obstacles, completing one round trip after another. He had commissioned all these obstacles specifically for himself, and they were extremely difficult. Within two hours, Tang Xuan completed a full hundred round trips. The grass in the middle of the training ground was pitted all over from his footsteps.
Tang Xuan only paused briefly to catch his breath before starting the next exercise. Today, he was determined to reach his limits and break through them. Another two hours passed, and the amount of exercise he had done reached an astonishing figure. Still, he trained without stopping, moving from one exercise to the next: three thousand sit-ups, three thousand push-ups, three thousand burpees, three thousand squats, and a hundred laps of frog jumps. After finishing the last lap of frog jumps, Tang Xuan hoisted the iron block lying nearby onto his back. The block now weighed twenty-three thousand jin. Combined with his weighted clothes, that put a total of thirty-five thousand jin on Tang Xuan's body-the greatest weight his physical strength could bear. The moment the iron block settled onto his back, it forced him down onto one knee, leaving him struggling to rise. Tang Xuan panted beneath its crushing weight.
"Hah... hah... whew." "Get up! Aah!" Veins bulged on Tang Xuan's forehead, and the heavy iron block slowly began to lift off the ground. "Aah! Up, damn it!" Tang Xuan exerted himself again, stamping his right foot hard enough to leave a depression in the ground. At last, he fully raised the iron block onto his back.
"Aaah! Hah... hah... hah..." The heavy iron block pressed down on Tang Xuan so hard that he could barely breathe. He panted like an old ox after a gallop. Despite the crushing burden, his gaze grew ever more resolute. He began moving forward, one agonizing step at a time. Every step was immensely difficult, and each left a pit in the ground. Closely packed footprints covered the ground behind him.
Twenty meters... half a lap... one lap... five laps... ten laps... sixteen laps... Tang Xuan moved slowly around the training ground, never letting up for even a moment. The greater the hardship, the firmer the goal in his heart became.
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