Scheming Against Tang San

The soul ring's age kept climbing. A sound like something shattering rang out in his consciousness, and the white soul ring finally turned completely yellow.

A hundred-year soul ring!

Qin Chao felt a flash of delight, but it vanished just as quickly. Remembering Tang San's first soul ring in the novel, he gritted his teeth and drove the soul power inside him even faster.

That thief Tang had a protagonist halo. If I want to take his place, I have to be stronger than him!

The novel said Tang San's soul ring was nearly four hundred years old. My demands aren't high-just two or three times that would satisfy me!

Two hundred years, three hundred years, four hundred years...

As the soul ring's age increased, the scorching heat radiating from it became even more terrifying. Beneath that searing heat, the Golden Little Tower had long since begun glowing red, and even the surrounding air warped.

A soul master and his martial soul were bound together. Qin Chao's entire body had already turned crimson, and even his blood vessels had been scorched dry and brittle by that terrifying heat, as though they might burst at any moment.

Qin Chao gritted his teeth and endured it, his vision growing increasingly blurred. He truly seemed unable to hold on any longer...

After forcing himself to endure a little longer, Qin Chao finally abandoned any further increase in the soul ring's age.

As his consciousness relaxed, a warm current surged through his entire body, bringing an indescribable rush of comfort and pleasure.

"It worked!"

Qin Chao growled under his breath. The feeling of energy brimming inside him left him almost floating.

His gaze shifted to the little tower in his right hand. The golden tower was more exquisite than before; even its bracket structures were clearly visible. Golden dragons amid auspicious clouds coiled around the pillars inside, giving it an especially majestic air.

The sun and moon circling above the tower's peak had also changed dramatically. Not only had they grown considerably larger, but their light had become even more dazzling. The sun in particular radiated a scorching heat remarkably similar to that of the soul ring.

The deep yellow soul ring drifted up and down around the tower's first story. As Qin Chao quietly sensed it, he discovered that its age had reached seven hundred years. Although that fell well short of the two or three times he had envisioned, he knew he had reached his limit. If he continued increasing it, his body might simply explode, killing him...

Although the soul power inside him was abundant, it could not replenish Qin Chao's depleted mental energy.

After experiencing the agony of absorbing a soul ring, Qin Chao was utterly exhausted.

He rolled onto his bed, only to find himself too excited to sleep.

Lying in bed with nothing to do, Qin Chao let his thoughts churn until he began to piece together how to obtain Luck Value...

In fact, obtaining Luck Value was simple: change Tang San's destiny and intercept every source of assistance he might receive.

During the martial soul awakening, Qin Chao's innate soul power had been so powerful that it shattered the crystal ball used to test soul power. Tang San's innate full soul power had gone undetected, and he had nearly lost his chance to attend Nuoding Academy as a work-study student.

That was precisely why Qin Chao had obtained Luck Value for the first time.

Unfortunately, Luck Value simply did not last. A single draw had used it all up.

Qin Chao would soon be leaving for the Spirit Hall with Su Yuntao, and obtaining more Luck Value afterward would probably be difficult...

That thought drove away all his sleepiness. After racking his brains for a long time, he finally found another opportunity to obtain Luck Value...

The novel had mentioned that after Tang San revealed his twin martial souls, Tang Hao taught him the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.

During the three months before school began, Tang San diligently practiced the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer and forged his first hidden weapon, the Silent Sleeve Arrow.

Although the Silent Sleeve Arrow was simple to make, it appeared several times in the novel. Its earliest use could even be traced back to when Tang San hunted for his first soul ring.

But what if Tang San was interrupted and failed to make the Silent Sleeve Arrow?

His gaze shifted to his right hand, and a sly smile curled Qin Chao's lips...

Early the next morning, Qin Chao greeted Old Jack and headed to the mountaintop.

Having read the novel thoroughly, he knew Tang San would certainly be there now, cultivating his Purple Demon Eye.

Qin Chao envied Tang San's seemingly endless Tang Sect Secret Arts from the bottom of his heart. However, when he inspected the system's prize pool the night before, he had discovered similar skills there. Given time to accumulate Luck Value, obtaining those things was not impossible.

But that was all for the future. Without Luck Value, everything was empty talk.

Qin Chao quickly climbed to the mountaintop. After his martial soul awakening, his constitution had indeed improved considerably, and even his strength seemed far greater than before.

A small figure sat cross-legged on the mountaintop. It was none other than Tang San, the person Qin Chao had come to find.

Hearing someone approach, Tang San immediately stopped cultivating his Purple Demon Eye. Once he saw who it was, a flicker of disgust passed through his eyes.

He had never had a good impression of Qin Chao. When they were younger, Qin Chao had bullied Tang San quite often to verify the system's existence. Yet only yesterday had Qin Chao learned that all his efforts had been in vain...

"What are you doing here?" Tang San's tone remained normal, betraying nothing amiss.

"I came to find you!" As Qin Chao spoke, he circulated the soul power inside him. Amid its surging flow, a deep yellow soul ring slowly appeared around the Golden Little Tower.

The sight instantly caught Tang San's attention. "What is that?"

Because of Qin Chao's presence, Tang San had not had an opportunity to ask Su Yuntao questions about soul masters this time. Naturally, he knew neither what soul rings were nor what soul power was.

"Grandpa said this is a soul ring. When my martial soul awakened, my innate soul power had already exceeded the maximum of rank ten. If I wanted to cultivate, I had to obtain a soul ring..." Qin Chao patiently explained to Tang San.

Having lived two lives, Tang San immediately connected this to his own Mysterious Heaven Skill. His internal energy had never been able to advance, and the restriction imposed by soul rings was probably the reason.

"Then where did you get your soul ring?" Tang San hurriedly asked.

"Last night, I was too excited to sleep, so I came up here to wander around. I happened to encounter a dying monster. Its strange appearance startled me, but I worked up the courage to hit it with a stick and ended up killing it. After it died, this ring of light appeared above its head..."

"At the time, I had a vague intuition and instinctively used my soul power to draw the ring of light onto myself. After a bout of pain, this soul ring appeared on my martial soul..."

Qin Chao had been fortunate enough to obtain a Growth-Type Soul Ring from the soul beast Flame Tiger in last night's draw.

After he endured unimaginable pain, the soul ring's age had stopped at six hundred years. According to the system's explanation, its age would increase as Qin Chao grew stronger.

Qin Chao had fabricated the process of obtaining the soul ring, but the concept of soul rings and the method of acquiring them were correct. He was not afraid of Tang San asking someone about it.

Grandpa was busy packing his luggage, while Tang Hao was always drunk. Even if Tang San truly told someone else about this, they would only think Qin Chao had been lucky. After all, he was merely a six-year-old child. Who would believe that he had hunted down a hundred-year soul beast himself?

"Why did you come all this way just to tell me this..." Tang San looked at Qin Chao, his gaze full of wariness.

Someone offering favors for no reason is either a schemer or a thief. Qin Chao isn't normally a good person.

Seeing Tang San question his motives, Qin Chao shrugged indifferently.

"Nine children in the village underwent martial soul awakening this year, and only you and I can cultivate. We don't get along here, but once we leave, we're both people from Holy Soul Village. It's just a piece of information. If it helps you, great. If it doesn't, just consider me a blabbermouth~"

Qin Chao's answer clearly failed to convince Tang San. Seeing that he remained doubtful, Qin Chao did not bother explaining further.

"Believe it or not, that's up to you. You can ask the adults back in the village. I'm done talking-Grandpa's waiting for me to come home for breakfast!"

With those parting words, Qin Chao turned and headed down the mountain.

He knew Tang San had already believed him, because he had heard the system notification in his mind.

"Congratulations, host. You have successfully seized the protagonist halo and obtained five points of Luck Value..."

Another five points of Luck Value were his. Qin Chao knew he had succeeded once again.

By telling Tang San that he had successfully hunted for a soul ring, he had undoubtedly planted a tiny seed in Tang San's heart.

Tang San had long been troubled by his inability to break through with the Mysterious Heaven Skill. Now he had finally learned the solution, and it was right near his home. Judging by Qin Chao's familiarity with the novel, Tang San would never be able to resist such temptation.

Qin Chao admitted that doing this had been a gamble, but the Luck Value he received proved that he had gambled correctly...

An indescribable sense of satisfaction welled up in his heart. No one but Qin Chao himself could understand his joy at that moment.

Before transmigrating, Qin Chao had been an orphan. At the orphanage, the phrase he had heard most often was that he should be content.

People said that if fate allotted you eight feet, you should not ask for ten. But who would truly be satisfied with eight feet? So-called contentment was nothing more than a placebo for the powerless.

During those years when he had obtained no Luck Value, Qin Chao had considered resigning himself to fate countless times. Spending his whole life in this poor little village did not seem so bad.

But Qin Chao refused to accept it. Why could Tang San transmigrate to another world and attain godhood-even dual godhood-while he could only live an ordinary life?

He wanted beauties surrounding him, one in each arm. He wanted unparalleled strength and to attain godhood. Now that those fantasies had a chance of becoming reality, he naturally would not give up.

He would climb upward, step by step, until he reached the very top, until he became an existence the entire world looked up to.

Everyone admired the dazzling radiance of the sun and moon, but who could say for certain that they themselves were not that dazzling sun or moon?