"From now on, please call me Duck King Douluo."
Controlling Qian Renxue's body, Cheng Ran held both hands behind his back. The moment he entered the stone chamber, he saw the two people standing against the wall.
Tang Hao leaned against the rock wall with his arms folded, his aura on high alert.
Tang San stood beside Tang Hao, his expression tense but his eyes calm. He looked nothing like a six-year-old child.
Beside the stone basin, six sheets of paper lay neatly arranged.
Cheng Ran stopped at the entrance to the chamber and swept his gaze over father and son. Disguised by the Head Soul Bone, his voice had become deep and hoarse. "Where's what I asked for?"
Tang Hao looked him up and down, unable to conceal his astonishment.
Nine Soul Rings. A Titled Douluo.
He extended his spiritual power to probe him. The other man's soul power fluctuations were steady and dense, with no sign of deliberate concealment.
But what concerned him most was the martial soul behind the man: a duck, its head tilted as it watched them curiously with beady black eyes.
An external beast martial soul?
Tang Hao was startled.
A standard beast martial soul possessed its user when activated, adding the beast's strength to the Soul Master. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and the Evil-Eyed White Tiger both worked this way, changing the Soul Master's appearance and greatly enhancing their physique.
This was only the second external beast martial soul he had ever seen, and its owner was actually a Titled Douluo.
He was on an entirely different level from that little pig Yu Xiaogang whom Tang Hao had met before.
"Are you Tang Laoya of the Tang Sect?" Tang Hao asked gravely.
"Indeed. Tang Laoya, enforcement elder of the Tang Sect, titled Duck King Douluo," Cheng Ran announced unhurriedly.
Standing behind Tang Hao, Tang San was already reeling inside. The Tang Sect. Someone from the Tang Sect really had come!
"The cultivation techniques are here." Tang Hao pointed at the six sheets beside the stone basin. "Inspect them. If everything's in order, please return Ah Yin to me."
Cheng Ran walked over to the stone basin and picked up the stack of papers, his gaze wandering casually over the stone walls. "This cave's nice. Cool and damp. Perfect for growing mushrooms."
Tang San: "..."
Tang Hao's expression darkened.
Cheng Ran glanced at the contents of the papers. The Mysterious Heaven Skill, written in neat handwriting with a clear progression.
He leafed through them one by one, occasionally nodding slightly, his lips moving as though he were silently reciting something.
Tang San watched him carefully from the side.
He definitely wasn't simply reading the cultivation techniques. He was checking them, comparing the written contents word for word against his own memories of practicing them.
Only someone who had truly practiced these cultivation techniques would verify them this way.
This man really knew the Tang Sect's cultivation techniques!
Tang Hao watched with his heart pounding, yet dared not hurry him. While the man read the cultivation techniques, that duck martial soul kept its head tilted and stared at him, an inexplicably unnerving air in its beady black eyes.
Being scrutinized by a duck made Tang Hao uncomfortable all over. For some reason, it brought back the childhood trauma of being chased by the goose at the village entrance as it tried to bite his little pecker, back before he had awakened his martial soul.
"Not bad." Cheng Ran finally spoke, putting the papers into his Storage Soul Tool. "All six secret arts. Not one missing."
Although he could not write out the Tang Sect's six secret arts from memory, as a veteran player, he could still tell the real thing from a fake.
Just as a seasoned connoisseur, even without ever going into an alley for some hands-on combat, still knew what it meant to love you walking down a dark alley alone, to love how inexpensive you were...
He then turned to Tang San with an appraising look. "You wrote out the cultivation techniques without a single mistake. But this elder has a question. Where did you get them?"
Tang San tensed inwardly but showed nothing on his face. "When I lost my way in the hills behind Holy Soul Village, I happened upon a cave. Inside was this manual of the Tang Sect Secret Arts."
He spoke sincerely and frankly.
The smile faded from Cheng Ran's lips, and his expression grew stern. "Tang San, you found our sect's cultivation techniques and practiced them in secret. Do you know the rules of our Tang Sect? Anyone who secretly learns the Tang Sect Secret Arts dies!"
Tang San's heart sank.
Tang Hao stepped in front of Tang San, the Clear Sky Hammer appearing in his hand as he unleashed the full force of his Titled Douluo aura.
The stone chamber trembled, and loose stones rained down from overhead.
"Don't push us too far." Tang Hao's voice was low as thunder.
Cheng Ran stood without moving an inch. "This child secretly learned our Tang Sect Secret Arts. By our rules, he deserves death. But he is young, after all, and he has returned the cultivation techniques. His attitude is reasonably sincere, too."
He paused, seemingly considering it.
"How about this? This elder will make a concession. I'll report to the sect master when I return and ask him to permit the boy to join the Tang Sect. If the sect master agrees, Tang San will become a disciple of our Tang Sect, and his practice of our cultivation techniques will be legitimate. The matter of his learning them in secret can then be wiped clean."
Both Tang Hao and Tang San breathed a sigh of relief.
But the next instant, Cheng Ran's lips curled upward, and he continued, "However, our Tang Sect accepts no mediocrities, only monsters. If you're merely an ordinary child, the sect master won't spare you a second glance."
Only monsters, no mediocrities?
Tang San's heart began to race, but he remained composed on the surface.
If he could join the Tang Sect, every problem would be resolved.
The matter of secretly learning the cultivation techniques would be wiped clean, his mother's original body would be returned, and once he was in the Tang Sect, would he really lack a chance to explain his identity to its members?
As long as he met this world's Tang Sect master, he could explain that he was an inner disciple who had transmigrated here.
Once they recognized each other as fellow disciples, everything would be easy to discuss.
The more Tang San thought about it, the more feasible this path seemed, and secret delight welled up inside him.
So he put on the look of someone won over by a senior and eager to prove himself, then released his martial souls.
Two martial souls surged forth simultaneously.
In his right hand, a stalk of blue silver grass quietly emerged, its slender blades giving off a silvery sheen.
In his left hand, a Clear Sky Hammer appeared out of thin air, its body covered in ancient patterns.
In an instant, the stone chamber grew so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.
Tang Hao's expression changed sharply. "Tang San!"
He let out a low shout, his eyes filled with shock and anger.
He had no idea when his son had learned to expose his twin martial souls in front of others. This was the greatest secret between father and son!
But Tang San ignored his father and looked at Cheng Ran, just the right amount of nervousness and anticipation in his eyes. "Senior, this unworthy junior awakened twin martial souls. Would such talent qualify me to join the Tang Sect?"
Cheng Ran gave two sinister chuckles inwardly.
"Twin martial souls..." he murmured, his tone carrying surprise that was difficult to conceal.
The duck martial soul behind him obligingly gave a quack.
Tang San secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The man's reaction showed that his gamble had paid off.
Cheng Ran was silent for a few seconds before slowly nodding. "Good! Twin martial souls indeed, a talent rarely seen in ten thousand years. You qualify to join our Tang Sect. However, this elder isn't the HR elder. Admitting someone requires the sect master's approval. Once I return, I'll report to him and let him decide."
He looked at Tang Hao. "This elder acknowledges your son's talent. His admission will take time. I'll report to the sect master when I return. Once he agrees, he will naturally send someone to bring the boy into the sect.
"By then, Tang San will be a disciple of our Tang Sect. Ah Yin will no longer be a hostage, but the mother of a Tang Sect disciple, and naturally she will be returned."
Tang Hao's grip on the Clear Sky Hammer tightened slightly. "How long?"
Cheng Ran said, "Ten days. You'll have an answer within ten days."
Before you continue