Tang San Challenges a Titled Douluo?

Xiao Wu had suffered from insomnia for three whole days.

During those three days, she would stare blankly while eating carrots, walk into trees, and forget to bring clothes when she bathed.

Her head was filled with Yi Yun. She could neither shake him off nor drive him out.

"It's over. I'm completely done for." Xiao Wu lay slumped over the table, her face buried in her arms, her voice muffled.

Tang San sat across from her, watching her with a jumble of feelings in his heart.

He knew why Xiao Wu was like this.

Because of Yi Yun.

That damned Yi Yun.

"Xiao Wu, are you all right?" Tang San asked tentatively.

"I'm fine." Xiao Wu did not even raise her head.

"You don't look fine."

"I said I'm fine, so I'm fine!"

Tang San shut his mouth.

More and more, he felt that his presence meant less to Xiao Wu than a carrot did.

At least a carrot could make Xiao Wu happy.

All he could do was irritate her.

"Tang San," Xiao Wu suddenly raised her head and looked at him, "what does it feel like to like someone?"

Tang San's heart clenched sharply.

"Why are you asking?"

"Just curious."

"..." Tang San fell silent for a while, then said softly, "I suppose your heart races when you see them, you miss them when you don't, you're happy when they're happy, and when they're sad, you hurt even more than they do."

Xiao Wu blinked, looking thoughtful.

"So that's how it is..."

"Are you asking because of Yi Yun?" Tang San's voice sounded somewhat dry.

Xiao Wu's face instantly turned red.

"N-no! I was just asking!"

Looking at Xiao Wu's bright red face, Tang San understood everything.

He lowered his head and looked at the bowl before him. The grains of rice inside were so distinct that he could count every one.

"I'm going to train." Tang San stood up and left with his bowl.

Xiao Wu watched his retreating back, feeling that he was walking especially fast today, as though fleeing something.

But she did not dwell on it.

She was still thinking about Yi Yun.

Tang San planted the Pole Vault in the ground and braced both hands on it, his head lowered, utterly motionless.

He was thinking.

About Xiao Wu, about Yi Yun, about himself.

Only half a month had passed since Yi Yun appeared, yet his life had already been turned upside down.

His Martial Soul had been replaced with a Pole Vault, his hidden weapons had been crushed by the Gatling Gun, and Xiao Wu had been...

Tang San tightened his grip on the Pole Vault, his knuckles turning white.

He did not want to admit it, but he had to: he had lost.

Lost utterly and completely.

When it came to Xiao Wu, it had ended before he even had a chance to begin.

"No." Tang San raised his head, flames igniting in his eyes. "I can't just admit defeat."

"Even if Xiao Wu likes Yi Yun, I'll prove that I, Tang San, am no worse than him!"

He pulled out the Pole Vault and headed for Yi Yun's quarters.

Tang San stood at the door, took a deep breath, and raised his hand to knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

The door opened. Yi Yun wore loose pajamas, his hair a mess and his eyes half shut, looking as though he had just woken up.

"Little San? What do you want this early in the morning?"

"I want to challenge you." Tang San's voice was calm, but his gaze was firm.

Yi Yun froze for a moment, then laughed.

"Challenge me? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"You're only in your twenties in level, and I'm level ninety-nine. What are you going to challenge me with?"

"Everything I have."

Yi Yun looked into Tang San's eyes. There was no impulsiveness in them, no anger.

"All right." Yi Yun nodded. "Let's go to the training grounds."

The news spread quickly.

In less than fifteen minutes, the whole of Nuoding Academy knew one thing: Tang San was going to challenge Yi Yun.

All the students flocked to the training grounds. Even the teachers came, as did the dean.

Xiao Wu came too. She stood at the very front of the crowd, her hands tightly clasped and her face full of worry.

"Has Tang San gone mad? How could he possibly beat Brother Yun?" Xiao Wu murmured.

A student beside her said, "Maybe he just can't accept it. After all..."

He did not finish, but everyone understood.

After all, Yi Yun had stolen Xiao Wu away.

At the center of the training grounds, Yi Yun and Tang San stood facing each other.

Yi Yun was still in pajamas, a pair of slippers on his feet, looking as languid as a cat basking in the sun.

Tang San wore a tight-fitting training outfit, the Pole Vault gripped in his hand and a hidden weapon pouch hanging at his waist, fully armed.

The two presented utterly different pictures: one had come to fight, the other to sleep.

"Ready?" Yi Yun yawned.

"Ready," Tang San said in a low voice.

"Then come on."

Tang San did not hold back. He put everything into his very first move.

With a flick of his right hand, three iron needles flew from his sleeve in a triangular formation, shooting toward Yi Yun's upper, middle, and lower body.

This was Three-Rank Piercing Sun, a Tang Sect Hidden Weapons technique. Fast and striking from tricky angles, it was the strongest hidden weapon technique Tang San currently knew.

Yi Yun did not even look. With a casual sweep of his left hand, a soft force deflected all three needles, sending them into a nearby wooden post.

Without pausing, Tang San flung another five iron needles with his left hand while simultaneously throwing three darts with his right.

The eight hidden weapons came in a deliberate sequence at varying speeds, sealing off every avenue of retreat for Yi Yun.

This move was called Eight-Gate Golden Lock, a technique Tang San had created himself by combining Tang Sect Hidden Weapons with the hidden weapon techniques of the Douluo Continent.

This was his first time using it in actual combat.

Yi Yun still did not look.

He lightly flicked his right index finger, sending out a stream of Soul Power that knocked all eight hidden weapons away as though they had struck an invisible wall.

Cold sweat broke out on Tang San's forehead.

He knew Yi Yun was strong, but he had never expected the gap to be this vast.

He had used all his strength, while Yi Yun had barely even moved his hands.

"Anything else?" Yi Yun asked.

Tang San gritted his teeth, held the Pole Vault across his body, and activated his Martial Soul.

An emerald-green glow rose from the Pole Vault as Soul Power flowed through its shaft.

He drew a deep breath and charged at Yi Yun.

Planting the Pole Vault against the ground, Tang San launched himself into the air, spun twice, then used the momentum of his rotation to slam the pole down at Yi Yun's head.

This was a move Tang San had worked out himself: Pole Vault Slam.

It converted the kinetic energy of a pole vault into attacking power, descending from the sky for a one-hit kill.

The power of this move was even greater than he had expected.

The air tore with a shrill whistle.

The watching students sucked in cold breaths. If that pole landed squarely, it could flatten even a block of iron.

Then everyone witnessed a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

Yi Yun raised his right hand.

He lifted only one finger.

His index finger.

With that index finger, he lightly touched the descending Pole Vault.

A dull thud rang out, and a wave of air surged from the two of them, blowing the surrounding sand and dirt into the sky.

Then everything went still.

Tang San's Pole Vault had been stopped by a single finger from Yi Yun.

It did not budge.

Tang San hung in midair, both hands gripping the Pole Vault, veins bulging and his face flushed red as he pressed down with every ounce of strength he had.

But the Pole Vault remained utterly motionless, as though welded in place.

Yi Yun's finger was as steady as Mount Tai.

The training grounds were so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.

Everyone had turned to stone.

One finger?

Just one finger?

It had stopped Tang San's all-out strike?

Tang San dropped from the air, staggered two steps, and nearly fell.

His hands trembled around the Pole Vault, not from exhaustion, but from shock.

He had used all his strength, every means at his disposal, while Yi Yun had used only one finger.

One finger.

Suddenly, Tang San felt that his half month of effort was nothing but a joke before Yi Yun.

"Kid," Yi Yun withdrew his finger and clapped his hands, his tone like someone coaxing a child, "go back and practice pole vaulting for another thirty years."

Tang San stood rooted to the spot, utterly motionless.

His mind was blank, Yi Yun's words echoing over and over in his ears.

"Go back and practice pole vaulting for another thirty years."

Thirty years.

Pole vaulting.

Tang San suddenly laughed.

It was not a happy laugh, but a bitter one.

He, Tang San, had been a Tang Sect genius in his previous life; in this life, he possessed innate full Soul Power and twin Martial Souls, the future protagonist.

Now, someone had defeated him with a single finger and even advised him to go back and practice pole vaulting for thirty years.

Could life offer anything more ironic?

"My god... one finger..."

"Tang San couldn't even beat one of Yi Yun's fingers..."

"That gap is way too big..."

"No kidding. One's only in his twenties in level, and the other's level ninety-nine. How can you compare them?"

"But even someone at level ninety-nine shouldn't be able to use just one finger, right?"

"That means Yi Yun is even stronger than an ordinary level ninety-nine..."

Murmurs rose one after another, but no one dared speak loudly, as though afraid of disturbing the two in the arena.

Xiao Wu stood in the crowd, looking at Tang San's desolate appearance, and found it a little hard to bear.

But she cared more about Yi Yun.

That single touch of Yi Yun's finger had been as casual as drifting clouds and a light breeze, handling something heavy as though it weighed nothing, as if he were doing something utterly trivial.

That composure, that confidence, that strength...

Xiao Wu's heart began racing again.

"It's over, it's over. My heart's fluttering again." Xiao Wu covered her face, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Seeing Tang San looking so lost, Yi Yun did not continue dealing him blows.

He walked over and patted Tang San's shoulder.

"Don't lose heart. You're already doing very well."

Tang San raised his head and looked at Yi Yun, his eyes hollow.

"I'm... doing very well?"

"Yes, very well," Yi Yun said earnestly. "You're only in your twenties in level, yet you can unleash an attack that powerful. That's already remarkable. I've seen plenty of Soul Masters in their forties and fifties who aren't as good as you."

Tang San froze for a moment.

He had not expected Yi Yun to praise him.

"But why..." Tang San lowered his head. "Can't I beat you anyway?"

"Because you're only in your twenties in level, and I'm level ninety-nine," Yi Yun said. "It's like an elementary school student competing against a doctoral student in math. However clever the elementary school student is, he can't win. It isn't a problem with the elementary school student. It's a matter of time."

Tang San fell silent.

Yi Yun had a point.

But his heart still ached.

Not because he had lost, but because...

Because he wanted to prove himself in front of someone.

And that person was now standing behind Yi Yun, looking at him with adoration.

"All right, go back and rest," Yi Yun said. "You still have pole vaulting practice tomorrow."

Tang San nodded, shouldered his pole, and walked away, one step at a time.

His retreating figure looked forlorn, like a dog caught in the rain.

After Tang San left, Xiao Wu ran up to Yi Yun, her eyes sparkling.

"Brother Yun, that finger move just now was amazing!"

"Nothing special."

"Could you teach me?"

"You want to learn?"

"Yes!"

"Sure," Yi Yun said with a smile. "But learning this means hardship. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

"Then starting tomorrow, you'll train with me."

"Okay!"

Xiao Wu jumped for joy, then suddenly remembered something.

"Brother Yun, Tang San... will he be okay?"

"He'll be fine," Yi Yun said. "That kid can take a setback. He'll be fine tomorrow."

"How do you know?"

"Because he's the... little brother I've taken a liking to."

Yi Yun had almost said "toy," but caught himself in time.

Tang San lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

His body was exhausted, but his mind was clear.

He spent a long time thinking about what had happened that day.

Yi Yun was right. He was only in the twenties, while Yi Yun was level ninety-nine. It was only natural that he couldn't win.

But he couldn't accept it.

It wasn't the loss he couldn't accept, but the realization that the gap between him and Yi Yun wasn't a gap in levels, but in their realms of attainment.

Yi Yun's composure, that air of light clouds and gentle breezes, was something he had never seen before.

It was as though...

It was as though Yi Yun didn't see him as an opponent at all, just a little child who needed looking after.

"A little child..." Tang San murmured. "Am I really just a little child in his eyes?"

He closed his eyes, and the finger Yi Yun had used to stop his pole surfaced in his mind.

That finger had been as steady as a mountain.

Tang San suddenly clenched his fists.

"Thirty years, was it? Fine. I'll train for thirty years."

"Thirty years from now, I'll show you that I, Tang San, am not just a little child who can only pole vault."

This time, Tang San felt no heartache, and the corners of his mouth lifted without his realizing it.

Perhaps Xiao Wu really was happier with Yi Yun than she was with him.

Then... I'll wish them happiness.

Tang San rolled over, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

He slept very well that night.

Yi Yun stood by the window, looking toward Tang San's Dormitory.

"That kid should have come to terms with it by now," Yi Yun muttered to himself.

He knew Tang San wasn't the sort of person a single defeat could knock down.

Tang San was more resilient than anyone he had ever met.

That was also why he liked setting Tang San up.

Because no trap could break him.

Someone no trap could break was fun to play with.

"Little San, oh, Little San, I wasn't just talking when I said thirty years of pole vaulting." Yi Yun smiled and closed the window.