Quite a Show

"Th-this... this is a soul bone! Young master, you're so lucky." Leng Nu Jiao was happy for Tang Qingye from the bottom of her heart.

"Not bad at all. Even a soul beast this trashy could drop a soul bone." With a thought from Tang Qingye, the blood-red ball of light drifted toward him along the path of his soul power.

A nine-hundred-year Bloodclaw Badger King's Trunk Bone!

No wonder this thing could go berserk. So it was a soul bone skill, Tang Qingye mused.

Soul bones produced within the Spirit Ascension Platform were temporary energy constructs. They could only be fused on the spot inside the Spirit Ascension Platform and could not be taken outside.

Light flashed, and the soul bone in his hand vanished. To Tang Qingye, this garbage soul bone ranked below a maggot, but he had another clever use for it.

"Young master, we need to be even more careful. There's rather a lot of spiritual energy on you." Leng Nu Jiao went on full alert, ready to fight at any moment.

With such dense spiritual energy on him, he would probably become a target the moment other soul masters saw him. After all, killing inside the Spirit Ascension Platform was not real. Who wouldn't want abundant spiritual energy?

The pure spiritual energy, so dense it was almost viscous, rose and fell through the air like tides, imbuing this gloomy stretch of forest with an extraordinary spiritual quality.

Tang Qingye withdrew his soul rings and leisurely straightened his clothes. His gaze shifted, a trace of amusement passing through his eyes. "Sister Nu Jiao, someone's already coming our way."

Leng Nu Jiao reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair beside her ear. She was about to speak when she saw Tang Qingye staring straight at her. "Sister Nu Jiao, hide first."

Within the domain's range, three figures with soul power fluctuations around the Soul Grandmaster level were racing toward them.

Leng Nu Jiao froze for a moment, a trace of bewilderment flashing through her lovely eyes. But clever as she was, once she saw the playful cunning in Tang Qingye's eyes, her lips instantly curved in resignation.

Here in the Spirit Ascension Platform, if she stayed, any normal person would assume she had plundered all this spiritual energy. Whoever came would surely be too wary to approach.

But if she hid, leaving only Tang Qingye and all this spiritual energy...

Those fellows blinded by greed would only see Tang Qingye as a fat sheep separated from the flock.

"Young master, you really are devious."

Leng Nu Jiao shot him an alluring sidelong look. Even that roll of her eyes was dazzling. After only half a day together, an indulgence had already entered her gaze that even she had not noticed.

With that, her figure slipped soundlessly into the dark ancient trees behind them like a wisp of ink-black smoke.

Tang Qingye slipped both hands into his pockets and leaned lazily against the strange rock behind him.

Ever since he had activated the Heavenly Cang Art, he had grown far taller and more slender than others his age. Though his face still held a youthful innocence, anyone glancing at him would have taken him for a handsome boy of eight or nine.

A breeze swept past, and a large patch of undergrowth was roughly torn apart.

At the front walked a boy with a cold, arrogant expression.

He gripped a snow-white Star Wheel Ice Staff. The blue crystal set into the top of the short staff gave off a faint chill, and two yellow hundred-year soul rings pulsed slowly beneath his feet.

Xu Xiaoyu, a direct descendant of the Xu Clan from the lower division.

Behind him followed two striking girls, one gold-haired and the other blue-haired.

One had long golden hair tied in a ponytail, a slender figure, and above-average features. A blazing sun-like fireball hovered over her head, making her look like someone not to be trifled with.

The other wore her long blue hair in a ponytail. She had a slender figure, fair skin as smooth as congealed cream, delicate features, large eyes with curling lashes, and a long neck. One glance showed she was a budding beauty.

"Wait, the smell of blood here is a little too strong. And judging by the traces of battle, the fluctuations were at least at the Soul Elder level."

Mu Xi's delicate brows furrowed slightly. Her pretty eyes swept across the wreckage strewn over the ground before finally settling on Tang Qingye farther back. The boy leaned against the strange rock behind him, surrounded by dense fluctuations of spiritual energy-enough to add at least a hundred years to their soul spirits.

Seeing that Tang Qingye was alone, Xu Xiaoyu, who was walking at the front, stopped short. The arrogance in his eyes was instantly replaced by intense greed.

"Friend, do you know what happened here? Where are your companions?" Xu Xiaoyu asked Tang Qingye with a friendly expression.

"Boy with the ice staff, I've been alone here the whole time. I don't have any companions, either. I just got lucky and obtained this spiritual energy." After speaking, Tang Qingye even blinked at the three of them to show his humility.

Xu Xiaoyu gave the Star Wheel Ice Staff in his hand a slight tap. He looked at Tang Qingye with an unquestionable dominance in his icy gaze. "Then why haven't you handed over this spiritual energy yet!"

Tang Qingye: "..."

Xu Xiaoyu: "Ahem... kid, the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform isn't a playground for little brats like you. Without an elder by your side, you can't protect this much spiritual energy anyway. If you know what's good for you, give up the spiritual energy on you and around here, and I'll take you a little farther through the Spirit Ascension Platform. Otherwise..."

Tang Qingye: "..."

Hearing this brazen declaration of robbery, Mu Xi glanced at Tang Qingye's profile from behind Xu Xiaoyu, a trace of hesitation flashing through her eyes. "Xu Xiaoyu, isn't this inappropriate? These things belong to him. For us to rob him like this..."

"Mu Xi, you're too naive. This spiritual energy belongs to whoever has the ability to claim it. One look at this pretty boy tells you he just picked up someone else's scraps. Don't let his looks fool you." Xu Xiaoyu was somewhat annoyed.

Xu Xiaoyu sneered without looking back. The chill emanating from the Star Wheel Ice Staff in his hand grew increasingly oppressive. "The Spirit Ascension Platform is a place where the weak are meat for the strong. Those are the rules. Since he dared to stay here alone, he should have been prepared to get robbed. You won't live long in the Soul Master World if you pity others."

Hearing Xu Xiaoyu's high-sounding words, Ouyang Zixin gently shook her head.

Strong disapproval showed in her large eyes beneath her curling lashes. Reserved and gentle by nature, she took a small step back. "Xu Xiaoyu, even if those are the rules, I still don't feel right about this. I won't take part."

Seeing Ouyang Zixin's firm stance, a shadow passed through Xu Xiaoyu's eyes. Then he snorted coldly. "Suit yourself. Ouyang Zixin, don't regret it when Mu Xi and I split this spiritual energy."

With that, he turned to Mu Xi, a coaxing note in his voice. "Mu Xi, it would take us quite a while to gather this much spiritual energy. Miss this village, and you won't find another shop like it. This brat is nothing but a flower raised in a greenhouse. Let's do it!"

Tang Qingye leaned against the strange rock, quietly playing the listener. Listening was a virtue.

His indifferent, mismatched eyes watched the farce before him in silence. As they passed over Xu Xiaoyu's greed-covered face, they shifted slightly.

"Bastard! You think giving me the silent treatment will..."

"I can give you all the spiritual energy," Tang Qingye interrupted him.

"Huh? Really? Hmph, then hurry up and hand it over." Xu Xiaoyu spoke indignantly, feeling his face grow a little hot.

"I have one small request I hope you'll agree to." Tang Qingye looked at Xu Xiaoyu with an expectant expression.

The corners of Tang Qingye's mouth shifted slightly. "I've always wanted to spar with someone as powerful, handsome, and rich as you. Could you grant my wish?"

Xu Xiaoyu froze slightly. "So... so that's how it is? Was your earlier silence because you were overwhelmed by my charm? Even the way he looked at Tang Qingye became much friendlier."

"Hahaha! Since you have such a discerning eye, I'll give you a few pointers. Remember, I never change my name, standing or sitting. I am Xu Xiaoyu of the Xu Clan."

Mu Xi and Ouyang Zixin were already dumbfounded. Hadn't they just been...

"Then, Young Master Xu, I'll make the first move."

"Naturally. Since I'm giving you pointers, why would I attack first? Come on!"

With that, Tang Qingye stirred his mind slightly. He had made a whole batch of dumplings just for a dish of vinegar. Even with his temperament, he could barely keep a straight face.

Tang Qingye rapidly formed seals with one hand, his fingertips tracing lightly through the air, while his right hand condensed a long spear of soul power.

Across from him, Xu Xiaoyu was somewhat puzzled. What's this brat doing? He hasn't even released his martial soul. But to maintain his image in front of the two girls, he did not interrupt. He stood with one hand behind his back, fully displaying a dragon's bearing.

Space warped slightly. Countless threads of deep cyan spiritual energy descended from high above, gathering endlessly in his palm. They swirled and compressed over and over, finally condensing into a glass-clear bead of deep cyan liquid: Heavenly Cang Marrow. A faint cyan glow wreathed its surface, carrying the weighty aura of the world's origin.

With a thought, the Heavenly Cang Marrow slowly floated up and landed on the spear's surface.

The spear trembled violently. Ancient, spiraling cyan patterns spread from the point where the marrow fluid touched it, winding around the entire shaft as the spear turned cyan and white. Clear, cold radiance flowed over its blade. Its sharp aura tore tiny black fissures into the surrounding space, and its power to pierce the air surged severalfold.

Sensing that something seemed wrong, Xu Xiaoyu was just about to speak when a streak of cyan light was already before his eyes, gazing deeply into them. "I..." As a voice sounded beside his ear, his skull was pierced through, and he dissolved into a streak of light.

"One glint of cold steel arrives, and all things end."

"Y-you... you've been playing the pig to eat the tiger all along! How can you be so rotten!" Mu Xi said angrily.

Tang Qingye: "..."

"You did this earlier, too! Whenever a question is hard to answer, you go silent again. Are you even a man!" Mu Xi stared straight at him.

At her words, the corner of Tang Qingye's mouth twitched, and he lifted his handsome face. "...First, my name isn't 'you.' Second, you aren't tigers, either."

"As for you, are you leaving on your own, or should I have Sister Nu Jiao show you out?" As he finished speaking, a girl slowly emerged from the forest behind him.