Ma Xiunuo had brought out this crystal ball for several reasons. First, it measured soul power more accurately. Second, he intended to put Tang San in his place. Finally, he wanted to curry favor with Tang Mo.
Tang San had been hopping about like a flea ever since he arrived, and Ma Xiunuo disliked him somewhat, though not enough to insist on squashing him dead.
Besides, Tang San seemed highly talented to him, so he did want to sow the seeds of a favorable relationship.
Once Tang Mo established a connection with the distinguished figures in Spirit City, Ma Xiunuo felt he would most likely never have anything to do with Tang Mo again in his lifetime.
Tang San, however, was ostensibly a commoner genius and might offer Ma Xiunuo some conveniences in the future.
Ma Xiunuo could not reach the distant clouds, but could he really let a ladder to those clouds slip past when it stood right before him?
As for currying favor with Tang Mo, that stemmed from the notion that one should bring out one's most precious possessions to entertain an honored guest.
To Ma Xiunuo, this crystal ball looked high-grade at a glance and met the standards for a distinguished person's use.
When Tang San saw the crystal ball, he walked up and pressed his hand against it without waiting for Ma Xiunuo to say anything more.
Ma Xiunuo frowned at the sight. Tang San's behavior clearly displeased him considerably, but he said nothing more.
A moment later, the crystal ball began to glow faintly. Ma Xiunuo studied it, then slowly said, "Level eleven soul power, but you should break through to level twelve before long."
Had Tang San absorbed the soul ring of the four-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake as he normally would have, then, with the three additional months he had spent cultivating after his Mysterious Heaven Skill reached its bottleneck, his accumulated efforts would naturally have allowed him to surge straight to level thirteen.
But now, Tang San lacked the boost from a soul ring over four hundred years old. He had also spent some time recovering after Tang Mo injured him instead of diligently cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill. As a result, he had only reached level eleven. At most, the foundation laid by the Mysterious Heaven Skill would allow him to break through to level twelve sooner.
At this sight, Tang Mo suddenly felt that some part of something profoundly mysterious had disappeared from Tang San, while something seemed to have been added to himself.
The word fortune flashed through his mind. Though fortune had no fixed standard and was something intangible and elusive, having more of it meant greater luck, more opportunities, and a smoother path of cultivation.
Originally, Tang Mo had targeted Tang San because Tang San had wanted to kill him at their very first meeting, then kept leaping about like a monkey afterward. Now, he had another reason to target Tang San.
He had also figured it out now. As the protagonist, Tang San naturally possessed abundant fortune, so it would be difficult to kill him before his fortune fell below a certain threshold.
Thus, if he wanted to kill Tang San, he first needed to seize his fortune.
At that thought, a playful glint flashed through his eyes. Others might not know where Tang San's opportunities lay, but how could he not?
After having his soul power tested, Tang San swept a sinister gaze over Tang Mo, openly displaying the killing intent in his eyes.
Tang Mo genuinely began to wonder whether studying hidden weapons had damaged Tang San's brain. Tang Sect disciples never displayed killing intent before others.
Thus, whenever a Tang Sect disciple revealed killing intent, it would only be after killing their target in a single strike. Until then, their killing intent would remain completely concealed.
After Tang San stepped off the raised platform, Tang Mo walked up and placed his hand against the crystal ball.
Immediately, a light far brighter than the one from Tang San's test shone out. Ma Xiunuo could not help rubbing his eyes, afraid that his old eyes were failing him.
"Above level twenty? Yet it hasn't exceeded level twenty. This is the standard for a Quasi-Soul Grandmaster," Ma Xiunuo said incredulously.
Tang San's expression instantly froze. Then he cried out in shock, "That's impossible!"
He remembered Yu Xiaogang once saying that a person's innate soul power could reach level ten at most, which was called innate full soul power.
But how could someone break straight through level twenty after obtaining a single soul ring?
For the first time, he questioned the theories Yu Xiaogang had presented so convincingly. He suspected that a person's innate full soul power might exceed level ten.
Otherwise, everything that had happened before completely defied common sense and his understanding of this world.
Once registration was complete and Tang San had received this month's allowance of one Gold Soul Coin as he wished, he suddenly shouted at Tang Mo, "Tang Mo, I challenge you!"
He had seen Tang Mo's name during registration, which was why he could now call it out.
Tang Mo paused slightly, then instinctively asked, "Is something wrong with your head? I'm already level twenty, and you still dare fight me? Still, I like that suggestion."
Before Tang San could react, Tang Mo used Flocculent Steps and appeared soundlessly before him. He struck Tang San squarely in the chest with his palm, sending him staggering and stumbling backward uncontrollably.
Just as Tang San tried to dissipate the force and regain his footing, Tang Mo moved again, driving him out of the Spirit Hall Branch with one palm strike after another.
Only when sunlight appeared before his eyes again did Tang San realize that Tang Mo had struck him out of the Spirit Hall Branch, palm by palm, without giving him any ability to resist.
More importantly, Tang Mo's almost playful palm strikes had not injured him at all.
It was like a child charging at an adult, only for the adult to casually pick him up and put him back where he had been standing.
An old man toying with a mischievous child. Those words flashed through his mind. He knew Tang Mo had not acted out of kindness or a reluctance to kill him, but to tell him that an immense gulf existed between them. To him, this was nothing short of humiliation.
Tang Hao, who was suppressing his injuries while secretly watching Tang San, could not help looking a little grimmer at the sight.
Tang San had utterly disgraced him as the Clear Sky Douluo this time, yet he could not blame Tang San for failing to work hard enough.
He understood that facing Tang Mo was to Tang San what facing him had once been to other Soul Masters his age.
As he dwelled on it, an inexplicable urge to snuff Tang Mo out arose within him. But just as that thought formed, his expression shifted slightly, and he vanished from the spot.
After he left, Yue Guan and Gui Mei appeared in midair not far from Nuoding City.
The two had hurried as fast as they could and finally reached the vicinity of Nuoding City before Tang Hao developed the intent to kill Tang Mo.
Although neither could match Tang Hao in a head-on battle, Tang Hao now had fresh injuries on top of old wounds that had yet to heal.
Tang Hao could not guarantee that he could defeat the two of them together in his current state, so he simply followed the best of the thirty-six stratagems: retreat.
After Tang Hao left, the two frowned, both feeling as though someone had watched them briefly just now.
But when they followed the direction of that gaze to Tang Hao's former hiding place, he had already vanished without a trace, as though he had never appeared there at all.
The two exchanged a glance, a hint of eagerness stirring in their eyes. Though Tang Hao had not left the slightest trace, the very fact that they could find no clues was enough to prove that a Titled Douluo had been here just now.
Water that was too clear held no fish. Sometimes, being too clean was not a good thing either.
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