"Little San, why do this? A man kneels only to his parents. There's gold beneath your knees!"
"No! A teacher for a day is a father for life! Besides my birth father, Tang Hao, you're my family!"
Li Changsheng pulled Tang San to his feet. Looking at the bright red mark on his forehead, he could no longer remember how many times Tang San had bled there. How could someone kowtow so hard?
"Silly child, you put too much weight on your feelings!"
Hearing this, Tang San lowered his head in disappointment. Was Teacher Changsheng... turning his nose up at him?
But the very next moment, the rest of Li Changsheng's words filled him with delighted surprise.
"But that's your strength. Valuing your feelings isn't a flaw. It's the key that supports you as you strive to grow and break through your shackles!"
Li Changsheng thought back to the scene he had watched in his previous life, where Spirit Hall surrounded and attacked Xiao Wu and Tang San. Brother San had burned so fiercely he was practically a Buddhist relic, just short of tossing out the two things between his legs as Mother and Child Life-Seizing Soul-Chasing Balls.
It really had been quite a spectacle. At least, it had gotten Li Changsheng fired up.
"Just that devotion to your feelings tells me I didn't choose the wrong disciple!"
"Teacher!"
Tang San threw himself into Li Changsheng's arms. This was the first time he had done anything so bold, but Teacher Changsheng's words had truly touched him deeply.
Teacher Changsheng was the only one who truly understood him!
"Hahaha, don't get so emotional. Weren't we discussing your part-time job?"
"As long as you agree, Teacher!"
Tang San wiped away his tears. He had actually started crying without realizing it.
"Oh, right. Take this."
Li Changsheng suddenly remembered something and took a small bottle out of his storage space. It held a large quantity of a transparent substance.
"This is..."
"This is whale rubber! It's something used in bed, and plenty of noble gentlemen love it. I spent quite a few Gold Soul Coins to buy this much."
"Teacher, your student is still young. You should keep this for yourself!"
Thump!
Li Changsheng knocked Tang San on the head in exasperation. "What are you thinking? I refined this whale rubber last night."
If he wanted a substantial increase in the system's template progress, Tang San had to become stronger than he had been in the original story. Taking whale rubber was therefore necessary.
A purple second Soul Ring, then a black third Soul Ring!
"Whale rubber has a secret: refining. Once refined, whale rubber is no longer an aphrodisiac, but a miraculous cultivation medicine!"
"It enhances your constitution and strengthens your body, indirectly raising the age of the Soul Rings you can absorb!"
"Such a miraculous substance actually exists?!"
Tang San's earlier look of refusal vanished completely, replaced by anticipation. Whale rubber was great, whale rubber was wonderful-whale rubber was just what he needed to eat!
"I have no use for it. Take it back and eat it. Remember to immerse your entire body in water when you take it. After all, whale rubber is still that sort of thing at its core."
"Your student understands!"
Tang San took the bottle, then carefully transferred it into Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges.
"Mm, all right. Since you have plans, Little San, go get started. Don't forget to read more of my theory book. It won't do you any harm."
Tang San nodded. He had read a great deal of the Compendium of Soul Master Theory, which described Martial Souls in considerable detail. He had never imagined that the Douluo Continent had so many bizarre Martial Souls. It really was amazing.
Just then, a question suddenly occurred to him. Should he pass the Mysterious Heaven Skill on to Teacher Changsheng?
The fact that this thought had occurred to him meant Tang San now regarded Li Changsheng as one of his own, through and through.
Not even Tang Hao had received such treatment.
After thinking for a moment, Tang San decided to leave it for later. Rebuilding the Tang Sect was still a long way off. There was no rushing it.
Without much more conversation, Tang San bowed to Li Changsheng, then left the teachers' dormitory and headed out of the academy.
Inside the room, Li Changsheng saw that his template progress had actually reached one percent and hurriedly summoned Luo Sanpao.
"Luo, luo!"
As soon as he appeared, Luo Sanpao ran back and forth. A pair of little Bugles-shaped horns had sprouted from his forehead like bamboo shoots after the rain.
They were not very big. From a distance, they looked like a bump, and only close inspection revealed that they were a pair of horns.
Li Changsheng was overjoyed. Horns at just one percent-what about ten percent? Wouldn't he have dragon scales then?
"Little Sanpao, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
"Luo, luo!"
Luo Sanpao shook his large golden head. Judging by his condition, he clearly did not look uncomfortable.
Elsewhere.
At Yu Xiaogang's residence.
At that moment, Gangzi's face was full of excitement. An extremely strained smile appeared on his zombie-stiff face as he stared at the information on the sheet in his hand, muttering incessantly, "Twin Martial Souls. He definitely has Twin Martial Souls!"
Tang San's Martial Soul information was clearly listed on the paper. Yu Xiaogang had obtained it from the teacher in charge of registration.
The instant he saw the terms "Blue Silver Grass" and "Innate Full Soul Power," he knew his chance to turn his fortunes around had finally arrived!
There was no way a Trash Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass could support Innate Full Soul Power! Tang San definitely had another Martial Soul!
As long as he could take him as his disciple, Yu Xiaogang was confident he could silence everyone on the continent who looked down on him!
"I, Yu Xiaogang, won't disgrace my clan. I can train a Titled Douluo!"
Blazing ambition battered his mind.
That fool Li Changsheng really stumbled into a pile of dog-shit luck, taking Tang San as his disciple by sheer accident. This is my dream disciple!
After waiting for so long, he, Yu Xiaogang, had finally found someone worth molding. As long as Tang San achieved success and fame in the future, everyone would naturally acknowledge his theories!
After all, if even a genius with Twin Martial Souls studied his invincible theories, what excuse would anyone else have not to learn them?
"No, I have to go find him right now! Li Changsheng must have bewitched Tang San yesterday. I'll make him see just who is best suited to be his teacher!"
Yu Xiaogang was brimming with confidence now. He was a seasoned veteran, after all. One had spent years researching Martial Souls, while the other was an eighteen-year-old with a little knowledge. Surely there was no need to spell out whom to choose?
He headed straight for the work-study students' dormitory. Just the day before, he had despised Tang San for being a work-study student, yet now he had come looking for him with anticipation written all over his face.
Creak!
He pushed open the dormitory door. Besides a few boys, there was also a girl sitting inside.
"Who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for Tang San. Is he here?"
Hearing Yu Xiaogang say he was looking for Tang San, Xiao Wu instinctively froze for a moment. "You're Tang San's teacher?"
She did not know Yu Xiaogang's name and had simply assumed he was Tang San's teacher.
And Wang Sheng said Li Changsheng was handsome. This is clearly just some loser!
Tang San said I was his teacher?
Yu Xiaogang froze at first, then was overjoyed. He had not expected Tang San to be a child who said one thing and thought another, too. He liked that!
"That's right. Do you know where Little San went?"
"He left first thing this morning and still hasn't come back."