Successfully Led Astray

Seeing that Qian Chaoguang was still cultivating, Bei Bei took the opportunity to whisper with Tang Ya.

Of course, it was whispering only in their own minds.

The moment Bei Bei opened his eyes, Qian Chaoguang had already half woken from his cultivation, ready to hear what they had to say.

After a bout of sickening flirting, Tang Ya finally brought up the real matter.

".By the way, do you think Little Brother Chaoguang can hold out at the academy? After all, his cultivation really is..."

Bei Bei glanced in Qian Chaoguang's direction and lowered his voice. "If not for the factor of soul power cultivation, he would definitely be the most dazzling existence among the new students."

"Even if he doesn't use his martial soul, just relying on his saber technique and strength, an ordinary Soul Grandmaster couldn't possibly contend with him. While you were sleeping yesterday, I secretly sensed the state of his body. That surging blood vitality and strength of his are extremely astonishing, almost comparable to a Soul Beast of the same level. He could be called a humanoid Soul Beast."

Tang Ya was startled, and also lowered her voice.

"Then Little Brother Chaoguang couldn't be a transformed Soul Beast, could he?"

Bei Bei burst into laughter despite himself and said, "Teacher Tang Ya, what are you thinking? When a Soul Beast transforms into a human, it only carries Source Power. In terms of blood vitality, it's no different from a human. What's more, when a Beast of Calamity becomes human, its martial soul is its own original body. If Chaoguang really were a Soul Beast, then he couldn't be a Light Element that gained sentience, could he?"

At that, Tang Ya also let out a pfft and laughed.

Bei Bei continued explaining, "So, Chaoguang is definitely human, without a doubt. This strange strength of his is probably a natural gift, right? I just don't know whether what he said before about the grudge between his family's ancestor ten thousand years ago and the first hall master of our Tang Sect's Strength Hall is true or not."

Tang Ya shrugged and said without the slightest concern, "Whether it's true or not doesn't really matter. No matter how bad our Tang Sect was, how bad could it have been? As long as Chaoguang bears no ill will toward us, then he and we are family. Don't forget, he even recommended his own younger sister to join us!"

"She's a Body Martial Soul soul master with rank-nine Innate Soul Power. Even in the Body Sect, she'd be treasured like a precious jewel. As for the Ancestral Edict and all that he mentioned, I think it's very likely to be true. After all, Senior Titan's name and the Tang Sect's organizational structure from four thousand years ago aren't recorded even in the academy. If he didn't have quite a deep connection to us, there's no way he could know."

"That's true."

Bei Bei nodded.

"I'd guess Little Brother Chaoguang's family must once have been an extremely powerful Secluded Family. Otherwise, it couldn't have produced a physique as formidable as his and such a strange martial soul. And that godlike forging technique of his is also extremely astonishing. The long saber on his back seems as though it has life. Only that can explain it."

"Sigh... we're both fallen people wandering the ends of the earth. Little Brother Chaoguang's background is much more bitter than mine. At least I've seen a little of the Tang Sect's fading glory when it was strong, but he hasn't even seen his own parents..."

Tang Ya rarely restrained her flighty nature, and when she looked at Qian Chaoguang, a trace of gentleness entered her eyes.

People, after all, always empathized with those whose fate resembled their own.

Listening as the two of them, one chiming in after the other, sorted out the "ins and outs" of his background with perfect clarity, Qian Chaoguang felt warmth in his heart, and at the same time, he finally let out a breath of relief.

Their train of thought had finally extended in the direction he had anticipated.

Tang Ya's side was still easy enough to deal with. The main issue was Bei Bei.

As Mu En's great-grandson, a future Sea God Pavilion Member, and the partner of the Tang Sect Master, his status and right to speak were truly maxed out.

If he began to suspect his identity and origins...

Then, to be safe, Qian Chaoguang would probably have no choice but to take Huo Yutong and run at light speed, then try his luck with the Body Sect.

Fortunately, none of that happened.

After Qian Chaoguang put on an act and woke from his cultivation, the three of them set off, sprinting wildly toward the west.

Taking a detour around the Star Dou Great Forest to head to Shrek Academy was only about a thousand li or so. If they were not in a hurry, three days was enough to arrive.

On the road, the physical qualities Qian Chaoguang displayed gave Bei Bei and Tang Ya a whole new understanding of him.

At first, Tang Ya and Bei Bei were afraid Qian Chaoguang would be unable to keep up, and they had deliberately slowed down.

Yet what they had not expected was that Qian Chaoguang had no intention of using soul power at all. He just kept running on sheer physical strength, and he was even faster than the two of them.

Refusing to believe it, Tang Ya kept increasing her speed, until she raised it to her own limit. Qian Chaoguang still looked perfectly fine, running with ease and elegance.

Just like that, the three of them traveled at a Soul Elder's speed the entire way.

Not until Tang Ya's soul power was completely exhausted and she needed to rest did Qian Chaoguang, who had been running purely on his physical body, still remain perfectly fine. He had not even sweated much.

"I say, Little Brother Chaoguang, just how did that body of yours grow? You've run for so long, and you aren't tired at all?"

Tang Ya leaned against a tree trunk with no regard for her image, gasping heavily without stop.

Qian Chaoguang smiled and said, "My cultivation talent isn't good, so I could only put in more hard work on my body. On top of that, I've always relied on forging to earn compensation, so my body is just a bit stronger than an ordinary person's. It's nothing."

After saying that, he also sat down cross-legged and began cultivating while Tang Ya rested.

Tang Ya curled her lips and said nothing more, seizing the time to rest.

Over the next few days of travel, Bei Bei also introduced Qian Chaoguang to Shrek Academy's current situation, as well as some related matters.

When Qian Chaoguang said that he wanted to become a Soul Engineer, Tang Ya showed intense hostility toward Soul Tools, believing that they were the chief culprit that had destroyed the Tang Sect.

Hearing such thoughts, Qian Chaoguang truly shook his head repeatedly in his heart.

Had Soul Tools caused the Tang Sect's decline?

Perhaps there was some connection, but that was not the main point.

The Tang Sect had become hidebound, refused to advance, blindly worshiped the things Tang San had left behind ten thousand years ago, and treated them as standards and truth. That was the main reason for the Tang Sect's downfall.

Just now, Tang Ya had even said that the ingenuity and clever design of the Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons were absolutely above Soul Tools.

That was even more of a ridiculous joke.

For tens of thousands of years, who knew how many Soul Engineers in the Sun Moon Empire had poured their hearts and blood into them, one generation after another, discarding the old and bringing forth the new. In terms of structural ingenuity, how could they fail to compare to a mechanical structure of yours that had not progressed in ten thousand years?

Wasn't that just pure nonsense?

The Wrath of the Buddha Tang Lotus, ranked first among the Tang Sect's mechanical Hidden Weapons, could at most instantly kill an unprepared Soul Saint or seriously injure a Soul Douluo who hadn't activated their Martial Soul True Body. What did it have to compete with high-level soul tools?

Never mind strategic-level Ninth-Rank Soul Tools—even an eighth-rank Fixed Soul Cannon Shell could blast the Wrath of the Buddha Tang Lotus until not even scraps were left, and that thing was easy to manufacture too.

Just from Tang Ya's attitude toward soul tools and her blind trust in Hidden Weapons, Qian Chaoguang had reason to suspect certain things.

Before the Douluo Continent collided with the Sun Moon Continent, its technology had somehow made no progress at all over six thousand years. The Tang Sect had definitely been meddling behind the scenes.

An organization that monopolized "technology" was especially terrifying.

This kind of thing had appeared who knew how many times throughout the vast history of Blue Star.

It was just that, no matter where on Blue Star they were, people would break through these shackles restricting technological development within a short time, trying to seek a better tomorrow.

Mm.

Certain lazy dogs who couldn't even be bothered to farm were the exception.

Thanks to the three bosses Miracle 8, All the Good IDs Were Registered, and Forgot My Original Intention for the tips.