Luo Chen lay back down on the bed, covered his head with his pillow, and planned in a muffled voice, "After my Soul Master certification, I'll collect my allowance and head back to the village. I wonder how the old man is doing."
"I'll cultivate to level 20 in the village, then go to Star Dou Great Forest to find a Netherworld Stinger Scorpion."
The Netherworld Stinger Scorpion was the best choice Luo Chen had prepared for his second Soul Ring.
He still had no true offensive Soul Skill. When all was said and done, Scorpion Emperor Transformation was only a buff skill.
The Netherworld Stinger Scorpion, however, was famously hot-tempered in the Soul Beast Realm. It was incredibly fast, and its attacks mainly consisted of piercing scorpion needles that fell like pear blossoms in a torrential storm.
It was said that its hooked tail could fire five piercing scorpion needles every second, making it extraordinarily formidable.
Furthermore, the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion had the netherworld attribute, which matched the deadly poison-plus-netherworld path Luo Chen wanted to pursue. Most importantly, it was also a scorpion-type Soul Beast, naturally countered by the Netherworld Scorpion Emperor and more compatible with Luo Chen. It had a very high chance of providing him with an offensive Soul Skill, making it the most suitable Soul Beast for his second Soul Ring.
Meanwhile.
After leaving Luo Chen's residence, Tang San was walking back to his dormitory when a tall figure suddenly emerged from the shadows and blocked his path.
It was none other than Tang Hao, who had been missing for a long time.
At that moment, he stood beneath the moonlight, his figure straight as a mountain and his gaze sharp as an eagle's, a completely different person from the drunken man he usually was.
"Father?!" Tang San's pupils contracted sharply, and he lunged forward.
Tang Hao rubbed Tang San's head with his rough palm and said with a smile, "As expected, your body grows a little after you obtain a Soul Ring. I still remember the last time I held you, you only came up to my waist. Now you reach my chest."
At those words, Tang San's initial excitement gradually subsided.
Anyone who knew that such a big, strapping man had actually made a three-year-old child cook for him would feel anger and contempt toward him.
Tang Hao seemed to notice something was wrong with Tang San. His voice grew low and hoarse. "Xiao San, Dad knows I've wronged you all these years, but... I really did have troubles I couldn't speak of!"
"What troubles couldn't you speak of?" The resentment Tang San had stored up for so long finally erupted. "Troubles so unspeakable that you had to make a three-year-old cook for you? So unspeakable that you had to make me, a child, take care of your eating, drinking, and even your bodily needs?"
"Dad, I was only three or four years old then! When I needed nourishment the most, you spent all the money on alcohol!"
"Am I even your child?"
"I..." For a moment, Tang Hao did not know how to answer. In truth, during those first six years, he really had treated Tang San as an outsider.
After all, what three-year-old could cook for himself? And go to the back mountain every morning to train his body?
He had witnessed all of it. Honestly, he had found it very difficult to believe that the child before him was his own. Instead, he believed that this person had possessed his child's body.
Only after Tang San awakened Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer during his Martial Soul Awakening, with innate full soul power, did he fully believe that this child was his own. As for why he had suddenly believed it, the reason was unknown.
"I'll tell you everything in the future. But right now, you need to come with me."
Tang San froze for a moment at those words. "Go... go where?"
"Away from here." Tang Hao took Tang San's hand and turned toward the academy gates. "To find a teacher who can truly teach you."
"But we're only commoners. We don't even have the money to leave Nuoding City."
"Don't worry. Your dad is a Titled Douluo. Mere flying is still very easy."
Tang San stood rooted to the spot at those words, his mind utterly blank.
This man before me is actually a Titled Douluo?
What a joke! Tang San felt like a clown jumping about on a stage. He had scrimped and saved, only to discover that this man had been hiding his strength all along.
"Wait, Father!" He caught up and asked urgently, "When did you get here?"
"I've been nearby protecting you all along," Tang Hao said calmly. "Originally, I wanted to proceed step by step and obtain the method for cultivating twin martial souls from Yu Xiaogang, but..."
His tone suddenly turned icy. "But after hearing what that boy named Luo Chen said, I changed my mind."
"Last night, I ambushed Yu Xiaogang, beat him half to death, and successfully forced the method for cultivating twin martial souls out of him."
Tang Hao's voice held no trace of emotion. "That kind of trash doesn't deserve to be your teacher."
Tang San's breathing quickened at those words. Deep within his heart, fury already surged to the heavens.
Why? Tang Hao, you're clearly a Titled Douluo, so why did you stand by and watch me absorb the Mandala Snake and ruin my future?
At that thought, Tang San looked at Tang Hao with resentment, but Tang Hao mistook that look for admiration.
He said with a slight smile, "Now, I'm taking you away from here to find a true master to teach you how to cultivate."
Tang San fell silent upon hearing that.
Leaving Nuoding Academy, leaving this place... he should have been happy, but why did he feel as though a piece of his heart was missing?
"Father, I..." Tang San gritted his teeth, raised his head, and looked at Tang Hao. "I can't leave yet."
Tang Hao frowned. "Why?"
"There are still two things I haven't finished." Tang San's voice became utterly resolute.
"First, I haven't made Yu Xiaogang pay yet."
"Second, I want to say goodbye to Luo Chen."
After hearing this, Tang Hao considered it for a moment before agreeing to Tang San's request.
He nodded and said with a smile, "All right. I'll give you one month. Once that time is up, we must leave."
With that, his figure gradually merged into the darkness.
Tang San hurried after him. "Then how do we contact each other?"
"Once you've finished your business, just come to the highest peak on the academy's back mountain. I'll be there."
Early the next morning, Tang San got up, washed, and hurried toward Luo Chen's dormitory.
Although he could not stop Luo Chen from leaving, he wanted to say goodbye to him and tell him that he would be leaving too.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
Tang San knocked on Luo Chen's door without stopping.
Unfortunately, no one answered.
"I'll knock again. Maybe Luo Chen is still asleep!" Tang San muttered to himself and knocked three more times.
The incessant knocking drew complaints from the others, but no one opened the door in front of him.
Tang San frowned, summoned his Blue Silver Grass, and peered through the window just as he had yesterday.
The room was empty, the bed neatly made, and a letter lay on the table.
A letter? Could he have left it for me? Tang San's heart jolted, and he charged through the door without a care.
Once inside, he quickly picked up the letter and opened it.
There were only a few brief lines written on it.
"To accomplish great things, one must first temper the heart and will, toil the sinews and bones, renew one's knowledge, and broaden one's understanding. May every fated person who sees this letter have their wishes come true."
At the very bottom of the letter, it read:
"If fate allows, we shall meet again."
"Luo Chen."
Tang San stared blankly at those words. After a long silence, he gave a bitter laugh. "You wouldn't even let me say goodbye..."
He put down the letter and looked around the empty room.
"Luo Chen..."
"I hope that someday, we'll meet at the summit."
With that, he turned and left, his steps growing firmer and their sound increasingly rapid, as though he had found the goal in his heart.
Meanwhile, Luo Chen had already completed his Soul Master certification. Holding a Gold Soul Coin, he walked with light steps onto the main road leading to Bluestone Village.