Just as Tang San stood dazed, wondering whether he had chosen the wrong teacher, Yang Xingchen gripped his fishing rod and flicked it again.
This time, Yang Xingchen did not choose to hook Tang San's attributes. Instead, he bound him, rushed forward, and kicked him to the ground.
What a joke. When Tang San had tried to attack him with a dagger just now, he had definitely intended to kill him.
Tang San had only just come to his senses after being kicked to the ground when Yang Xingchen's fists greeted him like pouring rain.
"That felt great!"
Looking at Tang San, whose face he had beaten into a pig's head, Yang Xingchen felt an indescribable rush of satisfaction.
If he had not been wary of killing Tang San and provoking Tang Hao, a Titled Douluo, into hunting him down in a frenzy, he would never have settled for merely beating Tang San up.
Yang Xingchen was just about to turn and leave when he suddenly remembered that he did not have a Storage Soul Tool yet.
"I'll take these Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges as tuition for the lesson I just gave you! After all, I'm not a good-for-nothing Grandmaster like Yu Xiaogang. My fees are pretty steep."
Yang Xingchen very patiently explained to Tang San why he was taking the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges.
Hearing that Yang Xingchen wanted to take his Storage Soul Tool, the gagged Tang San first struggled violently, trying to break free of the fishing line around him.
But after struggling for only a short while, Tang San suddenly realized that he had never said the Soul Tool he wore was called Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges!
"Hmm, it goes perfectly with my outfit. Its name is just awful, though!"
"'Twenty-four bridges on a moonlit night-where does the fair one teach the flute?' Tang San, remember to adapt the lines the next time you quote poetry, all right?"
At that moment, Tang San had no mind to spare for Yang Xingchen's mockery. He fully understood where Yang Xingchen had learned these things.
He had clearly only said that line to Yu Xiaogang. Yang Xingchen, who had been missing for several days, could not possibly have known about it.
Could Yang Xingchen have been watching me all along?!
Then could he already know that I know cultivation techniques?
While Tang San gradually spun increasingly elaborate theories in his head, Yang Xingchen kicked Yu Xiaogang, confirmed that he was not dead yet, and left with a smile.
"Not a bad haul today. With this Storage Soul Tool, I'll finally have somewhere to put the things I fish up!"
Following behind the Snow Empress, Yang Xingchen smugly stroked the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist.
"It's only a shoddy Storage Soul Tool. I don't know what you're so happy about. Anything from my collection would be better than that."
"Now that sounds great. I'm not asking for much. Just give me one that can hold living things and has at least a hundred cubic meters of storage space."
"When did I ever promise to give you a Storage Soul Tool?"
"Oh, come on, Lady Snow Empress, don't be so stingy!"
"Look, you said you didn't like Tang San, and I taught him a lesson for you without another word. Surely that deserves a little reward!"
While Yang Xingchen chased after the Snow Empress asking for a reward, Tang San finally broke free of the fishing line around him and went over to Yu Xiaogang.
Fortunately, weak as Yu Xiaogang was, he was still a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster. Even after being poisoned for so long, his body could still hold out.
After draining most of the poison from Yu Xiaogang's body, Tang San cut a strip of cloth from Yu Xiaogang's trousers and stopped his bleeding.
"Yang Xingchen, remember today's humiliation! One day, I, Tang San, will repay it a hundredfold-hiss, that hurts!"
Tang San was only halfway through his shout when his agitation pulled at the parts of his face Yang Xingchen had beaten swollen.
"That damned Yang Xingchen! Couldn't he have hit somewhere else? Every blow went straight for my face!"
As the morning sunlight spilled down, Yu Xiaogang finally woke after spending the entire night poisoned.
But the moment Yu Xiaogang opened his eyes, he saw a haggard Tang San sitting silently before the long-extinguished campfire.
"Teacher, let me ask you something. Is control really the only path for Blue Silver Grass? Why can't it strengthen its vitality and take the support path instead?"
Ever since Yang Xingchen had left, Tang San had kept involuntarily recalling his words about how Blue Silver Grass should follow the path of strengthening its vitality.
If his Blue Silver Grass really had taken the vitality path, perhaps he could have defeated Yang Xingchen last night!
"O-of course control is the only path it can take. Strengthening Blue Silver Grass's vitality to provide support? I've never even heard of that."
"Little San, why are you suddenly asking this? Did someone say something to you?"
Faced with Tang San's unexpected questions, Yu Xiaogang, whose mind was still not particularly clear, instinctively felt a little guilty.
Having Tang San absorb the Soul Ring of an animal Soul Beast had been a decision driven by Yu Xiaogang's selfish desires in the first place.
Now that Tang San was questioning the development path he had laid out for him, Yu Xiaogang lacked confidence, and his tone naturally sounded somewhat guilty.
Tang San was no fool. Naturally, he heard the guilt in Yu Xiaogang's voice.
But now that he had already absorbed the Mandala Snake's Soul Ring, switching to the vitality path was impossible.
"It's nothing, Teacher. It was just a passing thought, so I wanted to ask. It's getting late. We can head back to school."
At that moment, even someone as slow as Yu Xiaogang noticed that Tang San's attitude toward him had changed.
Yu Xiaogang looked around and finally discovered that the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges that should have been at Tang San's waist was gone.
Sure enough, after he had fallen unconscious from the poison last night, someone had appeared here and said something to Tang San.
Ten months later, Yang Xingchen stood on the outskirts of the Far North. His heart held no awe for its scenery, only admiration for himself.
"Love you, past me. You really worked hard all this way!"
After his rough journey, Yang Xingchen gazed at the expanse of white before him and could not help voicing his feelings beside a wooden warning sign.
At that moment, once again sensing the elemental power of heaven and earth in the Far North, the Snow Empress leisurely emerged from Yang Xingchen's mental space and floated barefoot before him.
"I've finally returned to the Far North. How I've missed it!"
After spending so long with Yang Xingchen, the Snow Empress's emotions had grown increasingly varied. She was no longer as icy as she had been at the start.
Cangyuan also swam out of the mental space, excitedly circling Yang Xingchen and blowing bubbles.
Thanks to the Snow Empress's power, Cangyuan, whose cultivation had originally been only a little over a hundred years, now possessed three thousand years of cultivation. The entire dragonfish was two or three sizes larger than before.
"So, what do we do next? My Soul Power is only rank nineteen right now. Devouring this world's Snow Empress isn't realistic, is it?"
Even though the Snow Empress had used most of the power released by the first seal to strengthen his body, the remaining power had still raised Yang Xingchen by four ranks.
But that was still nowhere near enough to give Yang Xingchen the bargaining power to negotiate with this world's Snow Empress. Her cultivation had surely already surpassed six hundred thousand years.
"I'm not an idiot. I brought you here because there are opportunities here for you, of course. At this point in time, there are still plenty of heavenly materials and earthly treasures I haven't discovered."
Hearing this, the Snow Empress rolled her eyes at Yang Xingchen. Naturally, she knew that devouring her other self was not realistic right now. At the very least, Yang Xingchen would have to be able to withstand the sixth seal.
But unless they encountered an opportunity that could improve Yang Xingchen's physical constitution, he would have to reach Soul Saint before he could withstand her sixth seal.
Yet it would take Yang Xingchen at least ten years to cultivate to Soul Saint, and the Snow Empress lacked the patience to wait that long.
"There's a small Ice Spirit Cold Spring on the outskirts of the Far North. I came across it one day while patrolling the outskirts three thousand years from now."
"The Soul Beasts there aren't particularly strong. If you can take it over, it'll be an excellent place for both cultivation and 'fishing' afterward."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go find the Ice Spirit Cold Spring!"
Upon learning that such a cultivation treasure ground existed on the outskirts of the Far North, Yang Xingchen did not hesitate in the slightest. He lifted his foot and stepped into the snow, which was about two fingers deep.