The Wings of a Butterfly

An hour later.

The three followed the stream and entered a bamboo forest.

"Growing in clusters, lush and dark as ink—these bamboo-type spirit beasts are all Ink Bamboo." The coachman studied the forest as he explained to Tang San and the other.

"Though this bamboo forest is vast, most of the Ink Bamboo here has cultivation no greater than ten years."

"The deeper you go into the forest, the higher the Ink Bamboo's cultivation."

"Judging by the scale of this bamboo forest, there should be Ink Bamboo with around four hundred years of cultivation in its deepest reaches."

Sure enough, deep within the bamboo forest, Tang San's group found seven or eight Ink Bamboo plants with cultivation of around four hundred years.

After carefully observing them, the coachman picked out the oldest Ink Bamboo and cleared away all the surrounding bamboo.

Then, the coachman handed Tang San a lit Fire Starter and said, "Only a spirit beast you kill yourself can yield a Soul Ring that you can absorb."

"Throw this Fire Starter over there and slowly burn this Ink Bamboo to death."

Tang San did as the coachman instructed and tossed the Fire Starter in his hand onto the Ink Bamboo's stalk.

Before long, the flames engulfed the entire Ink Bamboo. The roaring fire burned for several hours before the tenacious Ink Bamboo finally died completely.

A dark yellow Soul Ring condensed above the flames that were about to go out.

Seeing this, Tang Yuehua lowered her head and instructed Tang San, "Go on, Xiao San. Do it the way I taught you."

"Mm." Tang San answered, then walked over to the Soul Ring and sat down, circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill to begin absorbing the Ink Bamboo Soul Ring.

In the shadows.

Tang Hao silently watched Tang San absorb the Soul Ring. Seeing that no further accidents would occur, he silently left Soul Hunting Forest and headed toward Holy Spirit Village.

A Titled Douluo's speed was extremely fast. Although Tang Hao was not an agility-type Titled Douluo, traveling at full speed meant it would still take him less than a day to return from Soul Hunting Forest to Holy Spirit Village.

Several hours later.

"Hm?"

As Tang Hao passed through Nuoding City, he seemed to see something unbelievable. A man who had always kept his emotions hidden actually let out a startled sound.

On a street in Nuoding City, a six-year-old Long-braid Girl was skipping toward Nuoding Academy, completely unaware that a Titled Douluo was watching her from the shadows.

"A hundred-thousand-year Transformed Spirit Beast actually appeared here. Is this fate?"

Had Tang Yuehua not come looking for him, Tang San would have gone to study at Nuoding Academy and become a working student there alongside this rabbit. That was how the fate between Tang San and Xiao Wu would have begun.

Tang Hao struggled inwardly, but in the end, hatred gained the upper hand.

"Xiao San left with Yuehua. In the end, he and this rabbit are destined to have a connection but no fate."

"Ah Yin, forgive me. This rabbit can provide Xiao San with immense help. Spirit Hall is too powerful an enemy—I can only do this."

Having made up his mind, Tang Hao swiftly acted and abducted the Long-braid Girl from the street.

He moved so quickly that not a single passerby could see clearly what had happened.

Thus, the passersby began to wonder whether they had merely imagined it. There had clearly been a little girl walking down the street just moments ago.

Outside Holy Spirit Village, inside a cave.

Tang Hao looked at the unconscious girl and consoled himself, "It is only natural for spirit masters to hunt spirit beasts. Though you transformed into a human like Ah Yin, you have not yet entered the mature stage, so you cannot be considered a true human."

"I had no intention of doing this. You appeared before me yourself, so you cannot blame me."

"When Xiao San obtains your Soul Ring and Soul Bone, it will count as fulfilling the fate between you and him."

After saying that, Tang Hao stored the girl inside a Soul Tool capable of holding living creatures. He gazed toward a certain direction for a long time before finally leaving the cave.

Nuoding Academy.

Today was the day the academy opened.

A middle-aged man with a dispirited air stood at the academy gates, for some reason feeling as though he had missed out on something important.

"Was that just my imagination?"

Yu Xiaogang murmured so softly it was almost imperceptible. Then he gave a bitter laugh and mocked himself.

"Forget it. What am I even expecting?"

Somewhere within the academy, an utterly ordinary middle-aged man secretly watched all of this.

Not long afterward, above the clouds, a Sharp-tailed Swift with just over a hundred years of cultivation flew rapidly through the sky.

If anyone had witnessed this scene, they would have noticed a letter tied to the Sharp-tailed Swift's leg, while its destination was Heaven Dou City.

Several days later.

Lin Duke Mansion.

Lin Rong set down the Secret Letters in his hand. Soul Power appeared in his palm, and in the next moment, all the Secret Letters turned to dust and scattered with the wind.

"Grandpa Yu, instruct the Secret Sentries to keep a closer watch. Unless anything unexpected happens, reporting once a month will be enough."

"Also, train more Sharp-tailed Swifts."

"The Speed Clan is destined to be unusable by me, so we must put more effort into this area."

"For any faction, having a developed and comprehensive intelligence network is of vital importance."

"This old servant understands. Please rest assured, Young Master." After answering, Old Butler immediately set about arranging these matters.

Among all known soul beasts on Douluo Continent, the Sharp-tailed Swift had the fastest flight speed, without exception.

Even the Emerald Bird, famed for its speed, was far inferior to the Sharp-tailed Swift at the same cultivation level.

But everything had its gains and losses. Unlike the Emerald Bird, which possessed terrifying attack power alongside its extreme speed, the Sharp-tailed Swift had gained its ultimate speed at the cost of its combat lethality.

And the Speed Clan, whose martial soul was the Sharp-tailed Swift, consisted entirely of Pure Agility Soul Masters.

Although they lacked offensive capabilities, they made exceptional sentries.

Yet no force on the entire continent had recognized the strategic value of the Speed Clan. It could only be said that the people of this era were still too limited in their thinking.

The Speed Clan held enormous potential value, but Lin Rong had no intention of recruiting them.

That was because Bai He, the Speed Clan's patriarch, was Tang San's Granduncle, and his blood ties with the Clear Sky Sect had never truly been severed.

The Single Attribute Four Great Clans: Strength, Defense, Breaking, and Speed.

Tai Tan, patriarch of the Strength Clan, was Tang Hao's fiercely loyal supporter, while the patriarch of the Speed Clan was Tang San's Granduncle.

That immediately ruled out two of the four.

Among them, Tai Tan was extremely close to Niu Gao, patriarch of the Defense Clan, while Bai He had an excellent relationship with Yang Wudi, patriarch of the Breaking Clan.

If Lin Rong successfully recruited the Defense and Breaking Clans, it would be fine as long as he did not oppose Tang San. But once he did, because of Tai Tan and Bai He, there was a great chance that these two clans would develop thoughts of rebellion as well.

So, Lin Rong simply decided not to recruit any of the Single Attribute Four Great Clans.

However, not recruiting them did not mean he could avoid dealing with them.

For one thing, Bai He possessed an item that Lin Rong was determined to obtain.

Then there were the Breaking Clan's herbal catalog, Detoxification Pills, and so on. These were all tied to his plans for the peerless treasure land known as the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye.

The remaining Strength and Defense Clans were of far less value.

The Strength Clan excelled at forging, while the Defense Clan excelled at construction. These skills were not exclusive to their two clans; they merely stood out in them, rather than being the only ones capable of them.