Lin Hao couldn't help looking a little strange as he said:
"That's only everyone's guess."
"Tang Hao found Yu Xiaogang the night before the Soul Beast hunt and revealed his identity as Clear Sky Douluo."
"He probably learned about Yu Xiaogang's plans for Tang San's first soul ring during that conversation."
"So Tang Hao might very well have caught this four-hundred-year Mandala Snake himself."
Qian Renxue couldn't help nodding as well, saying:
"That would make sense."
"Otherwise, how could a Soul Beast like a Mandala Snake appear so easily this far out on the outskirts?"
Tang Wutong couldn't help proudly puffing out her chest:
"Hmph, you all said Grandpa didn't care about Daddy. Now you know how good Grandpa is, right? He just doesn't know how to express himself."
Hearing that, Gu Yuena was speechless.
She could even use that to salvage Tang Hao's dignity?
If Tang San hadn't had the Tang Sect Secret Arts, he would've died long ago, okay?
Lin Hao couldn't help remembering something funny, too.
"If that guess is true..."
"When Yu Xiaogang said 'ten-year solitary bamboo,' he probably almost scared Tang Hao into throwing the Mandala Snake out."
Hearing that, all three women couldn't help bursting into laughter.
The world of Douluo I.
Ma Hongjun couldn't help looking at Oscar:
"Oscar, why is your name up there too? What does it mean, you owe Little San a little gold statuette?"
Oscar was baffled too. "How would I know?"
Tang San couldn't help scratching his head awkwardly. His acting had been exposed again.
But this time, he had something he cared about more.
He looked at Tang Hao and said:
"Daddy, were you really nearby back then?"
Tang Hao couldn't help nodding with an impassive expression:
"Yes, I was right there."
Whenever he thought of that day, he really had nearly been angered to death.
When he heard that Tang San, who had innate full soul power and twin martial souls, had nearly absorbed ten-year solitary bamboo as his first soul ring, he really had wanted to throw the Mandala Snake out.
Tang San was immersed in the warmth of knowing Tang Hao had secretly protected him and completely failed to notice Tang Hao's expression.
Watching Tang San and Tang Hao's display of fatherly love and filial devotion, however...
Yu Xiaogang finally couldn't hold it together.
Of this father and son, one was an actor, and the other hadn't taken his safety to heart at all.
He hadn't expected that such a dangerous situation had actually been Tang Hao's doing, making a complete fool of him.
Even facing a Titled Douluo, Yu Xiaogang couldn't stand it anymore.
"Your Excellency Haotian, why didn't you discuss it with me beforehand?"
"Do you know that I almost died from that Mandala Snake's deadly venom?"
Hearing that Yu Xiaogang still had the nerve to question him...
Tang Hao, too, was nearly beside himself with anger as he said:
"How was I supposed to know you were so useless you couldn't even defeat a four-hundred-year Mandala Snake, despite being level twenty-nine?"
"The Sky Screen was right. Converted over, your level twenty-nine only amounts to a fifty-year soul ring. It's perfectly normal that you couldn't beat it."
Hearing that taunt, Yu Xiaogang completely overheated with rage and said:
"If you're so damn amazing, try using Luo Sanpao to fight a Mandala Snake."
He felt Tang Hao really was talking while standing without feeling the pain in his back.
No matter how Luo Sanpao farted, he couldn't affect the Mandala Snake.
It was a total hard counter.
Against another four-hundred-year Soul Beast, he, Yu Xiaogang, could still put up a fight. Fighting a Mandala Snake, though, was simply bashing his head against it.
Yu Xiaogang continued questioning him:
"Besides, if Your Excellency Haotian disapproves of me so much, why did you still choose this Mandala Snake based on my theory?"
Tang Hao's face turned green. He really had fallen for Yu Xiaogang's nonsense back then.
Now, after everything the Sky Screen had revealed, it seemed this Yu Xiaogang was a theoretical grandmaster whose reputation was thoroughly watered down.
But what could he do now?
Tang San had already absorbed his first soul ring. They could only keep following this road to the end.
Tang Hao snorted coldly. "Who knew you were such a sham of a grandmaster?"
Yu Xiaogang said coldly, "Oh? I'm such a sham? Then why couldn't you tell?"
Watching the two with swords drawn and bows bent...
Tang San stepped into the role of peacemaker with practiced ease.
After all, ever since the Sky Screen appeared, he had lost count of how many times this sort of thing had happened.
Ning Rongrong couldn't help feeling a trace of sympathy.
In her view, Tang San really had it rough, being saddled with two such oddballs.
But she was also curious. Why would a Titled Douluo born into the Clear Sky Sect and Yu Xiaogang, who came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and had even plagiarized Spirit Hall's theories, choose a Mandala Snake soul ring like this?
The modern world.
Qian Renxue voiced the same question:
"This Mandala Snake clearly provides a beast-type soul ring. Doesn't Tang San have a blue silver grass martial soul? Why choose this Soul Beast?"
Lin Hao couldn't help curling his lip. "Obviously, Yu Xiaogang was using his dear disciple as a test subject."
Hearing that, Tang Wutong was the first to spring to her feet, saying:
"My daddy was a test subject?"
"Well, well! Was that little flat-top Yu Xiaogang really that awful? No wonder Daddy didn't take him up to the Divine Realm."
Gu Yuena couldn't help freezing, too.
Could teachers and disciples really scheme against each other to this extent?
Humans were truly terrifying.
Just then, Lin Hao pointed at the animation and said, "Watch. You'll see."
On-screen.
Yu Xiaogang said happily, "Little San, wonderful! We've found your soul ring."
Tang San asked in confusion, "Teacher, what did you say? You don't mean this snake, do you?"
Yu Xiaogang said confidently, "That's right. This Mandala Snake has roughly four hundred years of cultivation, close to the four-hundred-and-twenty-three-year limit for a first soul ring. With your innate full soul power, you won't have any problem absorbing it."
Tang San sought confirmation again. "But Teacher, my martial soul is a plant. Won't they conflict?"
Yu Xiaogang was brimming with confidence:
"A plant martial soul doesn't necessarily have to absorb a plant Soul Beast's soul ring, and a beast martial soul isn't necessarily unable to absorb a plant soul ring."
"This is the martial soul mimicry theory, one of the ten core competencies I proposed."
"Do you remember what kind of soul ring we wanted to find?"
Tang San recalled, "One that adds toughness, preferably with poison."
Yu Xiaogang said, "Exactly. The Mandala Snake has both those traits."
He began appealing to emotion:
"Whether it's ordinary Soul Masters or those fellows from Spirit Hall, they all scoff at my theory of the ten core competencies. No one believes it.
"No Soul Master absorbs soul rings of different types to strengthen themselves."
"Little San, are you willing to try?"
"Although I'm absolutely certain in theory, no one has ever tried it."
"The reason the ten core competencies I proposed are only theory rather than truth is that no one is willing to put them into practice."
Tang San nodded firmly:
"Teacher, let me be the one to put it into practice for you. I believe in you."
Tang San then began absorbing the soul ring.
?????
Watching this scene, all three women were dumbfounded.
What did he mean, absolutely certain in theory, but no one had ever tried it?
Wasn't Tang San nothing but a guinea pig?
Tang Wutong was the most agitated.
She said furiously:
"That damned little flat-top has already courted death."
"He actually dared to fool my dad like that!"
"And Dad, seriously! He was actually stupid enough to believe it."
What angered her most was that her own dad had actually believed him.