Chapter 19: Lone Bamboo and Yu Xiaogang

Yutian Heng had endured a painful three months recently.

The pride of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect prevented him from attacking those ranked lower than himself, which meant he could only watch day after day as Li Xun and Dugu Yan interacted.

But there was nothing he could do.

He had devised many strategies, but all were futile; Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo were still closer to Li Xun than he was.

However, Li Xun was about to reach the same level as him. As long as a conflict arose between them, he would have a legitimate reason to spar with Li Xun, and then seize the opportunity to kick him out of the Tiandou Royal Academy.

This was Yutian Heng’s plan.

...

In the Soul Hunting Forest of the Tiandou Empire,

a large carriage slowly rolled along the official road.

“This is the Soul Hunting Forest!” Ning Rongrong poked her head out of the carriage. “I heard the soul beasts inside are all raised by the empire—is that true?”

“Yes, and generally, one needs a permit to enter,” Qin Ming nodded.

“Do we need a permit too?”

“No need. Teachers and students of the Tiandou Royal Academy can enter freely.”

As they chatted, the carriage gradually came to a halt.

At the entrance of the Soul Hunting Forest, many low-level soul masters had gathered.

Some were profit-seekers, capturing soul rings for others, while others unwilling to pay money slowly formed teams to hunt soul beasts.

When Li Xun stepped down from the carriage, he was greeted by a bustling scene.

“Let’s go,” Qin Ming said, leading the way toward the gate.

Everyone quickly followed.

The Soul Hunting Forest was low in level; along the path, Li Xun saw very few soul beasts with high age.

He did, however, encounter many ten-year-old solitary bamboos.

Coincidentally, this solitary bamboo was precisely Li Xun’s target.

But it was not the ten-year-old solitary bamboo that the master had found for Tang San; he was searching for the thousand-year-old solitary bamboo.

Bamboo often goes unnoticed, leading to little understanding of it.

In truth, it is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world.

Under natural conditions, its record growth rate is over one meter per day.

Moreover, its reproductive ability is extremely strong; with just one bamboo, in a few years it can become an entire bamboo forest.

Through careful study, Li Xun found that the solitary bamboo shared these two traits and also possessed toughness.

“小 Xun, isn’t solitary bamboo too ordinary? Shouldn’t you pick another soul beast? Perhaps one with poison to add some special traits to your martial soul?” Qin Ming turned and said to Li Xun.

Before coming, he hadn’t known that Li Xun planned to hunt solitary bamboo.

Qin Ming had seen Li Xun’s first soul skill.

From his perspective, although Li Xun’s first soul skill had a wide range, its control was weak at best, merely restricting the opponent’s movement.

Even if it hit by chance, the damage from the thorns on the saplings would be minimal.

A mere half-meter-high sapling—what use could it possibly be in battle?

That was why he thought of adding poison or other effects to the saplings.

“Thanks for your kindness, Teacher Qin Ming, but I’ve studied solitary bamboo for a long time. Besides, absorbing soul rings of the same attribute also helps improve my martial soul’s quality,” Li Xun smiled and politely declined Qin Ming’s suggestion.

He never cared about short-term gains; the path of a soul master was long, and one must keep their vision broad.

Yutian Heng’s eyes brightened when he heard their conversation, a sneer curling the corner of his mouth.

He had never heard of a noble soul master choosing solitary bamboo as a soul ring; such a thing had no attack and no special traits. Even if it grew there, it was merely a target.

An ordinary person with an axe could chop down ten- or hundred-year-old bamboo without difficulty.

But he was delighted to see Li Xun choose this for his second soul ring.

“When you get your second soul ring, we’ll be soul masters of the same rank. I hope you won’t be too weak then,” Yutian Heng said, watching Li Xun’s back.

“Li Xun, are you really going to choose solitary bamboo as your soul ring? The Seven Treasures Glazed Sect should be able to offer better options. If not, I can ask my grandfather to take you to the Sunset Forest to choose,” Dugu Yan said, frowning with concern.

“What do you know? My brother has his reasons for choosing this. Neither my father nor Grandpa Jian opposes it,” Ning Rongrong said, hands on her hips, her face flushed with anger.

These people thought the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect was deliberately mistreating her brother.

But they didn’t know that Li Xun was a dual martial soul user, so there was no need to worry about lacking offensive methods. Father had also said that Li Xun’s developmental direction for the first two soul rings might be correct.

Thinking of this, Ning Rongrong’s eyes brightened, and she suddenly became happy. Of course! They didn’t know that Li Xun was a dual martial soul user!

Li Xun felt exhausted by it all.

If he had known, he wouldn’t have agreed to come with them, forcing him to explain everything over and over.

As they discussed, a sudden shout rose from afar.

“You bunch of level ten little wolves dare act arrogantly before me! Prepare the Three Cannons!”

“Nonsense like thunder, the Earth-Shattering Roaring Three Cannons!”

Boom—

A tremendous roar came from a distance.

Li Xun was stunned by the sound. “Roaring Three Cannons? Master Yu Xiaogang?”

That incantation was famous, and he swore there was no other soul master with it.

Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan were startled by the sound, instinctively drawing closer to Li Xun.

Compared to their reactions, Yutian Heng was greatly excited.

“Teacher, can we go in that direction?” Yutian Heng asked, trembling as he pointed toward the source of the voice.

“Is that someone you know? I don’t mind, but I’ll have to ask Xun first,” Qin Ming said, glancing unexpectedly at Yutian Heng.

Li Xun shrugged indifferently.

He naturally understood Yutian Heng’s thoughts at this moment: “I have no objection. Solitary bamboo grows everywhere; it’s good to check out that place first.”

Besides, he wanted to meet this master.

If he guessed correctly, Tang San should be there too.

“It seems Yu Xiaogang and the others have come to help Tang San obtain his second soul ring,” Li Xun thought.

He had spent the last two years, so as not to fall behind Tang San, practicing chakra during the day and meditating on soul power at night, nearly dying from overexertion.

Until six months ago, when he learned distraction control, his condition finally improved.

Now knowing that Tang San was at the same rank as him, he felt both relieved and a slight sense of urgency.

Since they had decided to investigate, the group moved in the direction of the voice.

Soon,

three figures appeared before them.

Two adults and a child.

One adult and the child wore masks and watched from a distance as the other fought a ghost vine.

Around them lay three wolf-type soul beast corpses, seemingly killed by throat slitting.

“Uncle!” Yutian Heng cried out excitedly upon seeing the masked middle-aged man.

Li Xun followed Yutian Heng’s gaze.

A short crew cut and a beard—Yu Xiaogang’s classic look, easy to recognize.

“That one next to him is Tang San, Lord Tang,” Yutian Heng said.

Tang San had not yet undergone the Blue Silver King’s cosmetic transformation, so he did not look particularly outstanding.

“And you are?” Yu Xiaogang and the others were surprised at the sudden arrival of the group.

Yutian Heng stepped forward excitedly: “Uncle, I’m Tianheng!”