Chapter 186: The Clowns – Tang San, Tang Hao, Yu Xiaogang
Ah Yin walked toward the Shrek side, stopping in front of Xiao Wu. For a moment, none of the Shrek team knew whether they should be on guard. After all, this woman had once been Tang San's mother. Yet even if they wanted to defend themselves, they lacked the strength, and she didn't seem hostile.
Xiao Wu said, "Mother-in—"
Hearing this, the Tianshui Team members looked oddly at Qian Renchuan.
Qian Renchuan hurriedly explained, "I have nothing to do with her. I don't even know her name!"
Shui Bing'er gave a slight nod of trust. She did recall Xiao Wu from the Soto Great Spirit Arena – that face was unforgettable. But for the last two years, Qian Renchuan had been at Tianshui Academy, so there was obviously no connection between him and Xiao Wu.
"I'm not your mother-in-law."
A hint of puzzlement flashed in Ah Yin's eyes. She had no objections to however many wives her son might have, but Xiao Wu was out of the question. A moment ago, during the tournament's opening, she'd seen how Xiao Wu immediately hid behind Tang San, implying she already had a partner.
"You've got a lot of nerve, as a one-hundred-thousand-year spirit beast who hasn't even reached your full transformation stage yet you dare come to a human metropolis – and even participate in the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Tournament."
"I'm not sure why the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan didn't arrest you, but if I hadn't been together with my husband, he'd already have captured you long ago for my daughter's eighth spirit ring."
Ah Yin spoke via sound transmission, and Xiao Wu made no reply. Her body shuddered, only now realizing how dangerous it truly was for her to join the tournament.
Yellow, purple, black, red – four spirit ring colors lit up in sequence, sending thousands of onlookers (including a few hundred soul masters plus the passersby who had gathered around the various academy teams) into an uproar. Even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan experts looked seriously moved.
Beneath Ah Yin's feet appeared two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red – nine rings in all. That final scarlet ring was the most treasured existence among soul masters: a one-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring!
Bone Douluo's eyes grew somber. He suspected that this Ten Thousand Year Blue Silver Emperor might be even stronger than him, maybe a rank-96 Titled Douluo. Ning Fengzhi's judgment, it appeared, was spot on.
"Blue Silver Domain, final evolution – 'All Rivers Run to the Sea.'"
Ah Yin unleashed her Blue Silver Domain, which spread out for several kilometers. Everyone within felt an incredible comfort, as though this scorching summer day's intense sunlight had given way to refreshing autumn weather.
Centering on Ah Yin, stalks of blue-gold Blue Silver Grass erupted from the ground. Their leaves swayed in a breeze that wasn't really there, releasing specks of life force that converged into a glowing blue orb in her hand.
Tang San's eyes widened at once. Although this orb of life force was nowhere near as vast as the Blue Silver Forest's ocean of life he'd experienced upon becoming the Blue Silver Emperor in his past life, he believed that absorbing even a fraction of that life energy might allow him to break past rank 39 and reach Soul Ancestor.
Alas, none of it was intended for him. Instead, it went to Xiao Wu.
The blue sphere broke apart into countless shimmering motes that poured into Xiao Wu's body, gradually suppressing the aura of a soul beast she radiated at all times.
"This life force will conceal your soul beast aura for a while – enough for you to finish the tournament. But your identity as a transformed hundred-thousand-year soul beast has already been revealed. Once the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Tournament ends, go to the Clear Sky Clan and train. Don't come out until you can protect yourself."
With that, Ah Yin turned and left, the Tianshui Team following her. Wherever they passed, the crowd instinctively gave way.
Seeing Tianshui's people depart, the various academies' teams snapped out of their shock over that one-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring and returned to their hotels. They still occasionally cast mocking looks at Heaven Dou Team Two, as though at a troupe of clowns – especially Canghui Academy, whose disdain was all too plain.
None of this sat well with the Shrek group, who also put on masks and left in a hurry.
They had arrived earlier assuming that by enrolling in Heaven Dou Royal Academy, they could avoid wearing those hideous Shrek green uniforms that drew scorn, so they could walk in proudly without masks. Then they planned to become famous in a single minute of battle. Instead, though they'd worn flashy uniforms and indeed handled a three-minute match showing their strength, Tang San's predicament and Yu Xiaogang's blunder had made them laughingstocks again. They had no choice but to slip away, masked and humiliated.
It seemed that what was destined to happen would happen. Likely this humiliation wouldn't end until Tang San switched to cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer.
Moreover, the "world's top clan," once led by the Haotian Douluo, had entrusted its scion to a rank-29 "Grandmaster," letting him ruin a child who might have become a Soul Emperor or Soul Saint. If word got out, the reputation the Clear Sky Clan had painstakingly rebuilt would go up in smoke, turning them into a joke. Yu Xiaogang's identity as a "discarded son" of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan would surface, tarnishing that clan's standing too.
A single rat's turd spoils the entire pot – it was no exaggeration.
Back in their hotel, Tang San ignored everyone, locking himself in his room in total despair. Unless he somehow got help from Ah Yin, borrowing her "All Rivers Run to the Sea" technique to purge the poison in his martial spirit, or obtained something like the "Nine-Petal Purple Mushroom," he saw no path past rank 39. He had none of that in this life.
Yu Xiaogang likewise hid away in shame.
Tang Hao, meanwhile, sped toward the Clear Sky Clan. From what Tang San had told him of his last life's events, plus Ah Yin's explanation, the "Nine-Petal Purple Mushroom" could still allow his son to keep advancing. But that treasure lay in Qian Xunji's hands. As if Qian Xunji would give it up willingly! Nor could they buy it from him – the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's purchase of the Qiluo Tulip had cost them a fortune, and while the Clear Sky Clan knew about it, they couldn't match that kind of wealth. Even if they could, given his and Tang San's meager standing in the clan, the six elders would oppose them entirely.
That left only one final hope – the Water Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng in White Crane's possession, which Tang Hao vowed to seize at any cost.
At Blue Tyrant Academy…
Dean Liu Erlong had learned they lost their first match outright to Heaven Dou Royal Academy's second team in under three minutes, and she was fuming.
"I've been training you so hard, and you lose to the second team of Heaven Dou Royal Academy – a bunch of worthless aristocrats? You've really let me down!" she roared.
The Blue Tyrant Team members – Jing Ling, Huang Yuan, Jiangzhu, plus a few others – all bowed their heads, silent before this furious "tyrant," who ranted like a savage raptor.
A teacher tried making excuses: "Dean, our students can't be blamed. The second team had two Soul Ancestors, and the weakest among them was rank 34…"
"So what! They're just a bunch of pampered, incompetent noble brats. They only have empty spirit power. We've drilled our students so rigorously – how could they lose if they just cooperated properly and each gave their best?"
"Starting tomorrow, I'll be personally watching every fight in the Great Spirit Arena. If you dare let me down again, sullying the good name your seniors left behind, you can forget about graduating!"
Though her tone remained calm, the students all trembled at her words. No diploma meant their years of study had all been for nothing.
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