Chapter 249: Aftereffects? Does San Also Want a Ten Thousand Year Fourth Ring?
"Really?"
Tang San looked at himself suspiciously, then leaned in and sniffed his own body. "I don't smell anything."
He had carefully cleaned himself of any lingering blood scent before coming back, and he hadn't used anything with a fragrance.
Xiao Wu must have smelled wrong probably just the aroma of the food. Without overthinking it, he took her hand and led her into his room.
"Xiao Wu, did you eat dinner too early and get hungry again? Come on, eat a little more with me."
Xiao Wu let him pull her inside but continued staring at his back.
She wasn't lying she had truly smelled something, and it was strong.
She even had an instinctive urge to devour Tang San whole. It was a primal reaction, but she didn't know how to explain it to him.
Moreover, as she kept staring at him, she felt that something about her brother had changed but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what. She only knew she felt closer to him now.
"Alright, Xiao Wu, I think you're just tired. Keep me company while I eat a little more."
Meanwhile, Tang San had already taken out all the food from the container and arranged it neatly on the table.
He was genuinely hungry. The excitement from earlier had overshadowed it, but now his stomach was growling.
"Oh, okay."
Xiao Wu snapped out of her thoughts and sat across from him. She could tell that he was happy about his breakthrough.
Maybe she really was just too tired and misinterpreted things. Besides the scent, hadn't she also felt that they were even closer now? No point overthinking it. She decided to let it go.
"Xiao Wu, you should focus on your cultivation too. I think I'll be reaching Soul Ancestor soon."
Tang San picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and fed it to Xiao Wu, smiling at her.
"Then I'll train properly like you said. I'll catch up soon, so don't let me surpass you!"
Xiao Wu swallowed the food, waved her small fist confidently, and refused to let him feed her again. Her energy seemed to have returned.
Watching Tang San devour his meal, Xiao Wu tilted her head in thought. She really needed to increase her cultivation speed she couldn't fall too far behind.
In reality, she had never pushed herself to train at full capacity. She had always maintained a pace that kept her progress close to Tang San's.
Even so, among those her age on the continent, her soul power level was already quite impressive. If she had trained seriously, she might have scared people. Plus, it wouldn't have been good for her to reveal too much.
But now, she could afford to speed up just a little.
She knew Tang San had his secrets there was no way he had just suddenly broken through to Rank 39 like that. And his soul power was still rising.
But she didn't think his secrets were bigger than hers.
Sorry, Brother, I'm not deliberately hiding things from you. When I reach maturity, I'll tell you everything.
Oh, right, I wonder how that "soul beast" senior who helps conceal my aura is doing. I wonder if they're still in Heaven Dou City. I need to ask them about something else…
She wanted to see if there was a way to completely suppress her soul beast aura, to the point where even a Titled Douluo wouldn't be able to detect it up close.
Tang San was very invested in the Soul Master Tournament, and she wanted to help however she could.
"Spacing out again?"
Tang San had already finished wolfing down his food.
Seeing Xiao Wu resting her chin on her hands, lost in thought, he couldn't resist reaching out and pinching her nose.
"Of course not! I was thinking about training harder so I can help you defeat your opponents in the tournament."
Xiao Wu didn't mind his affectionate gesture and even leaned her head toward him.
"Heh, then you better train properly. Sister Xiao Wu's name is destined to be famous across the continent."
Tang San was in a good mood and even teased her a little.
"Of course! Alright, enough chatting. I'm going back to train. You just broke through, so get some good rest tonight."
Xiao Wu stood up. She really needed to put in more effort she didn't want to embarrass herself.
Half a year should be enough. She mentally calculated how fast she could improve if she went all out and felt confident.
"Alright."
Tang San was briefly stunned but then encouraged her.
It had been a long time since he had seen Xiao Wu so motivated about training. This was a good thing he fully supported it.
"Then I'll be off. Time to train! Brother, good night. See you tomorrow."
Xiao Wu skillfully cleaned up the table, packed the dishes into the container, and gave him a bright smile before heading out the door.
"Good night."
Tang San watched her enter the room across the hall before standing up to close his own door.
He needed to familiarize himself with his new strength. If he wanted to break through to Soul Ancestor quickly, he had to train properly.
More importantly, his body was still slowly growing stronger.
If this strengthening process continued, would he eventually surpass the usual limit for absorbing a soul ring?
After all, there were rumors that Spirit Hall's team had a member whose fourth soul ring had already reached the ten thousand year level.
If someone else could do it, then there was no reason he couldn't.
He would ask his teacher or rather, his father about it later. He should know, right?
Thinking of Tang Hao, who was likely still hiding in the shadows, Tang San silently made up his mind. The thought brought a faint smile to his lips.
Father probably doesn't even know that I've already discovered his presence. Once they finally met face to face, Tang Hao would surely be surprised to learn that Tang San had noticed the clues long ago. What kind of reaction will he have then?
Tang San's eyes grew slightly red. Once again, he could feel his father's deep love for him.
What he didn't know was that, at that very moment, high above their team's villa, Han Li was watching his every move.
Han Li had just finished strolling around Heaven Dou City, personally escorting Ye LingLing back to the dormitory, and was now observing Tang San from midair.
Seeing Tang San's sudden emotional shift getting inexplicably excited and then tearing up Han Li's expression turned strange. He couldn't quite figure out what was going on in Tang San's head.
After collecting a portion of the Blue Silver Emperor's essence that had already begun leaking out, Han Li silently vanished.
At the moment, he couldn't extract all of it, so he would have to wait until Tang San obtained his next soul ring just like he had with Yu Xiaogang before he could remove it completely.
When that time came, Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor martial soul would truly revert back to being ordinary Blue Silver Grass.
Moreover, while Yu Xiaogang's post bone replacement changes weren't too obvious, Tang San's transformation was strikingly clear.
Perhaps due to his unique origins and the fact that he had chosen an extremely powerful soul beast's bloodline, Han Li could already detect faint traces of a grayish aura around him one typically belonging to soul beasts.
Though it wasn't as distinct as Xiao Wu's, it was still there.
Would Tang San also end up being classified as a hundred thousand year soul beast in human form?
As Han Li flew back toward Heaven Dou City, he pondered the implications.
Well, not that it mattered to him. In fact, this might actually make things easier.
On another note, over the past few months, Ye LingLing had gained preliminary control over her martial soul and successfully broken through to Soul Emperor. After obtaining her soul ring, she had reached Rank 63.
Currently, she was focusing on training her spiritual power to eliminate her last weakness. By the time the Soul Master Tournament ended, she would likely meet the minimum requirement for forming a soul core.
Meanwhile, Zhu Zhuqing had also successfully advanced to Rank 55. If Han Li and his group were excluded, she was now among the strongest contestants in terms of soul power, having caught up to Hu Liena.
As for Dugu Yan, Xiu'er, and Shui Bing'er, they had each advanced by two ranks, reaching 69, 68, and 64, respectively. Shui Bing'er even had a good chance of reaching Rank 65 before the tournament began.
As for Han Li himself, he could faintly sense the signs of a breakthrough. Reaching Rank 79 before the tournament wouldn't be a problem.
Of course, he wasn't a participant he would be attending as a judge. Comparing his level with the contestants would just be bullying. Even Qian Renxue had only recently reached Rank 76.
Han Li was growing eager for the Soul Master Tournament to begin.
Funny enough, when he first started training, he had imagined himself competing in this very tournament, dominating the battlefield.
But as things developed and his cultivation skyrocketed, he lost all interest. Technically, he could still enter, but defeating children wasn't exciting anymore.
Still, this tournament would bring together the most complete gathering of this generation's powerhouses from the original story.
As the opening act of a new era, it was still something worth watching.
The thought suddenly popped into Han Li's mind, and he couldn't help but smile and shake his head as he sped up toward home.
Time passed quickly, and finally, with only half a month left before the Soul Master Tournament, Tang San successfully broke through to Soul Ancestor.
The moment he advanced, he immediately sought out Yu Xiaogang and proposed his plan for obtaining a ten thousand year fourth ring.
He had secretly tested himself after the bone replacement, his physical strength had skyrocketed. In just a few days, he had surpassed Dai Mubai by a wide margin, which thrilled him.
The only thing that bothered him was that, whether due to aftereffects from the bone replacement or because his strength had increased too quickly, he found himself having an uncontrollable urge to engage in close combat whenever he sparred.
And once the battle started, the bloodlust was overwhelming.
Fortunately, due to his training in the Purple Demon Eye, his spiritual power far exceeded his soul power, allowing him to maintain control.
But with the tournament approaching, he couldn't afford to dwell on it. Power was the best solution if he continued to enhance his spiritual strength, this problem would eventually resolve itself.
Yu Xiaogang, upon hearing Tang San's request for a ten thousand year fourth soul ring, instinctively wanted to refuse and tell him not to be so overambitious.
But before he could even speak, he received a voice transmission from Tang Hao telling him to agree.
So, with a forced smile, Yu Xiaogang begrudgingly went along with Tang San's plan and suggested that Flender take him to a specific location in the Sunset Forest.
Of course, all of this was under Tang Hao's instructions.
(End of Chapter)
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