"What… what's going on here?!"
Tang San's eyes went wide, his face filled with disbelief.
Just a moment ago, he had clearly intended to kill. The person struck by his hidden sleeve arrow should have been Taichu—yet in the blink of an eye, the one who had been hit was his own teacher.
At that moment—
Clap, clap, clap—!
Applause rang out.
Tang San turned his head and saw Taichu standing not far away, completely unharmed, slowly clapping his hands.
Not only that—Su Yuntao and Grandpa Ma were still standing exactly where they had been before. None of them had moved. The only difference was the stunned expressions on their faces.
"As expected of the disciple personally taken in by the Grandmaster," Taichu said leisurely. "What a touching display of a benevolent teacher and a devoted student."
As soon as he spoke, Tang San's thoughts raced, and realization struck.
"It was you!" Tang San shouted. "You used an illusion on me!"
He was almost certain of it now. Only an illusion could explain why he had mistaken Yu Xiaogang for Taichu and launched a killing blow.
And because Taichu was still young, the hidden weapon had missed the heart and instead struck his teacher's lower body.
"Don't accuse me without evidence," Taichu said with a shrug, smiling lightly.
Yet beneath that smile was unmistakable mockery.
"It was clearly you who suddenly lost control—first using a spirit ability on your own teacher, then finishing it off with that little gadget on your wrist. You really gave this so-called Grandmaster a brutal lesson."
Taichu's smile grew even brighter.
For now, he couldn't personally avenge the leg his uncle had lost. But by using Illusion: Mangekyō Sharingan to trap Tang San, he had made Tang San's own hands deal Yu Xiaogang a devastating blow.
That alone eased some of the hatred in his heart.
Still—it wasn't enough.
Sooner or later, he would make both Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong of the Supreme Pontiff Palace pay the price.
"You—! You—! It was clearly your illusion that made me injure my teacher by mistake!" Tang San roared.
He was furious beyond words.
He had already disliked Taichu before, but now he was certain—this person truly deserved to die.
"I already told you, don't slander me," Taichu said calmly. "I don't know anything about illusions. Besides, I have witnesses. My uncle and Grandpa Ma can both testify. They saw everything clearly—you were the one who attacked Yu Xiaogang."
"What?" Su Yuntao snorted coldly. "I saw it with my own eyes. You suddenly went mad and attacked your teacher. And now you want to pin it on my nephew? What—don't you dare take responsibility for your own actions?"
"Enough, enough," Grandpa Ma said, stepping forward to mediate. "Kid, you'd better take your teacher for treatment immediately. With this much bleeding, he really might die from blood loss."
Hearing that, Tang San hurriedly looked down at Yu Xiaogang.
Just as Grandpa Ma had said, blood was still pouring out, soaking his trousers completely red. If he didn't receive treatment right away, Yu Xiaogang truly might bleed to death.
"This isn't over!" Tang San glared viciously at Taichu.
After leaving behind that threat, he hoisted his teacher—who had already lost consciousness from blood loss—onto his back and rushed out of the branch hall to find a clinic.
Once he was gone, aside from the large pool of blood left behind, the hall fell completely silent.
"Xiao Chu… your spirit…" Su Yuntao said slowly, his gaze fixed on his nephew.
"This…" Taichu raised a hand and touched his eyes, his expression complicated. "It seems to have evolved."
He hadn't expected it.
His Sharingan… had evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan—because of his uncle.
"A spirit evolution?!"
Both Su Yuntao and Grandpa Ma were utterly shocked.
The theory of spirit evolution had always existed in the Spirit Master world. Only an extremely small number of people with heaven-defying luck could encounter thousand-year spirit herbs or ten-thousand-year divine plants. After consuming them, the immense medicinal power might trigger a spirit evolution.
But the odds were laughably low—like falling off a cliff and finding a peerless secret manual left behind by a legendary master.
And yet—
They had just witnessed a spirit evolution with their own eyes.
"Hahaha—!"
"My nephew has the potential to become a Titled Douluo!"
Su Yuntao laughed heartily.
A spirit evolution meant an increase in spirit quality—low-grade becoming high-grade, or high-grade ascending to top-tier.
Even if Taichu's original spirit had been considered trash, after evolving, it was guaranteed to be transformed—at the very least, into a high-grade spirit.
With Taichu's innate spirit power aptitude combined with a high-grade spirit…
This wasn't merely hope—it was genuine potential to become a Titled Douluo!
However—
The moment those words left his uncle's mouth, Taichu felt his scalp go numb, as if a curse had been invoked.
"Stop! Uncle, stop!" he hurriedly interrupted. "You can't say things like that!"
"Yuntao," Grandpa Ma said gravely, "it's fine to discuss this in private, but you must never say it in front of others. Otherwise, disaster will surely follow."
Taichu had already been explicitly rejected by Spirit Hall. Worse still, among the higher-ups, someone held deep resentment toward both of them because of Yu Xiaogang—and had even arranged the incident that cost Su Yuntao his leg.
Given that background, if Spirit Hall learned Taichu had the potential to become a Titled Douluo, they wouldn't welcome him back.
They would silence him.
"Uncle Ma, I understand—I understand!" Su Yuntao nodded repeatedly.
Still, the thought that the Su family might produce a Titled Douluo someday made his heart race. The smile on his face refused to fade.
What?
Taichu's surname was Tai, not Su?
So what?
He was still his nephew—still carried Su family blood—and was still a child of the Su family!
…
Meanwhile.
Tang San rushed his teacher to a clinic and had the physician begin treatment.
However—
The doctor uncovered the wound, examined it carefully, then sighed deeply.
"It's completely shattered," he said grimly. "It has to be cut off."
With that, the blade came down.
"AAAAH—!!!"
Yu Xiaogang woke instantly from unconsciousness, letting out a heart-rending scream.
And with that single cut—
Yu Xiaogang officially became… a One-Testicle Warrior.