Old Jack comforted Tang San, "Tang San, don't worry too much. Your father is a grown man; he'll be fine. But what about you? What will you do when your father's not around?"
Tang San calmed himself, putting the letter away, and said to Grandpa Jack, "Don't worry, Grandpa Jack. I can take care of myself, and I also have Su Ming and Xiao Wu with me. We'll learn and improve together!"
"As for money, Grandpa Jack, I'm already a spirit master. I receive a gold spirit coin stipend from Spirit Hall every month!"
Old Jack smiled and nodded, "Good, good! Make sure you get along well with Su Ming and Xiao Wu. You two boys are the pride of Holy Soul Village!"
Afterward, Old Jack left to let Su Ming, Tang San, and Xiao Wu chat. With Tang San's father gone, having companions like Su Ming and Xiao Wu around should make things easier for him.
Once Jack had left, Tang San hesitated for a moment before asking Su Ming, "Su Ming, could you lend me Xiao Wu for a moment? I have something to discuss with her."
Su Ming raised an eyebrow. What was Tang San planning? Was he going to do what he did in the original story, telling Xiao Wu that his father was gone and he was all alone, then asking her to be his sister? But now, Xiao Wu was Su Ming's sister; she had nothing to do with Tang San!
Still, Su Ming left the decision to Xiao Wu. He trusted that Xiao Wu wouldn't agree to be Tang San's sister this time.
Su Ming turned to Xiao Wu, giving her the choice.
Xiao Wu understood his meaning and had a good guess about why Tang San wanted to speak with her. But there was no way she'd give Tang San the chance. She didn't want to be his sister—she wouldn't follow the same tragic path as in the original story. Having Su Ming as her brother was enough!
Xiao Wu responded, "Tang San, if you have something to say, just say it. There's no need to keep it from my brother Su Ming—he's not an outsider, and there's nothing he can't hear."
Su Ming felt warmth in his heart upon hearing this. All the care he had given her over the past year hadn't been for nothing!
When Su Ming received the system's reward, the Soul Power Body Refinement Technique, he had tested it himself for a few days and found it effective. Then, he passed it on to Xiao Wu. Since Xiao Wu was a 100,000-year-old spirit beast in human form and had condensed her own spirit rings, she didn't have any issues with spirit power control; she just needed practice.
Just to be safe, Su Ming also gave her the Soul Power Guiding Technique and guided her in practicing it. Xiao Wu's talent, as a 100,000-year-old spirit beast, proved exceptional—she quickly mastered it!
However, Su Ming did have one concern: due to her body-refining practice and the earlier use of the body-refining liquid, Xiao Wu's second spirit ring would be at least 2,000 years old. How could they hide that? If anyone noticed, it would cause a lot of trouble, especially since they had no powerful backers.
Fortunately, the system had recently given Su Ming a Camouflage ability that could alter the appearance and aura of his spirit rings. While Su Ming had no worries, what about Xiao Wu?
System: Don't worry, Xiao Wu also has the Camouflage ability. Bet you didn't see that coming! Still, to keep you from doubting me, I'll throw in a little something extra, kekeke!
If the women knew what the system was planning, they'd call it a sneaky devil!
Tang San's face stiffened at Xiao Wu's response. He realized that he'd need Su Ming's approval for this; otherwise, it would be disrespectful.
"Alright," Tang San replied, leading the two to a quiet spot behind the mountain.
Then, Tang San turned to Su Ming and said, "Su Ming, I want Xiao Wu to be my sister as well. Please allow it."
Su Ming's face darkened immediately. Has it been too long since I beat you up, Tang San? Are you getting too cocky? You're basically trying to steal Xiao Wu from me!
However, Su Ming held back, curious to see how Tang San would explain himself. "Explain your reasoning. If I'm not satisfied, you're getting a beating."
Tang San, feeling a bit awkward, explained, "It just came to me recently. My father isn't around anymore, and I'm alone now. I've been a bit envious of the bond between you and Xiao Wu, so I thought I'd ask Xiao Wu to be my sister. That way, if Xiao Wu is ever in danger, we can protect her together."
Su Ming's face was covered in black lines. He had guessed it right!
Xiao Wu couldn't hold back any longer. "Tang San, having Su Ming as my brother is enough! Besides, how can you say you can protect me like he does?"
"With your strength, you can barely fight me to a draw, and that's only because you don't let me get close! If we fought hand-to-hand, you wouldn't stand a chance. As for my brother Su Ming, you're nowhere near his level! His control techniques are far superior to your Blue Silver Bind!"
Tang San wasn't upset at her words; after all, she was right. Still, he defended himself, "Xiao Wu, that's only because I haven't shown my full strength. Recently, I've forged some special tools that will make a difference."
Then, turning to Su Ming, Tang San proposed, "Su Ming, if I can prove that my strength isn't weak—maybe even stronger than yours—will you let Xiao Wu be my sister?"
Su Ming clenched his fists. That's it—I can't hold back anymore! Tang San's gotten cocky just because he finished forging some hidden weapons!
Fine then! Looks like I'll have to teach him a lesson again—show him who's boss!
Su Ming sneered, "If you can beat me, I'll agree. As for whether Xiao Wu becomes your sister, that's up to her. How's that?"
Xiao Wu could tell that Su Ming was angry—really angry. Tang San was in for it!
Tang San nodded and looked at Xiao Wu, waiting for her opinion.
Xiao Wu shrugged. "If Su Ming agrees, I don't mind. But I don't think you can beat him. What you're doing is dangerous, Tang San. Don't get yourself beaten too badly."
Tang San, full of confidence, replied, "Don't worry, I've got this!"
Then, Tang San spoke seriously to the two of them, "When I show you my strength, I'll be using some things I've forged. I hope you both can keep it a secret—I don't want anyone else to know about them yet. Today, I'm showing them to you to prove myself."
Tang San originally hadn't intended to reveal the existence of his hidden weapons to Su Ming, knowing that the more people who knew, the higher the risk. However, seeing Xiao Wu's attitude, if Su Ming wasn't present, he wouldn't have a chance to speak to her alone.
After some thought, Tang San figured it wouldn't hurt for Su Ming to know. He trusted Su Ming's character. After all, Su Ming knew about his twin martial souls but had promised not to tell anyone, and he kept his word. So even if Su Ming found out about his hidden weapons, he wasn't too worried. Besides, Su Ming only knew about the sleeve arrow, which wasn't too much of a secret yet.
But if Su Ming ever betrayed him, Tang San would make sure to teach him a lesson! If Su Ming knew what Tang San was thinking, he would just chuckle. The twin martial souls secret? He didn't bother mentioning it because it wasn't worth his time. And as for hidden weapons? They were nothing compared to his Susanoo and Buddha techniques!
Tang San hadn't initially planned to challenge Su Ming, but after returning to Holy Soul Village and realizing his father was no longer there, combined with the close relationship between Xiao Wu and Su Ming, he couldn't shake the growing feeling that Xiao Wu should have been his sister. Especially from the first moment he saw Xiao Wu, there was something inexplicably compelling about her.
He knew his actions would likely upset Su Ming, but he couldn't resist giving it a shot—after all, what if he succeeded? He had a lot of confidence in his hidden weapons.
Tang San warned Su Ming, "Be careful when we fight. Don't blame me if you get hurt! You'll see what I'm talking about during the battle. I haven't tested its full power yet, but I'm sure it'll be effective."
Su Ming grinned to himself. If your sleeve arrow can break my defense, I'll take your name. You'd need something like the Zhuge Crossbow to stand a chance!
Standing opposite each other, Su Ming said calmly, "Alright, let's see your real strength. But let me be clear, I'm not holding back either. Don't complain later if you lose miserably—you're really pushing my limits."
Tang San sensed Su Ming's seriousness but still believed the outcome wasn't set in stone.
Tang San launched his first move. "Blue Silver Bind!"
Su Ming dodged effortlessly with his Ling Bo Microstep technique, taunting, "That bind won't work on me. Show me your real strength, or you won't get another chance!"
Realizing Su Ming was right, Tang San pulled out some small weapons—steel needles and knives—from his spirit tool and began firing them at Su Ming.
Su Ming smirked, "This is your real strength? Looks like you've been busy forging these. You've got plenty of stock."
Tang San replied, "These are just small things. My real trump card hasn't come out yet. I hope your strange footwork can dodge them all."
Su Ming laughed. "Who said I'm going to dodge? You haven't even seen my first spirit skill yet!"
Tang San, confident, said, "So what? We're both control-type spirit masters. Do you think you can avoid all my attacks?"
"We'll see," Su Ming replied with a grin.
He stomped his foot on the ground, and a yellow spirit ring rose from his body. Su Ming clasped his hands together and called out, "First Spirit Skill: Wood Shield Wall!"
A semicircular wooden wall instantly appeared in front of Su Ming, blocking all of Tang San's projectiles. The weapons embedded themselves into the wood but couldn't penetrate it.
As Su Ming cast his skill, he winked at Xiao Wu. She understood right away—this wasn't Su Ming's real first spirit skill at all! Wood Shield Wall was just something he came up with, and his actual first spirit skill was Wood Toughness, which increased the toughness of wood by nearly 70%. Tang San's ordinary hidden weapons stood no chance of breaking through it!
And the yellow ring? Su Ming had disguised his purple thousand-year ring with his Camouflage ability.
Tang San was shocked to see his hidden weapons stopped so easily. "Su Ming, aren't you a control-type spirit master? How is your first spirit skill a defense technique?"
Unbothered, Su Ming replied, "My self-created control skills are stronger than my defensive abilities, so I can still call myself a control-type spirit master. And if my defense becomes stronger than my control, I can say I'm a defense-type spirit master. I'm full of ideas, and I'll create many more spirit skills in the future!"
Tang San winced. He hadn't expected Su Ming's first spirit skill to be a defense one, and a strong one at that. The hidden weapons he had fired only embedded themselves in the wood—they couldn't pierce through!
After a year of studying under Grandmaster, Tang San had learned a lot about spirit master development and spirit ring configurations. But Su Ming was an anomaly. Wasn't he worried about "misdeveloping" his martial soul?
Su Ming: I'm a versatile genius. If anyone's misdeveloped, it's your Blue Silver Grass!
Su Ming chuckled, "So, are you going to continue? If that's your best, it's too weak. You can't even break my defense!"
Tang San's face darkened. What now? His sleeve arrow might not be enough to penetrate Su Ming's defense. If he had the Zhuge Crossbow, maybe… but he hadn't forged it yet.
Left with no choice, Tang San pulled out his sleeve arrow, aiming it at Su Ming. "Watch this, Su Ming! This is my sleeve arrow—it packs a punch and should pierce your defense!"
But when the sleeve arrow shot forward, it only managed to penetrate halfway into Su Ming's wood shield.
Su Ming grinned, "Not bad, your sleeve arrow managed to get halfway through. That's impressive—sort of!"
His elongated tone made it clear he was mocking the "power" of the sleeve arrow. Tang San, realizing he had miscalculated, felt humiliated. Su Ming could easily be considered a defense-type spirit master, and a strong one at that!
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