บท 100: Dual Duels

"Yeah. You." Xie Xie straightened his back. "Is that a problem? If I win, I want your Vice President position as well."

Karni pretended to think about it. "It's not a problem. Not really. We can battle it out. I'll give you the position if you win."

Xie Xie visibly brightened, even though he tried to hide it. "Great. In that case, we can fight tomorrow after Tang Wulin."

"Not now?"

"I need to mentally prepare. Thanks for agreeing to the fight!" Xie Xie ran off alone.

Karni turned his attention to Tang Wulin. "What's up with him?"

Tang Wulin shook his head. "I don't know. We spar regularly and he did say he wanted to spar with you a few times, but I never thought he'd be this excited."

Karni looked at Siduo who shrugged. "Well, no use losing sleep over it."

… … …

To say the next day's end of class was exciting would be an understatement. Karni and Siduo were watching the situation with slight shock and bewilderment.

"Tang Wulin, become my brother-in-law."

"Forget him, you can become my brother-in-law."

"No, no. Brother Wulin… Brother Wulinnn, I can be your brother-in-law."

Siduo turned to Karni. "Is this real? Do you men really act like this."

"They're teenage boys Sisi, what did you expect?"

"To have crushes … and maybe not change them so easily."

Karni was silent. "Huh. That's a surprisingly reasonable assumption."

"Alright, you beasts! Enough!" Tang Wulin shouted. "She's only twelve. Now calm down. Na'er, let's go." He grabbed his sister and went away, while nodding towards Karni and Siduo.

The two, along with Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan and…

"Gu Yue? Are you okay?" Siduo grabbed what looked like an about-to-explode Gu Yue.

She snapped Siduo's arms off, before stopping. "Sorry."

While moving towards the exit, Siduo softly grabbed Gu Yue's shoulder. "I find it best that in such situations, you simply ask the questions on your mind. Trust me. Communication can solve so many things. Now join us. You can ask them both."

Gu Yue breathed out, hiding her surprise at Siduo's sincerity. "Thanks."

The group reached the Working Student dormitory. It was the pre-agreed upon place. Tang Wulin and Na'er were already waiting there. A beautiful silver haired girl with eyes of enchanting purple. She was deserving of fame, but Karni had to be honest. He just… didn't really care about it that much. He didn't even know the girl. Why would he go head over heels for her, just based on her appearance.

"See brother," Na'er started when the group arrived. "My junior disciple brother's eyes don't look at me like those other boys. You have nothing to worry about."

"Junior disciple brother?" The group was confused.

Tang Wulin walked to Karni with an analytical gaze. "I don't know whether I should be insulted or happy."

Karni figured it out. "Thank you, pres, but I already have my Sisi."

The place turned silent. Everyone turned to Siduo… who was now covering her head. "It's not official yet!" She shouted in panic.

Siduo was tapping her head. Why was she so panicky? Her heart was completely out of place. It was so embarrassing to feel this way when this wasn't even her first life. Damn this body!

"Yet?" Xu Xiaoyan turned to Siduo. "Sister, you seemed sort of aloof at first. I like you better now."

Siduo couldn't respond. And before she could even think of responding, a hand grabbed Tang Wulin. "And why do you care about whether Val Karni finds her appealing or not."

Tang Wulin turned to look at Gu Yue, a bit surprised. "Yue? What's the matter?"

Xu Xiaoyan was yet again, the first to comment on the matters of love. "Yeesh captain. You can't be that dense."

Tang Wulin's eyes widened. Gu Yue asked more. "What is she to you exactly."

"She is my sister. I picked her up when we were little. We might be unrelated by blood, but she's definitely my little sister."

"Only your little sister?"

From the side, Siduo noticed a slight blush from Gu Yue. Finally, at least she wasn't the only one embarrassed. The Silver Dragon Queen was embarrassed as well.

"Yes, only my little sister." Tang Wulin grabbed Gu Yue's hand softly.

Karni took notice of Na'er, the girl was pouting a little. Well, wasn't that interesting. A love triangle, yet one of them was guaranteed to win, and at the same time, the other won't completely lose. Or something like that. He forgot the specifics of their relationship. He only remembered that Gu Yue and Na'er were two parts of the same soul.

Thinking about the whacky connections of the Silver Dragon Queen made Karni somewhat frustrated, knowing that he can do nothing about it. Instead, he chose to approach Na'er. "So… I'm your junior disciple brother?"

Na'er turned to look at Karni and nodded, somewhat excited.

"But I'm older than Tang Wulin. And he's your big brother."

"I was the teacher's disciple first, so you're my junior brother." She didn't seem bothered by Karni's complaints.

Karni shrugged. "Fine. I greet my senior disciple sister." He bowed his head.

"Pleasure meeting you." She returned to bow. "Now excuse me."

Na'er ran towards her big brother and wrapped her body around his arm in front of Gu Yue. "Big brother, big brother. After this, I need to bring you to my teacher. Oh, and I need to bring my junior disciple brother as well."

Tang Wulin didn't think anything of the hug. "To your teacher? Pavilion Master?"

"Mm. He needs you to help with something Val Karni needs."

Tang Wulin thought about it. "Hm. I might have an idea of what that is actually. Pavilion Master has asked me about it before."

"Teacher asked you about what exactly?" Karni questioned.

"It's a surprise." Tang Wulin crossed his fingers. He wouldn't tell.

Xie Xie complained from the side. "Ok. Is no one going to acknowledge that Val Karni somehow became the disciple of the Pavilion Master? And Tang Wulin's little sister is also Pavilion Master's disciple?!"

The group ignored him. Tang Wulin turned to Siduo. "Let's begin then. It seems I have more things to do after our duels."

Siduo nodded, stretching. "I'll try not to hit you too much. We don't want your sister to worry." She winked at Na'er.

"You're underestimating my brother."

Tang Wulin chuckled. "Na'er, you might be underestimating her. I've never won against her."

Na'er was taken aback. Suddenly turning cautious towards Siduo. She thought very highly of her big brother. For him to say this…

The two walked to the centre of the arena. It could immediately be noticed that their fighting styles were similar just by the stance each of them took. They could be described with a single word. Aggressive.

Karni took to the middle of the field. He would be the ref. If they really got too heated, he'd be able to make sure no one would get injured.

"3. 2. 1. Start." Karni announced.

Tang Wulin and Siduo rushed. Soul Rings shining. Golden vines, difficult to think of as Bluesilver Grass, rushed towards Siduo. Meanwhile, Siduo turned into a blur.

The vines shone, and from their centre, Tang Wulin's second Soul Ring shone. Vines turned to spikes. Meanwhile there was a reaction of Purple light from Siduo, indiscernible of which Soul Ring was activating due to her speed.

All that Tang Wulin could tell was that the spikes didn't affect Siduo, in fact, the blur seemed slightly raised. Was she walking on the spikes?

The answer was yes. Tang Wulin focused his Purple Demon Eyes and saw it. Siduo had her third Soul Ring activated. Diamond Layer, shining slightly like the light. A show of how her White Tiger had changed through Solaria.

He would not stop her. Tang Wulin's Soul Ring's changed to two gold, and the first shone brightly. Golden Dragon Body.

As the two were about to crash, Siduo speeding right into Tang Wulin, her first Purple Soul Ring shone. Diamond Transformation. She enlarged, in a similar golden glow, though her increase focused on muscles.

Tang Wulin grabbed her fist, though he was pushed back due to Siduo's pure speed. Siduo turned, her fist still grabbed, hitting at him with her the elbow of her other hand.

Tang Wulin's eyes sharpened. Her elbow, that Diamond Layer of hers focused on it, forming almost a spike. He grabbed it with his fist, even cracking the layer a little. There was a clear winner of strength.

Siduo bent downwards, lifting her right leg towards Tang Wulin's head. Black and White energy lit aflame around her leg; the White ruled over the Black. Making for a beautiful flaming design. And it was so fast!

Wulin took it straight to the head… and was knocked back, some blood spraying from his mouth and nose.

He refocused, head slightly hazy. That hurt. And she was already charging at him. The White and Black flames that mixed on her leg were now on both her arms instead. What was that energy? And why did it pack such a punch?

A Golden Dragon Claw formed at the last second on his right hand, meanwhile Siduo, besides having the Black and White energy, formed a Blade that mixed with the energy.

A powerful clash. Explosion. And when the dust cleared, Siduo was moved back, but Tang Wulin clearly slid farther. Now it was Siduo who overpowered him.

And she charged again. Tang Wulin was caught off guard. It was the first time he was overpowered in a head on collision. He could feel the wildness in Siduo's eyes. She'd been itching to use her new abilities in a fight.

Hell Blade fused with the twin energies and the Golden Dragon Claw appeared again. Then the golden shine extended, its absolute sharpness appearing. The Dreadclaw. He swung.

Siduo bent under. A single move, the wildness from her eyes disappearing, replaced with absolute clarity. She… tricked him. She tricked the used-to-be trickster.

The second golden ring shone. Golden Dragon Tyrant Body.

The blade came.

And stopped.

But Tang Wulin wasn't going to let himself be surprised twice. He swiped again, even Bluesilver Grass spreading, trying to capture Siduo, who cut the grass apart with dexterous ease.

Tang Wulin was surprised. It's been a long time since someone last sliced his Bluesilver Grass apart with such ease. But he made distance. He…

Just as the Golden Scales vanished, a blade of light was sent from afar, Siduo in her Sun Tiger Martial Soul. The Black and White energy encapsulated the Crystal Light Wave, but it was chaotic.

It exploded in Tang Wulin's face, who defended with only his Dragon Claw. The explosion was much stronger than the previous ones. Tang Wulin flew back.

Karni watching from the side sucked in his breath. 'Isn't… isn't that just a fucking grenade?'

Wulin fell to the ground, clearly shaken up, and Siduo charged again. Her Black Soul Ring, Sun Tiger Meteor, activated and she rushed with a full charge. The meteor turned bloody red, before being turned into a drill of light stripes. Her Soul Bones were used. That alone spoke of how seriously she took Tang Wulin as an opponent.

Tang Wulin looked at the attack, eyes widening, but he wasn't fast enough. His mind wasn't clear! The scenery changed. Siduo's side of the arena in front of him.

"Siduo wins!" Karni stood in the middle, while Siduo cancelled her attack abilities.

Tang Wulin still held his head. Karni helped him up on his feet. "Thanks, Karni. I wouldn't have been able to reactivate the ability in time."

Siduo returned to look at Tang Wulin. "Speaking of, how long would you need?"

Tang Wulin focused on his body. "About five seconds if no one hit me like you before. It was smart. The more someone hits me, the stronger it is, though I also need longer to reactivate it."

"It was good I kept up the attack then." Siduo thought about it out loud.

"Are you alright?" Na'er came running to Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin nodded. "Give me half an hour and I'll be back to normal." He then turned to Siduo. "Wu Siduo, why didn't you use your self-fusion?"

"I don't think I'd be able to overpower you. I can't use that energy in that mode, and you held up long the last time we faced against that form. I'm also not as precise, so the trick I pulled wouldn't work. I cannot stop myself easily in my Self Fusion."

Tang Wulin smiled. "Which means I have quite the decent counter against you."

Siduo grinned with a challenger's smile. "You're welcome to try and trick me back anytime. Though I do wonder. How much can you handle with that ability?"

"Three times my defence capabilities."

Siduo's face turned ugly. That was an incredible amount. An all-out attack from her combined abilities, would likely barely reach that, but that would mean he'd get a terrifying amount of power to counterattack.

She would end up like the Youth Ranking team. While Wulin would be injured, but the eventual winner. Her decision to go with precision was absolutely correct.

"Sisi, how'd that last attack explode with more strength?"

"Because I couldn't control it anymore. The Ying Yang energies-"

"The Ying Yang energies?" Gu Yue asked in bewilderment.

"Yeah, yeah. Lemme finish. I push them out from my Martial Souls, appearing in the flaming white and black form. But I barely let them touch. I cause friction between the two on my hands. Making me more powerful."

Karni snapped his fingers. "And when you put them on the Light Wave, that control isn't there anymore." No wonder it turned into a grenade.

Siduo pointed at Karni. "Precisely. So the energies mix wildly and… boom."

"How'd you know I wouldn't be more injured?" Wulin asked.

"I didn't. I only trusted that you could take a beating." Siduo grinned widely. "I believed I didn't put enough energy on it to kill you."

"Well. Thanks? I guess."

Karni clapped his hands. "Xie Xie, we're up next."

Xie Xie nodded fiercely. "Let's go."

The two got into position. It was Gu Yue who took the position of referee this time. For the same reason as Karni did before: she could teleport someone out of danger.

"3. 2. 1. Begin."

Xie Xie dashed. Karni activated his first Soul Ring, he stayed still. Xie Xie activated his first Soul Ring as well, from both daggers. A wave of light flew at Karni, much like one from Siduo's second White Tiger skill.

Karni dodged one with ease, and sensed the other one, coming from his left. He dodged that one too. Xie Xie frowned. The second blade was invisible. So, Karni could sense those as well.

There were not many abilities that could escape the senses of Karni's Golden Insight which dabbled with the future.

Xie Xie got close, before making a perfect 90 degree turn without losing speed. Something Siduo had yet to fully master. From there, his two Soul Rings shone Light and Shadow Dragon Storm assaulted him.

Karni flowed between the two as if they were the passing wind. As if he was drunk, yet illusory. Drunken Ghost Dance made it easy to handle the twin attacks.

Another Light Dragon Storm appeared. Then another Shadow Dragon Storm. There were four now.

Karni changed to his Bo Staff. He intentionally took the hit of one of the Light Storms with his Bo Staff. Then he used the spin of the Storm with his Soul Power. Tiny suction power appeared. He barely altered the course of the Storm, yet it missed him. He made sure to position himself correctly. Drunken Ghost Dance was made to work with his attacks.

"This could work." He thought. He hit another Storm, and the spin still made a suction. It wasn't a fluke. He could combine this with attacks. This was his first time trying out the Resonant Spiral Staff in combat.

Two more storms. Now a total of six. Karni hit with the Bo Staff while moving with the Drunken Ghost Dance. They were in some sort of agreement, neither of them was pushing too much, but both of them were increasing the pressure. Karni held back with the Sound for now.

The pressure rose, and so did Karni's understanding of how the Resonant Spiral Staff worked in tandem. Until… Karni spun the staff, and the Sound increased. A Shadow Dragon Storm was derailed into a Light Dragon Storm.

The two Storms vanished, and if Karni had the chance, he'd use his Vision Bestowal to confuse Xie Xie. Except he couldn't see Xie Xie's eyes. Instead of getting a momentary advantage, the status quo remained. No. Increased in Xie Xie's favour. Four more Dragon Storms appeared. Now a total of eight.

Karni switched to his Drumstick forms. And he spun them. Spun, not hit. Time to learn on the field. He had high comprehension of Disordered Drumstick Resonance, he hadn't yet tried Resonant Spiral Drumstick form. He really should just call it Resonant Spiral Force.

He focused on the force while parrying two storms with high Sound. He felt the spin. Felt the movement. Movement of his fingers. He knew how to spin the staff. And followed his instincts.

Centripetal force appeared.

Drunken Ghost Dance danced with the Resonant Spiral Force. Parrying, dodging, repositioning. Centripetal force turned into slight redirection when the Dragon Storm came by. The suction was effective, despite being weak.

The suction was lighter, but it was also… easier. Smaller, but slightly faster. It bent more than it sucked in.

The speed of the eight Dragon Storms increased. And Karni answered in kind. The suction increased. The spin increased. And his mastery over the effect increased.

A dance of light and shadow, and in the midst, a music to support it. Karni spun the Drumsticks close, redirecting a whole Light Dragon Storm into another. Then he did it again. To the dance joined fireworks of exploding storms.

Except the third time, Xie Xie's Shadow Dragon Storm dodged. Xie Xie used a lot of effort to manage it.

And Karni used the momentary opening.

He banged the Drumsticks together—a staff once more—stopping the spin. No Sound was present in the vicinity. An odd feeling, seeing the Dragon Storms flying around. A feeling of weightlessness.

Then a release. And a shockwave, bigger than any he released before. Knocked all the Dragon Storms out, 3 closest even vanishing.

Xie Xie cancelled all of his Dragon Storms.

The two looked at each other. Karni pulled out the Drumstick Form again. And started a slow, banging rhythm.

Clones appeared. A total of 10 Xie Xies on the field.

9th hit of Disordered Drumstick Resonance. Light and Shadow Dragon Storms. Exploding all at once. Karni circled and dodged. Hitting one Storm, dissipating it, only to be replaced by another.

A Storm almost grazed him. He vanquished it in turn. Only for it to be replaced as well.

Then a pincer attack. Three Dragon Storms at once. No. Four. A Shadow Storm was attempting to sneak up on him.

His fourth Soul Ring shone, and he reappeared above, sending a Drumstick down to where he was.

The four Dragon Storms hit it together, vanishing at once, and releasing a beautiful sound, as if a singing quartet.

Four attacked Karni from a distance. Two Light and Shadow Dragon Blades released towards Karni. The other two replenished the lost clones.

Karni Shifted by spinning the Drumstick in his hands, behind one of the clones.

The drumstick previously sent out changed its direction, hitting a clone on the way. Karni caught it immediately after, sending it into the next clone, and the next. 15th hit, 5th clone needed to replenish. 16th hit. 6th clone. 17t hit. 7th clone.

18th hit. It hit the 8th clone that was about to be replenished. Except the Drumstick continued on, hitting the next clone. The clone vanished and the Drumstick almost lost its speed. Karni shifted next to it and threw it further.

Xie Xie's clones suddenly doubled. A total of 20 appeared at once. Karni Shifted far into the air, getting a bird's eye view. A lot of clones, yes. But sloppy control.

He threw the Drumstick, bouncing between two, vanquishing two. Then he Shifted to it in the next second, sending out the Drumstick, destroying another two in quick succession. Such easy targets. Especially when it was so easy to predict them all.

And when they were about to surround him, he Shifted out. Every Shift let a silent rumble in the space—a release of Sound after the Space was affected.

Another two were vanquished. And each pair was replaced by only one. Xie Xie was aware he couldn't keep this up.

Karni shifted in the middle, sending the Drumstick out, and then it hit. A ring. 27th hit. Three clones destroyed in a single attack.

And three more. Then Karni sensed a Dragon Storm. Wait. Two more. Xie Xie increased his aggressiveness.

Karni danced and Shifted, sending out his Drumsticks, destroying three at a time. This was a style he was fully used to by now. But this wasn't something he could keep up with either. Neither him, nor Xie Xie could keep it up. Karni has increased his level of attack to 41 Disordered Drumstick Resonances, while he was in closed door cultivation. But after that, he'd be in trouble.

He activated Purple Demon Eyes. He hadn't needed them until now. He relied solely on Golden Insight. "Found you."

Of course he saw him. True Xie Xie. He kept himself as unseen as possible.

Karni sent the Drumstick at him, but of course Xie Xie dodged. On the Drumstick's return like a boomerang, a clone was destroyed. Karni threw the Drumstick back, aimed at Xie Xie again.

The Drumstick was parried towards the other end of the field. Karni shifted, immediately catching it and shooting it back at Xie Xie.

Xie Xie parried again. Up into the air this time, without any true direction. Karni Shifted, caught it, and shot it back downwards.

Xie Xie put the clones in the way. The Drumstick destroyed three, then Karni Shifted into the clones, immediately attacking. Shifting faster than usual, his mind working at full power.

35th hit destroyed more clones, and when Karni caught it, Karni sent it at Xie Xie, almost point blank. As he attacked, his vision briefly turned golden. In front of him was an adult Xie Xie, then it flashed back to normal.

Xie Xie's first and second Soul Ring shone. Intercepting the hit. The 36th hit.

At the 9th hit, the Sound and Force formed a magnetic effect. At 18th hit, Karni had to reverse the frequencies. At the 27th hit, he had to release the Sound fully and absorb it back. And at the 36th hit

A suction appeared. All the Sound was sucked into the Martial Soul, pressurised. The pressure bent the Space, just slightly. And just slightly, everything sped up.

The move was very familiar to the technique of Resonant Spiral Force, hence why Karni did not get stuck on it this time. He found a way forward fast. And the way forward… was powerful.

Energy of Sound mixed forcefully into Xie Xie's Soul Power and… Xie Xie bounced back the Drumstick perfectly. His Soul Power rose.

Karni stopped in his tracks on instinct. Even moving away. Both due to the result and what he just saw.

Everyone stopped to look… as a fourth Soul Ring appeared on Xie Xie. Beautiful Purple.

"Congratulations." Karni smiled. It somehow turned out that despite the terrifying increase of the 36th hit, that 36th hit turned out to be exactly what Xie Xie needed.

Xie Xie breathed out. "If not for you raising the pressure slowly, it wouldn't have happened. Thanks for holding back."

"Don't mention it. I got a lot out of it as well. But I am curious, why'd you ask me for a duel?"

Xie Xie pointed at his Martial Soul. "If it weren't for your Martial Soul, I wouldn't be able to breakthrough so fast. I'd need another month or two, maybe more. My Martial Soul somehow resonates with yours, though not in the same way it gets influence from Tang Wulin."

Karni thought about it for a while. It was likely due to the fact Xie Xie's actual Martial Soul was a Space-Time Dragon. His Martial Souls evolve together, and the fact the Bo Staff reacted to Xie Xie in that last moment meant there was something going on.

Seeing that Karni didn't really answer, Xie Xie asked. He was curious about Karni as well. "What levels are you guys at anyway?"

Karni looked at Siduo. "45th." He said first. "It's been a much slower rise since I reached the 40th level."

"46th." Siduo said calmly.

"Wait. You overtook me again? I just caught up a year ago!"

Siduo shrugged. "You get foreign energy input into yourself and be forced to stabilise it for a month straight. See how your body will react."

"You know what? I'm not even going to argue with that. You can have the lead." Karni surrendered.

The group gathered. Xu Xiaoyan wondered. "Dammit, now I've fallen behind even Xie Xie. Captain, at least I'm still ahead of you."

"Hey, I'm level 35. You're level 37. Remember the difference at the beginning?" Tang Wulin raised his eyebrow.

"Wait. You're level 35? Since when?" Xu Xiaoyan's eyes widened.

"I got a little help during my time in Heaven Dou City."

Xu Xiaoyan started biting her nails. "O-Oh. Right… What are you guys going to choose for your extra subject?"

"Smooth, Xiaoyan, smooth." Xie Xie snickered.

Siduo coughed. "I'm taking Vehicle Engineering and taking extra in Power Cores."

"Same as your study in Tang Sect?" Karni wondered.

Siduo nodded. "The teacher belongs to the same division in Tang Sect. I saw it as an opportunity. What are you taking?"

"I'm getting Mecha Piloting. There are some things I'm interested in."

"Oh?" Tang Wulin suddenly sounded. "Me too. We'll be seeing each other. Why're you-"

"Ahem."

The group turned. Na'er was voicing a complaint. "Unfortunately, Big Brother, Junior Disciple Brother… We need to visit my teacher. You know… the Pavilion Master of all Shrek Academy?"

"Right." Tang Wulin gathered himself and turned to Karni. "Shall we?"

"Yeah." Karni turned to Siduo. "Don't worry, I'll be back for the time of our date."

"Wait. Date? What date?" Siduo almost shrieked. "I don't remember any planned date!"

"Yeah, I just made it up. See ya."

Siduo wanted to run away. "I wouldn't have believed you'd become this way when I met you. I really wouldn't. Give me back my innocent Kiki!"

"Sorry, can't do. Will stay yours though."

"Oh, fuck off and go to your teacher already!" Siduo threw a Crystal Light Wave at him.

Karni left, while Siduo was left among the rest of Tang Wulin's group. "What're y'all looking at!"

… … …

The group got over to Sea God's Island. With Na'er with them, the one who was already in the inner court, they didn't need much approval to cross the lake.

On the boat, Na'er got to questioning. "So, Val Karni. How long have you and Wu Siduo been dating?"

"Um… We aren't actually."

There was an awkward bit of silence. "You aren't?" Wulin was genuinely shocked.

Karni turned. "E tu, Wulin?"

"What's that mean." Wulin asked.

"It's nothing. Does it really seem that way?"

""Yes."" Both said at the same time.

"Well, we…" Karni was about to deny it again. But he thought about it… They have morning coffee together. They hang out constantly. They flirt constantly… Especially after they got out of closed door cultivation. "Huh. I'll need to make it official sometime." Karni felt a tad foolish.

Thankfully, they arrived at Sea God's Island. Karni could avoid further questioning.

They made their way towards the centre Pavilion. Yun Ming greeted them. He sensed their arrival.

"First of all, here, Tang Wulin, as we agreed last time. This should help you combine it with Honey Titanium. And here, the agreed upon payment." He gave Tang Wulin a spatial ring. "3kg of Meteoric Iron."

"Thank you very much, Pavilion Master. I won't disappoint him." Tang Wulin was full of smiles.

"And here, Val Karni. My gift for successfully learning the technique. I won't be of much help to you in the future, so this is my way of making it up to you as your teacher."

He handed Karni another spatial ring.

"In it is 2kg of Deep Sea Spirit Lead. A highly spiritual metal. I believe you and Tang Wulin had a plan to use it for your head piece of your Battle Armour.