Tang San returned to his room, only to discover in horror that his previously neutral and balanced Mysterious Heaven Skill (玄天功) had been tainted by the pure Yang energy of Nine Yang Divine Skill (九阳神功).
It was as if a stimulant had been poured into a tank of clear water—now, the entire tank was no longer "pure."
If he wanted to switch to cultivating the Nine Yang Divine Skill, that wouldn't be an issue.
He could simply continue training.
However—
How could Tang San possibly cultivate this incomplete Nine Yang Divine Skill?
He attempted to circulate the Mysterious Heaven Skill, hoping to assimilate the inner power of Nine Yang Divine Skill.
But the quality of the Nine Yang Divine Skill's inner power far surpassed that of Mysterious Heaven Skill!
It was like trying to dissolve ink in water—the more you stirred, the murkier it got.
Helpless, Tang San had no choice but to painstakingly extract the Nine Yang Divine Skill's inner power bit by bit.
Then, he completely discarded it.
In essence, he had to cut off an arm to preserve the purity of his Mysterious Heaven Skill's inner power.
This time, his attempt to gain an advantage had backfired spectacularly!
[The host has caused Tang San's cultivation to regress, seizing a sliver of his fortune!]
[Reward: "Level +1"!]
The Nine Yang Divine Skill's inner power increased slightly, raising Tang Lan's level to 25.
Seeing this, Tang Lan's lips curved into a faint smirk.
So even the mighty Tang God-King wasn't that great, huh? His Mysterious Heaven Skill's inner power was actually this weak?
"Lan'er," Tang Hao instructed solemnly, "from now on, unless you're in a life-or-death situation, you must never use this hammer martial soul!"
"And before I give my permission, you are absolutely forbidden from attaching any spirit rings to it."
"Understood?"
Tang Lan nodded knowingly.
The first part didn't even need explaining.
Before growing strong enough, revealing his Clear Sky Clan identity would only bring trouble most of the time.
The second part made even more sense.
Not only would adding too many spirit rings to a twin martial soul risk exploding his body,
But later on, once his level was higher, his Clear Sky Hammer'sfirst spirit ring could start at fifty or sixty thousand years.
In fact—
It wasn't impossible to have all his spirit rings at one hundred thousand years!
With the Nine Yang Divine Skill automatically running in the background, Tang Lan didn't stay idle—grinding king plus study king, I shall reign supreme in the Divine Realm!
Since he didn't need to train internal energy, he could focus on external training instead.
He continued tempering his Indestructible Vajra Body (金刚不坏体).
Using the Random Wind Hammer Technique (乱披风锤法), he forged himself a set of thousand-refined steel weights.
Every day, he ran a dozen laps along the route from Holy Soul Village → Waterfall → Blue Silver King.
With Nine Yang Divine Skill protecting his body and his Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone as a safeguard—
He didn't have to fear overexertion at all. He was pushing himself to the absolute limit!
As a result, his spirit ring age increased by another 300 years.
Whenever he had spare time, Tang Lan also practiced the inheritance left behind by the Blue Silver King, honing his control over his life-bound soul—the Blue Silver Emperor, until it felt like an extension of his own body.
Life was quite fulfilling.
Most of the time, Tang Hao was focused on cultivating the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
His injuries were severe, and he had delayed treatment for six years.
Recovering was a monumental task.
Occasionally, when he woke up, he would guide Tang Lan in force application techniques and even spar with him to enrich his combat experience.
As a result, Tang Lan's soul power increased by another level.
As for Tang San—
He had been holed up at home forging metal, diligently studying the Random Wind Hammer Technique.
Taking advantage of the times when Tang Hao and Tang Lan were out, he crafted numerous hidden weapon components.
However, he never assembled or used them in front of the two, acting extremely secretive about it.
Tang Lan didn't expose him.
He was waiting for the right moment to strike!
Finally—
When Tang San came to ask where he had disappeared to for those ten days, and why he had changed so drastically—
Tang Lan didn't hide anything.
He laid out his "fortuitous encounter" in full detail, piquing Tang San's interest.
"Big Brother, can you take me to try it out?" Tang San asked eagerly. "Our martial souls are quite similar—maybe I can evolve too?"
Tang Lan laughed inwardly—Gotcha, you little rascal!
But on the surface, he hammered Tang San's shoulder with a smack!
Good lord!
His arm weights alone were over a hundred jin (50 kg)!
Tang San winced in pain, gritting his teeth!
"Oh yeah! Your martial soul is similar to mine!" Tang Lan said, pretending to regret. "I've been so busy training these past few days that I completely forgot! Come on, let's go!"
Then, without giving Tang San time to think, he dragged him outside.
Inside the house—
Tang Hao, who was meditating, opened his eyes and glanced toward the door.
Tang Lan was quite a caring older brother.
That put his mind at ease.
With that thought, he closed his eyes again and continued training.
Right now, Tang Lan was already a Grand Spirit Master (大魂师).
Not only had he awakened the Blue Silver Emperor, but he also had a life-bound spirit ring.
On top of that, he had mastered three of the Clear Sky Clan's ultimate techniques.
Against spirit beasts under a thousand years, he could flatten them with ease.
In the wilds near this tiny village, he could walk sideways like a boss.
At the village entrance—
Tang Lan and Tang San ran into Old Jack, who was basking in the sun.
"Xiao Lan, out training again?"
Old Jack smiled kindly, then noticed Tang San.
"Oh? Xiao San is here too. That's good, that's good."
"Don't stay cooped up at home forging all the time. You're still growing—it's not good for you."
Tang San smiled on the surface but kept glancing at Tang Lan, subtly urging him to hurry up.
Tang Lan, however, was in no rush.
The key dialogue event hadn't been triggered yet.
"Grandpa Jack, you're up early too."
Tang Lan grinned foolishly, then suddenly added—
"By the way, about that question I asked you before—did you manage to find out?"
"I mean, how to break through the bottleneck at rank 10 soul power?"
Nearby, Tang San—who had been stuck at this bottleneck for half a year with his Mysterious Heaven Skill (玄天功)—suddenly stopped being impatient to leave.
Tang Lan noticed this and laughed inwardly.
The fish is about to bite the hook!
"The old man really did find out!"
Old Jack said proudly—
"I even went to the Spirit Hall and asked Master Su Yuntao personally."
"Turns out, it's quite simple—just absorb a spirit ring, and you'll naturally break through the rank 10 bottleneck!"
Tang San's eyes lit up instantly!
He asked eagerly, "What exactly is a spirit ring? Where can I get one?"
Old Jack saw Tang San's enthusiasm and smiled indulgently.
"Xiao San, since you're born with full innate soul power, I'm guessing Xiao Lan asked this for your sake."
Tang Lan chuckled sheepishly.
Back when he tested his soul power, he had only infused a small amount of his inner power, resulting in an innate soul power of rank 3.
After all—
If one person had innate full soul power but a useless martial soul, ignorant folks might just feel sympathetic.
But if there were two?
There was a high chance someone would report it to investigate whether this place had some kind of miraculous treasure.
That would interfere with his future plans to absorb a 100,000-year spirit bone.
Tang San turned to Tang Lan with grateful eyes.
Big Brother is the best—he even thinks ahead for me!
"Grandpa Jack, don't keep us in suspense," Tang Lan urged. "Xiao San is getting anxious. How exactly do we obtain a spirit ring?"
Old Jack chuckled heartily and gave the answer directly.
"As long as you hunt and kill a soul beast that's at least ten years old, a spirit ring will appear."
"Absorbing it will allow you to break through the bottleneck!"
Tang San's face filled with disbelief!
He had originally assumed that spirit rings were some kind of herbs or mystical elixirs.
But it turns out—they required hunting soul beasts?!
Who would have guessed that?!
Also—
"Grandpa Jack, what exactly is a soul beast?" Tang Lan asked curiously. "I've hunted plenty of wild beasts before, but I've never seen any spirit rings appear."
Old Jack stroked his beard, relieved that he had asked the right question.
"Soul beasts are just like human Soul Masters—they are creatures that possess soul power."
"Beasts, birds, even plants—any of them can be soul beasts."
"The most important factor is their age."
Just as Old Jack was about to launch into a detailed explanation, Tang Lan suddenly gasped loudly—
"That's incredible!"
This completely disrupted Old Jack's train of thought.
Tang Lan seized the opportunity and turned to Tang San—
"Xiao San, let's go! I'll take you there first, and then we'll hunt a soul beast to get your spirit ring!"
Sure enough—
Old Jack's attention immediately snapped to Tang Lan's words.
His brows furrowed tightly!
Hunting soul beasts?
Just these two little rascals?!
He completely forgot about explaining further and scolded them instead—
"Hunting soul beasts is NOT child's play!"
"You two—"
Tang Lan immediately shrunk his head down, as if he had just seen an elder get angry and was too scared to argue.
Then, he grabbed Tang San and bolted!
His speed was so fast—
That Old Jack's old arms and legs couldn't possibly keep up.
All he could do was shout after them from behind—
"Brats, don't go running off into danger!"
"Soul beasts are extremely dangerous!"
Only after running a good distance did Tang Lan slow down.
He patted his chest with feigned relief.
"Wow! Grandpa Jack was really scary just now!"
Tang San nodded in agreement.
This was only the second time he had seen Old Jack this angry—
The first time was when Tang Hao refused to let him attend the Soul Master Academy.
At the same time, he now had a clearer idea of how dangerous soul beasts truly were.
Tang Lan watched him from the side, feeling very satisfied.
The trap was set—
Now all that was left was for Tang San to walk right in!
(End of Chapter)