Chapter 25: Thoroughly Disliked Tang San, and the Changes of Half a Year
Inside the chat group.
Xiao Wu and Liu Erlong were still waiting for Lin Qingmo to share today's experiences in the Star Dou Great Forest.
They had no idea that he had already fallen into a hell known as "devil training."
Nor did they know that he had experienced an intimate encounter with Bibi Dong, the Pope of the Spirit Hall, the night before.
[A Rogue Rabbit]: Ah Qing, did you find a suitable soul beast in the Star Dou Great Forest? Did anything interesting happen?
[Tyrant Dragon Mom]: Don't just focus on playing around. Remember to train properly.
[Tyrant Dragon Mom]: With a Titled Douluo as your mentor, don't waste such a rare opportunity!
Lin Qingmo looked at the messages in the group.
He let out a bitter smile.
"Slack off? As if I'd dare…"
His master would really beat him half to death!
[Dad Douluo]: Don't even mention it, Sister…
[Dad Douluo]: My master put me through devil training. I'm exhausted like a dog every single day, and now the intensity is being tripled.
[A Rogue Rabbit]: Huh? Triple intensity? Isn't that a bit too much?
[Tyrant Dragon Mom]: Hahaha, serves you right!
[Tyrant Dragon Mom]: You were so arrogant before—now you know what suffering feels like, huh?
Lin Qingmo looked at Liu Erlong's schadenfreude-filled replies.
His teeth itched with anger.
Yet there was nothing he could do.
He closed the chat group interface.
Took a deep breath.
Then walked out of the wooden cabin.
No matter how bitter the training was, he couldn't give up.
He had to become stronger!
He had to soar in the Douluo Continent!
He had to live up to Ah Yin's gift and his master's painstaking guidance!
Screw it—let's go all out!
In the morning light of the Star Dou Great Forest,
A small figure carrying firm conviction walked toward the training grounds.
---
Nuoding Academy.
Inside a classroom.
Tang San sat at his desk, his thoughts completely off the lesson.
Instead, his gaze kept drifting toward Xiao Wu, who sat diagonally in front of him.
Xiao Wu rested her chin on one hand.
Her long eyelashes drooped downward.
Ah Qing… when will you come back?
Her eyes were unfocused as she stared at the phoenix tree outside the window.
Even her listless appearance was irresistibly cute.
In Tang San's eyes—
Ever since that "earthquake" half a year ago,
Lin Qingmo, who had been close to Xiao Wu, had vanished without a trace and never returned.
Xiao Wu had also grown quiet and withdrawn, often spacing out.
She had even become increasingly distant toward him.
Seeing Xiao Wu no longer as lively as before, Tang San felt extremely uncomfortable.
He wanted to step forward and comfort her.
But every time he got close, Xiao Wu would subconsciously dodge away.
Either she would say, "Don't bother me,"
Or she would simply turn around and leave without saying a word.
"What exactly did I do wrong?"
Tang San truly couldn't understand.
Why did Xiao Wu seem to dislike him so much?
During the break between classes,
Tang San ran to ask his teacher for advice.
"Teacher, why has Xiao Wu been unhappy lately and unwilling to talk to me?"
"What should I do to make her happy?"
The master looked at the earnest little boy in front of him and couldn't help but smile.
Although Tang San possessed strange hidden weapons and a level of maturity far beyond his peers, He was still, at the end of the day, an inexperienced child.
Curiosity about girls was the first step of adolescence.
This… was youth.
After sighing inwardly with emotion,
Yu Xiaogang spoke earnestly to Tang San.
"Xiao San, girls sometimes feel unhappy because of certain things."
"But you must understand—most girls like strong men."
"If you can become stronger, protect her well, she might see you in a new light."
"Like strong men?"
Tang San's eyes lit up.
He firmly etched those words into his heart.
Clenching his fists, he secretly made up his mind.
"I must become stronger—strong enough!"
"Then Xiao Wu will be happy, and she'll be willing to talk to me!"
Not long after, accompanied by Yu Xiaogang, he successfully hunted a Datura Snake.
He absorbed his first soul ring—a hundred-year soul ring.
After returning, Tang San immediately went to find Xiao Wu.
His face was filled with uncontrollable joy.
Standing in front of Xiao Wu, he activated his soul power.
A yellow soul ring slowly rose from beneath his feet.
"Xiao Wu, look!"
Tang San said excitedly, "I got my first soul ring!"
He thought Xiao Wu would be happy for him.
But to his surprise, when Xiao Wu saw his yellow soul ring, her expression instantly darkened.
In her eyes—besides the usual wariness—there was now dissatisfaction and anger.
"Tang San, are you provoking me?"
Before Tang San could react—
A soul ring rose beneath Xiao Wu's feet as well—also a yellow hundred-year soul ring.
But the soul power fluctuations were far denser than Tang San's.
"You also have a soul ring?!"
Tang San's eyes widened.
He hadn't expected Xiao Wu to have already absorbed a soul ring.
"Who told you I didn't have one?"
Xiao Wu looked at Tang San with utter disdain.
If not for her wariness of Tang Hao standing behind him, she would have beaten him up long ago.
Lin Qingmo had once analyzed in the chat group that Tang Hao intended to let Tang San obtain Xiao Wu's soul ring.
But it had to wait until Tang San grew strong enough to withstand a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
Thus, Xiao Wu concluded that Tang Hao wouldn't kill her for now.
As a result, she wasn't that afraid of Tang San anymore.
"I just didn't want to be as vain as you, flaunting things everywhere."
"And don't show your soul ring in front of me—I don't care."
"Xiao Wu, I wasn't provoking you!"
Tang San hurriedly explained, his face full of anxiety.
"I just wanted to tell you that I've become stronger… that I want to protect you—"
"No need!"
Xiao Wu interrupted him coldly.
Then she turned around and left.
"Stop bothering me!"
Leaving behind a back he could never quite reach.
"..."
Tang San stood there blankly.
The joy on his face vanished completely.
In its place was deep disappointment and confusion.
A strong sense of frustration surged into his heart.
He couldn't understand…
He had clearly followed his teacher's advice and become stronger.
So why was Xiao Wu still unhappy? Why was she still unwilling to talk to him?
"Could it be… that I'm still not strong enough?"
Tang San murmured to himself.
His teacher's words echoed in his mind.
"That's it… I must still not be strong enough!"
He clenched his fists tightly.
"Then I'll become even stronger! Strong enough that Xiao Wu can no longer ignore me!"
In the blink of an eye,
More than half a year has passed.
On the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
A small blue-silver figure was currently circling a massive soul beast—a Striped Tiger.
It was Lin Qingmo, now seven years old.
After more than half a year of devil training, whale rubber nourishment, and medicinal baths,
Lin Qingmo's transformation could only be described as a complete rebirth.
He had grown noticeably taller.
His blue hair was smoother and more lustrous.
His skin was healthy, fair, and firm.
Faint muscle definition had begun to appear on his small body.
Youth and vitality were clearly expressed through him.
At just seven years old, his eyes now carried a trace of firmness and sharpness.
At this moment, he was circulating his soul power.
A strand of Blue Silver Grass burst from the ground and grew rapidly.
As if alive, it swiftly wrapped around the Striped Tiger's limbs and body.
This Striped Tiger was a soul beast of around three hundred years.
It had suddenly charged out, attempting to pounce on Lin Qingmo.
The Striped Tiger possessed ferocious attack power and astonishing speed.
In the past, Lin Qingmo wouldn't have even qualified to approach it.
But now, things are different.
Relying solely on his powerful control over Blue Silver Grass, he could bind it completely.
"Hah!"
Lin Qingmo let out a low shout.
With the speed boost from his right leg bone, he closed the distance like a bolt of lightning.
Entangled by the resilient Blue Silver Grass, the Striped Tiger couldn't move.
"Roar!!!"
It could only let out furious roars.
Its bloody maw opened wide,
Revealing sharp fangs,
Trying to scare Lin Qingmo away with its ferocity.
Lin Qingmo showed no fear.
At the instant he reached the Striped Tiger,
He used the momentum of acceleration and slammed a punch straight into its head.
"Bang!"
A dull impact rang out!
The faint sound of cracking bones followed.
The Striped Tiger's head was knocked to the side.
Intense dizziness flooded its brain.
But it was, after all, a hundred-year soul beast—thick-skinned and tough.
That punch didn't deal a fatal blow.
"Pretty tough, huh!"
Lin Qingmo grinned,
With no intention of stopping.
Under the triple tempering of whale rubber, medicinal baths, and intense training,
His physical body had already far surpassed that of soul masters of the same level.
He was completely on par with a hundred-year soul beasts.
He leapt onto the Striped Tiger's back.
His legs clamped tightly around its body to secure himself.
"Take my sandbag-sized fists!!!"
His fists rained down like a storm, smashing into the Striped Tiger's head and neck.
Each punch carried dense soul power and terrifying physical strength.
"Bang! Thud! Thud—"
Dull collision sounds rang out in succession.
The Striped Tiger's roars grew weaker and weaker, its eyes increasingly unfocused.
Before long—
"Roar…"
The Striped Tiger collapsed helplessly onto the ground.
A yellow soul ring rose from its corpse, signifying that it had completely lost its life.
Lin Qingmo jumped down from the Striped Tiger's back, panting heavily.
He wiped the sweat and blood from his face, a satisfied smile appearing.
More than half a year of brutal training had not been in vain.
Now—
Even without absorbing his first soul ring,
He could rely on the powerful control of Blue Silver Grass and his formidable physical body
To hunt a three-hundred-year soul beast entirely on his own!
—
End of Chapter