Beneath the ancient canopy of Star Dou, tension vibrated thick as iron.
Tang San sat under a giant tree, body cross-legged, wounds lining his skin. His veins popped against his temples, sweat pouring as though the marrow of his bones burned.
He had begun absorbing the 540-year-old Ghost Vine's ring. It was like swallowing ten daggers at once while fire poured down his spine.
Above, an ominous python slithered silently down a branch, tongue hissing as it fixed on the helpless boy. Its maw opened wide—
A ripple of soul power struck.
Bang!
The python flew end over end into the distance, slammed dizzy against the trees, wheezing before fleeing in terror.
"Shameless things," Bibi Dong muttered coldly, not even sparing it another glance.
Already, her focus was elsewhere. She held a plump fruit delicately and brought it to Subei's lips with a stern gaze. "You little ghost… how can you let Xiao San absorb a ring far past the human limit and then go to SLEEP on my lap? Do you even worry for his life?"
Subei groaned softly, rubbing his eyes with childlike innocence. His voice, still unbroken into adulthood, slipped out hoarse and adorable. Combined with his half-sleepy gesture, it tickled even the iron Pope's heart. She bent in, kissed his cheek deeply, and muttered, "You really are too much."
He yawned. "Absorbing a ring depends on his own willpower and body, not me. If he can't pass this trial, no amount of watching will change it. Better to rest than just sit here anxious for nothing."
Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes, unsettled by his calmness. "So you're not even certain he'll survive?"
"Of course I'm certain." Subei's gaze flickered toward Tang San's trembling body. "He isn't ordinary. He can push past limits and handle things no others can. Each extra year of spirit power is like a mountain pressing down—but if he withstands it? Xiao San's second ring in the future can reach or even break through the thousand-year barrier. Believe me, he can do it."
The Pope's fingers tightened against the earth. His words were shocking—words spoken as if they were not "theories" but truths carved into stone.
Her heart twisted with unease. He looked so young—a boy himself—yet spoke with the certainty of an elder sculpting destiny. Still, she couldn't let that slip by without warning.
"Xiaobei, don't rely on scraps of your father's soul master notebooks. Caution first. Talent wasted is tragic, but forcing recklessness is worse. Xiao San is not you. He is exceptional, yes, yet fragile compared to your monstrous gifts. Remember this. You may gamble with your own life, but not always with the lives beside you."
Her voice softened unexpectedly. For a moment, she even regarded Tang San differently. Originally she had dismissed him as just Subei's clingy shadow. But watching the boy duel Ghost Vine earlier—his grit, his strange hidden techniques, his poison tolerance—she felt her impression shift. The child had potential beyond the common mold. Perhaps even a future titled Douluo.
Still, he was no Subei. No one could pierce through the mist of ordinary and extraordinary like that boy could.
"What you saw," Subei chuckled lightly, "were just glimpses of his Tang Sect arts… internal training, body techniques, even his Purple Demon Eye. They are strong, yes, but they exist in textbooks. Xiao San is more than those."
He leaned back against Bibi Dong's soft robe and muttered almost carelessly. "He will be more than a Soul Master. He's meant for a crown much higher. Just wait."
Bibi Dong's heart gave a traitorous lurch. To speak so casually… as if you were glimpsing gods.
Just then, Tang San groaned, his body shaking violently. Blue veins pulsed, his lips turning purple. Blood began leaking from his orifices—nose, eyes, ears. His very body seemed moments from rupture.
"No!" Bibi Dong's composure cracked. She thrust out streams of Soul Power, cocooning his body, trying desperately to stabilize him. "He can't withstand it!"
And yet she knew—even with her power, she could only mitigate. If Tang San couldn't endure with his own will, he would explode from within.
Subei twisted in alarm, clutching Bibi Dong's sleeve, voice ragged. Did I miscalculate? Did I just kill him?
His heart lurched. I chose this. I told him to endure five-hundred years! If he dies, the stain will follow me forever!
His fist balled. "Xiao San! Hold on! If you die before fulfilling your promise, if you die before surpassing everyone—you'll break your Teacher's heart!"
The boy's trembling only worsened. His back arched violently, breath hitching.
So Subei spat the desperate line without thinking:
"Big deal—I'll give you a big baby!"
The words shot out like thunder.
Tang San's entire frame jolted like lightning had struck. His eyes widened. Deep in the maelstrom of his pain, his soul reeled. A big… baby? Did Teacher mean… a priceless artifact? A hidden secret? Or something more intimate?
The thought anchored him like iron chains.
His heart screamed: I won't die here. I can't leave my Teacher's side. I still haven't had the baby he promised me!
And then—
Ping!
His body exhaled a powerful burst of Spirit Power. A shimmering yellow ring locked into place, orbiting him proudly.
The pressure lifted. His ragged wounds sealed under new force. Tang San's eyes opened, glowing with clarity, strength, and joy.
"I… succeeded."
The 540-year Ghost Vine ring had been absorbed.
Breathless, his Blue Silver Grass unfurled like blades, sharper and infused with toxic buds. His first soul skill whispered across the forest:
"—Parasitism."
Vines shot, burying into soil before sprouting delicate blossoms. Lethal seeds rooted instantly into the imagined foe, pulsing with venomous energy.
The beginnings of true control.
"Congratulations, junior," Subei said softly. Relief warmed his chest like fire. "You didn't disappoint your Teacher."
Bibi Dong sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Miracle. The record must be rewritten today. From now on, the acceptable limit for first rings is not four hundred… but over five hundred years."
But Tang San only smiled shyly, shaking his head. "No, Your Holiness. You forget. History was already changed by Teacher. His first soul ring was a thousand-year purple ring. Compared to him, I am nothing."
Bibi Dong stiffened. His words crackled with awe—and humiliation—for her.
Tang San's eyes, however, overflowed with devotion. He thought back to that moment of hell. What truly pulled him through wasn't just ambition or pride. It was the thought he couldn't bear to die without seeing his Teacher again, without fulfilling that strange, reckless promise.
He looked at Subei with trembling sincerity. "…Teacher, the big baby you mentioned… was that real?"