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*****
'Is Xiao Tian about to go crazy again?'
Now that his emotions had cooled down, could he possibly say that his challenge was just a spur-of-the-moment thing? 'I've been honest, can you let me go?' A very ominous premonition rose in his heart.
He watched as Xiao Tian retracted Sword Fifteen and walked over with a wide grin, patting the dust off his clothes.
"Tang San, even though you lost to me this time, you absolutely must not lose heart. When we get back to the academy in a few days, I can sacrifice a little of my time to put you through some devil training, until you raise your spirit power to rank twenty!"
Xiao Tian subconsciously licked the corner of his mouth and let out a sinister chuckle.
Tang San felt a nauseating chill rise from the bottom of his heart. Could he refuse? This version of Xiao Tian felt absolutely terrifying.
Xiao Wu felt the same way. She was stealthily inching to the side, trying to minimize her presence, hoping that Xiao Tian would completely forget she even existed.
"Xiao Wu, that goes for you too! Don't worry, I'll be very gentle."
Xiao Wu's cultivation was a bit higher than Tang San's; after a year, she had already reached rank eighteen.
A smile that was uglier than crying appeared on Xiao Wu's face. She felt that Xiao Tian was a complete demon! In this state, he had absolutely no concept of cherishing the fairer sex. But for some unknown reason, a faint sense of anticipation stirred deep within her heart, and she couldn't help but squeeze her legs together.
Xiao Tian thought for a moment. From now on, he would need to shift a little more of his focus to cultivating his spirit power. For the past year, he had barely spent any time intentionally sitting in a meditative posture to cultivate. Instead, his rank had increased through constantly tempering his Sword Intent and sparring with Xiao Wu and Tang San. The rest of the time, he was either practicing with his sword or... practicing with his sword. As a result, his current spirit power rank was only seventeen.
But Xiao Tian wasn't too concerned about it, because he had made even greater gains! In the past year, he had already mastered the "Immortal Wind Cloud Body Art" and the "Drunken Immortal Gazing at the Moon Step" that the system had given him! He even felt he was extremely proficient with the "Soldier" Secret. One had to know, even though Tang San had the memories of cultivating the Tang Sect's secret arts in his past life, in this life, it still took him ten or twenty years to master those skills!
His only regret was that after a year, he still hadn't managed to trigger the "All" Secret even once. The probability of triggering it was simply too low. Right now, possessing only the "Soldier" Secret gave him an extra ten percent chance, but that still wasn't nearly enough.
Xiao Tian believed it was because his journey had been too smooth so far, without encountering enough pressure to stimulate his potential. If he were in a moment of crisis, he was confident he could successfully trigger it!
Xiao Tian shook his head, pushing the thought to the back of his mind for now.
It was worth mentioning that the improvement of his Sword Intent did indeed help with the cultivation of his spirit power. It was somewhat similar to the effect of a simulated cultivation environment, only much more advanced.
Xiao Tian looked around the back mountain with a sense of reluctance and said coolly, "Saint Soul Village is really a nice place. Let's go."
The other two thought he was just praising the village's scenery, but in reality, his words had a hidden meaning. It was a "nice place" because it held a hundred-thousand-year spirit bone, and Ah Yin. Although the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone wasn't particularly suitable for him, its effects were still heaven-defying. If he couldn't obtain a better spirit bone from the continent or the system in the future, then the Blue Silver Emperor's leg bone wouldn't be a bad choice.
A few days passed by quickly.
Xiao Tian and Xiao Wu stayed one night at Tang San's house and left early the next morning. The three of them then traveled together to Xiao Tian's home, Artisan Soul Village. The so-called Artisan Soul Village was, in fact, just a village with a lot of blacksmiths. This piqued Tang San's interest. As a blacksmith himself, he wanted to see if the blacksmiths of Artisan Soul Village could teach him anything. Of course, the most important thing was that Xiao Wu was going with Xiao Tian, and since he didn't want to go back alone, he had no choice but to tag along.
Upon returning to Nuoding Academy.
Xiao Tian did not rush to absorb the external spirit bone the system had given him. Instead, he waited for a few days. Under the pretext of sparring, he beat Tang San soundly for several days in a row.
Finally, with tears in his eyes and wrapped in several bandages, Tang San could only stay in Dormitory Seven to slowly recuperate.
"Xiao Tian, you can be considered half a disciple of mine now, can't you? How could you treat your senior brother like this and injure him so severely!"
Inside Dormitory Seven, Yu Xiaogang pointed an angry finger at Xiao Tian and demanded an explanation.
Xiao Tian waved his hand helplessly. "Grandmaster, I'm helping Tang San cultivate. Look at his improvement speed over the past year. Without any resources, it's already considered very fast, isn't it? You can't deny that, can you?"
"And look, when Xiao Wu loses a match, she also has to be punished. I'm not being partial. Tang San has to cultivate, study theory, and work as a blacksmith every day. I'm doing this for his own good. Now he'll have more time to stay in the dormitory and cultivate properly, hehe."
Lying on the bed, Tang San wore a bitter expression. 'I'm really so grateful to you!'
Seeing that he was losing the argument, Yu Xiaogang pointed to the completely unharmed Xiao Wu and said calmly, "Is this what you call not being partial? Why is Little San lying down while Xiao Wu is standing?"
Without a hint of a blush, Xiao Tian replied, "That's because Xiao Wu is a girl, so a token punishment is enough. You can ask Tang San; he agreed to this as well. Ask him if he wants Xiao Wu to end up lying in bed just like him."
Yu Xiaogang: "..."
'I'm tired. Just let the world burn!' He didn't want to deal with this anymore. He turned and left with a flick of his sleeves.
Seeing Xiao Tian's gaze shift to her, Xiao Wu subconsciously covered her rear with both hands and shot him a fierce glare. Unfortunately, it had no killing power whatsoever.
"You'd better cultivate diligently. Otherwise, next time, I'll make you end up just like Tang San."
Xiao Tian's harsh words left Xiao Wu frozen on the spot. He then left the dormitory as well.
A few seconds later, Xiao Wu's furious roar echoed from within Dormitory Seven.
"Xiao Tian, you bastard! You're not human! You're a pervert!"
Xiao Tian: 'Ah, what beautiful praise...'
He had only said that to scare her a little, to make her stay obediently at the academy and cultivate. Meanwhile, he took this opportunity to leave the academy and find a hotel in the city. That's right, he was preparing to absorb the external spirit bone the system had given him in the hotel. He couldn't wait any longer!
With both Xiao Wu and Tang San at the academy, he could temporarily escape Tang Hao's watchful eyes and absorb the spirit bone to his heart's content! He wondered what kind of spirit ability this Ethereal Sword Wing external spirit bone would bring him.
(End of chapter)