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*****
Inside Yu Xiaogang's office.
Yu Xiaogang's brows were furrowed so tightly they nearly formed a figure eight. His face was a mask of confusion and shock.
"Xiao Tian, can you please explain what's going on now? Why has your strength improved so quickly, and why are your first two spirit rings a thousand-year purple?"
Seeing the insatiable curiosity on Yu Xiaogang's face, Xiao Tian let out a sinister chuckle. He had been waiting a long time to mess with him like this. Feigning ignorance, he said, "Grandmaster, actually, this is all thanks to your guidance."
Yu Xiaogang: ???
'What the hell? When did I ever guide you to absorb two thousand-year spirit rings? Since when was I that capable?'
Boom!
Tang San's gaze immediately shifted to Yu Xiaogang, his eyes filled with suspicion. What did Xiao Tian mean by that? Could it be that his teacher had been giving Xiao Tian private lessons without his knowledge?
Feeling Tang San's subtle, questioning gaze on him, Yu Xiaogang felt an immense pressure and quickly said, "Xiao Tian, stop being mysterious. When did I ever guide you to absorb two thousand-year spirit rings?"
Xiao Tian smiled deviously on the inside but put on an earnest expression on the outside to explain.
"Grandmaster, Tang San, you've both misunderstood. The Grandmaster certainly did not teach me to directly absorb thousand-year spirit rings. That was my own decision."
Phew...
Hearing Xiao Tian say this, both of them inexplicably breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief.
Yu Xiaogang: 'That's more like it. You scared me to death. I almost thought Tang Hao was going to kill me.'
Tang San: 'That's right. I am the teacher's only direct disciple. How could he possibly give private lessons to Xiao Tian?'
"But... Grandmaster, you did teach me how to better use my sword qi and Sword Intent. Do you remember when you said that in my daily life, I should try to cover my entire body with Sword Intent as much as possible? You said it would be beneficial for my comprehension of the Sword Dao and would also increase my strength."
Yu Xiaogang: ???
'Hmm? Did I say that?'
He had indeed given Xiao Tian some simple guidance, but since he wasn't a sword cultivator, he had only shared some of his own opinions mixed with a few conjectures, using Xiao Tian as an experiment to verify his theories. Perhaps he really had said something like that? Xiao Tian was just a six-year-old child at the time; he couldn't possibly be so cunning as to deceive him now, could he?
And so...
Yu Xiaogang could only bite the bullet and nod, forcing a rather stiff smile. "Yes, I remember. And then? Don't tell me you're going to say that's the reason you improved so quickly?"
Tang San's face was now a complete blank, a perfect poker face. He looked between Xiao Tian and Yu Xiaogang, his thoughts a mystery.
"Yes, yes, yes! Grandmaster, you're so smart!"
Yu Xiaogang: "..."
"At the time, I followed your advice and, in my daily life, continuously released my Sword Intent to cover my entire body. Over time, I discovered that my comprehension of the Sword Dao had indeed reached a deeper level. Most importantly, I could feel my physical constitution constantly getting stronger, and the speed of my spirit power cultivation also increased significantly! It was as if the improvement of my Sword Intent was directly helping my spirit power to improve." Xiao Tian said with an excited expression.
"That's why I dared to take the risk of directly absorbing a thousand-year ring for my first one. But to be honest, it was also a stroke of good luck. I had originally planned to just find a three or four-hundred-year spirit beast to absorb, which is why I didn't ask the academy's teachers for help. I figured a hundred-year spirit beast would be no problem for me. But my luck was quite good. On my way, I encountered a dying silkworm-type spirit beast that had just reached one thousand years old. I remembered you once said, Grandmaster, that silkworm-type spirit beasts are generally very weak and provide spirit abilities related to spirit power. So I just..."
After Xiao Tian's long explanation, the other three people in the room were left utterly dumbfounded. Was such a thing even possible?
At this point, Yu Xiaogang was so thrown by Xiao Tian's wild tale that he began to doubt his own life's work. In all his years of plagiarizing—no, researching—theory, this was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation. Could it be that the Sword Douluo, Chen Xin, also cultivated this way? The thought of asking him popped into his mind, but he quickly suppressed it. The man probably wouldn't even give him the time of day.
"Xiao Tian, why were you so impulsive back then? Even if silkworm-type spirit beasts are weak, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. If you had failed, weren't you afraid of your body exploding?" Tang San asked, his eyes dark with an unreadable emotion. He felt a deep sense of imbalance in his heart.
Tang San: 'Why is Xiao Tian's luck so good? How could he just happen to encounter a dying silkworm? Why didn't his body just explode when he was absorbing his first spirit ring?'
Xiao Tian smiled innocently. "Actually, I was still somewhat confident. Don't you remember saying that you absorbed your first spirit ring in just one minute? Before absorbing any spirit rings, my physical constitution should have been about the same as yours. And after tempering my body with Sword Intent, I became even more confident. But it really was fortunate. It took me the better part of a day to absorb that Jade Silkworm. It just goes to show, a thousand-year spirit beast is not to be underestimated."
With Xiao Tian's words, the resentment in Tang San's heart grew even stronger. Of course, it wasn't directed at Xiao Tian, but at Yu Xiaogang. As his teacher, Yu Xiaogang had never even tested his physical limits before he absorbed his first spirit ring. Now he finally understood: he had been fully capable of absorbing a much older spirit ring back then! Even if he couldn't get as lucky as Xiao Tian and absorb a thousand-year one, he could have at least managed an eight or nine-hundred-year one, right? His second spirit ring was from a six-hundred-year Ghost Vine, and absorbing that hadn't taken too long either.
Tang San was now filled with deep regret.
"Grandmaster, don't you always tell us that there are theoretical limits to spirit ring absorption? That the first ring cannot exceed four hundred and twenty-three years, and the second cannot exceed seven hundred and sixty-four years," Xiao Wu's puzzled voice rang out.
'Holy crap!'
Xiao Tian couldn't help but give Xiao Wu a mental thumbs-up. What a perfect assist!
"And you, Xiao Tian! When you went to get your first spirit ring, why didn't you call us? Don't you know how dangerous that is! And even though you knew the first ring could only be a hundred-year one, why did you have to risk it all on a thousand-year one?" Xiao Wu was genuinely angry now.
You can prepare for ten thousand possibilities, but you can never prepare for the one that happens. What if Xiao Tian's luck had been bad and he had died? And to absorb a spirit ring alone, for the better part of a day... Xiao Wu felt it was a miracle that he hadn't been discovered and eaten by other spirit beasts!
Xiao Tian: "..."
Seeing the worried expression on Xiao Wu's face, a warmth spread through Xiao Tian's heart.
But the expression on Yu Xiaogang's face had completely frozen. Faced with the gazes of all three students, especially that of his own disciple, Tang San, he was really starting to sweat.
Xiao Tian looked at Yu Xiaogang's current expression with immense satisfaction. 'Sweating bullets now, aren't you, bro!' For the past two years, in order to fleece his sheep, Xiao Tian had had to endure Yu Xiaogang's constant nagging about how to use his sword. The most ridiculous part was having to insist on running every single day! Xiao Tian had been completely speechless. What was the point of running...
(End of chapter)