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*****
After Huo Wu arrived, she also settled into the Silver Blue Manor, sparring daily with Xiao Wu, Lan Yinzi, and even Gu Yuena.
And Tang San?
Between his cultivation and research, he checked on the progress of the women, taught Fan Niu and Fan Ma the Tiger Bear Body Tempering Technique, and instructed Lingxi and Lingmeng in Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, encouraging them to develop their own techniques based on their wind and thunder attributes.
As for Gu Yuena, she was practicing precise control over her soul power and learning about soul tools. She realized that the intricate soul power circuits in soul tools offered more precision than her elemental control methods.
Despite her formidable strength, Gu Yuena understood that the Dragon God's dominance in the past was based on sheer power rather than finesse. It was a classic case of brute force.
This brute force approach worked well against lesser opponents but fell short against equally powerful adversaries. Mastery wasn't just about power but about the clever application of it.
The essence of the principle "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" lay not in ignoring complex details but in mastering them to make the application appear simple. Soul tools like soul lamps and soul fans, for instance, functioned with a simple switch but had intricate internal mechanisms.
Understanding this, Gu Yuena realized why the Dragon God had been defeated by the gods of the Divine Realm. It wasn't about the combined power of good and evil surpassing the Dragon God's strength, but rather about their superior control and application of power.
Thus, she committed to improving this aspect, learning from the Dragon God's failures.
A month passed swiftly.
During this time, Xue Qinghe visited several times, attempting to win over Tang San but failed each time. On one occasion, Xue Qinghe even dropped his disguise and came in his true form as a maidservant, hoping to recruit him.
Apparently, Xue Qinghe believed that being the Holy Son of the Spirit Hall made him a kindred spirit, so revealing his true self seemed harmless—perhaps a sign of his romantic inclinations.
Given his age, it was understandable that Qian Renxue was experiencing the first stirrings of love. Nonetheless, Tang San politely declined.
In addition, the publication of "The Theory of Martial Soul Evolution" caused a stir, making people realize that martial souls could slowly evolve based on their environment.
Many soul masters without natural talent wondered if relocating to harsher environments and breeding over several generations might lead to their descendants' martial souls evolving.
However, noble families understood that their inherited martial souls wouldn't mutate unless there were significant environmental changes. The strength of their martial souls lay not just in power but in their inherent spirituality, which allowed stable inheritance without further evolution.
Except in cases of mutation.
A month later, Tang Yuehua returned.
After much contemplation, Tang Yuehua decided to relay the information Tang San had shared with her to her sect, claiming she had obtained it from Spirit Hall sources. To ensure the information's credibility, she even made a trip back to the Haotian Sect.
Tang Xiao's reaction revealed his shock at the news about Spirit Hall and Tang Chen's trials in the Slaughter City under the Asura God's test.
That moment made Tang Yuehua realize that no one in the Haotian Sect had ever truly valued her pride and dignity. Even her elder brothers, Tang Xiao and Tang Hao, only shared a typical sibling bond, more about responsibility than genuine care. Her contributions to the Haotian Sect were seen as expected, and no one ever thanked her.
Tang Xiao might not need to thank her as an elder brother, but why did the other disciples of the Haotian Sect accept her contributions without question?
It was unfair!
Was it simply because her Haotian Hammer mutated to the point it no longer resembled a hammer?
That sense of pride...
No! That pathetic sense of self-respect! It was laughable!
So when Tang Yuehua returned, she kept her breakthrough to level ten a secret. Tang Xiao, Tang Hao, and the five elders didn't bother sensing the soul power of someone they considered a "waste" in terms of cultivation.
This was Tang Yuehua's test of their regard for her. Unfortunately, the results were heartbreaking. Not one of them, including her brothers Tang Xiao and Tang Hao, cared about her soul power level.
As Tang Yuehua recounted her experiences at the sect, Tang San handed her a handkerchief and asked, "So, Aunt Yuehua, what are your plans now?"
"If you don't mind, I could stay here and serve as your housekeeper."
Upon hearing this, Lingxi, standing beside Tang San, squinted slightly, thinking: Another one coming to steal my job!
Tang San immediately declined, "There are already too many rumors about me in Tian Dou City. If you stay here, who knows how many more rumors will spread about me. However, you are always welcome to visit and stay for a while. Soon, I will be heading to Spirit City, so having someone here would be good. After all, by blood, you are my aunt."
Tang Yuehua's eyes lit up. "Are you willing to call me aunt now?"
Tang San took a sip of tea without directly answering, then stood up slowly. "Aunt Yuehua, I need to go to the study to write some new theories. Please feel free to stay as long as you like."
Watching Tang San and Lingmeng leave, Tang Yuehua was left uncertain about whether Tang San truly acknowledged her as his aunt or not.
"Lingxi, take Aunt Yuehua on a tour around Silver Blue Manor," Tang San instructed as he walked away.
"Of course. Aunt Yuehua, let me show you around the manor," Lingxi said, feeling relieved after understanding Tang Yuehua's relationship with Tang San. She realized Tang Yuehua wasn't here to take her job, and her smile became more genuine.
"Very well." Tang Yuehua nodded. "Since I might be staying here in the future, I should get familiar with the place. What's your name? Are you the housekeeper here?"
"Yes, I'm Lingxi, a Soul Ancestor at level forty-nine." Lingxi smiled (*￣︶￣).
"Almost a Soul King!" Tang Yuehua was impressed, observing Lingxi's youthful appearance. "That's quite impressive."
"No, the Earl is even more impressive!"
"???"
Meanwhile, while Tang San enjoyed a peaceful and steady life, the Xingguan Sect in the Star Luo Empire faced unprecedented ostracism.
Various noble families cut ties with the Xingguan Sect, and rumors spread so quickly that even border towns of the Tian Dou Empire heard about it.
In no time, the Xingguan Sect found itself in dire straits.
Even Dai Legao began to wonder if he had gone too far. He considered the possibility that other forces might be pushing for this, hoping to incite chaos within the Star Luo Empire.
"Who could it be?" Dai Legao ruled out the noble families within the Star Luo Empire, as they, while currently aligning with the Dai and Zhu families, wouldn't be this deliberate.
So, he was left with two primary suspects:
Spies from the Tian Dou Empire.
And agents from the Spirit Hall.
Among these possibilities, the Martial Soul Temple is the most likely culprit. After all, they have branch temples in every city on the continent, which is the only way such news could spread so quickly through soul-guided photography equipment in such a short time.
Of course, Dai Legao couldn't rule out the possibility that high-ranking officials in the Star Luo Empire paid the Martial Soul Temple to do this. Ever since Tang San introduced concepts like "intellectual property" and "patents," the Martial Soul Temple seemed obsessed with money.
"Have there been any statements from the Star Crown Family?" Dai Legao pondered for a moment, deciding to focus on them. His plan was simple: the Star Crown Family could resolve the situation by having Xing Xing publicly swear loyalty to Dai Weisi under the watch of the mother-and-child soul-guided photography spheres. Then, everything would blow over, and the Dai and Star Crown families could continue to coexist peacefully in the Star Luo family.
However, the Star Crown Family remained silent.
This made Dai Legao suspicious. He began to wonder if the Star Crown Family truly harbored ambitions to seize the Star Luo throne, especially since three hundred years ago, they seemed to have acquired something from the core region of the Infinite Abyss...
Meanwhile, due to public criticism, some young members of the Star Crown Family began to blame Xing Xing, believing he was responsible for their current predicament. Jealousy over Xing Xing's talent also played a role.
Xing Xing had spent the past few days recuperating from his injuries sustained during the competition, thanks to the resources of the sect. However, his soul power had not progressed much, and he feared it would be until he turned sixteen before reaching the Soul Emperor level.
"Grandfather," Xing Xing approached the sect's master. "Did I cause trouble for the Star Crown Family?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" the sect's master shook his head. "Our only problem right now is that we're not strong enough. And the current emperor of the Star Luo Empire is blind, targeting us like this..."
"Don't they know that the Star Luo Empire was founded by our ancestors together?"
"Perhaps we should consider leaving the Star Luo Empire and joining the Tian Dou Empire, or even joining the Martial Soul Temple."
However, for Xing Xing, both options were unfavorable. There was only one reason: he didn't want to see Tang San.
Even though Tang San was also a transmigrator like him, Xing Xing didn't want to work under someone else, especially since he was severely injured by Tang San. Moreover, the era of "fellow transmigrators sympathize with each other" was over. In this world, one transmigrator was enough!
But the problem was that Tang San was currently too powerful for him to contend with. If he were a mouse, Tang San would be a cat, toying with him before catching him.
On the Douluo Continent, he had no chance to grow. He needed to find new opportunities!
"Grandfather, I think migrating to the Tian Dou Empire or joining the Martial Soul Temple are both unwise choices. As the saying goes, 'It's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.' If we abandon the Star Luo Empire, we will certainly be criticized and won't receive much recognition." Xing Xing argued.
The sect master looked puzzled. "What should we do then?"
"Set sail!"
(End of Chapter)