"The cultivation of a Soul Master is an extremely important process before the age of twenty," the mentor announced solemnly. "It can be said that one's achievements before twenty determine one's potential for the future. Level 30 is a threshold worlds of fire and ice. If one crosses this threshold before turning twenty, then the future is boundless; if one can't cross it by twenty, one may never be able to do so. Youth is an advantage because it comes with potential. Thus, you, my disciple, cannot afford to waste a single minute. Your mentor can still help you with your first and second Soul Rings, but when it's time for you to obtain your third Soul Ring, I'm afraid I will be helpless, and you will have to rely on yourself. Cultivating Soul Power is not something that can be accomplished through shortcuts; it can only be increased through meditation. Although you possess the advantage of innate full soul power, you must not slack off. Otherwise, you are unworthy of being my disciple."
"Lolo." At this moment, the cry of the mutant Martial Soul, Rong San Pao, suddenly rang out.
A Martial Soul and its host are one; the mentor immediately sensed something, sprang up, and looked in a certain direction.
The sky had completely darkened, and indistinctly, more than ten green lights were approaching their direction.
"It's a Hell Wolf," the mentor's voice was somewhat low, yet there was no trace of panic. "Xiaosan, don't move from here."
Rong San Pao continuously emitted lolo sounds from its mouth, as if threatening those beings that were gradually drawing closer. The mentor didn't notice that a layer of purple glint passed through the eyes of Tang San beside him, making everything in the darkness crystal clear.
As many as six wolf-shaped soul beasts, each about 1.6 meters long, were all iron-grey in color, and those green lights were their eyes. They were slowly approaching Rong San Pao's direction.
Rong San Pao's presence seemed to make them somewhat uneasy. As they drew closer, they maintained a half-moon formation.
The mentor snorted coldly, "A bunch of level 10 little wolves dares to harass me. San Pao."
Rong San Pao growled lowly, its intake of breath sounding like a raging hurricane. Its originally plump belly expanded at an astonishing rate, looking like an inflating ball.
With a wave of his hand, the mentor released a yellow Soul Ring from his body and placed it on Rong San Pao, shouting sternly, "Fart as thunderous as a storm, earth-shattering Rong San Pao."
Rong San Pao's clear blue eyes suddenly brightened, and the yellow Soul Ring around it seemed to transform into a light screen. It's round body abruptly shot up, astonishingly reaching a height of five meters. As it flipped mid-air, a thunderous boom erupted instantly.
Unknown when, the mentor had already produced two masks, handing one promptly to Tang San, while donning the other on his face.
Although Tang San instinctively put on the mask, his gaze was fixed unblinkingly on Rong San Pao's actions. Accompanied by that thunderous roar, a yellow light dome burst out with an irresistible force, enveloping all six ten-year Hell Wolves within it.
The bodies of the six Hell Wolves were tossed up like rag dolls under Rong San Pao's attack, thrown more than ten meters away. Two of the Hell Wolves' waists smashed against tree trunks with piteous yelps and were unable to get up.
The other wolves tumbled on the ground. Through his Purple Demon Eyes, Tang San clearly saw that each Hell Wolf's mouth and nose were bleeding, which indicated just how powerful the previous shock wave had been. In the midst of a wooing sound, except for the two that lay on the ground unable to rise, the others ran away swiftly.
Even then, the mentor did not forget to instruct Tang San, "The body structure of wolves and dogs is very similar, and they are described as having a 'head of copper, a body of iron, but a waist of tofu.' Their waists are the weakest link in their bodies." As he spoke, the mentor stepped forward, a Short knife somehow already in his hand, swiftly swiping it across the necks of the two immobilized Hell Wolves, then scattering some realgar powder over their bodies to mask the scent of blood.
"Look, the Soul Rings are about to appear." Following the mentor's reminder, Tang San observed that with the deaths of the two ten-year Hell Wolves, a faint white glow began to rise from their bodies, undulating ethereally in the air as if it could disperse at any moment.
"This is a Soul Ring. Since I killed them, if my Soul Power were just right for advancing, I could now absorb their Soul Rings to level up. The method is to use one's own Soul Power to draw the Soul Ring onto oneself and immediately begin meditation to absorb the energy of the Soul Ring."
A faint purple light emanated from the mentor's hand, beckoning to one of the Soul Rings produced by a Hell Wolf. The Soul Ring flew towards him and began to circle his body, but did not assimilate.
"My Soul Power is not sufficient for advancement, so I cannot absorb the Soul Ring. Within two hours, it will dissipate on its own. Xiaosan, hand me two white radishes."
"Oh," Tang San said, and swiftly retrieved two white radishes from his Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges for the mentor.
The mentor threw them casually to Rong San Pao, who, with an excited lolo sound, voraciously devoured the radishes.
"The characteristics of a mutant Martial Soul cannot be understood through common Martial Soul theory. San Pao can reduce the consumption of my Soul Power by eating food. And it only has three offensive abilities; each attack must be replenished immediately."
"Does San Pao only eat white radishes?" asked Tang San.
The mentor gave him a bitter look and said, "You saw San Pao's method of attacking—it farts. If you hadn't worn the mask, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to stand the stench by now. Soul beasts can't bear it either, which is why those Hell Wolves ran away so fast. As for white radishes, there are few foods that can rival it in promoting flatulence. With two radishes as replenishment, roughly an hour later, San Pao will recover from the offensive ability it used."