Chapter 18 - Chapter 18: Xiao Wu's Disdain

"Who is it?"

Walking alone on the academy's streets, Zhao Ming suddenly sensed a hint of danger. Since becoming a soul master, his perception had significantly improved, especially after acquiring the Ancient Undying Phoenix martial soul, which further enhanced his physical abilities.

Especially his sense of danger.

Sure enough, from a slightly dark corner, a figure emerged.

The newcomer wore the Nuoding Academy uniform, with a finely crafted black belt at his waist.

"Tang San?" Zhao Ming asked in surprise. He knew that Tang San had been with Grandmaster recently to acquire a soul ring, which was why he hadn't been around the academy. It seemed he had returned today.

And he came looking for him right away?

"It seems that the useless Yu Xiaogang helped you gain a decent soul skill. What's the matter? Do you want to teach me a lesson?" Zhao Ming smirked disdainfully.

Yu Xiaogang? Is that the name of his teacher? Tang San frowned slightly.

"Master is my teacher, and I won't allow you to insult him," Tang San said, tightening his fists and speaking coldly.

"Tang San, it's not that I'm being harsh, but Yu Xiaogang is nothing but a waste. He will never break through to the Soul Master level. He only got into this school because of his connections with the principal. To put it bluntly, he's just a freeloader. Look around, besides you, who treats him as a treasure?" Zhao Ming retorted.

"Shut up! How could you understand the level of my teacher?" Tang San's face darkened as he shouted angrily at Zhao Ming.

To Tang San, the idea of respecting his teacher was not just lip service. Since he became Grandmaster's disciple, his respect for him was genuine and heartfelt.

"Are you thinking that your master's theories are invincible?" Zhao Ming replied indifferently. "Summer insects are incapable of discussing ice. A soul master who hasn't even reached the Soul Master level probably hasn't even felt what a martial soul's true form is, let alone the realm of a Title Douluo where one achieves unity with their martial soul. Where does he get these theories from?"

"You!" Tang San's expression changed, his eyes full of hostility toward Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming observed Tang San's reaction. The initial plan to sow discord between Tang San and Grandmaster was clearly failing. Tang San, being an ancient soul, had a deeply ingrained respect for his teacher.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, you have triggered the task: Let Tang San understand what despair means. Time-limited task: Seven days."

"Task reward: One random character summoning card."

The sudden task caught Zhao Ming off guard.

Make Tang San feel despair? This task didn't seem easy to accomplish.

It would be simple to physically beat Tang San, but given his stubborn nature, he would likely become more determined in the fight!

"System, what exactly does this task entail?"

"The host can use various means to make Tang San feel despair," the system replied.

"Various means?"

Just as Zhao Ming was about to ask another question, Tang San interrupted him.

In a fit of rage, Tang San unleashed his martial soul. A light yellow soul ring appeared beneath him, causing his aura to soar. However, he didn't use the soul ring; instead, he threw a punch directly at Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming noticed the white energy gathering around Tang San's fist. Immediately, Tang San's fist turned a glossy white. Having practiced the Xuan Tian Gong since childhood, Tang San's punch packed a significant punch.

So, he wants to go toe-to-toe with me?

Zhao Ming quickly activated his martial soul but had no intention of using Flame Spirit Ji against him.

Even without a soul ring, the Ancient Undying Phoenix martial soul had already begun to enhance his physical capabilities.

Throwing a punch of his own, Zhao Ming aimed for a straightforward clash.

The two fists collided in mid-air with a loud "bang." Both Zhao Ming and Tang San staggered back two steps.

Feeling a slight tingling sensation in his hand, Zhao Ming was surprised. Tang San's punching power was indeed not weak. It was on par with an ordinary level eleven battle soul master. Had he not acquired the Ancient Undying Phoenix martial soul, he would never have dared to confront Tang San head-on.

Tang San was equally shocked. He had previously analyzed Zhao Ming's martial soul with Grandmaster. Zhao Ming could summon powerful puppets to fight, which was an unprecedented ability, but it had a flaw: his physical strength was too weak.

Grandmaster had once explained that as long as he bypassed the protection of Zhao Ming's puppets and attacked directly, he could achieve victory.

With this belief, he dared to challenge Zhao Ming. His Blue Silver Grass martial soul's first soul skill was Bind; he thought that if he quickly restrained Zhao Ming's puppet, he could easily defeat him using his Tang Sect skills.

But now it seemed like he was mistaken.

Zhao Ming's true strength was formidable.

Tang San calculated quickly in his mind.

However, Zhao Ming wasn't going to wait for him. Enveloping his leg with soul power, he kicked fiercely at Tang San. Tang San drew a circle in the air with his hands, then pulled them inward and swiftly pushed out, sending Zhao Ming flying backward.

The battle continued; Tang San didn't actively use his soul skills, and naturally, Zhao Ming wouldn't use his in front of him either.

"Zhao Ming, what are you doing?" Just as Zhao Ming and Tang San were locked in a fierce struggle, a voice interrupted them.

Xiao Wu?

Zhao Ming froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up as if a thought had struck him.

After taking a hit from Tang San, Zhao Ming stumbled backward, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he fell into Xiao Wu's embrace.

"Zhao Ming, what happened to you?" Xiao Wu looked at Zhao Ming, her face paling with concern as she checked his injuries.

"I'm fine," Zhao Ming said, wiping the blood from his mouth and shaking his head.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I must have distracted you just now," Xiao Wu said, her big eyes glistening with unshed tears. She had seen clearly that Zhao Ming was evenly matched with Tang San and had even held an advantage, but her interruption had caused him to lose focus and get hurt.

"Who are you? Why are you attacking him?" Xiao Wu lifted her head, her face filled with anger. The days spent with Zhao Ming had been the happiest times since her mother passed away. Since she agreed to be Zhao Ming's girlfriend, he had become the closest person to her in this world.

Seeing him hurt made her heart ache.

"My name is Tang San," Tang San frowned, confused by why he had seemingly not used much force but Zhao Ming had still been injured.

"Tang San?" Xiao Wu furrowed her brow.

Zhao Ming realized that due to various misunderstandings, this was the first time Xiao Wu and Tang San had met.

"Tang San is also a classmate of ours. He's the one who didn't show up on the first day of school," Zhao Ming reminded her at the right moment.

Xiao Wu nodded, her disdain for Tang San deepening.

Skipping class on the first day.

Injuring her boyfriend upon arriving at school.

These two points had left a terrible impression of Tang San in Xiao Wu's mind.

---

𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼:

• 𝘽𝙤𝙜𝙙𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙪

• 𝙅𝙘𝟭𝟮𝟬𝟮

• 𝘼𝙝𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙟𝙖𝙝

𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟯𝟱+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!

👉 𝙅𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙬: 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧