Chapter 8: Tang San: Numb, Just Regretful Now, Extremely Regretful
By evening, the pair arrived at the small town just outside the Spirit Hunting Forest. During the day-long journey, Chrysanthemum Douluo had also explained much about spirit beasts and the precautions for absorbing spirit rings to Xia Tianling.
"Grandpa Chrysanthemum, let's spend the night in the forest!" Xia Tianling was somewhat excited, eagerly pulling Chrysanthemum Douluo forward, much like a genuine six-year-old child. In his previous life, he'd never experienced spending a night in a forest, and besides, if they went late, they'd miss a good show.
Chrysanthemum Douluo paused. He originally planned to stay overnight at the Spirit Hall's outpost in town and enter the next day. Hearing Xia Tianling say this now, he assumed it was childish nature and, out of affection, readily agreed.
"Hello, please present your pass." Arriving at the forest entrance, the soldier in charge prompted them. Unlike the often bullying gate guards at Nuoding Academy, these inspection soldiers were highly professional.
Chrysanthemum Douluo took out a token from his spirit tool.
"Chrysan—" The soldier's eyes widened, and he immediately prepared to salute. Before he could shout, Chrysanthemum Douluo waved to stop him while pulling Xia Tianling into the forest.
"Safe journey, Milord," the soldier said softly.
"Who was that just now? You seem even more respectful than towards that Lord with the three-seal token we saw this morning..." Seeing the two had walked far, a colleague nearby asked cautiously.
"That was His Excellency Chrysanthemum Douluo from the Spirit Hall!"
Colleague: !!! What's going on today? Big shots coming to this small Spirit Hunting Forest in groups!
The "Lord" mentioned by the two soldiers was, naturally, Grandmaster holding the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan token, along with Tang San.
Time rewinds to the morning.
Today was the day Grandmaster brought Tang San to obtain his first spirit ring. Although Tang San hadn't formally become Grandmaster's disciple, out of a desire to win him over and gain favor, Grandmaster still gifted the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges belt to Tang San.
Throughout the journey and upon entering the Spirit Hunting Forest, he constantly showed off various pieces of knowledge to Tang San, displaying the richness of his theoretical understanding. It was fine at first, but after entering the Spirit Hunting Forest, it had the opposite effect.
"This is a ten-year Variegated Cat, belonging to the feline spirit beast category..."
"Look, ahead is a Solitary Bamboo. That's also a spirit beast, a plant-type spirit beast. The characteristic way to determine its age is..."
Tang San increasingly felt his suspicions were correct. Grandmaster, as a level 29 Grand Spirit Master with a trash spirit, how did you research these spirit beasts? Ten-year ones are fine, but what about hundred-year ones? Thousand-year? Ten-thousand-year?
"I have carefully studied the experiences of many Spirit Masters. Four hundred and twenty-three years should be the limit that can be withstood for the first spirit ring."
So where exactly did you get the samples for comparative research? Have you ever tested this theory on others? Tang San complained silently in his heart.
Then again, some of Grandmaster's basic theoretical knowledge was quite solid, like identifying the age of spirit beasts, which was helpful for his own cultivation. Doubts aside, listening selectively wasn't a problem. What was that phrase Brother Ling used to say? Oh right, take the essence and discard the dross.
What followed wasn't much different from the original story's development. Tang San and Grandmaster camped in the forest, then encountered a wolf pack and a Mandrake Snake. After Tang San used all his trump cards and finally managed to kill the Mandrake Snake with great difficulty, Grandmaster exclaimed ecstatically, "Excellent, Little San! Your spirit ring is secured!"
"Teacher Yu, what are you saying? You can't be talking about this snake, right?" Tang San looked at Grandmaster in astonishment.
Grandmaster nodded seriously. "Correct, this is it. Before a Mandrake Snake reaches a certain cultivation level, its body grows one centimeter for every year it lives. This Mandrake Snake is nearly four meters long, meaning its cultivation is close to four hundred years. It's just near the limit for the first spirit ring absorbed when transitioning from Spirit Scholar to Spirit Master. With your innate full spirit power, absorbing its spirit ring poses no problem."
"That's not right, Teacher Yu. Isn't this a beast-type spirit beast? Won't absorbing it cause a conflict for me?" Tang San asked doubtfully.
At this moment, Grandmaster wore a confident expression. "According to one of the Ten Core Competencies of the Spirit World that I proposed... in summary, absorbing this spirit ring is just right for you."
"However, other Spirit Masters sneer at my theories; no one believes them. Little San, are you willing to try? Although I have absolute confidence in the theory, no one has ever attempted it. As the saying goes, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth..."
Grandmaster was fervently presenting his theory to Tang San, while Tang San had already become extremely wary of him.
WDNMD (Translator's note: coarse slang expressing extreme frustration)! This damned old man wants to harm me! You also know practice yields true knowledge? You also know this is just a theory? You're just using your own student for experiments, right? You're really something else as a teacher.
Tang San looked at Grandmaster, who, in his fervent speech, hadn't even noticed he was already poisoned by the Mandrake Snake. He thought about the wolf pack they had just encountered and sighed deeply.
If I don't absorb this spirit ring, in my current state, I have no ability to protect myself. Once Grandmaster's poisoning worsens, he'll definitely fall unconscious. Without any strength myself, I'll most likely end up dead in this forest full of spirit beasts. Besides, without Grandmaster as a living map, finding the correct way out is also a problem.
Forget it, let's gamble.
"Teacher Yu, say no more. I believe your theory." With that, Tang San sat down cross-legged, endured the feeling of exhaustion, and began absorbing the first spirit ring for his Blue Silver Grass. Grandmaster guided him from the side.
Then, exactly like in the original story, before Tang San could finish absorbing the spirit ring, Grandmaster had already fainted from the poison.
Some time later.
"Eh? Little San? Is that really you!" The speaker was precisely Chrysanthemum Douluo and Xia Tianling, who had just followed the sounds of fighting.
Naturally, it was Chrysanthemum Douluo who heard the fighting sounds, but the one egging him on was, of course, Xia Tianling, who was familiar with the original story. He knew that tonight, Tang San would fight a wolf pack and then obtain his first spirit ring.
Feigning a surprised chance encounter, Xia Tianling timed his arrival perfectly. By this time, Tang San had already finished absorbing the spirit ring and had detoxified Grandmaster.
"Brother Tianling!" Seeing Xia Tianling, Tang San was truly overjoyed. Grandmaster was deeply unconscious. Although he had detoxified him, whether he would survive was still uncertain, and Tang San didn't know what to do.
"Tianling, is this the very good friend from the village you often mention, Tang San?" Chrysanthemum Douluo spoke unhurriedly, glancing at the prone Yu Xiaogang on the ground, clearly recognizing him, while also giving Tang San a meaningful look.
"Yes, Grandpa Chrysanthemum, Little San and I are great friends! By the way, Little San, what happened here?" Xia Tianling, channeling his inner actor, asked knowingly.
Tang San explained the entire sequence of events, asking Xia Tianling what he should do next, while also subtly hinting at the status of the elder behind Xia Tianling.
This little trick didn't escape the Titled Douluo's perception, but Chrysanthemum Douluo didn't say anything. Instead, he magnanimously suggested the two kids stay and catch up. With him around, they wouldn't be comfortable anyway. He would take 'Little Gang' aside to detoxify him further.
(End of Chapter)