"Shh!"
Su Yuntao hurriedly covered Taichu's mouth. "You brat, don't say whatever comes into your head! How can you call the Supreme Pontiff by her name?!"
If someone overheard that and word spread, it would be a catastrophe.
"It's fine to think it—but never let it leave your mouth,"
Su Yuntao warned seriously.
He knew exactly why Spirit Hall was punishing him. He felt wronged, deeply dissatisfied, but he didn't dare voice it. All he could do was swallow his anger in silence.
After all, he was just a nobody, completely powerless over his own fate.
With a single order from above, he had been sent to the Angel Hunting Squad—an organization with a mortality rate as high as thirty percent—for a three-month mission.
If he showed even the slightest dissatisfaction and it reached the higher-ups, it wouldn't stop at three months. It could become three years… or even thirty. Perhaps the only way it would truly end was if he died during a mission.
"Uncle…"
Taichu looked at him, unsure what to say. Guilt welled up in his heart. After all, his uncle had only beaten Yu Xiaogang to protect him—and that had provoked Bibi Dong's retaliation.
"You brat, this has nothing to do with you,"
Su Yuntao said with a smile.
"Even if I had to do it all over again, I'd still beat that trash senseless."
Then his expression turned serious.
"I still haven't reported your discovery about whale glue—how it strengthens the body and allows Spirit Masters to absorb higher-year spirit rings—to Spirit Hall."
"I've thought it through," he said quietly.
"I've decided not to report it at all."
That decision surprised Taichu.
Ever since his Martial Soul Awakening, he had told Su Yuntao about the special effects of whale glue. That was why he had purchased such massive quantities for testing—with Su Yuntao's full consent.
And the results were clear: whale glue truly enhanced physical fitness and increased tolerance for higher-year spirit rings.
Originally, Su Yuntao had planned to report this discovery to Spirit Hall. He'd even intended to wait until Taichu successfully absorbed a five- or six-hundred-year spirit ring before doing so, to provide solid proof.
But now…
Before he could report anything, Spirit Hall had given him such a "surprise" that it completely crushed his heart. Any remaining goodwill he had toward Spirit Hall was extinguished.
"Alright,"
Taichu nodded.
He had no intention of objecting.
In truth, when Su Yuntao first planned to offer the whale glue findings to Spirit Hall, Taichu hadn't opposed it either. If it helped his uncle advance further, that would have been a good thing.
As for whale glue resources, he would've simply bought up everything in bulk beforehand. There would've been more than enough for both of them.
But now?
Spirit Hall didn't deserve it.
"These are most of my savings—keep them for now,"
Su Yuntao said, taking out a spatial spirit tool.
"And this is the deed to this courtyard. Guard it well."
"These are the savings my father, my sister, and my brother-in-law left behind. Take them too—and don't spend them recklessly."
"On your cultivation path, you can seek help from Si Si or Master Ma. Especially Master Ma—he and my father were brothers who survived life-and-death situations together. He is absolutely trustworthy…"
He spoke slowly, carefully, item by item—like someone arranging their final affairs.
"Uncle, I've remembered everything,"
Taichu nodded.
Su Yuntao's concern warmed his heart—but the thought of his uncle's situation filled him with sorrow.
This was already set in stone. There was no changing it.
All he could do was pray that his uncle would return safely.
…
The next day,
Su Yuntao departed.
He joined the Angel Hunting Squad and set off on the three-month mission.
Back in the large courtyard, Taichu silently roasted whale glue until it softened. Unconsciously, his Sharingan Martial Soul surfaced. Three tomoe spun rapidly in his crimson eyes, as if they were about to connect—yet still separated by the thinnest margin.
He didn't even notice the change himself.
Once the whale glue softened,
he swallowed the hundred-year whale glue in one gulp.
A scorching heat immediately surged through his body.
Seeing this, Taichu hurriedly circulated his meditation technique and began cultivating.
This incident had made him truly understand what it meant to have one's fate controlled by others.
He never wanted to experience that feeling again.
So he had to become strong—strong enough that no one could ever dictate his fate, or the fate of those around him.
Three months wasn't short.
But for Taichu, who was completely immersed in cultivation, time flew by.
For three whole months,
he consumed whale glue almost every day.
In the first month, ten-year and hundred-year whale glue completely lost its effect.
In the second month, he began consuming thousand-year whale glue—one-third of a piece per day. After a full month, he had used ten pieces, and even that level had become ineffective.
In the third month, the ten-thousand-year whale glue he had ordered finally arrived. He divided it into portions, but even tiny amounts were so potent that he nearly couldn't endure it. In an entire month, he managed to consume only half of it.
And then—today.
"Taichu, your uncle is back."
Someone brought him the news.
Taichu was startled. There should've still been a few days left before the three months ended. Could it be that the Angel Hunting Squad had allowed his uncle to return early?
With doubt in his heart, he rushed to the Spirit Hall branch.
To his surprise—
He ran straight into Yu Xiaogang. Standing beside him was a boy about the same age as himself.
"So this is Tang San…"
Taichu glanced at the boy, a flicker of killing intent flashing through his eyes.
His parents had died at Tang Hao's hands. That blood feud was irreconcilable. As Tang Hao's son, Tang San was naturally his enemy.
But his uncle's situation took priority. He forcibly suppressed the killing intent and looked away, walking straight inside.
When Yu Xiaogang saw him, his face darkened.
"Teacher, do you know him?"
Tang San asked, noticing the change in expression.
"A trash Martial Soul with Innate Full Spirit Power,"
Yu Xiaogang snorted coldly.
"I kindly offered to take him as a disciple and use my Martial Soul theories to change his fate, but he was arrogant and even insulted me. Truly rotten wood—completely uncarvable."
"Teacher, I'll definitely prove to the world that you're right,"
Tang San said coldly. In his eyes, someone who dared insult his teacher already had a death wish.
"Hmph. No need to waste thought on him,"
Yu Xiaogang said dismissively.
"You're different. Without my guidance, he's destined to be trash. Little San, under my Martial Soul theories, you will surely become the strongest Titled Douluo."
The corners of his mouth curled upward.
Now that he had taken a disciple with twin martial souls, he no longer cared about Taichu and his Innate Full Spirit Power. Even if Taichu knelt and begged, he wouldn't spare him a glance.
…
Inside the branch hall.
Master Ma looked at Su Yuntao and let out a deep sigh.
"It's good that you managed to come back alive."
Hearing that,
a faint smile appeared on Su Yuntao's pale face.
"Yeah… I'm already lucky just to be alive."
Compared to those comrades who had fallen, a mere Spirit Grandmaster like him surviving was truly a stroke of fortune.
At that moment—
"Un… Uncle, your leg…"
As soon as Taichu walked in, he saw Su Yuntao sitting there. His gaze dropped instinctively.
His left leg was gone.
Only then did Taichu understand—his uncle hadn't returned early out of luck.
It was because of this injury.
Instantly, his Sharingan Martial Soul surfaced uncontrollably. The three tomoe spun violently, on the verge of fusing together.
Just then—
"A crude brute who doesn't understand etiquette deserves to lose a leg!"
Yu Xiaogang, who had just walked in, immediately mocked Su Yuntao upon seeing his condition.
"Shut up!"
Those two words detonated Taichu's rage.
He snapped around, his gaze locking onto Yu Xiaogang like a blade. In that instant, the rapidly spinning three tomoe finally connected, forming a completely new pattern.
The ultimate Heavenly Eye said to see through the Three Realms—
The Mangekyō Sharingan had awakened!