Inside the medical clinic.
"No—NO!!!"
Yu Xiaogang jolted awake from a nightmare, his body drenched in cold sweat as he lay on the bed.
"Teacher! Y-you're awake!"
Tang San hurried to his side.
"Li… Little San, I… I just had a nightmare," Yu Xiaogang said shakily. "I dreamed that I… that I…"
Before he could finish, a sharp wave of pain surged from his lower body.
His face went pale.
Almost reflexively, he lifted the blanket to look. The wound beneath had already been tightly bandaged.
"Th-this… I… what is this…?"
His pupils trembled violently, his voice quivering, already carrying the sound of suppressed sobbing.
At that moment—
"You're awake?"
The physician walked in. Seeing Yu Xiaogang conscious so soon, he was slightly surprised, but recalling that the patient was a Spirit Master with a stronger constitution, his doubts quickly vanished.
"Doctor," Yu Xiaogang asked hoarsely, "I… it… it's been treated, right?"
Before losing consciousness earlier, he vaguely remembered what had happened. Still, until the truth was spoken aloud, he clung desperately to the last shred of hope.
"I'm sorry," the physician said, shaking his head. "That… thing was completely destroyed. With injuries that severe, there was no way to save it. Amputation was the only option."
Those words struck like a thunderbolt.
Yu Xiaogang's mind went blank.
"NO—!!!"
A howl of utter despair tore from his throat as tears streamed down his face.
Even when Bibi Dong had abandoned him.
Even when he learned at the wedding banquet that Liu Erlong was his cousin.
Even when he was mocked and scorned by the world as trash.
None of those moments—
—not one of them—
hurt as much as this.
Some things, a man might never use…
…but he absolutely cannot live without them.
"Te… Teacher…"
Tang San spoke weakly.
Looking at Yu Xiaogang, whose eyes were gradually becoming hollow, as though his very soul had been torn away, Tang San was filled with crushing guilt.
This had been done by his own hands.
Even if Taichu's illusion had played a part, the one who truly fired the hidden weapon… was him.
As a man, he understood his teacher's pain completely. If someone dared to cripple him so viciously, that person would deserve death a thousand times over.
But the one who had done this…
…was himself.
That left him utterly numb.
Yet he couldn't very well go and "court death" himself.
"Li… Little San," Yu Xiaogang said slowly, forcing himself to speak, "this matter… is not your fault. It's all because of that trash—Taichu."
Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang turned his head and looked at the boy before him.
When he saw Tang San's face, flames of rage surged violently in his heart. For a moment, he wanted nothing more than to curse and vent all his hatred.
But he suppressed it.
Not only because Tang San was Tang Hao's son—
but because Tang San was his final lifeline.
The success of twin spirits had already been proven by Bibi Dong.
As long as he nurtured Tang San properly, the boy's future achievements would at least reach the level of a Titled Douluo.
And what could wash away his reputation as "trash" better than personally raising a Titled Douluo?
Nothing.
So not only could he not blame Tang San—he had to comfort him.
Therefore…
…the true culprit could only be Taichu.
"Teacher…"
Tang San was deeply moved by Yu Xiaogang's words.
"Enough," Yu Xiaogang said solemnly. "That brat Taichu is the real culprit. You don't need to take this to heart. Just cultivate properly. One day, defeat him mercilessly and trample him beneath your feet. That will be the greatest reward you can give me."
He forced himself to calm down, speaking with grave sincerity.
His hatred for Taichu ran deep, but now that his emotions had settled, he knew what mattered most.
Only Tang San's success could erase the label of "trash" from his name.
Crushing Taichu completely would be the greatest revenge.
"Teacher, I will cultivate diligently," Tang San said firmly.
Today, being toyed with so thoroughly by Taichu had been a tremendous humiliation.
He possessed twin spirits, had cultivated the Tang Sect's Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record since childhood, and had already become a one-ring Spirit Master.
Yet he had been completely played by a six-year-old child.
That's right—
mentally, he was already thirty-five years old.
To be humiliated like this by a child was beyond disgraceful.
He would personally reclaim the dignity he had lost.
And so—
inside the clinic—
Yu Xiaogang licked his wounds in silence, while Tang San cultivated with renewed determination.
…
In the shadows.
A figure silently observed everything.
"Forget it," Tang Hao murmured to himself. "Having an opponent like that may give Little San more motivation to cultivate and help him grow faster."
Seeing Tang San's resolve deepen, Tang Hao abandoned the thought of directly erasing that Spirit Hall brat with his Innate Full Spirit Power.
After all, it was just an eye-type spirit—at most capable of some illusion tricks. Nothing that couldn't be crushed with a single swing of a hammer.
Killing the boy served no real purpose and might even expose his own movements.
After all—
he had already discovered a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast that had taken human form.
If he attracted Spirit Hall's attention here, his plans to obtain a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring and Spirit Bone for Tang San would be ruined.
So he chose not to act.
Instead, he treated that boy as a whetstone—one meant to sharpen Tang San's growth.
…
Taichu had no idea—
—that he had just brushed past the gates of hell.
But even if he knew, he wouldn't have cared.
Such was the law of the jungle in this world.
Right now, however, he was troubled by something else entirely.
And that was—
"Why did my Sharingan spirit evolve into the Mangekyō Sharingan… yet I have no occult techniques?"
After bringing his uncle home and settling him in, this question had been gnawing at him nonstop.
Logically speaking, once the Mangekyō Sharingan awakened, each eye should give birth to a unique occult technique.
Yet—
his Mangekyō Sharingan was clearly active, but he couldn't sense any abilities hidden within his eyes.
The only consolation was the explosive increase in his mental force after awakening it.
It was precisely because of this surge in mental strength that he had been able to instantly trap Tang San in an illusion and force him to strike Yu Xiaogang, turning the latter into an "Exploding Ball Boy"—no, an "Exploding Ball Old Man."
"That's impossible. There's no such thing as a Mangekyō Sharingan without techniques. Could I have awakened it incorrectly? Or is this some kind of bargain version?"
"No… that doesn't make sense. With my mental force increasing to this extent, it can't be a cheap imitation."
"Unless…"
A thought suddenly flashed through Taichu's mind.
"Because the Sharingan has become a spirit, do I need to absorb a spirit ring before the Mangekyō Sharingan unlocks its occult techniques?"
"That must be it. There's no other explanation."
If that was the case…
He took out the half-eaten Whale Glue.
What happened to his uncle today had made him fully realize just how important strength was.
Without strength, even if those closest to him suffered cruel fates, all he could do was rage helplessly.
"A thousand-year spirit ring…"
"My first spirit ring must be a thousand-year one!"
A blazing obsession burned in his eyes.
Originally, he hadn't planned to push things too far—eight or nine hundred years would have been enough to avoid drawing attention or inviting disaster.
But now—
he only wanted one thing.
To push the limits.
He would absorb a spirit ring with as many years as his body could possibly endure.