Tang Lan arrived at Tang Sect Academy.
Hearing the news, Liu Erlong quickly rushed over.
Due to her recent outstanding performance, she had already been promoted to vice principal.
"Go call Su Yuntao over."
"Yes, Sect Master."
Not long after—
"Blind Douluo" Su Yuntao appeared before Tang Lan.
Once, he had marveled at the idea that Blue Silver Grass could possess innate rank-three soul power. Now, he didn't even dare to lift his head to look at Tang Lan.
His posture was hunched, his demeanor cautious and reserved.
Yet, inside, a storm raged!
Was this really that child whose spirit awakening he had overseen?
That handsome and striking face—there was no way it matched the vague image in his memory!
Tang Lan also looked at Su Yuntao, feeling a bit sentimental.
Six or seven years had passed, and yet Su Yuntao was still stuck at rank 29?
"You didn't practice Nine Yang Divine Skill? It's in the Tang Sect Encyclopedia," Tang Lan asked, puzzled.
With even a basic grasp of Nine Yang Divine Skill, this bottleneck should've been easy to break through.
Su Yuntao let out a bitter chuckle.
"Replying to the Sect Master... I practiced it, but I couldn't get started."
Oh~
So it was a talent issue.
Recalling how Su Yuntao had once lamented that innate rank-three soul power had appeared in Blue Silver Grass—
The irony was simply too much.
Tang Lan raised a hand.
His Life Soul—Blue Silver Emperor wrapped around Su Yuntao, making his face turn deathly pale in fear!
—Was this mighty figure going to take revenge on him for his past disdain?
As expected!
He knew he shouldn't have come!
But if he hadn't come, then Huang Yuan…
Just as his mind spiraled into panic—
Tang Lan spoke casually: "Stop overthinking. Follow the flow of my internal energy."
Only then did Su Yuntao realize—
A scorching energy was surging through his meridians, rampaging like a ten-thousand-year soul beast. It forcefully expanded his pathways, cleared impurities, and refined his soul power.
Instinctively, he guided his soul power to follow its course.
After one full circulation—
"Crack—"
The bottleneck shattered!
Just like that?!
Su Yuntao was in utter disbelief.
Tang Lan withdrew his Blue Silver Emperor, stood up, and turned to leave.
Su Yuntao snapped back to reality.
He quickly bowed. "Sect Master, please give your orders!"
After all, Tang Lan had summoned him from afar and even personally helped him break his bottleneck.
Surely, he had some task in mind.
But Tang Lan didn't respond. He simply brushed past him lightly.
At the doorway, he finally spoke casually:
"I was just doing it for fun. If you want to stay at the academy, go find Liu Erlong."
Then, he left.
Leaving Su Yuntao standing there, completely dumbfounded.
For fun?
So…
This man had broken his years-long bottleneck on a whim?!
After a long silence, Liu Erlong's arrival pulled Su Yuntao back to reality.
He let out a bitter smile.
When Liu Erlong asked if he wanted to stay—
Su Yuntao thought of Tang Lan and Tang San, and his eyes gradually grew firm.
"I want to return to Spirit Hall and continue awakening martial souls for children in remote villages!"
"If I can awaken even one more genius like Sect Master Tang in my lifetime, then I'll have no regrets!"
Liu Erlong was stunned.
With his ties to Tang Lan and Tang San, if Su Yuntao stayed, he would surely enjoy great success.
Yet, he had chosen to give that up?
To remain steadfast in the remote villages?
Liu Erlong couldn't help but feel deep respect.
"Since Teacher Su has made his decision, I won't try to persuade you otherwise."
She took out a soul communication device and handed it to Su Yuntao.
"Take this. If you ever run into trouble, you can contact me."
Su Yuntao instinctively took it—after all, she was a seven-ring Soul Sage, a powerful ally for him.
Still in a daze, he was personally escorted out of the academy by Liu Erlong.
Standing at the gate, Su Yuntao stared at the soul communication device, utterly confused.
How… do I even use this thing?
On a whim, Tang Lan had met with Su Yuntao and showed off a little.
His mood was quite good.
So, he casually issued an order—
Have a school built in Holy Soul Village, dedicated to teaching literacy.
The curriculum was simple—just one book: the Tang Sect Encyclopedia.
Giving people fish was not as good as teaching them how to fish.
Instead of simply handing out money—
Strengthening people's minds and knowledge would help them step into a broader world.
Even ordinary folk—
If they could master just the first layer of Nine Yang Divine Skill, they could still change their fates.
What was this called?
This was called never forgetting one's roots!
This was called lifting everyone up when one succeeded!
The entire next day, Tang Lan spent his time meditating.
After all, he couldn't always rely on the system to improve.
So, he multitasked—researching Blue Silver Domain, Soul Spirit Domain, and Vajra Unbreakable Body simultaneously.
Time flew by, and soon, afternoon arrived.
Tang Lan opened his eyes.
His soul force materialized, opening the door.
He rose and stepped forward to welcome the guests.
Gu Rong, Ning Fengzhi, and Ning Rongrong were stepping out from a black mist portal.
Seeing Tang Lan emerge, they assumed it was mere coincidence.
"Brother Lan!" Ning Fengzhi was visibly excited. "Are you really confident that you can evolve Rongrong's martial soul into the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda?"
Both Gu Rong and Ning Rongrong also fixed their gazes on Tang Lan, eyes brimming with anticipation.
"Of course." Tang Lan nodded firmly. "Brother, you know me—I wouldn't say it unless I was certain."
Ning Fengzhi was overjoyed!
He immediately took out three soul bones from his storage ring.
One purple, one green, one black.
"These are three soul bones—"
"A 12,000-year-old Purple Ling Python Right Arm Bone!"
"A 48,000-year-old Storm Speed Left Leg Bone!"
"And a 64,000-year-old Ghost Nether Cat Left Leg Bone!"
"Brother Lan, is this enough?"
"I placed a tenfold bounty but could only collect these three within the time frame."
As he spoke, Ning Fengzhi even looked a bit regretful.
—There hadn't been enough time for him to fully unleash his money power.
Tang Lan blinked.
This… was the power of a filthy rich clan?!
Love it!
Just as he was about to nod—
Gu Rong took a step forward.
"I also understand how critical martial soul evolution is."
"I actually have a full set of 50,000-year soul bones, with a left arm bone as high as 80,000 years."
"I heard you can regrow limbs, so why not—"
Tang Lan hurriedly waved him off!
—He needed soul bones for Zhu Zhuqing and the others, but this was too much!
"No, no, no! That's really not necessary!"
"With these three soul bones and one more favor I can call in, it's enough."
Hearing that Tang Lan had a favor to use, Ning Fengzhi couldn't back down.
"I'll keep offering bounties and try to get you a 70,000-year soul bone."
As expected of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan—absolutely loaded.
"Then I won't refuse," Tang Lan grinned.
"Uncle Bone, I'll have to trouble you to take Rongrong and her teammates to the Sunset Forest."
"Rongrong's evolution opportunity is there."
Gu Rong nodded decisively.
"Leave it to me!"