On the other side, after Yu Xiaogang left, the room fell into silence.
Although the Three Shrek Heroes had already become disillusioned with Tang San behind the scenes, all four of them shared the same attitude toward Gangzi —utter contempt.
"Why did Gangzi go to Spirit Hall?" muttered Ma Hongjun in confusion.
Dai Mubai replied, "Did you forget? The current Pope of Spirit Hall still has a thing for him. Gangzi's probably going to beg Bibi Dong for a method to cultivate twin martial souls."
Ma Hongjun nodded. "That makes sense."
Oscar turned to Tang San. "Ah San, if I remember correctly, Gangzi didn't succeed in getting anything from Spirit Hall in the last life either, right?"
Tang San, his face darkened and cold, sneered:
"Whether or not he gets it is irrelevant to me. I've already succeeded once in cultivating twin martial souls, and even my future daughter—who also has twin martial souls—succeeded. I have plenty of experience in how to train them. What do I need some secret manual for?"
"The reason I took Yu Xiaogang as my master was never for his knowledge—but for his connections. He was our early-game umbrella, that's it."
"But remember—there's no need to feel any gratitude toward him. He's like a chamber pot—useful when needed, but when not in use, just stinks under the bed. After this Soul Master Tournament is over, I'll end this fake master-disciple relationship. Let that level-29 piece of trash crawl around like a maggot in the dark."
"True that," Ma Hongjun nodded.
Tang San continued, "We and Gangzi are simply not from the same world. Don't waste your energy on someone who'll never break through level 29. He's not worth it." Then, he turned to Dai Mubai, "Let's get back to what we were talking about earlier."
"Oh right," said Dai Mubai. "You said you wanted to cultivate your Clear Sky Hammer. Should we inform Flender and Zhao Wuji to take you hunting for a soul ring?"
Tang San shook his head.
"No. The teachers at Shrek all agree I shouldn't attach a soul ring to the Clear Sky Hammer. I also can't tell them my Blue Silver Grass has lost its bloodline and been crippled by Gangzi. Cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer is my only path now. If they knew I wanted to attach a soul ring to it, they'd never let me go hunting."
Oscar raised a valid concern:
"But with your current strength, you're not strong enough to hunt soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest."
Tang San nodded. "That's why I need your help to come up with a plan."
The problem was this: Tang San wanted to attach soul rings to the Clear Sky Hammer, but even the starting soul rings for it needed to come from 5,000 to 10,000-year-old soul beasts—well beyond their current capabilities. And soul hunting in the wild without teacher protection was extremely dangerous.
The Shrek trio fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, Dai Mubai clapped his fist into his palm and said, "Ah San, I've got it. I know what to do!"
"What plan?"
Dai Mubai led Tang San through the streets to the Soul-Hunting Guild in Heaven Dou City.
There, a receptionist greeted them. Dai Mubai submitted a soul-hunting request. A moment later, a muscle-bound man was brought over by a steward and introduced to them.
"This is Brother Hai—Level 64 Soul Emperor. He's a gold-medal hunter in our Soul-Hunting Guild. He's led Soul Kings into the wild 12 times, successfully hunted 1,000- and 10,000-year-old soul beasts, and even assisted a Soul Sage in a successful operation against a 30,000-year soul beast."
"I'm confident he'll meet your needs."
"Perfect. We'll go with him."
Dai Mubai turned to him, "Brother Hai, this is my brother Tang San. He needs four soul rings ranging between 5,000 and 10,000 years. Whatever it costs, we'll pay."
Hai-ge stroked his beard and said confidently, "Alright, leave it to me."
Dai Mubai subtly pulled out a Star Luo Royal Family Platinum Card from his pocket and slipped it to Hai-ge, who carefully pocketed it after making sure no one saw.
Dai Mubai gave Hai-ge a knowing look: Stick to the plan.
Hai-ge: "OK!"
Dai Mubai patted his shoulder and said,
"Hai-ge, my brother Ah San is in your hands now. Please make sure he gets the right soul rings."
"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything."
Dai Mubai left. Before leaving, he patted Tang San's shoulder and said with a solemn tone,
"Ah San, I'll watch over sister-in-law for you, keep her from being taken by Yu Tianheng. I hope you can make it back before the round-robin matches start."
"Mm, I will." Tang San nodded firmly.
After that, Dai Mubai returned, while Tang San followed Hai-ge into the Star Dou Great Forest.
In his past life, Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer's first spirit ring started at the Hundred-thousand-year level with the Titan Giant Ape. Subsequent rings were at least near ten-thousand-year grade, and the final ring reached 990,000 years, ultimately breaking through to the million-year level during the god trials.
This life, however, he could only start with thousand-year rings. Tang San was naturally dissatisfied, but he had no choice.
After losing his bloodline, the Blue Silver Grass's cultivation speed had become excruciatingly slow. Training it to Title Douluo before switching to the Clear Sky Hammer would waste too much time. Starting with the hammer now brought more benefits than costs.
And—
Xiao Wu was the scabbard of the Shura Sword, which meant the inheritance of the Shura God. This was tied to Tang San's eternal legacy.
Now cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer meant losing many things, but losing Xiao Wu meant losing everything.
Tang San absolutely could not allow Xiao Wu's heart to be stolen by Yu Tianheng or any other man. Xiao Wu was his, and so was the Shura God's position.
Thus, cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer, displaying his strength, and reclaiming Xiao Wu's increasingly distant heart was imperative.
Of course, even if starting with thousand-year rings, Tang San had extremely high standards for his ring configuration.
He had his targets:
Thousand-Year Sky-Supporting Demon Ape
Thousand-Year Titan Giant Ape
Thousand-Year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear
Thousand-Year Thousand-Jin Ant
Thousand-Year Dark Demon Evil God Tiger
For Tang San, these were basic requirements. For Hai-ge, this was pure torment.
You want me, a Soul Emperor, to hunt a thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear? Thousand-year Titan Giant Ape? Thousand-year Sky-Supporting Demon Ape? Why don't you just tell me to ascend to heaven while you're at it!
Then came the following scene:
"This five-thousand-year Silverback Gorilla—what do you think?" Hai-ge pointed at a gorilla foraging in the forest.
Tang San activated the Purple Demon Eye. Indeed, it was a five-thousand-year Silverback Gorilla, a strength-type beast. Though suitable, it didn't meet his expectations, so he shook his head.
Hai-ge's mouth twitched with an almost invisible smirk. He had feared Tang San would actually agree—because then it would be hard to justify pocketing the bonus.
He continued to lead Tang San wandering around the forest. Eventually, they reached a pond where a massive black ox, over ten meters tall and covered in moss, soaked in the water. Hai-ge pointed at it:
"Six-thousand-year Cangming Swamp Ox, strength-type. How about this?"
Tang San examined it. It was indeed a good fit for a strength-type martial spirit, but still below his standards.
"I think I deserve something better," Tang San said.
"You deserve better," Hai-ge sneered, then dragged Tang San around several more areas.
Days passed as they searched. Tang San didn't know how deep into the forest they had gone. Hai-ge grew increasingly impatient. At first, he had earnestly searched for strength-type beasts.
Later, his attitude turned lazy and half-hearted.
"Three-thousand-year Hallucinogenic Butterfly—how about it?"
"Five-thousand-year Sloth—what do you think?"
"Six-thousand-year Giant Lizard—good enough?"
Finally, Tang San couldn't bear it anymore:
"Hai-ge, my martial spirit is the Clear Sky Hammer. It needs strength-type spirit rings. What kind of beasts are you even finding?"
Hai-ge shot back,
"Ah San, at first I gave you the Cangming Swamp Ox, Silverback Gorilla, Jungle Python—all strength-types matching your expectations. You rejected them all. Now you accuse me of slacking? Fine! Tell me what you want."
Tang San stiffened his neck:
"At least a thousand-year Titan Giant Ape, Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, Sky-Supporting Demon Ape, Thousand-Jin Ant, Dark Demon Evil God Tiger—"
The more Tang San listed, the greener Hai-ge's face became. Finally, he snapped,
"You damn brat! You want to absorb rings from top-tier beasts like those? Forget whether they can even be found—if they could, you expect me to kill them for you? Why don't you just ask me to die instead?"
Tang San countered,
"Aren't you a gold-ranked Spirit Beast Hunter? My brother paid you. You took the money, so shouldn't you do the job properly?"
"Do the job? I took a contract to hunt four spirit rings above five thousand years. No one said I had to find the species you want." Hai-ge picked his nose nonchalantly.
They wandered further. Finally, Hai-ge stopped and said,
"Wait here. I'll bring a beast to you."
Tang San obediently waited. Soon, Hai-ge returned holding a creature the size of a dog—a giant slug. He dropped it in front of Tang San:
"Five-thousand-five-hundred-year Mucus Slug. This is your first ring. Absorb it quickly, so we can move on."
When Tang San saw the slug, his face turned completely green.
My Clear Sky Hammer is a strength-type martial spirit, and you bring me a soft-bodied creature as my spirit ring?!
Forcing a stiff smile, he said,
"Hai-ge, are you joking? Do you think my Clear Sky Hammer should take this kind of ring?"
Hai-ge sneered, his true intentions finally revealed:
"Little wretch, Hai-ge isn't suggesting. I'm ordering you. Now—kill this slug and absorb its ring. Immediately!"
Tang San's expression darkened. He looked at Hai-ge, then at the slug, his face twisted.
He'd rather go without a ring than absorb trash like this. He reached for his hidden weapons—only to realize with horror that he barely had any. Years of forging and supporting Xiao Wu had drained his resources. Without the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, his reserves were pitiful—only sleeve darts and sand needles remained. Against a Soul Emperor like Hai-ge, they were useless.
Worse, he no longer had the Eight Spider Lances, and with the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline stripped away, his martial spirit was nothing but useless Blue Silver Grass.
Tang San awkwardly realized—
In this situation… I can't do a thing to Hai-ge.