Chapter 8: Chen the Deceiver vs. the Cunning Third!
"Why has Big Brother suddenly changed?"
Tang San followed behind Tang Chen, heading towards a plot of land allocated to them by the village.
His brother, who used to be a lazy bum, suddenly seemed like a completely different person.
Last night, he argued with their father and actually won—it was unbelievable.
Having lived two lives, he felt immense pressure facing Tang Hao; otherwise, he wouldn't have acted like a good boy.
Now, he was even going to teach him about martial souls; it seemed this older brother knew a lot of inside information.
"Brother, where are we going?" Tang San asked hesitantly.
"To Mother's grave, of course. We should clean it up first, and then tell you the knowledge she left us."
Tang Chen didn't turn around. Only a small portion of the family land was planted; the majority was reserved for the grave.
Of course, it was empty; it was just a memorial.
The surrounding area was covered with Blue Silver Grass; perhaps one of those plants belonged to their mother.
"Don't touch the Blue Silver Grass. Just remove the debris," Tang Chen instructed before starting to clean.
"Brother, Mother died in childbirth, is that really true?"
Tang San's tone was apologetic. Even after two lifetimes, he would still feel guilty for his mother's death because of him.
"How should I know? You make it sound like I'm much older than you!"
"I'm asking you seriously, have you never considered me a brother?" Tang Chen's tone suddenly turned cold.
"Huh? Why do you ask that? Of course you're my brother!"
Tang San was a little confused, not understanding why he was being asked that.
"If we're brothers, then why did you practice the cultivation techniques Mother left behind all by yourself?"
Tang Chen's sudden question caught him off guard.
"I..."
Tang San was speechless, knowing that his practice of the Tang Sect's techniques had been discovered.
And he'd even considered it his mother's inheritance; he didn't know what to do.
"Don't deny it, I've seen you cultivating your soul power many times."
"And going to the mountaintop so early in the morning, was it to cultivate your Purple Eyes?"
"And that White Jade Hand, the way you throw stones!"
Tang Chen laid his cards on the table at this moment, as if he had stripped Tang San naked, leaving him with an indescribable sense of humiliation.
The Tang Clan's secret techniques had been discovered; what should he do?
Should he choose to kill him to silence him?
But Tang Chen was his own brother, and whether he could even beat him was still up for debate.
"Brother, I'm sorry."
In the end, Tang San lowered his head, deciding to let the misunderstanding continue.
"Never mind, there's nothing to apologize for. Mother left me something too."
"Look at this bead, it's a kind of storage-type soul tool; Mother's things are inside."
Tang Chen casually picked up a round stone; it was just a lie, anyone could do that.
A soft light flashed, and a ninja tool bag appeared on the ground.
Unrolling the rolled-up cloth bag, various ninja tools were displayed inside.
The most numerous were kunai, shuriken of various sizes, explosive tags, and soldier pills, among others.
"Mother left these weapons, and a throwing technique,"
Tang Chen said with a faint smile, picking up several kunai and throwing them.
On a low tree over a hundred meters away, two flying insects were pinned to their wings.
"This…"
Tang San, who had been sitting upright, suddenly stood up. In his previous life, as a top expert of the Tang Clan, he had never seen such a throwing technique before.
Moreover, to hit insect wings from such a distance was something he might not have been able to do even in his previous life.
He didn't even hide his Purple Demon Eye anymore, directly activating it for close observation.
"Want to learn? You can choose any weapon here, and I can teach you the technique."
"But you have to help me too?"
Tang Chen suddenly became very dejected, his eyes filled with a hint of expectation.
"Brother, what do you want?"
Tang San asked tentatively, his mind a mess.
Tang Chen wanted to learn something; that was clear, but whether or not to give it to him was now a major problem.
These things came from the Tang Sect, for which he paid the ultimate price. Was he really going to break that principle himself?
But the numerous hidden weapons and novel techniques before him stirred his desire.
"Let's talk about Martial Souls first!"
"Everyone in the Douluo Continent is born with their own Martial Soul."
"As long as you have a trace of Soul Power when you awaken it, you can become a great Soul Master through cultivation."
"Look!"
Tang Chen stretched out his palm, and the Divine Tree Martial Soul appeared in his hand.
"Mine is the mutated Blue Silver Emperor, with innate full Soul Power. Yesterday, I obtained my first Soul Ring in the forest."
The disguised Soul Ring appeared and was placed on the Divine Tree, its powerful Soul Power spreading out.
"This is a Martial Soul? So you've already become the Soul Master that Grandpa Jack talked about?"
Tang San exclaimed in surprise, his eyes filled with intense longing.
"Yes, every ten levels a Soul Master reaches, they must absorb a new Soul Ring, otherwise their Soul Power cannot continue to increase."
"This is the law of the world, and no one has been able to break it from ancient times to the present!"
Tang Chen finished explaining and withdrew his Martial Soul back into his body.
"I see!"
Tang San suddenly understood why he had been unable to break through.
He had already reached his peak; without absorbing a spirit ring, he couldn't cultivate any further.
Yet, he didn't even know what his own spirit was.
"Brother, you're so strong now, what do you need my help with?"
"It's like this, spirit masters increase their spirit power through meditation. It's the most basic method, but also the slowest."
"Right now, I'm struggling. I hope you can share the cultivation techniques left by our mother."
"I should have the right to learn them, after all, we're brothers!"
Tang Chen said, quietly watching Tang San fall silent.
Although tricking him into giving up cultivation techniques wasn't honorable, he really needed them.
The feeling of having ten times the cultivation speed but no good techniques to cultivate with was indescribable.
"Here are also fruits left by our mother, which can increase cultivation speed several times over."
"After you awaken your spirit, I'll also find a way to help you get a spirit ring!"
Tang Chen raised the stakes again, determined not to believe Tang San wouldn't take the bait.
Faced with such enormous benefits, no one would refuse such a win-win situation.
Giving up brotherhood and current interests for the sake of their past life's commitment—anyone, even a fool, would know which choice to make.
"Fine, but I want to have a match with you, using these hidden weapons!"
Tang San gritted his teeth and nodded, then unceremoniously picked up the ninja tools.
"Damn."
Tang Chen was speechless. Sure enough, it was still the same cunning Tang San, he couldn't gain any advantage at all.
Five cultivation fruits were taken, and quite a few kunai and shuriken were also taken.
Finally, there was a bag of soldier ration pills, which he stuffed all into his pocket.
Tang Chen checked the ninja tool bag and found that only kunai and shuriken were left, so he simply took it out and threw the bag over as well.
"Little San, be careful, those are called explosive tags, they explode when lit, and they are very powerful."
"The pills are soldier ration pills, they can replenish soul power consumption, but eating too many has side effects."
"Finally, there are five fruits, each of which can increase the cultivation speed by two times for the day, you can eat them after you get a soul ring!"
Tang Chen instructed, feeling that he was a bit cheated. According to the kid's personality, his silence just now was just showing off.
His eagerness exposed his needs, which allowed this guy to raise the price on the spot.
"That was hasty! "
Tang San chuckled as he swallowed the soldier's ration pill, clearly analyzing its pharmacology.
"Damn it."
Tang Chen was speechless, deciding to give this brat a good dressing down later.
(End of Chapter)