In the blink of an eye, nearly half a month passed.
Tang San originally felt that he had slowly begun to adapt to life at Shrek Academy. He planned to cultivate steadily and quickly raise himself to level 30 so he could obtain his next Spirit Ring.
But before he could do anything, his peaceful daily life was broken once again.
"Iron Hand Skill? Small Perplexing Step?"
Looking at the two small booklets Flender had bought from Spirit Hall, Tang San's eyes turned red with anger. He snapped at the empty air like a mad dog.
He still remembered the expression of envy on Flender's face when he handed the two books to him earlier.
"No wonder you're so strong, Little San."
"So you're from the same hometown as the Grandmaster. You learned upgraded versions of the Douluo Heart Method, Iron Hand Skill, and Small Perplexing Step from the start."
"I thought those hands of yours looked strange before. I even wondered if you had practiced some self-created Spirit Ability."
"And that weapon you took out during the entrance test that day, that was a hand crossbow, right?"
"That improved hand crossbow was probably specially made for you by the Grandmaster, wasn't it?"
"I see, I see. Then it's not strange anymore."
"I didn't expect you to have learned such abilities from the Grandmaster so early."
"Yours should even be an upgraded version. How enviable."
"I didn't expect you to have that kind of personal connection, Little San."
...
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
Tang San clutched his head and roared wildly.
He wished he could pull out the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus right now and blow Chen Ming up in front of everyone.
What Douluo Heart Method?
What Iron Hand Skill?
What Small Perplexing Step?
Those were clearly pirated versions of his Mysterious Heaven Skill, Mysterious Jade Hand, and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!
And what hand crossbow and bed crossbow?
Those were clearly shameless copies of his Zhuge Divine Crossbow!
Tang San was so angry he nearly went mad.
He wanted to jump out and tell everyone in the world that Chen Ming was a shameless liar and a plagiarist.
All of those skills had been copied from his Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record.
All of those results should have belonged to him, Tang San.
But right now, because he had offended the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan, and because his father was also a wanted criminal of Spirit Hall, Tang San did not dare openly reveal his identity.
All he could do was hide in his room and rage impotently, imagining the air in front of him as Chen Ming while sinking his teeth into it again and again.
Was Chen Ming actually plagiarizing?
If one insisted on calling it copying—then yes, he was.
He had indeed borrowed ideas from Tang San's skills. But the problem was, Chen Ming had his own research system too.
He used Tang San's techniques as references and specially created new methods from them.
It was like how Mysterious Heaven Skill involved meridians, and Shaolin's supreme martial art, the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic, also involved meridians.
Could the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic be considered a copy of Mysterious Heaven Skill just because of that?
The only one that could barely count as copied was Small Perplexing Step.
As for the rest, Douluo Heart Method had Chen Ming's own foundation, while Iron Hand Skill was based on Iron Sand Palm with some reference from Mysterious Jade Hand.
At most, it could only be considered pressure within the same category.
The Douluo Heart Method canceled out the faster cultivation speed Tang San gained from the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
The Iron Hand Skill canceled out Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand.
The Small Perplexing Step canceled out Tang San's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to a certain degree.
Chen Ming was not directly cutting down Tang San's stats.
He was only strengthening the stats and systems of other Spirit Masters, while giving Tang San no boost at all.
But was Tang San the kind of person who listened to reason?
No.
He was already quite stubborn by nature, and whenever it involved the Tang Sect, especially the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record and hidden weapons, he became even more stubborn.
"Little San, what are you doing?"
Perhaps he could no longer bear to watch Tang San's shameful behavior, Tang Hao's voice came from the darkness.
Although he had sustained serious injuries, Tang Hao was still a Title Douluo. His strength far surpassed Tang San's. If he wished to hide and observe, Tang San could rack his brains all he wanted and still never detect his presence.
"Father… I…"
Hearing Tang Hao's voice, Tang San froze stiff, like a child caught red-handed by his parents after secretly playing something forbidden. He forced out a voice with a smile uglier than crying.
"That Chen Ming copied my self-created Spirit Abilities."
"Oh?"
Tang Hao stepped out from the shadows.
Compared to a while ago, Tang Hao had become much thinner. His cheeks were sunken, his eyes were dull, and thick dark circles hung under them. His whole body was slightly hunched.
Clearly, he had lost quite a lot of his origin, and his condition was already very poor.
"Little San, since you say Chen Ming copied your self-created Spirit Abilities, then tell me what those self-created Spirit Abilities of yours are."
"Chen Ming's name as a genius is known across the entire Douluo Continent. If you don't tell me, it will be hard for me to believe you."
Tang Hao's eyes looked dim, but in his heart, he was constantly calculating.
When Tang San had just been born, Tang Hao had still done what a father should do.
But after only a few days, Tang Hao noticed that something was very wrong with his child.
That behavior was not what a baby should have at all. Instead, it was somewhat like an adult.
Tang Hao had deliberately made a few dangerous movements to test him, only to find that his child reacted very strongly.
That response did not look like an ignorant baby.
It looked more like a conscious adult.
At first, Tang Hao thought it might just be a special trait of a child born from a human and a Spirit Beast. He kept comforting himself like that.
But when he saw the baby-like Tang San take a cultivation posture, Tang Hao could no longer hold himself together.
Killing Tang San? He could not bear to.
Treating this thing as his own son? Tang Hao felt uncomfortable inside.
Sometimes, Tang Hao deliberately pushed Tang San close to death, almost wishing Tang San would just die and save him the trouble.
But Tang San was stubbornly hard to kill.
He also kept acting very sensible.
So sensible that he did not seem like a child at all.
If Tang San had acted willful, thrown tantrums, and behaved like a real child, then no matter how badly Tang Hao gave up on life, he would not have let Tang San live in such a miserable state.
But the more sensible Tang San was, and the less he looked like a child, the less Tang Hao liked him.
Only when Tang San awakened twin Martial Souls and Tang Hao confirmed that Tang San really carried his bloodline did Tang Hao smile at Tang San for the first time and treat him as his child.
But to say Tang Hao had no thoughts at all about Tang San's secrets would be impossible.
Before the Douluo Heart Method appeared, Tang Hao still did not understand.
But as his study of the Douluo Heart Method deepened, and as he watched Tang San's series of actions, Tang Hao also began to roughly guess the secret hidden on Tang San.
The last time Tang San was attacked by Shi Nian, he had kept shouting things like "Tang Sect," "Sect Master," and "I did not steal the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record."
Tang Hao had heard all of it clearly from the side.
At this moment, Tang Hao rubbed Tang San's head and comforted him while carefully recording the cultivation tips Tang San spoke of in his heart.
He planned to organize them later and send them straight back to the Clear Sky Sect.
Little San, don't blame me.
I have taken care of you for so many years, and I was raised by the sect.
You give your knowledge to me, and I must repay my sect.
The Clear Sky Sect is my home, and it is also your home.
Little San, don't resent Father.
In this era, the Clear Sky Sect must have techniques beyond the times to maintain its position as the number one sect under heaven.
Only with the Clear Sky Sect can you and I exist.
I'm doing this for your own good too.
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