Douluo Dalu (Soul Land): Shadow Monarch

"Xiao San, take a few white radishes from the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges and feed them to San Pao," said the master, looking somewhat dispirited.

"Okay, Teacher." Tang San nodded in response.

He extended his hand toward the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges, retrieving the white radishes he had stored earlier, and tossed them to the martial soul, Luo San Pao, lying at the master's feet.

"Woof woof!"

Seeing the white radishes, Luo San Pao became excited, quickly picking one up and eating it clean in no time.

Seeing this, Tang San felt a little embarrassed. Now he understood why the master had taken him to buy white radishes—it was for his martial soul.

However, watching Luo San Pao eat the radishes, Tang San couldn't help but feel curious. "Teacher, does San Pao always need to eat radishes to use his… uh, soul skill?"

Upon hearing this, the master's stiff expression changed slightly, and he smiled bitterly. "San Pao's attack method is farting. White radishes are useful in catalyzing the fart, and after eating a few radishes, San Pao can quickly replenish his energy and recover his ability to use soul skills."

"Is that even possible?" Tang San wanted to laugh, but seeing the bitterness in the master's eyes, he held it back.

A dignified master of martial soul theory, who always spoke so knowledgeably, yet his martial soul's attack method was farting—what an embarrassing and explosive fact in the world of soul masters! Ultimately, the master was just too untalented. If his natural gifts had been a bit better, his martial soul wouldn't have mutated due to a lack of innate soul power. As for his so-called martial soul theories, after so many years of research, what had he truly gained besides knowledge of a few soul beasts?

If only he had realized it was his own lack of talent that caused his martial soul to mutate, any sensible person would have done everything they could to find a solution, right?

Just then, the urgent barking of Luo San Pao broke the silence.

Everything became quiet, and a faint rustling sound reached Tang San's ears. In that moment, he seemed to detect a slight scent of blood and sweetness in the air.

Upon smelling it, Tang San blurted out instinctively, "Teacher, be careful. It seems to be poison."

Immediately, Tang San activated his Mysterious Heaven Skill, circulating his Purple Demon Eyes to their maximum capacity as he looked in the direction of the sound. Faintly, he saw a dark green, triangular snake head rising from the bushes, its ruby-like eyes staring at them.

"Teacher, it's a snake!" Tang San warned the master, then quickly took out a firework stick from the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges and threw it at the snake's head.

The firework ignited in the wind, illuminating the area shrouded in darkness.

"This isn't good. It's a Datura Snake!" Seeing the snake head clearly in the light, the master's voice deepened. "Without Ma Nuo around, we're unlucky to have encountered this Datura Snake."

"Teacher, what should we do?" Tang San asked quietly.

"Xiao San, follow the instructions I gave you and run!" the master shouted urgently.

At the same time, Cheng Xiao was making his way toward the outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest. Along the way, he encountered the heavily injured dean, Ma Nuo.

Seeing that Cheng Xiao was unharmed, Ma Nuo asked where Tang San and his teacher had gone. After all, the three of them had originally fled together, but now only Cheng Xiao was present. As the dean, he had to ask.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xiao recalled the scene where Tang San had tried to leave him behind to deal with the soul beast in order to escape with his teacher. If it hadn't been for Cheng Xiao's background as an outsider, he might have died without anyone knowing.

Taking a deep breath, Cheng Xiao decided to hide the truth. Even if he told Ma Nuo what had happened, the dean likely wouldn't believe him. Not only was the relationship between the master and Tang San significant, but the idea of a six-year-old child committing such a deed was hard to accept. After all, children in the Douluo Continent awaken their martial souls at six. How could a newly awakened child perform such a cruel act? The answer was clearly "no," but was it really impossible for Tang San? How absurd!

Cheng Xiao used a mixture of truth and lies to convince Ma Nuo that they had gotten separated. After all, it was Ma Nuo who had stayed behind to cover their retreat, and he knew very well the strength of the mutated Nether Wolf they had encountered.

Thus, Ma Nuo believed Cheng Xiao's story and prepared to leave the forest to gather reinforcements. However, as the two passed through a silent thicket, they suddenly heard a shout.

"What was that?" Ma Nuo froze, looking in the direction of the sound.

"Xiao San, run!"

"It's the master and Tang San!" Recognizing the voice, Ma Nuo rushed forward.

Cheng Xiao shrugged helplessly and followed.

The two pushed through the thicket and indeed saw the figures of the master and Tang San. Opposite them, a snake-like soul beast was staring them down, its tongue flicking out menacingly.

"It's a Datura Snake!" Ma Nuo recognized the soul beast. He hadn't expected such bad luck on this hunt—first encountering a mutated Nether Wolf and barely escaping with his life, and now running into a century-old Datura Snake. What horrible luck!

"Xiao San, Master, run towards me! We need to get out of here!" Ma Nuo's sudden shout startled both Tang San and the master, who were preparing to face the Datura Snake.

They both looked toward the source of the voice and saw Ma Nuo waving at them, shouting for them to run.

But the Datura Snake clearly wasn't willing to let its prey escape. Its body coiled tightly, and in an instant, it shot toward Tang San, who stood beside the master. For some reason, although the master was a two-ring soul master, the snake felt a sense of threat from this child who had no soul rings.

"Not good, it's coming for me," Tang San's eyes narrowed. He channeled his Mysterious Heaven Skill into his legs, and with a burst of strength, leapt into the air. In mid-air, he twisted his body and stealthily raised his left hand. A sharp black glint shot out—his Tang Sect hidden weapon, the Silent Sleeve Arrow!

The Datura Snake, seeing the attack, halted its charge. Before it could put up any defense, the black arrow had already pierced its left eye.

The snake hissed in pain, thrashing its tongue wildly as if it could alleviate the pain. But before it could recover, Tang San fired several more arrows, aiming for its vital points.

Learning from its earlier mistake, the Datura Snake dodged the incoming arrows. Just as it was about to strike, it saw Tang San approaching with a short sword in hand.

What the Datura Snake didn't know was that Tang San had already concentrated all of his Mysterious Heaven Skill energy into the sword. His hand glowed blue, and with the assistance of his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, he swiftly closed in on the snake.

The snake opened its mouth wide, intending to swallow Tang San whole. But Tang San, with his agile movements, seized the moment and plunged his sword deep into the snake's open mouth.

The next second, the Datura Snake's body convulsed violently. Its tail swept towards Tang San in retaliation, but he dodged the attack with his ghostly footwork.

Seeing Tang San's dangerous actions, the master shouted, "Xiao San, come back! It's too dangerous!"

After landing a powerful strike, Tang San used his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to retreat quickly. Hearing the master's call, he deliberately stumbled and fell to the ground.

At that moment, Tang San's mind was filled with one thought: both the master and Dean Ma Nuo had witnessed everything he had done. His soul didn't belong to this world, and he couldn't allow them to learn the secrets of his Tang Sect techniques. There was only one solution—silence them both, forever.

Initially, upon seeing Ma Nuo, Tang San had no intention of using his Tang Sect skills. But when Ma Nuo didn't come to help and instead urged them to flee, Tang San deduced that Ma Nuo must have been seriously injured. Otherwise, he wouldn't have suggested they escape.

This realization gave Tang San the idea to kill both of them to eliminate any loose ends. He believed that with his Tang Sect hidden weapons and the speed and power of his Silent Sleeve Arrows, killing two injured people would be as easy as turning his hand.