Chapter 29: Soul Ring Reveal! Black, Black, Black!

"Brother! Over here!"

Xiao Wu's voice snapped Tang Lan out of his thoughts.

He walked over and stood beside her.

"Brother, how's the new toy coming along?" Xiao Wu asked excitedly.

Tang Lan pulled out an Uzi submachine gun and handed it to her.

"This thing has way more firepower than the Python Revolver. Don't point it at people."

"Got it, Brother! Let me try!"

Xiao Wu held the gun eagerly, aiming downward, and pulled the trigger.

"DADADADADA—"

A rapid burst of gunfire rang out, emptying the Uzi in an instant.

The ground was now riddled with bullet holes.

Everyone stared, dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Tang Lan's eye twitched.

He seriously needed to set up an ammunition production line.

At this fire rate, hand-forging bullets was way too inefficient.

Glancing at Ning Rongrong, he noticed the sparkle in her eyes growing brighter.

——Yeah, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would be perfect for mass production.

"Brother!" Xiao Wu was thrilled. "This is amazing! More bullets, please!"

Tang Lan handed her a box of 9mm rounds—100 bullets exactly.

"I didn't make many bullets. Collect the spent casings later."

Crafting armor-piercing rounds from hundred-refined steel was a pain.

"Brother, let me do it."

Tang San stepped up voluntarily.

Using Mysterious Jade Hand, he ran his palm over the bullet holes—

Then used Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon to extract all the spent casings.

After collecting them, he handed them to Tang Lan.

But instead of taking them, Tang Lan pulled out a stack of blueprints.

"You keep them."

"These are the designs for the Python Revolver and Uzi."

"Get familiar with them, try forging some bullets, and see if they work."

Tang San's eyes lit up!

He eagerly accepted the blueprints.

And also… took on the burden of crafting bullets.

This also meant—

Tang San's training schedule was about to get delayed again.

Excellent.

On the side—

Ning Rongrong's gaze was fixated on the blueprints!

She was tempted.

If it weren't for last night's "lesson," she would have already tried to buy them.

But now—

She was a little scared of Tang Lan.

And she had a good guess about his true background.

She decided to write a letter home later—

Let her father negotiate directly.

"Why doesn't this have a revolving chamber?" Xiao Wu asked curiously. "How do you load bullets?"

Tang Lan patiently taught Xiao Wu—

How to eject the magazine, load the bullets one by one, and disengage the safety.

Just as she finished reloading—

Flender arrived, right on time.

Xiao Wu hurriedly stored the Uzi in her soul tool.

Flender didn't look beaten up—

But the dark circles under his eyes?

Absolutely hilarious.

Many students had to hold back their laughter, their bodies shaking from restraint.

Only Ning Rongrong smirked openly, showing no restraint at all.

Flender's face darkened, but he couldn't lash out.

He pretended not to see it and went straight to business.

"Each of you, pay 100 gold soul coins to Teacher Li as tuition."

Then, after a brief pause, his tone shifted—

"A soul master's physical strength is their foundation."

"Battle soul masters: 40 laps around campus.

Support soul masters: 20 laps."

"If you don't finish before dinner—

No food for you."

Everyone froze.

Shrek Academy's campus was huge—

Running that many laps?

Might as well be a death sentence!

"No problem!"

Surprisingly, Ning Rongrong was the first to agree.

"Not bad." Flender nodded approvingly. "Dai Mubai, lead the run. Tang Lan, stay behind."

"Understood."

Dai Mubai replied weakly before leading the group off.

The others had no choice but to follow.

Except for Tang Lan—who was called to stay.

And also Tang San, who didn't start running either.

Flender frowned, staring at Tang San.

What's your deal?

Even if Haotian Douluo was backing him, Flender wouldn't go easy during training!

Tang San's expression turned stiff.

He never expected this scammer to be Shrek's headmaster.

If it weren't for Li Yusong and Zhao Wuji's high spirit ranks, proving that the school had some credibility—

And if it wasn't strongly recommended by his teacher—

Tang San would have left already.

Reaching into his robe, Tang San pulled out a letter and handed it to Flender.

"This is a letter from my teacher, Yu Xiaogang, addressed to you."

"Yu Xiaogang?"

Flender's expression froze.

Hurriedly, he tore open the letter and read through it at lightning speed.

Then—

"Hahahaha—"

"So you're finally done hiding from me?"

"Good, good, good!"

He laughed heartily, unable to hide his excitement.

Looking at Tang San, his attitude softened slightly out of affection for Yu Xiaogang.

"That ore really was stolen in the middle of the night."

"I, Flender, may love money, but if I've taken your deposit, I won't go back on my word."

Tang San, expression unreadable, simply bowed slightly.

"I'll go run then. If I delay, I won't be able to catch up."

Flender stared at him for a few seconds before giving a small nod and letting him leave.

Then, he turned his gaze to Tang Lan.

"Xiao San has a bit of a childish temper—please don't mind him."

Tang Lan was the first to apologize—

"That ore was the first thing in six years that he ever borrowed money from me for. I hope you understand, Headmaster Flender."

Flender waved it off, uninterested in continuing the topic.

"Messy business—not worth figuring out."

Then—

"Xiaogang mentioned some things about you in his letter."

"And after hearing about your fight with Zhao Wuji yesterday—"

"Your Blue Silver Grass soul rings… are not normal quality, are they?"

Flender was sharp.

Shrek's facilities were garbage, but their teaching staff was top-tier.

Since Tang Hao had his back, Tang Lan saw no need to hide it.

He deactivated his Blue Silver Domain's disguise—

And revealed his soul rings.

Black!

Black!

Black!

Flender's pupils contracted violently.

His eyes widened to their limits!

"Ten-thousand-year soul rings!!!"

"The first, second, and third soul rings—

"ALL TEN-THOUSAND-YEAR?!"

What kind of nonsense was this?!

How was this even humanly possible?!

Was this even a Blue Silver Grass martial soul anymore?!

His brain buzzed, utterly stunned and at a complete loss for words.

But then—

Tang Lan, thoughtful as ever, revealed his soul bone.

The pressure of a hundred-thousand-year aura surged forth—

And Flender's mind went blank all over again.

"Haotian Douluo… really went all out, huh?"

It took him a long time to finally calm himself, pressing a hand against his chest to steady his racing heart.

Even with a hundred-thousand-year soul bone, the boost to one's physique shouldn't be enough to achieve a first-ring ten-thousand-year breakthrough.

Otherwise—

The Upper Three Sects, Spirit Hall, and the two great empires would have collected soul bones en masse long ago.

Yet, to this day, no one had ever started with ten-thousand-year soul rings.

But then Flender remembered Tang Hao—

The man who hammered Spirit Hall's Pope into the ground.

And suddenly—

It all made sense.

Maybe this wasn't impossible.

It was just that no one else knew how to do it.

And—

Tang Lan's Blue Silver Grass was a mutated martial soul, which probably gave him additional advantages.

But regardless—

This was beyond Flender's jurisdiction.

"Put them away."

"Even inside the academy, just use 'optimal soul ring configurations' instead."

Flender sighed deeply, still in disbelief.

"Three ten-thousand-year soul rings…!"

"No wonder! No wonder!"

"No wonder your level is so high!"

"No wonder Zhao Wuji had to use his fifth soul skill just to break free from your Life Soul Blue Silver Grass!"

"Anyone less than 20 levels above you—

Once entangled, they'll never break free with brute strength!"

"They'll have to use high-level powerful attack-type soul skills just to escape!"

"That means your soul skill can naturally drain a massive amount of your opponent's soul power—"

"Truly, an advantage from start to finish!"

"Zhao Wuji's loss… was completely justified."

Flender kept praising him.

Tang Lan, a bit embarrassed, chuckled—

"You sure know how to talk—keep going."

This little joke made Flender burst into laughter.

This older brother was much more pleasant than his little brother.

But then, his expression turned serious.

He opened his mouth—

"…"

(End of Chapter)