Chapter 12: The Flying Brick
The Lip-charming Ape, with its dark, round eyes, innocently stared at Qin Tian. Its monkey face looked quite pitiful.
However, Qin Tian had no hesitation or sympathy. He summoned his Martial Soul, the Azure Brick, and charged forward, swinging the brick at the Monkey.
Since breaking through to become a Spirit Master, Qin Tian had noticed that he had grown taller and stronger, his body had become more robust, and his power had increased. At just six years old, he now stood at 1.58 meters—quite tall for his age, almost looking like an eleven or twelve-year-old, even taller than the Lip-charming Ape.
The Lip-charming Ape turned around and ran. It remembered the Thunder Bear that Qin Tian had killed with a single strike, and it didn't want to die. It was intelligent, unlike its owner, who was nothing but muscle.
"Lip-charming Ape, stop! Let me give you a brick. Don't worry, I'll be gentle," Qin Tian shouted as he chased after the Monkey, though he soon gave up. The Monkey was just too fast, clearly an agility-type soul beast.
For some reason, Qin Tian felt that the combat style of Spirit Masters was quite silly. Right now, he felt like a fool.
Hearing Qin Tian words, the Lip-charming Ape immediately climbed up a tree, as expected of a monkey.
"Cough, cough. Gazi, stop. Why aren't you using your Martial Soul skills? What's with chasing the Lip-charming Ape like this?" Leighton asked, looking at Qin Tian with a strange expression.
Upon hearing Leighton words, Qin Tian felt a bit frustrated. He didn't know how to use Martial Soul techniques. Hadn't Leighton taught him?
Suddenly, a chant appeared in Qin Tian mind:
Heaven and Earth Dao Stele, suppressing the universe!
It sounded impressive!
However, shouting that at a brick felt pretty embarrassing!
But, with weapon-type Martial Souls, this was the norm. He remembered the strange man with a Sausage Martial Soul from the original story—his chant was way weirder than this one!
Qin Tian tried to motivate himself with a bit of internal monologue. Once he got used to it, he wouldn't feel embarrassed.
Besides, he had a bold idea. Maybe this wasn't just a simple Azure Brick Martial Soul, but something much more powerful.
Like his giant coffin Martial Soul, it might actually be the Nine Dragons Coffin Martial Soul, but he just wasn't able to use it yet.
Heaven and Earth Dao Stele, suppressing the universe!
As soon as Qin Tian finished the chant, his soul ring wrapped around the Azure Brick Martial Soul.
Leighton jaw dropped as he heard Qin Tian "eight-character mantra." It was so shameless!
The Azure Brick shot forward with a whoosh, resembling a flash of Azure light, and slammed into the Lip-charming Ape's back head.
Boom!
The Monkey was knocked off the tree with a dull thud.
Cool, super cool!
Qin Tian couldn't even describe the feeling he had in that moment. It was like using a magical artifact to fight, truly awesome!
Leighton, on the other hand, was in a daze. Was this really the right way to fight?
The Lip-charming Ape had been taken down in a single strike by a kid who had just obtained his soul ring and broken through to Spirit Master.
Leighton felt mixed emotions. He felt defeated, embarrassed, shocked, and even a little joyful.
Defeated because it was like the old generation had been overthrown, the younger generation had surpassed them. Embarrassed because he had planned to test his disciple's Martial Soul technique, only to have his own Soul Beast knocked out by a kid's brick.
Shocked because Qin Tian mutated brick Martial Soul was truly powerful, far beyond what he expected.
Joyful because he was going to be famous. If Qin Tian became a Title Douluo in the future, Leighton would be known as the teacher of a Title Douluo.
Oh no, if Qin Tian became a Title Douluo, that meant Leighton would also be known as a Title Douluo's teacher. Leighton couldn't help but fantasize about the future.
Then Leighton suddenly realized something. That chant, "Heaven and Earth Dao Stele, suppressing the universe?"
Cough, cough, actually, it wasn't bad, it sounded quite impressive!
"Come on, Gazi, eat some dry food. Your Martial Soul technique isn't bad. Keep it up, remember, you have to meditate every day. You have good talent, but consistent training is key to becoming strong," Leighton said, snapping out of his thoughts and hearing Qin Tian stomach growling.
Leighton quickly took out a piece of dried meat from his bag and handed it to Qin Tian, adding some encouragement to his words.
"Yes, teacher, I'll work hard and won't slack off," Qin Tian replied, taking the meat, swallowing his saliva, and quickly starting to eat.
Leighton pulled out a flatbread and began to eat as well. He was hungry too.
Seeing this, Qin Tian immediately split the dried meat he was eating in half and gave it to Leighton.
"You don't have to, you're still growing. Eat more meat. I'll just have this flatbread to fill my stomach," Leighton refused, smiling in satisfaction.
"Teacher, you're so kind to me. When I have money, I'll buy you a hundred carts of dried meat," Qin Tian said seriously, feeling touched.
Leighton: "..."
This kid really didn't have a clue. Why not buy some better food or gifts?
Leighton had no idea that Qin Tian was speaking from the heart. After all, he had spent six years eating thin porridge in Holy Spirit Village. To him, dried meat was like the finest delicacy.
And in Holy Spirit Village, there were no other luxuries to know about, so Qin Tian didn't know what better things were out there. He truly appreciated it—eating meat every day sounded like bliss.
"Let's go, Gazi, it's time to leave. We don't know if Master and Tang San were successful in getting their soul rings, let's head back," Leighton said as he quickly finished his food.
Qin Tian, having finished his half-pound of dried meat, also wiped his mouth.
"Cough, cough, teacher, why aren't we roasting the bear meat to eat? Why are we eating dry food?" Qin Tian finally couldn't hold it in anymore and asked, pointing at the massive Thunder Bear corpse.
Uh!
Leighton fell silent, wondering if he had forgotten about it.
Both teacher and student looked at each other blankly.
Two hours later, the three of them were eating and enjoying themselves, their mouths full of bear paws!
It turned out that the Lip-charming Ape could eat meat too, helping replenish its soul power.
After finishing their meal, the Lip-charming Ape led them on their way back. They encountered no more danger, and when they met three soul beasts, Qin Tian handled them easily on his own, without needing the Monkey's help.
Qin Tian was happy. He estimated that his physical strength had increased to around 3,300 pounds. This breakthrough had boosted his strength by 1,000 pounds.
When they reached the outskirts, they spotted Tang San carrying the master on his back, "huffing and puffing" as they came out of the Soul Beast Forest.
The master's face looked pale, clearly feeling embarrassed. He had been the one to help his disciple hunt their first soul ring, yet as a Spirit Grand Master, he had to be carried out by his disciple.
"Master, what happened?" Leighton asked straightforwardly, seemingly unaware of the master's embarrassment.
"Cough, cough, at night, we were ambushed by a 400-year-old Mandala Snake, and I was bitten by that beast," the master replied helplessly, knowing Leighton personality.
"Oh, it's good that you're alive. Did Tang San get the soul ring? Do you want me to help?" Leighton asked, seeing the master wasn't poisoned but looking weak.
"Mission accomplished. Tang San luckily killed the snake..." the master began recounting the details.
"That's great. In that case, let's buy some supplies and head back to Nuoding Academy. Can you make it?" Leighton continued.
"Don't worry, the poison's been cleared. I'm just a little weak, but it won't affect the journey," the master said with a forced smile.
"Great, then on the way back, I'll tell you about my and Gazi's soul beast hunt. It was thrilling, almost life-threatening. If it weren't for an expert passing by, we would've been dead," Leighton said, speaking with excitement as he moved forward.