"Canghui Academy? A middle-aged man, a mistress, could it be that you encountered..."
The Master repeated the keywords, sifting through the candidates from the participating Canghui Academy team in his mind. He thought of someone, and his expression changed slightly.
Seeing that his teacher had guessed, Tang San did not hide anything and nodded, stating frankly, "Yes, I encountered Shi Nian from Canghui Academy."
The Master's pupils contracted, "Is it truly the 'Canching' Shi Nian?"
Tang San again gave a affirmative answer, "Yes, teacher. It's just that I didn't expect Sui Sui to be dragged into the illusion as well." As he spoke, Tang San looked at Tang Sui.
Tang Sui understood and walked to the door, closing it tightly and even locking it for good measure.
The Master's face turned from green to white, his brows furrowed. "Would he be so kind as to let his prey go? You know Shi Nian has always been known for his ruthlessness, coupled with his special martial spirit, he is extremely difficult to deal with, whether attacking the enemy or escaping. He is classified as an exotic control-type spirit master, very hard to handle."
"He's dead. I killed him."
Tang San stated the outcome directly.
Tang Sui added, "He dragged me into the illusion with his soul. After I broke his illusion, I directly killed him in return."
The Master looked at the brother and sister pair, one who had dispatched the body and the other who had annihilated the soul, in astonishment. "What happened in between?"
Tang San spoke first, recounting everything that happened after he left the competition arena yesterday, omitting the content of the illusion.
Tang Sui supplemented that she was meditating in the training room when she was pulled into an illusion, and she also omitted the content of the illusion, only stating that she had killed Shi Nian's remaining soul power in the end.
Listening to the siblings' accounts, the Master's expression became subtle. However, when he heard Tang San mention the seven-colored spirit bone he obtained from Shi Nian, he almost exclaimed aloud and jumped up from his seat.
It was a spirit bone!
The Master looked at Tang San extremely excitedly, his body even trembling.
"Xiao San, bring me that spirit bone to see!"
The Master said in a hoarse, somewhat urgent voice.
Tang San took out the seven-colored spirit bone from the Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night and placed it in the Master's hand.
The Master held the spirit bone, his hands trembling slightly, feeling its real touch, his heartbeat accelerating. His pupils, enlarged and dark, reflected the seven-colored spirit bone directly.
Although he had studied martial spirits his entire life, this was the first time he had seen a spirit bone so clearly.
Even when he was in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family, he had never come into such close contact with any spirit bone.
To spirit masters, spirit bones were like a second life, and no one would easily reveal their spirit bones. They were extremely secretive about their own spirit bones. This was true even for Titled Douluo.
And no one would carry their spirit bones with them. As soon as they obtained this rare treasure, they would fuse it with their bodies immediately to enhance their strength.
The Master stared intently at the spirit bone, lost in his thoughts for a long time.
After more than ten seconds, the Master's hands finally stopped trembling. He let out a long sigh of relief, carefully returned the spirit bone to Tang San's hand, and sighed,
"Xiao San, you have truly grown up."
Tang San put the spirit bone back into the Ruyi Hundred Treasures Pouch within the Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night, a nested doll, just in case his Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night fell into someone else's hands and had its spiritual imprint erased, leading to the enemy directly picking up the equipment.
The Master looked at the two disciples whose temperament far surpassed other spirit masters with satisfaction, and sighed, "Seeing the spirit bone, you were still able to remember my instructions and not absorb it directly. This proves that your state of mind is far beyond ordinary people. Sui Sui also did not ask for it just now, she only looked at the spirit bone with surprise, without any greed."
"You siblings can now handle things on your own. Now, I can finally rest assured in letting you graduate after this competition. Even if there are still deficiencies, I believe that as long as you siblings support each other, you may forge a name on the continent in the future that is even more resounding than the Golden Iron Triangle of me and Flander, or the Hao Tian Twin Heroes of your father's generation."
Tang San's mind couldn't help but conjure images of him, his sister, and Xiao Wu traveling the continent after graduation. A gentle smile appeared on his face, but he said humbly, "Teacher, I think Sui Sui and I still need to continue learning from you."
"Yes, teacher, brother and I still have a lot of knowledge that we haven't learned from you yet." Tang Sui was also reluctant to leave Shrek Academy.
Because this place had become their second home.
The Master placed his hands behind his back and smiled with relief. "You have already learned most of what I can teach you. What you need to do now is to continuously transform my theoretical knowledge and practice into reality. This is also what I have always hoped to see."
"Xiao San, Sui Sui, you must remember, no matter when, practical experience is the most important. If it weren't for your rich combat experience, you would probably be corpses now."
The Master looked at the siblings earnestly.
"I didn't expect that your magical eye technique could break Shi Nian's martial spirit 'Canching'. And the bloodline bond that exists between you two, unless you both abandon each other, no one can sever this important connection of bloodline and twin sense. I believe it will play a huge role on the battlefield in the future."
"Regarding this incident, besides the three of us, no one else should be told. Don't even mention that you saw Shi Nian, you didn't see him, understand?"
Tang Sui blinked, a hint of slyness appearing in her blue eyes.
"Also, after this scare, I hope you will be vigilant in the future and not be blinded by immediate benefits. Be rational like you are today, understand?"
"Yes, teacher."
The siblings said in unison.
- Author's Note -
A brief introduction to Menlingqi's seven masks: they are Xiao Mian, Fu Shen, Chan Wan, Da Fei Chu, Hu Mian, Lao Mian, and Yuan Mian.
(ps: This is the mask setting for the original Shikigami, not something Mo Li randomly grabbed and made up, so the format might not be "X Mian".)