Soul Land V: Rebirth of Tang San

"Xiao Tang, Xiao Tang, did you know? Their training results this time were far worse than ours! Hehe," Du Bai said with a mysterious air as he closed the door and spoke to Tang San.

"Oh? How did the training go for the senior brothers and sisters?" Tang San asked.

Du Bai replied, "They only killed a few low-level Demon Beasts, the strongest being just Fourth Stage. Not even a single Fifth Stage. They\'re far behind us. Moreover, it\'s said they even stirred up a pack of Demon Beasts. If it hadn\'t been for the teachers intervening, they might have all been wiped out. They didn\'t even reach the designated destination this time and didn\'t even see the target Demon Beast."

Tang San said, "Why do I feel like you\'re taking pleasure in their misfortune?"

Du Bai\'s face immediately turned serious, "I\'m not, I don\'t admit to that. How could I take pleasure in others\' misfortune? Even though everyone used to say I was a mascot with no real use, I wouldn\'t do that!"

"Alright, go back now. The teachers are probably not in a good mood either, so don\'t show them your current demeanor," Tang San said somewhat helplessly.

In fact, he had already guessed that the results of the second group\'s training wouldn\'t be as good as theirs. One reason was that their group had both him and Wu Bingji, who were stronger, plus his own combat experience was not something these children could compare with. It was predictable that their first outing would be a failure. But as long as they learned from it, there would definitely be gains, and it wouldn\'t necessarily be a bad thing.

The training summary came the next day. Without a doubt, the students from the second batch who went on the training were harshly criticized.

Listening to their recount of the entire process, it actually wasn\'t too bad. But, alas, they were being compared with the first batch! The contrast was indeed noticeable.

Without sufficient gains or finding the target Demon Beast, the students didn\'t make much progress after returning from the training. However, they did experience quite a scare. In the end, it was still a real combat experience, and they did learn something from it. In Tang San\'s view, that was already a pretty good outcome.

Of course, the third group had to continue, since everyone should have their turn. The only difference with the last batch of six students was that they knew teachers would be accompanying them, which gave them some peace of mind and definitely affected the results of their training. But for now, more trials were necessary.

Lately, Tang San has been keeping a low profile, diligently completing the cultivation and homework assigned by the teachers, studying hard, and improving every day. Occasionally, he practiced blacksmithing and often stayed on campus.

As for the teachers at the academy, he said he was going to the blacksmith shop, which Zhang Haoxuan could attest to, so nobody asked too many questions. Thus, his time spent outside naturally became more abundant.

But what really frustrated Tang San was that after staking out many schools, he came up empty-handed.

He even began to doubt himself; could it be that Pretty Girl\'s mother had deceived him and that Pretty Girl wasn\'t going to school after all? But judging by her mother\'s expression, that didn\'t seem likely, and it made no sense to lie to a child like him.

What to do? Just keep staking out.

Time flew by, and by the end of the training for the third group of students, Tang San had still not found the school that Pretty Girl attended.

The situation with the third batch was somewhat better than the second. Knowing that teachers were accompanying them, the students became bolder, and their luck was better. Ultimately, they performed slightly better.

During this time, Wu Bingji\'s injury had healed, and he was cultivating every day. The progress of Gu Li, Du Bai, and Cheng Zicheng had also stabilized.

It took a month to complete this round of training for all the students. Although only the first group had the most impressive results, the teachers, after assessing everything, realized that just like Tang San had said, real combat against formidable opponents clearly had better effects.

What followed was consolidation, cultivation, and allowing the students to absorb the gains from real combat.

Another month went by, and for Tang San, the biggest change was turning from nine to ten years old.

These two months, he often ate Demon Beast Meat and combined with his own care and cultivation, his body underwent significant changes. He grew quite a bit taller and was no longer so frail. He looked much more pleasing, and even his temperament had changed.

When he first arrived, his performance was too dazzling, but in the past month or so, he became incredibly low-key. Apart from attending classes, other students hardly saw him.

By interacting with Du Bai, Gu Li, and Cheng Zicheng on a daily basis, Tang San gradually improved his various Marks in a steady, continuous flow.

He had advanced his Golden Peng Transformation to the Fourth Stage and occasionally, he would go to the back mountain to test the effects of flight. Gu Li\'s Time Variation Seal and Du Bai\'s Heavenly Fox Transformation had both reached the peak of the Third Stage.

At this level, Tang San found that it was indeed not easy to advance. The higher the level of the Bloodline Brand, the more difficult it was to progress. He couldn\'t absorb too much of their bloodline power at once for fear of affecting them, so he had to proceed gradually.

Therefore, out of his six Marks, except for the negligible Green Jade Vine, the other five Marks were the Sixth Stage Tiger Wolf Transformation, which he named after careful consideration following the fusion with Winged Tiger and Wind Wolf, the Fourth Stage Flash Leopard Transformation, Fourth Stage Golden Peng Transformation, Third Stage peak Spirit Rhinoceros Eye, and Third Stage peak Time Variation Seal.

Although these Bloodline Brands seemed to have minor improvements, in reality, as Tang San continually tempered his body and increased his physical strength, his Sixth Stage state also gradually stabilized, and the sensation of fullness slowly disappeared. This was the most important change for him. Such changes laid the foundation for further improvements.

However, Tang San was not in a good mood and did not feel excited about his steady increase in strength. Not being able to find Pretty Girl\'s whereabouts made him unhappy no matter what.

Moreover, as time went by and the number of academies he staked out increased, his mood grew heavier.

Today was the last day he would stake out at a medium-level academy. Did it mean he really had to stake out at lower-level academies? That would be a much broader scope!

If it really came to that, he might as well stake out at Pretty Girl Milk Tea Shop. She had to return there at some point, right? As long as she would return, he should be able to encounter her eventually.

No! Still no sign!

Until darkness completely fell, he still hadn\'t seen the person he wanted to meet. Tang San truly felt disappointed.

Let\'s go back.

With a sense of despondency, he returned to the Academy Town.

Tang San constantly pondered various possibilities in his mind. Where exactly could Pretty Girl be studying? He had staked out all twelve medium-level academies, and although he had only staked out this last one once, his keen observations suggested that even a second or third visit might not yield any discoveries.

Now, there were many possibilities. One was that Pretty Girl was studying at a low-level academy. Another was that Pretty Girl\'s mother had actually deceived him, and she was not studying at an academy but was involved in some transformation or had gone elsewhere.

In the past month, he had visited the milk tea shop a few times, but he had never seen Pretty Girl there.

Was there any other possibility?

As Tang San pondered, he had already started climbing. He was entering the jurisdiction of Jiali Academy.

While he climbed upwards, suddenly, his spirit gave a slight jolt, and a marvelous sensation lingered in his heart. His eyes felt somewhat warm, and this warm sensation seemed to carry a hint of strange excitement. Yes, his emotions were unexpectedly getting somewhat excited on their own.

What was going on?

Spirit Rhinoceros Eye?

Undoubtedly, this was a change brought about by the Spirit Rhinoceros Eye, and it wasn\'t a premonition of crisis.

The Heavenly Fox Eye could observe luck, but only after reaching the Fourth Stage could one control luck to a certain extent and guide it.