Douluo Dalu (Soul Land): To Relive Fate
Chapter 3: Academy Days

Response to Reviews:

Seltrios: Yeah, I guess kind of so. Then again, I don't blame your judgement. OC meets canon character, and said OC is from the future. Cliches ensue, but trust me, I will do my best to balance between the new and the familiar in my story.

Xekun's Burger: Don't worry, I won't abandon this any time soon. It's just that I've got a lot of stories to juggle between, as shown in my profile page. I'm most active with the Unmei Force volumes, but only because I need to do a lot of story-making to get a proper canon set within another author's timeline, as given permission by.

In Dorm 6...

Liu Shun woke up in his own dorm bed, which was opposite of the bed that Tang San and Xiao Wu took, as he got up, and stretched his arms, before rubbing his eyes. He noticed that most of the children were already awake, including the former boss kid of the dorm, who Xiao Wu gave a sound beating to.

When he got up from his bed, he noticed that Xiao Wu was also getting up, and she took off the blanket that was on her, and grabbed her end of the blanket, before then pulling it hard enough to jolt Tang San awake.

"Time to wake up, lazy bum!" Xiao Wu sang, as Tang San scrambled onto his feet, with his arms up, looking frantically around for surprises, tiredly muttering incoherent phrases, as Liu Shun only giggled when he saw the entire scene.

'Oh, Xiao Wu was always the sneaky trickster of the two of them.' Liu Shun thought. 'I could only feel pity that he hasn't gotten used to that side of her yet.'

Xiao Wu then pulled out a round yellow comb with a carrot symbol on it. "Here, brush my hair!" Xiao Wu ordered the recently-awoken Tang San, as she shoved it towards him.

"Brush... hair?" Tang San asked, pointing at himself. "Why would I know how to?"

Xiao Wu only took back the comb, as she looked at it with teary eyes. "Mother always did it before... But she's not here." Xiao Wu sadly said.

Tang Wu was shocked that he hurt her feelings, before he then only sighed, as he took the comb. "It's my first time, so don't blame me if I mess up."

Xiao Wu only giggled back, as she undid her ponytail, letting her brown hair flow out, as Tang San took her hair in one hand, and the comb in the other, as he brushed it as best as he could.

Liu Shun became absorbed by the heart-warming scene, as Tang San made several mistakes, and Xiao Wu often yelped and complained as a result, but eventually, Tang San managed to comb her hair slowly and carefully, as Xiao Wu had a warm smile.

"Brushing her hair? A male's dignity..." The spiky-haired boy from yesterday lamented.

Liu Shun heard his words, and immediately stomped over, and whacked the boy on the head with firm force, causing him to clutch his head, and glare at Liu Shun, who returned it with a stern one.

"That's my friend you're talking about." Liu Shun stated heatedly. "Besides, this isn't men's dignity, this is the dignity of a gentleman. Who wouldn't want to make a girl happy by brushing her hair?"

The other boys only voiced their agreement, as the spiky-haired child only nodded, before Liu Shun went back to where he was, as he saw that Tang Wu just finished the brushing, as Xiao Wu was holding a carrot-shaped mirror with the same vegetable as a board on the back, admiring the job he has done.

"Wow! Nice, Xiao San!" Xiao Wu exclaimed with joy, as she gave him a smack across the forehead with her mirror. "I knew that you were the right guy! This will be your job from now on! Oh, and give me back my hairbrush."

She then snatched her hairbrush back, as Tang Wu only looked at her with a conflicted expression, before deflating with a fake smile, as she watched her kick the beds to wake those still asleep, as Liu Shun flinched.

'Good thing I was already awake.' Liu Shun thought. 'I don't know if I can bear the earthquake her kick would bring.'

In class...

Most of the students were in the class, as they were now wearing a blue cape with a pink brooch as the buckle.

"For today's class, we will learn the relationship between spirits and essence." A red-haired teacher with glasses stated, standing beside two tall wooden poles, before she then summoned a feather-like dagger in her hand. "Take Spirits for a example, without essence, they are just a normal object. With it, they will transform."

She then swung the dagger, as it cut through the pole. "The higher the level of essence, and the higher the quality of the spirit, the stronger it will be." She continued her lecture. "Hard work can make you better, but at the same time, talent is important as well. If the Spirit is a 'Junk Spirit', then no matter how high the essence, it is merely useless."

Tang San summoned his River Grass, as he looked at it with a stoic expression.

Liu Shun put a hand on Tang San's shoulder, as it caused the blue-haired boy to face his companion, who had a sympathetic expression.

"Don't listen to what she said about 'Junk Spirits'." Liu Shun advised him with a whispering voice. "Don't forget, it's because of this little strand of grass that kick-started your rise into becoming the strongest Douluo in this land. Besides, one man's trash may be another's treasure. You just haven't found the way to develop it into the mightiest weapon that few can parallel."

"Thanks, Liu Shun." Tang San replied. "Maybe it will become stronger than they thought."

Lunchtime, at the school cafeteria...

"...And then she was mumbling about two people called 'Er Ming' and 'Da Ming'." Tang San told Liu Shun, as they were waiting in line to get their food. "Do you know who they might be?"

"I don't remember much of the specifics of her past or any others's, only yours." Liu Shun shook his head. "But if I can recall from long ago, I remember that Xiao Wu once said they were her guardians, both in literal and maternal sense. And by the way... You should be happy that you have a cute girl with you. I would do almost anything to be in the same place."

Tang San only let out a sigh. "And why is that?" Tang San inquired.

"I would refrain from telling you now, but since you're going to find out one way or the other, I may as well spill it early." Liu Shun replied, as he then leaned closer to whisper in Tang San's ear, with Xiao Wu's lively chatter behind them covering what he was going to say. "When I used to be a god, I fell for her beauty and her cute attitude, as well as her own beastly appearance. You forget that all gods were once mortal, and the mortal part that remained with me, was my own shyness towards beauty and cuteness. If I see something too cute or too beautiful, I might actually blush so hard the sun wouldn't compare to the shade of my face. But don't get me wrong. It's the only thing that makes me human, not some all-powerful god bearing down judgement and arrogance on everyone. I just simply want to be human, but I don't want to embarrass myself like some sort of undisciplined child. So please, I implore you to keep this part of me a secret for as long as you can, and I won't do anything stupid to reveal that side of me. I trust you only because you're the person that made me who I am now, and so the one I trusted the most in my past."

Tang San only contemplated his words, as he found a sense of disgust, yet admiration for his direct honesty to tell the truth first-most to prevent troubles, before he then replied. "Then you can rest easy, for your secret is kept within me." Tang San replied. "Besides, I seen worse in my own past, so you're pretty much just a little meek when it comes to love and beauty, it's nothing worth worrying or hiding about to me, a assassin who done worse things."

"I owe you a thousand thanks for doing so." Liu Shun sighed in relief. "Now that I have that gotten all of it off my chest, I can finally have no regrets for what may come in future, whether's its through hell and valleys of blades."

"Ah, aren't those the poor students who have scholarships?" A arrogant voice was heard above them, as they saw a group of students coming down the stairs from the second floor of the building, lead by a pompous blonde-haired boy with a short black staff in his hand, as he was sneering at them. "Hehe, today's lunch is on me! Lunch is leftovers! Happy?"

The students in the group laughed at the insult, as the Dorm 6 group turned to f'ace the other group, as Tang San, Xiao Wu and Liu Shun dropped their smiles, as Liu Shun noticed that there was the blue-haired boy in the group that was asleep on his feet.

"Didn't notice before... But there's a cute loli between the losers! Too bad she's also a loser!" The stuck-up blonde added, before he laughed loudly.

Liu Shun only clenched his fist, resisting the urge to come up and smack some respect into the obvious noble of the group, but Xiao Wu already responded to the provocation, by leaping into the air towards the blonde-haired boy.

"Wanna die!?" She roared, as she was about to slap the boy, as the boy immediately responded by forming a barrier from his Spirit around him, letting the first strike fail to hit him.

The formerly asleep boy suddenly jolted awake, as he was about to prepare to attack Xiao Wu.

'Crap, she's going to get hurt!' Liu Shun panicked, before he looked around for something to jump off to reach the ledge, as he noticed a empty table. 'This will do!'

He then sprinted and stepped on top of the table, before using all of his strength on his legs to leap over to the location, just as a series of wooden staffs were summoned by the blue-haired boy, aimed at Xiao Wu.

"Sister Xiao Wu!" Liu Shun cried, as he summoned the incomplete version of the Great Blade of Elements, as he sliced the flying staffs in half, surprising the attacker.

Before Liu Shun could dash to blind-side the staff-user with a sideways swing on the flat end of the blade, Tang San immediately smacked the back of the blue-haired boy's neck with a well-aimed horizontal hand strike, causing him to fall down unconscious, while Xiao Wu managed to slap the blonde noble after he failed to react fast enough to dodge one of her attacks.

The blonde clutched the slapped cheek, as his expression was filled with hate.

"You dare hit me!?" The blonde noble hissed with anger. "Hmph! I think the school would want to expel these poor-"

Before the statement could be finished, Liu Shun immediately came over, and thrust his weapon a inch from the noble's chest.

"Listen well and closely, you sorry excuse of a noble." Liu Shun spoke in a venomous tone. "You can call us losers, and you can drag our names through the mud as you wish, and I wouldn't care less for your pitiful actions. But you will stay away from my friends, or that slap will be a mere pinch compared to what I will do to you if I find that you have harmed my friend. I don't care if you're some descendant of the king of the entire realm, or some god turned mortal, if you're going to harm my friends, you'll have to go through me first!"

He then desummoned his weapon and walked back, as Tang San was surprised that Liu Shun was serious in caring about his friends, as he noticed that there was a old man in a plaid coat, grey and white robe, with short white hair and a beanie on his head coming over to see the commotion.

"No personal fights within the campus." He declared, as he looked at the culprits of the action, as Xiao Wu only replied to that with a loud 'Those people started it!'.

The man only continued forward, before he then silently pointed at Tang San, and then noticed that Liu Shun was gesturing that if Tang San is going anywhere, he's coming as well.

"I merely fought to defend myself." Liu Shun stated. "If my friend is to be punished for my actions, then I deserve worse for being the main participant of the fight, as he was merely trying to break it up."

The man silently stared at Liu Shun, before then sighing, before then gesturing him to come as well, as both boys followed the man, while the blonde noble was smirking as if he was about to see them be expelled, and Xiao Wu complaining about the entire matter.

When they arrived at the office, the two boys stood beside each other, as the man was looking outside his window.

"Tang San, other than your River Grass Spirit." He asked Tang San. "What is your other spirit?"

Tang San was visibly shocked that the man knew something he was trying to hide, as Liu Shun raised a eyebrow at how that was one of his reasons that he wanted to talk to Tang San.

Tang San noticed that he was close enough to a table, and closer still to a curved letter-opener. "How do you know?" He asked with a calm tone.

"According to my research, people with essence harmonisation are extremely rare, and to have it with a 'Junk Spirit' like River Grass, it is a one of a kind case." The man explained his reasoning.

Tang San was wearing a suspicious expression, as his hand inched closer to the letter-opener, as Liu Shun turned to him.

"Take my Great Blade of Elements..." He whispered to the reincarnated assassin, as he summoned the weapon discreetly, and handed it blade-first into Tang San's hand. "You'll do a better job killing him with this weapon if things go awry."

Tang San accepted the short blade, as he muttered, "Then what of you?"

"If you miss or fail to kill him, I'll use my own life to pin him down, and give you a chance to finish him off." Liu Shun replied back. "If he's going to use that secret he found to a extent neither of us will be able to repress, then we must kill him before he can even disclose a single clue of it."

"From the level of essence and quality of the spirit, River Grass cannot support 'Essence Harmonisation'." The man continued. "So you must have 2 natural Spirits, and that means the other one is very powerful."

"And what are you saying?" Tang San asked, as he got his grip on the blade, ready to throw it at any time.

"Tang San, I want to be your teacher." The man spoke, causing Tang San to be surprised, as Liu Shun couldn't hide his shock as well. "The school values the physical over the theoretical, of which I am of the latter. But I believe that my life's research is actually incredibly useful. Do you believe me when I say that?"

"Everyone says that the River Grass Spirit is a 'Junk Spirit'. Can Junk Spirits be trained?" Tang San inquired.

"I always believed that there is only junk people, no such things as 'Junk Spirits'." The man replied immediately.

Tang San was about to speak, before Liu Shun asked his own question. "Then if you think of that as so, let me ask you, do you truly believe that any person could become a god, if they were to spend even eternity in cultivating into their best ability? And that all gods were made from mortals?" He asked.

The man remained silent, before he then smirked. "Indeed I do. There's another reason why I wanted you to come over as well. I didn't expect you to come with Tang San, but your results have surprised me as well. No common sword spirit would cause the Essence Level measuring crystal ball to explode from overflow. That Spirit of yours, even though you can't tap its full potential,. was a weapon that is a part of a god, no? So, yes, any person will become a god, so long as they have the strength and the longevity to sacrifice in order to achieve that godhood."

Liu Shun only humbly accepted the answer, as he desummoned the Great Blade of Elements again, having seen no reason to distrust his new master forever, as the two boys immediately knelt in respect towards him.

"Tang San greets his master!" Tang San declared with a modest tone.

"Then I, Liu Shun, am willing to accept you as my master." Liu Shun added with a bold tone.

"Kneeling is for parents and kings." The man told them. "There is no need for that."

"One day a master, second father for life." Tang San incited. "I want to be your apprentice."

"I cannot refuse such a prodigious person before me to be my master." Liu Shun replied. "To deduce so many things just by knowing a few mere facts, and the scene that you saw earlier. If I leave you be, then I would have missed the most fitting master for the two of us."

"You can only have one master in your life. So think carefully if you will commit to your apprenticeship under me." The man warned them, in order to discourage them from making a hasty decision.

Instead, they only kowtowed in response, as they both said. "Please accept us as your apprentices!"

The man only laughed, as he coughed a few times. "Then I will bestow you two a gift to share." He said, as he pulled out from a bookshelf a yellow box, with a belt embedded with many pink gems around the entire length of the belt. "This belt is a Essence Tool, something that can also be used with Essence. As for its function, it is to store, like so."

He then held the belt, as he held a book over the belt, activating it with Essence, as the book was sucked into one of the gems. "If essence is channelled into each of the stones, you can store up to 1 cubic metre of stuff inside for each one of them. The art of creating these was lost long ago, so this is technically a antique. Use it well, and give it a fitting name." He explained the function of the belt, before releasing the book back into his hand.

Tang San accepted the belt into his hands. "Thank you, Master. As for it's name, I call it Moon of the 24th Bridge." Tang San replied. "And I want to show you my other spirit."

He then showed off the Clear Sky Hammer, as he dropped the book in his hand, as it clattered on the ground. "That's..." He gasped, before he then paced around, muttering Tang San over again, before he then noticed something. "Who else has seen the spirit?"

"Only my father, and Liu Shun, who swore a blood oath to the heavens to stay by my side, and protect the secrecy of that Spirit." Tang San answered back.

"Don't use it or train it." Their master told them. "You must remember that. I'll teach you to hide your Spirit Mark, and it's easy to do so."

"It is?" Tang San asked, before he turned to Liu Shun. "Is that why you don't have a mark?"

"Yeah." Liu Shun responded back, before lifting the back of his right hand. "If I didn't suppress it, the mark would cover the entirety of the back of my right hand. You just have to think and channel your thought about removing the mark for the moment, and it'll be gone."

Tang San did as he was told, as the Clear Sky Hammer's Spirit Mark disappeared on his hand, as he held the ribbon that covered it in his other hand. "Haha, I did it!" He smiled.

"Now, the two of you have a new task that you must achieve." Their master coughed into his hand. "To increase your Essence Level, you must obtain a Spirit Ring. That means that you must kill a Spirit Beast. We will go to the Spirit Forest tomorrow to do that.

"I see. Teacher, I have something to do, so please give me 2 days." Tang San requested.

"Very well, we will go in two days then." The master agreed, as Tang San only bowed, before he left the office, while Liu Shun was still in the office. "Why haven't you left?"

"Because I too have a secret to tell you right now, one that only Tang San knows." Liu Shun replied, as he kowtowed to the ground again. "I ask for forgiveness for doubting the master of Tang San, the one who became the Sea God."

"Sea God?" The master asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Master, I have something to tell you, something that would be considered most unbelievable." Liu Shun admitted. "In truth, the reason why my Spirit is that of a god's, is because I AM a god, a god turned mortal by being sent to a era before I was born and created as the god I was. I came from a future where Tang San have achieved his ambition of becoming the greatest Douluo in the lands, and ascended to become the Sea God. I am the Fate God, who has seen a tragedy that consumed the Gods themselves, with only myself the sole escapee of the situation. But even I suffered a consequence for my act. I have become mortal, and I remain the same age as Tang San. Since Tang San was one of the people who befriended me the most and did so many things to make me who I am, I swore a oath to be his companion until he reaches godhood, and I would stop at nothing to ensure he succeeds."

"...So that is why you asked that question." The master said. "You seemed to believe that the difference between mortal and god is merely a obstacle, not a indestructible barrier. It doesn't matter if you were a god, you are a mortal like the rest of us. Even so, you still gave much respect to people who deserved it."

"I ask that you train me for the two days." Liu Shun asked, as he summoned the Great Sword of Elements. "Tang San will need a while to continue his work as he said, and I need to find a way to reforge my own Spirit back to a form that I am familiar with. I need more Essence to reforge the sword back to what it was."

"Hmmm... It is incomplete." The master said. "However, I can teach you a way to mold the Spirit into the form it used to be. But it will take a while, and it will mean that your weapon will be weaker than it's supposed to be."

"Strength is not what matters, only the skill in wielding it does for me now." Liu Shun replied. "And may I ask of your name, my master?"

"You may refer to me as the Grandmaster for now." The master answered back.

Two days later, at the Spirit Forest...

"Spirit Forest is where the Spirit Beasts of the Tian Dou Empire grow." Grandmaster told Tang San and Liu Shun, who had their guard up, with Liu Shun having his Great Sword of Elements recovered to the long-sword shape it was. "In the forest, most of them are low-level ones, so it's the perfect place to get your first Spirit Ring."

"Maybe, but there's too many of them!" Liu Shun cried, as they were surrounded by living garlic bulbs with a green stem, and a crooked mouth, as well as cute dotted black eyes. "And none of them will give me a good ability to use!"

Grandmaster only took out white surgical masks. "Here, put this on. I have a way to solve this problem." He said, as Tang San looked at the mask, then at him, before then doing so, and Liu Shun did the same. "Come out, my Spirit! Lou San Pao!"

In front of the Grandmaster, a small yellow dog with orange wings beside his floppy ears, and a large orange bell tied around its plump neck appeared in front of him, as it jumped towards Grandmaster, nuzzled against his chest.

"Remember this, to be able to summon Spirits, you must have a Essence Level above 10, and so in order to get higher, you will need other things than just simple training." Grandmaster continued his statement. "Only with a Spirit Ring, can you increase your Essence Level limit by 10, so that you can go up to Level 20. And the only way to get them is to kill Spirit Beasts."

He then let go of Lou San Pao, as the dog was facing the horde of living garlic, as the dog began to growl, before then turning around to point its backend towards the monsters, before Grandmaster summoned a yellow Spirit Ring around Lou San Pao, as he then fired off a bursting gust of wind from his bottom, that blew the monsters away, as they fell to the ground, before their bodies glow, and form white rings of energy above them.

"When monsters die, the Spirit Ring will float above their bodies." Grandmaster told his two students. "But the condition is that only the one who dealt the killing blow to it gets to use the Spirit Ring to integrate it into their Spirits. Of course, Spirit Rings can provide new abilities to the Spirit, as well as empowering old ones with new attributes and boons. When you reach Level 10 and have a Spirit Ring, you can use it upgrade your Spirit through absorption in cultivation. But remember, once a Spirit Ring is absorbed, you cannot take another until you have reached the next limit, nor can you swap out Spirit Rings for new ones. So think carefully, and consider that only Spirit Ring that are compatible with your Spirit will benefit you at all."

He then hands Tang San, a small dagger in his coat, as Tang San took the blade, and immediately used his blade to kill more of the living garlic, while Liu Shun dealt with another group by slashing through them with little ease, as their yields have earned several white Spirit Rings, and a Yellow Spirit Ring for Tang San.

"And I forgot to tell you one more thing." Grandmaster concluded his lesson about Spirit Rings. "Spirit Rings grow in power proportional to the age of the monsters or its power. 10-Year Spirit Beasts have a white Spirit Ring, 100-Year Spirit Beasts have a yellow Spirit Ring, 1000-Year Spirit Beasts have a Purple Spirit Ring, 10000-Year Spirit Beasts have a Black Spirit Ring, and 100000-Year Spirit Beasts have a red Spirit Ring. At the limit, using a older or stronger Spirit Ring to breakthrough your Essence Level Limit will give you more Essence to increase your Essence Level first-hand. So in order to get you at a good level that you can train at, you should have a Spirit Ring at least 423 years old to absorb when you reach your Limit."

Lou San Pao then fell on its back, as it looked tired and weak.

"What's with him?" Tang San asked.

"He fainted from hunger. Those radishes were for him to replenish his hunger. He needs them in order to use his abilities, as he is a mutated Spirit with special rules of getting power. Also, he does have a good nose to find other Spirit Beasts." Grandmaster told him, as Tang San only sighed, "Should have told me earlier..."

"Why? Did you do something with them?" Liu Shun asked.

"I gave Xiao Wu a lot of them them, in order to comfort her for a broken comb." Tang San replied, as Liu Shun anime-fell in response, before he got up and rubbed his head.

"Misunderstandings aside..." Liu Shun told his friend, as Tang San was pulling out the radishes from the Moon of the 24th Bridge, as Lou San Pao was eating them like a wolf. "You said that her comb was broken?"

"Yes, by someone, as one of the other boys told me." Tang San answered back.

"I wouldn't doubt that the damn noble had a hand in this." Liu Shun replied with a stern look. "We'll get him back for this in time."

Lou San Pao then got up, as he managed to find a living bamboo stalk, that was walking like a quadruped animal with four short stalk legs.

"This 10-Year Silvercane is very good for defence, but it lacks ability in offensive strategies." Grandmaster stated. "It would be a good Spirit Ring for your River Grass, but I can get both of you better Spirit Rings that you will benefit from more. River Grass is weak, but to me, weak always have a advantage that is unique to each person. 'Weak' uses less Essence, make others underestimate your skill, and lets the River Grass be everything you see. On this continent, River Grass is everywhere to be seen. Plants and animals rely on it to live, so it is in logic, compatible with almost every Spirit Beast that you could find."

Liu Shun then noticed the line of thought that Grandmaster was going on, as he approached Tang San, who summoned his River Grass Spirit to inspect it.

"And think about this, Tang San. Have you ever imagined what you could do with more and more Spirit Rings in the River Grass Spirit?" Liu Shun added. "If we had the first Spirit Ring give it the ability to be stronger and more flexible, would it be so weak? And that's not to mention how each and every Spirit Ring can give you a special ability, like poisoning, weakening or paralysing your enemies easily!"

Tang San then smiled, as he decided what his Spirit will specialise in. "Then I'll make the River Grass be tough and poisonous, so that it will make the enemy weaker, and I can use it to bind the enemies and hit them with my hidden weapons." He said to Liu Shun.

"If you're going to go with the class of binding your enemies down and weakening them with poison, then I may as well tell you how I'm going to go." Liu Shun replied. "I'm going to ensure that my Spirit will be able to weaken my enemies as well, in so many ways, and punish those who are too weak to guard against my blows, as well as ensuring that my enemies will have their eyes on me only, so that you can backstab them from the shadows and siphon their strength and defence away to deal the crushing blow!"

Tang San only smiled, as he then handed Liu Shun one of his hidden weapons, a slender throwing needle with serrated edges.

"This one of your hidden weapons?" Liu Shun asked, as he cuffed it to the edge of his sleeve. "Thanks."

The Grandmaster then suddenly was surprised by a unknown feeling, as he then turned to face the source, as the students looked at him, trying to see what he was worried about.

"Just a little startled about what Lou San Pao found." Grandmaster assured his students, as he pointed at a long snake-like vine wrapped around a large tree, with a large head on each end of the vine. "Just now, San Pao thought that this Devil Snake Vine was a Romanti Snake."

"Are you sure it's not a snake?" Tang San asked.

"Yes. Devil Vine is a very weak plant Spirit, so it disguises itself as the 'Poison Sword' Romanti Snake to scare people off. Even if you looked close up at it, it would be hard to tell the difference." Grandmaster confirmed his statement. "But it is a rarity, and it is a low level monster that doesn't care about the small details. When a monster has not reached 1000 years, it will grow a centimetre a year. Since this vine is 4 metres long, it should be about 400 years old. But there's no such monster that old in the outer edge of the forest. It's funny that it's dumb enough to try this kind of disguise."

"So real... The smell of flowers even has the tingle of poison on it..." Tang San admired the Devil Vine, as Liu Shun was looking at the vine, as he noticed that the Devil Vine had two heads instead of one, as he turned to Grandmaster.

"If the Devil Vine is imitating the Romanti Snake? Wouldn't there be only one head instead of two?" Liu Shun asked his master. "Even if it was trying to imitate a 400-year Romanti Snake, it shouldn't have two heads at all."

"Perhaps it might be two Devil Vines living together... Or it might be..." Grandmaster was about to say, before he noticed a figure leaping towards him, as he immediately got Lou San Pao beside him, as he fired off a bolt of thunder that killed the flying figure, which was revealed to be a large wolf with a black and white fur colour, as well as white marks around its eyes, as more of its brethren appeared, circling the group. "A Ghost Wolf pack, here!?"

"Master!" The two students cried out, as they were prepared to fight.

"Don't worry... These wolves are only around 10 years old, so San Pao can defeat them easily." Grandmaster assured them. "The last attack scared them, so as long we don't attack, we will be fine."

They nodded, as they kept their guard, as time slowly passed around them, as the Ghost Wolves only slowly circled around the group.

"Starving us out?" Tang San said. "They're cunning for a pack... Master, any longer, and we will be in trouble."

"Then we will fight." Grandmaster said, before he then raised his hand to use one of San Pao's abilities.

Before it could be used, another wolf with white fur and blue marks around its joints and on top of its head howled, as it leaped over the Ghost Wolf Pack, and aimed for Tang San, while Grandmaster was still in the middle of using his ability, as it caused a rumble to be heard, frightening the Ghost Wolves.

"Tang San, look out!" Liu Shun said, as he immediately knocked Tang San to the side, as the wolf immediately struck him across the forest, as both were flying into the back of the forest.

"Liu Shun!" Tang San cried, as he was about to rush to help him, before one of the Devil Vines suddenly jolted forward, and lashed towards one of the fleeing Ghost Wolves, gripping it in its jaws, showing that it was a real Romanti Snake, not the imitation the Devil Vine made. "What!?"

"No... It can't be..." Grandmaster spoke with shock. "I should have noticed... Every 211 years, the Romanti Snake must shed its skin, making it extremely weak, so it will find a place to hide. So it had everyone fooled by hiding beside another Devil Vine, so that it looks like it is one as well. The real one was hiding behind the fake."

The Romanti snake finished off the meal that was in its mouth, as it immediately turned its attention to the two humans.

"Master, we have to help Liu Shun!" Tang San said. "He was attacked in my place!"

"Out of the question, we have a bigger problem with the Romanti Snake." Grandmaster said. "We will have to work together to take care of the monster. Until then, Liu Shun will have to fend for himself."

On the place where Liu Shun and the Wind Spirit Wolf was fighting...

Both wolf and child tumbled towards the ground, as Liu Shun managed to barely get himself up, just as the wolf was getting up.

"Goddamnit... A Wind Spirit Wolf... here!?" Liu Shun cursed, as he clutched his bruised chest, as the wolf was unable to attack him mid-flight.

The Wind Spirit Wolf only reared up, as it circled around, as Liu Shun did the same.

"Alright, Wind Spirit Wolf... He's fast... deadly... and quite strong..." Liu Shun said. "Until Master and Tang San come to rescue me, I need to survive."

Suddenly, the wolf immediately sprinted towards Liu Shun at a speed that he barely could react to, as it was almost a blur to his vision, as his sword managed to block against its claw strikes, as he was being knocked back.

"That's it... Keep on hitting my guard, and I'll hit you when you're open..." Liu Shun huffed. "All I need to do is just let you run out of stamina..."

He then waited for a opening in the claw strikes to bat the wolf away, as he then swung, causing the wolf to dodge in anticipation of the attack, before he threw a kick to force it back further, as he immediately returned to his guarding stance.

Both boy and Spirit Beast clashed against each other, as the wolf kept on trying to disembowel Liu Shun with its sharp claws, only to be parried at each blow by Liu Shun's blade, who actually seems to react well enough to block each swing of its paw with a counter-slash, as he forced it back to ensure it didn't get any advantage over him in position.

The battle was slowly wearing the boy down, as he was beginning to get sluggish in his blocks, as the claw strikes were getting closer and closer to his body, but the same went for the Wind Spirit Wolf, as it was getting to the point where Liu Shun could see him.

"Hhhh... Hhhh..." Liu Shun breathed heavily. "Curse you... Don't think just because I'm only a little mortal child that I won't beat you to survive!"

In response, the Wind Spirit Wolf made a desperate attack, as it leaped in the air, and opened its maw to bite off the boy's neck in a single blow, as Liu Shun was barely able to get his sword up to block the bite.

"Not going... to happen!" Liu Shun grunted.

However, before he could say more, the wolf then arched its hind legs around, as it stabbed both claws into Liu Shun's abdomen, causing the boy to haemorrhage blood from the same spot, and weakening him greatly, as he cried in intense pain, as he fell backwards, and swung the blade to flick the wolf off him.

He then clutched his stomach, as he tried to block the flow of blood, with one hand on the sword, and the other to cover the bloodstain that was growing.

"C-Crap... I should have prepared for that." Liu Shun coughed.

Liu Shun was then suddenly attacked by the wolf, who immediately knocked him down, and was snapping at Liu Shun's head to try and chew it off, as the boy was using the blade's edge to keep the wolf's jaws away from him, using both hands to keep the blade in the wolf's mouth.

The pressure of the wolf pinning him was only aggravating his wound, as it was bleeding more severely than before, making him weaker and weaker, as his vision was beginning to blur.

'Shit... I'm... I'm about to lose conscious... But I can't... If I do, I'll die... And I won't come back alive...' Liu Shun thought, as he was struggling to keep the deadlock of attacks going. 'I... I can't die... here... I refuse... I refuse to die, and let the tragedy happen once more! I WILL NOT DIE! I MUST LIVE TO SAVE EVERYONE!'

With a final burst of strength, he managed to shove the wolf a bit further away, before he then used the hidden needle Tang San gave him, before he immediately thrust the entire length of the needle right into the wolf's head, skewering it right in its brain.

The wolf, having been instantly killed by the piercing blow in its head, immediately fell sideways, as red blood stained its white fur, as Liu Shun got up, clutching his wound with both hands, and biting his lip to use pain as adrenaline to keep him awake and alive.

He then noticed that the Spirit Ring of the wolf appeared, being a darker shade of yellow, confirming the wolf's death, as Liu Shun could barely muster the strength to smile.

"Fuck... yeah..." Liu Shun laughed weakly. "How's that for human power, wolfy? I guess I win this fight, and you're going to be exactly the first Spirit Ring I am looking for.

He then knelt down in a cross-legged lotus position, as he summoned the Great Sword of Elements, as the Spirit Ring floated towards the sword.

"This will take a while to get used to..." Liu Shun said as he clenched his abdomen to stem the bleeding as much as he could. "Without Spirit Ascension, I'll have to swap out Spirit Rings, and charge them up with natural Essence from defeated Spirit Beasts, if I'm going to be at the best of my abilities."

When the Spirit Ring reached the sword, it began to glow and pulse, as Liu Shun could feel a massive surge of energy going through his body, as he relaxed his body, to allow the energy of the Spirit Ring to seep in through every part of his body and Spirit.

He then began to feel massive pain, as he felt a thousand needles pricking through his torso, and many more through his own abdomen, as he was beginning to sweat, as he tried to focus the influx of energy into his veins, and try to absorb it in every single essence vein to lower the pressure he feels in the body.

'Just... A little more...!' Liu Shun thought, as the pain was causing him to slowly faint.

Eventually the energy stabilised itself, as the Great Sword of Elements was no longer white and clear like it was before, but now it had a green hue, as the edges of the blades were a little more curved than before, and the hilt of the blade bore a single solid and shiny green gem on the centre of it.

"It's... done... Ha... In... your... face..." He huffed, before he then fell to the side, as the Spirit disappeared with a lack of Essence to keep it maintained in physical form.

As he was nearing the edge of his consciousness, he could see that the sunlight was pouring through the branches, and that he saw Tang San running towards him, as he looked a little different, but Liu Shun couldn't tell what, as his vision was blurring and he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"...Shun! Liu Shun!" Tang San cried to the faint Liu Shun, as he could only hear it garbled.

And Liu Shun used what's left of his energy to smile, before he fell into a deep and dark slumber.

Trivia:

So here's a little detail about the ability that Liu Shun will have from his Spirit Ring:

First Ability: Razor Wind

Description: Fires off wave-like bursts of wind blades with each swing of the weapon, with power that can shred armour and weaken it, even capable of dealing major damage if undefended against.

Spirit Ring: 1st (452-Year Yellow Spirit Ring/ Wind Spirit-Wolf)

Added Attribute: Wind's Agility (Allows Liu Shun to increase his speed at a higher rate than that of any normal Spirit Master.)

Also, a little early explanation about a aspect of Liu Shun's powers. As stated in the chapter, Liu Shun is absolutely incapable of using Spirit Ascension to boost the quality of any of his Spirit Rings to a higher coloured rank or grade. In compensation, he has the ability to swap out Spirit Rings, despite the fact they are supposed to bind to a Spirit permanently when absorbed.

To further explain this, Liu Shun actually has to develop his ring, before he can use its full potential. Using a newly-absorbed ring will only allow him to use the weakest version of the abilities that are associated with the ring. In order to make them stronger, he would have to gain natural Essence, which is gained from absorbing weaker Spirit Rings and converting them into said type of Essence. Think of Natural Essence like a substitute for Skill Points, Upgrade Points or EXP, or any related type of point. As expected, if he were to take a new Spirit Ring entirely, he will have to start from fresh with that Spirit Ring, since it has 0 Natural Essence gained in it, and obviously, the higher the grade of the Spirit Ring, the more Natural Essence he will have to gain in order to max out the Spirit Ring's potential.