Douro Continent

Chapter 145 The Human-Faced Spider Soul Ring Beyond the Limits (Part 1)

During her previous duel with Tang San, Meng Yiran didn't use her Soul-Breaking Blade because the two quickly entered a battle of soul power. Meng Shu didn't quite believe that Tang San, who was handling this type of throwing weapon for the first time, could outperform his granddaughter.

Meng Yiran nodded to her grandfather. "Grandpa, let's begin."

Meng Shu asked Tang San, "Are you ready?"

Tang San nodded. "Do we need to prepare for a contest of hidden weapons?" Of course, given his personality, he would never say such a thing.

Meng Yiran quickly attached the cloth bag to her waistband. The bag had Velcro on the back, allowing it to be attached to any material for easy use. As she fastened the bag, she glanced at Tang San. She noticed he was holding the bag in one hand, seemingly lost in thought, and didn't look like someone who would use a throwing weapon. Seeing this, Meng Yiran couldn't help but feel a little smug.

Long Gong Meng Shu made his move. He didn't move, but casually flung out his four-meter-long dragon-headed cane.

A resounding dragon's roar echoed from the top of the cane, and the silver cane, like a silver dragon in motion, hurtled towards a large tree twenty meters away.

With a muffled thud, Meng Shu used his strength perfectly, fully utilizing the power of the shockwave. Without damaging the tree itself, the leaves fell like rain.

With a sharp cry, Meng Yiran simultaneously unleashed a flurry of cold light from her cloth bag, throwing all eighteen Soul-Breaking Blades in one go.

Perhaps it was the burning anger she felt towards Tang San that ignited her power. Meng Yiran clearly felt that her throwing of the Soul-Breaking Blade today was exceptionally smooth. She was certain that every single one of her Soul-Breaking Blades accurately hit its target, some even piercing two leaves.

Meng Yiran was still concentrating on throwing her flying knife, while Meng Shu's gaze fell on Tang San after he released his dragon-headed cane. His dragon-headed cane was a weapon spirit, and once released, it could be retrieved simply by using spirit power, without needing to be deliberately controlled. He wanted to see if this young man named Tang San could surprise him again.

Under Meng Shu's watchful gaze, Tang San made a move that greatly puzzled the Dragon and Snake couple. He had already turned around the moment he threw out his dragon-headed cane.

But instead of turning towards the target tree, he turned his back to it. At the same moment Meng Yiran made her move, Tang San's hand holding the cloth bag also moved. The entire cloth bag instantly unfolded in his right hand, and then it began to shake violently.

The eighteen streaks of cold light left their original positions almost simultaneously.

Meng Yiran's Soul-Breaking Blade was naturally fired from the front, but Meng Shu could clearly see that Tang San's Soul-Breaking Blades were all flying in arcs.

To throw a throwing knife in an arc already requires considerable skill. Tang San didn't even use his hands to control it; he simply flung it out from his cloth bag, and all the Soul-Breaking Blades produced the same effect.

Even Meng Shu, the Dragon Lord, who was a Soul Douluo, was taken aback and looked carefully at the destination where Tang San's Soul-Breaking Blade was flying.

A series of sharp, piercing sounds erupted as blades stabbed into tree trunks. The leaves in the air gradually drifted down, signaling the end of the contest.

Meng Yiran turned to look at Tang San, just in time to see him turn around, and said with some surprise and anger, "You didn't make a move?"

Tang San shook the empty cloth bag in his hand and said, "I have already made my move."

Just as Meng Yiran was stunned, the peerless dragon and snake couple had already arrived beside her. Meng Shu sighed and said, "Incredible skill. Yiran, you've lost."

Meng Yiran looked at her grandfather, confused. Meng Shu shook his head at her and said, "There's no need to go see the results. Let's go."

"No, I don't believe it." How could Meng Yiran believe that her most proficient throwing weapon would lose to Tang San, who was already nearly exhausted, before she had seen it with her own eyes? Ignoring her grandparents' attempts to stop her, she ran towards the large tree as fast as she could. She simply couldn't believe she had lost.

Meng Shu sighed and muttered to himself, "This will probably be a big blow to Yi Ran. However, it's not necessarily a bad thing to let her understand that there are always people more capable than herself."

Upon arriving at the tree, the first thing Meng Yiran saw was the throwing knives she had thrown. Just as she had predicted, all eighteen knives were stuck in the tree trunk, and within a very small area, each of the Soul-Breaking Knives had at least one leaf on it, with some having as many as three.

It was even better than her usual level.

However, when Meng Yiran's gaze moved upwards and she saw the Soul-Breaking Blades with blue ribbons, she froze in shock.

Eighteen blue ribbon-adorned Soul-Slaying Blades lay neatly arranged in three rows on the tree trunk, six blades in each row, forming the number three.

Each of the Soul-Shattering Blades was stuck with a stack of leaves, and even the depth to which the blades were embedded in the trees was exactly the same. Compared to Meng Yiran's eighteen Soul-Shattering Blades stuck in the trees at different odd numbers, the contrast was too obvious.

Meng Shu's voice reached Meng Yiran's ears, "Girl, admit defeat. Even I can't match Tang San's technique. They attacked simultaneously, entered the tree at the same time. There was even only one sound, and each Soul-Breaking Blade pierced through ten leaves. Moreover, when he attacked, he was completely facing away from the tree, without even looking. Such skill can only be described as divine."

Meng Yiran slowly turned around and looked at her grandfather. Although her gaze was no longer vacant, she seemed to have lost her soul. She even abandoned her Soul-Breaking Blade and walked step by step towards her grandparents.

Just as Meng Shu said, being defeated in her strongest area was a huge blow to Meng Yiran.

Within three days, she lost to Tang San twice, each time more miserably than the last, and her soul beasts were stolen twice. Her long-held confidence was completely shattered by Tang San.

Tang San strode forward, reached his waist, and released a handful of steel needles, knocking all the Soul-Breaking Blades off the tree. The needles followed their trajectory and fell back into his hand, and he collected the Soul-Breaking Blades one by one and wrapped them in a cloth bag.

After doing all this, he quickly caught up with Meng Yiran and said, "Miss Meng, here is your Soul-Breaking Blade."

Meng Yiran looked up at him; her beautiful face now appeared somewhat pale. "Are you here to make fun of me?"

Tang San shook his head and said, "No. Actually, you don't need to be sad. I started practicing hidden weapons when I was three years old. Although I'm not even thirteen yet, I've been practicing for nine years. I used all my strength in the hidden weapon technique just now. That was the most exquisite technique I could use right now."

"Hidden weapons?" Meng Yiran was drawn to this new term.

Tang San handed her the Soul-Breaking Blade. "A weapon that works in the dark is called a hidden weapon. Hidden weapons shouldn't be used for competitions, but rather as a magic weapon to achieve victory by surprise."

When Meng Yiran challenged him to a contest of hidden weapons, Tang San felt a mixture of amusement and a sense of familiarity. After all, this was the first time he had seen hidden weapons in the hands of someone else since arriving in this world. Reflecting on how he had caused this girl, a few years his senior, considerable trouble since meeting her—though unintentionally—and how he had stolen two of her useful spirit rings, he felt a pang of guilt. Now that the situation was settled, he couldn't help but offer Meng Yiran a few words of advice. He didn't want her to give up on practicing hidden weapons because of today's setback.

Meng Yiran blinked her big eyes and asked, "Then why are you able to use your hidden weapons to that extent?"

Tang San said, "Practicing throwing weapons also requires certain methods. Actually, this kind of throwing knife isn't suitable for you. It's a bit too big and heavy for you. I think it would be more effective if you changed the throwing knife to a throwing needle. Like this."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and ran it across a jade stone from the Twenty-Four Bridges Under the Moonlit Night, revealing a five-inch-long bone-piercing needle in his palm.

Tang San handed the Bone-Penetrating Needle to Meng Yiran, saying, "I call this kind of needle the Bone-Penetrating Needle. It's five inches long, thinner at the front and thicker at the back, and weighs less than a fifth of your throwing knife, yet it can still travel extremely far and has strong penetrating power. Because of its small size, it's easier to carry. Although this was a coincidence, I did indeed ruin your chances of obtaining a soul beast twice. If you're willing, I have a method for cultivating hidden weapons that I can tell you. You can try it when you get back; it should be better than just practicing your accuracy."

Meng Yiran was taken aback. "You're going to teach me?" She clearly remembered that her grandfather had said he would break someone's arm. When she looked up at Tang San, she found that his gaze was extremely clear, without any impurities. It was obviously not fake.

Tang San said, "The art of hidden weapons is equally profound and complex. Would you like to learn it?"

Meng Yiran nodded subconsciously.

Tang San smiled slightly and said, "Just now, I was able to hit the target accurately without even looking. This is a basic skill for using hidden weapons, called 'sound positioning.' It involves using your hearing to pinpoint the target's location. When the lighting is poor or the angle is unsuitable, your eyes cannot see the target's exact location, making your hearing extremely important. If you master sound positioning, your hidden weapons will have no blind spots when launched, and they will be more concealed."

(End of this chapter)