Chapter-19: Soul Rings! Arrangement Tang San!

In Nuoding Academy after a week Su Yuntao had headed for Martial Soul City, Shen Long and Xiao Wu who have just returned from their practice talking with each other happily are then suddenly teased by a bunch of their friends while meeting them in the dormitory corridor making both of them flustered.

Xiao Wu rushes off to the dorm room while Shen Long takes in a deep breath and then asks a bit seriously, "All of you what are you doing here like this together? Not just for teasing us, right Wang Shen?"

"Hehe. You are right brother Long. Did you forget that we were on verge of breakthrough?" says Wang Shen childishly.

"This… you guys have broken through to lv.10, I cannot say more. Congratulations." Shen Long exclaims joyfully feeling happy for them. 

"So, are you six headed for soul rings." Shen Long continues asking.

Wang Shen and other nod their head while one of the girls asks, "Brother Long, do you and Xiao Wu wish to join us too?" in a cute and innocent way.

"Yuyan! you know that he already has a soul ring, so let's not disturb him." Hong Di corrects her but only to hear a yelling from behind, "Hong Di, so what if she wishes, we can tag along or do you not take us as your friend?" and the voice belongs to Xiao Wu.

"No, sister Wu its not…" just as he was about to explain Shen Long speaks, "No need to say more, we both are gonna join to help you." 

"This…" Hong Di cannot hold himself up as he hits his head knowing that he has no any words to more. 

"Let it be. You know we cannot convince brother Long and Sister Wu. So just let it be." another girl from the group says as she pats on Hong Di's shoulder who then replies, "Okay, sister Yi Yi." 

"Can I also join in the group?" a girly voice comes from behind. Wang Shen exclaims in shock, "Wang Yan, why have you come here? Go and focus on doing your practice that brother had made for you."

"I don't want to." Wang Yan replies teasing her brother, sticking her tongue out.

"Huh? Why do you always protest?" Wang Shen asks her while he sighs. Shen Long sighs a bit feeling satisfied at the siblings an says "Xiao Yan?"

"It's not like that brother Shen Long. Have you forgotten even when you were the one who brought me and my brother to the Martial Soul Sun-hall 7 months ago and paid money on my birthday occasion last year helping me to awaken my martial soul."

"How can I forget it. Other than Xiao Wu in the entire academy only you possess a beautiful Martial Soul which is a 'Jade Butterfly' and coupled with you Lv.7 innate soul power a level higher you're your elder brothers helping you cultivate a bit faster than him. So?" Shen Long replies gently. While Wang Shen feels teary knowing his sister's aptitude being better than his he doesn't really care for much.

"'SO?' You are dummy, big brother." Wang Yan exclaims with shock and rage then continues, "Along with that for the past 4 months I have been practicing your 'Chaos Sutra' (They are still practicing the previous technique) and also with the help of the 'Spirit Tone' (made from the few 100 years old spirit grass given by Da Ming), I, a few hours ago made my breakthrough to lv.10 so, I am also allowed now right?" smiling showing her teeth while others feel she's showing-off.

"If I didn't practice the technique I wouldn't have believed it. Well still her talent really is amazing." exclaims a boy from the group.

"But brother Long Ao, it's not better than brother Shen Long, sister Xiao Wu and San's." Wang Yan replies quickly.

Long Ao nods agreeing for the three monsters.

"Oh, San huh? You mean Tang San right?" Shi Yi Yi teases Wang Yan who easily gets flustered seeing which others also start to tease her while Wang Shen tries to digest what is happening.

"This…" Wang Shen exclaims in confusion while him actually understanding but both his brain and heart not accepting.

"Don't think much. Just know that; Wang Yan reached lv.10, she is going with us and also, she likes Tang San." Shen Long whispers into his ears. Hearing which Wang Shen starts to shake and then the whole group hears footsteps coming from downstairs heading towards them. The person is non other that Tang San who says, "Hello, everyone!" greeting normally only to be grabbed by Wang Shen. Tang San who was about to fight back stops and makes an awkward face looking the shaking Wang Shen with teary eyes who says, "Tang San, you must fight me. I won't let my precious baby sister Wang Yan to be snatched away by ---" but before he could complete his words he is kicked by his sister Wang Yan in side of his stomach blowing him away and then turning to Tang San she looks him with fondly eyes then catching her brother runs like a train dragging him to the group. All others chuckle seeing the fainted Wang Shen, the flustered Wang Yan and the awkward Tang San standing there not understanding anything.

Tang San then awkwardly asks, "W-what happened here?" with a innocent look in his face making all of them unable to their laugh up to how clueless this boy who previously pursued Xiao Wu actually can be while Tang San remains dazed not understanding anything.

After a while Long Ao explains that they have all reached lv.10 and are going to the forest for their first soul ring while Shen Long and Xiao Wu will also accompany them. Shen Long invites Tang San to also join this little adventure only to be rejected at first but after a bit of persuasion from friends Tang San who has been covering his ears from the emotional, dramatic and unreasonable reasons said by Shen Long and group finally yells, "Okay then I will join. But I also have a condition and that is only if Shen Long accepts my duel. But this time is not like last time but this time is duel between friends and soul masters." With a competitive smile and spirit.

Shen Long nods his head and says, "So be it. Let's have a battle but we need to bet something at that time to Tang San."

"Bet? Okay, but what do you want from me?" Tang San asks as he ponders in confusion.

 "Hehehe, you'll know it later." Says Shen Long eyeing him from top to bottom and he silently mutters 'Hehe, Tang San, you cannot escape your fate' with a sinister smile. While others don't understand what Shen Long is muttering nut they do see his activity of eyeing Tang San with sinister smile while Tang San hears even the muttering and so he rushes off saying, "Okay then I will head out to inform my master." with a profound and blazing will 'That is not my fate' as he shakes his head off for the thoughts of Shen Long would do upon winning however he cannot back-off from what he proposed.

Meanwhile Xiao Wu gets teary and asks Shen Long, "Shen Long, it cannot be that you actually love him right? You have that kind of fetish. It cannot be." With a dramatic tone.

"This isn't what…" Shen Long tries to explain as he moves near to them only to look at them backing off stuck together looking at Shen Long with fear while Wang Shen exclaims, "Oh God protect me. Brother Shen Long even if I owe you my life, you cannot do this." 

"Brother Shen Long, I actually like Tang San so please leave him be." Wang Yan says in pleading tone.

"Brother Shen Long…"

"Brother…"

"…Long"

Shen Long twitches his face and then with a devilish smile, he yells at them, "You all, are you SHUT UP RIGHT NOW OR ELSE!" going slowly at first and then loudly.

All of them stand straight in line upon hearing that and then he calls all of them except Wang Yan near to them. While they still act being reluctant with Shen Long's piercing gaze all of them come near to him and forming a circle he starts whispering his plans to ear making all of them excited and upon finishing they all look at Wang Yan with teasing eyes except Wang Shen who tries to revolt and reveal truth only to be taken to a side and then tortured by using a bird wing to slowly brush his bare foot making him laugh and only let him survive upon taking an oath of not revealing the fact till the battle ends.

Wang Shen gives up in 3 seconds. After that all of them get ready preparing themselves for the journey while Tang San also comes in the dorm room a bit later and directly starts preparing for the travel proving that he has gotten approval however he feels chills down his spines seeing all of his roommates staring at him with a sinister smile with teasing look in their smiles which he forgets to notice.

Afterwards Shen Long handles the dean all perfect… Ahem here by handling it means persuading the dean and yeah the dean directly accepts upon Shen Long making excuse of his grandparents also accompanying them and then all of the students(Shen Long group) head towards Martial Soul Sub-hall where Shen Long easily tricks grandpa Mathew in giving the token and then all of them head out to the Nuoding City's Soul beast forest managed by Martial Soul Hall. 

Before entering the forest all of them as instructed by Shen Long prepare the things assigned by Shen Long such as food for 3 days including vegies and snacks, some utensils (carried by wang Shen and Hong Di), Sleeping bag (carried by boys). After that all of them get ready to find suitable soul beast and to their luck a group of Nether wolf soul beast is seen for which Hong Di whispers to Shen Long, "Brother Shen Long, will those be suitable for me."

"I don't think so." Tang San from behind suggests.

"Why so brother San? Wasn't it decided for me to have a wolf type for my 1st-soul-ring?" Hong Di asks a bit confused as well as others to which Tang San replies, "Because they are about 10 years old and about two or three are only 100 years old but at early stage not suitable as perfect soul ring that should be around 400-years in age." 

Upon hearing they find it reasonable but their attention is grabbed by Shen Long's words, "Tang San check on the size of that wolf." pointing towards a wolf that comes within the pack from bushes looking at which the other nether wolves bow in fear trembling.

Tang San nods and then exclaims in surprise looking at the bit different wolf, "This is simply amazing. It's a Cyan Wolf king and one of about 400-years in age, perfect for Hong Di."

"Really?" Hong Di exclaims in shock not believing but then smiles happily when sees Shen Long nodding.

"So, let's hurry and make a plan." Tang San suggests however yells at Shen Long who rushes directly towards the group, "Shen Long don't be foolish you should know that it's very strong and n-" but is interrupted by Xiao Wu, "You don't need to worry about him. Just wait and watch." Who exclaims calmly.

"This… okay but I will still prepare." Tang San says preparing for an attack to save Shen Long but then confusingly looks at Wang Shen and others face while Xiao Wu remains calm. 

He then turns toward Shen Long's direction and upon seeing the scene his hand freezes as he sees that there is one damn Shen Long who is beating the shit out of the pack of Nether wolf throwing them like throwing toys and finally beating the Cyan Wolf King unconscious in just a minute finishing the entire battle leaving others except Xiao Wu bewildered in shock as to how is it possible because a soul master can only fight against a normal 100-years-old soul beast while the 400-years-old Cyan Wolf King definitely was stronger than normal soul beast of same age because of the 'King' title and what shocked them more was when Xiao Wu said that Shen Long can even fight in against of a 1000-years-old soul beast, so doesn't it mean he is equivalently strong as a Soul Ancestor and what about them, aren't they like frog in bottom of well. All of them remained speechless. After that Shen Long brings the Cyan Wolf King infront of Hong Di and snapping everyone out of shock he orders Hong Di, "Hong Di hurry up and finish it." Hong Di nods and then stabs a dagger on the head finishing the unconscious Cyan Wolf King. After that a soul ring appears on top of it and Hong Di as instructed starts to absorb the soul ring. After that Xiao Wu and others start to guard him while Shen Long says, "You guys guard him and Long Ao come with me buddy we gonna get you your soul ring. I found a perfect match for your Iron Rod-Martial Soul. Hurry up." And then heads to where he fought with the Cyan Wolf King while Long Ao following him and others except Hong Di (who is absorbing soul ring) observe them while keeping their guard up. 

Seeing Shen Long observing a set of bamboo he asks, "Brother Shen Long what are you doing observing this long bamboo…" he himself in the end gets shocked seeing that the bamboo is over 30 meters in length.

"Is that a Black Iron Bamboo. Now I understand what Shen Long meant by a perfect match." Tang San says as he stares at the long bamboo. "Huh!? Xiao San you know about that?" asks Wang Shen.

Tang San nods and then explains, "It's a Black Iron Bamboo. It's called black because of the shady color of its by this surrounding. It's stronger than a lone bamboo possessing both strength and defense perfectly matching with Long Ao as it's age is also a bit more than 400-years-old."

Hearing this all of them make happy face cheering for both the guys, as Long Ao who also starts absorbing his 1st-soul-ring after cutting the bamboo with a heavy given by Shen Long, and the remaining start waiting joyously for their turns after a few hours both the boys finish absorbing their soul rings and then start jumping exclaiming their joy as they share their soul rings info:

· Hong Di: Str +60% & Spd +40%

· Long Ao: Str, Def +70%

Hearing the effect of their Soul rings all the others yell in excitement and jealousy however Shen Long also tells them that a soul master should try to keep their abilities and skills to themselves. After that all of them including Tang San (who is forced) to take vow not to casually tell anyone about one's own martial soul.

After that as the sun set down they made a camp near to a large tree where they placed their sleeping bags around the small camping fire while Shen Long sprinkled Soul beast chasing concoction to prevent any mishap while he himself and Tang San divided time to work as a guard. At first it was Tang San and then Shen Long.

It was a few hours before morning, still night during Shen Long's turn a rustling is heard by a nearby tree. Shen Long uses his Golden Eye Technique and then rushes to the bushes. Five minutes later he returns and then goes to Gu Yuyan sleeping soundly beside Xiao Wu. Shen Long slowly wakes her up shocking her. He gives her some water and then she asks after getting a bit fresher, "What is it brother Long? Do you wish to change shifts with me? You wanna stay beside sister Wu? I won't stop you." teasing him a bit.

'Ugh… who fills them with these ideas?' Shen Long hits his head and then taking a deep breath slowly says, "Look over there."

"Huh! Where t-" as she was thinking where to her attention is attracted by a green body a bit farther from the sleeping beds beside the large tree they are staying by.

"This…" she exclaims in shock.

"Hurry up and finish it before it wakes up. I just defeated it so its unconscious. Then refine it before morning."

"Thank you brother Shen Long." Gu Yuyan exclaims happily and then slowly approaches the green snake and striking it's head with a dagger she finishes it and as a yellow soul ring appears over it she starts absorbing the soul ring.

Some hours pass by and early in the morning everyone wakes up and see that Shen Long cooking food while Gu Yuyan who always wakes up late is awake earlier than anyone else and is helping Shen Long in washing the dishes with a large smile on her face.

"This… when did she wake?" exclaims Wang Shen in shock.

To which she replies, "Brother Shen Long woke me up some hours ago and helped me with my 1st-soul-ring." As her words show her joy.

"Huh! How?" everyone ask in shock so Shen Long explains about the appearance of a 400-years-old Grass snake nearby and her martial soul also being a Grass Snake he defeated it and helped her refine the soul ring by morning.

After that the further discussion takes place while eating breakfast and all of them then continue towards the deeper part of the forest and luckily on their way with Tang San's help they found a Illusion Demon Fox, which Shen Long easily defeated helping it tp be Shi Yi Yi's 1st-soul-ring and with Shen Long's help on going around that place they found a Black Tiger a perfect match for Wang Shen who refined it as his 1st-soul-ring. And as for Wang Yan, she is quite lucky. As on their expedition for Wang Yan they found a Light Butterfly, a soul beast found rarely and with high element of light around the age of 400-years and so she takes it as her 1st-soul-ring.

They have no problem even during their return however there are changes to be seen. Shen Long still remains near to Xiao Wu, while Tang San also gets a bit closer to Wang Yan for her way treatment towards him but still remains clueless (Wang Yan is persuaded by her elder sisters to confidently pursue her love without any problem but hide at first and act friendly and frankly), to prevent Wang Shen from interfering Shi Yi Yi who actually loves Wang Shen accompanies him while Long Ao and Gu Yuyan also remain closely leaving Hong Di the sole boy left all alone but determination fills him as he thinks of getting a better and more beautiful girl in future as he grows stronger. While the relation between friends also deepens especially for Tang San who understands the fun that one can have with friends as his entire past life was for getting acknowledged by his sect. he also starts getting friendlier with them and a warmth, a feeling of satisfaction starts to arise within his heart.

 After that all of them return back on the 4th day after them leaving the academy only to be scolded by Shen Long's grandparents for some moments and them showing their love and care for their grandchild the next moment. After that the other kids register themselves at Martial Soul Sub- Hall of Nuoding city shocking grandpa Mathew who sees that all the kids have soul power of Lv.13 and all have a century old soul ring making him feel why wasn't he born in this time instead of his but well he still is happy with Shen Long treating him respectfully. 

Next day all of them return to academy where both Shen Long and Tang San as promised start their fight. Shen Long had a reason for the fight so without wasting time he took out all of his weights which shocked Tang San as he tried to grab them up. All of them were around 1500KG in total.

And as Tang San suspected without use of hidden weapons, he just gets defeated by Shen Long in few seconds unable to sustain. So he sighs and says, "I guess I'll never be able to defeat you in this life, Shen Long."

"What are you blabbering for you fool? Don't worry I will help you get strong." Shen Long says as he gives his hand to the laying Tang San who then exclaims, "Really?"

"Yup!" Shen Long replies with a warm smile and then continues with a sinister smile, "Hehehe, our bet, you remember right?"

"Gulp* … Yeah, the winner's any one work or command by taking a martial soul oath." Tang San replies feeling that something bad may happen to him as he fearfully looks at Shen Long's sinister and demon-like smile.

"Then take a martial soul oath." Shen Long says with a serious tone. 

Tang San nods and says, "I Tang San, hereby swear that anyone command of Shen Long as long as appropriate and not beyond boundaries I will accept."

"Hmmm? You really did take an oath." Shen Long claps in admiration.

"Huh!? I didn't have to?" asks Tang San awkwardly.

Shen Long replies laughing, "Aren't you a friend of mine? And are you some evil who has to take an oath for survival? You could have just rejected. But now, Hehehe."

Tang San feels as if he has been tricked by himself. Was he too innocent or was Shen Long too cunning? The latter sounds more truthful.

"Well since you have taken oath then fulfil it. Wang Yan is a good girl and a cute one at that take good care of her without malice. For the next 4 years you are to spend your free time with her but not allowed to make her your sister. Now do you understand?" Shen Long says in calm way. However, Wang Yan and Tang San upon hearing this get flustered and Wang Yan rushes off from the grounds to dorm rooms. Tang San having seen Xiao Wu's actions when teased nd matching it with the actions of Wang Yan and her way of treatment during their travel in the soul beast forest, some thoughts start developing.

Tang San with flustered face says, "Understood." And then as he was about to head to his master's room Shen Long says, "Tang San, both you and Wang Yan get acquainted with each other as I don't care but to expaecr a dance from both of you as you both have to participate in dance next month in the Village Fest which is hosted in our village."

Tang San slightly nods before disappearing as he runs like a bullet train hiding his embarrassment and amidst all these activities a man in black hood who is spying over the kids smiles a bit before disappearing in thin air.

Likewise with training, family time, friend time, and preparation for the village fest a month passes by while Tang San heads to his village to call for grandpa Jack and other villagers to enjoy the village fest while being accompanied by Wang Ya. And for others Shen Long tells their families to come while they are taken by Shen Long for preparations for their performances.

-->To Be Continued