From the beginning, he hadn't wanted to become a disciple of Yu Xiaogang. It was his father, Tang Hao, who had insisted on it. Tang San had only agreed out of filial piety.
Yet here was his teacher, coveting his belongings. How could a teacher be so eager for his student's possessions?
And wasn't Yu Xiaogang stuck at the Spirit Master level for years, despite his countless years of cultivation? Was a single Hundred Herbs Pill going to help him breakthrough?
Tang San found himself at a loss for words. However, he also understood that his perspective might be skewed.
Since he hadn't chosen to be a disciple voluntarily, and given his previous impressions from the live broadcasts, Tang San had already labeled Yu Xiaogang as hypocritical and shameless.
Before witnessing Yu Xiaogang's so-called esteemed knowledge, Tang San had already been put off by the teacher's desire for benefits. This made Tang San feel like Yu Xiaogang was no different from the scheming Bibi Dong from the live broadcast—using him as a mere tool.
Despite this, when he looked at the storage soul tool, the Twenty-Four Bridge Mingyue Night, Tang San's heart softened a bit.
"Well, whatever. My teacher gave me such a precious storage soul tool. I'm already a Spirit Master, so I should have more than one Hundred Herbs Pill. I'll just give him one to try. The rest should be enough for me to break through to Spirit King."
With a sigh, Tang San decided to offer a Hundred Herbs Pill to Yu Xiaogang, opening the small porcelain bottle that contained six green pills.
"Teacher, here you go!" Tang San said respectfully, handing over one of the Hundred Herbs Pills.
"What are you doing, Tang San?" Yu Xiaogang was surprised to see the pill being handed to him. Despite his desire, he tried to maintain his image as a revered teacher. He waved his hand and said, "I only wanted to take a look at the Hundred Herbs Pill. You don't need to give it to me. Even if I took it, its effect would be nowhere near as good as on you."
"Teacher, this bottle of Hundred Herbs Pills can help a Spirit Master quickly break through to Spirit King. But since I'm already a Spirit Master, I don't need a whole bottle. Instead, you've been stuck at level twenty-nine for many years. The live broadcast mentioned that the Hundred Herbs Pill could help someone break through to Spirit King, so maybe it can help you reach level thirty."
Seeing that Yu Xiaogang was still pretending to be aloof while eyeing the pill with desire, Tang San felt a pang of disgust but tried to remain respectful, addressing him as his teacher.
"Hmm…"
Yu Xiaogang hesitated, but his gaze remained fixed on the Hundred Herbs Pill, revealing his thoughts.
After Tang San's further persuasion, Yu Xiaogang sighed and reluctantly accepted the pill.
Meanwhile, Tang Hao, who had been observing the whole process, was displeased. He understood why Yu Xiaogang wanted the pill. After all, Yu Xiaogang was a failure. Even if he managed to reach level thirty, what good would it do?
On the other hand, Tang San, although he might not need the whole bottle to break through, could still use the Hundred Herbs Pill to speed up his cultivation.
Even though Yu Xiaogang was still Tang San's teacher and Tang San respected him, Tang Hao chose not to interfere.
However, even after taking the Hundred Herbs Pill, Yu Xiaogang still failed to break through to level thirty. The reason was simple—Yu Xiaogang had already been quite useless. After his martial soul, the Three-Headed Dragon had degraded, he was even more ineffective.
Even if he were given a Nine-Tier Purple Ganoderma, as in the original story, he wouldn't be able to break through to level thirty without a similar grade of spirit herb.
Elsewhere in the city of Nuoding
After the eleventh live broadcast ended, Lin Yu left the live stream and prepared to depart from Nuoding City to the western frontier of the Heaven Dou Empire.
According to the information Lin Yu had gathered, the western frontier was plagued by wolf bandits, making it a perfect opportunity for him to act as a savior!
As usual, Lin Yu let his clone, Shang Qing, remain active in Nuoding Academy.
His main body, however, used the External Soul Bone—Thunderstorm Wings to leave Nuoding City and head straight for the western frontier of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Before setting out, Lin Yu used the External Soul Bone—Mirage Dragon Pearl to alter his appearance and form, taking on a new guise.
Now, Lin Yu looked like a young man with waist-length black hair and a handsome face. He had even thought of a fitting name: Ye Liangchen!
With the majestic name Ye Liangchen, it was a perfect fit!
Leaving Nuoding City, Lin Yu traveled swiftly to the western frontier of the Heaven Dou Empire using a combination of the Thunderstorm Wings and his Swift Water Steps technique.
The western frontier was quite far from Nuoding City. Although both were border areas, Nuoding City was in the southern frontier, while the western frontier was over ten thousand miles away.
Traveling by carriage from Nuoding City to the western frontier would take at least a month.
Fortunately, with his External Soul Bone—Thunderstorm Wings and his advanced cultivation at the Spirit King level, Lin Yu's recovery abilities had greatly improved. He could use the Thunderstorm Wings for extended periods.
Thus, in less than three days, Lin Yu arrived at the western frontier of the Heaven Dou Empire.
After arriving, Lin Yu was quite tired from the journey and decided not to immediately search for the wolf bandits. Instead, he first found a city, stayed in a hotel for the night, and then enjoyed a hearty meal at a restaurant the next day.
Only after that did he begin searching for information about the wolf bandits in the city.
The western frontier of the Heaven Dou Empire, being close to the ocean and not bordering the Star Luo Empire, had little military presence and no stationed troops from the Star Luo Empire.
This lack of military presence made the area a haven for wolf bandits, who gathered there in droves.
Despite the Spirit Hall periodically sending spirit masters to hunt them, the wolf bandits' skill in evading into deep mountains made these efforts less effective compared to the deterrent power of a full army from both empires.
As the western frontier was heavily infested with wolf bandits, Lin Yu quickly obtained information about a group of wolf bandits.