"You felt it too, didn't you?"
After returning to his room and temporarily separating from his teammates, Su Cheng looked toward Ah Yin beside him.
"Why would something like this happen?"
Ah Yin's face was somewhat pale.
During the battle just now, she had used Su Cheng's Domain to sense the unusual way Soul Power circulated inside Tang San's body.
It was obviously different from that of ordinary people.
At the time, under the overwhelming pressure of Su Cheng's sword strike, none of the Shrek Team members had been able to detect the presence of his Domain.
Given Su Cheng's mastery over it, so long as he didn't actively use its suppressive effects, people at their cultivation level had no chance of noticing it.
"I don't know either," Su Cheng said calmly. "It could be an accident, or there could be some external force behind it."
"I remember…"
Ah Yin hesitated as she looked at him.
"You once mentioned your own situation…"
She knew Su Cheng also practiced a special cultivation method.
But she also knew that he had developed that technique himself.
As for Tang San…
Judging from the way he used his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and the speed of his cultivation, Ah Yin didn't believe he had the ability to create something similar.
Moreover, the fluctuations produced by Tang San's cultivation method were completely different from Su Cheng's.
Su Cheng's Soul Power circulation was far more compatible with the body, bloodline, and Martial Soul.
Its efficiency in condensing Soul Power was also much higher, clearly fitting the energy system of the Douluo Continent.
But the energy inside Tang San's body was fundamentally different from ordinary Soul Power.
It almost seemed as though it came from another world.
If Su Cheng had never mentioned this possibility, very few people would ever have made such a connection.
But after his earlier hint, Ah Yin had immediately realized it.
"My situation isn't exactly the same as his."
Su Cheng shook his head.
"My memories awakened gradually, little by little. Where I came from, something like this would be called memories from a previous life."
"Other than that, I also possess a few special talents."
"So I can't really determine what's going on with him."
He then turned toward Ah Yin and spoke in a gentler tone.
"Don't worry. I'll investigate it properly in the future."
"But the soul that originally belonged to that body has already completely disappeared."
Ah Yin looked into his eyes for a moment before quietly asking,
"Why are you willing to help me?"
Su Cheng froze slightly.
He thought for a long while before answering.
"You've helped me a great deal."
"Far more than you probably realize."
"At first, all I wanted was your hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone."
"But I never expected your appearance to bring me so many benefits."
"My cultivation method and aptitude both underwent transformative improvements."
"And because of you, I gained a much deeper understanding of the path I should take in the future."
"Besides…"
"I've told you before."
"I admire you."
"Your courage is something I can't compare to."
He paused.
Then Su Cheng raised his head and looked toward the clear sky outside the window.
A faint sigh escaped his lips.
"And there are some things…"
"I can only tell you."
In this world, Su Cheng was actually very lonely.
He didn't know whether he had truly transmigrated or merely awakened memories from another life.
But regardless of which was true, he always felt somewhat out of place here.
That suffocating feeling of being a stranger in a foreign land had accumulated inside him for years.
Eventually, it became an invisible form of mental pressure that affected his state of mind.
That was also why he desired strength.
Only with sufficient strength would he possess the capital needed to change this world.
Yet there were many secrets he had no one to share with.
Qian Renxue was certainly trustworthy.
There were many things Su Cheng wouldn't mind telling her.
Thinking about it now was almost amusing.
The people he had known earliest and spent the longest time with were actually Chen Xin and Qian Renxue from the simulated world.
Especially the latter.
They had spent more than twenty years together.
That experience held extraordinary significance for him.
But Qian Renxue was different from Ah Yin.
She had a forceful personality and strong opinions of her own.
There were many things Su Cheng didn't dare tell her casually, fearing they might lead to unintended consequences.
Ah Yin turned her head and quietly stared at Su Cheng.
For some reason, his expression at this moment seemed almost vulnerable.
After spending so much time together, she had nearly forgotten something.
The man standing before her, whose appearance already resembled that of a young adult, was actually still a boy not even fifteen years old.
Perhaps, like Tang San, he possessed another set of long and mature memories.
But Ah Yin also understood the mutual influence between soul and body.
The same soul placed inside the body of a ten-year-old child would experience the world very differently from that same soul inhabiting the body of a dying ninety-year-old elder.
Having experienced soul beast transformation, death, rebirth, and the reconstruction of a spiritual body, Ah Yin's understanding of the physical body was far from shallow.
Her fingers moved slightly.
Almost unconsciously, she wanted to raise her hand.
But she quickly came back to her senses.
Her fingers curled inward.
She clenched them tightly before lowering her head again.
Su Cheng took a deep breath.
A smile returned to his face, and his tone became relaxed once more.
"Don't think too much about it."
"I'm not doing this entirely for your sake."
"There are things I need to understand for myself as well."
"Besides, even if Tang San has no other hidden secrets, he's still the favored child of destiny in this world."
"Whenever he suffers a few setbacks, he always seems to stumble across some sort of fortunate encounter afterward."
"That External Soul Bone and his Twin Martial Souls are proof enough."
Of course, aside from divine inheritance, none of those so-called opportunities could compare to Twin Martial Souls and Immortal Herbs.
At best, his other fortuitous encounters merely allowed him to benefit from disaster and absorb Soul Rings beyond the normal age limit.
Now that the Immortal Herbs were gone, Tang San's future potential had already been heavily reduced.
"…"
Ah Yin silently nodded without speaking.
Her thoughts were currently rather chaotic.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
At that moment, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
Su Cheng quickly composed himself and walked over to open it.
Ning Fengzhi stood outside with a broad smile on his face.
"Sect Master, why are you here?"
Su Cheng looked somewhat surprised.
At this time, Ning Fengzhi should logically still be accompanying the emperor.
"I came to congratulate you on winning the first match."
"Wasn't that already within your expectations?"
Su Cheng smiled and stepped aside, inviting him into the room.
"What is there to congratulate?"
"Winning was certainly within my expectations."
Ning Fengzhi sighed with emotion.
"But your strength completely exceeded them."
When Ning Fengzhi had first met Su Cheng, even without Chen Xin's earlier comments, his own experience had been enough to tell that the child was extraordinary.
But no matter how highly he had evaluated him back then, he never imagined Su Cheng would reach this level at such a young age.
"When I return to the sect and tell Uncle Sword about this battle, he'll definitely regret not coming to watch today."
"Today was partly due to fortunate timing."
"I just happened to gain some new comprehension in the way of the sword."
"I see."
Ning Fengzhi nodded thoughtfully.
After a moment, he continued,
"But judging from your performance today…"
"It seems like you alone might be enough to deal with every other team."
Seeing Ning Fengzhi's expression, Su Cheng became slightly puzzled.
"Sect Master, if there's something you want to say, just say it directly."
"Ahem…"
"Xiao Cheng, we're not outsiders, so I'll be straightforward."
Ning Fengzhi looked slightly embarrassed.
"I was thinking about Rongrong."
"This kind of practical combat experience is rather rare for her…"
Su Cheng immediately understood.
He smiled.
"I understand."
"Don't worry."
"As long as we can guarantee qualification, I don't care who participates."
"As for team deployment, just let the others gather intelligence on the remaining academy teams."
"That way, I can relax as well."
That was the truth.
Su Cheng had little interest in participating in this tournament.
The only reason he had joined Heaven Dou's second team was to gain closer exposure to the Five Element Academies and deepen his understanding through observation.
If he didn't have to personally fight in later matches, that would actually be ideal.
"To be honest, your biggest opponents in the qualifiers are indeed those Element Academies."
Ning Fengzhi relaxed visibly and smiled.
"As long as you defeat them, then against the other teams, even if you don't participate, with Rongrong's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda supporting the others, your team should still qualify without much difficulty."
"That would be even better."
...
Tang San sat alone in his room.
His expression was blank.
The scene of his entire team being effortlessly defeated.
The scene of Xiao Wu being severely injured and falling unconscious in front of him.
The scene of him desperately fighting back, yet accomplishing nothing.
One image after another flashed through his mind.
Ever since becoming a Soul Master, Tang San had always stood at the peak among his peers.
Blue Silver Grass was not a powerful Martial Soul.
It was even considered a trash Martial Soul.
Yet under his teacher's guidance, Tang San's strength had never been inferior to other young Soul Masters with powerful Martial Souls.
In fact, aside from Zhu Zhuqing, he had been stronger than nearly everyone around him.
As time passed, Tang San had almost forgotten the inherent weakness of his Blue Silver Grass.
He had always placed himself on the same level as those possessing powerful Martial Souls.
He had even developed a faint sense of superiority.
Until he met Su Cheng again.
Until he fell beneath that man's sword once more.
That contemptuous gaze.
That dismissive attitude toward his Martial Soul.
Both had deeply wounded Tang San's pride.
This time, after calming down and thinking carefully, Tang San suddenly realized something.
If it weren't for the Eight Spider Lances, an External Soul Bone he had obtained by chance…
If it weren't for the unusually high-quality third Soul Ring he had luckily acquired…
What advantage did he actually possess?
His combat reactions were sharp.
His tactical thinking was clear.
He also possessed the secret techniques of the Tang Sect as hidden trump cards.
In nearly every other aspect, his conditions were superior to ordinary people.
Only his cultivation level and Martial Soul were holding him back.
"That's right…"
"Why?"
Tang San clenched his fists.
"Why should someone like me, who possesses the Clear Sky Hammer and Mysterious Heaven Skill, cultivate so slowly?!"
In his previous life, Tang San had been an outer disciple of the Tang Sect who successfully created the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus.
Naturally, he possessed pride far beyond that of ordinary people.
At that moment, the words Yu Xiaogang had spoken when they first met once again echoed through his mind.
"Are you wondering why I knew you possessed Twin Martial Souls?"
"I once investigated six hundred and forty-seven people whose Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass."
"Only sixteen possessed Soul Power."
"That's less than three percent."
"And among those sixteen, not a single person had innate Soul Power above rank one."
"Yet you were born with full innate Soul Power at rank ten."
"According to one of my Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls, innate Soul Power should be proportional to Martial Soul quality."
"Blue Silver Grass clearly cannot account for your level of innate Soul Power."
"So I can confidently conclude that you possess another Martial Soul."
"And it must be an extremely powerful one…"
"Furthermore, based on my many years of research into mutated Martial Souls, there has never been a Martial Soul known to mutate together with ordinary Blue Silver Grass."
"And your Blue Silver Grass is clearly ordinary Blue Silver Grass."
"Therefore, I can be certain my judgment is correct."
Tang San extended his right hand.
His Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul silently appeared in his palm.
It swayed gently, emitting a faint blue glow.
"Ordinary Blue Silver Grass…"
"The trash Martial Soul everyone knows…"
How could something this weak possibly help him reach the peak of the Soul Master world?
Perhaps reaching his current level with it was already an extraordinary stroke of luck.
What more was he still expecting?
Then Tang San extended his left hand.
A pitch-black hammer appeared in his palm.
The hammer's dark surface shimmered with a deep, mysterious light.
A faint pattern wrapped around its cylindrical hammerhead.
At a glance, anyone could tell that it was extraordinary.
Tang San stared blankly at the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand.
Before entering the tournament, Yu Xiaogang had once held a long discussion with him.
"Your other Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass."
"I never expected you to cultivate it all the way to rank ninety."
"But as long as you cultivate it beyond rank sixty, then in the future, you may be able to give your Clear Sky Hammer an entire set of ten-thousand-year Soul Rings."
"At that point, forget a single Titled Douluo."
"Even if two attacked you at once, how could they possibly be your opponent?"
"At the same rank ninety, the various attributes provided by nine ten-thousand-year Soul Rings would be far beyond what ordinary Soul Masters could compare with…"
"Rank sixty…"
Tang San softly repeated the number.
"Rank sixty…"
"With Blue Silver Grass, how many years would it take me to reach rank sixty?!"
"Am I supposed to waste ten or twenty years of my golden cultivation period like this?!"
No.
Absolutely not!
Blue Silver Grass simply wasn't a good Martial Soul.
He was still young.
There was still time to abandon it.
Tang San understood very clearly that the innate shortcomings of a Martial Soul would become increasingly obvious as one's Soul Power rank rose.
Even now, Blue Silver Grass was already beginning to feel inadequate.
He stared firmly at the black hammer in his right hand.
His gaze gradually hardened.
This was the inherited Martial Soul of the Clear Sky Sect—
the number one sect among the seven great sects of the Soul Master world.
If he had chosen to cultivate the Clear Sky Hammer from the beginning…
His strength would definitely be far greater than it was now.
Perhaps many times greater.
He might not have lost to Su Cheng at all.
Why should some mere sword Martial Soul be capable of defeating the number one Tool Martial Soul in the world?!
The power of Su Cheng's sword strike in the arena still left Tang San with lingering fear.
If he had been strong enough at that time…
How could Xiao Wu have been injured again?
"Rank forty."
Tang San muttered under his breath.
"Just rank forty."
"As soon as I reach rank forty, I'll switch to cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer!"
He was already not far from becoming a Soul Ancestor.
Once he obtained a fourth Soul Ring for his Blue Silver Grass, perhaps he could immediately begin attempting to add ten-thousand-year Soul Rings to the Clear Sky Hammer.
Even if he only added a few Soul Rings to it, his Soul Power would undoubtedly increase rapidly.
Perhaps it wouldn't take long before he reached Soul King.
And surpassed Su Cheng.
But…
Should he ask Teacher about this?
Yu Xiaogang had previously told him that once Twin Martial Souls were developed simultaneously, conflicts between them could occur.
Even if the two Martial Souls themselves were compatible, the process of adding Soul Rings and increasing physical attributes placed enormous demands on the body.
What if his body couldn't endure the burden?
Knock. Knock. Knock.
At that moment, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
Tang San froze.
He hurriedly withdrew his Martial Souls and stood up to open the door.
The person standing outside was none other than the teacher he had just been thinking about.
Yu Xiaogang.
"Xiao San, how are you feeling?"
"Have you calmed down now?"
Concern could be seen on Yu Xiaogang's usually stiff face.
He had been worried about Tang San's condition the entire time.
Everyone in Shrek Academy had seen how lost and dispirited Tang San looked after the match.
The reason Yu Xiaogang hadn't come earlier was because he wanted to give him some time to process the defeat and calm himself down first.
After all, today's loss had been devastating.
They had used their strongest lineup.
They had gathered the strength of the entire team.
Yet they couldn't even withstand a single move from the opponent.
It was only natural that Tang San would suffer a serious blow to his confidence.
Tang San forced a faint smile onto his face and nodded.
Yu Xiaogang sighed.
"That Su Cheng is indeed extraordinary."
"But he is already a Soul King."
"It is completely normal for him to be stronger than all of you."
"You must remember that you possess the extremely rare talent of Twin Martial Souls."
"With such talent, defeating him in the future is only a matter of time."
"…"
Tang San remained silent for a long while.
Then he finally raised his head and looked at his teacher.
"Teacher…"
"The weakness of Blue Silver Grass is becoming more and more obvious."
"In the future, can I really rely on this Martial Soul to compete against other Soul Masters?"
Yu Xiaogang was stunned.
Then he frowned.
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm not even fifteen yet."
Tang San lowered his head.
His tone became somewhat heavy.
"But I've already put so much effort into cultivation."
"I don't want all of that effort to be wasted on a trash Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass."
"What would be the point?"
"By the time I eventually switch to cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer…"
"Will it still be early enough?"
"…"
Yu Xiaogang fell silent.
For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
That was right.
Had he been taking too much for granted in the past?
The idea of giving the Clear Sky Hammer extremely high-age Soul Rings was certainly excellent.
But there was another problem.
A Soul Master's golden cultivation period did not last forever.
If Tang San relied on Blue Silver Grass to raise his cultivation…
How many years would it take?
Was this really the best choice?
Even Zhu Zhuqing, who was on the same team, had already reached rank forty-six.
"Teacher!"
Tang San abruptly raised his head.
His eyes burned with determination.
"Let me switch to cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer!"
"…"
"I need to think about it."
After a long silence, Yu Xiaogang finally answered.
His expression became extremely serious.
"I will temporarily leave for a period of time."
"Do not rush this matter."
"Wait patiently for me to return."
"During this period, lead the team properly through the tournament."
"And for now, do not think about your second Martial Soul."
"Focus on cultivating Blue Silver Grass."
"You're leaving?"
Tang San was stunned.
"I need more information about the cultivation of Twin Martial Souls."
"You must understand that cultivating Twin Martial Souls carries serious risks."
"Even if you truly decide to switch, this is not something that can be decided overnight."
Logically speaking, as the team leader, Yu Xiaogang should not leave during such a crucial period of the qualifiers.
Especially after the team had already lost its opening match.
However, Yu Xiaogang regarded Tang San as the hope through which he could one day prove himself.
He raised him almost as though he were his own son.
Compared to Tang San's future, the team's tournament results were clearly less important.
Moreover, Yu Xiaogang believed that with Tang San's tactical thinking and mature judgment, even after losing the first match, he would still be capable of leading Shrek to excellent results against the remaining teams.
After all, not every academy could possibly possess a young Soul King like Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
Hearing this, Tang San's expression immediately filled with emotion.
His heart gradually calmed.
No matter what happened, this teacher of his always seemed to think everything through for him before he even had the chance.
After another long silence, Yu Xiaogang said nothing more.
He simply patted Tang San on the shoulder.
Then he turned and left the room.
For the sake of his one and only disciple…
He intended to leave immediately for Spirit City.
There was someone there he needed to meet.
........
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