Sunflower

Gula truly had not known sunflowers could mutate, but he really disliked Tang San's tone, and said sternly:

"Are you sure you can find a Mutated Sunflower with suitable Years?"

Tang San hesitated for a moment, then said, "The book says sunflowers like to grow on the sunny side of slopes. The higher the place, the more flourishing the sunflowers are. They shouldn't be hard to find."

"If we really can't find a Mutated Sunflower, I've prepared several backup plans: Light-Storing Toad, Glowgrass, Sun-Facing Flower... The compatibility may be a little worse, but their advantage is that there are many of them, so they're easy to find."

Gula glanced at Xiao Wu, then said to Tang San, "A Soul Ring concerns a Soul Master for life. How could I possibly let you make do? Since you've already decided, we'll go look for a Mutated Sunflower."

If worst came to worst, they still had Xiao Wu, this native resident, around. She should at least know the general area where sunflowers grew.

"Looks like you learned a lot from Grandmaster. Tell me, I helped him solve his Martial Soul problem, so it wouldn't be too much for me to read a few of his books, right?"

Gula had originally been too lazy to read, but seeing that Tang San's knowledge was about to surpass his, how could that do? He was still planning to keep control over the future team's leadership.

Otherwise, who was the trainer, and who was the Pokémon?

"Uh, it should be fine."

Tang San paused. "Although Teacher doesn't say it, I know he actually thinks very highly of you. Besides, knowledge is priceless. No matter how you look at it, being able to pass it on is a good thing."

Xiao Wu clenched her little pink fists and looked nervously at Gula. "You already have to train your body every day, meditate to cultivate Soul Power, train Spiritual Power, and occasionally write Theses. If you go read books too, will you still have time to make Energy Cubes for us?"

Tang San was startled. Xiao Wu was right. After tasting the benefits of Energy Cubes, he was absolutely unwilling to switch to other food.

So he suggested, "How about you don't go? Anyway, barring any accidents, we'll all hunt Soul Beasts together from now on. If I read the books, wouldn't that be the same as you reading them, Brother Gu?"

Gula rubbed his chin and nodded in agreement. "Time is indeed a bit tight, but it doesn't matter. Recently, I've been Attempting to do other training while training my body, and I'm about to succeed."

"Splitting my focus to cultivate will lower efficiency a little, but four hours of training should be compressed into three hours. The time squeezed out can be used to read. A few years will be enough to finish Grandmaster's Collection of Books."

In one year, Gula had already awakened Aura Power and become an Aura User, releasing the potential of his physical body.

As a type of energy, Aura Power was much easier to control than controlling every muscle throughout his entire body, so his training efficiency had greatly increased.

Gula's next goal was to be able to cultivate whether walking, sitting, or lying down. Ideally, he could train Psychic Power, Soul Power, and Aura Power all at once.

Actually, Aura Power was best cultivated together with Fighting-type Pokémon.

Tang San and Xiao Wu both possessed the Fighting type, but Gula had tried it before. Neither of them could learn Aura, an energy from another world.

Perhaps one day, if he obtained an Aura-related move disc, he could let one of the two learn Aura. For now, though, there was no way for them to learn it.

A trace of envy Flashed in Tang San's eyes. He could also split his focus, but splitting his focus and splitting his focus to cultivate were different concepts.

The difficulty of the latter was More Than dozens of times higher. To constantly split one's focus to circulate two different energies and persist for one or two hours without making a mistake—just thinking about it made it clear that it was beyond Ordinary People.

"Then when we get back, I'll mention it to Teacher. He'll definitely agree to let Brother Gu read the books."

"Mm."

This was just a small matter. Gula continued, "Recently, I've had a theory. Most Soul Masters' Soul Skills can generally obtain the type they want."

"So it can be inferred that Soul Skills are influenced by a Soul Master's Willpower and manifest as different Soul Skills."

"For example, the first few Soul Rings of major clans usually have the same Soul Skills. Aside from searching for specific Soul Beasts, the hints passed down generation after generation must also have played a role."

"When you fuse with your Soul Rings, you can think in advance about what Soul Skill you want, then fuse with the Soul Ring."

This was an inspiration Gula had gained from the fact that he could choose his own Soul Skills.

On Douluo Continent, there existed phenomena like sword intent, where Willpower influenced combat strength. Naturally, powerful will could also influence Soul Skills.

After Gula finished explaining the principle behind his theory, Tang San fell into thought, recalling some Martial Arts Grandmasters from his previous life who had blended Spiritual Power into martial techniques, making every movement possess tremendous might.

"That makes sense. When the time comes, I'll Attempt it."

Xiao Wu propped her chin up in boredom, looking at the scenery outside the window.

She could condense Soul Rings herself and choose the Soul Skills she had as a Soul Beast, so there was no need for her to worry about this at all.

But ever since hearing Gula talk about the development path of the Soft Bone Rabbit, she had been conflicted over Whether or not to change the path her mother had taken.

Before a Soul Beast transformed into a human reached Soul Saint, there was No need to hunt Soul Beasts. But if she was dissatisfied with her Soul Skills, she could expend her origin to replicate the Soul Ring of a Soul Beast with similar attributes.

This method was troublesome and required hunting Soul Beasts. Without someone protecting them, it was extremely dangerous for a Soul Beast that had transformed into a human. Unfortunately, Xiao Wu knew Gula would protect her, which left her deeply conflicted.

Could she really hunt Soul Beasts for the sake of making herself stronger?

Xiao Wu was very lost.

Five days later, Star Dou Great Forest.

Gula put on a black robe and pretended to be an adult Soul Master, constantly radiating Psychic Power. One look was enough to tell he was not to be trifled with, and no one blind enough came looking for trouble, so the three smoothly entered the forest.

Under Xiao Wu's subtle guidance, the three arrived at a steep cliff. A Large Area of golden sunflowers grew on the cliff. At a glance, they looked like a golden sea, shimmering with dazzling golden light under the sun.

Tang San was overjoyed. He hadn't expected his luck to be this good. "Such a huge sea of sunflowers. We'll definitely be able to find a Mutated Sunflower."

Gula nodded and warned:

"Be careful. Sunflowers gather sunlight and fire Energy Rays. They can also unite and combine their energy to resist external enemies. If the sunflowers here joined forces, even a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast would have to give them a wide berth."

"We'll search for a Mutated Sunflower from the outer edge. Once we find one, dig it out immediately. Try not to release Soul Skills, and don't arouse the sunflowers' hostility."

Tang San indicated that he understood. In truth, the main force in their Soul Beast hunt was Gula. Only he had the ability to face a Thousand Year Soul Beast head-on, while Tang San and Xiao Wu could only coordinate with him using their agile footwork.

The three of them crept silently toward the Sunflowers.

Tang San lowered his voice. "The petals of a normal Sunflower are gold on both sides. The underside of a Mutated Sunflower's petals is platinum-white. Pay attention and tell them apart."

"Once a Sunflower reaches the thousand-year level, it has forty-nine petals. For every hundred years it grows, it gains one more petal, and the receptacle also becomes larger. First determine the size of a Three Thousand Year receptacle; it'll be much easier to search after that."

Gula nodded slightly, feeling even more that he should go take a look at Yu Xiaogang's Collection of Books.

The knowledge taught at Junior Academy was nowhere near as detailed as what Tang San had said. If one wanted to figure out the habits of Sunflowers, one had to borrow books from the library after class to read.