"I haven't figured it out either. At first, I sensed a resonance with your martial soul and thought it was a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. I never expected our martial souls to undergo such a strange exchange."
Yu Xiaogang found it equally inconceivable.
But Tang San was dissatisfied with that explanation and vaguely suspected that the other man had tampered with things.
Seeing the skeptical look his newly accepted disciple cast at him, Yu Xiaogang sighed deeply.
He patiently explained, "As far as I know, even a Titled Douluo above rank ninety cannot exchange martial souls. This touches upon the very laws of existence, something beyond the reach of extraordinary power."
Hearing this, Tang San temporarily set aside his suspicions.
"Then can we switch them back?"
"It's possible. Perhaps we happened to encounter some unusual phenomenon. Once it passes, there's a good chance they'll switch back."
Yu Xiaogang tried to comfort Tang San.
Yet with his hammer martial soul turned into a pig, there was no way Tang San could feel good about it. He was even beginning to regret taking this master.
"Perhaps this is a god's trial!" Yu Xiaogang suddenly said.
"Gods exist in this world. To find and nurture successors, they establish a series of trials throughout the Douluo Continent. Their purpose is to select and temper inheritors who can then inherit their divine positions."
"So, Teacher, you mean..." A spark gradually returned to Tang San's eyes.
"Perhaps a god selected you because of your twin martial souls. Exchanging your martial souls is actually a trial for you."
"But isn't this trial a little too strange?"
"Divine trials come in all manner of forms. That god exchanged your second martial soul for the trash martial soul Luo Sanpao, most likely to test how far you can grow with twin trash martial souls."
Tang San: "..."
Could they just switch them back? He didn't want to take this so-called divine trial anymore.
"Teacher, your martial soul is a trash martial soul too? And aren't beast martial souls supposed to possess the user's body? Why can it exist outside the body?"
Since he couldn't fight it, Tang San instead began asking Yu Xiaogang about his new martial soul.
Yu Xiaogang gave a bitter chuckle at the question.
"Luo Sanpao is the name I gave it. It's actually a mutated martial soul, and a harmful mutation at that. That's also why my innate soul power was only half a rank. No matter how hard I worked, I could never break through to rank thirty..."
But just then, a crack suddenly sounded inside Yu Xiaogang.
He broke through to rank thirty.
Tang San: "..."
Heh!
Yu Xiaogang: "..."
Well, that came right out of nowhere.
On a shaded path beside the sports field at Nuoding Academy.
On the surface, Su Mo was strolling with Xiao Wu. In reality, he and Tian Meng were enjoying the spectacle unfolding between Tang San and his teacher.
Although Spiritual Detection couldn't hear sounds, it could "decode" those so-called sounds through vibrations in the air and lip-reading.
"Pfft, hahaha... His hammer turned into a pig! Tang San's head must be buzzing."
"Hoho, Grandmaster's become the former owner!"
"Wahaha... That panicky little look on Grandmaster's face when he saw the Clear Sky Hammer was just perfect."
"Hehe, he's even dreamed up a divine trial..."
"Honk, honk, honk... Su Mo, you really know how to play! One plum-tree-for-peach-tree switcheroo, and you've left Tang San with twin trash martial souls."
"Ha! He broke through to rank thirty right after saying that. Those slaps to the face sure rang loud..."
Listening to the various ridiculous laughs Tian Meng kept making in his mind, Su Mo said helplessly, "Can't you settle down?"
"I'm already showing plenty of restraint, okay?"
Tian Meng pouted unhappily, but stopped laughing. "I can't wait to see Hao's expression when he finds out the Clear Sky Hammer has ended up with Grandmaster. Too bad Hao just left the academy."
"Grandmaster's 'my dear son' probably shattered his composure. Maybe he went out to drown his sorrows."
Smiling, Su Mo changed the subject. "I'm more interested in seeing Tang San use the Luo Sanpao martial soul."
"Hehe, farts like thunder, right? But we probably won't see that anytime soon?" Tian Meng remembered that it would be a long time before Tang San revealed his twin martial souls.
"Not necessarily. If we ruin his Blue Silver Grass soul skill, he might use Luo Sanpao ahead of schedule."
The corners of Su Mo's mouth lifted slightly, as though he had thought of another good idea.
"Tsk, tsk, you're really wicked!" Tian Meng praised him.
"Keh, keh, keh..." Su Mo obligingly let out a sinister laugh.
"Brother, what are you laughing at?"
Xiao Wu's voice suddenly reached Su Mo's ears.
Su Mo withdrew from the Sea of Consciousness. Only then did he notice Xiao Wu staring at him without blinking, her large eyes full of curiosity.
"Was I? You must have seen wrong."
Xiao Wu nodded straightforwardly. "You were. You were clearly laughing. You haven't stopped."
"Ahem, let's drop that. We're at the academic affairs office."
While enjoying the spectacle earlier, Su Mo had already used Spiritual Detection to learn the academy's layout. It was divided into three main areas: the teaching building, the sports field, and the dormitory building.
The academic affairs office was on the first floor of the teaching building.
Su Mo stepped inside, with Xiao Wu following close behind.
There were three teachers inside, an elderly man and two younger men. Su Mo handed their two certificates to the elderly man in charge.
"Hello, Teacher. We're here to register."
The elderly man took the certificates and examined them. "Oh? Two students with innate full soul power?"
The two younger teachers looked surprised at this. Their academy hadn't seen a genius like that in a long time.
And now two had appeared at once.
When the elderly man looked at Su Mo and Xiao Wu again, his gaze had grown much warmer. "My surname is Su as well. You can call me Director Su."
"Hello, Director Su," Su Mo and Xiao Wu said in unison.
Director Su's smile widened. "I see you both have innate full soul power. You'll be going soul hunting next, I assume? Would you like the academy to arrange for a teacher to accompany you and help?"
Su Mo nodded. "Yes!"
"We also have a companion from the same village. His name is Tang San, and he has innate full soul power too. Could you take him along?"
Of course, Su Mo wasn't asking to take Tang San soul hunting out of kindness. Going together would make it easier to stir up trouble.
"Another one with innate full soul power?"
All the teachers present were stunned. Had blue smoke risen from Nuoding Academy's ancestral graves? They had actually recruited three students with innate full soul power at once.
Director Su asked curiously, "Where is he? Didn't he come with you?"
"Tang San just became Grandmaster's disciple, and Grandmaster took him away," Su Mo answered truthfully, leaving all three teachers momentarily stunned.
"Grandmaster? You mean the Grandmaster at our academy?"
"Yes."
"You two haven't taken him as your master, have you?"
"No. I previously met a master who called himself Tian Meng..."
Su Mo repeated the explanation he had used to politely turn down Yu Xiaogang earlier. Hearing it, all three teachers immediately sighed in relief.
"You were right not to take him as your master. Although Grandmaster is unrivaled in theory, his talent is limited. He really isn't a good choice."
After that word of advice, Director Su asked about the Master Tian Meng whom Su Mo had mentioned.
Clearly, he wanted to help Su Mo vet him.
So Su Mo recounted the ten great laws of martial souls again.
He shared them because he feared Tang San would tell Yu Xiaogang those theories, and Yu Xiaogang would shamelessly claim them as his own. Spreading them first would leave the man no chance to make his move.
And he could milk a little gratitude for imparting knowledge, too.
As for whale rubber going up in price?
Now that he already had the goods, who cared if the floods reached the heavens?