Tang San had never expected the Tang Sect to be so weak. What exactly had happened?
Ji Siyuan raised the question. Since Tang Ya had just gained a fresh-faced new member, she decided to tell him this cruel reality.
Though it was mostly cruel to her.
"The Tang Sect's decline had to do with the Sun Moon Continent four thousand years ago. They brought more advanced Soul Tools with them."
Tang Ya launched into a lengthy explanation.
Ji Siyuan asked Tang San, "Uncle, don't you feel sad?"
Tang San replied, "I do feel a little sad, but the advanced replacing the backward is only natural. I just feel sad that the Tang Sect never innovated."
He sighed again and again. He never would have imagined the Tang Sect could become like this.
"Of course, there were internal reasons too." Tang Ya continued explaining. "The Tang Sect has always chosen a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul as its sect master's, so the sect master's strength was limited as well."
"What kind of idiot elders came up with that? My Tang Sect would never be such a joke."
Tang Ya wept outside, while Tang San roared angrily within. Absolutely impossible! I made sure the best of the best were chosen for the Tang Sect. How could I have restricted the sect master to a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul?
Bei Bei gently embraced Tang Ya. "Xiao Ya, this isn't your fault."
There was no need to ask. Tang Ya's Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass too.
Ji Siyuan took it fairly well. He already knew in advance.
"Siyuan, once you inherit the Tang Sect, you absolutely have to abolish this rule!"
"Can't we abolish it now?"
"Tell them to scrap it at once! The Tang Sect absolutely can't be such a foolish sect."
Ji Siyuan thought for a moment. "Sect Master, wouldn't it be best to just abolish this rule now? There are only three of us anyway. We can't insist on finding another Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul later."
Setting everything else aside, if Tang Ya married Bei Bei and had children, there was a ninety-percent chance their descendants wouldn't have a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
Whatever else one could say about Douluo Continent, a powerful Martial Soul was a dominant gene.
There was no way a useless weed like Blue Silver Grass could compare to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Not to mention that Bei Bei carried the bloodline of the Radiant Sacred Dragon.
Tang Ya still refused to give up. "But what if you're the one with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul that has Soul Power?"
"Impossible." Tang San was the first to tell Ji Siyuan. "You're not from Douluo Continent. Your parents and I arranged the Sword of Three Realms Judgment for you. Your Martial Soul won't be Blue Silver Grass."
Tang San's Martial Soul wasn't Blue Silver Grass either, but the Blue Silver Emperor.
"There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters." It was a nice saying, but it had come from Gangzi.
The moment Tang San saw Yu Xiaogang, he knew the man was a complete waste.
Whether or not Gangzi's theory was right, Gangzi himself was still a waste. After all, his Martial Soul really had evolved into a top-tier one.
Tang Ya wiped away her tears. "Hmph! Our Tang Sect may have fallen into decline, but we still have everything we need for Martial Soul Awakening. Bei Bei, awaken your junior brother's Martial Soul."
After a long wait, Ji Siyuan stood in the formation and began his Martial Soul Awakening.
"Siyuan, relax."
Lightning flickered over Bei Bei's body as three Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, and purple—rose around him.
Ji Siyuan closed his eyes and sensed the changes in his body.
Tang San asked, "Is this the power your parents left behind?"
How could Ji Dong and Lie Yan, his birth parents, have failed to leave him some power?
It simply hadn't appeared yet. Now was the moment for it to surface.
Blazing flames soared into the sky. Tang Ya could only retreat when she saw them.
"It's so hot! I never saw anything like this when my Martial Soul awakened. What kind of Martial Soul is this?"
A river of fire appeared out of thin air, forcing Bei Bei aside.
Lotuses bloomed one after another, and nine lotus seeds circled around him.
He stood at the very center of the river of fire, inside the largest lotus.
The Geocentric Red Lotus! It came from Lie Yan's bloodline.
Bing Fire and Ding Fire, yin and yang at their utmost—unmatched in this world.
The river of fire vanished, but the flames still burning in midair remained an impassable barrier to Bei Bei and Tang Ya.
Bei Bei couldn't tell what the flames were, but he knew they were far hotter than Ma Xiaotao's.
Tang Ya put some of her Blue Silver Grass into the flames.
It caught fire instantly, leaving not a trace behind.
Tang Ya scrambled to her feet in fright. "What powerful flames! I really struck gold!"
Tang San said, "So it was your mother's Fire Lotus. That makes sense. Even before she became a God King, she was already a Second-Level God. This Martial Soul is God Rank!"
As he spoke, he felt a little envious. The gap between God Rank and top-tier was no small thing.
"Now that you have another Martial Soul, don't reveal your Sword of Three Realms Judgment. Twin Martial Souls are incredibly powerful, and the Sword of Three Realms Judgment is on an even higher level."
The combined power of the three God Kings had transformed into a strike that surpassed the God King level—and the Martial Soul born from it was no ordinary thing.
Revealing it now would only make him a target for everyone.
"We've come to another time and space. This time and space may even have a Divine Realm of its own, so you can't reveal your identity carelessly."
"I understand."
He put away the Sword of Three Realms Judgment without showing it.
But his flames had already revealed his talent.
Bei Bei asked, "Siyuan, what kind of Martial Soul is that? I only saw a red lotus."
Ji Siyuan didn't look dejected. He was utterly grief-stricken. "The Earth Fire Red Lotus. It was passed down from my mother."
Tang Ya was about to ask something, but Bei Bei stopped her. He lowered his voice. "Xiao Ya, don't pick at his wounds."
"I'm not stupid."
She smiled. "Now that you've joined our Tang Sect, think of it as your home. This is our Tang Sect Secret Arts, the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record. Remember to return it after you've read it, okay?"
As she spoke, she took out a book and handed it to Ji Siyuan.
Ji Siyuan's mouth twitched. He'd read the book ages ago, and what he'd learned was an optimized version.
He glanced through it, saw that it was indeed what he already knew, and handed it back to Tang Ya. "I know it."
?
Tang Ya went completely blank. What did he mean, he knew it?
Bei Bei activated his Martial Soul at once. This was the Tang Sect's secret art! Could it be that Ji Siyuan had taken advantage of the Tang Sect's decline and stolen it?
Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Tang San was extremely pleased with himself. "Siyuan, use your powerful knowledge of the Tang Sect to take back the position of sect master!"
Ji Siyuan replied, "I already know the Purple Demon Eye, the Mysterious Jade Hand, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and the Hundred Hidden Weapon Solutions."
Not only did he know them, some of them were special editions.
"How could you possibly know them?"
"Oh, someone used to teach me every day. They were in my mind, too."
Bei Bei and Tang Ya misunderstood completely, thinking that someone had passed the teachings into his mind.
"He also said that the Tang Sect is too useless nowadays and that its rules are outrageous. He told me to abolish them when I become sect master."
???
That left the two of them at a loss.
"You mean someone taught you out of thin air, and told you to become the Tang Sect's sect master?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know his name?" Tang Ya was incredibly excited. A god had descended to the mortal world!
That was more or less true, but he wasn't the Tang San of this time and space.
"He told me not to say. He only said that when he founded the Tang Sect, there weren't any of these stupid rules."
Everything fit—except the person.
Tang San wasn't that Tang San.
Tang Ya burst into tears. "Is someone finally coming to save our Tang Sect?"
Bei Bei was relieved as well.
But Ji Siyuan's next words dashed their hopes. "Um, he said the backward deserved to be eliminated."
?
Why was that so different from what they'd expected?