Yu Xiaogang's Miscalculation

Yu Xiaogang stopped, turned around, and let his gaze fall on Tang San, his face wearing a gentle smile that suggested he understood everything.

But without the earlier buildup, what was he supposed to do?

With urgency churning inside him, he slowly spoke in that all-knowing tone, "Tang San, you don't need to hide it from me. You have Twin Martial Souls, don't you?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Tang San's pupils contracted sharply. Every hair on his body stood on end, and a bone-chilling killing intent surged uncontrollably from the depths of his heart.

Twin Martial Souls were his greatest secret. Aside from his father, Tang Hao, no one else knew.

Yet this man he had never met before had exposed his secret in a single breath!

According to Tang Sect rules, anyone who saw through one of his core secrets had to be eliminated without mercy if they were an enemy, leaving no future trouble behind!

His fingers silently slid toward his sleeve again. He had already gripped the mechanism of the Silent Sleeve Arrow. With the slightest exertion, the drugged arrow would shoot straight for Yu Xiaogang's throat.

But before he could act, Yu Xiaogang continued, his tone brimming with absolute confidence in his own theories. "I have studied Martial Soul theory for decades. I understand the matching rules between Martial Souls and Soul Power better than anyone. Blue Silver Grass is universally acknowledged as a useless Martial Soul. Even with a favorable mutation, it could never support Innate Full Soul Power. There must be another exceptionally powerful Martial Soul within your body. That is the true source of your Innate Full Soul Power. Am I right?"

Hearing this, Tang San's tense body abruptly relaxed. The killing intent in his eyes vanished at once, leaving him caught between laughter and tears.

After all that, this man had not seen through his Twin Martial Souls at all. He had merely stumbled onto the truth by blind luck!

Tang San had thought Yu Xiaogang possessed some heaven-defying ability that allowed him to see the second Martial Soul hidden within his body. In the end, he had only guessed based on some so-called theory.

Beside them, Lin Yue's vague memories instantly became clear after hearing Yu Xiaogang's words.

She finally remembered who this Yu Xiaogang was.

Wasn't he that notorious, fame-chasing fraud from Douluo Continent?

She often saw clips about him: he cobbled together Martial Soul theories researched by others, organized them a little, then dared claim them as his own original achievements, using that set of ideas to swindle people everywhere.

His own Martial Soul was useless, and after cultivating his entire life, he still could not break through to become a Soul Grandmaster. Unwilling to admit he was trash, he devoted himself to finding a genius Soul Master as a disciple, hoping to use that genius's achievements to glorify himself and prove how brilliant his theories were.

But geniuses would remain geniuses wherever they went. Even without anyone teaching them, they could still make a name for themselves. What did that have to do with his theories?

At that thought, Lin Yue's gaze at Yu Xiaogang instantly filled with undisguised contempt.

After saying his piece, Yu Xiaogang folded his arms and waited confidently for Tang San's reaction.

In his previous life, those very words had left Tang San awestruck. Tang San had immediately knelt and taken him as his master, respectfully calling him Teacher.

It had been as though Tang San had gained another father.

He waited for the boy before him to show the same shock and admiration as in his previous life, waited for him to take the initiative to ask to become his disciple.

But after waiting for a long time, Tang San merely stood there quietly. There was not the slightest ripple on his face, much less the admiration and excitement Yu Xiaogang had expected. He did not even ask a single question.

The smile on Yu Xiaogang's face began to falter. Frowning, he asked, "What? You don't believe what I said? Or do you think my theory is wrong?"

Tang San looked up at him. His tone was calm, but every word carried the force of a rebuttal. "Master, I'm afraid you guessed wrong. I only have Blue Silver Grass as my Martial Soul. There is no second Martial Soul."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Yu Xiaogang immediately raised his voice, his face full of disagreement. "A useless Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass could never bear Innate Full Soul Power. That violates the core rules of Martial Souls!"

"Rules?"

Tang San raised a brow, a faint mockery in his voice. "Six years ago, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast incident involving the Blue Silver Emperor caused an uproar across the continent. Master, have you not heard of it? The Blue Silver Emperor is the sovereign of Blue Silver Grass, the most powerful plant-type Martial Soul on the continent. Why couldn't the Martial Soul I awakened be a mutated Martial Soul from the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline? Why must there be some second Martial Soul?"

The moment he said that, Yu Xiaogang froze where he stood. His mind buzzed, turning completely blank.

The Blue Silver Emperor?

The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast incident six years ago?

This was wrong!

His previous life had not been like this at all!

In his previous life, the secret of the Blue Silver Emperor had not been uncovered until Tang San went to the Blue Silver Forest and saw Ah Yin's true body. Before that, almost no one on the continent knew the Blue Silver Emperor existed, much less any widely known Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast incident!

How could this be?

Could it be... Tang San had been reborn too?

He stared fixedly at Tang San's face, trying to find even the slightest flaw in the boy's expression.

But Tang San's face held only calm. There was none of the weathered cunning of a reborn person. He looked like nothing more than a clear-minded six-year-old child.

Yet Tang San knew perfectly well that whether Yu Xiaogang had truly guessed right or merely blundered into it, he absolutely could not admit the secret of his Twin Martial Souls.

Better safe than sorry.

Once he admitted it, the matter of the Clear Sky Hammer would eventually be exposed. By then, his origins could no longer be hidden, and all that would await him was pursuit by the entire continent.

Just as Yu Xiaogang's mind became a tangled mess, Lin Yue suddenly sneered beside him. Her voice was crisp, but every word stabbed Yu Xiaogang's heart like a knife.

"Enough. Stop pretending to be mysterious, Yu Xiaogang. Who doesn't know your dirty little secrets?"

Yu Xiaogang abruptly turned to look at her, his face darkening. "What do you mean by that?"

"What do I mean?"

Lin Yue crossed her arms and looked at him with contempt. "Aren't you just a fame-chasing fraud? You cobble together Martial Soul theories researched by others, organize them a little, then dare claim they are the results of your own painstaking research. You go around deceiving people everywhere. Do you really think everyone on the continent is an idiot?"

"Your own Martial Soul is useless, and after cultivating your whole life, you have achieved nothing. You refuse to admit you're trash, so you fixate on finding genius Soul Masters as disciples, hoping to use their achievements to prove you aren't trash. But if you truly had any ability, why not find someone with a genuinely useless Martial Soul and teach them into a genius? That would be real skill."

She took a step forward, the disdain in her eyes growing even stronger. "To put it bluntly, you just want to find geniuses like us and use us to glorify yourself. But geniuses are geniuses wherever they go. Even if a pig came along, those meant to grow stronger would still grow stronger. What does that have to do with your lousy theories?"

Tang San's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this, and enlightenment dawned on him.

So that was it. This Yu Xiaogang was no theory master at all. He was merely a fraud who had stolen other people's research, wanted to trick Tang San into becoming his disciple, and planned to use Tang San's talent to glorify himself!

A person like this was simply courting death.