An hour later.
Ye Chen and Torchic opened their eyes at the same time. The man and chicken looked at each other, then tacitly shook their heads.
For the past month, they had been trying to sense each other's auras, but they hadn't felt any Martial Soul Resonance at all.
After pondering it for a moment, Ye Chen decided that the key to the Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill might not lie in their auras, but in how close they were.
When his bond with Torchic was strong enough, and they had developed powerful trust and Telepathy, perhaps some critical moment could provide the stimulus they needed to activate the Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Setting aside his thoughts about the Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill for now, Ye Chen closed his eyes and focused, beginning to cultivate his Soul Power through meditation.
Torchic, meanwhile, ran toward the top of the hill, ready to pick fights with a few animals.
And so, man and chicken each cultivated in their own way.
The night passed quickly.
At dawn the next day, the sky had just begun to brighten.
After finishing his meditation, Ye Chen opened his eyes. A child suddenly flashed past in the corner of his vision, bounding up the hill and reaching the top in just a few leaps.
It was Tang San, the child Ye Chen had defeated a month ago.
Though he hadn't followed to spy on him, Ye Chen knew from the original story that Tang San had hurried up the hill to cultivate his Purple Demon Eye with the help of the morning sunlight.
A month had passed since their last spar, and Tang San hadn't challenged him once during that time. He was probably preparing for it.
So when he finally came to challenge him, he'd surely be absolutely certain he could win.
"Chamo, chamo!" Torchic suddenly cried.
Watching it run down from the top of the hill and come over to him, Ye Chen asked in confusion, "Torchic, what's wrong?"
"Chamo, chamo!!" Torchic said that Tang San had driven it off the hilltop.
After piecing together what had happened, Ye Chen finally understood. Torchic hadn't received any orders from him to fight, so it hadn't engaged Tang San.
Now, wanting to vent its frustration, Torchic had run back to complain to him, hoping he'd go to the hilltop with it and fight Tang San.
Before Ye Chen could decide what to do, Tang San had already come down from the hilltop. He said sternly, "Your Torchic disturbed my cultivation. Ye Chen, I chose the hilltop as my cultivation spot two years ago. By the principle of first come, first served, you shouldn't be fighting me for it."
At that, Ye Chen stood up and looked back at Tang San. "Apart from your blacksmith shop, no one has laid claim to any place within hundreds of miles. Tang San, how about this? The hill is huge. From now on, you can have the east side of the summit, and I'll take the west. We can cultivate in separate areas. What do you say?"
Tang San walked up to Ye Chen and fell into thought.
Every morning, he cultivated his Purple Demon Eye at the hilltop using the dawn sunlight. Since the sun rose in the east, there was nothing wrong with him cultivating on the eastern side while Ye Chen used the western side.
But he practiced Tang Sect techniques, top-secret arts that couldn't be passed on. To keep anyone from secretly watching him train, he had to make sure there was no one else on the summit!
With that in mind, Tang San said decisively, "No. I claimed the whole hill first. You can only cultivate at the foot of it, and you're not allowed to set foot on the summit while I'm cultivating."
"Tang San, you're being completely unreasonable," Ye Chen said, displeased. "If I cultivate at the foot of the hill, you can walk by and secretly watch me train whenever you like, but you're forbidding me from going up to the summit? Do you really think I'd agree?"
"Don't worry. I won't secretly watch you train when I walk by," Tang San promised.
Ye Chen smiled at that. "Then I'll promise not to secretly watch you train if I cultivate at the summit. Would you believe me?"
Tang San shook his head. "No."
"Then what makes you think I should believe you won't secretly watch me when you walk by?" Ye Chen countered.
Tang San hesitated for a moment, then proposed, "It looks like neither of us can convince the other. Why don't we settle it with strength? I've been wanting another spar with you anyway. The winner gets the right to use the whole hill. What do you think?"
"Sounds good," Ye Chen declared. "But let's set a rule first. This is just a spar, so no dirty tricks or seriously hurting anyone."
"Fine. Let's get started. I still have to cultivate afterward." As he spoke, Tang San walked ten meters away, then turned to face Ye Chen, looking calm and composed.
According to the original story, Tang San was steady and cool-headed, and excellent at thinking things through in battle.
But whenever he encountered a situation he couldn't control, he'd start panting like an ox, his eyes would turn red, and he'd ignore the rules and hurt his opponent—then give it the grand name of transforming into the Thousand-Hand Asura.
So Ye Chen wasn't counting on Tang San to follow the rules they'd just agreed on. He'd said it for Tang Hao's sake.
If Tang Hao was watching their spar from the shadows, then by saying "no dirty tricks or seriously hurting anyone," Ye Chen would at least have right on his side. If Tang San broke the rules and went too far, Ye Chen could beat him to a pulp in self-defense.
If a Titled Douluo had to interfere even in a spar between children, and then blame him despite Tang San breaking the rules, the title of Clear Sky Douluo would be a joke.
"Chamo!" Torchic ran in front of Ye Chen and called out at Tang San, clearly still simmering with anger over being driven off the hilltop.
Strangely, Tang San seemed absolutely certain of victory, despite the fact that Torchic had beaten him before.
What Ye Chen didn't know was that Tang San's proposal to spar again wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. He'd been preparing for it for a long time.
Over the past month, Tang San had tried infusing his Soul Power into his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. As a result, the Blue Silver Grass had transformed into a ten-meter-long Blue Silver Vine.
With the Tang Sect grappling technique Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to aid him, he could wield the ten-meter Blue Silver Vine like a whip.
He'd then practiced using his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul until he finally learned a skill called "Bind."
The Bind skill was extremely effective at restricting an enemy.
Based on his analysis of the previous defeat, all he had to do was bind Torchic before it could stack its acceleration ten times, or knock down Ye Chen, who was directing the battle, and he'd win!
Having figured that out, Tang San decided to finish the fight quickly. "Can we start now?"
"Then let's begin. Torchic, use Focus Energy!"
At Ye Chen's command, Torchic took a deep breath, and a circle of yellow light gathered around its head, sharpening its focus.
Seeing this, Tang San couldn't help but pause. Torchic hadn't used any skill like that in their last spar. Could it have learned it in the past month?
Having an innate ability to speed up was one thing, but this Torchic could even learn new skills on its own?
Before you continue