Ye Chen VS Tang San

An hour later.

Ye Chen and Torchic opened their eyes at the same time. Man and Pokémon looked at each other, then shook their heads in silent agreement.

Throughout this month, they had been attempting to sense each other's aura, but there was absolutely no sign of a Martial Soul resonance.

After a moment of contemplation, Ye Chen felt that the key to a Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill might not lie in their auras, but in their level of intimacy.

Once the intimacy between himself and Torchic was high enough, and they achieved a profound sense of trust and telepathic connection, perhaps they could trigger the Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill when stimulated by a critical moment.

Setting aside thoughts of the Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill for the time being, Ye Chen closed his eyes and focused, beginning to cultivate his soul power through meditation.

Torchic, meanwhile, ran toward the top of the hill, intending to find a few animals to spar with.

And so, man and Pokémon continued to cultivate in their own respective ways.

A night passed quickly.

The next morning, just as the sky began to brighten.

After finishing his meditation, Ye Chen opened his eyes to see a child suddenly flash through his peripheral vision, scaling the hill from the base to the summit in a few agile leaps.

That child was none other than Tang San, whom he had defeated a month ago.

Although he hadn't followed him to peek, Ye Chen knew from the original story that Tang San was rushing to the summit to cultivate his Purple Demon Eye by utilizing the morning sun.

A month had passed since their last spar, and in that time, Tang San had not come to challenge him once, likely because he was busy preparing.

Therefore, when he did come to challenge him, he would certainly be absolutely confident in his victory.

"Chamo, chamo!" Torchic's voice suddenly rang out.

Watching it run from the summit to his side, Ye Chen asked, looking confused, "Torchic, what's wrong?"

"Chamo chamo!!" Torchic explained that Tang San had chased it down from the summit.

After piecing together the sequence of events, Ye Chen finally understood: Torchic hadn't received a combat command from him, so it hadn't engaged Tang San.

Now, looking to vent its frustration, Torchic had run back to complain, hoping he would go to the summit with it to fight Tang San.

Before Ye Chen could make a decision, Tang San walked down from the summit and said sternly, "Your Torchic disturbed my cultivation. Ye Chen, I chose this summit as my place of cultivation two years ago. By the rule of first come, first served, you shouldn't be fighting me for this spot."

Hearing this, Ye Chen stood up from the ground, looked back at Tang San, and replied, "Aside from your smithy, there is no rule stating that any place within hundreds of miles belongs to you, is there? Tang San, how about this? The hill is large enough; from now on, the east side of the summit is yours, and the west side is mine. We can cultivate in separate areas. What do you think?"

Walking up to Ye Chen, Tang San fell into deep thought.

He needed to use the morning sun at the summit to cultivate his Purple Demon Eye every day, and since the sun rose in the east, there was no harm in him cultivating on the east side while Ye Chen stayed on the west.

However, he was practicing Tang Sect techniques, which were top-secret and could not be leaked. To prevent others from peeking while he trained, he had to ensure there was no one else on the summit!

Thinking of this, Tang San said decisively, "No. I occupied the entire hill first. You must cultivate at the base, and while I am cultivating, you are not to set foot on the summit."

"Tang San, you're being too unreasonable," Ye Chen said, displeased. "If I cultivate at the base, you can walk by and peek at my techniques at any time, yet you want to forbid me from the summit? Do you think I would agree to that?"

"Rest assured, I won't peek at your techniques when I pass by," Tang San promised.

Ye Chen smiled upon hearing this. "Then if I cultivate at the summit, I also promise not to peek at your techniques. Do you believe me?"

Tang San shook his head. "I do not."

"Since that's the case, what makes you think I would believe you won't peek at my techniques when you pass by?" Ye Chen retorted.

Tang San hesitated for a moment before proposing, "It seems neither of us can convince the other. Why don't we let our strength do the talking? I happen to want to spar with you again. The winner gets the right to use the entire hill. How about it?"

"Fine," Ye Chen declared. "However, let's set a rule first. This spar should be stopped once the point is made; no vicious attacks intended to injure are allowed."

"Very well. Let's begin, then. I still have to cultivate after this." As he spoke, Tang San stepped back ten meters, then turned to face Ye Chen, his eyes revealing a sense of composure and calm.

According to the original story, Tang San was a steady and calm person who excelled at thinking during combat.

But once he encountered a situation he couldn't control, he would become breathless, his eyes would turn red, and he would ignore established rules to harm his opponent, all while justifying it under the guise of becoming the Thousand Hand Asura.

Therefore, Ye Chen didn't expect Tang San to follow the rule he had just set; he was saying it for Tang Hao to hear.

If Tang Hao was observing this spar from the shadows, then by stating "stop once the point is made, no vicious attacks," he was at least occupying the moral high ground. If Tang San broke the rules and attacked viciously, his own retaliation would be considered self-defense.

If a Title Douluo-level powerhouse were to interfere in a spar between children, and even then, choose to blame him despite Tang San breaking the rules, then the title of Clear Sky Douluo would truly be a joke.

"Chamo!" Torchic ran to Ye Chen's side and barked at Tang San, clearly still fuming from being chased away earlier.

Strangely, facing the Torchic that had defeated him before, Tang San appeared to be in a position of certain victory.

However, what Ye Chen didn't know was that Tang San's request for a rematch was not a whim, but something he had long prepared for.

Over the past month, Tang San had attempted to channel his soul power into his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and as a result, the grass had transformed into ten-meter-long Blue Silver Vines.

With the addition of the Tang Sect's grappling technique, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, he could wield the ten-meter-long Blue Silver Vines like a whip to attack.

After further refining his use of the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, he had finally learned a skill called "Bind."

This Bind skill could be highly effective in restricting an enemy.

Analyzing the experience of his last defeat, he concluded that as long as he could bind Torchic before it stacked its speed ability ten times, or knock down Ye Chen, who was directing the battle, he would be the winner!

Realizing this, Tang San decided to end the fight quickly and urged, "Can we start now?"

"Let's begin. Torchic, use Focus Energy!"

Receiving Ye Chen's command, Torchic took a deep breath, and a ring of yellow light gathered around its head, allowing its mental energy to become more concentrated.

Seeing this, Tang San couldn't help but be slightly stunned. During their last spar, Torchic had never used a skill like this. Could it be that it had only learned it in the last month?

It was one thing to have an innate speed ability, but for this Torchic to be able to learn new skills on its own?