Tang Hao

About ten minutes later.

Inside Holy Soul Village.

Old Jack watched from afar as Ye Chen carried Tang San toward the smithy, and couldn't help smiling with satisfaction.

The two children not only arranged to cultivate together, but even took each other home when they were tired. It was clear how well they got along.

"Uncle Tang Hao, are you there?"

When he reached the smithy's entrance, Ye Chen called inside.

When no one answered, he called again. "Uncle, Tang San fainted, so I brought him home. If you're not here, I'll come straight in, okay?"

At the mention of Tang San fainting, a burly middle-aged man suddenly emerged from inside the smithy.

The man looked to be around fifty. Though burly, he had a head of tangled hair, and his tattered robe revealed bronze-colored skin. His appearance was truly hard to praise.

The moment he stepped out of the smithy, a wave of alcohol fumes wafted over.

Ye Chen looked up at the man and caught the pungent smell of liquor. He couldn't help frowning.

From the description in the original story, this man was Tang San's father, Tang Hao. His true identity was the Clear Sky Douluo of the Clear Sky Sect's second generation, and his strength was formidable.

After learning that Tang San had awakened the Clear Sky Sect's Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul, Tang Hao had begun paying a little more attention to his son. That was why he had jolted awake from his sleep when he heard Tang San had fainted.

"Did you knock Tang San unconscious?" Tang Hao glanced at the unconscious Tang San, then shifted his gaze to Ye Chen, who was carrying him.

Ye Chen shook his head. "It wasn't me. My Torchic Martial Soul knocked him out. Come out, Torchic."

At the call, Torchic ran out of Ye Chen's body and stood in front of Tang Hao, looking confused.

Tang Hao studied Torchic from head to toe, then muttered, "An External Martial Soul?"

"Uncle, what's an External Martial Soul?" Ye Chen asked, pretending not to know.

Tang Hao didn't answer. His gaze sharp, he said, "First, tell me who taught you to cultivate your Torchic Martial Soul."

"No one taught me. I figured it out while cultivating with Torchic this past month. Uncle, is something wrong?" Ye Chen asked.

Tang Hao didn't say anything more. He said coolly, "Give Tang San to me. You can leave."

"Okay." Ye Chen answered, passed Tang San from his back to Tang Hao, then turned and headed toward Old Jack's house with Torchic.

Only after watching him walk away did a thoughtful glint appear in Tang Hao's cold eyes.

It was said that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had once had someone awaken an External Martial Soul.

However, given that this person had been expelled from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, this one-of-a-kind External Martial Soul on the continent must have been a detrimental mutation of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.

What Tang Hao couldn't understand was, if this External Martial Soul called Torchic was also a detrimental mutation, how could it possibly grant its host Innate Full Soul Power?

More puzzling still, the Martial Soul didn't even have a Soul Ring, yet it had managed to knock Tang San unconscious.

His own son wasn't some ordinary six-year-old child.

Could it be that Ye Chen's External Martial Soul was actually a beneficial mutation?

But if it was a beneficial mutation, then with the talent of Innate Full Soul Power, the Torchic Martial Soul should have become a top-tier Beast Martial Soul like a phoenix. How could it be such a weak thing?

Putting aside all the speculation, Tang Hao carried Tang San into the smithy. As long as it wasn't a genius from Spirit Hall or something that threatened Tang San's life, he couldn't be bothered to interfere.

At noon, near Holy Soul Village, at the foot of a hill.

Ye Chen and Torchic sat cross-legged together in the middle of an open clearing, eyes closed as they sensed each other's auras.

The key to activating a "Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill" might not be their auras, but the closeness of their relationship.

But that was only a guess. To avoid getting it wrong, Ye Chen had decided to set aside an hour each day to sense Torchic's aura, laying the groundwork for activating a Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill in the future.

Aside from sensing each other's auras, he and Torchic also trained in things like communicating through meaningful glances and sign language.

This could not only improve their mutual understanding, but also let him give Torchic instructions through changes in his gaze or hand signs, without speaking aloud.

Before long, an hour had quietly passed.

After finishing their Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill training, Ye Chen said with great enthusiasm, "All right, Torchic. Go up the hill and find some animals to fight. I'm going to start exercising, too. From now on, we have to train even harder and keep getting stronger!"

After hearing this, Torchic gave an excited, "Chamo, chamo!" and ran toward the mountaintop with the same enthusiasm.

With only himself left, Ye Chen didn't rush to exercise. Instead, he remained seated and began reviewing his sparring match with Tang San that morning.

During the spar, he had learned to channel Soul Power into a specific part of his body, strengthening it in a particular way.

For example, channeling Soul Power into his chest could strengthen the muscles and bones there, increasing his chest's defensive power.

Similarly, channeling Soul Power into his eyes could improve his vision, while channeling it into his brain could strengthen his mental power.

The benefit of simply channeling Soul Power into a body part to strengthen it was practically comparable to an enhancement-type Soul Skill.

However, Ye Chen knew full well that he didn't have a Soul Ring yet, so it was impossible for him to possess something like a Soul Skill.

The reason channeling Soul Power into a body part could strengthen it was that his entire body was a Body Martial Soul.

Both the Tang San in the original story and the Tang San now had tried channeling Soul Power into their Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, turning a little blade of grass into a ten-meter-long Blue Silver Vine.

This proved that Soul Power could strengthen a Martial Soul.

For that reason, channeling Soul Power into his Body Martial Soul allowed the corresponding body part to grow stronger along with his Martial Soul.

If he could channel Soul Power at will to strengthen any part of his body, his fighting techniques would be like those in wuxia novels, backed by inner energy. Every move would become more explosive and destructive.

The thought made Ye Chen's heart leap with joy. He hurriedly added an exercise for practicing Soul Power control to his daily training list.

After sticking to this training for a month, his overall physical strength had improved, and he had become increasingly proficient at controlling Soul Power.

Over the same month, Torchic had continued combining the martial arts of Blue Star with all kinds of fighting styles, learning from the best of every school. In the end, its fighting skills reached a new level. Its kicking techniques in particular, when paired with Focus Energy, could easily KO an opponent outright.

In just one month, Ye Chen and Torchic had improved all their abilities, and their Soul Power had risen from level fourteen to level fifteen.

Unfortunately, Torchic hadn't spontaneously learned any new skills.

However, after a month of highly targeted special training, Ye Chen had learned skills like Agility and Mega Punch.

He hadn't learned these skills spontaneously, like a Pokémon. Rather, they were fighting techniques he executed by using Soul Power to strengthen specific parts of his body.