Tang San's Doubts About Yu Xiaogang

Following Lin Yan's explanation, even Flender standing to the side wore a look of utter confusion.

"Lin Yan, what exactly are you talking about?"

"You're beating around the bush so much that I'm getting dizzy. Isn't it common knowledge that only a Soul Elder can absorb a thousand-year spirit ring?"

Clearly, no one among the group had understood the meaning behind his words.

Lin Yan wanted to use an analogy to clarify the situation, but as the words reached his lips, he opened his mouth and then swallowed them back down.

"Forget it, I must be bored out of my mind to be explaining all this to you."

"If you don't understand, then you don't understand. I'm going back to rest."

As he finished speaking, Lin Yan turned around once more, intending to leave the room for good.

This time, no one stopped him, because everyone was busy pondering the meaning of what Lin Yan had just said—everyone except Tang San.

The very second Lin Yan stepped out of the doorway, Tang San suddenly let out an exclamation.

"Wait!"

"Are you saying that the age of the spirit ring a spirit master can absorb isn't fixed?"

Lin Yan looked back, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Oh? You actually understood?"

Lin Yan and Tang San locked eyes. Neither of them continued speaking immediately, and the air fell into a heavy silence.

Before long, Yu Xiaogang walked up to Tang San.

"What do you mean? San! What did you understand?"

Tang San pondered for a moment, then slowly began to explain.

"Teacher, it isn't that only a Soul Elder can absorb a thousand-year spirit ring; rather, once a spirit master's physical constitution and meridian capacity reach a certain level, they can absorb one."

"If our bodies are containers, then the energy of a spirit ring is the water inside that container."

"As a spirit master levels up, the container gradually grows larger. When we reach a bottleneck, we choose a spirit ring of an appropriate age based on the remaining capacity of that container."

"The cultivation of Twin Martial Souls requires constantly expanding the container so that it can hold two portions of water. And if one has higher requirements for the quality of the second martial soul's spirit rings, then it must be expanded to hold three, or even more."

As he spoke, Tang San turned his gaze toward Lin Yan.

"Lin Yan, is your current physical constitution and meridian capacity enough to allow you to attach what quality of spirit rings to your second martial soul?"

"Telling you won't hurt."

Standing at the doorway, Lin Yan curled the corners of his lips.

The next second, his Evil Fire Demon Dragon martial soul instantly possessed him. Violent flames erupted from thin air, forming the phantom of a giant fire dragon before being absorbed entirely into Lin Yan's body in a single instant.

Heat ripples surged outward. Even though they were standing quite far away, everyone felt a jolt in their hearts upon witnessing this aura.

"This..."

"What kind of martial soul is this? Why does it erupt with such terrifying momentum?"

"Such high temperatures—it is far more lethal than any fire-attribute martial soul I have ever seen."

Yu Xiaogang's expression was one of shock.

Over the years, he had traveled the continent and seen many fire-attribute spirit masters, but Lin Yan's flames were the highest in temperature and the most domineering in aura he had ever encountered, as if a king had emerged among countless fires.

Yellow, yellow, yellow! Three hundred-year spirit rings, engraved with gorgeous patterns, appeared in unison, rotating and pulsing beneath Lin Yan's feet.

"Three hundred-year spirit rings? It makes sense, yet it is somewhat surprising."

Tang San muttered to himself.

He had completely understood Lin Yan's words from earlier and guessed that the quality of the spirit rings for Lin Yan's second martial soul wouldn't be too high, but he was still surprised that Lin Yan's meridians could actually accommodate three hundred-year spirit rings.

Moreover, those three hundred-year spirit rings looked extremely extraordinary; they actually had patterns on them. What kind of spirit beast were they taken from?

In the crowd, Flender took a few steps toward Lin Yan.

"Isn't your martial soul a snake? Why has it turned into a dragon?"

"It underwent a morphological evolution after absorbing spirit rings."

Lin Yan answered unhurriedly, as if he were merely stating a trivial matter.

But when this sentence reached Flender's ears, it made him knit his brows tightly. "Evolution? Can a martial soul that has already awakened still undergo morphological evolution?"

Lin Yan did not answer; after all, the facts were already laid out before them, and he couldn't be bothered to waste any more breath on these people.

At this moment, Yu Xiaogang acted as if he had seen a massive joke. Grasping at what he perceived as Lin Yan's blunder, his expression filled with mocking derision.

"To actually attach three hundred-year spirit rings to a second martial soul—how truly stupid! The talent of Twin Martial Souls is wasted on you. Are you really that desperate for quick success?"

One had to know that Tang Hao had spoken to Yu Xiaogang about the cultivation strategy for the Clear Sky Hammer; both of their goals were to attach nine ten-thousand-year spirit rings to the Clear Sky Hammer.

Therefore, in his eyes, Lin Yan's current approach was laughable.

To this, Lin Yan silently rolled his eyes and turned his gaze toward Tang San.

"Tang San, do you think so too?"

Tang San did not speak, but the hesitation in his eyes had already given everyone their answer.

Seeing this, Lin Yan let out a scoff and turned decisively to leave the office.

"Stop right there! Make yourself clear..."

Yu Xiaogang shouted at Lin Yan's retreating back, but unfortunately, Lin Yan did not look back this time and soon vanished from everyone's sight.

He then turned his gaze toward Tang San, who had been dazed for quite some time.

"Little San, what exactly did he mean?"

Tang San did not answer, instead silently raising his head to meet Yu Xiaogang's gaze.

"Teacher, are you truly certain that you can enable me to attach nine ten-thousand-year soul rings to my second martial soul?"

As these words fell, Yu Xiaogang was struck as if by lightning.

Because he saw doubt in Tang San's eyes; the disciple he had poured his heart and soul into cultivating for six years was actually questioning him.

Most crucially, the subject of Tang San's doubt was entirely beyond his own capabilities...

Yu Xiaogang himself did not know how one could possibly attach nine ten-thousand-year soul rings to the Clear Sky Hammer. He only felt that this concept was formidable and defied conventional logic, yet he had never considered how to execute it.

Could it really be that he should just wait until Tang San reached a later stage of cultivation, where things would naturally fall into place, and then directly attach the soul rings to the Clear Sky Hammer? Would that not cause his body to explode and die?

Yu Xiaogang was afraid... afraid that Tang San would conclude he lacked the ability to teach him. At this moment, panic appeared in the eyes with which Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San.

"I... of course I have that certainty."

"These matters are still too far off for you. What you need to do now is cultivate diligently. When you have grown enough to attach a ten-thousand-year soul ring to your Blue Silver Grass martial soul, I will discuss these things with you further."

After these words, Yu Xiaogang turned and walked into his office.

"I am not feeling well, you all should go; I need to rest for a while."

Flender and Ma Hongjun vaguely sensed the subtle tension between the master and disciple, pursed their lips, and walked out of the office without a word.

As for Tang San... he took one deep look at Yu Xiaogang, realizing for the first time that the man seemed to be nothing more than a Soul Grand Master after all.

The moment the three stepped out of the office and the door was shut, the room lost its light, as if Yu Xiaogang's life had once again plunged into darkness...