The True Meaning of Twin Martial Souls

Creak!

Yu Xiaogang was so startled that he nearly sprang out of his chair. Then he heard the sleeping Xiao Wu beside them stir, her brow furrowing as she made a faint noise. Only then did he force his voice down, gritting his teeth as he scolded Tang San.

"How can you say something like that?"

Tang San wasn't speaking without thought. He had considered this for a long time before finally making up his mind.

Instead of lowering his head and admitting fault as he usually did, Tang San met Grandmaster's gaze directly, without wavering. "Teacher, can Blue Silver Grass really take me all the way to becoming a Titled Douluo?"

His voice trembled.

Looking at Tang San's aggrieved expression, Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth, but the scolding he had prepared caught in his throat.

Blue Silver Grass was a Trash Martial Soul, yet both his father and his teacher had insisted that Tang San use only Blue Silver Grass.

Tang San had never complained. He had believed he could still accomplish something with Blue Silver Grass. But after these few Soul Fighting matches, its weakness had become unmistakable, and he had been swept aside like a withered leaf in a gale.

Then there was what Naruto had said at the end. If Tang San had only had Blue Silver Grass, a Trash Martial Soul, that would have been one thing. But he clearly had another powerful, mysterious Martial Soul—a mighty Martial Soul that could have turned the tide of that Soul Fighting match!

How could Tang San bear that?

His heart twisted with grievance. Tang San pressed his lips together, his fingers clenched so tightly that they cracked.

"Haah..."

Yu Xiaogang shook his head with a sigh, then rallied himself.

"Xiao San, I hadn't planned to tell you what I'm about to say. I was afraid you'd settle for what you have and slack off in your training once you found out."

Tang San furrowed his brow, growing more confused by the moment. Grandmaster's expression turned solemn as he pointed to the Spirit Mark on Tang San's hand. "You haven't understood the true meaning of Twin Martial Souls at all!"

The true meaning?

Tang San lowered his head, his hands clenching and unclenching. Grandmaster continued patiently, "Spirit Rings are attached to Martial Souls, not to Spirit Masters. Do you understand?"

Tang San suddenly understood. He jerked his head up and asked Grandmaster to confirm, "So both my Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and my Hammer Spirit can receive Spirit Rings?"

"That's right." Grandmaster nodded firmly, his words carrying a scholar's wisdom. "Once you've trained your Blue Silver Grass to the level of a Soul Emperor, what kind of Spirit Rings will you be able to attach to your other Martial Soul?"

Tang San's expression went distant. He murmured under his breath.

"All... Ten Thousand Year Spirit Rings?"

Grandmaster stood with his hands behind his back and nodded again. Tang San blinked in a daze, knocked off balance by the sudden rush of good news.

It was a long while before he managed to contain his excitement and spoke with renewed vigor.

"I understand, teacher."

"Good, as long as you understand."

Yu Xiaogang smiled and nodded repeatedly, reaching out to pat Tang San's head. Just as Grandmaster thought the matter was settled, Tang San, having regained his composure, suddenly spoke up.

"Teacher?"

"What is it?"

"I want to increase my training!"

Tang San made his request with sudden solemnity. Yu Xiaogang's brow furrowed at once, and he rejected it sternly. "Your body hasn't finished growing yet. Your training load is already heavy. You can't rush things!"

"Do you want to win against him? Even so, you can't wreck your body like this!"

Worried that Tang San was bent on revenge, Yu Xiaogang tried every way he could to talk him out of it.

Hearing this, Tang San shook his head helplessly.

"Teacher, don't worry. I did swear in front of the whole school. For the next few years, as long as he doesn't come looking for trouble, I won't bother with him either. I'll just pretend he doesn't exist."

"I want to increase my training because I've realized I'm still nowhere near strong enough as a Spirit Master. I can't keep taking things easy!" Tang San clenched his fist tight. Remembering the difference in strength between them during the Soul Fighting match, he spoke again with renewed determination. "Please make me a new plan and increase my training load. I know I can do it!"

"Good... I'd been worried you'd lose heart, or that you'd slack off after learning you could give your other Martial Soul nine Ten Thousand Year Spirit Rings..."

Yu Xiaogang's eyes filled with tears as he patted Tang San on the shoulder.

"I never expected..."

With a gem like this, what more could one ask for?

Wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes, Grandmaster couldn't help feeling invigorated, and he began to make grand plans.

"Good lad! I'll draw up a new plan for you right now!"

After that,

the two spoke in low voices.

Their words drifted through the window and should have vanished into the night, but beneath the moon, a figure could just barely be made out on the bare rooftop above.

Tang Hao, wearing a tattered cloak, stood with his arms folded across his chest, his fingertips tapping unconsciously. Hearing that Xiao San had pulled himself together and was even striving to improve, the anger on his face gradually faded. A barely perceptible smile tugged at his rough mouth.

But the smile appeared and vanished just as quickly. Beneath his hood, Tang Hao slowly lifted his head. His gaze was sharp as lightning as he peered through the moonlight toward somewhere in Nuoding City, rubbing his chin as he considered the matter carefully.

But when he heard Tang San say, "I'll definitely surpass him one day and wipe away this humiliation,"

he ultimately shook his head and disappeared into the night.

"Is Tang Hao really not going to come after me?"

At the same time, Naruto sat cross-legged on his bed, his mind in turmoil. Every now and then, he emerged from his meditation to glance out the window, staying on guard.

"When you were beating up Tang San earlier, weren't you acting all high and mighty?" Seeing Naruto's cowering expression, Bibi Dong looked at him with disdain and even mimicked his tone. "And what was it you said? 'Do you know why you lost? Because your Martial Soul is too weak!'"

"Huh? And you've got the nerve to make fun of me?"

Naruto knitted his brows, displeased. "When I was beating up Tang San just now, who was it laughing so hard beside my ear? Did you think I didn't hear you? I was just too embarrassed to call you out!"

"What of it?"

Bibi Dong relaxed her willow-leaf brows, utterly unbothered. Her voice grew even more teasing and mocking. "I laughed, so what? Unlike you, I'm not sitting here afraid of getting beaten up after I'm done laughing."

"He's a Titled Douluo! One swing of his hammer could bury me in the ground so deep no one could dig me out! And if I die, don't you die too?"

Naruto said indignantly, while inwardly cursing her. That same person had been wearing such a radiant smile after he finished beating up Tang San, and now she was acting as if she'd never been happy about it.

"Who knows... whether that little rascal of yours is telling the truth?"

Bibi Dong leaned against her chair, resting her chin in her hand as she hummed a few words. She quietly withdrew the spiritual power she had spread throughout Nuoding City.

Thinking that she had gone to such lengths only to guard against a desperate Tang Hao, she furrowed her brow in renewed irritation.

"Hmph. I never thought I'd live to fear Tang Hao, that homeless dog. And it's all your fault. If you were a little stronger, things wouldn't have come to this."

"Yes, yes, it's all my fault. The destruction of the Earth would be my fault too."

Naruto paid no heed to Bibi Dong's tyrannical logic, nodding repeatedly and agreeing with everything she said.

Bibi Dong could do nothing about Naruto, who was contradicting himself by agreeing with her three times over. She could only glare at him.

A great victory for internet trash talk!

"Don't worry. Tang Hao's presence hasn't leaked out, and he has no intention of making a move." Bibi Dong shook her head with a sigh, then leisurely crossed her legs. "Besides, it's already this late. That muscle-brained Tang Hao would've come for revenge long ago if he meant to. He wouldn't wait until now."

"His son lost, so the Titled Douluo father comes to settle the score by bullying a six-year-old child. Tang Hao wouldn't do something like that if he had even a shred of shame!"

Bibi Dong scoffed.

After a brief moment of thought, Naruto nodded to himself. "That's true..."

Now that he was sure he was safe, Naruto stopped meditating and turned his attention to the red dot flickering in the corner of his eye.

Should he take a look at the reward he'd received?