"Young friend, may I ask what you need San's blood for?"
Since Xu Bai had saved his life, Grandmaster wasn't wary of him. He asked out of instinctive caution.
Tang San looked at Xu Bai, wondering the same thing.
"You probably don't know that Blue Grass Soul Beasts become kings after ten thousand years and emperors after a hundred thousand. But Blue Grass that reach ten thousand or a hundred thousand years aren't ordinary Blue Grass. They're the kings and emperors among Blue Grass—the Blue Silver Kings and Blue Silver Emperors."
"And Little Blue—the Blue Grass I raised—is an exceptionally rare Mutated Blue Silver Grass."
"After Little Blue mutated, it gained an additional ability: it can sense the bloodlines of Blue Grass kings or emperors who haven't awakened yet through their blood."
"Little Blue just sensed a peculiar aura on your friend Tang San, but it couldn't make it out clearly. That's why it needs a drop of his blood to confirm."
Xu Bai didn't keep them guessing. He hurriedly gave the explanation he'd come up with earlier.
He had a vague feeling that Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer had already locked onto him, and that heavenly retribution could come crashing down at any moment.
"I see. I never imagined Blue Grass had such secrets. Thank you for telling us, young friend."
Grandmaster exclaimed in amazement, looking as if he'd learned a great deal.
"So, Brother Tang San, if you trust me, give me a drop of your blood, and I'll have Little Blue sense your bloodline."
Xu Bai turned to Tang San again and spoke gently.
After a pause, he felt he'd sounded a little too deliberate, so he added:
"After all, the Blue Silver King and Blue Silver Emperor Martial Souls are both top-tier. The Blue Silver Emperor can even be called the strongest Plant-type Martial Soul. If your Martial Soul really is the Blue Silver Emperor, this will be a chance for me to build a good relationship with you."
At this, Tang San pondered for a long while. He didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "I still don't know your name, brother."
Xu Bai froze, unsure why Tang San had asked about something so irrelevant at a time like this.
Still, he answered warmly, "I forgot to introduce myself. My surname is Xu, and my given name is Bai. You can call me whatever you like."
Tang San nodded. "If you don't mind, I'll call you Big Brother Xu. You and my teacher can just call me San."
Xu Bai glanced at Tang San in surprise, then gave a slight nod. "That's fine. It's just a form of address. Why would I mind?"
Only then did Tang San smile. "Since I can call you Big Brother Xu, of course I trust you. Besides, you're only testing my bloodline."
As he spoke, he brushed a hand over the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist and took out a finely crafted dagger, holding it against his palm.
"How much blood do you need for the test, Big Brother Xu? I'll draw it now."
Xu Bai really couldn't make sense of Tang San's actions. Still, he'd come to get blood, but he couldn't make it too obvious.
So he gave a dry laugh. "One drop is enough. Any more would be a waste."
Tang San felt a little relieved. In truth, he'd been testing Xu Bai just now.
In his previous life, he'd heard that witchcraft practitioners in the Southern Barbarian regions could curse people from afar through their blood.
After being reborn, he didn't know whether anyone in this world possessed such a sinister ability, but he had to test the waters. After all, one could never be too careful around others.
Fortunately, Big Brother Xu really was just kindly helping him test his bloodline. It seemed he'd been judging a gentleman by the standards of a petty man...
Thinking this, Tang San lightly nicked the pad of his finger with the dagger, and bright red blood slowly welled up.
"Big Brother Xu, how should I give you the blood?"
"Don't move yet. Wait until I summon Little Blue."
With a thought from Xu Bai, ripples spread through the space behind him. Then a Blue Silver Grass vine, about as thick as two fingers, reached out.
"Th-this, Young Friend Xu—is this an ability of your Martial Soul?"
Grandmaster asked in shock.
Having studied Martial Souls for most of his life, he naturally knew what this meant. It meant that Young Friend Xu's Martial Soul had the ability to control space.
Bone Douluo, reputed to be the most troublesome Soul Master in the world, had a Martial Soul with the same ability to control space.
He'd never imagined that the Martial Soul of the man who'd saved his life would also possess such an ability.
"My Martial Soul is a space. It's not all that different from a Space Soul Tool, so there's no need to be so surprised."
Xu Bai casually brushed off the question, then said seriously, "We can talk about that later. I'll test San's bloodline first."
"Right, right. This matter is more important." Grandmaster nodded, though he was still thinking about Xu Bai's Martial Soul.
There was no way that "not all that different from a Space Soul Tool" was true. He'd used one before. It could store inanimate objects, but it couldn't store living beings.
Then he remembered Xu Bai casually mentioning "Beast Taming" earlier. Grandmaster had never heard of it, but he could understand what it meant.
Taking into account the Blue Grass and Big White Tiger—two Soul Beasts who seemed to obey Xu Bai completely—Grandmaster began to form a guess so shocking that even he found it hard to believe.
Meanwhile, at Xu Bai's instruction, Tang San reached out and let a drop of blood fall onto one of Little Blue's leaves.
The leaf curled around the blood, then returned to the Beast Taming Space.
And just like that, Xu Bai had the blood...
Xu Bai was thrilled, but didn't let it show. He merely closed his eyes and concentrated, pretending to be communicating with Little Blue.
Only after a long while did he slowly open his eyes.
"Young friend, what were the results?" Grandmaster hurriedly asked first. Anyone who didn't know better would've thought they were testing his bloodline.
Tang San instinctively clenched his fist. His eyes flickered, anticipation glimmering in them.
Xu Bai was desperate to leave, but Tang Hao was still watching from the shadows.
So he had no choice but to see the act through, beaming broadly as he said:
"Congratulations, San. Your Blue Grass Martial Soul really is an unawakened Blue Silver Emperor. Once you awaken it, you'll have the strongest Plant-type Martial Soul. Your future will be bright!"
"Really? Thank you, Big Brother Xu!"
Tang San was overjoyed. His Trash Martial Soul had suddenly become a top-tier Martial Soul. If someone with a more excitable disposition had been in his shoes, they might've started performing Fan Jin Passes the Exam on the spot.
Compared to Tang San's delight, Grandmaster seemed a little dazed, muttering to himself:
"That's right. It has to be. How could one of two Twin Martial Souls be top quality while the other is so poor? Why did I think San's Innate Full Soul Power came from his other, more powerful Martial Soul..."
As he murmured, a barrier in his understanding seemed to shatter with a thunderous crash.
It wasn't just Grandmaster. Hidden in the shadows, Tang Hao was also utterly bewildered.
"Right. I knew Ah Yin was a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor who'd taken human form, so why was my first instinct, when I saw San's Blue Grass, to think it was ordinary Blue Grass that only looked a little like Ah Yin...?"
Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm.
The Asura God, seated within Asura Hall, suddenly opened his divine eyes and murmured in surprise, "Someone actually broke through my arrangement. Who made a move? Sea God or Life God?"
After a pause, he shook his head helplessly. "Never mind. I was in the wrong to begin with. Whoever broke my arrangement, this matter ends here..."
With that, he fell silent once more and sent a strand of divine consciousness into the countless lower realms.
Asura and Life could not coexist. The successor he'd gone to such lengths to find in another world probably wouldn't be able to inherit the position of Asura God in the future. That meant he'd have to find a new successor...