Tang Wulin's Spirit, Tang San's Teachings

Facing Guang Biao, Xu Yue did not waste words.

His opening move was an all-out strike.

Enhanced by eightfold gravity and spear intent, Menogias's strike was terrifyingly powerful, no less formidable than a Soul King unleashing a ten-thousand-year soul skill.

Feeling the attack crashing down like a collapsing mountain, Guang Biao's original intention of talking things over instantly changed.

Whatever hidden circumstances lay behind this, he had to withstand this blow first before there could be any further discussion.

Without hesitation, six soul rings—two yellow and four purple—appeared around him, bursting with multicolored light.

"Ironclad Dragon Body!" "Ironclad Dragon Fist!"

Although Guang Biao and Guang Long were both brothers with Ironclad Dragon martial souls, their auras were clearly worlds apart.

Staring at Xu Yue's Vortex Vanquisher, Guang Biao formed a twisted dragon head over his iron-gray dragon claws. It opened its bloody maw and bit toward him.

At the same time, a massive purple serpent soul spirit beside him twisted its thick body and lashed at Xu Yue.

Boom!

Xu Yue's spear collided head-on with Guang Biao's fist, and a terrifying explosion rang out at the entrance of Eastsea Academy.

Violent soul power surged outward, forcing the onlookers nearby to retreat several meters.

Yet, Xu Yue, whose soul power was lower, did not move an inch.

Rock Sovereign Body granted him the stability of a mountain. Unless someone could lift the very ground beneath his feet, he and the earth were one.

Meanwhile, Guang Biao, a Soul Emperor, had visible cracks in the dragon scales on his arm. His right arm trembled uncontrollably, and he staggered back seven or eight steps in succession.

The soul spirit at his side was also blasted several meters away by the immense force rebounding from Xu Yue's shield.

After just one clash, Guang Biao's expression changed drastically.

It was not merely because of the terrifying weight carried by that spear.

An inexplicable sharpness also assaulted his mind, stabbing his consciousness with pain and leaving him disoriented.

"How is this possible..." Guang Biao shook his muddled head, disbelief written all over his face.

But before he could recover, another spear shadow struck toward him.

"Wait... hss..."

Yet Xu Yue had no intention of stopping. His supremely fierce spear attacks came down one after another.

The clash in the arena continued, but the spectators around it had fallen completely silent.

Everyone stared blankly at the battle, an indescribable sense of absurdity welling up from the depths of their hearts.

A battle between a Soul Elder and a Soul Emperor should have been one-sided no matter how one looked at it.

And reality was indeed one-sided—but it was not the Soul Emperor crushing the Soul Elder. Instead, the Soul Elder was suppressing the Soul Emperor in reverse.

Long Hengxu and Ye Yingluo stared in bewilderment. "Is this really the kind of student our Eastsea Academy can produce?"

A look of confirmation appeared in Gu Yue's black eyes.

"Xu Yue! You really were connected to that change in the heavens back then. I would never mistake this aura."

The celestial change had happened precisely around the time she split off Na'er's personality.

At that time, she had not yet compressed her cultivation and still briefly retained god-level perception. She understood the terror of that celestial change far better than the powerhouses of Douluo Continent.

That change had not been some astronomical phenomenon, such as a planet passing through the orbits of Douluo Star and the sun and blocking the sunlight.

Rather, a spacetime distortion beyond mortal imagination had formed over Douluo Continent, bending and twisting the light.

In the end, it created a phenomenon similar to a solar eclipse.

Even though that power had vanished in an instant, it had still caused minor geological shifts and even gravitational anomalies along thousands of kilometers of Douluo Continent's coastline.

"But... why you? And why were you able to trigger the emergence of that power?"

How could power that even shocked her have been stirred by a child?

At that thought, Gu Yue sank into deep contemplation, her curiosity growing stronger and stronger.

Within Tang Wulin's sea of spirit.

Father and son were conversing.

"Old Tang, do you think my talent is really that poor? Maybe someone like Xu Yue is what a true genius should be."

Tang Wulin watched the battle before him, feeling somewhat bitter.

Tang San's divine consciousness, under the alias Old Tang, did not answer immediately. Instead, he frowned as well.

"Such talent? Could he be a child of destiny?"

Tang San was somewhat puzzled as well.

"But that can't be right. With Father's suppression, how could a child of destiny be born on Douluo Star?"

"Even if there were one, he should be under Father's control."

However, he could not concern himself with that right now.

He could sense that Tang Wulin's fighting spirit was being suppressed.

Awakening Blue Silver Grass had already given him a relatively low starting point.

Yet with the help of the Golden Dragon King bloodline, he had regained some confidence in forging.

Then, relying on his innate divine strength, he had become even more confident after defeating Xie Xie and the others in battle.

Originally, if things had continued along this path, unlocking the Golden Dragon King's seals one by one would have created a snowballing effect.

However...

Xu Yue's appearance had shattered all of that.

A peer whose talent was only slightly greater could, to a certain extent, inspire others with the desire to catch up and surpass them.

But if someone among their peers shone too brilliantly, it would severely undermine everyone else's confidence.

If their mentality was a little weaker, it was entirely possible for them to never recover from the blow.

It was similar to what he had experienced with Shui Bing'er back then.

He had clearly consumed numerous immortal herbs, yet when facing Shui Bing'er, he had still seemed utterly powerless.

Ice and Snow Drifting Ice Phoenix alone had shattered his confidence.

If not for Dugu Bo's guidance afterward, he might even have considered cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer ahead of time.

And that had only been Shui Bing'er.

If he had encountered Qian Renxue before he had forged the heart of a powerhouse, he would probably have fallen into even deeper despair.

At that thought, Tang San's tone turned serious.

"This Xu Yue is indeed extremely talented, but your talent is not inferior either."

"Really?" Tang Wulin did not quite believe him.

"Of course." Tang San nodded. "Do you remember the dragon within your body? It is dangerous, but it is also an opportunity."

"As long as you follow my instructions and break open the first seal, the benefits you gain will far exceed your imagination."

"Although it won't erase the gap between you and Xu Yue in the short term, it will definitely narrow that gap by a great deal."

"But those spirit fruits you mentioned are just too expensive."

At the thought of spending over a million Federation credits to gather them all, Tang Wulin's scalp tingled.

Tang San felt a headache coming on as well.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on Wu Zhangkong, and he smiled.

"You can ask your teacher for help. He comes from Shrek and is also a disciple of the Tang Sect, so gathering a few spirit fruits should not be a problem."

"The Tang Sect?" Tang Wulin froze. "The legendary Tang Sect? How do you know, Old Tang?!"

Tang San could not help but fall silent.

If he could not recognize the aura of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, or even the man's habitual walking gait, then he would be unworthy of being the Tang Sect's ancestor.

"I'll tell you later. What do you think now?"

"As long as you break open the first seal, and with that little girl Gu Yue by your side, you may be able to defeat Xu Yue in the promotion match a few days from now."

"This..." Tang Wulin hesitated. "I'll think about it!"

Hearing Tang Wulin's answer, Tang San's tone became stern.

"You should make your decision sooner rather than later!"

"It will be difficult for you to gather the spirit fruits needed to break the seal on your own, and you do not have much time left."

"..." Tang Wulin remained silent.

At this point, Tang San's tone softened considerably.

"In truth, talent and martial souls are not the only things that determine victory or defeat in battle. There is another extremely important factor."