Using the Grandmaster's Own Theory Against Him?

Night had fallen.

In the courtyard of the teachers' dormitory, an oil lamp was still burning.

Yu Xiaogang sat at his desk with a notebook open before him, his pen scratching across the page. After a few lines, he stopped, crossed them out, and started again.

The tea on his desk had gone cold, and the cup was nearly empty.

Half an hour earlier, Tang San had come by.

The boy had told him everything that had happened that afternoon.

Lin Xuan had obtained his first Soul Ring from a 380-year-old Fire-Maned Lizard.

His first soul skill was the Fire-Controlling Talisman.

Effect: It could be attached to another person, granting their attacks a fire attribute.

Boost: Twenty percent.

Yu Xiaogang drew three lines beneath the words "twenty percent."

The standard boost from a one-ring Support Soul Master was ten to fifteen percent.

That was what decades of research had shown him. Spirit Hall's current training system for support types used the same benchmark.

What did twenty percent mean?

It meant Lin Xuan's first soul skill provided a boost equal to that of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda at one ring.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was the Martial Soul inherited by Ning Fengzhi's direct line in one of the Upper Three Sects. It was widely recognized as the continent's strongest support-type Martial Soul.

Yet Lin Xuan's Martial Soul was a sheet of paper.

Yu Xiaogang set down his pen and rubbed his temples.

No. That wasn't right.

If Lin Xuan truly had only one Martial Soul, how could a sheet of paper achieve this?

Innate Full Soul Power, a self-created way to use his Martial Soul, and a twenty-percent boost from his first soul skill!

Any one of those would have been enough to indicate an exceptionally high-quality Martial Soul.

But it was just a sheet of paper.

Yu Xiaogang flipped through his earlier notes and found a passage he had written:

"Martial Soul quality is directly proportional to Innate Soul Power. Anyone with Innate Full Soul Power must possess an exceptionally high-quality Martial Soul. Conversely, if a Martial Soul appears ordinary or even worthless, yet its owner has Innate Full Soul Power, a second Martial Soul is highly likely to exist."

This was the core of his theory.

Tang San was its perfect proof.

Blue Silver Grass was a worthless Martial Soul. Tang San had Innate Full Soul Power because he possessed the Clear Sky Hammer as his second Martial Soul.

What about Lin Xuan?

Paper. A worthless Martial Soul. Innate Full Soul Power!

By that logic, Lin Xuan should have a second Martial Soul too.

But something Tang San had said today had planted a trace of uncertainty in Yu Xiaogang's mind.

"Teacher, Lin Xuan and I lived in the same village for six years. He doesn't seem like the sort of person who lies. He says he only has one Martial Soul, and I think he might be telling the truth."

Tang San had sounded hesitant, but he had been serious.

Yu Xiaogang had not conceded. He had told Tang San:

"My judgment isn't wrong. Knowing someone for six years doesn't mean you know all their secrets."

Tang San had not argued. He had bowed and left.

But Yu Xiaogang could tell that Tang San had left with doubts.

Yu Xiaogang picked up his pen again and wrote a line on the page:

"If Lin Xuan does have only one Martial Soul, then the Paper Martial Soul itself is of exceptionally high quality. His Innate Full Soul Power stems from that quality, not from Twin Martial Souls."

His hand stopped as soon as he finished writing.

If that hypothesis was correct, his earlier conclusion was not an ironclad rule. It was merely highly probable.

For a theorist, the gap between "highly probable" and "ironclad" was fatal.

Yu Xiaogang tossed his pen onto the desk, stood, and paced around the room twice.

"No."

He stopped and spoke to himself.

"A twenty-percent boost from his first soul skill does prove that his Martial Soul is high quality.

"But it could also be explained another way. Because he has Twin Martial Souls, some kind of resonance between them amplified the boost, causing his first soul skill to exceed the norm."

That explanation made logical sense too.

Yu Xiaogang sat down again, wrote the two possibilities side by side, and drew a large question mark between them.

He flipped back to an earlier page. After "Lin Xuan: Twin Martial Souls (unverified)," he added a smaller note in the parentheses:

"A single, high-quality Martial Soul is also possible. Further observation required."

Yu Xiaogang's expression soured when he finished.

It was the first time he had ever marked one of his own judgments as "in doubt" in his notebook.

The oil lamp crackled, and its wick burned lower.

Yu Xiaogang closed his notebook and sat staring into space for a long while.

Could I really have been wrong?

No! Impossible!

I wasn't wrong!

The next afternoon.

As soon as the dismissal bell rang, Xiao Wu sprang from her seat and tugged Lin Xuan toward the door by his sleeve.

"Quick, quick! What are we practicing first today? Kicks or Footwork?"

"Wait a second."

Tang San caught up with them from behind.

"I have to help out at the Blacksmith Shop on the east side of town this afternoon, so I won't be back until later. How about I teach first today, and you take over after me, Xiao Wu?"

Xiao Wu tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Fine. Then get going as soon as you're done. Don't miss out on earning money at the forge."

Tang San nodded.

The three of them went to the same clearing as yesterday.

Tang San took off his outer robe, draped it over a branch, and began teaching Lin Xuan the basics of Close-Combat Fighting.

Stances, switching Footwork, and putting force behind elbows and knees.

Tang San taught carefully. He demonstrated every move twice before correcting Lin Xuan's posture.

After an hour, Lin Xuan ached all over, but he had learned a great deal.

What Tang San taught was different from Xiao Wu's style.

Xiao Wu favored flexibility and finesse. Tang San's approach was more direct and solid, with an emphasis on Inch Force and control.

The two styles complemented each other. Learning both was far better than learning just one.

When they finished, Tang San handed him a jug of water.

Lin Xuan took a couple of swallows and was about to thank him when Tang San suddenly spoke.

"Lin Xuan, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you really have only one Martial Soul?"

The jug paused in Lin Xuan's hand.

He turned to Tang San and said calmly, "Little San, are you asking for Yu Xiaogang again?"

Tang San opened his mouth but neither confirmed nor denied it.

Lin Xuan put the jug down and rested his hands on his knees.

"I do have only one Martial Soul. I've said it plenty of times."

Tang San fell silent for a while.

Lin Xuan watched him for a few seconds, then abruptly changed the subject.

"Little San, do you know why I don't like Yu Xiaogang?"

Tang San looked up, a flash of displeasure crossing his face.

Still, he asked, "Why?"

Lin Xuan did not answer immediately. He flexed his wrist, sore from Tang San's training, and spoke unhurriedly.

"What's Yu Xiaogang's favorite saying again? 'There are no worthless Martial Souls, only worthless Soul Masters.' Right?"

Tang San nodded.

That was his teacher's core belief, and the saying Tang San found most convincing.

Lin Xuan continued, "Then let me ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"How old is Yu Xiaogang this year?"

Tang San frowned. "In his forties, I think."

"In his forties, a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster, stuck below level thirty his whole life."

Lin Xuan's tone was flat, as though he were stating a simple fact.

"By his own theory, there are no worthless Martial Souls, only worthless Soul Masters. So what does that make him?"