A Wrong Turn? The Path to Evolution Cut Off?!

Cao Kun smiled faintly and continued, "Your Blue Silver Grass looks tough, but it's brittle rather than resilient."

"That's because it lacks true Life Activity and Nature Resonance."

"You force Soul Power into it, giving it form and strength, but you've never truly awakened its 'soul.'"

"So against Power Attack System Soul Skills of the same level, it can still serve you."

"But when it faces an elemental counter, such as Ultimate Fire or an extreme metal attribute, or suppression by a higher level of power, such as a pure shockwave of force or a spatial tear, it becomes helpless. It might even backfire on you."

"More importantly, by using it this way, you've closed off its path to evolution yourself."

"The true strength of Blue Silver Grass lies in its tenacity: wildfire cannot burn it away, and it grows again with the spring breeze."

"It lies in its ability to take root in the earth and absorb nourishment from all things, in its capacity to grow, and in its sensitivity to its surroundings and ability to guide natural energy."

"But you've turned it into a puppet on your strings. No matter how finely made a puppet is, it remains a puppet. It can never become a warrior with a spirit of its own, capable of growing on its own."

Cao Kun's words were like a cold scalpel, peeling back layer after layer of the Blue Silver Grass techniques Tang San took such pride in until they reached the heart of the matter.

His voice remained calm, but every word struck home. Each one was a hammer blow against Tang San's defenses.

On the training ground, the air seemed to freeze.

The amused smile had long vanished from Dai Mubai's face, replaced by uncertainty.

He was proud, but he wasn't blind.

Cao Kun's analysis sounded... damnably convincing!

He recalled the precise, almost mechanical way Tang San had controlled his Blue Silver Grass during the assessment. It had indeed lacked the vigorous life and natural fluidity a Plant-type Martial Soul ought to possess.

Xiao Wu looked completely lost. She knew little about Martial Soul Theory and only had an instinctive sense that Cao Kun sounded impressive. But when she saw Tang San's face suddenly turn pale, she began to worry about her "Little San" and clenched her fists.

A trace of surprise passed through Zhu Zhuqing's cold eyes as well. Her instincts as an agility-type Soul Master told her Cao Kun wasn't speaking at random.

Ning Rongrong's lovely eyes widened. As the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she had grown up surrounded by such knowledge and had seen far more than others her age.

In just a few sentences, Cao Kun had touched on advanced theories of Martial Soul Origin evolution. This was knowledge no ordinary Soul Master could possess!

The one hit hardest was Tang San himself.

He stood rooted to the spot as if struck by lightning, his face turning pale, then red. A storm was already raging inside him!

Blue Silver Emperor!

Life Activity!

Nature Resonance!

Wildfire could not burn it away!

A path to evolution!

Those words were like keys, unlocking long-sealed corners of his memory. They echoed descriptions of spiritual treasures and plant spirits in the Tang Sect's texts from his previous life.

They also seemed to align with Grandmaster's speculation in this life about the potential hidden within Blue Silver Grass!

He had never considered his Blue Silver Grass from this angle!

Until now, he had believed that in a world where strength reigned supreme, the right path was to maximize his Martial Soul's combat ability.

So he had combined Tang Sect Hidden Weapons techniques with Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon and other methods, shaping his Blue Silver Grass into a precise tool for control: entangling, binding, parasitizing, weaving webs... All in pursuit of the utmost control and toughness.

He had poured countless hours into it and achieved remarkable results.

Few among his peers could easily break free once his Blue Silver Grass held them. That had convinced him he was on the right path.

But now,

this mysterious "senior brother" was telling him he had been wrong from the very beginning!

It was a wrong turn!

He had been stifling its growth!

"No... Impossible!"

Tang San snapped his head up. Bloodshot lines showed in his eyes, and his voice shook with excitement and doubt he could no longer suppress.

"No one at my level can match my control over Blue Silver Grass!"

"It's incredibly tough, strong enough to bind strength-type Soul Masters! In battle, it's my most reliable partner and weapon! How could that be a wrong turn?!"

He couldn't accept it!

It all but denied every effort he had made and everything he took pride in!

Cao Kun looked at the distraught Tang San. His gaze remained calm, with even a hint of pity.

Geniuses were often stubborn, especially when everything they knew and had accomplished was dismissed.

"No one can match it? Incredibly tough?"

Cao Kun shook his head slightly. "That's only because you haven't met a strong enough opponent. Or perhaps... none of your opponents has ever truly targeted your Martial Soul's weakness."

He suddenly raised his right hand. A tiny point of pale green light appeared at the tip of his index finger.

It was as faint as a candle flame in the wind and gave off no trace of Soul Power, yet it carried a fresh, pure aura brimming with life, as though formed from the finest essence of plants.

"Watch closely."

Cao Kun flicked the pale green point of light from his fingertip. It drifted toward Tang San like a tiny seed.

Tang San instinctively wanted to dodge or defend himself, but to his shock, the Soul Power circulating through his body faltered ever so slightly, beyond his control!

It was as though his Mysterious Heaven Skill Soul Power felt an instinctive... affinity and resonance with that pale green light.

How was that possible?!

In the instant his concentration wavered, the light silently landed on the bare root of a weed not far from his feet, in a patch that had just been cleared.

A miracle occurred.

The weed, which had been on the verge of dying with a sprout no bigger than a fingernail, began growing wildly before their eyes!

In the blink of an eye, it became a strange plant half as tall as a person, with lush green leaves and jade-green stalks!

More astonishing still, faint golden lines edged its leaves, with a dim light flowing through them. The vitality it radiated was ten or even a hundred times stronger than that of an ordinary plant!

"What... what is this?!"

Tang San's pupils contracted, and he cried out despite himself.

He could clearly sense the pure, active life energy within the plant Cao Kun had caused to grow!

It felt nothing like forcing his Blue Silver Grass to grow with Soul Power!

His Blue Silver Grass was tough but rigid. This plant, by contrast, seemed to have come alive, with its own breath and rhythm!

"Just a wisp of the purest Plant Essence Vitality."

Cao Kun lowered his finger. The strange plant's glow gradually faded, but its abundant vitality remained.

"That's precisely what your Blue Silver Grass lacks."

"It isn't a 'living' plant. It's merely a 'tool' shaped by your Soul Power."

"So it has no 'soul.' It can't truly resonate with nature or absorb the essence of plants between heaven and earth to grow and evolve on its own."

"And that cuts off its chance of ever reaching a higher level."