The Name of Love Sword Douluo Shook the Pope and the Great Enshrined!

Tang San nodded and said:

"When I first followed my teacher to hunt a Soul Ring, he explained it to me."

"And I saw it with my own eyes. Sanpao really could recover its attack after eating white radishes."

Grandmaster's expression softened a little. He said:

"Exactly. Luo Sanpao has an unusual way of attacking. White radishes help it build up gas and restore attacks it has already used. That is the effect we have verified."

"Can feeding it Dragon Meat and dragon blood achieve the same thing?"

"Luo Sanpao should eat white radishes!"

Hearing this, Ning Rongrong could not help speaking up:

"But Li Qingshan didn't seem to be saying it would recover its attack immediately. He wants it to evolve gradually."

Grandmaster frowned and asked:

"Evolve gradually?"

"That is precisely what makes this claim so easy to use to deceive people."

"If it doesn't evolve after one meal, he can say it hasn't had enough time. If it still hasn't evolved after a month, he can say the flesh came from beasts that weren't old enough."

"As long as there is no clear result, he can always find another excuse."

Ning Rongrong opened her mouth, but for a moment she had no idea how to refute him.

Grandmaster's voice, however, grew colder.

"There are many kinds of dragon-type Soul Beasts, each with different bloodlines and attributes. He takes some flesh at random and assumes the Martial Soul can absorb its power—and that the power will happen to drive its evolution?"

"On what grounds?"

"Because Luo Sanpao can eat?"

He gave a cold laugh.

"Soul Masters can eat Soul Beast meat too. It restores their strength and can even aid their cultivation."

"But who has ever seen someone eat Dragon Meat and have their Martial Soul turn into a dragon?"

"He cannot even distinguish the nourishment food provides from a change in the Martial Soul itself, yet he dares teach others how to cultivate their Martial Souls? Utterly ridiculous!"

As they listened, Dai Mubai and the others gradually grew serious.

What Grandmaster said was not entirely without reason. For now, Luo Sanpao had merely eaten the flesh and blood; it had shown no sign of evolving.

Flender watched the sky-screen without saying a word. He knew how much effort Yu Xiaogang had devoted to studying Martial Souls, and what Luo Sanpao meant to him.

That was why he could tell Grandmaster's reaction had gone beyond simply questioning Li Qingshan's cultivation method.

After all, if Li Qingshan actually succeeded, wouldn't all those years Grandmaster had spent researching Martial Soul Theory have been for nothing...

The calmer Li Qingshan appeared on the sky-screen,

the more attentively the boy listened,

the uglier the expression on Grandmaster's face became.

Especially when he heard the boy named Yu Xiaogang call Li Qingshan "teacher" again and again. The displeasure in his eyes was almost impossible to hide, and his voice brimmed with scorn:

"That Li Qingshan looks barely twenty. Even if he has some talent and knows a thing or two others don't, he has no business making such wild boasts."

"A Level 99 Limit Douluo. Martial Soul Evolution..."

"He really dares say such things!"

He watched the boy on the sky-screen record how the feeding had gone, a cold sneer tugging at his lips.

"And yet this Yu Xiaogang actually believes him."

"A few flattering words and a novel trick, and he thinks he's met some great master who can change his fate."

"He didn't even investigate who the man was before kneeling to become his disciple."

"He's as stupid as a pig!"

Tang San glanced at his teacher, then looked up at the sky-screen. "Teacher, your research into Martial Souls rests on years of work. If we keep watching, we'll find out whether Li Qingshan's method works."

Grandmaster nodded slowly, but when his gaze settled on Li Qingshan's face, it still held undisguised contempt.

In his view, the man might indeed have some ability. That did not stop him from being a charlatan who exaggerated his claims and shrouded them in mystery.

Especially his claim that he could make Luo Sanpao evolve.

Grandmaster had studied the problem for years without finding a solution.

And a young man of around twenty thought he could do it with a few pieces of Dragon Meat and a few bowls of dragon blood?

Laughable!

On the sky-screen, the golden Luo Sanpao had finished the piece of Dragon Meat. Its tongue flicked out, licking the dragon blood from the bowl bit by bit.

The young Yu Xiaogang crouched beside it, observing closely.

Li Qingshan stopped his hand as he reached to add more meat and told him to watch for a reaction before deciding how much to feed it next.

Their voices carried clearly across the training ground.

Watching the scene, Grandmaster laughed coldly. "Fine. Let's keep watching. I'd like to see what this charlatan can possibly produce to make Luo Sanpao evolve!"

Spirit City, the Pope's Palace.

Bibi Dong stood on the stone steps outside the palace, scepter in hand, her gaze fixed on the sky-screen. From the moment the boy had spoken his name, she had not looked away.

"Xiaogang."

"But why does he look a little different in this world?"

That still-youthful face brought back many memories she no longer wished to speak of.

In particular, when she saw the boy lower his head and say that, despite using so many of his family's resources, he had not reached level ten until he was fifteen, her grip on the scepter tightened unconsciously.

She knew the flaw in his Martial Soul had always been the one thing Yu Xiaogang could never come to terms with.

But the Yu Xiaogang on the sky-screen now had another choice. A man calling himself Love Sword Douluo had sought him out and claimed he could make Luo Sanpao evolve.

And Yu Xiaogang had indeed become his disciple.

Bibi Dong's gaze shifted slowly to Li Qingshan.

Twin Martial Souls.

She understood better than most what those words meant for a person's talent. As for his claim to be level ninety-nine, she could not yet confirm it from what the sky-screen had shown.

But the effect of the Whale Rubber was already visible in the boy.

The person who had once sat alone on a slab of bluestone, sighing, now held a notebook and eagerly told his teacher about the changes he had felt after cultivating.

Even when he mentioned Luo Sanpao, his eyes shone with anticipation he could not hide.

Bibi Dong watched that hopeful face in silence for a long time before softly saying the name:

"Li Qingshan... Since you've given him hope, you had better be able to keep your promise."

On the sky-screen, the golden Luo Sanpao had its head lowered, licking dragon blood from the bowl.

But Bibi Dong was not watching it. She watched the boy crouched beside it, her expression conflicted, and murmured to herself:

"Xiaogang, I hope you haven't made the wrong choice this time."

Outside the Worship Hall.

Qian Daoliu stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky-screen.

Unlike the Soul Masters stunned by the words "level ninety-nine," he was more interested in what had happened in the image when Li Qingshan had released his aura.

The mountain wind had died. Fallen leaves had hung suspended in midair.

Yet that power had lasted only a breath before being withdrawn without a trace.

"Love Sword Douluo..."

Beside him, Golden Crocodile Douluo frowned and asked:

"Great Enshrined, have you ever heard of him?"

Qian Daoliu slowly shook his head.

"No."

"But since this is another world, there's nothing strange about people we don't know appearing there."

Golden Crocodile Douluo asked again:

"Then his claim to be level ninety-nine..."

Qian Daoliu did not answer at once.

Through the sky-screen, he could see what happened but could not feel that power himself. He would not conclude that the man's cultivation was weak merely because he looked young.

Nor would he decide, on the strength of a few leaves hanging in midair, that the man had reached the same realm as him.

"We need to see more."

Qian Daoliu spoke evenly:

"A Martial Soul can be hidden, and cultivation can be suppressed. But in a real fight, something will always show."

As he spoke, his gaze settled on Li Qingshan.

"Suppressing his cultivation and walking the path again from the beginning to break through a bottleneck."

"If he truly is a level ninety-nine Soul Master, then what he seeks is no longer merely an increase in Soul Power."

"But why would a man like that choose Yu Xiaogang?"

Qian Daoliu looked toward the little golden dog, a trace of interest appearing in his eyes. He murmured:

"A child with only half a level of Innate Soul Power... What exactly do you see in him?"