Grandmaster, Did You Take On Blue Silver Grass or the Clear Sky Hammer?

"Xiao Gang, isn't there something you should explain to us?"

At Flender's words, everyone on the training ground turned their attention from Ling Yun to the little black hammer in Tang San's left hand.

Tang San did not attack again.

The Clear Sky Hammer slowly vanished, but everyone remembered the heavy, domineering aura it had given off.

Ning Rongrong looked at Tang San, her expression especially conflicted. After a moment's silence, she said, "That really was the Clear Sky Hammer. The inherited Martial Soul of the Clear Sky Sect, known as the world's strongest Power Attack System Tool Martial Soul."

Ma Hongjun stared blankly for a long moment. "So Little San doesn't just have Blue Silver Grass?"

Dai Mubai shot him a glance. "Didn't you see he had one in each hand?"

"I'm just making sure, aren't I?"

That was what Ma Hongjun said, but he was no less shocked.

Innate Full Soul Power, Blue Silver Grass, all those strange Hidden Weapons, and now a Clear Sky Hammer had appeared.

They had lived together for so long, yet Tang San had kept something this big hidden.

Flender looked straight at Yu Xiaogang. "You knew all along?"

Yu Xiaogang was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I worked it out on the first day Tang San became my disciple."

Quite a few people around them froze at that.

Ling Yun was not surprised in the slightest.

He even laughed.

"Here it comes."

Liu Erlong did not understand. "What does?"

"The classic routine."

Ling Yun walked aside to pick up his coat and said at a leisurely pace, "First, Blue Silver Grass is a Trash Martial Soul. Then, Innate Full Soul Power can't appear alongside Blue Silver Grass, so that contradiction proves he has Twin Martial Souls. Finally, Little San shows the Clear Sky Hammer, and Grandmaster takes him on as a disciple right there."

Tang San's brow furrowed at once. "My teacher didn't take me on because of the Clear Sky Hammer."

"I know."

Ling Yun nodded without hesitation.

That caught Tang San off guard.

Then Ling Yun added, "It was because of his Twin Martial Souls."

Tang San's face darkened.

A few Blue Tyrant students nearby nearly burst out laughing.

Yu Xiaogang said grimly, "Ling Yun, there's no need to deliberately twist things. At the time, I inferred from Tang San's Innate Soul Power and Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul that he possessed a Second Martial Soul. I took him on because his case could validate my research into Twin Martial Souls."

"Exactly."

Ling Yun spread his hands. "So which part did I get wrong?"

Yu Xiaogang had no immediate answer.

But Ling Yun was not about to stop.

He remembered that grievance from seven years ago all too clearly.

"When I was six, I also had Innate Full Soul Power. You'd never seen Greninja and didn't know how it could develop, so you told me Innate Soul Power only determined the starting point. What really mattered was the quality of the Martial Soul."

"But when it was Little San, Blue Silver Grass combined with Innate Full Soul Power didn't make sense. You followed that clue and discovered he had a Clear Sky Hammer too."

Ling Yun glanced at Tang San. "And suddenly, Grandmaster decided this child was particularly worth cultivating."

The training ground gradually fell silent.

Even Flender said nothing.

Taken separately, each part seemed reasonable enough.

Put together, though, it left a peculiar taste.

Yu Xiaogang's face turned grim. "Tang San's Twin Martial Souls have immense research value. There was no information on your Martial Soul to consult at the time. I couldn't invent a cultivation path for you out of thin air."

"And there we go again."

Ling Yun could not help laughing.

"That's why I asked you that question back then."

"'There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters.' Was that something you said for other people to hear, or did you actually believe it?"

This time, Yu Xiaogang fell completely silent.

Ling Yun did not press him further. He merely tipped his chin toward Tang San.

"If you really believe no Martial Soul is useless, shouldn't a Greninja no one had ever seen before have interested you even more? How come, with me, the unknown meant risk, but with Tang San, the unknown suddenly became research value?"

"Wasn't the difference just this?"

Ling Yun mimed the way Tang San had held the hammer.

"Behind his unknown, there was a Clear Sky Hammer."

Ma Hongjun finally lost his battle to hold it in. A cough turned into a snorting laugh.

Dai Mubai hurriedly elbowed him, though the corners of his own mouth twitched too.

Tang San's expression was already ugly, but he stepped forward anyway. "Ling Yun, my teacher's judgment back then did have its limits, but everything he's taught me over the years is real. You can question his theories, but you don't have to make it sound as though he took me on solely for my Martial Soul."

"I didn't say it was solely for the Martial Soul."

Ling Yun looked at him. "I just think it's quite a coincidence. Grandmaster likes to say you can't judge by Martial Soul quality alone, but the only disciple he personally trained just happened to have Twin Martial Souls, one of them the Clear Sky Hammer."

"Little San, wouldn't you call that a coincidence?"

Tang San had nothing to say. The more he explained, the stranger it sounded.

Liu Erlong stood to the side and glanced at Yu Xiaogang, but in the end, she did not speak for him. She knew better than anyone why Ling Yun refused to let this go.

He had been six back then, with no background, no teacher, and nothing to his name but Innate Full Soul Power.

And because he had talked back once, he had even lost his chance to be a Work-Study Student.

If he had not met her later, no one knew where the boy would have ended up.

At that thought, Liu Erlong cut the discussion short. "Enough. We'll leave what happened seven years ago there for today. Ling Yun, you've beaten Tang San. This sparring match is over."

Tang San silently withdrew his Blue Silver Grass. He had lost; there was nothing to argue about.

Blue Silver Grass, the Tang Sect Secret Arts, Hidden Weapons—even the Clear Sky Hammer at the end. He had used them all and still had not truly brought Ling Yun down.

And Ling Yun had not even fully revealed the offensive power of his Fourth Soul Skill.

Flender looked at the Shrek members, then at Ling Yun, and finally returned to the original question.

"Since the result of the duel is clear, I have no objection to Ling Yun serving as captain."

Dai Mubai was the first to nod.

Ma Hongjun was still unwilling to admit it aloud, but after watching so many matches in a row, he could not find a reason to object.

Zhu Zhuqing was more straightforward. She had only wanted to see how their speeds compared.

A loss was a loss.

But Tang San suddenly raised his head. "Being strong in a duel doesn't mean you're suited to be the core of a team."

Everyone looked at him.

Ling Yun raised an eyebrow.

"Little San, haven't you had enough?"

"I don't mean another duel."

Tang San had regained his composure. "The Soul Master Tournament is a team competition. The outcome depends on more than individual strength. Control, support, and coordination between teammates matter too."

Yu Xiaogang's eyes finally brightened at those words.

That was what the Shrek Seven Devils truly excelled at.

The coordination between the seven of them was beyond anything a hastily assembled team could match.

Tang San looked at Ling Yun.

"You can be captain, but first, we have to fight one last team battle."

Ling Yun swept his gaze over the Shrek Seven Devils.

Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, and Tang San.

Fighting them one by one really was not much fun anymore.

He suddenly smiled.

"Sure."

"But I won't need seven people on my side."

Flender froze. "What do you mean?"

Ling Yun rolled his wrists, and Greninja's phantom appeared behind him once more. "I mean you can all come at me together."