This Is a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo! You Can Absorb Eighteen Roots!

Meanwhile.

Gu Xingzhou was also surprised by the new livestream rules. He had known upgrading would unlock new features, but not what they would be.

"A reward-and-punishment system, one random draw..."

Honestly, Gu Xingzhou was tempted.

He hadn't planned to participate. There had been nothing in it for him, apart from a chance to "reluctantly" interact with the beauties of Douluo Continent.

Now that rewards were involved, he could pull a few strings. Winning would give him a free draw on top of the Popularity Votes he was already earning.

After all, paying for a draw and getting one for free were two different things!

With the worst luck, it took ninety draws to hit gold!

There was no rush, though. He would have plenty of chances. And as the Elite Livestream Room had pointed out, beating Gangzi wouldn't be easy.

He didn't mind if Gangzi won, either. He had looked into the system.

In the public prize pool for Douluo Continent, anyone other than the host needed 180 draws to guarantee gold. Their odds were far worse than his. In plain terms, all they could get were scraps.

If someone really got that lucky, there was nothing he could do.

All things considered, the Popularity Votes Gangzi brought him far outweighed the rewards he might give away.

This time alone, he had gained eighty million Popularity Votes.

His available balance had reached 136 million!

"It's time to improve the quality of my Martial Soul."

Gu Xingzhou summoned the system at once.

[Spend 100 million Popularity Votes to give your Martial Soul one random evolution?]

"Yes."

[Expenditure successful. Popularity Votes -100 million!]

[Current available Popularity Votes: 36 million!]

[Cumulative Popularity Votes: 141 million. Reach one billion to upgrade the livestream room again!]

[Randomly selecting a Martial Soul evolution path...]

[Selection complete!]

[Martial Soul evolution path: Joy]

[Blank Mask has evolved into Joy Mask!]

[Evolution description: All living beings are your audience. Their laughter ought to belong to you.]

[New ability: Joyous Reaping!]

[Effect: Laughter and joy caused by you will be gathered by the mask and converted into Joy Points.]

[Release Joy Points to temporarily boost Soul Power, strength, speed, and reflexes.]

[Current conversion: 100 Joy Points temporarily raises Soul Power by one level.]

[Large amounts of joy were generated during today's livestream. Recording them retroactively.]

[Joy Points gained: 1,000!]

[Current Joy Points: 1,000/1,000!]

[Note: The mask is still shallow. It cannot hold much laughter.]

"Joy Mask?"

"This is great. It's a perfect fit for the Fanfiction Livestream!"

"Too bad the mask is still too low-level to store many Joy Points."

Gu Xingzhou found that a shame.

But he was on Douluo Continent, so he had to follow the Martial Soul system. Only by giving the Joy Mask a Soul Ring and becoming a Soul Master could he strengthen it enough to hold more laughter.

"I need to find a Soul Ring soon."

Gu Xingzhou considered it, but first he would put on another show.

The livestream room's upgrade had reset the previous limit.

It was the perfect chance to follow up on the last broadcast.

[The livestream will now continue!]

[First performer: Yu Xiaogang (Popularity Vote winner)]

[Randomly selecting the second performer...]

[Ning Rongrong: Here we go! The reward is tempting, but it's still a little scary!]

[Ning Rongrong: Besides, I'm not confident I could beat Grandmaster...]

[Ma Hongjun: +1...]

[Ma Hongjun: I honestly can't think of any tricks I could pull...]

[Dai Mubai: Grandmaster still has too much authority.]

[Xiao Wu: True...]

[Liu Erlong: Though it's a bit... absurd, Xiaogang has finally found his stage.]

[Flender: He has.]

[Selection complete!]

[Second performer: Tang San!]

[Tang San: Work-study student at Notting Academy and Yu Xiaogang's personal disciple.]

"???"

Tang San tensed at the sight of his profile. Only when he saw that it said nothing about his Twin Martial Souls did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Is the livestream room deliberately hiding my secret?

Why?

Tang San couldn't understand it, but it suited him perfectly.

[Elite Livestream Room]

[Xiao Wu: Huh? Tang San? Why is it someone from Dorm Seven again?]

[Gu Xingzhou: Maybe our dorm has excellent feng shui.]

[Oscar: Artificial Respiration and Gangzi onstage together again? Won't they die of embarrassment when they meet?]

[Dai Mubai: Looks like master and disciple are bound together.]

[Ma Hongjun: This livestream room knows how to stir things up. The audience's expectations are through the roof again, though I'd still rather watch a beauty...]

[Flender: Look on the bright side. The livestream room must be fond of them.]

[Liu Erlong: Yes. Whoever wins, the reward will go to one of them.]

[Ning Fengzhi: At least the good fortune stays in the family.]

[Script selection begins now!]

[Each performer will choose one of three scripts. Only the titles are shown.]

[Yu Xiaogang, please choose: "Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo," "Gentle Gang," or "Random"]

[Tang San, please choose: "Peace Sign," "Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo," or "Random"]

[Elite Livestream Room]

[Ning Rongrong: Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo? What kind of script is that?]

[Gu Xingzhou: I want to see Gentle Gang~]

[Liu Erlong: +1?]

[Bibi Dong: ...]

[Xiao Wu: Peace Sign, hahahaha! Tang San, pick Peace Sign!]

[Xiao Wu: Peace Sign, hahahaha! Tang San, pick Peace Sign!]

[Zhao Wuji: Why do they both have Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo?]

In Dorm Seven, Tang San stared at the three titles.

"Peace Sign."

Even with his eyes closed, he could still see what his teacher had done on the rooftop the night before last.

He absolutely could not pick that one...

Besides, something like that was shocking only the first time. The second time, the Popularity Votes would plummet—unless a woman performed it.

As for Random...

The risk was too high. He might have considered it against someone else, but his opponent was his own teacher. Why take the chance? What if it was even worse than "Peace Sign"?

So "Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo" was clearly the best choice.

"But what kind of script is Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo?"

Tang San couldn't tell. At least the title sounded respectable.

Meanwhile, Gentle Gang was looking at "Gentle Gang."

He didn't know what it meant, but the name alone sounded wrong. It was bound to turn his usual image on its head.

Random was out of the question.

That left him with Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo, just like Tang San.

"Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo..."

He frowned too.

He knew Lone Bamboo was a low-level Plant-type Soul Beast known for its toughness. It would actually suit Tang San's Blue Silver Grass quite well.

But he couldn't imagine what sort of spectacle they could make of it.

[Elite Livestream Room]

[Yu Xiaogang: Little San, Random is too risky. Neither of us should pick it.]

[Yu Xiaogang: This round is between the two of us anyway. Either you or I will get the reward.]

[Yu Xiaogang: Let's both pick Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo. With the same script, neither of us can be singled out.]

[Tang San: ...All right.]

[Yu Xiaogang has chosen: "Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo"]

[Tang San has chosen: "Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo"]

[Elite Livestream Room]

[Flender: Master and disciple picked the same script? How are they supposed to compete?]

[Zhao Wuji: By seeing who plays the part better?]

[Ning Rongrong: I get the feeling it won't be that simple.]

[Gu Xingzhou: Don't you think the livestream room did this on purpose?]

[Gu Xingzhou: It looks like they had three choices, but they really had none.]

[Xiao Wu: Oh, you're right! This livestream room really is wicked!]

[Both performers have chosen the same script!]

[This fanfiction performance is officially titled "This Is a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo"]

[Performance location: Soul Hunting Forest]

[Teleporting performers...]

Soul Hunting Forest.

Yu Xiaogang and Tang San were already standing at the forest's edge.

"We were teleported straight here. That saves us some trouble."

"Once the performance is over, I can take you to find your First Soul Ring."

Yu Xiaogang spoke.

The First Soul Ring was the most important part of his theory.

If he could personally choose a perfect First Soul Ring for Tang San before all of Douluo Continent, then the entire continent would recognize his theory.

He stood beneath an old tree with his hands behind his back, once again wearing his usual inscrutable air.

Now he was full of hope and confidence for the future!

Two bouts of public humiliation had left him fearless!

And this time, one hundred million people across Douluo Continent were watching him.

It was his proudest theory, the work of his entire life!

"Little San, do you know how to determine a Soul Beast's age?"

Yu Xiaogang asked.

"No."

Knowing his teacher was about to give a lesson, Tang San immediately listened closely.

"The main way to determine its age is to observe the color of its Soul Power when it attacks."

"The dark glow of a Soul Beast's attack matches the color of its Soul Ring. A Ten-Year Soul Beast's Soul Power is white, a hundred-year one's is yellow, and so on. But although a hundred-year Soul Ring and a nine-hundred-year Soul Ring are the same color, the attributes they grant differ enormously."

"According to my research, the upper limit for a First Soul Ring should be 423 Years."

"Within that range, I hope your Soul Ring comes as close to that limit as possible."

Yu Xiaogang explained earnestly.

"Yes, teacher."

Tang San nodded seriously.

[Elite Livestream Room]

[Flender: Xiaogang is right. If the First Soul Ring's age is too high, a Soul Master's body can't withstand it.]

[Liu Erlong: Xiaogang, you finally... showed them!]

[Dugu Bo: ???]

[Dugu Bo: What kind of nonsense is this? Isn't it basic knowledge?]

[Bibi Dong: ...]

After Yu Xiaogang finished speaking, he fell silent for a moment.

Then he strode deeper into the woods.

Tang San followed behind him.

After about a hundred steps, Yu Xiaogang stopped before a clump of bamboo. Unable to resist playing teacher again, he explained to Tang San:

"This is Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo."

"Its strength is its toughness. Its attack power is weak, but its defense is decent. It's quite suitable for your Blue Silver Grass."

Yu Xiaogang explained.

"Then..."

Tang San was about to ask whether they had settled on it.

But Yu Xiaogang spoke first. "Its age is still too low, though. Let's keep looking and choose it only if we can't find anything suitable."

As soon as he said that,

the livestream viewers were stunned.

[???]

[What the heck?]

[He just said 423 years, and now his fallback is a ten-year one?]

[You call that getting as close to the limit as possible?]

[Is he just saying whatever comes to mind?]

At the same time,

the viewers in the Elite Livestream Room looked equally baffled.

[Ning Rongrong: Uh, what?]

[Flender: Ahem. Lone Bamboo really is suitable for Blue Silver Grass. It can make Blue Silver Grass tougher. Its age is a little low, but Xiaogang only meant it as a fallback...]

[Dugu Bo: A fallback? That kid would be better off digging up a blade of grass.]

[Liu Erlong: Xiaogang, I know what you mean. They're twisting your words. Don't let it bother you!]

In the bamboo grove,

Tang San caught on too and cast a doubtful look at his teacher.

Yu Xiaogang's face had already turned purple with embarrassment.

But just as he tried to defend himself, he found his body moving beyond his control.

Words he did not mean came out of his mouth, his tone even more solemn than before, as though he were announcing a momentous discovery that would change the entire Soul Master World:

"But I just remembered, Little San, you aren't an ordinary Soul Master."

"You have both Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls."

"You can absorb Eighteen Roots and possess eighteen Pole-Vault Soul Skills."