Nearly Got Completely Hoodwinked

Nuoding Academy, infirmary.

"Master, this child only suffered some superficial wounds. Now that I've treated him, a day of rest should be enough."

"Alright, thank you for your trouble."

Watching the healing-type Soul Master leave, Master turned his gaze to Tang San lying on the hospital bed. Just moments ago, the disciple he had been so proud of had been ruthlessly crushed by Cheng Xiao. Even after Tang San used his so-called Hidden Weapons, he had still been defeated.

Thinking of this, Master could not help but sigh. If he had been more persistent back then, perhaps he could have taken Cheng Xiao as his disciple as well. If he taught two Titled Douluo disciples, how prestigious would that be?

However, the most important thing now was for Tang San to wake up safely. Otherwise, Master feared that Tang Hao, in a fit of thunderous rage, would smash the entire Nuoding Academy to pieces.

After all, Tang Hao was a ruthless man who had dared to confront the Spirit Hall Pope head-on. His Clear Sky Hammer was hailed as the number one Tool Martial Soul in the world, and Tang Hao himself was the youngest Titled Douluo in the history of the Douluo Continent.

With his temperament, if he learned that his son had been beaten unconscious, he would inevitably do something dangerous.

"Ah, Xiao San, if you could switch to cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer, perhaps you wouldn't have lost so badly today." Looking at the still-unconscious Tang San, Master could not help but sigh.

The advantages of cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer first were beyond question. But the situation on the continent was tense now. If Tang San began cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer first, it would inevitably attract the Spirit Hall's attention. Moreover, if they discovered that Tang San was Tang Hao's son, a bloody storm would likely follow before long.

Just as Master finished speaking, Tang San's fingers suddenly twitched. Then, Tang San, who had been unconscious for two and a half hours, slowly opened his eyes. He stared blankly at the ceiling in confusion for a while before his gaze finally fell on Master.

"Teacher, I'm sorry," Tang San said dejectedly.

"Xiao San, this isn't your fault. Blue Silver Grass never had many advantages in the early stages, while Cheng Xiao's Martial Soul is an unprecedented top-tier beast Martial Soul. It's perfectly normal that you suffered a setback due to a moment of carelessness," Master comforted him softly upon seeing that he had awakened.

"Teacher, there's something I'd like to ask you about." Tang San raised his head, his eyes full of confusion.

"Go ahead. As long as it concerns Martial Soul theory, your teacher can give you a perfect answer," Master said.

Tang San nodded slightly. "Teacher, I want to know whether choosing to cultivate Blue Silver Grass was ultimately right or wrong. If I cultivated this hammer Martial Soul, would I not have lost today's spar?"

"Now, my Blue Silver Grass already has two Control Type Soul Skills. Should I consider adding Soul Rings of other types to it? Such as Soul Rings for defense, hardness, toughness, or perhaps ones that increase its attack power? I feel that blindly following the Control Type path will make it difficult for me to defeat Cheng Xiao, and difficult for me to defeat other Soul Masters as well."

In truth, Tang San had already awakened while Master was speaking. He had never expected his teacher to say such things while he was unconscious.

This left Tang San deeply confused. Where exactly had his problem arisen? Cultivating Blue Silver Grass had been the choice given to him by both his teacher and father. But if he cultivated that Clear Sky Hammer, would he now possess the strength to fight others to the end?

The Clear Sky Hammer, with its powerful attack strength, seemed far superior to cultivating Blue Silver Grass in every respect. But why was he not allowed to cultivate the Clear Sky Hammer first?

If it was only for the sake of adding more Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings to his second Martial Soul after level ninety, then would cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer first and Blue Silver Grass afterward not have the same effect?

Master had once said that Twin Martial Souls were inevitably equal in quality. In that case, if his Blue Silver Grass and Clear Sky Hammer were of equal quality, why not cultivate the Clear Sky Hammer with its formidable combat power first? Why cultivate the incomparably weak Blue Silver Grass instead?

Whenever he thought about how his Blue Silver Grass had no other use beyond control, and how even its so-called offensive power relied on his Tang Sect Hidden Weapons, Tang San could not help but wonder: if he did not possess the Tang Sect's secret arts, would his future path truly lead him to the pinnacle of the Soul Master world on the Douluo Continent, as Master had claimed?

And besides, was he, Tang San, really going to be suppressed by Cheng Xiao for the rest of his life? In that battle this morning, neither his first nor second Soul Skill had caused Cheng Xiao any harm or restriction whatsoever.

He did not even know what Soul Skill Cheng Xiao had used. In particular, that fear rising from the depths of his heart made Tang San feel instinctively wary of Cheng Xiao.

Did he really... still have to continue cultivating Blue Silver Grass? If he could switch to cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer, he would escape his current predicament. Furthermore, he would no longer need to worry about encountering any Soul Masters who countered the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, because his Martial Soul was the Clear Sky Hammer—the Clear Sky Hammer, a top-tier Tool Martial Soul!

"Xiao San, how could you think that?" Master's gaze sharpened slightly. "I know you feel terrible after losing to Cheng Xiao, but you absolutely cannot cultivate your second Martial Soul ahead of time. Your current disadvantage is merely because your Soul Power level is too low. Once your Soul Power reaches the Titled Douluo level, will your Blue Silver Grass still be ordinary Blue Silver Grass?"

"In the early stages, Blue Silver Grass is called a useless Martial Soul. Ordinary beast Martial Souls and even Tool Martial Souls can easily crush it. But precisely because of that, you should cultivate Blue Silver Grass in order to conceal the second Martial Soul you possess."

"Xiao San, have you considered what quality of Soul Rings your second Martial Soul could obtain after you cultivate Blue Silver Grass to level ninety and then switch to cultivating your second Martial Soul? The reason I had you cultivate Blue Silver Grass was so that, in the future, every Soul Ring of your second Martial Soul could be a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. By then, even having nothing but Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings might not be impossible."

"Cheng Xiao's Martial Soul is very unusual. It has both a Stealth Soul Skill and enhancement abilities, but so what? He only has one Martial Soul. Although you can't defeat him at this stage, what does that prove? Could it be that you'll never be able to defeat him for the rest of your life?"

"Remember, Xiao San, you are a genius with Twin Martial Souls. He merely happened to possess a Martial Soul neither you nor I have ever seen before. We do not understand the characteristics of his Martial Soul, so we have no way to hunt Soul Rings specifically suited to countering it."

"But you needn't worry. Although you cannot defeat him for now, once you finish cultivating your second Martial Soul, with the Soul Skills granted by nine Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings, would he still be your opponent then? With two Martial Souls and eighteen Soul Skills, could he possibly still stand against you?"

After saying all that, Master did not know whether Tang San had taken his words to heart. In any case, he himself had. Given time, when Tang San became a Titled Douluo with Twin Martial Souls, would Yu Xiaogang still be unable to prove the importance of theory to the Soul Master world?

Master understood Tang San's current thoughts very well, because he had once faced such an awkward predicament himself. Back when his Martial Soul had mutated and he had been unable to break through level thirty for his entire life, he too had fallen into confusion, become dispirited, and raised all kinds of doubts about himself.

But now, ever since he had embarked upon the path of Martial Soul theory and even become a Martial Soul Theory Master of his generation, was that not another kind of success?